Elias led the group through the dense forest, their pace urgent. The air was thick with tension, and every shifting shadow felt like a potential ambush. The demons had found them too quickly, and that meant something was watching them.
Lira kept close to Elias, her voice low. "We should've lost them by now. Why does it feel like they're still here?"
Ivy, walking a few paces ahead, didn't look back. "Because they are."
Marco tightened his grip on his satchel. "That doesn't make sense. The rift closed, and we eliminated them. What else could be tracking us?"
Cecilia's eyes flicked around the tree line. "Someone who doesn't need a rift."
Elias exhaled, trying to push back his growing frustration. Who or what was following them?
They reached a rocky outcrop, and Ivy motioned for them to stop. She knelt, inspecting the ground before looking up sharply. "Footsteps. Not ours."
Reinhardt peered over her shoulder. "How fresh?"
Ivy ran a gloved finger over the disturbed dirt. "Less than an hour. They've been tailing us this whole time."
Lira paled. "And none of us noticed?"
Cecilia's hand hovered over her daggers. "Either they're that good, or we're dealing with something that isn't human."
Elias clenched his jaw. "Then we set a trap."
They moved into position quickly. Marco pulled out a vial of condensed vapor, which, once shattered, would create a mist cover dense enough to disorient anything without night vision. Ivy climbed into the treetops, her bow drawn. Reinhardt and Elias stood in the center as bait, their weapons at the ready.
The forest fell into an eerie silence.
Then—a whisper.
Not words. Not a voice.
Just a presence.
The trees shook, the wind shifting unnaturally, and suddenly the shadows moved.
Elias turned sharply—too late.
A figure materialized behind them, its form cloaked in a shroud of unnatural darkness, its eyes glowing a deep violet, just like the demons.
Cecilia lunged first, but before she could strike, the figure vanished—then reappeared behind her, barely a breath away.
It spoke.
"Fascinating."
Elias spun, his gauntlet humming with energy. "Who the hell are you?"
The figure didn't answer. Instead, it stepped forward, its presence warping the very air around them.
Lira took a sharp breath. "That's not a demon."
Marco whispered. "Then what is it?"
The figure raised a hand, and the shadows coiled around its fingers like living tendrils. Its voice was almost… amused.
"You fight well. But you are… early."
Elias's skin prickled. "Early for what?"
The figure tilted its head. "The end of your world."
Then it vanished into the darkness, leaving only a faint echo of twisted mana in the air.
Silence crashed over them.
Cecilia swore. "Okay. That was not normal."
Reinhardt cracked his knuckles. "We should've fought it."
Ivy shook her head. "No. That wasn't a battle. That was a warning."
Elias flexed his fingers inside his gauntlet. "Then we better get to Solmara before it's too late."
They didn't wait.
Whatever was tracking them wasn't done yet.