Previously:
Sister Marisa fell under a brutal attack by an unknown creature. Though Ethan's team rushed to her aid, the true identity of her assailant remained a mystery—at first, they suspected the town sheriff, but a darker truth was waiting to be unmasked.
"Erlinda!" Lochia hissed, her voice dripping with rage at the woman standing before her.
Mang Jose and Raven stood frozen in shock. "Why do they look alike? Are they twins?" Raven whispered.
"I had forgotten Lochia even had a twin," Mang Jose muttered, his brow furrowed. "But what is she doing here? I thought she fled to the city after the curse took hold."
As they watched, Jasmine and Catherine shared a chilling realization. The woman in front of them looked exactly as she did in Jasmine's visions, yet the Barangay Captain—her own twin—had aged years beyond her.
"Hello, Sister," Erlinda purred, her eyes dancing with malice. "Did you miss me?"
"Did you kill my friend, Marisa!" Lochia growled, the transformation beginning as her fangs pierced through her gums.
Erlinda only offered a taunting smile. "Maybe? I think so. But then again... who knows?"
"How dare you! You are no longer welcome in Santa Barbara!" Lochia barked. She commanded her village guards to seize her sister, but the world turned upside down in an instant. Instead of arresting the intruder, the guards turned their weapons on their own leader, pinning Lochia down.
Before the trap could fully close, Jasmine and Catherine unleashed their powers, narrowly helping the group escape the office now claimed by the treacherous Erlinda.
THE CONTINUATION
"She killed my friend... she killed Marisa," Captain Lochia whispered, the weight of the realization hitting her. "How did I not see this from the start? All the accusations that I was the one bringing chaos to the other towns... why didn't I realize that Erlinda was the one behind it all?"
"Captain Lochia, I am so sorry for doubting you," Raven said softly.
"You don't have to apologize, Raven. It is my fault too; I failed to protect our village," Lochia replied, her voice hardening. "But what exactly is Erlinda doing here now?"
Catherine stepped forward. "I heard her mention Kuya Kaito and Ethan. I think Saesbyeol is involved in this."
"Saesbyeol?" Lochia frowned. "Who is that?"
"It's a long story, Captain," Ethan interrupted, checking the perimeter. "But it looks like Saesbyeol is well aware of what we're doing here."
"But the last hope we were looking for is gone," Akihiko said, his frustration evident. "Marisa is dead. How are we supposed to help Baekhyun's sister break Saesbyeol's curse now?"
Mang Jose and Raven quickly explained to the Captain that they had come seeking Sister Marisa because she was believed to be the last nun of the Sisters of Light.
"It's not too late," Lochia said, her eyes turning to Raven. "There is one more left."
The group fell silent, confused. Everyone knew Marisa had been the final survivor of her order.
"What do you mean, Lochia?" Mang Jose asked.
"It's Raven," Lochia said firmly. "Have you forgotten? Raven once entered the convent because she wanted to be just like her aunt."
As the Captain spoke, the sounds of the present faded, and Raven found herself pulled back into a memory she had tried to bury...
FLASHBACK
"Sister Marisa, what should we do?" young Raven cried out.
The ground beneath the convent was bucking like a wild animal. Dust choked the air as the ancient seals on the walls began to crack and collapse.
"You have to leave, Raven!" Sister Marisa shouted over the roar of the earthquake. "Where are the others?"
"They're trapped in the underground room! It's 3:00 PM—Mother Superior and the others were gathered for the Divine Mercy prayer. I tried to reach them, but the rocks are too heavy!"
"Follow me!" Marisa commanded.
They scrambled down toward the prayer room at the bottom of the church, but Marisa stopped in horror. The only pathway to the sisters was completely buried under massive jagged boulders.
"Sister Marisa, watch out!" Raven screamed.
A massive stone slab broke loose from the ceiling, plummeting directly toward her aunt. But before it could crush her, the air hummed with power. The slab suddenly shattered into a million tiny pebbles.
Marisa spun around to see Raven standing with her hand outstretched, her palm glowing with a soft, ethereal light. With a simple gesture from the girl, the surrounding fallen rocks crumbled into harmless sand.
"How did you do that?" Marisa whispered, breathless.
"I... I don't know," Raven replied, trembling.
"We have to leave before the whole structure comes down!"
They sprinted out of the church just as the tremors stopped. Marisa looked back at the ruins, her heart breaking for the nuns still trapped beneath the earth.
"Maybe they're still alive, Auntie! Let's go back!" Raven urged, but her aunt grabbed her arm, stopping her cold.
A thick, oily black smoke was beginning to seep out of the cracks in the earth. It spread with unnatural speed—first the grass withered and turned to ash, then the ancient trees groaned and died. Marisa's eyes widened as she remembered a vision Calista had shared years ago.
"The portal to the underworld... it's open," Marisa gasped. "This smoke is a curse. Cristine sealed it once, but the earthquake broke the wards. How? The orations placed there were supposed to be unbreakable!"
"Auntie? The smoke... it's covering me!" Raven cried.
Marisa looked down and saw the darkness swirling around her niece's legs. Thinking fast, she grabbed Raven, chanting a powerful oration while hanging her own blessed necklace around the girl's neck. The light from the necklace pushed the shadows back.
"If this smoke reaches the village, everyone will be cursed," Marisa said, her face pale.
"What happens if they are?" Raven asked, terrified.
