spirits and forgotten beings.

The old man's mind raced as he ran. The boy was clearly spent—his breathing ragged, his limbs heavy with exhaustion. That last surge of power… it was unnatural. If it came from the boy's life-force, he might have burned through half of it. Maybe more.

They couldn't afford another gamble like that. Not now.

Worse still, if Grey laid eyes on them, things would spiral quickly. With a visual lock, his chains would take less than a second to manifest.

For a brief, bitter second, Edward cursed himself for being such a good teacher.

"We're heading out," he called behind without looking. "Try and keep up."

Chike tried. Gods, he tried.

Peter's unconscious body was slung over the old man's shoulder like a sack of leaves. Yet somehow, Edward was still faster. Chike ran with everything he had—Chi surging through his limbs—but the gap between them only widened.

Trees blurred past, a dark green smear. The jungle grew thicker, older, whispering secrets in a language Chike couldn't place.

Finally, Edward stopped. Chike caught up, panting hard. Sweat rolled down his back like rain.

The old man laid Peter on the base of a broken tree trunk. "This should buy us a few minutes."

"Why?" Chike asked between gulps of air.

"He can't come any further," Edward said quietly.

"Grey?"

"Yes. And us neither—so don't get comfortable." He turned to Chike. "Form a Chi layer around your body. Just enough to amplify your senses."

Chike obeyed, drawing what little Chi he had left. A thin shimmer wrapped around him—and then he heard it.

A thousand voices.

Shrieking. Cursing. Screaming through the jungle like a broken choir.

At first, it was distant. But then it drew closer. It wasn't sound—it was agony. Pure, unfiltered rage bleeding through the air, digging into his skull.

Chike dropped to one knee, hands to his ears, but the sound was already inside him.

"You hear them," Edward said softly, crouching beside him. "The remnants of what was sealed here. Not demons. Not spirits. Things older than memory."

He looked toward the dense jungle. His eyes distant.

"They scream because they remember being gods."

"Try not to go crazy," the old man muttered before vanishing into the tree-line.

Chike gritted his teeth, hands clutching his ears. The shrieking was unbearable now—like broken glass in his brain.

"Wait," Ofor's voice cut through the noise like a blade. "Listen."

Chike hesitated, then slowly loosened his grip over his ears.

The sound changed. The piercing wails softened into something fainter… something broken.

Help us… help… help us…

The voices were weak, desperate. Not evil.

"They are the Children of Ala," Ofor whispered. "The goddess of the Earth."

Chike's heart slowed.

"When their mother was sealed, they lost their forms. She was the root of their being. Without her, they drift like ash. Screaming… because they don't know how to be silent."

The silence that followed was worse than the noise. Chike felt an ache settle in his chest—not fear, not rage. Something deeper.

Pity.

Was this the price of sealing gods? Endless suffering?

He remembered the look on Edward's face earlier—the subtle dread in his usually sharp eyes. Now it made sense.

The shrieking faded as the old man returned, breaking through the thicket with a live deer slung over his shoulder. He moved swiftly, without speaking, and laid the creature beside Peter's still body.

"What's going on?" Chike asked, his voice cautious.

Edward didn't answer. He pulled a small knife from his coat and pressed Peter's hand around the hilt. Then, guiding that hand with eerie precision, he slit the deer's throat.

The deer thrashed for breath. Blood pooled across the forest floor. And from its fading body, something unseen poured out—an essence, warm and faintly golden.

Chi.

It streamed into Peter's hand through the blade.

Chike's eyes widened. The memory came back like a slap. That night at his aunt's house… when the man had died.

Two people died that night, Chike realized. But I only received Chi from the one I killed.

So that was the rule: the kill must be yours.

Peter stirred.

"He reinforced his body with everything he had to survive your last strike," Edward said, not looking at Chike. "If he hadn't, you might have killed him."

Peter's eyes fluttered open, dazed and pale.

Edward looked up, scanning the forest with sharpened attention. "We have to go. He's too weak to resist the forest's whispers."

The old man led the way, darting through the underbrush like a ghost. Peter followed close behind, steady despite his earlier injuries. Chike brought up the rear, keeping pace but feeling the weight of exhaustion creep into his limbs.

A sudden shimmer tore through the trees—Peter opened a narrow doorway. On the other side, just past the forest's edge, they saw them.

Grey.

And the small army he'd brought.

Twelve Faith Militia. Ten policemen. All armed, all alert. But none looked more dangerous than Grey himself—calm, focused, and terribly aware. Just as Edward had predicted, they didn't dare enter deep into the forest. They remained just beyond the border, watching. Waiting.

Chike's heart sank. To get out of this they would have to incapacitate - kill a lot of this. He desperately search his mind for a scenario this was resolved placidly. It was useless, even the determined look on the men he was with was enough to tell him that was a child's dream.

The idea of more blood on his hands made him sick.

They stopped, just a few miles from the road.

"Any further, and Grey will sense us," Edward said.

Chike didn't speak. His mind went deep to analyze the situation, he needed help from the being within him too. Power he would need a lot of that, he would very much like to get by from here without spilling another innocent blood, spilling blood might be impossible but taking a life he wouldn't dare.

Then Edward turned to him.

"That power you used earlier... Where did it come from?"

Chike hesitated.

Until now, he'd told them nothing. Not about the Room of Fire. Not about the sealed being. He respected the entity inside him—Ofor. And he wasn't sure how these men would react. Possession was grounds for execution under Faith law. Edward might understand. But Peter? He wasn't sure.

Still, silence wasn't an option anymore.

He opened his mouth, but the words caught in his throat. He felt the being resist. Push back.

But his will was stronger.

"There's… something inside me," Chike said quietly. "I found it sealed in the Room of Fire. When I touched the seal… it entered me. It's been there ever since."

He waited for judgment.

Edward didn't flinch. He only tilted his head slightly and asked, "Has it told you its name?"

Chike nodded. "Yes. It's—"

He stammered as the entity raged inside him, trying to stop him. But he forced the word out.

"—Ofor."

Edward's eyes narrowed. The lines on his face deepened—. His gift activated, subtly probing the truth.

Ofor bristled within Chike, furious. The old man's insight had reached deeper than it liked. It didn't fancy the idea of a stranger knowing details about it.

Then Edward spoke.

"Then whatever is in you hasn't been mentioned anywhere in history past."

He exhaled slowly, lips tightening.

"Let's hope it doesn't turn on us."

Chike swallowed hard. The air thickened with tension.

Edward turned away.

"Come," he said. "Let's play a game of tag." he said rather sternly.

The sun was already beginning to set. The boy memorized their plan it was easier for his head, as the old man mentioned no killing part. A game of tag - was a training scenario Grey was never able to beat. Chike thought about it, maybe training was different from a battle. Danger sense was blaring, their enemies were out for the kill. An intense blood lust flowed from the direction of their camp. the boy was happy the aura around his team was still calm.

He'd suggested that they wait out. The forest had abundance of food and fruits. They could live a long while without being bothered, and who knows might find another friendly anomaly.

Edward had shunned the idea, there was a reason Grey was patiently camped outside. Because once it was midnight, They'll be driven out or insane, by the spirits in these forest. Their enemies were well aware of that fact. Peter wasn't strong enough yet to open a doorway to a far distance.

"it's time>" the old man's voice cut through his chain of thoughts.

Chike braced himself.