Vivian lay restrained by the same energy bindings, no longer even bothering to resist them. Whatever strength she had wasted on trying to escape had already proven useless, and after spending so long in the darkness, she had grown tired of fighting something she couldn't understand. Her eyes slowly moved across the surroundings, taking in the same walls, the same darkness, and the same faint red glow that had watched her for what felt like an eternity. By now, she had memorized every detail she could see, yet there was still nothing she could use to escape.
Then the voice returned.
"Do you remember... that night? What happened after all your little dummies laughed?"
Vivian's expression tightened as the words struck something deep inside her. Her mind immediately returned to the past, fragments of the castle flashing through her thoughts—the blood, the puppets, the people around her, and the feeling that something had gone terribly wrong. She tried to push further, desperately searching for what came after that moment, but there was nothing. No image, no sound, not even a feeling she could hold onto. Just an empty space where something should have been.
Her brows furrowed as she tried again, frustration slowly replacing the exhaustion in her face. "Why can't I remember?" she whispered to herself, her voice carrying more confusion than fear.
For a moment, the darkness remained silent.
Then the voice chuckled.
The quiet laugh slowly grew deeper, stretching through the room until it became something far more unsettling. "Good..." the voice said, the amusement in it becoming almost cruel. "That's what happens to those who break the ritual."
Vivian's eyes narrowed immediately. "What did you do to me? What happened that night?" she demanded, pulling against the restraints again despite knowing they wouldn't move. "Tell me what you—"
Her words faded as she heard it.
Thud.
Footsteps.
The sound of them slowly moving away from her, disappearing deeper into the darkness.
Vivian stared after the unseen figure, her expression tightening as she listened to every fading step.
"Wait..."
No answer came.
Only the footsteps continued fading into the darkness.
---
Far beyond the borders of Auranis,
Where the dense trees stretched across the outskirts of the kingdom and the distant chirping of birds was occasionally carried away by the wind, Firen sat quietly beneath the shade of the forest. Fifteen fire clones had already spread throughout the surrounding area, each positioned at a different distance from Auranis—some close enough to watch the castle walls, while others remained farther away to observe the roads, entrances, and movement around the kingdom. None of them made a sound.
Firen himself remained well outside the kingdom, sitting with two fingers pressed against the earth and his eyes closed. His breathing was slow and controlled as he extended his senses across the land, taking in an overwhelming amount of information at once. Voices, footsteps, movement, the rustling of leaves, distant animals, the shifting of people within Auranis—everything reached him at once, layered over one another in a stream of information so immense that an ordinary person's mind would have been overwhelmed by it.
Firen remained still, his fingers pressed against the earth as his perception continued spreading through Auranis. Yet no matter how deeply he searched, the castle itself remained strangely silent. There was no clear trace of anyone inside, not even the faintest disturbance he could use to locate a presence. "I can't sense anything from inside the Auranis Castle..." he thought, his expression remaining calm. They must be using some kind of concealing power.
His focus shifted for a moment as another disturbance reached his senses from much farther away. A large concentration of power had gathered around the gates of the Kingdom, with countless presences moving through the area. Firen could distinguish the strength of several warriors even from this distance, his mastery over both Fire and Wind allowing him to perceive things most people wouldn't even notice. The Kingdom... is under attack? The thought crossed his mind, but he didn't allow it to pull him away from his mission. Whatever was happening there, his orders remained the same.
Then something else caught his attention.
Firen's eyes opened.
His head turned toward the northeast, his expression changing slightly as another powerful presence reached his senses. The sensation was unmistakable—an intense surge of Fire, strong enough to stand out even among everything he had already been perceiving.
"...What was that?" Firen murmured, his eyes narrowing toward the distant horizon. "That Fire... where did it come from?"
For a moment, he considered investigating it himself, but the thought disappeared almost as quickly as it came. He had a mission to complete, and leaving his position without knowing what was happening inside Auranis would accomplish nothing.
Instead, he quickly established contact with the Mission Hall.
The Kingdom of Dragons (Inner Sector) — Mission Hall
Airi's voice came through the connection almost immediately. "Yes, Lord Firen?"
"I just sensed a powerful Fire presence from the northeast," Firen said, keeping his voice calm but firm. "Send someone to investigate it when you can."
There was a brief pause before Airi answered, her voice carrying obvious strain. "I'm afraid that's going to be difficult right now. The entire Kingdom is in chaos. The gates are under constant pressure, and we're sending warriors out almost continuously."
Firen's jaw tightened slightly.
"I understand," he said after a moment. "Then send someone as soon as you have an available warrior. Don't let it go unchecked. I am too far away to do anything."
"Understood, Lord Firen."
The connection ended.
Firen lowered his hand and returned his fingers to the earth, closing his eyes once again. The disturbance in the northeast remained somewhere in the back of his mind, but he refused to let it interfere with the mission.
