The forest had fallen silent again, but Crest’s mind was anything but still. The vivid image of the hanging corpse and that horrifying figure, calm, unmoving, and staring, etched itself into his memory. The moon had vanished behind the unnatural clouds, plunging everything into an oppressive darkness that felt almost alive, pressing against their skin.

  He clenched his fists, his muscles tense, as the chilling realization settled over him that this was no ordinary predator. Something far worse lurked in the shadows now. The forest’s eerie silence was a prelude. It was an anticipation of chaos.

  Suddenly, a faint flicker of movement caught his eye. A shadow shifted between the trees, slow, deliberate, almost mocking. Crest’s heart hammered harder. It was the same figure from the tree stem, all scarred, burned, and bloodstained. The one who had been waiting all along.Tali screamed with all his heart out, seeing his friend die a grueling death. He panicked, and when they saw what was going on, they understood that it was a cannibal. Those who consume their own kind are considered cannibals. In that case, the forest inhabitants were more like animals than human, as they lived with supernatural animals and preyed on anything they saw.

  Kause, observing all of this, told them, "Stay close together and be cautious all around. Danger may come at any moment. Nothing is to be expected." There was no time for observing all day. It was chaos, and one must take action in chaos as there is no other route to survive.

  Crest, being near him, consoled Tali by saying, "Quit panicking all day. You have to remember, it’s a war. When you’re at war, all sorts of things happen and surround you like the wind. You have to get yourself together, otherwise you’re dead on the ground."

  Tali finally knocked some sense into himself and understood that surviving was all that mattered right now. Everywhere was just fire and blood spilling in every place. Kause took action with no delay and began creating a barrier surrounding the two of them, excluding himself. But the extreme heat from the fire that was engulfing the forest with its flames was shaking his balance off. He could hardly focus on the process of making one, and there was the cannibal who had been moving all around silently, hiding his movements as much as possible.

  Kause, irritated by everything around him, said while biting his lips and clenching his fists, "If I go to fight and someone else appears from behind attacking them, then who could take the responsibility? I’m basically in check and can’t move until I finish making the barrier."

  Then, taking a deep breath, he warned them, "Stay on guard until I finish and stay together at all times." They both nodded and proceeded to react and be on defense. However, they were all left defenseless as they were unable to match the opponent’s speed. The air was just smoke there. Even though there were flames all around, the vision was still not clear. Due to fire and smoke, none could breathe properly except for the cannibal who had started it all.

  Everyone was sweating in the heat and wiping the sweat away with their hands again and again. Taking a step, Tali slipped, and that moment was the end for him. The cannibal had already been there before he could react. Tali’s body fell to the ground, blood spilling from his throat. It was torn apart by him. He used his arm, reverse gripping the dagger, slashing through the throat. The cannibal just stood there while the body gradually fell to the ground. Crest saw the dagger and moved, reaching his hand and shouting out, but it was too late. The body had fallen, and he just stood there staring at the cannibal. Before he could attack him, he moved back and jumped into the unseen.

  Everything fell silent. It was unsettling. Fear had devoured the sound, and the cannibal had let the chaos speak for itself. The only thing that could be heard during that time was the burning flames eating the forest alive. The barrier was done, and Kause left it there, keeping Crest and Tali’s body inside it.

  Crest was unsure of what to do, whether to take care of a fallen ally near his death or help the one who was fighting for them continuously. It was truly an unsettling moment, and that was precisely why he was left behind with nothing to carry on.

  Kause went and stood his ground. There was a fire in his eyes. He was fully serious at that time. He closed his eyes and raised his arm above, pointing at the sky as he tightened the veins in his hand. Then bits of silver energy started emitting from the ground, gradually creating a square structure reaching the sky to the point where it captured the whole forest. He clenched his fist, then brought his arm down, hitting the ground with a powerful force.

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  There were no flames anymore, and there were no trees either. He created a space to restrain the cannibal, restricting his open space and movements. It was the combination of fifty barriers from low to high, maintaining an order. They were fighting in a compressed barrier.

  But he was still jumping around in that barrier nonstop from wall to wall with the dagger in his hand, ready for striking at any moment. He was moving so fast that he made afterimages of himself. Kause concentrated on his movements. He was creating air pressure with each jump, increasing his speed over time and damaging the barrier in the process.

