The night swallowed the sound of Kristen's cries.
One moment the three of them had burst from the carriage in a spray of shattered glass and splintered wood, wings beating frantically against the cold air, and the next she was alone.
The forest below was a black ocean of swaying treetops. The moon hung above her, thin and sharp, its light silvering the world just enough to show her what wasn't there.
There were no golden-tipped black feathers, no familiar petite silhouette. Olivia and Lucia weren't even in sight.
Where is everyone?
Her wings faltered mid-beat.
"H-Hello?" she called out instinctively, though she knew they were far enough away for sound not to matter.
Nothing answered but the wind whipping around her feathers.
A chill crept up her spine.
She reached inward, searching for the faint connection that had begun forming between the three of them after so many shared experiences. Usually Lucia's presence was like a steady, burning sun in the back of her awareness; strong, overwhelming, impossible to ignore.
But now?
There was only a faint afterimage.
"No, no, no, no" Kristen banked hard in the air, circling wildly, scanning the darkness. "THIS IS NOT THE TIME FOR A DRAMATIC DISAPPEARANCE!"
She dove lower, just above the treetops, senses straining. The forest smelled of pine sap and damp earth. Somewhere in the distance, a night creature shrieked.
'Still no fucking trace.'
Her chest tightened.
Back at the ruined carriage-
'WAIT. DID THEY GET CAUGHT??'
Kristen whipped around and shot back toward the direction they had fled from, heart hammering against her ribs.
As she approached the clearing, she slowed.
The carriage wreckage still lay scattered like bones. The five cultivators stood in the loose formation where they had been moments ago.
But they weren't chasing.
They weren't even looking up.
They were staring at the ground in front of them.
Kristen's eyes widened at the sight. Lucia stood there alone, with Olivia lying a few meters behind her, unmoving but not injured, at least from what Kristen could see.
Lucia's body looked the same… kinda.
Her feathers were no longer simply pitch black. They shimmered with a faint pearlescent sheen, like moonlight refracting across water.
And around her shimmered a faint golden color mixed with a white sheen. It seemed like the Skybound Sovereign fragment that she had consumed hadn't fully merged with her.
Calling down to Lucia from high up in the sky, she reached out to see what the hell she was doing.
"Pssss! Lucia, what are you doing? Why aren't you running?"
"Hmmm? Oh! This isn't the real me. The whole area is an illusion. I got a major power-up from the Skybound Sovereign and the second core forming."
Looking at the scene with worry, Kristen decided to land a hundred meters away on a branch. Olivia, who was also watching the scene, made her way over there and quietly sat down beside Kristen.
The tree rustled around them as they nervously waited to see what would happen.
The leader of the cultivators lowered the ominous contraption in his hand slightly.
"So you didn't run," he said calmly.
Lucia tilted her head menacingly.
'Wow, I think this is the scariest I've ever seen her. Besides in practice, of course.'
Her eyes were luminous with a strange glow.
"I did," her voice echoed through the clearing, reverberating through the air and into their bones. "You just didn't notice."
Kristen blinked.
'Wait, what?'
The four golden core cultivators stiffened while the one in the foundational stage showed no reaction. One of them spun around sharply, causing the forest behind them to ripple.
All sorts of bizarre things then began to spin into reality through Lucia's power; ten-foot-tall spiders stomping around with massive fangs, chunks of rock shooting into those handsome men. Best of all, Lucia managed to make them feel as though they were actually experiencing the pain.
That was the new divine ability she had gained when evolving. Turning what people felt from illusions into reality, although it couldn't cause any actual damage, it sure as hell could make them feel like they were in hell.
Immediately, because most of them were raised in wealth and had faced very little strife, pain shot through the humans' nerves and caused them to drop to the ground.
Tears flowed freely down their cheeks, the once handsome and beautiful faces scrunching up in agony.
'NOOO-I mean *cough cough* yay!'
But Lucia didn't show them any modicum of mercy, just as they wouldn't have done to her.
Gazing at the awe-inspiring scene, Olivia and Kristen watched as Lucia thoroughly tortured the humans until all they could do was roll around on the ground.
Lucia flew away from the gruesome scene, letting the cultivators go because she didn't have enough stamina to keep the illusion up. She dove down onto the tree where the others were watching.
Breathlessly, she greeted them.
The entire tree shuddered under the impact, bark cracking beneath her talons. The pearlescent sheen around her feathers flickered like a dying flame before stabilizing into a faint glow.
For a second she didn't speak. She just stood there, chest rising and falling too fast.
Kristen stared at her.
Then past her.
Then back to her.
Kristen swallowed.
"Okay," she said slowly. "That was… kinda terrifying."
Olivia stepped forward first, steady as always, though her eyes were sharper than usual. "How long can you maintain it?"
Lucia didn't answer immediately. Instead, the illusion below flickered. The giant spiders blurred at the edges. Crushing rocks stuttered mid-air before slamming down again.
"Not long," Lucia admitted, her voice hoarse.
"The second core isn't stable. It's… feeding the ability, in a way."
Kristen tilted her head. "Feeding like… gently supplying?"
Lucia gave her a flat look.
"No. Like burning."
'Oh.'
Kristen's cheeks puffed anxiously. "You are NOT allowed to self-destruct five minutes after evolving."
Lucia huffed faint amusement, but it dissolved quickly.
Below them, the cultivator who had seemed the calmest earlier was on one knee. His hands were trembling violently as he tried to steady his breathing.
He squeezed his eyes shut.
Lucia's gaze sharpened.
"He's resisting."
Olivia followed her line of sight. "Mental fortitude?"
"Yes." Lucia's voice lowered. "And a cultivation method. Something defensive."
The man forced himself upright, the spiders around him evaporating like smoke. The crushing pressure eased slightly, and he exhaled slowly, blood running from his nose.
He looked around and started to help his companions.
'That's our sign to go!'
"Okay, we need to leave now," Kristen voiced her opinion, and the other two nodded in response.
Taking off once more, they ditched the awful place - empty-handed and full of new, annoying problems to deal with.