Faris, Ella, and the Seredums followed the Celestial Ki trace to Coronini – a small border village in Romania, just across the Danube from Serbia. It had a tiny population and was surrounded by cliffs, forests, and caves. With nearly three hours to sunrise, the place was dark and silent. But the group walked through the thick borderland fog to try and lock into the faint Ki signature lingering there.
They had left the Palace only an hour and a half earlier, but they had made quick progress. From the eerie discoveries at the Pyrenees, to the Celestial Ki trail leading them along the Danube to Romania, the night was proving fruitful. Yet with every step, with every teleportation jump, the group felt more unsettled and uneasy. It was as if something was calling them. But it was calling them into a trap.
"They passed through here," Faris quietly said as he closed his eyes, finally locking into the Ki signature. "And they were definitely carrying Celestial Ki."
The signature felt stronger at the western border of the village and provided a clear trail going north. They followed it deeper into Romania, arriving five minutes later near the southern edge of the Hoia-Baciuforest.
"The Celestial energy is radiating quite strongly from that forest," Erina commented as they waited and observed, nearly twenty metres outside the covering of trees. "Exercise caution here – this forest reeks of evil… as always."
Faris nodded. "Let's jump in and see what's going on…"
As soon as they teleported, however, they found themselves standing at the opposite side, twenty metres outside the northern edge of the forest.
"What was that?" Erina asked.
Ella turned around to look at the trees behind them. "Something went off. We weren't supposed to come this far."
"Our Ki was deflected," Faris said. "We missed the entire forest."
The others looked at him. The freelance Mystic was the most experienced and well-trained Ki Manipulator of them and could recognize patterns that the others had missed.
He walked a few steps closer and sat down on one knee. With a hand on the ground, he sensed for any Ki-charged activity in the vicinity then shook his head.
"Look deeper within the layers of stagnant Ki." He pointed at the forest and spoke more quietly than before. "They're here…"
The sisters closed their eyes and dropped their heads. Erina slowly looked up nodding. "Yes… they are."
Faris stood back up. "You said you couldn't sense any combatants in Pyrenees like the ones we faced in the forest." He looked at the Seredums. "That's cause they're all here…"
"What?" Ella was left wide-eyed. "What are you guys talking about?"
Eira shook her head as she observed the trees in front of them. "There's nearly a thousand wizards hiding inside."
"Then we must call for backup!"
Agreeing with the young Mystic, Faris immediately brought out his Seekers' Scroll paper and started writing to send a message directly to the Seear informing him of the situation.
Inside the Hoia-Baciu forest, a ritual was underway and Celestial Ki from the Xoitique Diamond was being extracted by none other than Derek, the Alchemist.
A wizard walked up. Bent on one knee, he said, "Multiple units approach, my Lord. Orders?"
"Keep them occupied," Derek replied. Opening his eyes, he looked at the wizard and asked, "Who?"
"The same difficult Mystic and some spiritually enhanced beings. But then the Seear is also moving closer. And he has an extremely powerful contingent with him."
"But is he coming here?"
"Our intel for now suggests that he is not, My Lord. But close enough, he will be able to sense as well…"
'I need less than ten minutes,' Derek thought and closed his eyes again. "Keep them busy," he said. "Tell the brothers to form their barrier. This will not take long. And once it is done, none of them will matter…"
Outside, the Seredum sisters suggested attempting teleportation again but Faris advised against it. "I'd rather not waste any more time," he said. "This entire area is contaminated. Black magic, Demonic energy, vile experimentations – you name it. And it's been going on for years. If they've set up camp here, they'll keep deflecting our Ki signatures all day."
"What should we do then?" Ella asked.
"Let's just mask our Ki and try to enter quietly." Faris sighed. "I wanna know what the hell's going on in there."
"Shouldn't we wait for others to arrive?" Eila asked, leaning closer. "Especially if there are so many of them in there…"
Eira shook her head. "I agree with Master Naji. Keepers marked this area as a hot spot for rituals decades ago. And instead of shutting it down, both the Eye and the Order used it for their own agendas during the Cult Wars of the '60s and '70s."
The youngest sister frowned, eyes lingering on her. "Are you sure, sister?"
"Come on, Eila." Eira straightened herself. "They're up to something in there. We simply can't wait."
As they all masked their Ki preparing to move in, Faris kept shaking his head in frustration. 'I have a bad feeling about this. They're stealing remnants, they have an Alchemist, they knew me and Hugo would be at the outpost with the bounty hunter, then the Pyrenees situation, and now this… things just keep piling up.'
