Thalia was silent for a moment, seemingly deep in thought. After a few minutes, she finally spoke up.

"Something is wrong here," she said slowly, her voice trembling slightly. "If what is written in this is correct, then the entity's behavior is very strange. It had no reason to let its presence be known as early as six months back when I stumbled across the anomaly surrounding the village. I have a feeling that something foul is at play here."

Aria was taken aback by Thalia's words and looked at her anxiously.

"Do you think maybe you are being paranoid?" she asked hesitantly. "Kor'moros might not be aware of its surroundings, it may not even have expected to be discovered. After all its a remnant from a long time back."

"Exactly, it had no idea what to expect. So it should have been more cautious. Its almost as if it wanted to get discovered. Or someone forced it? I don't know. Maybe I am over thinking." Thalia sighed, overwhelmed a little. The thought that something was wrong had occurred before as well. It was her instinct or a sixth sense warning her maybe. But no matter what conclusion she thought of, all seemed far fetched.

"Maybe I am wrong," Thalia replied, her voice still full of doubt. "But we must remain vigilant and alert at all times until dawn arrives."

Aria nodded as they continued chalking out the plan that she had proposed. From the journal of Mage Sylas, they had identified the location of core mirror where Kor'moros was imprisoned. The nature of its prison was quite unique, but it was also the reason why it even had the chance to make a comeback.

Another aspect that they had confirmed was that the entity had one primary vessel it was controlling. Having all the villagers under its control was taxing for it, but amongst them all, there was certainly one who had been under its influence the longest. Someone who had machinated and helped with the subversion of other villagers. Their plane hinged around identifying and capturing this person first, before approaching the prison to strengthen it further.

With their plan laid out, Aria and Thalia got ready to face the enemy until sunrise. Aria put together an array of scrolls with Thalia's help, some designed to protect them while others were to strengthen the entity's cage so they could possibly restrain it till morning arrived.

......

Under the Banyan Tree, Village center

Under the cloak of the moonless night, the heart of the village was bathed in an eerie, silvery glow. At its center stood the ancient banyan tree, a massive figure, its branches spread like a colossal tapestry. The village was built around this huge behemoth that stood like a forest on its own. The banyan's trunk bore the various marks of the villagers who had lived around it for centuries, etching it with the passage of countless seasons. Yet, tonight, something about it was different.

A hollowed opening became visible, appearing like the maws of a beast. For centuries this passage had been hidden, invisible to the villagers and anyone who came near. But tonight, the magic lay dormant. The entrance to a cave below was revealed. The prison where the evil entity Kor'moros was imprisoned.

Through the opening, leading to a cave beneath was where the ancient evil was being suppressed. It was a small space, with no light. Only a purple glow in the center was visible. A mirror floated, its surface reflecting a shadow with no form. And surrounding this mirror were countless small shards placed in a formation. These mirror shards were the prison that held the entity Kor'moros in an infinite prison of reflections. Mage Sylas had designed this place to hold and wither the powers of the entity slowly over time. He had believed, more the enchanted mirrors were used, more of its power would be drained. But he had been overconfident.

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Kor'moros had stayed like that for countless years, slowly biding its time, eroding the shackles that bound it, corrupting the countless mirrors that were subtly connected to its main prison. It had been patient. Very patient and careful with its actions. The mirrors had not drained its powers, instead he had used them to recover. Drawing a very minute amount of vitality through their connection. It would have continued with its covert actions, only surfacing once it was strong enough to break its shackles through brute force.

But someone had discovered him. It knew not how its presence had been made known, but now it had no other choice but to make an escape. Another five years and it would not have to be afraid of confronting any magical creature. But right now it held its apprehensions about the mage. And then there was the other one, a much weirder anomaly it could not understand.

And for it to escape, it needed someone to help it break from its prison of reflections. But not anyone could actually enter and free it, as it required a person of magical strength to even try to break the shackles, or in this case shards.

Thus it had begin its plan, making preparation to cultivate a vessel that would help it break free. Yet the hateful mage had interrupted during the most crucial ritual, making it expend a lot of energy freeing itself from the magic circle and regain control of its sacrifices. But this time it won't fall for the same trick. It had realized the presence of the other one enter the village and knew they would definitely try to purge it. So it was going to plan to deal with both of them at once. And then it could leave this godforsaken place and bide it time in hiding to recover back to its peak state.

.......

Back in the dilapidated safe house

"The ritual you interrupted back at the village square was purposed to strengthen the vessel of the entity. It would have sapped the villager of their vitality to forcefully elevate the vessel to become stronger. Your actions not only made Kor'moros expend a lot of energy to break the magic circle you trapped it in, but controlling all the villager there to intimidate you also drained it significantly.

The vessel would have to be at the location of the ritual, and we can eliminate it being among the ones you rescued. That narrows down it to the few dozen that you last saw at the village square. Can you try to use a memory spell to remember if you noticed anything strange among the people there?"

Aria summarized her thoughts as she discussed with Thalia. They had to narrow down the identity of the vessel, or acting recklessly would land them in danger. Thankfully, it seemed they would actually find the identity, as Thalia waved her hands to produce a magic circle and placed it over her head. This was a spell related to memory magic, which would allow her to analyze her memories from the perspective of a third person, looking at details she might have missed subconsciously.

She closed her eyes to focus, reviewing the scene that had occurred just a few hours ago. From her appearance to the moment the villagers regained their awareness when she trapped the mirror. She observed each villager, even the ones she had saved, who Aria had dismissed. And then she focused on the scene when the entity had taken over the villagers to warn her, when the look on the Village head's face had morphed into a warped evil. She relived that moment, trying her best to not be affected and find something irregular among the people. And finally something stuck out to her.

A youth who was farthest from her caught her attention. He stood much nearer to the mirror. But what was strange was that throughout event of Thalia suddenly appearing and disrupting the entity's ritual, the youth had not moved. Even when the villagers had regained awareness, he had not moved in the chaos. His eyes changed when he became free and his facial expression reflected that. But he did not move and inch from his position.

When the entity took control of the villagers, he still stood there, his face morphing just like the others. The evil voice of the entity emitted from his throat, straining his vocal chords as his neck turned purple. Just like others. But he did not move. The only anomaly.

Observing the youth a few more times, Thalia concluded the spell and opened her eyes.

"Found him. Lets go now, the entity must be preparing for the ritual again. It needs to strengthen the vessel to escape from the prison. We can't let it succeed."

Aria nodded. Their plan was set. Now all they could hope was that it went accordingly. Thalia held her hand out for Aria, and a moment later they both disappeared from the safe house, appearing in another part of the village.