Ambush

There was a little conflict between Nihila and the twins when they found out Nihila was a Syndicate member, just like Brandon. If it were not for Sorath, Enri would have fought against Nihila.

Sorath smoothed the situation, explaining that Nihila was not an enemy, at least for now. However, Enri was still a bit skeptical about it. Meanwhile, her twin and Fred didn't say too much after that.

Atri believed in Sorath. It was not an exaggeration to say she was very trusting in him for some reason. And for Fred, he was clueless about this Syndicate thing. But he gained some insight about them after listening to Sorath.

Enri stepped beside Sorath, leaning in to whisper while glancing behind at Nihila.

"Are you sure she's harmless? I mean, she's a part of Syndicate..."

Sorath glanced at Enri briefly.

"As I said, just don't bother or provoke her. And don't worry, she'll be gone right before the Trial ends."

"What does that mean?" Enri raised an eyebrow.

"I've promised to kill her after she helps us," Sorath said, his gaze straight.

Confused, Enri blinked twice. From the right side, Atri stepped and joined in the conversation.

"By kill, you mean disqualify or-"

"Literally. Killing for real," Sorath cut through Atri's words.

The twins looked over their shoulders, finding Nihila walking with her hollow, pitch-black eyes gazing miles away.

"You said promise..." Atri began. "Does it mean she wants to die?"

Scratching his back neck, Sorath looked upward briefly, thinking about how he should explain it.

Gesturing for the twins to lean closer, he whispered. "She's got a few loose screws in her head."

Enri perked her eyes. "Mental problem?"

"Something like that."

Atri shut her lips, not saying anything. She occasionally glanced at Nihila during their traverse from one place, the hills near the dark forest, to another.

The forest was the place where most creatures lived, starting from the weakest to the strongest. 

It required high navigation skills and stealth to avoid even the weakest monster in this dark forest. They all have a good perception. It was impossible for the group to leave this place without one or two injuries.

At first, everything went smoothly. The group didn't encounter any monsters a few hours after entering the dark forest. However, when they stepped into the second layer, where the lights were dim, they were immediately greeted by a scorching flame.

"Scatter!" Sorath commanded.

A whirlwind of fire swirled like a drill, rushing toward them ravagingly, destroying everything in its path. 

If not for Sorath's warning, the group would have been obliterated by that single attack. But even after he warned them, not everyone could dive out of their position.

"Hey, you! Get out of there!" Enri shouted at Nihila.

Nihila, who was a million away, just got her focus back on her surroundings. But it was too late. The moment she realized, the flame was already before her eyes.

Buuurrrssst!

Enri shivered, her eyes wide in horror as she witnessed a person being burned alive.

Death in the Tower was so common that not everyone would feel anything when witnessing someone's death, just like in a warzone. Especially if the cause was either killed by monsters when hunting or entangled in a conflict and got killed by other Awakened. They just shrugged it off and focused on their own survival.

As someone who belonged to the Aquila House, Enri was taught to not let her feelings be exposed after witnessing death or after killing someone. Of course, since she was meant to not exist and a secret of the family. Thus, she was taught in secret.

However, putting theory into practice wasn't as easy as it sounded.

Even though Enri was taught to not let someone's death bother her, she was still a kid who had just witnessed her second human death. Not to mention how terrible the way Nihila died was even though it was in the Awakening Phase, where someone wasn't actually die when they died.

"What the..."

As her twin, Atri also was taught to be cold-blooded. But her state when witnessing the fire devouring Nihila mirrored Enri's. She was speechless as she saw a silhouette moving in the flame.

Wait! Moving?!

As she squinted her eyes to observe the moving silhouette, Sorath grabbed her shoulders.

"Don't just stare at her! Get into position!" Sorath shouted.

Atri quickly glanced back at the fading flame before shifting her attention elsewhere. The silhouette she saw was still moving... walking.

Gazing at the deeper layer of the eerie forest, Atri spotted something, like a flicker of fire, moving in the dark. One, two, tree... six. Six pairs of yellow eyes were looking back at her.

"That's..."

Six wolves emerged from the darkness of the deeper layer. Their flame furs blazed, dancing gracefully and looking beautiful in the dark backdrop.

When it growled, its flame fur flared even more fiercely. Saliva that looked like lava filled its mouth, making a hissing sound as it fell to the ground and evaporated. The fangs, made of fire, completed its intimidating appearance.

Sorath sighed relievedly.

'I'm glad it's just the Burning Wolf cubs that came at us.'

His eyes gazed at the darkness of the forest, looking for a sign of a more prominent danger.

'The leader should be nearby, considering the flame shot earlier.'

After searching for the leader of the six Burning Wolves and not finding any, Sorath shifted his focus to the current problem first.

'Well... I hope that attack earlier is the only thing it did for these young wolves.'

He glanced around, confirming Enri's and Fred's positions. Their placements, although only a few meters apart, not even tens of meters, were too far from each other. 

When Sorath was about to yell for regroup, the Burning Wolves rushed at them, splitting the battle into two areas. Enri and Fred took three on the left side, while Atri and Sorath faced off against three wolves on the right.

Sorath glanced at Atri. Before he could say anything, Atri nodded and rushed at three wolves, giving Sorath a space to shoot from safety.

"Careful of its flame," Sorath warned her as she passed him.

Having her gaze locked on the wolf at the back, she dodged a claw and a bite from the two others. As she successfully passed through the attacking wolves, she breathed.

Suddenly, her body emitted a cold aura. Leaping into the air, she looked down at the wolf with a confident smile. Her sword was imbued with ice energy.

"I'll end this quickly!"