The camp was quiet except for the occasional crackle of the fire. Dante sat by Ista's side, her breathing steady now but still labored. Kai had done his best to stabilize her, but her injuries were severe, leaving everyone on edge.
Damien broke the silence, sitting cross-legged across the fire. "This whole thing feels… wrong. Ista showing up like that. The obelisk, Marik, everything."
Kai, sharpening his blade in the corner, glanced up. "War isn't clean, Damien. Things don't always make sense. Focus on what's ahead, not what you can't control."
"Easy for you to say," Damien muttered, rolling his eyes. "You didn't just fight a half-metal monster while half the forest tried to kill us."
Dante stood, his shadow looming large in the firelight. "Enough. We don't have time for this. Damien, help me gather supplies. Kai, keep an eye on Ista. If she wakes up, let me know immediately."
Damien sighed but obeyed, following Dante into the forest.
As they walked, Damien's usual humor faded into something more serious. "Dante, don't you think this feels like a setup?"
"What do you mean?" Dante asked, scanning the ground for usable herbs.
"The beast, the obelisk, Ista showing up… It's too convenient. Someone wanted us here."
Dante paused, his grip tightening on his sword. "You think someone's playing us?"
Damien nodded. "It's possible. Whoever Marik is, he's not some random scavenger. He knows too much. And Ista… I don't know how she survived that blast back in the vault, but something doesn't add up."
Dante looked ahead, his jaw clenched. "We'll figure it out. But right now, we focus on keeping everyone alive."
Back at the camp, Kai leaned over Ista, examining the faint marks on her arms. They weren't just battle scars—they were runes, glowing faintly in the dark.
"What are you hiding, Ista?" he murmured.
Her eyes fluttered open, startling him. She grabbed his wrist weakly. "Don't… trust… everyone," she whispered, her voice hoarse.
"What do you mean?" Kai pressed, but she fell unconscious again.
By the time Dante and Damien returned, the tension in the camp was palpable. Kai stood to meet them, his face grim.
"Ista said something," he began, glancing at her prone form. "She said not to trust everyone."
Damien frowned. "Great. Just what we needed—more cryptic warnings."
Dante knelt by Ista, his mind racing. "We need to move at first light. If someone's targeting us, we can't stay in one place for too long."
Kai nodded. "Agreed. But we need a destination. Marik is the key to all of this. If we find him, we'll get answers."
As dawn broke, the group packed up and set off, Ista carried carefully in a makeshift stretcher. The forest around them seemed eerily quiet, as if holding its breath.
They traveled for hours, the silence only broken by the occasional crack of a branch or rustle of leaves. Dante's mind was restless, replaying Ista's warning and Damien's suspicions.
Suddenly, the air grew colder, and a faint hum reached their ears. They emerged into another clearing, this one dominated by an enormous stone archway covered in glowing runes.
Kai stepped forward, his expression darkening. "This is a Nexus Gate."
Damien groaned. "Another gate? Are these things everywhere?"
"This one's active," Kai said, pointing to the shimmering portal within the archway.
Dante drew his sword. "If this is where Marik went, we're following him. But stay sharp. We don't know what's on the other side."
As they stepped through the gate, a blinding light enveloped them, and they emerged into a desolate wasteland. The ground was cracked and barren, the sky a swirling mass of dark clouds.
In the distance, a massive structure loomed—a fortress of black stone, its spires piercing the sky like jagged teeth.
"Welcome to hell," Damien muttered.
Dante led the way, his resolve unshaken. Whatever waited for them in that fortress, he would face it head-on. And when he found Marik, he would get the answers he needed—even if it meant tearing the place apart.