The night air was cold. Not sharp, but heavy — soaked into my sleeves and pressed against my skin like wet cloth. I couldn't see the trees, but I felt them: tall shadows, quiet and still. Only the occasional flicker of disturbed mana traced the outline of a branch, a bird, a silent watcher.
We walked for over an hour. Step after step in perfect rhythm. My legs moved as though they were mine — they weren't. My chest rose and fell calmly — no panic. My thoughts clawed at walls, but there was no door to grab.
Two others walked beside me. I hadn't known who they were until now — hadn't paid attention. But when the fourth presence arrived, his mana shifting wild and impatient just ahead, I heard his voice:
"You sure this one's the prodigy? The blind girl?"
Lycian spoke up. "Trust me, "that's her."
"Then the other one's the king's brat, yeah?"
I inhaled sharply. A chill slipped down my spine.
The person beside me shimmered faintly — taller, a little bigger than most first years. The mana had a high-born polish, practiced. That stiff coldness that elves couldn't help but carry like a crown.
William.
Prince William.
We'd never been friends. He barely masked his disgust for me — for humans. For the blind. Always a comment, always sharp. But now… now he was like me. Quiet. Walking.
Trapped.
I didn't try to speak. I already knew I couldn't.
My lips didn't respond.
The newcomers walked with us now — more than two. Five, maybe six. Their mana was different than Lycian's. His had been controlled, woven into something that passed for human. But these… this was raw. Heavy. Their presence dripped heat and hunger, like coals under oil-soaked cloth.
These weren't pretenders.
They were Devils.
Real ones.
Lycian spoke up again, too casually. "I did my part. Got you two gifts. And some trash who's high rank, just thought something extra wouldn't hurt. You'll deliver the rest of the bargain, yes?"
One of the others let out a sharp, distorted chuckle. "You'll get your slice. But you'd better hope that brat's worth all the trouble. Two armies are gonna scream when they find out you plucked a prince and a prodigy."
They laughed like it was a punchline.
William didn't move. Neither did I.
We were guided onto horseback — the saddle rough, the hold firm. The outline holding the reins barely registered as humanoid. Long limbs. Hunched shoulders. Breath that steamed cold even without chill.
Even with the horses their saddles imprinted with mana to enhance speed, the ride lasted hours. I couldn't mark the time, but my sense of mana began to dull from strain. I'd spent too much just trying to feel — to map what I couldn't see. I knew we crossed something important — a fold in the air, a sudden rush of pressure.
Not a portal.
Something older.
A hidden pass. Maybe one not meant to exist.
No wards. No patrols. No dwarves. No elven blades humming at the edge of the borders.
And then I knew.
We've entered the Devil Realm.
Blazewind
I shivered.
Not from the cold — from the certainty that I had walked myself into a place no human, elf, or dwarf was meant to stand.
Not without an army at your back.
And worse — I'd done it without even raising my voice.
If I can be controlled this easily… I might never get back out.
POV: Salem
The forest tore past us in streaks of moonlight and branch-shadow.
I kept my eyes forward, feet hitting the ground hard enough to bruise, arms burning with the cold snap of late-night wind. But none of that mattered.
All I saw was the thread.
That thin, almost impossible stream of mana Annabel had left behind — like a splinter of breath, curling between trees and stone. Most people wouldn't have noticed it. Hell, I almost didn't. But I knew her signature. The way her mana tugged a little sharper at the edges. Like something quiet trying not to shake.
And maybe she didn't even mean to leave it. Which scared me more.
It meant her control was cracking. Or she couldn't even feel it leaking.
Rōko ran beside me, breathing hard but steady. Gear strapped tight across her back, spear sheathed over one shoulder. We hadn't stopped since leaving the gates.
I wanted to melt into shadow and be there already—tear through distance like paper. But if I burned that much mana now, and Lycian had even one trick left in him, we'd never make it out alive. Not with Annabel. Not against Devils.
So I ran like a human.
Fast. Focused. Raging under the skin.
Behind me, Rōko broke the silence.
"How the hell could his mana feel human?"
Her voice was low, rough with effort. "Lycian. You said he's a Devil. But it never felt wrong. It was… clean. Controlled."
I didn't look at her. My eyes were locked on the trail.
"It was," I said. "Too clean. Too calm."
"But—"
"We'll find out," I muttered, voice flat and quiet, "when I start pulling fingers."
That shut her up.
Good.
Because if I said anything else right now, it would've been a scream.
Not because I was angry. Not just because I was angry.
Because our bond was quiet. Still.
And I didn't know if it would ever speak again.