While Group 3A was wrapping up their sweep of the northeastern quadrant, Group 3B was already making unusually swift progress through their own section of the forest. It would've been easy to assume it was luck. But luck had little to do with it.
Upper Hand Samir Husafi led the group, flanked by his younger brother, Lesser Hand Muktar Husafi, and Lesser Hand Abiye Tari, the only member not of Husafi blood. Before they had even journeyed deep into the zone, Samir had already participated in a special Izu with Major Hassan.
The purpose: to receive the coordinates of the Lubara shrines. That knowledge, passed only between the Husafi brothers, gave Samir an edge no other group in the north zones held.
But there was one problem.
Abiye was not Husafi and was not privy to the coordinates. And that meant both Samir and Muktar had to be careful. If Abiye even suspected they had prior knowledge of shrine locations, it could unravel everything.
So when they reached the outer treeline of the zone, Samir offered to scout ahead alone.
"We'll cover more ground if I move fast and solo. If there's anything, I'll signal," he said, tightening the bindings on his Divine Craft. "No need for all of us to burn energy on a survey."
Abiye frowned. She didn't like it.
"We're all Divines. We can survey faster together, and if there's danger, we handle it together," she argued. "Going in alone increases risk, not reduces it."
But Samir was already firm in tone. "You're right about speed. But if all of us get pulled into a skirmish during a basic survey, we'll be spent before the actual shrines. Better I burn that risk alone. If things go south, I'll link with Muktar for an emergency Izu."
Abiye still wasn't convinced. Her instincts told her something felt off.
But then Muktar stepped in, his voice steady, composed.
"My brother is right," he said. "It's smarter if he handles the deep survey alone. We'll conserve energy and cover more ground that way. In the meantime, we can sweep our immediate surroundings—make sure nothing slips past us."
The decision, it seemed, had already been made. Outnumbered and outranked, Abiye finally relented, though uneasily.
Samir disappeared into the trees.
It didn't take long for him to return.
He re-emerged with a calmness that gave no hint of the truth: he hadn't just scouted. He had already aligned his direction based on the coordinates received during the Izu. There was no randomness to where they would go next. Every turn they took, every branch they passed, was already mapped in his mind.
"Let's move," he said. "We'll follow the river bend and curve northwest."
The others followed without question.
To Abiye's surprise, shrine after shrine fell into their path. three shrines, cleared in a staggeringly efficient rhythm. It didn't make sense—shrines were supposed to be scattered, hidden, protected by natural topography and Voro swarms. Yet Samir always seemed to lead them exactly where they needed to be.
Still, she said nothing—though the seeds of suspicion had quietly begun to take root.
***
The Husafi brothers had long discussed how to weaponize the shrine coordinates without giving away their advantage. Just because they knew where shrines were didn't mean they would rush in blindly. Instead, they used the information to lay ambushes rather than walk into them.
Knowing the positions meant they could manage energy, pace their approach, and orchestrate encounters with maximum control.
Each member of 3B played a unique role:
Abiye wielded the Esemora Technique, a refined blend of physical motion, incantation, and elemental execution. She had a strong affinity for wind, which she channeled through ritualized movements and spoken words. Esemora required physical contact—either with the terrain or a Voro—to manifest fully.
In combat, she'd often rush forward first, her hand slamming against the ground or a Voro's carapace just as her chant ended. With a whirl, a razor-thin gust of divine wind would erupt—sometimes slicing across a wide arc, other times concentrating into a sharp burst that launched, pinned, or outright decapitated multiple Voros at once.
Her strikes were precise, clearing the field just enough to scatter the voro formations.
Once Abiye's wind left the Voros disorganized, Samir would vanish in a blur.
He wore a Divine Craft known as the Tiger Mouth, a brutal construct molded to his dominant arm—elbow to fist—shaped like the open jaws of a lunging beast. With a surge of divine energy, he would brace his entire frame, then sprint and leap forward, compressing speed and strength into one movement.
To the untrained eye, it looked like teleportation. To the Voros, it was death.
The Ghost Pounce, as it was called, was a short-range assault meant to devour the very core of a Fallen Creature—where their energy concentrated. When Samir landed the strike, the Tiger Mouth would clamp down with divine pressure, delivering a devastating, sometimes fatal, blow in a single bite.
Side by side with Samir came Muktar, wielding the Serpent Spine—a blackened, flexible Divine Craft that clung to his body like a second nervous system. It started at the base of his neck, running down his spine, and branched out into segmented tendrils along both arms.
Each tendril functioned like a whip-blade, coiling and snapping with a mind of its own. The jagged tips hovered beside his hands, ready to strike or defend at a moment's notice.
Muktar's job was clean-up. As Samir landed the pounce, Muktar would pivot in, his tendrils lashing out in arcs—disabling or finishing off any remaining Voros too scattered or wounded to regroup.
