A chill wind brushed against the ritual grounds.
It wasn't a temple. It wasn't sacred.
It was a dead patch of earth deep in the restricted sector, surrounded by crooked trees and silent stone pillars with faded markings of old seals and containment symbols. The air itself felt heavier—like it was weighing judgment over whoever stepped here.
Om Sai stood in front of me, cracking his neck as if he were about to start a workout.
But the faint tension in his eyes said this wasn't a game.
He held a glowing red stone in his hand—small, jagged, pulsing like a beating heart.
"Alright, demon boy," he said, voice calm but serious. "This is it. No going back after this."
I exhaled slowly. "I'm ready."
"Last chance to back out. Once I slam this into your head, it'll feel like your brain is exploding while a god taps dances on your spine."
"…You suck at comfort."
He grinned. "Not my job to comfort you. My job is to make sure you don't fucking implode."
Somewhere behind the boundary line, Shivani watched silently, hidden behind a pillar. She frowned slightly. What kind of sealing ritual involves smashing a weird rock into someone's skull…?
Om Sai raised the stone.
Mana in the area surged like a storm.
A faint red aura swirled around the stone—almost hungry.
And then—
CRACK!!!
He slammed it into my forehead before I could even blink.
"GHHH—!!!!"
Instant white-hot pain erupted through my skull, like a lightning strike exploding inside my brain. My entire body stiffened. My heart hammered. I thought for a moment my consciousness shattered into static—
Then everything went dark.
—
I didn't know how long passed.
When my eyes opened again, I was lying under a tree's shadow. The air was cool. My head…felt strangely light.
Beside me, Om Sai was snoring like a dying buffalo.
I scowled, grabbed a handful of dirt, and stuffed it straight into his open mouth.
"MMMRGHHH—PTCHE! COUGH COUGH COUGH!! WHAT THE FUCK?!"
He jolted awake, flailing like a fish. "YOU ASSHOLE!! WHY WOULD YOU—"
"WHY THE FUCK DID YOU SLAM A GODDAMN ROCK INTO MY SKULL WITHOUT WARNING, YOU STUPID BASTARD?! HOW IS THAT A RITUAL?!"
"IT WAS A RITUAL, YOU DUMB FUCK!!"
"BULLSHIT!!"
"I SAID GET READY!!"
"YOU SAID GET READY FOR A RITUAL, NOT A FUCKING ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT!"
"IT WORKED, DIDN'T IT?!"
"HOW THE HELL WOULD I KNOW?!"
Hidden behind the pillar, Shivani almost burst out laughing. She quickly covered her mouth. For a second…she remembered her brother laughing and throwing mud during stupid childhood fights.
Her chest tightened—but she kept watching.
Om Sai clicked his tongue and leaned back casually. "Check how you feel, jackass."
I paused.
Then blinked.
"…Wait. I feel…"
My breathing was steady.
My thoughts weren't foggy.
Kalink's presence was still there deep inside—but faint, like distant thunder instead of a scream.
"…More controlled. Lighter."
Om Sai smirked and flicked my forehead. "That's because the ritual WORKED, dumbass."
I stared at him.
"Wait…so it really was a ritual?"
"Yes, you fucking fossil."
"Does slamming rocks into people's skulls count as sacred spiritual rites now?"
"If I say yes, then yes."
"Go die."
He grinned.
We eventually stood and exited the ritual grounds. I headed toward the exit path, wiping dirt off my face.
Once he was alone, Shivani rushed from her hiding spot, stopping in front of Om Sai.
"What kind of ritual was that? I've never seen anything like it. What was that stone? Where is it now?"
Om Sai grinned, raising a brow.
"Calm down, Miss Snow. That 'magic stone'? Just a normal rock."
She stared.
"…What?"
He winked. "Sometimes, all you need is to give someone a hard enough hit to remind their body who's in control. The seal adjusted to his state the moment he blacked out. That's all."
"So…you just knocked him unconscious," she said slowly.
"Yep."
"For two hours."
"Yep."
"With a rock."
"Yep."
"That's not a ritual, that's assault."
Om Sai shrugged. "If it works, it works."
But as Shivani turned to leave, his grin faded for a fraction of a second.
He whispered under his breath, almost too quiet to hear: "…It wasn't just a rock."
