"GHH!! How can you accept this, Lyana?!" Vivi shouted out her anger and frustration. Lyana raised her brows and gave the small woman an inquisitive look. "I mean he's so invested in Val now he barely even look or talk to me these days."

"Have you heard about Val's past? It's must be really hard for her now, suddenly falling in love again."

Vivi gave her a fierce look. "Hmm, what's this? Did you side with her now?"

"I'm not siding with anyone. She barely slept the last few nights. She kept waking up at night, worrying about Theo's safety or having nightmares about him." She sighed. "You can say that she's paranoid. But that's exactly why Theo is focusing so much of his attention towards her right now. She's ... sick and stressed. He's helping her relax. Once she becomes normal again, he should return to his usual self."

"Hmm." Vivi's gaze turned suspicious. "How can you be so sure?"

"That's because ..." Lyana's word trailed off. She could point out that Theo acted like this towards Vivi when she first joined. He gave all his attention towards Vivi and barely talk or gave his attention to Lyana. but that might lead the conversation to a direction she didn't want to.

"Cause that's the kind of person Theo is." Vivi and Lyana turned their head. Ed was the one answering. He kept his silence when he followed them earlier, feeling he doesn't belong in their conversation. "He may not be the best person out there. He is ... capable of cruelty and his everyday attitude earn him the right to be called an asshole. But ... but when he cares for someone, he cares about them deeply. He will try his best to help them and make them happy. And Val needs help. I'm sure the both of you know this better than me."

Lyana and Vivi looked at Ed for a while before turning their head forward again. Vivi wanted to tease Ed a little bit there, joking about how fierce he defended Theo. But his earnest expression and child-like face discouraged her. "Well, I guess I can wait a few more days." It didn't stop her from making a sour face though.

They walked again, silent this time. Theo told them to give him at least two hours alone with Val in their camp. Only one hour had passed, they still need to search for ways to spend the next hour without walking too deep into the forest.

"Wait, speaking of things, has anyone see Cally?" Ed asked. Cally rarely took part in any conversation, she sat the furthest from everyone when it's time to eat, and she preferred sleeping far away or not sleep at all during the night. It was easy to forget that she was even with them at all. If not for the encounter with her during his attempted escape, he might not even remember about her.

"No, and I don't care about her," Vivi answered without even a little bit of consideration. Ed had never seen Vivi talk or even bat an eye towards Cally, backing the sincerity of her words.

"If I'm not wrong, Theo ordered her to patrol near the river."

"River, huh? Isn't she afraid of water?" That would be hellish for her. Ed knew fear better than most. His life was filled with fear. Admittedly, most his fears were irrational and the creation of his own mind and weak heart, but still, the point stood. He couldn't imagine being forced to walk around somewhere he really afraid of and not being able to do anything about it. She was Theo's soul slave, after all. His order was absolute for her.

"She is. I think that's exactly his reasoning for sending her there." Lyana answered.

"Ah! Speaking of river, please wait here a minute." Lyana and Vivi stopped their feet and turned their heads. Ed's disappeared into the bushes, leaving only the rustling the leaves and branches. The rustle and footsteps didn't stop until pretty far away.

"Where are you going?" Lyana asked. It was obvious what he was going to do, but she didn't think he needed to go that far from their original place.

"Uhh, I'll go a little farther. It's embarrassing."

Lyana was confused by Ed's embarrassment at first but then realized Ed was a normal person. It was normal for someone to be embarrassed when they were doing private things. Her standard for what's normal and abnormal had been skewed by Theo who literally had no shame and decency. How many times had he approached her stark naked. Showing those bare flawless body ...

Her cheek turned red and hot. She shook her head, embarrassed and disappointed by her own thought. "Don't go too far!" She shouted.

"I won't!" Ed shouted back. The fact that her shout sounded faint to his ears and that he had to shout back proved that he might have gone too far. But he rather walked a bit too far than peeing somewhere near them. If they heard him, he'll die of embarrassment.

Ed realized something when he thinks about the sound of his pee. The forest at night was actually pretty loud. The sound of cicadas, insects, owls, and night birds filled his ears. He never realized it before, distracted by Lyana and Vivi's conversation. Even if he didn't walk that far, they wouldn't be able to hear him ... probably.

