PH1RE'S P.O.V
I let out a slow, shaky breath and slumped to the ground. My back hit the wall with a dull thud. I was glad that was over, having to fight while still more or less injured sucked and thankfully he preferred leaving to fighting two of us.
Maya knelt beside me, quiet now. Her hands hovered over my side, unsure whether to touch or not. I appreciated the hesitation. I wasn't sure I could take another healing spell, let alone another person's hands on me.
"You okay?" she asked finally.
I managed a nod. "Define 'okay.'"
She gave a soft snort, then sat beside me. Not touching. Just there. Her presence was enough.
We sat like that for a moment, letting the silence settle. My ribs ached with every breath, and my mana felt like it had been wrung out and stomped on. But beneath the pain, a strange calm had begun to rise. Not peace. Just... clarity.
"What he said—about the bounty," she murmured.
Maya's eyes flicked to mine.
"What, you thinking of turning me in?" I raised an eyebrow.
She chuckled. "Tempting. Maybe when it get's a little bit higher." she remarked making a show of considering it.
I smiled weakly. "Guess I'll have to watch my back then."
Footsteps echoed in the corridor ahead—soft, deliberate.
Cordell emerged from the mist like a ghost. Ethan followed, face drawn and pale.
"We gave him a clean exit path," Cordell said without preamble. "He's already out of range. His tracking trail is active now. Should hold for about five hours."
"Thankfully he didn't stay back to fight," I remarked.
"I gave him a little guidance in that respect,"
I didn't respond right away. I was too busy studying Cordell's face.
"I'm not thanking you," I said.
"I didn't ask you to," Cordell replied evenly.
Maya stood. "You used us, Messed with our heads"
"I'm willing to tell you both the entire truth,"
Ethan shifted awkwardly, clearly wanting to disappear again.
Maya helped me up, still addressing the both. "You'll explain. All of it. The bounty, the ritual, the mind games, the weapons, the forest—whatever's going on. But first..."
I swayed slightly, and Maya caught my elbow.
"First, let's get out of this godsdamned hole."
—————————————————
We regrouped at Cordell's residence this time, it was modest—surprisingly so, given the elegant air he carried. It had a charming aesthetic however, a simple structure with a narrow garden and a cracked fountain in the yard.
Due to B-16 agents regularly needing to be undercover they often stayed in government-owned safehouses, choosing their locations based on mission rank and clearance level.
Of course, this information was meant to be confidential but to anyone not from B-16 but thanks to my experience with Raize I was naturally privy to this information.
I sat on a cracked bench, my side bandaged and stiff. The pain had dulled to a constant throb, manageable but far from ignorable. The silence between us was louder than any explosion.
Cordell broke it first.
"The ritual in the forest is called Netherroot. It's old. Pre-Empire. A convergence rite used to bind spiritual and material. It requires three things: blood, silence, and a sacrifice at the peak of bloom."
"Sacrifice," Maya repeated flatly.
"What's the target of the sacrifice?" I asked.
Ritual-type spells always required an entity—something to receive the offering. That was basic magical theory.
Cordell's answer came with a question of his own.
"Are either of you aware of how the Cephurian continent got its name?"
Maya blinked. "From a great beast spirit, right? Legends say the first Cephurians were born from it."
"That's part of the answer," Cordell said, nodding. "But not the whole story."
He folded his arms, gaze distant.
"According to certain branches of the Church of Mortality—especially those aligned with Life-Lend Law—the very land that makes up Cephuria is the body of the great beast spirit, Cephur. After its defeat by the Sacred Sanctity Sanctuary during the Second Great Holy War, its corpse became the continent. Every creature born upon it is marked from birth."
I glanced at Maya, whose frown was deepening.
Cordell continued. "That belief also explains why some Church sects obsess over human sacrifice. According to them, Cephur isn't truly dead. It sleeps beneath the land. And if not appeased with blood offerings... it will awaken."
"Most people think that's religious hogwash," I muttered.
"Most people," Cordell agreed. "But regardless of belief, those rites hold power. And perhaps—some truth. Because it does help explain why the war against Cephuria has never truly ended."
Maya and I let that settle for a moment.
Then I asked, "Okay. So what does that have to do with what's happening now?"
Cordell didn't answer immediately.
Then he looked up. His voice dropped a register.
"Imagine," he said slowly, "a spell capable of expanding Cephuria's territory. Not through conquest—but through conversion. Awakening fragments of Cephur across the world. Spreading his domain."
My blood ran cold.
"You're saying... this ritual—Netherroot—might actually grow Cephur's influence?" Maya asked.
"Yes," Cordell replied. "It's exactly what you're imagining. The land we're standing on—this very region—could, at any moment, become a wasteland. One that spawns beasts, calamities... and disasters."
—————————————————
He sat cross-legged on a worn rug in the center of the room, hands resting palm-up on his knees, the air around him flickering with faint silver threads of mana. His breathing slowed, his expression distant. Not asleep. Not awake. Somewhere in between.