A cool breeze drifted through the quiet recovery room, brushing against Vayushri's damp hair as she lay beside the open window. Her skin still looked pale and translucent, as if she were made of moonlight on the verge of fading. Every time the wind passed, her body reacted like a soft ripple on water—shivering, fragile… afraid.
The door creaked open.
Perin—the small white fox-like creature with fluffy silver fur and intelligent eyes—slipped inside quietly, tail lowered, as if afraid to disturb her.
He padded closer, then paused, claws twitching nervously on the floor.
Vayushri blinked, sluggishly turning her head. "…You came."
Perin didn't answer. He simply sat beside her, tilting his head. After a moment, he gently nudged her hand with his forehead.
Her fingers trembled before resting weakly on his fur. "I don't… deserve to be alive," she whispered, voice cracking. "I failed to kill him… and I failed to die. Mother will come for me… and if she sees me beside him again… I'll be erased. Or worse—I'll cause another disaster."
Perin stared at her silently.
Then, for the first time since he had ever spoken, his voice echoed in a soft whisper:
"Stay."
Vayushri stiffened, eyes widening in disbelief. "…W-What…?"
Perin carefully pressed his head into her palm again, warmer this time, like he was anchoring her to reality. "Arin… carried you through blood… through pain. He nearly died. Because you matter."
Her lips trembled. "…His blood was everywhere… I didn't… I didn't want to—"
Perin interrupted by hopping onto the bed and curling around her arm gently. "You gave him water when he was burning. You shielded him. You are not… a curse."
She stared blankly… and then tears rolled down her cheeks.
Something within her cracked—not in destruction, but like frozen ice thawing.
"…Is it really okay… if I stay?" she whispered.
Perin's tail slowly curled around her wrist like a soft ribbon of reassurance. "Stay. Live. Heal. He will need you."
Vayushri buried her face into her arm, shoulders shaking softly—not with terror this time… but with relief.
Outside the infirmary window, sunlight flickered faintly through the clouds.
Unseen by them, Arin stood at the doorway, not entering—just watching.
Not smiling. Not crying.
But breathing… a little easier.
And somewhere deep inside his chest, the chaos within him quieted.
Just a little.
The evening sky over the MEU sector burned orange, shadowed with shifting gray clouds that looked unnaturally heavyss—as if watching.
Om Sai lounged lazily against a railing outside the training sector, chewing on a stick like he had nothing to worry about. But his eyes weren't relaxed.
They were fixed sharply on the horizon.
Arin stood nearby, quietly adjusting the newly stabilized Echo flow in his body. Even breathing exercises didn't hurt anymore—proof that the ritual (or whatever bullshit Om Sai had pulled) was working.
Yet something about the air felt… wrong.
Even Perin, who had rejoined Arin with renewed trust, occasionally pricked his ears like he heard something far away. A whisper. A presence. A warning.
"Oi," Om Sai said suddenly.
Arin glanced over. "What?"
"Don't move for a sec. Feel the air around you."
Arin frowned, confused—but did as told.
…
…
The wind didn't just blow.
It swayed unnaturally, flowing in patterns that didn't match the rest of the environment. Like it was… being pulled. Searching.
Arin's heart gave a tight, unpleasant twist.
"Something's looking for me," he muttered, barely above a breath.
Om Sai didn't deny it.
Instead, he scratched his head. "Yeah. Took longer than I expected. Guess that nature bitch finally noticed a certain someone didn't vanish from existence like she ordered."
Perin's fur bristled.
Arin's pulse thumped.
In the infirmary, unaware of the storm approaching, Vayushri held Perin's earlier words in her heart like fragile glass: Stay. Live. Heal.
Far from them, wind brushed against forest trees.
Then slowed.
Then paused—as if listening.
A cold female voice brushed against the atmosphere like a sigh:
"My child... why is your heartbeat… still here?"
The wind trembled. Vayushri, though far away, shivered violently in her sleep.
Arin's fists clenched before he even realized what he was doing.
Om Sai stepped forward, eyes darker than usual. "Looks like phase two's starting earlier than I wanted."
He cracked his neck with a grin that didn't match his tone.
"Good thing we already started messing with your inner chaos, huh? If not… this wind would've eaten your soul by now."
Arin didn't respond.
He didn't have to.
Because deep in his chest—something stirred. Not Kalink. Not Astra. Not Echo.
But something that refused to run.
A resolve.
To fight.
To protect.
Even if the enemy was something as vast and merciless as nature itself.