Elias moved quickly through the dim streets of Blackwood, his boots scraping softly against the packed dirt as lanternlight flickered along the buildings. Night had settled over the town, bringing with it the usual quiet murmurs of evening—distant laughter from a tavern, the low rumble of conversation drifting from open windows—but Elias barely registered any of it.
His mind was elsewhere.
'Where the hell did she go…'
Elias turned down another narrow lane. His thoughts began running through possibilities.
'Beth's shop?'
He passed by the storefront and slowed for a moment. The glow from the windows slowly dimmed as Liora locked up. Kev was waiting for her by the entrance and offered her his hand with an easy smile. She simply placed her bag in them and together they left. Elias shook his head. *Not there.*
He kept walking.
'The Hunter Bureau? Unlikely. She had barely spoken to the hunters since her father died. She wouldn't go there willingly.'
He stopped behind a building, pressing his back against the cold stone. The alley was narrow, barely wide enough for two people to pass. He closed his eyes and tried to think.
'Where the hell is she?'
Voices drifted around the corner. Lost in his thoughts, he hadn't realized that he had reached the tavern.
"—can't believe how lucky that man is."
"Wilcris? Living in the Keep?"
"Not just living there—eating their food, sleeping in their beds. The Lord's own hospitality."
"That's luck right there."
A third voice chuckled.
"Lucky bastard gets to be around Lady Elara every day too."
There was a sharp cough.
"Watch your mouth," Garett said mildly.
Te man laughed and raised his hands in mock surrender.
"Hey, hey. I didn't mean anything by it chief."
Elias peeked around the corner. Garett stood there with Fenn and Lysle beside him, along with two other hunters. Their demeanor relaxed as they talked casually.
"Anyway, I'll head to the keep tomorrow to deliver a report," Garett said.
"Those corrupted critters are still running around the forest." He paused.
"Oh, and I saw Roric's daughter earlier."
Fenn shifted awkwardly. Garett smirked.
"If you run into her, try being polite for once. Don't act like these two cowards who can't even say hello."
Elias stepped out from behind the building.
"Old Garett."
The hunters turned, surprised by the seeming suddenness of his appearance.
Garett blinked.
"Oh," he said casually.
"If it isn't Elias." He looked the boy up and down.
"Why do you look so beat up?" He grinned slightly.
"Did your uncle do the beating? Hehe."
Elias ignored the joke.
"You said something about going to the forest with Jamie."
Garett tilted his head. The man who had made the comment about Elara suddenly tensed.
"How long were you listening in?" He sighed.
"It's rude to eavesdrop on adults, you know."
Elias did not answer and instead just stared at the old man. Garett held his gaze for a moment, then shrugged.
"The girl. Jamie. I had her accompany us to check out some things in the forest." He gestured vaguely toward the city gates.
"She ran off after a big lizard around the Saint's Glade."
Elias was gone before the old man finished speaking. He ran.
The hunters watched him disappear down the road.
"What was that about?" one of them asked.
Fenn frowned. "Should we go after him?"
Lysle nodded. "He looked pretty beat up."
Garett folded his arms thoughtfully.
"…Nah." He looked up at the sky.
"You know, those two kids are always doing crazy stuff together."
A small smile tugged at his lips.
"Hmm, to be young again." His expression softened slightly.
"They're lucky they have each other."
The other hunters exchanged glances. One of them frowned.
"I get that they're always causing trouble, but isn't it irresponsible to let the boy run off like that at night?"
There was no response.
"Chief?"
A soft snore escaped the old man's lips.
Fenn stared. Lysle's jaw dropped.
"Is he... sleeping standing up?"
One of the other hunters reached out and shook Garett's shoulder. The old man swayed but did not wake.
"Did Roric ever do this?" the man muttered.
"Saints can't get drunk from normal alcohol," Garett mumbled. They all nodded in agreement as that made sense, then paused.
"…Wait."
Garett snored louder.
---
The Saint's Glade was a wound in the forest.
Elias arrived breathless, his legs burning, his lungs screaming. The collapsed structure that had once been SK's shack lay in a mound of upturned earth, its walls splintered, its roof caved, the strange legs that had carried it through the forest lying in pieces among the rubble.
He reached out and touched the remains of the wall.
"…Old man."
His fingers brushed along the splintered wood. Then he noticed something. Claw marks. Deep gouges in the splintered planks, fresh enough that the wood was still pale at the edges.
