The smell of rich coffee and sizzling meats drifted through the open-air café like an irresistible siren song. Sunlight streamed down on the terrace, warming the faded cobblestone underfoot, while a soft breeze carried laughter from nearby tables.

Sven leaned back in his chair, a blissful sigh escaping his lips. His leather jacket was half-unzipped, sunglasses perched lazily on his nose as he stared - not-so-subtly - at a passing brunette in a pencil skirt.

"Nice," he muttered under his breath.

Nadya raised an eyebrow, chewing on a piece of grilled bread. "Seriously?"

"What?" Sven held up his hands innocently. "I'm just appreciating the scenery."

"Appreciate the food instead. You're acting suspicious again."

"Again? That's just how I am," he said with a grin, though there was a strange calmness in his tone. A quietness that wasn't like him. His gaze still followed the passersby, but not with his usual fire. Just a slow, mellow drift, as if he was too tired to do more than look.

Even Amina noticed. She tilted her head curiously as she sipped from her tea, watching Sven with a soft smile.

"You look more... subdued," she said quietly. "That's new."

"Maybe all I needed was a damn break," Sven muttered, scratching the back of his head. The past few weeks have been a hellstorm. Kinda nice to just... sit. You know?"

Nadya blinked. "Huh. Didn't think I'd ever hear you say that."

Sven chuckled, shrugging. "Don't get used to it."

Meanwhile, Lenny was halfway through demolishing his third plate of meat, his tail thumping against the chair leg like a happy dog. Every now and then, he glanced shyly at Amina, who gave him a polite nod whenever he caught her eye.

It was peaceful. Almost suspiciously so.

They truly were just having a peaceful meal, but things weren't nearly as serene on the other side of the city for the other group.

-

Kai stood at the edge of a narrow mountain trail, crimson eyes locked onto the towering silhouette in the distance. The castle perched at the forest's peak looked like a carcass of stone and time - blackened, half-shrouded in clouds, and completely out of place. Like something that had clawed its way into this world from somewhere else… somewhere wrong.

Even from here, it looked ominous.

Isaac squinted up at the castle, shading his eyes with one hand. "That's not a tourist destination, is it?"

Takeshi said nothing. The blindfolded swordsman simply tilted his head upward, then began walking. His movements were fluid, deliberate - his boots making no sound against the crumbling path.

Kai gave a quiet snort. "He's not going to stop, is he?"

"Nope," Isaac muttered, his hands stuffed in his coat pockets. "Are we sure this is safe?"

"No," Kai replied.

And still, they followed.

The trail wound higher into the mountain, starting as a civilised path of cracked stone and sparse signage. But civilisation ended quickly. The signs became more frequent, but far less inviting.

"Nu treceti. Pericol mortal."

"Do not enter. Mortal danger," Isaac read aloud with an amused smirk. "Charming."

Further ahead, a rusted metal sign bore deep claw marks. Half the words had been gouged away. Underneath, someone had scrawled blood-red letters in crude handwriting.

Valea Bestiilor.

Kai raised an eyebrow. "'Valley of Beasts,' huh? Sounds interesting."

"Sounds like a place where people die," Isaac said flatly. "Which makes me question why we're still going."

"We'll be fine," Kai said, vaulting the chain-link barrier with ease. "And besides, if beasts really were here, this fence wouldn't stop them."

Takeshi scaled the barrier effortlessly, landing with feline grace. Isaac sighed and just phased through like a ghost, his left shirt arm dangling loosely. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

The forest beyond the fence swallowed them whole.

It wasn't long before Kai felt it - the heavy, unnatural pressure in the air. Like the entire forest was watching them. The canopy grew tighter the further they walked, blotting out the sun and turning day into a dim twilight. Twisting vines curled around tree trunks like constricting serpents. Every step forward snapped twigs, rustled brush, and stirred clouds of pollen that hung thick in the air.

It reminded Kai of Wolfsgrave Woodland near Nadya's hometown - but the him of then and the him of now were worlds apart.

"You hear that?" Isaac asked after about an hour of tense hiking.

Kai paused mid-step.

There was no wind. No birds. Not even the buzz of insects.

Just a distant crunch of something heavy in the underbrush and a low, rattling breath that sounded far too close.

"…Probably the trees," Kai muttered.

"You suck at lying," Isaac said flatly.

They weren't alone.

Suddenly, the brush exploded in a blur of dark fur and claws.

A massive Carpathian lynx lunged out of the trees, its eyes glowing with a sickly yellow light, muscles pulsing unnaturally as if mutated far beyond any normal animal. Its fangs glistened with black saliva as it let out a bloodcurdling snarl.

Kai barely moved.