His clones remained stationed around Auranis.
And Firen continued to wait.
Kingdom of Dragons — Mission Hall
Amid the chaos of the Mission Hall, thousands of warriors moved between counters, commanders shouted assignments across the room, and messengers hurried through the crowded halls carrying reports from the gates. Jennie had been trying to make sense of the constant stream of missions when she overheard the tail end of Airi's conversation with Firen. The mention of a powerful Fire presence from the northeast immediately caught her attention, "...Fire...? Could it be?..." and without wasting another second, she made her way toward Airi.
"Airi," Jennie called, approaching her quickly. "I need to know something. Has there been any update on Lucas?"
Airi looked toward her, momentarily surprised by the urgency in her voice. "Lucas? Give me a second." She quickly began searching through the mission records, checking assignments and confirmations while Jennie waited beside her. After a long moment, Airi's expression changed slightly.
"He left two nights ago," she said. "Lucas and Vivian were assigned a small escort mission. According to the records, they should have already returned to the Outer Sector and reported the mission's completion."
Jennie's expression tightened.
"They haven't."
Airi slowly shook her head. "No. There's no confirmation that either of them returned."
Jennie lowered her gaze for a moment, the pieces beginning to connect in her mind. Lucas and Vivian had disappeared two nights ago, and now Firen had sensed an unusually powerful presence somewhere in the northeast. It wasn't enough to prove anything, but her instincts were already telling her otherwise.
"Could that have something to do with them?" she murmured.
Airi looked at her. "You think the presence Lord Firen sensed was Lucas?"
"I don't know," Jennie replied, her expression becoming more serious. "But I'm not going to sit here and wait until we find out."
She turned back toward Airi. "Can I take Shawn?"
Airi immediately shook her head. "No. Shawn can't go."
Jennie's eyebrows furrowed. "Why not?"
"He's been specifically selected as backup for a high-rank mission. Until that assignment is completed, he isn't available for other missions." Airi's tone made it clear that this wasn't something she could simply overlook. "Even with the situation here, I can't authorize him to leave."
Jennie clicked her tongue quietly before thinking of another possibility.
"What about Legge?"
Airi began searching again, scanning through the current assignments before her expression shifted. "Legge is unavailable too. He's currently undergoing intensive training at Master Yaga's Temple, and he's far from this region."
Jennie's frustration grew, but she continued searching for another option. "Taylor? Drew?"
"Taylor and Drew are both currently fighting at one of the gates," Airi answered. "They're helping with the defense there."
Jennie looked across the chaotic Mission Hall, watching warriors rushing in every direction as reports continued pouring in from the Kingdom's borders. Almost everyone she could think of was already occupied.
Then she finally remembered someone.
"Jason."
Airi looked through the records once more before nodding. "Jason is available."
Jennie's expression eased slightly.
"Good. I'll take him."
---
Outside the Mission Hall, Jennie and Jason eventually reached one of the few gates that remained safe enough to leave through. The Kingdom of Dragons was enormous, divided into thirteen massive sectors, each surrounded by towering pillars and enormous defensive walls. The Outer Sector alone contained one hundred and twenty-three gates, yet with the ongoing attacks, finding one that wasn't actively being used for defense had become difficult.
For a moment, Jennie stood near the gate, looking out toward the land beyond the Kingdom. The sounds of battle still echoed from somewhere behind them, but the path ahead was finally clear.
Beside her stood Jason.
[ Jason | 2-Star Warrior | Rank #61782 | Bandit Fighter | No Known Elemental Power ]
[Jennie | 2-Star Warrior | Rank #4911 | Wind Spear Specialist]
Jason looked toward the battlefield behind them, his eyes moving across the distant flashes of light before returning to Jennie. Unlike the exhausted warriors rushing around the Kingdom, there was something almost eager in his expression. "So we're actually going outside?" he asked, unable to hide the excitement in his voice.
Jennie glanced at him. "Don't get too excited. We have no idea what we're walking into."
"I know." Jason grinned anyway, adjusting his equipment as he stepped closer to the gate. "But if there's even a chance the Phoenix Tribe is involved..." His expression sharpened for a moment, the excitement giving way to something much more personal. "I'd like to see them for myself."
Jennie noticed the change immediately. "You've never been on a mission like this before, have you?"
Jason shook his head. "Not one like this." He paused, then smiled again. "But there's always a first time, right?"
Jennie sighed, though she couldn't help but smile slightly at his enthusiasm. "Just remember, this isn't some training exercise. If we find Lucas and Vivian, you follow my orders. If we encounter anyone dangerous, you don't rush in just because you want to prove something."
Jason nodded quickly. "Got it."
He looked toward the open gate again, his excitement returning almost immediately.
"Let's go find them."
Jennie stepped beside him, tightening her grip as they finally moved through the gate and onto the road beyond the Kingdom.
Neither of them knew what was waiting for them.
But they were going anyway.