It was too late now, but he still regretted walking this far. It took a lot of effort and energy to muster this much courage in his heart. Walking into a thick, dark forest at night. Alone. Walking away from people. Away from a source of light.

He shuddered. The forest at night was almost pitch black. Without his magic-enhanced eyesight, he wouldn't be able to see anything.

"Fuck!" He cursed himself for thinking that way. He had to finish his business as fast as possible. The quicker he finished it, the faster he'd return to safety ... But still ...

The dark and swaying trees, ancient and looming. How old were they, he wondered. He heard from Barney that the old trees indicated an old forest. And the older the forest the more monstrous monster and scarier the horrors lurking deep inside.

He shuddered again.

He wasn't afraid of monster ... that much. He could blast them with his spell, hit him with his fist, and melt them with his breath. But wraiths and ghost, incorporeal and intangible, he wouldn't be able to do anything if they attacked. His spell would pass them. He had heard about people capable of fighting wraiths and spirits using special methods, but he didn't have those special methods.

His gaze moved towards his short legs and the grounds. What if they attacked him from under him? Dragged his feet into the ground like a quicksand before his voice could reach Lyana or Vivi. Or worse, what if they were already taken by the ghost.

He looked over his shoulder. Left and right, up and down. Sweat drenched him and his hair all stood. His legs wobbled and his jaw trembled.

His brain and heart told him to run to the safety of Lyana and Vivi's. But his business wasn't over yet. He drank so much water this afternoon that it went on and on without end. Not to mention his fear and panic made everything worse.

"COME ON!" He shouted. The stream finally stopped. "Finally." A string of hope appeared amidst the darkness of despair. Self-made despair.

He raised his gaze.

A pair of shining eyes were staring at him. Not Cally. Not animal. Not a monster.

Two curved horned sprouted from its hair-covered face. Rows of teeth lined behind the pale lips, followed by a ghastly shriek. Hooved feet took a step closer towards him. Crisp sound of crushed dry leaves entered his ears.

For a brief moment, paralyzing fear overtook him. His hand refused to move. His feet refused to run. His mouth refused to open. And with each passing second, the shining claw edged closer and closer to his eyes.

Blue light erupted from his eyes. His mind cleared and his body obeyed him once more.

"Combustion!" Fire erupted from his fist, engulfing the monster in its blazing wrath. The thing in front of him wasn't a ghost, the thing in front of him was only a monster. He convinced himself of that.

But once the fire settled and the smoke disappeared, the monster vanished without a trace. There was no footsteps, no mark, no trace of it running. His spell shouldn't be strong enough to kill, much less completely vaporized something as big as that.

"G-g-ghost?" All of a sudden the forest became so dark, so scary. The tree seemed to lean towards him, blocking the sky and making everything darker. Everything became so quiet.

He took a step back without turning his head. He didn't believe there was nothing behind him. What if that thing showed up again and attacked him when he turned his back? He didn't want to take that risk. The possibility of an attack didn't scare him as much as the possibility of getting scared itself. Getting scared was indeed the scariest thing for Ed.

Slowly but surely, he walked backward towards Lyana and Vivi. Not for one moment, he had the courage to look back.

----

"Haa... What the hell was that?" A woman with hooves for feet and horn in the head complained. She was hiding among the trees, looking out for any possible threat. Her hands were burned. It was not severe, but it still hurt pretty bad. "That boy ... what the hell is he?"

It happened so quickly and so abruptly, but she remembered it very well. She was searching the forest outskirt for some mushroom and alchemy ingredients when she caught a trace exceptional mana. She had lived for quite a long time and had met numerous individuals with extraordinary mana, but the boy was different. She never felt something even remotely close to that boy.

The magic shield she put up when he lashed out should be able to take much stronger spells. Yet the boy's magic ripped through her shield like fire burning dry leaves. Just remembering the sensation made her shudder. It was enough to forget the pain. "I should tell him."

The woman jumped from the tree and went on all four. Her body transformed into that of a jungle panther, a form suited best in the forest environment. Her claws dug into the soil and she kicked the ground with her hind legs.