"What's he doing?" Maya asked.
"He's diving," Ethan said quietly, standing nearby with arms crossed. "Deep mental tethering. He's trying to see through Barrett's thoughts—track him in real time before the thread dissolves."
"Doesn't look safe," Maya muttered, watching the way Cordell's fingers twitched.
"It's not," Ethan replied. "But it's fast. And if anyone can do it, it's him."
We both watched in silence for another moment. The room felt colder than before.
I exhaled slowly, then shifted my gaze to Ethan. "So," I began, not bothering to hide the edge in my voice, "why don't you tell us how you know Cordell?"
Ethan stiffened.
Maya crossed her arms and leaned against the wall, one brow raised. "Yeah. Let's start there."
He scratched the back of his neck, eyes flicking between us. "It's… not as dramatic as you're probably thinking."
"We'll decide that," I said.
He hesitated, then sighed and sat down across from me, near the bench.
"Cordell and I go back a few years."
I frowned. "You were working for B-16?"
"Not officially," Ethan admitted. "I didn't even know what B-16 was at first. But eventually, our work started to overlap with his."
"Our?"
"I was part of another organization before joining the Red Ravens."
"What organization?" I asked.
"I'm not allowed to say," he responded.
"How so?"
"It's a [Clause]," he said, realization dawning on me.
Maya naturally understood—[Clause] was common in the business world. In practice, it was a magically enforced contract. Once cast, it prevented the target from performing a certain action—like speaking a truth. Violating a [Clause] could trigger strict punishments, including death.
In any case, wouldn't press further, everyone has secrets.
I myself was from another world, honestly sometimes I forget this fact.
I leaned forward slightly and asked. "You trust him?"
Ethan hesitated. "Yeah. I do."
"Of course he does, he had him mess with our heads after all" Maya remarked, her tone sharper now.
"That wasn't my favorite part," Ethan admitted. "But... I had to do it. You two are smart. Capable. And you were likely to avoid him—or worse, interfere—if you didn't feel a push in the right direction."
"So he used a mind spell on us instead of talking to us," I said flatly.
Ethan looked genuinely pained. "Cordell doesn't work with people often. When he does, he plays his cards tight. He never lies—but he withholds. Strategically."
"And you're just okay with that?" Maya asked, arms still crossed.
"No," Ethan said. "But I also know that Cordell has stopped some serious threats that most people never hear about. Stuff that would turn cities to ash."
The silence that followed was heavy.
"So, why was he conveniently here? And why was someone involved with the ritual tailing him?" Maya asked.
"I called him," Ethan admitted. "The moment I realized this involved a ritual, I figured it was tied to the case he was working on. Guess we have my luck to thank."
"You mean the case involving the beastkin murders?" I asked.
"Yep. We'd been keeping in touch. He already knew he was being tailed but couldn't shake them alone—and he needed an excuse to ditch his team."
"Why did he have to ditch them?"
"There's a mole. Not just in his team—possibly in B-16. Maybe even in Crown."
"Terrifying," Maya whispered.
"What the hell did you get us involved in, Ethan?" she added with a sigh.
I looked over at Cordell's still form, the silver threads now pulsing faintly around him like veins of light. His breathing had grown shallower. A bead of sweat trailed down his temple.
"What happens if something goes wrong in there?" I asked.
"If the connection's severed too violently…" Ethan swallowed. "It could fry his mind. Or his soul. Or both."
"Great," Maya muttered. "So while he's risking brain-melt, we're stuck waiting with you and vague answers."
Ethan gave a weak shrug. "I'll answer what I can."
I leaned back slowly. My side ached like hell, but my mind was spinning faster than ever.
"Tell us about the ritual," I said. "Everything you know. No skipping."
Ethan nodded, a bit more somber now.
"It's not just about expanding territory," he said. "Netherroot isn't just a spell—it's a seed. A metaphysical anchor. Once it takes root, it changes the very nature of the land. Makes it… compatible. With Cephur. With the old magic."
"You're saying it terraforms the area into Cephurian ground," Maya said.
"Exactly," Ethan confirmed. "And the more sacrifices you feed it, the faster the transformation spreads. But it needs three convergences—three points of ritual binding across a region."
"Meaning," I muttered, "that forest was just one."
"And there are two more," Maya finished grimly.
Ethan nodded.
Suddenly, Cordell gasped—loud and ragged—and his body jolted forward as if struck.
The silver threads snapped out of the air like broken harp strings.
We rushed to his side.
His eyes fluttered open, and he looked directly at me.
"Found him," he croaked. "And... I know who's funding the bounty."
I stared at him, heart suddenly pounding.
"Who?" I asked.
Cordell licked his cracked lips.
"An old name. One you're probably familiar with,"
He pushed himself upright, voice gaining strength.
"Lilah Herrett!."
Maya went still.
Ethan's face turned white.
And I—just for a second—felt the ground shift under my feet.
Because Lilah Herrett was the last remaining family member of this body's original owner.
How?