Diluc and his crew ran toward the mansion's entry gate.

  The moment they stepped out through the mansion doors, they saw them.

  Dozens of figures stood outside the gate.

  They were dressed in black hooded robes, holding flaming torches, scythes, and axes. Among them were a few figures wearing red hooded robes, each carrying a long staff topped with something that looked like a skull.

  The flames from the torches flickered in the night, revealing just how many of them there were.

  They filled the road in front of the mansion's gate.

  Too many to count.

  Diluc slowly stopped walking.

  His crew froze behind him.

  None of the robed figures moved.

  They simply stood there in silence, their torches burning in the darkness.

  Watching the mansion.

  The robed figures began moving toward Diluc and his crew.

  Slowly at first.

  Then faster.

  Diluc raised his weapon.

  "Team! Don't hesitate — shoot!"

  Gunfire erupted in the night.

  Shots rang out one after another as the crew fired into the approaching crowd. Several of the robed figures flinched when the bullets struck them, their bodies jerking slightly.

  But they didn't stop.

  They kept coming.

  Relentlessly.

  Beth stared in disbelief as another bullet hit one of them.

  "Sir… they are certainly not human."

  Diluc's expression hardened.

  "We need more distance. Team, follow me!"

  He pulled an explosive from his belt and hurled it into the middle of the crowd.

  A second later—

  Boom!

  Flames and debris burst outward, throwing several of the robed figures aside and clearing a small path.

  "Move!" Diluc shouted.

  The crew sprinted down the road, leaving the burning torches and shattered ground behind them.

  They ran toward the village.

  Strangely, the villagers' houses remained quiet. Lights still glowed faintly behind the windows, but no one came outside.

  It was as if the entire village was ignoring the chaos unfolding in the streets.

  Behind them, the sound of footsteps returned.

  The robed figures were still coming.

  Diluc quickly looked around.

  In the darkness between the trees, he spotted someone standing silently.

  Miu.

  As soon as Diluc noticed her, she raised her arm and pointed behind her, signaling a direction deeper into the forest.

  Diluc didn't hesitate.

  "Follow!"

  His crew immediately ran after him.

  They rushed toward the direction Miu had shown while the robed figures continued chasing them from behind.

  The forest grew darker as they moved deeper into the wilderness.

  Branches cracked beneath their boots and the cold night air filled their lungs.

  Diluc glanced around again.

  For a moment he thought he had lost sight of her—

  Then he saw Miu once more.

  She stood farther ahead between two trees, silently pointing toward another path.

  Diluc changed direction immediately.

  "This way!"

  The crew followed as they ran past a broken shrine half-buried in vines and moss.

  Moments later they reached the riverside.

  Diluc turned back.

  The robed crowd had followed them all the way to the shrine.

  But something strange happened.

  They stopped.

  None of them stepped past it.

  They simply stood there in silence…

  Just before the broken shrine.

  As if an invisible barrier prevented them from going any farther.

  One by one, the robed figures began turning away.

  Without a word, the crowd slowly retreated into the darkness beyond the shrine.

  Within minutes, the forest was silent again.

  Diluc and his crew collapsed by the riverside, breathing heavily from exhaustion. The cold air filled their lungs as they tried to recover from the chase.

  For a moment, no one spoke.

  Beth finally broke the silence.

  "Sir… we have to return. We need backup. We need serious help."

  Diluc wiped the sweat from his forehead and looked back toward the distant village.

  He slowly nodded.

  "But first," he said quietly, his voice firm,

  "these villagers need to answer some questions."

  The river continued to flow quietly beside them, its water reflecting the faint moonlight.

  The next morning, Diluc and his crew gathered the villagers in the center of the village.

  The atmosphere was heavy with tension.

  Diluc stepped forward, his expression cold.

  "Since our arrival, you people have been playing dumb, pretending you know nothing," he said sharply. "But last night we saw those creatures. They tried to kill us while you cowards hid inside your houses."

  The villagers began looking at each other nervously.

  Guilt was written across many of their faces.

  Beth crossed her arms and stepped forward.

  "Sir, I think these people are involved in whatever is going on here. That's why they've been hiding the truth," she said sternly before turning to the villagers.

  "You'd better start telling the truth… or we'll take you with us and make you talk the hard way."

  The villagers murmured among themselves anxiously.

  Then an old man slowly stepped forward from the crowd.

  His hands trembled slightly as he spoke.

  "We are extremely sorry," he said quietly. "But we were afraid. We have nothing to do with those monsters."

  Diluc's eyes narrowed.

  "Then tell me what's happening here."

  The old man sighed heavily before continuing.

  "Several years ago, this village was like any other normal village. We were happy."

