Before the blast echoed through the forest, the clearing was a whirlwind of violet light and steel. Hiraya unleashed a barrage of wind blasts, her purple aura flickering with every palm strike. Sugat, his eyes bloodshot, tried to summon spikes from his own blood, but they were jagged and unstable—he was losing control.

  Gimo moved like a ghost, dodging their attacks with effortless grace. When Sugat tried to counter a slash, his power failed him; the blood wouldn't solidify. In that split second of hesitation, Gimo lunged, his boot connecting squarely with Sugat’s stomach.

  Sugat was thrown back, gasping as he hit the dirt.

  Hiraya started to cast a heavy spell, but Gimo was faster. He scooped a handful of grit and sand from the ground and flung it into her face. Hiraya flinched, her eyes stinging, her vision blurring into a gray haze. Sensing Gimo’s blade descending toward her, Sugat roared and tackled the masked man, his shoulder hitting Gimo with everything he had.

  They tumbled into the dirt. Gimo was up instantly, a brutal kick catching Sugat in the mouth. Sugat tasted copper, but he didn't let go. He grabbed Gimo’s robe, dragging him back down as Hiraya struggled to clear her eyes. Gimo snarled, heaving Sugat off him like a ragdoll and pinning him to the earth.

  Gimo raised his Balisong. The blade hummed, poised to impale Sugat’s chest. But he stopped.

  The masked man hesitated. Instead of the killing blow, he delivered another harsh kick to Sugat’s ribs. Hiraya, her vision returning, saw the hesitation. She tried to conjure a mud trap beneath Gimo, but he sensed the shift in the earth and leaped back.

  As he landed, something piece of glass clattered to the ground.

  Gimo froze. His hand flew to his neck, his body trembling as he realized what he had lost. Hiraya’s gaze fell on the object—a glass pendant, reflecting the moonlight.

  “H-hey! That pendant!” Hiraya’s voice cracked. Her anger flared, mana swirling in her palms.

  Sugat dragged himself up, clutching his stomach. “Hiraya? What is it? Is that yours?”

  Gimo didn't even look at them. He was staring at the pendant in the dirt, his breathing ragged behind his mask.

  “I saw that in my dream!” Hiraya shouted, her voice echoing through the trees. “The girl... she was wearing that exact pendant!”

  “Another vision?” Sugat gasped.

  “No, I saw it clearly this time! She was trying to tell me something!”

  Gimo’s eyes widened behind the eye-holes of his mask. He slowly moved toward the pendant, his Balisong still pointed at them. Sugat stepped in front of Hiraya, shielding her.

  “Maybe she showed me that dream because she wants revenge on you!” Hiraya exclaimed.

  But the duo froze as Gimo suddenly dropped his Balisong. The blade hit the dirt with a dull thud.

  With slow, shaking hands, Gimo reached for his mask and pulled it away. Sugat and Hiraya gasped. Behind the wood was a young man, handsome but hollowed out. His skin was deathly pale, and his eyes were dull pits of sorrow. He gripped the pendant so hard his knuckles turned white, and then, silently, he began to cry.

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  Sugat felt a sudden, sharp sting of pity. But Hiraya remained alert, her magic still humming.

  Gimo reached behind his back, and Hiraya almost attacked—but Sugat held her back. Instead of a weapon, Gimo pulled out a small wooden board and a piece of charcoal. He wrote quickly, his hand trembling.

  “Was the girl in your dream... short-haired?”

  Hiraya stared at the board, then at Gimo’s tear-streaked face. “Yes. Why do you care?”

  Gimo nearly collapsed, leaning heavily against a tree. He wrote again, the charcoal snapping under the pressure.

  “That was Gliz. My fiancée.”

  “He’s mute?” Sugat whispered, unable to read the board.

  Hiraya’s book vanished as the sigils faded. A wave of realization washed over her. “Sugat... the girl in the dream. They were a couple.”

