Volume 1: Bo'an Awakening & The Calamity Storm
At five in the morning, a damp, chilling mist rolled down from the craggy peaks of Mount Cang Lei, draping a translucent, ghostly veil over the moss-covered eaves and shattered brickwork of Bo’an City.
The catastrophic devastation of the beast tide had left the once-flourishing frontier municipality disfigured and silent. Piles of fractured masonry and scorched asphalt lay half-submerged in the creeping dawn fog, smelling of stagnant rainwater, burnt timber, and the bitter residue of dried monster blood. Yet, amid this sprawling graveyard of broken stone, a profound surge of life was stirring in the south.
At the Southern Field Magic Railway Station—one of the few strategic transit sectors whose reinforced armored track lines and deep bedrock foundations had withstood the monstrous onslaught—tens of thousands of displaced citizens converged like an endless, murmuring tide.
The air was dense and heavy, saturated with the acrid bite of furnace smoke, the sharp ozone scent of superheated mana steam, and the damp musk of wind-scoured clothing worn thin by days of terror and hardship. Frayed canvas knapsacks, patchwork bundles tied tightly with rough hemp cords, rusted birdcages, and battered family heirlooms were clutched desperately against trembling chests—fragile, cherished remnants of lives torn apart, the final treasures rescued from their ruined homeland. Muted sobs and the gentle murmurs of mothers soothing their whimpering infants blended into the low, collective drone of a displaced populace embarking into the unknown.