The hooting of owls echoed through the entire forest, their distant calls drifting between the ancient trees like whispers carried by the night.
The forest had been quiet for hours.
Too quiet.
Then something moved.
A creature emerged from the darkness, its heavy footsteps disturbing the leaves beneath its paws. The owls immediately sensed its presence and scattered from the branches, disappearing into the night sky.
The creature stopped.
Its head lowered.
It sniffed the air.
Once.
Twice.
Again.
It was searching for something.
Or someone.
A low growl rumbled deep within its throat. The closer it came to its destination, the louder the growling became.
Then—
Two voices.
The creature immediately froze.
It lowered its body and slipped into a nearby bush, hiding itself among the leaves. From there, it watched two familiar figures standing in front of several tents.
Anna and Johann.
The creature's ears twitched.
Johann suddenly spoke.
Johann: "Do you know where Noah and the others are?"
Anna: "Not really."
The creature listened carefully.
Johann glanced around before lowering his voice.
Johann: "But do you know the latest news?"
The creature's ears immediately perked up.
It wanted to know.
Then Anna smiled.
Anna: "Yes. If you're asking whether there's a monster hiding in that bush, then yes."
The creature's eyes widened.
For one terrifying second, it didn't move.
Then it realized.
It had been discovered.
Anna: "Now!"
The creature looked upward.
Too late.
Noah dropped from above, his sword already drawn as he came crashing toward it.
The creature twisted its body at the last possible moment.
Noah's blade sliced through the empty space where its body had been only an instant before.
The creature landed hard and immediately sprinted into the forest.
Noah: "Go! Don't let it escape! It saw where we're staying!"
The creature barely managed to get a few meters away before Karoschi suddenly emerged from another bush.
His sword flashed.
The blade struck the creature's leg.
Hellhound: "RRAAAHH!"
The Hellhound spun around and snapped its jaws around Karoschi before violently throwing him into a nearby tree.
Karoschi crashed against the trunk and dropped to the ground.
The Hellhound didn't wait.
It ran.
Karoschi: "I'm fine! Keep going! I'll catch up!"
Noah didn't hesitate.
He chased after the Hellhound through the trees, branches whipping against his face as he pushed himself faster.
Noah: "Now!"
The moment the word left Noah's mouth, Perfidus emerged from behind a tree.
He raised his bow.
He pulled the string back.
And released.
The arrow flew through the darkness.
It struck the Hellhound directly in its right eye.
Hellhound: "RRAAAAGHHH!"
The creature howled in agony and suddenly changed direction.
Noah's expression dropped.
Noah: "Oh, come on! A change of direction?!"
The Hellhound disappeared deeper into the forest.
For several seconds, it seemed as though it might actually escape.
Then something slammed into it.
A Soul Vector.
The creature collapsed instantly, its body convulsing as the pain overwhelmed it.
Heinrich stepped out from behind the trees.
A proud grin spread across his face.
Heinrich: "Haha! You little bastard! Now you know what those tiny monsters did to me!"
The rest of the group finally caught up.
Heinrich looked at the Soul Vector with unmistakable pride.
Heinrich: "I finally did it. I actually created a Soul Vector."
Noah looked at him and smiled.
Noah: "Nice work, Heinrich."
The Hellhound was still alive.
Barely.
Its claws trembled as it desperately tried to escape the unbearable pain inflicted upon it. Eventually, driven beyond its limits, the creature began using its own claws against itself, desperately attempting to end the suffering.
The others watched in silence.
Karoschi's expression hardened.
Karoschi: "It's another Hellhound."
Perfidus looked toward the dying creature.
Perfidus: "That's the twelfth one we've encountered in the last seven days."
Noah stared at the Hellhound for a moment.
Then he looked back toward the camp.
Noah: "It doesn't matter. We killed it before it could reveal our location to Mimic."
With that, the group returned to their camp.
The tents stood beneath the trees, surrounded by darkness and the distant sounds of the forest.
Anna was waiting for them.
Anna: "So? Did you get it?"
Noah: "Yeah."
Johann yawned.
Johann: "Can we finally go to sleep now? I'm exhausted."
Noah looked at him.
After everything that had happened, he couldn't exactly disagree.
Noah: "Fine. Let's get some sleep."
One by one, they entered their respective tents.
The camp slowly became silent.
The fire burned lower.
The voices disappeared.
And eventually, everyone fell asleep.
Everyone except the darkness.
Hours later, a figure emerged from the forest.
No footsteps.
No warning.
No sound.
The figure simply appeared between the trees and slowly entered the camp.
The Traveler.
He moved through the tents without disturbing anyone before finally reaching Noah's tent.
He entered.
Noah remained completely unconscious.
The Traveler approached him and carefully retrieved Noah's sword.
He produced a strange device and held it against the blade.
Several red lights emerged from the machine.
A mechanical voice spoke.
Scanner: "Scanning... scanning... 74% Nexometal detected."
The Traveler stared at the sword.
His expression became serious.
Traveler: "Only seventy-four percent...?"
He looked down at Noah.
Traveler: "At that level, he will never be able to defeat Karag."
The Traveler's fingers tightened around the sword.
Traveler: "I have to make it one hundred percent. Even if it kills him... we have to risk it."
He pulled another device from his clothing.
It looked considerably more dangerous.
The Traveler pressed it against the sword.
The machine activated.
The sword began to disappear.
Not break.
Not melt.
Disappear.
The blade, the wooden handle, the iron components—everything slowly vanished as though reality itself were being dismantled.