Their synchronization was near flawless. They took breaks between shrines, always resuming with the same deadly rhythm. Abiye filled the field with wind and disarray, Samir struck with the force of a phantom predator, and Muktar cleaned the field with surgical precision.
***
By the time Group 3B arrived at the sixth shrine, it was already Day 2 of their mission. Just like the previous engagements, they executed their strategy with calculated precision. Each Voro and even the larger, more aggressive Uro Voros were swiftly eliminated, clearing the perimeter of the shrine in record time.
Without wasting a moment, Upper Hand Samir, still pulsing with stored divine energy, stepped forward. With a powerful stomp, he crushed the core of the Lubara shrine underfoot. A dull, echoing crack followed as the shrine's spiritual link shattered.
It was an unsettling structure, just like the others they'd destroyed—an eerie arrangement of red cloths tied between jagged stakes, mangled Fallen bodies laid ceremoniously, and strange materials none of them could identify. Whatever ritual these shrines served, the symbolism was deliberate and disturbing. Every shrine looked identical, as though they'd been copied and pasted across the forest in a uniform blueprint. No variation. No randomness. That, in itself, was worrying.
With all known coordinates cleared, Samir was confident this was the final shrine in their designated sector. Their next objective was to rendezvous with Group 3A—and hope they were still alive.
But something didn't add up.
Despite every shrine marked in his map being accounted for and destroyed, the group still encountered multiple Voro clusters as they moved toward the north-north zone. That could only mean one thing: the northwest teams were struggling to contain the infestation. The Voro surge had to be spilling from there.
As Group 3B pushed through the final ridge, they saw a familiar set of figures advancing from the opposite direction—Group 3A, led by Major Kosiso Udoka.
A flicker of relief passed through both groups at the sight of one another. There had been no signals. No signs of failure. And yet, both had not only survived but completed their sweeps. That they arrived at the same rendezvous point—almost at the same time—was, at first glance, a coincidence worthy of celebration.
But Samir Husafi's smile didn't reach his eyes.
The moment he saw Kosiso at the head of her group, a quiet alarm went off in his mind. Only the Husafi bloodline had access to the shrine coordinates. So how had this Udoka—without that knowledge—managed to locate and destroy the shrines with such precision and speed?
Group 3A had no Husafi in its ranks. Just an Udoka Major, two Eastern Madarikans, and a Divine from the Adesina family. By all logic, they should've been trailing behind—still searching, still fighting. Yet here they were, finishing at the same pace.
The coincidence gnawed at him.
Unbeknownst to Samir, Kosiso was having similar thoughts. Group 3B's success didn't make sense. No Major. Just an Upper and two Lessers. That was the equivalent of a two-Upper team in practical strength. From a strategic standpoint, they should've needed more time, not less. Yet they'd cleared their area first. That shouldn't have been possible.
Still, both leaders kept their suspicions close to the chest.
As the groups came together, Kosiso gave a measured nod. "You handled your sector well."
Samir nodded back, the expression neutral. "Likewise. I was honestly surprised at how quickly my team moved. They were more efficient than I expected."
Kosiso's eyes narrowed slightly. "How many shrines did you destroy?"
There was a brief pause. Samir didn't want to say. Mentioning the full count would raise questions—questions Abiye might feel compelled to answer if asked later. And if he said less, she might correct him on the spot. Lying in front of her wasn't worth the risk.
"Six," he said finally. "We cleared six shrines."
That number dropped like a stone.
Onyeka's head snapped toward them, his face a mixture of disbelief and awe. "Six? Just the three of you?"
Even Tor and Ebube looked stunned. No matter how you looked at it, three Divines—without a Major—taking down six shrines in two days was an incredible feat. It would've raised eyebrows in any unit. Yes, they were divines, but still… three people?
Even Kosiso blinked slowly at the revelation, though she quickly masked it.
The moment passed without challenge. No one said it aloud, but everyone in Group 3A was now wondering the same thing: How did they pull it off?
Still, there were more pressing matters to address.
Kosiso shifted focus. "We've both cleared our zones. But the increase in Voro activity doesn't match the destruction of the shrines. There's no decrease. If anything, they're moving more."
Samir nodded. "Which means the overflow is coming from somewhere else."
They didn't have to say it.
The northwest zone.
It was the only sector left. And no group from that region had shown up at the rendezvous point. Not one signal. Not one sighting. That absence was louder than words.
Major Kosiso turned to both groups. "We move as one. Our mission is now joint infiltration. We locate the remaining teams in the northwest zone and assess their situation." As the only Major present, her authority was uncontested. By default—and by design—she now led the combined unit.
Samir gave a short nod. "Agreed. If they're still holding ground, we reinforce. If not—we finish the job."
Without another word, Group 3A and Group 3B merged, falling into a newly arranged formation. Divine Crafts adjusted, and energy reserved for what lay ahead.