"I don't know yet, but we must warn Lochia and Jose," Marisa said, her voice turning solemn. She looked Raven in the eyes. "And Raven? I gave you that necklace for a reason."
"Auntie?"
"You are no longer just a student," Marisa said. "You are now the youngest nun of the Sisters of Light."
BACK TO THE PRESENT
Raven gripped the necklace her aunt had given her, the cold metal grounding her as she looked at the group.
"I don't know how to perform the Light Baptism," she admitted. "But if we can get back to the ruins of the church, I know where the hidden library is. I can search the archives and find the instructions there."
"That place is a death trap," Mang Jose countered, his voice full of worry. "If those aswang weren't actually Lochia's men, they were likely soldiers ordered to kill anyone who steps foot on that holy ground."
"If getting in and out is the only problem, I have an idea," Akihiko spoke up, his eyes narrowing as he studied the map of the village.
"Tell us, Aki," Ethan said, leaning in. "What's the plan?"
THE SEVENTH CIRCLE
Meanwhile, Jin Ae had just located her eleventh victim.
"In fairness, this little toy Kassius gave me works like a charm," she whispered to herself. She toyed with a small, star-shaped artifact that hummed with a dark pulse. "Finding victims and taking their blood is almost too easy now."
She spotted her target and moved with predator-like grace, slipping into the seat next to him. Her outfit was deliberately provocative, designed to ensure no man could look her in the eye for long.
"Hi... is anyone sitting here?" Jin Ae asked, her voice breathy and sweet.
The man's gaze immediately dropped, lingering exactly where she expected it to. Jin Ae suppressed a smirk; everything was going according to plan. She leaned in closer, invading his personal space.
"Excuse me, handsome? I'm waiting for my friends, but they're late. I'm starting to get worried... some of the drunks in here are looking at me strangely. I'd feel so much safer if I could just sit with you."
She shifted her tone, layering it with a practiced, seductive charm that made her voice sound like honey.
"Yes—yes, of course," the man stammered, offering a wide smile. "I'm waiting for some friends myself. I'm Caleb, and you are?" He extended his hand.
"My name is Anastasia," Jin Ae lied, her fingers sliding over his palm. "But you can call me Ana."
"Nice to meet you, Ana. I haven't seen you around here before. Is this your first time at my bar?"
"Your bar?" Jin Ae gasped, feigning wide-eyed surprise. "You mean you're the owner? Oh gosh, I'm so sorry! I should be calling you 'Sir Caleb'."
"No, no," Caleb laughed, clearly enjoying the attention. "Caleb is fine. 'Sir' is a bit too formal for me."
"If you say so, Caleb," she purred. "To answer your question, my friends and I were supposed to celebrate a birthday, but they said they're stuck in traffic. I've been waiting forever."
"Well, that's the Philippines for you. The traffic never sleeps," Caleb joked. "Why don't you stay here with me for a while?"
"Thank you, Caleb," Jin Ae said, her eyes locking onto his.
As she smiled at him, her mind began to process the data the Darkness Clan had gathered on him. Caleb Martinez. Owner of the 'Heaven' Bar—which is anything but heavenly. On the surface, it's a nightclub, but deep inside it's a pit of gambling, drugs, and human trafficking. She watched his lips move as he spoke, her disgust hidden behind a mask of beauty. A famous drug lord. A predator who has fathered children with six different women, only to discard them like trash once he's had his fill. He thinks he's the one in control.
Jin Ae's smile widened, but this time, it didn't reach her eyes. Caleb Martinez had no idea he was about to become a sacrifice.
THE CHURCH OF THE SISTERS OF LIGHT
Ethan and his team moved silently through the shadows of the ruins. Nearby, Erlinda's guards stood watch, their eyes scanning the darkness—until they spotted three figures approaching.
It looked as though Erlinda herself was dragging a captured Mang Jose and Raven toward them.
"What are you looking at?" Erlinda snapped at the guards. "Don't just stand there, help me bring these two to the Barangay Hall! You lot aren't doing your jobs—we were almost ambushed by these two pests. Now, move!"
"Yes, Madam!" one of the male aswangs barked, scurrying forward.
The guards fell for the trap completely. They had no idea that the real Mang Jose and Raven had already slipped safely into the church. They didn't realize they were being toyed with by a Gumiho and two Kitsunes.
Once the group reached the dense, secluded heart of the forest, the "Erlinda" figure came to a halt. The air shimmered, and the illusion began to dissolve.
"Wrong move, bitches," Akihiko sneered, his form shifting from the female captain back into his true self.
Beside him, the figures of Mang Jose and Raven flickered and vanished. Baekhyun and Kaito stood in their place, their eyes glowing with predatory light. Before the three aswangs could even draw breath to scream for help, the three warriors unleashed their power.
In a blur of motion, Akihiko, Baekhyun, and Kaito lashed out. Their powerful fox tails whipped through the air like coils of steel, ensnaring the guards and crushing the life out of them before they could make a sound.
The forest went silent again as the bodies hit the dirt.
"I can smell the real Erlinda," Kaito said, his nose catching a foul scent on the wind. "She's nearby."
"We need to warn Ethan," Baekhyun added, his expression grim. "But where are Mang Jose and Captain Lochia? They were supposed to be the ones to intercept her."
Without another word, the three warriors shifted their shapes, their human clothes vanishing as they transformed into sleek, powerful foxes. They vanished into the undergrowth, racing toward the church.
TO BE CONTINUED...