It was now day three.
And we were still trapped in this cursed forest.
The surge of Voros and Uro-Voros had grown beyond anything we'd predicted. Uncontrollable. Endless. It felt less like we were navigating a forest and more like we'd been dropped into the belly of something wild and starving.
Now I knew why Obika hadn't responded to my Izu calls.
He had given his band to Akenzua.
That meant he'd been without a connection—isolated, unable to call for help as the hordes pressed in. It also meant we, Group 1B, had to fight through clusters of Voros just to find them.
And by the time we did, it was already too late.
Hema had been gravely wounded. Her leg torn open, her breathing shallow. She was conscious, but barely, clinging to life. Major Obika was the only thing keeping them alive, firing from the treeline with his black longbow, each shot creating space between them and the creatures. But he was running out of divine energy, and we'd arrived only just in time.
If we'd been moments later, they would have been overrun. That outcome played too clearly in my head.
Idris reached her first, scooping Hema into his arms without hesitation. We began moving again, retreating deeper into the woods, hoping to gain distance. But it wasn't sustainable. At every bend, they were there.
Voros, on the ground, in the trees, lurking in the shadows. Waiting. Watching. Hunting.
They moved like pests with purpose, tracking our every move.
And all I could think was, how? How had those behind this pulled it off?
If they had this kind of control from the beginning… if they'd been capable of unleashing this swarm days ago… why wait?
Why now?
Because if they'd done this earlier, Masters would have stepped in. Not just a handful of Hands and a few Madarikans.
We came to a halt, forming a circle—shoulders back-to-back, weapons drawn, surrounded by dense brush and hostile silence.
No way forward.
No way back.
Idris gently lowered Hema to the ground. She tried to sit up, tried to be useful, but she was pale and shaking, cursing the wound that robbed her strength. She didn't have enough energy left to speed-run her healing. None of us did.
One Voro after another came at us, and we fought like men possessed.
Then it happened.
A black blur darted from the trees, too fast—Idris didn't even see it coming. The creature struck before he could defend himself. I watched him go limp and hit the ground hard.
He didn't move.
The Voros surrounded him instantly, growling in triumph.
Major Obika reacted fast—firing a charged shot that scattered them—but the opening left him exposed. A spore burst from the shadows, landed on his thigh. He screamed and fell, paralyzed.
Now he was crawling.
Still firing.
Still fighting.
I felt the panic building in my chest, something I hadn't felt in years.
Was this how it ended?
Was this what we were reduced to—crawling, screaming, dying in the dirt? Was this punishment for leaving Akenzua behind? If we were suffering like this, then what of him?
I couldn't even finish the thought.
The image of him… alone… surrounded…
No.
I shook it off, blinking away the tears that gathered without permission. Was I crying for Akenzua… or because I knew we wouldn't survive this?
Or both?
Ajani screamed behind me—his legs seized, his body going still. Another fallen.
More Voros swarmed in.
Major Obika was still crawling. Still firing.
Hema… gods, she was crying now. She couldn't even scream as the Voros began feeding—biting into her leg. Her sword slipped from her hand.
I clenched my teeth so hard my jaw trembled.
Something slammed into me.
I hit the dirt hard, my dagger flying from my hand.
The Uro Voro loomed over me, its hunched frame twitching with sickening grace. I watched in horror as its back split open, revealing swollen, pulsing sacs nested beneath a crust of spiny flesh.
The sacs trembled, and I knew what came next—Spores.
A wave of black, infectious death about to flood the air.
But just before the sacs burst—
I vanished.
In a flash, I was somewhere else. Somewhere quiet. The trees were taller here, the air strangely still. It took me a breath to realize where I was—the confluence point. The center clearing where all contract groups were supposed to reconvene once their missions were complete.
But the place was empty.
The others hadn't made it back.
I turned around in a daze.
Then, like a blur cutting through the trees, someone rushed into the forest again—and moments later, reappeared with Idris slumped in their arms. They laid him gently beside me. Then vanished again.
Another blur.
Ajani.
Then Hema.
Then Obika.
One after the other, each member of Group 1A and Group 1B was pulled from death's grasp and returned to the clearing with impossible speed and precision. Each movement was careful, intentional. They weren't dropped—they were rescued.
I could only sit there, stunned. Was it… a Master? A Divine Father?
Had the Eastern Masters somehow heard our distress?
Even if they had, no one should have been able to move that fast.
No one but…
My heart dropped.
Akenzua.
I remembered how he moved that night—against the dozen Morduks. The impossible speed. The way the world bent around him. Back then he was drunk on palm wine, a berserk force of nature. Uncontrollable. Wild.
But now?
There was no chaos.
No bloodlust.
The figure returned again, carrying Major Obika over his shoulder with care. He laid him down beside Hema, then stood slowly.
And I saw him.
Clear as day.
Akenzua.
No spikes.No glowing red eyes.No shadowed skin.
He looked… whole.
Familiar.
But different.
"Akenzua?" I breathed, stumbling toward him.
He caught me gently before I could fall. "Major, please. You need to rest."
I didn't listen. I looked around. Everyone was here. Every single one of us. Alive. Hema was injured but breathing. Obika was slowly healing himself. Idris and Ajani were unconscious, but stable.
