The sunlight piercing through the Orchid-Ether filters in the windows of Castle Zero's Grand Hall felt warmer than usual, yet the atmosphere within the room was charged with a palpable tactical tension. The Ironwood table, which only hours ago had served as a communal dining space, had been transformed into a command center. In the center of the table, a pillar of indigo light pulsed, projecting a highly detailed three-dimensional holographic map of the Aethera Continent.
Dayat stood at the head of the table, his arms crossed over his chest, his eyes fixed on a flickering red dot in the Eastern region. "Eight hundred kilometers," he murmured softly, his voice echoing in the vast space. "That is a madness of a distance to cover by land, especially with the current volatile state of the Forest of Lamentation."