She traveled swift as wind, running to the center of the forest, towards a massive tree three times as tall as the ones around it and four times as thick. The hill it stood on was barren. Not even wild grass grew on it, only the lone tree. The tree, however, was only a marker. She entered the opening on the foot of the tree, into a burrow hidden beneath the ground.

She blazed through the long tunnels carved in the bedrock, descending down and down in spiraling shape until it expanded into a massive cave system. Glowing runes and symbols of ancient language filled the cavern walls. It was some form of ancient magic, used to protect and monitor one's territory. Though the exact detail of the magic was lost along with the language it was written in.

She stopped once she saw other of her kind. She transformed back to her original form, that of a succubus. There were many people there in the cave. Werewolves, vampires, succubuses, spriggans, fairies, and countless other people lived there. Well, sentient monsters if you ask human, but it was a matter of perspective and semantics.

She walked towards the center of the cave, towards the roots of the great tree that pierced the cave. The closer she got, the more she felt people's gazes probing her body. It would be an understatement to say that it was uncomfortable, but she didn't blame them. Approaching the root was kind of taboo for them and was rarely done, but she had a good reason.

Once she was twenty steps away from the roots, she kneeled. "Elder."

Hidden within the massive roots was a humanoid skeleton. It was grey, old, and broken with part of the roots tangling and impaling it. The eye sockets were dark, there was no sign of life. It returned her greeting with silence.

It had been years since the great elder woke up, and she couldn't even remember when was the last time anyone spoke to him.

She heard footsteps behind her. Not just one, many. Few were light, other were heavy. Few were fast, other slow and steady. She didn't know who or for what purpose they approached her, but she could imagine. They most likely trying to stop her, telling her to quit trying to contact the elder.

She opened her mouth, but a slight twitch of the skeleton's bony finger stopped her. Dim red dot appeared on each eye socket, hovering in the darkness. "You've ..." His almost non-existent voice rang out in the silent cave. The footsteps stopped and no one made a noise. "met the ... prophesized ... boy ... where is he?" The bones rattled from hitting the roots that bound him.

"He's in the forest outskirt to the north, elder, near the river." She knew the forest like the back of her hand

"The ... north ..." The skeleton stopped moving. The red dots disappeared, but only for a moment. Red lines, no bigger than his broken finger, appeared from inside and swam to the roots and up to the great trees.

There was silence after that. No one there knew what was happening. Something like this never happened before.

The red lines returned to the elder after a few seconds. The bones rattled, his jaw dropped, And a laughter boomed. "HAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAAH!HAHAAHAHAHAHAHAAH!" The bony hand moved to cover his mouth. "Finally! After so many years, after waiting for so long!"

The roots of the great tree that bound the skeleton for decades cracked and broke and fell limp to the ground. "Ahhh ... to move again ... after so long." He signaled the other monster to come near him. No one refused his order. No one said a word. "Prepare a capture team. Take the boy at all cost without hurting him. Halga, you're the one who found him. You'll lead the team and choose who'll come with you."

"Yes, Elder." The succubus stood. She was about to turn and address the other, but the elder's next action intrigued her. He turned his body away then raised his hand and touched the great roots. Chant of unknown language filled the air. The voice that escaped his mouth carried such power that it caused the whole cave to tremble.

The roots moved. It opened like a blossoming flower, revealing something hidden inside.

A six-meters tall humanoid statue. Made from unknown silver-colored metals. Gears, plate, cranks, and other unknown and alien mechanical object filled its joint. Long hollow tube jutted out from many spots in its body while thin rod of metal protruded out. Its chest cavity was hollow and wide open.

If it was a living being, it lacked something. Something very important.

A heart. A core.

"Elder, what ... what is that?" Confusion, amazement, awe. It was the same for everyone saw it. There was a sense of unbelonging to that thing. It was so bizarre and out of this world as if it broke the law of nature itself. That thing shouldn't have existed in the first place.

"A machine ... made by mortals ... to kill gods." There were words written on its opened chest plate. Written in the same ancient language that filled the wall. "Machinery of War, Heinrich Himmler Mk.III"

A mecha.