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  He paused, his voice growing weaker.

  "But then… the villagers started getting sick."

  "At first it was just a cold fever. Nothing unusual."

  "But after a few days… the fever became severe."

  The villagers around him lowered their heads.

  "After days of suffering, the sick people began to look… strange."

  "It was as if all the blood had been drained from their bodies."

  "And then…"

  "They died."

  A heavy silence fell over the village square.

  Diluc stared at the old man.

  "Then what happened?"

  The old man hesitated for a moment before answering.

  "Then… one day, a man named Kama arrived in the village with several followers."

  "He claimed to be a prophet."

  "At first, none of us believed him," the old man admitted. "But then he began treating the sick villagers."

  The crowd murmured quietly behind him.

  "Miraculously, the patients started getting better. Their fevers disappeared… and they became healthy again."

  "Seeing what looked like miracles, many villagers began following him."

  "Slowly… more than half of the village became his obedient followers."

  Diluc's expression darkened.

  The old man continued.

  "Even the owner of that mansion… the noble of this land, Lady Martha."

  He pointed toward the mansion in the distance.

  "She was the widow of our lord, Sir Alfred, who died from a mysterious disease several years ago."

  "Lady Martha believed that Sir Alfred died from the same sickness that began spreading in the village."

  "Because of that… she became completely devoted to Kama."

  "A true zealot."

  The villagers remained silent as the old man spoke.

  "She allowed Kama and his followers to move into her mansion."

  "And from that day onward…"

  The old man lowered his voice.

  "That mansion became the headquarters of Kama's cult."

  A cold wind passed through the village square.

  "Those of us who did not follow Kama…" the old man continued slowly, "we still went to the shrine near the riverside."

  "We prayed there and paid our respects to the All Mother."

  A few villagers lowered their heads in shame.

  "Kama did not like that."

  "The shrine's priestess was only a young girl. Her name was Miu."

  Diluc's eyes narrowed slightly.

  "One day, Kama told his followers that it was Miu who had been poisoning the river water with some kind of witchcraft."

  "He claimed that was the reason the villagers were getting sick and dying."

  The old man's voice trembled.

  "His followers believed their prophet without question."

  "They dragged the poor girl from the shrine…"

  "They beat her…"

  The villagers stood in silence.

  "And then they burned her alive."

  Beth clenched her fists.

  The old man continued, his voice barely above a whisper.

  "After she died… they scattered her ashes into the very same river she had been accused of poisoning."

  A heavy silence fell over the crowd.

  Diluc slowly turned his gaze toward the direction of the riverside.

  Toward the broken shrine.

  The same place where they had seen Miu the previous night.

  The old man continued, his face heavy with regret.

  "After her death, Kama forbade his followers from going anywhere near the riverside."

  "He claimed the place had become cursed."

  "He arranged drinking water and food for his followers himself, bringing everything to the mansion."

  Diluc's expression darkened as he listened.

  "Then… the dark rituals began."

  "They happened regularly inside the mansion."

  The villagers shifted uneasily.

  "At first we didn't understand what was happening."

  "But slowly… Kama's followers began to change."

  The old man's voice trembled.

  "Their bodies twisted… their movements became unnatural…"

  "They were no longer human."

  Beth exchanged a grim look with Diluc.

  "They became the monsters you saw last night."

  Silence fell again over the gathered villagers.

  The old man lowered his head.

  "And we…"

  "We are the remaining villagers who refused to follow his cult."

  Diluc's blood boiled after hearing the old man's story.

  His fists slowly tightened at his sides.

  Far away, in her quiet garden, Yuna calmly sipped her tea.

  A gentle breeze moved the flowers around her as she gazed into the distance, as if sensing something far beyond the horizon.

  She smiled faintly.

  "So… what are you going to do, my son?" she murmured softly.

  "Are you going to fight?"

  "Or are you going to turn back… and leave this matter for someone else?"

  Back in the village, Diluc stood silently before the villagers.

  His voice was low but firm.

  "And what about their current whereabouts?"

  The villagers looked at each other nervously.

  No one spoke.

  Diluc's eyes hardened.

  "I know you are aware."

  "Tell me."

  The old man slowly stepped forward again.

  "If you go deeper into the mountain jungle," he said cautiously, "you will find their colony."

  "But I must warn you…"

  "Those who dare to go there… never return."

  A tense silence followed.

  Diluc turned and looked at his team.

  "Those who want to go back," he said calmly, "leave now."

  "Those who wish to come with me… stay."

  No one moved.

  Behind the village…

  The massive mountain loomed over the land, its dense jungle hiding secrets within its shadows.

  Diluc stared at it with burning determination.

  The hunt had begun.

  Chapter End.