He took a deep breath. 'I can feel a little trickster in the mix…'
As soon as they stepped into the covering of trees, they felt the weight – a dense fog of contaminated Ki. Even the inexperienced Ella felt the blot and found it hard to manoeuvre through the stagnant corrupted Ki. But Faris and the Seredums had felt it before – it was repulsive, corrupting, and not of this realm.
Demon worshippers had been practising their black magic in this region for years. Even the Eye and the Order, in their desperate race for power, used places like these as off-site, covert execution platforms and ritual sites. And that had left a lasting effect on the atmosphere itself. Even the trees stood contorted, their trunks bent at impossible angles.
Then Faris felt signs of alchemical Ki Manipulation.
'Derek must have been honing his craft here,' he thought. 'God dammit! We should've been more careful.'
Carefully, they slipped past the initial layer of defences. It appeared as though the wizards had not sensed them. But the Seredums suddenly stopped.
"What's the matter?" Faris asked, whispering.
"They know we're here," Erina replied, just as quietly.
"What do you mean?" Ella stepped closer to her. "How can you tell?"
"We can tell." She looked up. "We can sense their intentions. They know we're here and they wish to stall but not stop…"
Eila stepped closer. "Then should we move back out?"
"Not when we've already come this far," Faris said and began moving again. "Renekom must have read my message by now and they shouldn't be far. They'll be here in minutes to back us up."
The rest of the group slowly followed.
The deeper they went, their surroundings grew more unsettling. The trees appeared even more twisted and misshapen deeper inside the forest as if they were avoiding something or growing through cracks in some invisible structure.
They walked through intermittent fog clouds, each messing with their Ki networks and tickling their bodies from the inside out. And through these clouds they could see maroon lights floating in the distance.
Suddenly, Ella began to tilt. Her eyelids fell to blink but could not come back up. Before she could fall, however, Eira caught her and shook her out of the trance.
"Didn't we go past this fallen trunk a minute ago?" the Seredum asked, looking at a dead tree trunk to her right.
Faris shushed her. The sound echoed through the unnerving, grave silence. Everyone looked around. There was nothing there but the contorted trees illuminated by the few rays of moonlight getting through the fog. No animals, no birds, no insects, no reptiles, and no sound – just an eerie feeling of disgust and repulsion.
"Forests aren't supposed to be this quiet," Ella whispered as she looked through the trees at the near-full moon, glowing low in the sky, drifting steadily toward its setting point.
"Forests…" Faris stepped closer and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Not this one. You alright?"
She nodded slowly.
"Good. This place, like the lady said, has been soaked in all sorts of curses, rituals, and Demonic hexes ever since the start of the Cult Wars." Looking around, he added, "Spirituality aside, even the physics here has been warped."
Slowly and carefully, the group began moving on. Until eventually, Eila said, "Wait a minute… we've been past these two trees before."
Faris looked around. The visuals truly seemed odd. Even he felt confused. He sighed and jumped straight up, going high above the treeline, and observed for a few moments just hovering there. He was trying to understand how far they had come.
Landing back down, he looked at Erina. "The trees aren't the only thing twisted in this God-forsaken place! Somehow, the paths we've followed are not going straight at all."
"What do you mean?" the Seredum asked.
"We should have reached the middle of the forest, but we have gone quite a long way west."
After a moment's thought, Erina said, "Charge your Ki, masters – they already know we're here. Without deflecting the thick layer of accumulated Ki, our senses will never work properly. We'll just keep wandering aimlessly."
With no other choice left, the group charged their Ki to undo the effects of the forest's stagnant Ki. As soon as they did, all of them sensed a Celestial Ki concentration 600 metres away from them.
"We're all sensing it, ladies," Faris said, nodding. "Let's move!"
Instead of teleporting and risking an unnecessary, unwanted displacement, they decided to run to the Celestial Ki source. But as soon as they did, a dozen wizards jumped in and blocked their path.
They were formidable, but not as powerful as the wizards who fought the Zeta Squad at the outpost. Even if they were, it would not have mattered. The Seredums moved a step ahead and extended their arms. The dozen wizards froze.
Faris tried to assist but was promptly stopped by Erina. "We can handle them," she said. "Conserve your Ki."
Soon, one by one, the wizards in black cloaks began falling down.
As the last one hit the ground, the group leaped forward.
"I can see light up ahead," Ella said, pointing straight.
Faris nodded. "That's it. That's the source!"