In the mansion, the lights illuminated every corner with suspicious insistence,
as if attempting to erase a lurking shadow.
I entered to find everyone gathered in the living room,
their faces tense,
their breaths trapped in a heavy silence.
Their eyes were fixed on me—
like arrows drawn before release.
"What's going on?" I asked,
trying to interpret the unusual worry in their eyes.
OBASO was the first to speak,
his voice carrying a tension I had never heard from him before:
"Where have you been all this time?"
I raised an eyebrow in confusion.
"I was just taking a walk."
But their expressions said they didn't believe me.
Something much bigger than my absence was hanging in the air.
I tried to break the suffocating silence:
"What's the reason for this gathering?"
SHOUTNA answered with his calm tone—the kind that never missed its mark:
"We have a new mission."
I turned to everyone.
"What kind of mission?"
SHOUTNA glanced at MASIN and YASIN.
MASIN stepped forward.
"Have you heard of the Peace Conference?"
ZAKI responded quickly:
"The one to be held in the Kingdom to end the SVARNA–KARA war?"
MESNAS intervened:
"And what's the issue with that?"
MASIN replied with clear seriousness:
"The issue lies in who's attending.
SPIYA, the kingdom to the north, will join as well…
and let's say it's facing… delicate circumstances.
The king has no male heir—only a female."
SOLIMON asked, intrigued:
"And what's the problem with that, too?"
SHOUTNA continued, his quiet tone now heavy:
"The problem is that a woman has never ruled the kingdom.
And the princess has never appeared in any official event."
ADEL added:
"But due to the king's health issues…
The princess is being sent."
ZARIOUH asked sharply:
"And what does this have to do with us?"
MASIN replied, his eyes scanning their faces:
"The escort team assigned to accompany the princess…
was completely slaughtered."
SHOUTNA stood, placing his hands behind his back,
looking out the window as if seeing beyond the city itself.
"The King of SPIYA believes there is a hidden hand inside his kingdom…
trying to eliminate the princess.
So he requested help from his close friend."
MESNAS smirked lightly:
"Let me guess… the King of the Kingdom."
SHOUTNA nodded:
"The king will attend the conference as well.
So protecting the princess means protecting him."
ADEL asked:
"So… who is the princess?"
SHOUTNA shook his head.
"I don't know.
But we will meet her at the end of the month as the conference approaches."
AYOUB smirked confidently:
"Doesn't sound like a difficult mission."
SHOUTNA cut in sharply:
"In this world, Ayoub… nothing is ever easy. The moment you think a mission is simple, that's when the real danger crawls in. Deception always hides behind the things we underestimate."
Then he continued, "We will take this mission seriously"
Then he looked at me, "MOHITO, you'll stay here with the communications team. You've taken part in many missions lately, so it's time for you to rest"
When I heard my name assigned to the information team,
something inside me trembled—
a string snapping, unheard by anyone else.
But I hid it behind my usual calm expression
and left with the others toward my room.
********************
Everyone dispersed to their rooms…
Except for three people.
"What is it, SOLIMON?" SHOUTONA asked,
still watching the computer screen with ADEL.
"Isn't excluding MOHITO from the mission… a little too obvious?"
SOLIMON asked, worry filling his features.
"There's something you need to see," ADEL said,
turning the screen toward him.
"This…!" SOLIMON's eyes widened.
The screen displayed horrifying images of the princess's escort team.
Bodies of men and women in formal clothes
lay in pools of blood—
a nightmare repeating endlessly.
"Yes. We noticed that too."
ADEL said, watching SOLIMON's reaction.
"This method of killing…" SHOUTNA whispered,
His eyes were fixed on the screen.
"…resembles MOHITO's style exactly."
SOLIMON murmured:
"They were hunted one by one…like prey trapped in a pen."
ADEL zoomed in on a corpse:
"Look at this wound…
Clean, deep, cutting through bone with overwhelming strength.
This isn't an ordinary strike."
SHOUTNA stood motionless,
his gaze glued to the screen.
ADEL zoomed even further,
revealing chilling details.
ADEL:
"The strike started from below, upward…
The ribs broken in the same way,
the trachea sliced at the same angle."
A moment of silence,
then ADEL looked at SOLIMON.
"Exactly like…"
"MOHITO…"
SULIMON whispered, unable to look away.
SHOUTNA pulled an old file from the archive.
SHOTONA, his voice gravelly:
"Compare. This strike… and this one.
Same depth. Same force.
Even the spacing between wounds.
This isn't similarity…"
He looked at both of them.
"This is identical."
The match was terrifying,
as if the killer hadn't just studied MOHITO's technique—
but replicated it perfectly.
*********************
At that moment… MOHITO's phone rang.
He was in his room, staring at the unknown number.
He opened the message.
Three words:
"The Demon Wolf…"
His blood froze.
The world stopped.
That title…
that name he had buried in the deepest abyss of his memory.
A voice from his past whispered:
"Didn't I tell you?
I never went anywhere.
I just… waited."
Cold sweat drenched his forehead.
This wasn't a threat.
It was a declaration.
A message that said:
"I am still here."
MOHITO rushed out of his room
toward OBASO's.
He knocked violently.
OBASO opened, startled.
"MOHITO?! What's wrong?"
MOHITO, with a tone no one had ever heard from him:
"I need you to trace this message… NOW."
The look on his face
told OBASO everything he needed to know.
"Alright… let me see."
He connected the phone to his computer,
his fingers dancing across the keyboard.
"It's coming from… the port!"
MOHITO bolted out of the room,
running toward the port.
The three analysing the massacre saw him from afar.
OBASO shouted:
"Guys! We need to follow him—something's wrong!"
SOLIMON immediately ran after him.
ADEL approached OBASO.
"What's happening?"
OBASO showed him the message.
When SHOUTNA read the three words,
His expression froze solid.
SHOUTNA, in a commanding tone:
"Tell ZARIOUH and MESNAS to follow him.
Now!"
Outside, MOHITO moved
with the speed of a shadow.
SOLIMON kept close behind him
until they reached the port.
They stopped at a horrifying scene:
A pool of blood.
Severed heads arranged like a twisted artwork—
Spelling out:
"The Demon Wolf."
SOLIMON froze behind him.
The method of killing was identical
to what they had just seen…
and identical to…
MOHITO's own style.
SOLIMON approached cautiously,
But when he saw MOHITO's expression,
He stopped in place.
It wasn't fear.
It wasn't a shock.
It was a smile.
A wicked, predatory smile that carried one message:
"I accept your game."
A voice came from behind:
MESNAS, arriving with ZRIOUH:
"Guys! Are you—?"
They froze at the sight.
The blood.
The severed heads.
And the demonic smile on MOHITO's face…
Everything pointed to one truth.
The storm had just begun.