  The cannibal made sure to get close to him and cut him a few times until Kause caught on and held his arm, but he twisted his hand and gave a direct kick to the head, though Kause stopped it with just the palm of his hand. In the process, the cannibal got away. Then he went head on to fight with Kause, throwing hands. He went full speed with the dagger and then went for the neck, but Kause struck his wrist and attacked with a jab. Both of them paid attention to their footwork and were dodging attacks while striking at the same time.

  The cannibal went for an upward quick slash, but Kause took a step back and dodged it. Not wasting a second, the cannibal went again for a downward cut, and then Kause kneed his hand. Not taking damage, he swiftly touched the knee with his arm as he moved the dagger back. Upon having his arm on the knee, he went for a vertical kick, but Kause deflected it with his elbow and gave a direct side kick to the cannibal’s gut. This time he deflected it with the dagger, but the force sent him flying toward the barrier. He spat upon making contact with the barrier.

  Kause went fast toward him, not giving another chance, but the cannibal applied pressure on the ground, doing a backward jump and switching the dagger midair to his left hand, landing right behind Kause. He looked as quickly as he could and barely dodged the dagger, though he got hit with an uppercut at the chin. When Kause swung a punch, the cannibal bent over slightly, doing another jump as he kneed him on the nose with full force, making it bleed.

  Right away, he was about to hit with the dagger on the head, but Kause had had enough of it. He caught the hand as he slammed him on the ground, breaking his arm with crushing force. But he held the ground with his other hand and twisted the broken arm, giving a direct hit on the jaw, pushing him back. However, this time he did not let him go away, and he grabbed the hand, pulling him toward him as he pulled his punch and hit him with a powerful strike right at the throat, making him unconscious after swallowing his own blood.

  He wiped the blood from his nose, then he looked around, and from his bag he pulled a steel chain and then tied the cannibal with it, knowing he was not dead but was going to be soon. He could not find the dagger, so he thought it was lost during the fight. Yet, thinking in advance, he placed him under two barriers. After the fight, he erased all the barriers he had put throughout the whole forest.

  Then, dragging his steps slowly as he was tired from all this, he went to Crest, who had watched it all. He was trying to save his ally, but he died shortly after the stabbing wound. Crest said to him, "I couldn’t do anything for him. It was my fault that now he’s dead."

  Kause was not surprised. It was almost like he was expecting to hear that. He said, "There’s no one to blame now. The killer and the victim both are dead. We need a burial now."

  After saying that, it was seen that the cannibal was getting rid of the chains by using the hidden dagger and amplifying it with sapphire energy as there were red sparks covering the dagger. Although he did it unconsciously, it worked for him. He broke through the barrier using the force amplified dagger, pushing it with his strength.

  Kause, while talking to Crest, said, "That was impressive. I didn’t know you were that strong." Taking a pause, Crest said, "You really need to rest now." Agreeing with him, Kause looked away and saw that something was wrong. He then quickly caught on that the barriers were broken, and he looked back at Crest, but the cannibal was behind him and he struck right at Crest’s neck. Though Kause tried to block it by throwing a palm sized cube shaped barrier, the force amplified dagger cut through it with ease and slashed halfway through the neck. Crest moved back, dodging it slightly, and that was the only reason his neck was still intact.

  Kause went there in an instant, and right before the cannibal could blink, looking him dead in the eye, he pushed the cannibal’s body with the palm of his hand, whispering something like "Kasa yoana," and the next second the entire middle of the body was gone. There was a round shaped hole.

  He held Crest before he fell and laid him down on the ground, getting the necessary things to give treatment. He stopped the bleeding, cleansed the wound, removed the negative energy, transferring it to the other dead body. Then he bandaged it and gave him a herb medicine that could heal his body and put him in a barrier.

  It was all dark, with no moonlight and no stars. There was no heavy air to feel and breathe freshly. Everything was ash after the fire was out, and it smelled of ashes. Even though there were hardly any waves of air, it was cold out there, so he placed a campfire for Crest to keep him warm.

  Kause put all three bodies together, the cannibal’s one a little far from the others, and he kept digging the ground with a shovel. Crest saw all of it in his barely visible vision. The fire and the shoveling of the graves were seen in his eyes. Although he was preparing graves for his lost allies, there was no emotion on his face and no remorse to show nor feel. His eyes were cold, yet they spoke of fire. It was at that moment when Crest learned the cruel reality of war.

  He whispered, "Don’t die yet. You have to go on living." Then it ended going to the sky, seeing the dark night. "How will I answer Set if you do?"

  In the end, one was given a new life starting over from nothing once again. While there's one who was welcomed with a near death as he entered the world.