  Sugat looked at Gimo—now just a man sitting in the dirt, looking utterly hopeless.

  “I don't believe you,” Hiraya said, though her voice lacked its earlier bite. “Show me your proof!”

  Gimo stood up and reached for his blade. Sugat and Hiraya flinched, but Gimo simply opened his mouth.

  A collective gasp escaped them. Gimo’s tongue was gone—brutally severed, leaving only a scarred stump.

  “D-damn... who did that to you?” Sugat asked, looking away in horror. Hiraya felt her knees weaken.

  Gimo wrote one name in large, jagged letters:

  APO MINA.

  Hiraya felt a cold chill race down her spine. The glass shard she had found... it all started to click.

  “Sugat,” Hiraya whispered, her voice trembling. “He’s saying Apo Mina killed his fiancée. And they cut his tongue so he couldn't tell anyone.”

  Gimo wrote again: “Follow me.” He pointed his blade toward the dark edge of the forest. Hiraya still hesitated but sugat forced her to follow.

  Before they left, Gimo ignited his Balisong. He sent a massive wave of fire into the air—the blast they had heard earlier—a decoy to draw the others away.

  Apo Mina, Cain, and Mary reached the site of the fire. The heat was a wall, eating the dead trees and scorching the earth.

  “Where is he?” Cain asked, terror clear in his voice. “Did he do something to the kids?”

  Mary’s hands were shaking so hard she had to hide them behind her back. Apo Mina stood silent, her aura turning into something hollow.

  “Get the masks,” Apo Mina said, her voice a terrifying rasp. “And our gear.”

  The two bowed their heads, their faces pale, and followed her back into the darkness of the village.

  Gimo led them back toward the mountain, to the same river where Sugat and Cain had fetched water.

  “Where are we going?” Hiraya asked.

  Gimo wrote: DUMPSITE.

  The air grew thick with the stench of decay as they approached the pits. Hiraya nearly vomited, covering her face as the foul odor stung her lungs.

  Gimo pointed his sword toward a heap of rotted wood and dead leaves. With a swift kick, he cleared the debris, revealing a dark, yawning hole in the earth. A tunnel.

  The earth seemed to breathe cold, stagnant air as they descended. The passage was damp, the silence heavy. They reached a hidden chamber deep underground.

  Bones littered the floor—shattered ribs, skulls of animals, and... smaller, human-looking bones. They snapped like dry twigs under their boots.

  “What the hell is this?” Hiraya whispered, her heart racing.

  Sugat looked around in horror. Then he saw it. A cage made of rust-iron bars, hand-forged. The bars were stained with old, dark blood.

  Gimo crouched and wrote on his board, tears blurring his vision.

  “The Kingdom eats lies. The village eats people.”

  Hiraya’s breath hitched. “They’re... cannibals?!” she whispered.

  Sugat’s world tilted. The kindness, the bread, the smiles—all of it felt like a cold blade in his gut.

  Gimo led them to another corner where a pile of weapons lay. He wrote again:

  “The guests of this village... are always their meals. They enjoy the torture.”

  He picked up a jagged knife. “And these weapons... I am forced to forge them.”

  Hiraya told Sugat what Gimo wrote.

  “You’re strong, Gimo,” Sugat said, his voice rising in anger. “Why didn't you fight back?”

  Gimo touched the pendant at his neck. “Gliz’s soul is locked by Apo Mina. A soul-bind.”

  “I’m sorry,” Hiraya murmured, the guilt of her earlier suspicion weighing on her. “You’re a hostage.”

  Sugat’s face twisted into a mask of pure fury. “I can't believe they lied to us! The smiles... the care...” He gripped his hands until they bled. “It’s all fake!”

  Suddenly, the entrance to the tunnel slammed shut.

  The sound of many footsteps echoed through the damp passage, splashing through the contaminated water.

  [END OF CHAPTER 15]

  "The Kingdom eats lies. The village eats people."

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