Chapter 57: The Bone Array Activates

"By the blood that stains the earth..."

Roy’s voice dropped into a low, guttural chant.

"By the flesh that feeds the abyss..."

The crimson runes across the Bone Array Needle suddenly began to writhe.

"Let the soil remember our hatred."

A pulse of dark energy spread through the fissure beneath his hand.

"Let the mountains swallow the light."

The four cultists lowered their heads simultaneously.

Their corrupted blood began crawling across the ground like thin crimson veins.

"Let the sky lose its sight."

Roy’s eyes ignited with a ghastly crimson glow.

"Let every watching eye become blind."

He drove the Bone Array Needle into the fissure.

BOOM!

A wave of invisible energy exploded outward.

The surrounding trees trembled.

The fog twisted violently.

For a brief moment, countless blood-red symbols appeared beneath the forest floor before disappearing into the darkness.

Roy slowly raised his head.

"The field is sealed."

His voice carried a faint, almost inhuman smile.

"Now... let the hunt begin."

THOOM!

The Bone Array Needle drove six inches into the solid mountain stone.

There was no explosion.

No burst of light.

No thunderous roar.

Instead, a low, nauseating vibration spread through the ground.

A wave of invisible dark spiritual energy radiated outward from the needle, rippling through the terrain like a stone dropped into a stagnant pond.

The wave expanded rapidly.

One kilometer.

Two.

Five.

It passed through the soil, threaded between ancient roots, seeped through the mountain air, and climbed toward the sky above.

High over the canopy, three military surveillance drones hovering near the edge of Zone 2 suddenly malfunctioned.

Their red optical lenses flickered erratically.

One spun in a confused circle.

Another jerked sideways before correcting itself.

Their internal navigation gyroscopes had lost synchronization with the central command skiff.

Inside the military monitoring room miles away, the live feeds from Sector 2-C abruptly deteriorated.

The screens filled with static.

Snow-like interference swallowed the forest imagery.

"Command skiff, this is Drone Unit 4."

A military operator’s voice crackled through his headset from the far perimeter.

"We have localized atmospheric interference in Sector 2-C. Optical feeds are dropping... magnetic interference is spiking. Attempting auto-recalibration."

"Understood, Unit 4."

The supervisor’s response came without urgency.

Minor signal disruptions were common in the Thousand Mountain Forest. The region’s heavy mineral deposits frequently interfered with surveillance equipment.

"Reroute the signal through the secondary relay. Re-establish your sweep within ten minutes."

"Copy that."

The operator began working through the recalibration sequence.

The supervisor turned to the next monitor.

Neither of them noticed the problem spreading.

The interference wasn’t random.

It was expanding exactly as the Bone Array had been designed to make it.

For ten minutes, the cult would exist inside a blind spot.

And ten minutes was all they needed.

The drones weren’t the only things affected.

The subtle energy network supporting the Military Emergency Beacon Watches within the five-kilometer radius began to deteriorate.

The red crystal cores embedded in the students’ wrist units flickered weakly.

Their emergency transmission protocols struggled against the Bone Array’s silent interference, leaving distress signals trapped within the corrupted zone.

Roy rose to his feet and brushed the black dust from his hands.

"The domain is set."

His gaze lifted toward the canopy.

"The eye above is blind. And the distress signals from this sector will never reach the skiffs."

"Leader."

Ben’s voice came from nearby.

He pointed a thin, pale finger toward a dense thicket fifty yards down the slope.

"Movement. Two students."

The five cultists vanished.

They melted into the shadows beneath the high branches, their bodies blending seamlessly with the grey bark.

Within seconds, they were almost impossible to distinguish from the surrounding trees.

A few moments later, Marko and his fellow retainer stumbled through the thickets.

Their faces were pale.

Their uniforms were torn by brambles, and both kept their swords drawn as they repeatedly glanced over their shoulders.

"Did... did you hear those roars back there?"

The second retainer leaned against a tree, struggling to catch his breath.

"The whole valley went crazy! That Crimson Powder really drew every beast within two miles!"

"Who cares?!"

Marko snapped.

He wiped the cold sweat from his neck.

"The commoner is dead by now. Seven Stage 2 beasts on his trail at once? There’s no way he survived that basin!"

He looked around anxiously.

"We need to find Young Master Eric and tell him the job is done."

Marko took another step.

The temperature suddenly dropped.

Twenty degrees.

His breath turned white.

Marko froze.

Before he could even raise his sword, a pale hand emerged from the shadow beside the tree.

It closed around his throat.

CRACK.

The grip tightened with the crushing strength of an iron vice.

Marko’s eyes bulged.

His sword slipped from his fingers and landed in the mud with a soft thud.

Then the hand lifted.

His boots left the ground.

Marko hung helplessly in the air, kicking and clawing at the wrist crushing his throat.

Like a helpless chick caught in the grasp of a predator.

From the shadows, a voice whispered.

"Tell us..."

A faint crimson glow appeared in the darkness.

"...where is Eric?"

Beside him, the second retainer opened his mouth to scream.

He never got the chance.

’Mia’ appeared behind him like a shadow given form, her slender hand pressing a dark, shadow-wrapped blade against his throat.

The edge touched his windpipe.

His breath caught instantly.

Roy stepped from the darkness.

He stopped inches from Marko’s terrified face.

"Where..."

His voice was smooth.

Cold.

Completely devoid of human warmth.

"...is the boy?"

Marko’s lips trembled.

"W-What... who are you...?"

Tears of pure terror welled in his eyes as the realization finally struck him.

These weren’t fellow students.

The aura radiating from Roy was nothing like anything Marko had ever encountered within the academy.

It was dark.

Oppressive.

And carried the stale, metallic stench of old blood.

"We... we didn’t do anything..."

His voice cracked.

Roy didn’t answer.

He simply tightened his grip.

CRUNCH.

A horrifying sound came from Marko’s throat.

His eyes bulged as his airway narrowed.

His lungs convulsed, desperately searching for air that wouldn’t come.

"I will not ask a second time."

Roy’s voice remained almost gentle.

His dark eyes flickered with an unholy crimson light that seemed to burn straight through Marko’s soul.

"The boy named Lucian."

His fingers tightened another fraction.

"Where did he go after your scent powder activated?"

Whatever remained of Marko’s resistance collapsed.

The pressure of Roy’s aura shattered his composure completely.

"H-He... he fought them..."

Marko sobbed through his crushed throat.

His trembling hand rose and pointed toward the west.

A deep ravine disappeared beneath layers of thick, swirling fog.

"He... he was moving deeper..."

His voice broke between desperate breaths.

"Toward Black Snake Ravine!"

Marko’s fingers shook violently.

"He... he didn’t run back to the gate! He went into the ravine!"

His eyes squeezed shut.

"Please..."

"He went that way..."

Silence followed.

Roy stared into Marko’s eyes.

For several seconds, he simply watched.

The trembling pupils.

The fractured breathing.

The overwhelming terror.

He was verifying every word.

Finally, Roy’s grip loosened slightly.

A faint smile appeared on his face.

"Good boy."

The words were soft.

Almost affectionate.

And somehow, that made them even more terrifying.