The sun finally dipped below the horizon, and the faint, lingering light was swiftly swallowed by the shadows. Outside the forest, the wall of light erected by Ares flared with a brilliant intensity, standing like a solitary lighthouse in the middle of a vast, dark ocean.
Argos was leisurely sipping his tea when the silver watch on his wrist began to vibrate softly. He glanced down, and his eyes instantly sharpened into steel.
"A team is requesting emergency backup!"
Without a second's hesitation, Argos stood up and gripped his familiar blade. The wall of light parted before him, forming a narrow passage. In the blink of an eye, he vanished into the radiance.
In another part of the forest, Shinji's group had paused by a small pond. The long trek and constant vigilance had taken their toll; everyone was exhausted. Lio pulled several cups made of tree bark from his pack and dipped them into the water, handing them around.
Shinji leaned down, savoring the cool water splashing over his hands. At that moment, a hand suddenly dropped onto his shoulder.
Shinji's heart skipped a beat. He spun to his right, seeing Lio and Ragna standing across from him. But in that split second of pure panic, only one word echoed in his mind: Demon.
He grabbed his sword and swung it backward with all his might.
CLANG!
Something hit the ground. There was no scream, no blood. Standing behind him was Therion, looking down at his glasses, which had been sliced clean off his face.
Realizing what he had just done, Shinji turned pale.
"I... I'm so sorry! I thought—"
"It's alright," Therion said calmly, kneeling to pick up his glasses. He dusted them off and slid them back on. "I apologize for startling you."
"No, I'm the one who should be apologizing..." Shinji stammered.
Ragna spoke up then, his eyes still wary.
"What are you doing here?"
"Our team was just ambushed by demons," Therion replied, his voice dropping an octave. "We have someone badly injured, so we're looking for a place to hide."
He pointed toward the far side of the lake. There, Macaw was carefully bandaging Vdolky, who looked dangerously pale and weak. Once the wound was dressed, Macaw called out:
"Therion! Let's move! Toward the mountain!"
Therion nodded, gave Shinji's group a quick parting gesture, and disappeared into the brush. Ragna watched them go, muttering under his breath.
"Strange... everywhere we go, people just keep appearing."
After finishing their water, the group pressed on. Ragna kept glancing at the sky, but all they could see was the endless, shimmering wall of light. Time had lost all meaning.
Suddenly, a blood-curdling scream pierced the air from the distance.
Ragna immediately thrust his arm out, stopping Shinji and Lio in their tracks. Before they could ask what was happening, he whispered:
"Don't move... I have a very bad feeling about this."
He crept forward to investigate the source of the unease. The scene that met him made him freeze. Shinji and Lio caught up, and for a moment, all three of them were paralyzed by the sight.
An entire team of three—dead.
Low-level demons were swarming the bodies, tearing at the flesh and feasting ravenously. Blood stained the earth in jagged patterns, and the metallic stench of death hung heavy in the stagnant air. The horror of it was too much for Lio; he covered his mouth and stumbled back, his face turning a sickly grey.
"This isn't right," Ragna hissed. "How could a few common demons wipe out an entire team?"
His eyes remained locked on the carnage, his expression shifting from suspicion to mounting frustration. Shinji felt it too—a cold, creeping dread—but in Ragna, it only fueled his temper.
"Were they really that weak? No... I'm going to find out what happened."
Ragna began to stride forward. A wave of bone-chilling premonition washed over Shinji. He lunged out and grabbed Ragna's arm.
"Ragna, stop! Something is wrong! It's a trap!"
Ragna wrenched his arm away, his voice dripping with disdain.
"A trap? I don't care."
The demons feasting on the corpses heard the noise and snapped their heads toward the intruders. Their muzzles were matted with blood and bits of flesh. Energized by their gruesome meal, their aura had become unnervingly aggressive.
The winged demons let out ear-splitting shrieks and took to the air, their talons extended and their eyes locked onto Ragna. Ragna's gauntlet erupted in violent flames. He raised his hand high, a massive obsidian stone beginning to materialize, the heat distorting the air around him.
"Black Stone! Ra—"
Before he could finish the move, a terrifying roar shattered the silence.
It was a low, heavy sound, like a tectonic plate shifting or a growl echoing straight from the bowels of hell. It rippled through the forest, swallowing every other sound. Even Ares's wall of light trembled under the force of the vibration. Every candidate in the zone heard it.
In another part of the woods, Argos—who was already on his way to help—skidded to a halt. He looked up, his face becoming more grave than anyone had ever seen it.
The demons that had been so aggressive a second ago were suddenly gripped by absolute panic. They shrieked in terror, scattering in every direction, not a single one daring to stay for even a heartbeat longer.
Ragna—the man who had been so full of pride just moments before—now stood paralyzed. His entire body was stiff, his breath hitched in his throat, and cold sweat poured down his neck.
Shinji and Lio were the only ones who kept their heads. Shinji screamed with every bit of strength in his lungs, his voice nearly breaking:
"Run, Ragna! Whatever that thing is... it's not a common demon