He had saved us all.
I turned back to him. "How did you do this, Akenzua?"
He looked the same… but I could see it in his eyes. Something had changed. A calmness. Not peace, but clarity. Focus. Like the storm inside him had been named, and now he knew which way it blew.
"It's a long story, Major," he said quietly. "But a good one."
He said it like a man stating a fact—not someone who was proud, not someone who was relieved. Just… truth.
I narrowed my eyes. "Are you okay? I mean—normally, after unleashing that kind of power, you… lose yourself. You go berserk."
He shook his head. "Not this time, Major. I don't need palm wine anymore."
That stunned me.
"But… how?"
"Everything will be explained," he said. "But not now. There are still people out there—more groups trapped."
I nodded. He was right. We were safe, but the others might not be so lucky.
"There's not much time," he added. "Wake Idris and Ajani. Get them alert. When Obika recovers fully, gather everyone and start searching. Bring them all back here."
"And you?"
"I'll hunt the shrines," he said. "The ones causing this Voro surge. If I destroy them, the numbers will drop. And I'll thin out as many of the creatures as I can along the way."
He was a different man now—sharp and calm. Not the cautious, vulnerable Akenzua who once waited for orders, stayed in the background, and relied on the strength of others.
It wasn't divine energy. I could tell.
It was his own Fallen essence.
I still didn't understand it. But if he'd promised answers, I could wait.
For now, I had a job.
"Understood," I said, straightening my back.
Akenzua smiled faintly—more a twitch of the lip than anything else.
Then, in a blink, he was gone.
***
As Akenzua vanished into the forest, a gust of silence followed his exit. The air felt different—lighter somehow, but heavier in thought.
Major Obika turned toward me and asked, "Deji... that was Akenzua, wasn't it?"
I didn't bother to deny it. I gave a small nod.
"But how?" he pressed. "When Hema and I left him, he had a piece of wood stabbed through his thigh. He could barely stand. And he couldn't even use divine energy without channeling it through that blade of his. Yet that same blade wasn't even with him. He wasn't using it."
I understood Obika's confusion—if I hadn't seen Akenzua's raw potential for myself, I'd have said the same thing. Even knowing what he carried inside him, I was stunned.
"Deji," Obika said again, his voice low as he stood fully upright, the last of his paralysis fading. "The way he moved... Deji, not even our Masters move like that."
I nodded again, more heavily this time. "I know."
He looked at me, his eyes narrowing. "Was this why you brought him on this contract?"
That was why. At least, it was why Master Abiodun had included him on this contract.
Akenzua was meant to be my last resort — the ace for when things spiraled out of control.
And things had.
But this?This wasn't what we'd expected.
Even I didn't understand what he was becoming.
I nodded to Obika's query."He's something else," I muttered.Then added, "But that's a conversation for another day. Right now, we still have a contract to finish."
He straightened. "Right."
Hema was still down but fighting to pull herself together, pushing divine energy through her body, teeth clenched as she tried to close the wounds on her leg.
"Don't rush it," Major Obika warned her. "Heal properly. If you force it, you'll collapse in battle. You'll be more burden than help."
Meanwhile, I moved to wake Ajani and Idris. After some effort—channeling divine energy, calling their names, slapping their faces—they both jolted awake at almost the same time, blinking hard and gasping for air.
They sat up, confused, dazed. Idris looked around and asked, "Wait—what happened?"
Before anyone could speak, I cut in. "Major Obika and I brought everyone back."
He gave me a long stare, unconvinced. "How? We were surrounded."
I kept my voice flat. "Don't underestimate your Majors."
He squinted, skeptical, but before he could press further, I added, "Don't worry about the how. The important thing is—you're safe. But others are still out there. We need to move."
They were quiet, processing everything. I gave the next set of instructions quickly.
"Major Obika and Idris will go south. Ajani and I will cover the north. We'll locate the remaining groups and bring them back here."
Ajani immediately spoke up. "That's suicide. We barely survived. Splitting up again? We'll get trapped with the others and end up right back where we started."
I looked him square in the eye. "We have a plan. Obika and I already worked something out. Trust me. Just follow."
Hema, who had been silent all this while, finally sat up. "You're just going to leave me here?"
Obika stepped in. "You can't fight in your state, Hema. You'd only slow us down."
"I can still help—"
"No," he cut in firmly. "You stay here. I've already reached my Master. More Madarikans and some of the Divine Families will arrive soon. You'll be safe. Let them find you."
She clenched her jaw, clearly frustrated.
"You remember how you insisted we leave Akenzua behind?" Obika added with a slight shrug. "Well... now it's your turn."
That hit her hard. She had no answer.
Her mouth tightened, but she said nothing more.
Maybe because, just like Major Obika, she had also witnessed Akenzua save her life.
I'm sure she had questions too. But that, like everything else, would have to wait.
With the plan set, we all began gathering divine energy, restoring what we could. When ready, we split.
Major Obika and Idris turned toward the south. Ajani and I moved north.
And somewhere in the distance... Akenzua was already in motion.
I could only hope he was finding success on his path.