Silence lingered inside the study after Erend answered him. The glowing arrays above the tables continued rotating slowly while the faint scratching of enchanted instruments echoed softly from somewhere deeper within the chamber.

Outside the tower, distant sounds from the walls of Leonora still carried through the open window. However, compared to the chaos beyond the city, the room felt strangely isolated from the world.

Velrion lowered his gaze again. But this time he did not immediately return to writing.

His fingers remained still above the open pages while exhaustion and hesitation settled more visibly across his face than before. For someone respected as one of the greatest Archmages of this kingdom, the uncertainty inside his eyes looked unnatural.

"I want to believe that," Velrion admitted quietly. "I truly do."

He leaned back slightly in his chair and finally allowed himself to pause after what was likely days without proper rest.

"But the deeper I look into this corruption the less I understand it."

His eyes shifted toward several papers spread across the desk. Strange symbols and fragmented calculations covered them in dense layers.

"I've studied ancient curses, forbidden Magic, and dimensional anomalies. Even records left behind from civilizations that vanished before our kingdoms existed." His voice remained calm, but strain lingered beneath every word. "Yet this thing is different from all of them."

Erend stayed silent and allowed him to continue.

Velrion sighed before speaking again.

"No matter how much I analyze it, I cannot properly discern it." His brows tightened slightly. "It's like trying to understand a shadow cast by something too large for the mind to fully perceive. If that makes sense to you."

The Archmage's gaze drifted toward the window where faint smoke still rose from the battlefield below.

"Every time I touch its traces through Magic…" he continued more quietly, "I feel the same thing."

His hand clenched unconsciously atop the desk.

"Vastness. Not just power. Something far worse. Like standing near an endless abyss and realizing the abyss has already noticed you."

Genuine fear surfaced openly in the Archmage's expression.

"I'm terrified of what we may truly be dealing with."

The confession hung heavily between them.

Velrion gave a tired smile afterward that carried no humor within it.

"And I know the other Archmages feel the same. Even if none of them say it aloud."

He looked back down at his unfinished research.

"We continue working because we must. Because stopping would doom this world faster." His voice lowered further. "But sometimes I wonder if we're trying to stop something far beyond our ability to even comprehend."

The room fell quiet again.

Erend understood those feelings more than Velrion realized.

Because even among the Dragonborn, certainty no longer came easily anymore.

He remembered the disturbances spreading across worlds. The unnatural corruption crawling through realities that should never have connected. The things he and the others had sensed beyond the edges of Creation itself. It all came from the Void Architect.

Deep inside, even he could not say with complete confidence that they fully understood what was coming.

But none of them could afford hesitation now.

So Erend stepped closer to the desk and rested one hand lightly against its edge.

"You're afraid because you understand the danger better than most people do," he said calmly. "That doesn't make you weak. It means you're seeing the truth clearly. It is understandable."

Velrion remained silent while listening.

Erend's eyes moved briefly toward the countless notes and artifacts scattered throughout the study.

"You said yourself that this thing feels vast." He gave a faint smile afterward. "But vast doesn't mean unstoppable, right?"

The Archmage looked at him carefully.

"We've faced disasters before," Erend continued. "Some of them nearly destroyed entire worlds. Every time, they looked impossible at first."

"And yet you survived," Velrion said quietly.

"Yeah. Not because we were certain," Erend answered honestly. "Because we kept moving forward anyway. We can't leave those threats there."

That answer surprised Velrion slightly. He didn't think that Erend, a Dragonborn, could sound uncertain. But this time, there was something more human in his voice that made him less absolute.

For a moment the Archmage realized that even someone as powerful as Erend and his Dragonborn friends did not possess all the answers.

Strangely, that honesty reassured him more than blind confidence would have.

Erend crossed his arms afterward and looked toward the window where smoke still drifted across the horizon.

"You and the others are buying this world time and trying to fix the problem," he said. "That alone matters more than you think."

Velrion studied him quietly before releasing another long breath.

Some of the tension in his shoulders finally eased.

"You really believe we still have a chance?"

Erend nodded slowly.

"Yes," he answered. Despite the uncertainty he still carried deep within his own heart, he made sure his voice never wavered.

Erend straightened from the desk and glanced once more around the chamber and realized that the amount of work Velrion and the other Archmages were handling was immense. Even Erend could tell they had pushed themselves far beyond normal limits trying to prepare what they were about to do.

"You should rest when you can," Erend said.

Velrion gave a faint tired smile at that.

"I think we both know that won't happen anytime soon."

Erend chuckled quietly. "Fair enough."

Then his expression became more serious again.

"If something appears that's too dangerous for Leonora or the other kingdoms to handle, I'll know. When that happens, me and the others will come."

Velrion studied him carefully for a second before giving a slow nod. "I'll hold you to that."

The faint glow of Magic suddenly gathered beside Erend afterward. Space distorted quietly beside him before a circular portal began forming in the air.

The familiar pressure of Dragonborn Magic filled the room once more.

Velrion watched the portal silently.

Even after everything he had witnessed today, the sight still reminded him just how far beyond ordinary understanding the Dragonborn truly were.

Erend stepped toward the portal before pausing briefly.

"Good luck, Velrion."

The Archmage lowered his gaze toward the scattered notes across his desk again. "You too."

Without another word, Erend walked forward and disappeared into the portal.

The glowing gateway closed behind him moments later.

Velrion remained motionless for a few seconds while staring at the place where the portal had vanished.

Then he took a deep breath and pulled his attention back toward his unfinished work.

There was still too much left to do.

—