With a sharp exhale, blood burst from the pores in his arms and swirled outward in serpentine streams. In the blink of an eye, they hardened into jagged crimson blades that spun in the air like saws.

He raised a hand. "You picked the wrong prey."

The constructs flew.

The lynx was fast, but not fast enough. One blade clipped its leg, another slashed across its flank. Before it could retreat, Kai closed his fist and the blood he'd spilt twisted mid-air, yanked violently back into spears that pierced the beast from behind.

It hit the ground with a strangled cry, convulsing.

Then, slowly, unnaturally… its own blood rose from its wounds, strings of crimson snaking toward Kai.

He clenched his teeth focusing.

'Draw it out. Use it. But remain in control,'

Another shape lunged from the trees.

A mutated wild boar, tusks the size of Kai's forearms, barreled forward with a rage-fuelled squeal.

"Ah hell," Isaac muttered and simply phased through the charging beast, reappearing on the other side without a scratch. "This is your department."

Kai crouched low. "Thanks for the help."

"I am helping by not dying!"

The boar didn't get far. In one flash of motion, Takeshi drew his blade. There was no shout, no dramatic stance - just a single clean slash, so fast it barely registered.

The beast's momentum carried it forward… until its head slid clean off its body.

The sword was sheathed again.

"…Okay," Isaac said. "That was impressive."

Kai kept his eyes on Takeshi. The swordsman's posture was relaxed, but Kai could feel it. His energy was suppressed, controlled. He was conserving power.

'He mustn't be fully recovered just yet,' Kai thought. Even so, Takeshi moved like death incarnate. Calm, efficient, untouchable.

They constantly faced waves of beasts, as if the forest was mocking them for assuming it would be safe, and the signs were just a hoax.

First, it was a trio of black wolves, larger than any normal canine, their fur matted with rot and moss. Then came a grotesquely oversized bat with a screech that made Isaac actually flinch.

"That thing is ugly!" Isaac yelped, phasing through a tree as the bat dive-bombed Kai.

Kai ducked, then shot a needle-thin jet of blood directly into the beast's eye mid-flight. It screamed, lost control, and smashed into a rock.

He strode up to it calmly and crushed its skull with a hardened blood spike.

There was a series of other beasts that were easily manageable.

Then… the real challenge arrived.

A lone howl echoed through the trees. Deep. Resonant. And too long to be natural.

A hulking warg - twice the size of a normal wolf - stepped into the clearing. Its muscles rippled with every step. Thick patches of bone jutted from its shoulders like makeshift armour, and its eyes burned with unnatural red light.

"That's… not a C-ranked beast," Isaac whispered. "That must be B-ranked. A Howling Threat."

"Together?" Kai asked.

Takeshi nodded once.

The beast charged.

Kai launched blood spears from both arms, curving around trees to strike from multiple angles. The warg twisted mid-leap, some spears clinking off bone. Takeshi appeared above it in a blink, slicing downward.

The warg jerked left, barely dodging.

Isaac stood back and phased away every time it came near, muttering, "Yeah, I'll just be over here not dying, thanks."

Kai drew more blood, this time from the environment itself, the fallen animals, his own pores. Dozens of needles hovered in the air before blasting forward in a rapid spiral.

The warg was shredded from multiple directions - bleeding, howling, enraged.

Then Takeshi moved again.

A single step.

A blur.

And the beast's front leg was gone.

It stumbled, and Kai finished the job.

One final construct, a massive halberd of blood, formed above and drove itself down into the beast's skull, silencing it forever.

The forest went still again.

They stood in silence for a long moment, the only sound their laboured breathing and the dripping of blood.

Dozens of beasts had fallen. Stirring threats, Raging threats… and now even a Howling threat.

By the end of it, their bodies ached, their clothes were torn, and their limbs felt heavy with fatigue - but not as much as they should be. They had hiked for hours and fought monsters that could've levelled an entire city if left unchecked.

And yet… they weren't completely drained.

However, that could be attributed to their incredible skills and endurance.

Something else was wrong.

"These beasts," Kai said, frowning. "They had no reason to stay here."

"Why didn't they leave the valley?" Isaac asked, breath visible in the unnaturally cold air.

Takeshi turned toward the path that led up the final slope, toward the peak, toward the castle. The Blindfolded Swordsman kept the Wolfsgrave Woods in check, so what kind of creature did so for the Valley of Beasts?

"…I think we're about to find out."

The castle loomed above them now.

Black stone. Crumbling walls. Statues with eyeless faces. Everything about it radiated the same wrongness Kai had felt from the moment they crossed the fence.

But it wasn't just ancient.

It felt alive.

Like it was waiting.

Kai narrowed his eyes as a chill danced down his spine, but he couldn't help but be a little curious.

And so, they climbed toward whatever horror awaited at the top of the Valley of Beasts...

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