Selena and Lyo were moving deeper into the forest, slipping between widely spaced trunks and half-exposed roots. Sunlight still filtered through the canopy above, but something in the air had shifted.
Too quiet.
Too deliberate.
The forest no longer felt alive. It felt watchful.
"Don't you think the silence is… strange?" Lyo whispered, his voice barely disturbing the air.
Selena did not answer immediately. Her eyes scanned their surroundings, tracing every shadow, every tremor of leaves, every gap between the trees. Her instincts had been screaming for several minutes now, sharp and insistent.
"We're being followed," she finally said, calm but firm.
Lyo stiffened for a brief instant.
"You're sure?"
"Yes. This isn't an animal," she replied. "It's controlled. Calculated."
They kept walking, pretending not to notice. Selena subtly slowed her pace, placing each step with greater care. She was about to warn Rael using the beacon when—
The ground gave way.
Without warning, the earth collapsed beneath their feet. Selena barely had time to grab Lyo's arm before both of them vanished into the void.
"Shit—!"
They fell several meters, the descent violent and chaotic. Their bodies struck rock and packed soil as they tumbled downward. When they finally hit the ground, the impact drove the air violently from Lyo's lungs.
Silence followed.
Heavy. Suffocating.
Then a muffled groan.
"Are you okay?" Selena asked immediately, pushing herself upright.
"Yeah… I think so," Lyo replied after a pause. "What about you?"
Selena stood without difficulty.
"Nothing broken."
Lyo tried to do the same, but staggered, instinctively pressing a hand to his side.
"…Yeah. I'm fine," he lied.
Selena frowned but did not press him. Not now.
They were standing in an enormous underground chamber. The ceiling rose high above them, jagged and uneven. A wide opening allowed daylight to pour in, bathing the cavern in a pale, unsettling glow. The walls were marked with ancient signs: deep scratches, fractured stone, remnants of dried webbing clinging stubbornly to the rock.
"We need to get back to the surface," Selena said.
But before she could finish her sentence, Lyo felt something drifting down around them.
Dust.
Fine. Slow.
It hung in the air… and revealed shapes.
Lyo froze. His eyes widened. His breath caught in his throat.
"Selena…"
"What is it?"
She turned.
And saw.
Bodies.
Dozens of people hung from the ceiling, suspended in thick cocoons of spider silk. Men. Women. Teenagers.
Alive.
Some were breathing faintly, chests rising and falling with shallow rhythm. Others were terrifyingly still, wrapped for far too long.
At the center of the chamber lay a massive creature.
A giant spider, motionless.
Its abdomen pulsed slowly, rhythmically, like a sleeping heart. With every breath it took, the threads holding the captives trembled, vibrating through the cavern.
"…I think we found the missing people," Lyo murmured, his voice tight.
Selena clenched her jaw.
"And this is only the beginning."
---
At the same moment, above ground.
Rael and Blanek were moving quickly when a dull, echoing sound rumbled beneath their feet.
"Did you hear that?" Rael asked.
Blanek nodded immediately.
"Yes. That was Selena and Lyo."
He turned without hesitation.
"We're going."
They barely had time to take a single step.
Blanek suddenly shoved Rael violently aside.
"Get down!"
A massive wave of energy tore through the air where Rael had been standing just a second earlier. It passed so close that it shredded the bark of nearby trees, slicing through wood as if it were paper.
Rael was hurled into a trunk, the impact knocking the breath from his lungs.
"Wh—?!"
He looked up.
And felt it.
A monstrous energy.
Crushing. Overwhelming.
A presence so dense it seemed to devour everything around it. Rael's body trembled, his mind straining not to be swallowed by the oppressive aura pressing down on him.
Could a single person really emit such power?
Blanek was already staring at their attacker.
And he understood.
The man stood before them, calm and unmoving.
Short violet hair. A slender frame. Resting casually on his shoulder was an enormous violet-black scythe, from which dark energy seeped, writhing as if alive.
And on his hand—
A symbol.
Blanek felt the blood drain from his face.
"…Shit."
Rael struggled to his feet.
"You know him?"
Blanek clenched his teeth.
"Yes. And this is very bad."
The man inclined his head slightly, a cold smile stretching across his lips.
"You're quick to understand," he said, his voice steady. Casual. Lethally calm.
"I'm surprised you're still standing."
Blanek muttered, almost to himself:
"'THE DEATH.'"
Rael's heart skipped a beat.
"The wanted criminal…?"
"Exactly."
The man slowly lifted his scythe.
"Member of the Black Veils."
The most dangerous criminal organization on the continent.
The air trembled.
The forest seemed to contract around them, as if reality itself recoiled from his presence.
And in that precise moment, Rael understood something clearly.
This mission was not a simple investigation.
It was a direct collision with something far greater than they had ever imagined.