Chapter 16: Cooked

AUDEL EMPORIO

I perched silently on a thick tree branch, my eyes scanning the battlefield below. My target wasn't hard to find—bandits always hunted with their leader, and tonight was no exception.

A relief.

An assassination was always easier with a clear mark. But before I struck, I needed answers. That announcement from the bandit earlier still echoed in my mind:

"We are looking for a powerful spy among you."

The words gnawed at me.

Why would mere bandits be searching for a spy among common travelers? And why risk an open attack on the main road?

There was only one possibility: they weren't acting alone.

Someone had hired them. But who? And more importantly—who was the spy they were after?

I crouched, narrowing my eyes at the bandit leader below. His posture, his gestures—everything about him was screaming something. I just had to listen.

Sweat clung to his skin despite the cool night air. His hands clenched and unclenched. He was nervous. Scared, even. But his eyes…

His gaze darted around—erratic, searching—except it wasn't random.

I followed the pattern.

Then, my breath hitched.

The bandits weren't alone.

From my vantage point, I could see the dark silhouettes of soldiers lying in wait. An army. They had surrounded the bandits—but they weren't attacking.

That didn't make sense.

Unless—

A slow smirk curled at my lips as the pieces fell into place.

These weren't our soldiers.

Though they wore the uniform of the National Army, their mana signatures betrayed them. They didn't belong to this land.

"Eukaphrotians," I murmured, leaning against the tree trunk.

But why?

Why would foreign soldiers ally with bandits just to smoke out a spy?

The answer was clear: The spy they were after wasn't just any informant. They were one of their own. A traitor.

That eliminated one possibility—they weren't looking for me.

But my mind drifted to the old man in the wagon.

He had predicted this ambush. Almost too accurately. Could he be connected to all this?

I needed to find out.

But first—I had a battle to handle.

With a swift motion, I pulled my mana-concealing hood over my head. My presence faded into the dark.

Before I made my move on the bandit leader, I had to sever their connection to the Eukaphrotians.

They were a threat.

Maybe not to me.

But to everyone else.

UTAH BOLTAIRE

Who are these men?

I crouched behind a thick tree trunk, stealing cautious glances at the figures moving in the clearing ahead. They wore the uniforms of the National Army, yet I had received no orders about an operation of this scale. If this was a classified mission, I should have at least heard whispers of it.

But no.

Their faces were foreign. Their movements, too precise. Their numbers—far too many for a routine patrol.

Could they be operating under the King's secret orders?

No. That didn't make sense either.

Their uniforms were a mere disguise. The mana signatures radiating from them were different, unfamiliar, like they came from another continent altogether.

A cold realization settled in my gut.

I needed to report this to my father.

Foreign interference of this magnitude would be a disaster. If these soldiers were after Audel, could it mean they were trying to smoke out Vestiron? Rumors had spread of Vestiron seeking foreign allies in opposition to the King's rule. But these invaders wouldn't aid him like this—forcing a bandit attack near the capital's main road was reckless, borderline suicidal.

Then another possibility struck me.

Was this the first step in an invasion?

The thought was quickly buried as a sharp voice cut through the night.

"Who's there?"

I tensed.

"Kreg, check the bushes. Now." A female voice rang out, calm but commanding.

"Yes, My Aeon." A soldier responded.

Aeon?

I had never heard that title before. Definitely foreign.

Panic was useless. I needed to act—now. If they captured me, torture would follow. And while I had no intention of dying here, I could use this moment to learn more.

Taking a deep breath, I stepped forward, hands raised. Not in surrender, but as a gambit.

The first soldier I saw had short wheat-colored hair and piercing purple eyes. Behind him, at least thirty soldiers stood in formation, their leader at the center—a woman with navy blue hair, standing like a spider at the heart of her web.

Young. All of them.

Her eyes locked onto me, cold and calculating.

"Arrest him, Kreg! Surround him—he might be a Wikes spy."

Fifteen soldiers moved in instantly. They were fast. Precise.

From the outside, it must have looked hopeless.

But I wasn't some common captive.

They had walked straight into my trap.

As the soldiers closed in, I activated Fire Step: Second Form.

A surge of heat burst from my core, engulfing the men around me in a sudden, violent blaze. Like a living bomb, I was.

Screams echoed through the clearing as the flames devoured them, forcing them to retreat.

The wheat-haired soldier—Kreg—remained still, unfazed, his gaze locked onto mine. Behind him, his commander barked orders.

"Keep your distance! Unit-5, establish contact with the battalion! Unit-2, relay to Aeon Platus!"

I hadn't intended to fight these people. But now, I had no choice.

Drawing my longsword, its blade radiating heat, I took a combat stance.

Kreg smirked.

Ignoring his commander's orders, he pulled out two daggers, their edges gleaming under the firelight. His purple eyes burned brighter.

"After I kill you," he sneered, "I'll be sure to ask for a promotion."

Then, with unnatural speed, he lunged.

Our swords clashed, sparks flying as steel met steel. I had the advantage in strength, forcing him back with each strike. He stumbled but quickly recovered, falling into his stance once more, eyes sharp with determination.

"Unit-6! Fall back to the commander!" he barked.

"But Leyten Kreg—"

"I said go!" he roared before launching himself at me with terrifying speed. I barely dodged, his blade whistling past my ear. A crackle of yellow lightning erupted from his body as he struck again, his movements blurring through the air.

I met his flurry of attacks head-on, parrying with precise counters, but he gave me no opening to retaliate. His speed outmatched mine in close combat, and before I could react, a sharp sting ran across my cheek—a scratch, but a warning.

I leaped back ten feet in an instant, clenching my fist as flames surged around it. "Fire Step: First Form!" A ray of fire erupted forward, blazing straight toward him and the commander standing parallel behind him.

But something was wrong. My flames flickered... then vanished.

No, not vanished—absorbed.

The boy exhaled, his violet eyes gleaming with an eerie light. He had taken in my flames as effortlessly as breathing, his body unfazed. A slow smirk stretched across his face.

"So primitive." He cracked his neck and began circling me, his voice thick with mockery. "If this is all the Wikes can manage, then they're already cooked."