Atomizer: "...Object successfully separated into its individual atoms."
The Traveler watched until nothing remained.
Then he reached into his pocket.
He pulled out a large lump of Nexometal.
He placed it exactly where Noah's sword had been.
Then he activated the device again.
This time, he switched it to reverse.
Traveler: "All right. Let's reverse the process."
He carefully adjusted the machine.
Traveler: "But this time, leave out the wood and iron atoms. The sword needs to be one hundred percent Nexometal."
The machine hummed.
For several seconds, nothing happened.
Then—
Atomizer: "...Restoration successful."
The sword was whole again.
But it was no longer the same sword.
The Traveler carefully placed it back where Noah had left it.
Before leaving, he leaned toward the sleeping Noah.
His voice became barely more than a whisper.
Traveler: "You must not trust him."
The Traveler paused.
Traveler: "Even if he keeps his promise."
His expression darkened.
Traveler: "You have to stop him for as long as he lives."
He looked toward the entrance of the tent.
Traveler: "Humanity doesn't have enough time to prepare for what will come in the year 2132."
A brief silence.
Traveler: "And when that day arrives..."
The Traveler's expression became grim.
Traveler: "...the entire universe will be doomed."
He disappeared from the tent.
And moments later, the Traveler was gone from the camp entirely.
No one noticed.
No one woke.
Not even Noah.
Several hours later.
Johann: "Noah. Noah, wake up. It's time for another meeting."
Noah slowly opened his eyes.
His vision was blurry.
For several seconds, he simply stared at the ceiling of the tent.
Then fragments of something strange came back to him.
A voice.
A strange presence.
A dream that had felt far too real.
Noah: "Ugh... that was such a weird dream."
Johann crossed his arms.
Johann: "What happened?"
Noah rubbed his eyes.
Noah: "Everything was normal at first, but then there was suddenly this voice..."
Johann immediately interrupted him.
Johann: "Yeah, yeah. Sounds fascinating. Unfortunately, we don't have time for your dream journal right now. Everyone's already waiting."
Noah sighed.
Noah: "Right."
He got up and followed Johann.
Together, they walked toward one of the larger tents.
They entered.
Anna, Heinrich, Karoschi, Perfidus, Leyla and several others were already inside.
Anna looked toward them.
Anna: "There you are. Now we can finally continue."
Leyla sat among the others, still visibly weakened from her injuries.
She looked around the tent.
Leyla: "All right. What do we do now? We've already been here for seven days. What happens to you and my people now?"
Heinrich leaned forward.
Heinrich: "We have to keep moving."
He glanced toward the entrance of the tent.
Heinrich: "The Hellhounds keep finding us. It's only a matter of time before one of them manages to reveal our location to Mimic."
Perfidus spoke next.
Perfidus: "That's not even the worst part."
Everyone looked toward him.
Perfidus: "A Night Crawler was spotted in the eastern part of the camp. It destroyed several tents before disappearing."
The atmosphere immediately became heavier.
Karoschi turned toward Noah.
Karoschi: "What do you think, Noah?"
Noah remained silent.
His mind wandered.
The Hellhounds.
The Night Crawler.
The destroyed kingdom.
Mimic.
And then—
Karag.
The dream suddenly came back to him.
Karag standing beneath the endless stars.
His calm voice.
His offer.
His promise.
You and your friends can live in a beautiful world.
Noah's expression hardened.
He had already made his decision.
Noah: "Karoschi."
Karoschi looked at him.
Noah: "Take us to Toren Fortress."
The tent became silent.
Noah: "We're going there."
Karoschi's expression changed immediately.
Karoschi: "Toren Fortress? All right, but—"
Noah: "However, everyone else needs to stay away from it."
Noah looked around the tent.
Noah: "Only Karoschi, Anna, Heinrich, Johann, Barry and I will enter."
His voice became more serious.
Noah: "We don't know how many monsters are waiting for us inside. The rest of you stay at a safe distance from the fortress."
Karoschi thought about it.
Karoschi: "Hmm... Toren Fortress. All right, but—"
Noah interrupted him.
Noah: "Karoschi, don't worry."
Karoschi looked at him.
Noah: "Finn only said those things about Clara to make you feel guilty. Your sister would never turn against you."
For a moment, Karoschi said nothing.
His expression softened slightly.
Karoschi: "Okay."
He looked toward the others.
Karoschi: "But then we need to leave now. I don't think Mimic is going to remain patient for much longer."
Leyla nodded.
Leyla: "Agreed. Inform everyone that we're moving."
A nearby guard immediately bowed.
Guard: "Yes, Princess."
The meeting ended.
Everyone left the tent and began gathering their belongings.
The camp slowly came alive again.
People packed food.
Weapons were secured.
Tents were dismantled.
The survivors prepared themselves for another journey.
Noah eventually finished packing his things.
He stepped outside.
For a moment, he simply stood there.
The forest was quiet.
Almost unnaturally quiet.
Then Noah noticed something.
At the edge of the forest, between the trees, stood a figure.
A silhouette.
It was impossible to make out its face.
Impossible to tell who it was.
Noah froze.
The figure didn't move.
Neither did Noah.
Several seconds passed.
Then—
It vanished.
No movement.
No footsteps.
Nothing.
It was simply gone.
Noah stared into the empty forest.
His heart began beating slightly faster.
He didn't know who had been watching him.
But somewhere deep inside, he had the terrible feeling that whoever—or whatever—it was...
had been watching them for much longer than just a few seconds.