Without a moment to recover, Aisha was dragged and thrown into a cell. Her breathing was erratic, and her tangled hair clung to her face. The blindfold was ripped from her eyes, allowing the dim light to reveal her surroundings: damp stone walls, rusty iron bars, and, in the nearby cells, the battered and exhausted faces of Rasen and Steven.Her heart pounded at the sight of them, a spark of hope lighting the darkness in her mind."Leave them alone!" she screamed, her voice trembling but filled with fierce resolve.
Before anyone could answer, a presence flooded the room. It wasn't physical—it was a weight in the air, a deep echo that seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at once. The voice resounded in her mind, deep and overwhelming, like a whisper charged with power:"Ask again."
Aisha shuddered at the recognition. Sanathiel.It was more than just an echo in her mind; it was an enveloping force, syncing her heartbeat to his. An invisible but unbreakable bond made her feel both small and infinitely powerful."Aisha!" Rasen shouted from his cell, his voice filled with desperation and promise.The call jolted her from her trance. She turned toward him—his face bloodied, his body near collapse, but his eyes... his eyes burned with unwavering determination to protect her, no matter the cost.Yet the connection with Sanathiel was impossible to ignore. It enveloped her, trapping her between two worlds: the human, represented by Rasen, and the relentless darkness of Sanathiel.
When Sanathiel emerged from the shadows, his presence dominated the room. His golden eyes locked onto Aisha's, silencing everything else.No words were needed between them—their bond spoke in a language deeper than speech."You are bound to me," Sanathiel murmured, but his words resonated directly in her mind. It was a declaration, not an explanation—a truth she could not deny.
"No..." she whispered weakly, though she knew that refusal held no power. The bond was inevitable.Meanwhile, Rasen, weakened but determined, clung to his promise to protect her. He forced himself to his feet, drawing a hidden dagger from his boot.
"I won't let you take her," he rasped, pointing it directly at Sanathiel.
Sanathiel didn't even flinch. His gaze remained fixed solely on Aisha, as if Rasen were nothing more than a nuisance. But before Rasen could strike, Risas appeared behind him and slammed him into the wall with brutal force.
Rasen rolled to the side, dodging Risas' next attack with a technique Bjorn had taught him back at the academy: "A warrior falls only to rise stronger."With practiced agility, he rose and stabbed the dagger into Risas' thigh, making the creature howl in pain."Your master isn't invincible, monster!" Rasen roared, pointing to the glowing lunar medallion around Sanathiel's neck. "That talisman binds him to this plane! Destroy it, and Arceo will drag him back to the abyss!"
Aisha held her breath. Rasen wasn't just fighting for her—he was fighting with the cunning of someone who had survived countless hunter circles.
Risas snarled, yanking the dagger out of his leg."All your training won't amount to more than a scratch! Pathetic!"But Rasen was already moving, using a hawk-spin maneuver Adrian had taught him, lunging toward Sanathiel and reaching for the medallion. A golden flash repelled him, but for the first time, Sanathiel frowned.
Steven struggled against his bindings, his bloodshot eyes locked on Sanathiel. Memories of his dead sister—drowned in a frozen lake after Arceo's failed ritual—flashed before him."You killed her!" he suddenly roared, snapping his ropes with supernatural strength. "You made Arceo use her as a sacrifice to possess you!"
All eyes turned to him. Sanathiel gazed at him with cold indifference."Your sister chose to serve a power she never understood. Just like you."
Steven grabbed a rusted chain from his cell, his movements sharpened by years of training under Arceo's service."I betrayed my blood to follow that demon... but today, your head will be my redemption."
Sanathiel's voice filled the space once more, ignoring the others."Aisha, don't fight it. It is already part of you," he said with unsettling calm.
Aisha trembled. She stood on the edge of a precipice—and falling would mean losing herself forever. Yet the pull toward Sanathiel was overwhelming."Am I losing control of myself?"
Through the chaos, Rasen rose again, battered but unbroken. He drew another dagger from his belt—the one Adrian had given him upon graduating as a hunter.Instead of aiming for Sanathiel's heart, he hurled it straight at the lunar medallion. The blade vibrated against it, leaving a small crack across the talisman's surface.
"Bjorn was right!" Rasen coughed, blood on his lips but a defiant grin on his face. "You're no god—just a prisoner on a leash!"
Sanathiel stared at the fissure on the medallion, and for a moment, his form flickered, revealing Arceo writhing within him.
Aisha felt a strange force stir within her. Sanathiel's presence was still there, guiding her thoughts and movements.She dashed forward, pushing Arceo and Sanathiel toward the bathtub in the center of the cell block. Rasen tried to help, but a paralyzing aroma filled the air. He fought it, pressing a nerve at his neck—a technique Bjorn had taught him to resist toxins—granting him a few more precious seconds.
"The medallion, Aisha!" he managed to croak. "It's his anchor, break it and—!"
The poison dropped him to the ground before he could finish."Aisha... don't give up..." he murmured, collapsing onto the cold stone floor.
Suddenly, a shadow moved through the room.Steven surged forward like a whirlwind, guilt and fury burning in his bloodshot eyes. He stepped between Aisha and Sanathiel, brandishing a chain etched with black runes—the last remnant of his past servitude to Arceo.
"You think I don't see through your lies, usurper?" he spat, whipping the chain like a blade. "Arceo promised you power, but he only used your body as a gateway... just like he used Clara!"
The name echoed like a thunderclap.Aisha caught a glimpse of Steven's hidden memory: a young woman drowning in a frozen lake, Arceo laughing from within Sanathiel's possessed body.
Sanathiel dodged the first strike with grace, but the chain grazed his shoulder, burning a smoking trail into his flesh."Clara screamed your name before she died," Sanathiel whispered seductively, watching Steven stiffen."Steven, please!""Does it comfort you to know her last thought was of your betrayal?"
Steven roared—not from rage, but from pain. He wrapped the chain around Sanathiel's neck, ignoring the searing agony it caused him."I'd rather burn in hell," he growled, dragging him toward the bathtub where Aisha waited, "than let you repeat what you did to her."
Aisha's internal struggle reached its peak.The scent of Rasen's blood, the fury burning in Steven, and Sanathiel's haunting voice twisted together in her mind.
But then—the vision of the cracked medallion glowed in her thoughts like a beacon.
"Enough!" Aisha screamed—not with her voice, but with a newfound force.
She stood tall—and for the first time, Sanathiel faltered.
"If I'm connected to you," she said, stepping closer as Steven's chain tightened around him, "then tell me: am I your master... or your prison?"
Sanathiel smiled, but this time, the certainty in his golden eyes wavered."You are... my contradiction," he whispered—and in that instant, Aisha struck the medallion with all her might...