He activated Flow Perception. Faint traces of Anti-Flow shimmered in the air—a cold current, a dying ember, the signature of someone who had passed through recently.
'Jamie…'
He followed it.
The trees here were different from the ones behind him. Their bark was dark, metallic, catching the fading light in ways that hurt to look at. He took a deep breath and stepped into the forest.
A horrible thought surfaced.
'Did she…' His throat tightened.
'Does she want to die?'
He ran forward.
Branches clawed at him as he pushed into the Iron Forest. The air was thick—not with humidity, but with energy. Flow pressed against him from all sides, dense as water, heavy as stone, seeking entry, seeking purchase, seeking to drown him in its density. His steps slowed. His breath came in shallow gasps. Each step felt heavier than the last.
Elias wiped sweat from his brow. His body trembled.
'Damn it…'
He hadn't replenished his energy after fighting Ortis. His reserves weren't empty but far from full. In his current state, simply walking inside this Node felt like trying to walk underwater, like moving against an invisible pressure.
Still, he pushed forward. Reddish-metallic mist drifted between the iron-colored trees, distorting his vision. His Flow Perception flickered weakly.
Then he saw it. A piece of cloth caught on some briars. He pulled it free and held it in his palm. It was Jamie's. He tucked it into his pocket and kept walking.
"Jamie!" he called.
No answer. He called again, louder. "Jamie!"
The mist distorted sound. Swallowed it.
Elias continued forward. His breathing grew heavier. His head spun slightly. The pressure was increasing.
Then his Flow Perception brushed something. Fast. Directly toward him.
He sidestepped instinctively. The creature shot past him—a bat, its body the size of a quadbike, its wings spanning wider than the path between the trees. It crashed into a trunk and clung there, upside down, its eyes reflecting the faint light like drops of blood.
Elias froze.
"An Awakened beast."
Given the bloodlust that radiated from it, it was the type that devoured other beasts to evolve instead of absorbing from the surrounding area. Under normal circumstances, Elias might have been able to fight it with enough energy and preparation. But now? Exhausted?
'This will be hard…'
The bat opened its mouth. The screech shattered the silence.
Pain exploded inside Elias's head. His eardrums burst instantly. He clapped his hands to his ears as blood ran between his fingers. The pain was white-hot, blinding. His head throbbed. His vision swam. His ears began to heal—slowly, so much slower than before. He was too drained. Too weak.
Around him, more red eyes opened in the darkness. Dozens. The bat had called its entire family.
"Great."
Elias turned and ran.
The forest became a maze of iron thorns and twisted metallic branches. Thorns raked across his arms. Roots caught at his feet. Behind him, the bats screamed—not vocal cries, but sonic blasts that cracked the trunks around him like invisible hammers, sending shards of metal-bark flying through the air.
He tried to use Flow Suppression. The mist stirred around him anyway. His physical presence was enough to disturb it, and the bats' sonar found him regardless.
A bat swooped down. Another flew closer, its claws grabbing him from the front. It began lifting him into the air. Luckily, he had equipped his two daggers before leaving the keep to search for his friend.
Elias reacted instantly. He drove the Jade Dagger into the creature carrying him's eye, and as it shrieked and released him, he stabbed the one in front with both daggers, using its body to cushion his fall as he crashed into the ground.
He staggered up and kept running. His body felt heavier, he had a headache, and he was drowsy. The Flow humidity was suffocating him. His vision darkened around the edges.
Then he reached a clearing. A massive pit opened before him. It was a dead end. The bats were circling now, their screams growing louder, more frenzied. He could not run anymore. He could not fight.
But he had one thing left. The Domain fragment in the Jade Dagger: Bloody Wonderland. To date, he still didn't understand it, and it drained a whole lot of energy to activate. Still, he couldn't allow himself to die.
Yet.
One of the bats exploded midair. Sniped. The other bats shrieked in confusion. Another fell. Then another. The survivors scattered, their sonar blasts going wild, cracking trees, shattering branches, sending shards of metal-bark flying through the air.
A glacier erupted from the ground, rising several meters into the air. As the bats attacked, thinking another predator had made an appearance, a hand grabbed Elias's.
Someone pulled him forward and they ran. Stumbling and barely able to keep his feet, Elias tried to focus, but his vision was a tunnel of darkness and pain. He could not see the face of the person holding him. All he could make out was indigo hair flowing through the mist.
His thoughts blurred, his legs gave out, and darkness swallowed him.
Just as the figure turned toward him—
And began to speak.