[ Time remaining to Round 8's Day 2 shriek: 0 minutes, 1 second. ]

SKE-EEEEEEEK!

The sharp sound of the phoenix tore through the stillness, rising from deep within the tangled trees of the Humton Forest. It rippled, shrill and unnatural, across the gnarled trunks of the dark forest surrounding us. Few other sounds followed. No birds scattered from the trees, flapping away into the blue sky, indicative of the eerie stillness of the corrupted forest.

"Woah!" Henry grabbed hold of three pairs of reins in his hands, and calmed the horses he was left in charge of. "Easy there!"

The horses reared slightly, hooves scuffing across the road as they whinnied in panic. Yet, despite the shriek, they didn't bolt. They were well-trained, and despite the added tension, they remained in place.

I knew the cry would come, but nonetheless felt a shiver run up my spine when it did. The hairs on my arms stood on end, and I flinched at Apophis' movement on my left shoulder, his scaled body cool against the back of my neck.

~That must be the sound of a phoenix being consumed by dead mana, just as it was hatched.

The snake's voice hissed into my mind.

I clenched my jaw. "Launch the second rocket!" I ordered, not allowing myself to freeze despite the commotion.

A hiss of ignition and a low whoosh followed. From the far side of the road, the second rocket launched skyward, disappearing into the height of the sun-filled blue sky. A small flash appeared, and the parachute unfurled, beginning its slow descent back down, swaying gently in the air.

The first parachute, launched just before the shriek, was already drifting down toward the road ahead.

[[ How do you know it just hatched? ]]

Apophis's large, purple eyes met mine, and his tongue flicked in and out.

~This area. It was once a well-known hot springs spot a few decades ago. Though the spread of dead mana has overtaken the lands, the geysers should still be there. The heat would have been sufficient to hatch the phoenix egg.

[[ But why would it be consumed and die? Aren't phoenixes capable of destroying dead mana? ]]

~Hah. Yes, if they are in their proper form, phoenixes can do away with dead mana. But an egg surrounded by dead mana for two decades? Even a phoenix's mana would be drained before it ever had a chance. Its core would be corrupted before its flames could rise.

He shifted again, tail winding around my upper arm.

~But you're wrong, Luca. It's not dead. At least… not entirely.

I frowned at his phrasing and turned my gaze toward the first parachute capsule, now gliding down past the trees and into the middle of the road.

"It really did come back…" one of the guards muttered. "I thought we'd have to venture into the Humton Forest to retrieve it."

It wasn't by coincidence.

Leona had ensured it would float down the way it did.

The white parachute folded neatly into itself as it touched down, collapsing like a bedsheet dropped from a balcony. The metal capsule thudded lightly onto the road.

The two guards familiar with Elda's contraption jogged forward without needing instruction. One crouched to gather and fold the parachute, while the other undid the metallic panel attached to its underside.

"Young master Luca, here it is," the second man said, returning to me and holding out the large metal sheet, roughly the size of a banquet plate.

I took it in both hands.

My fingers brushed across its surface. The metal plate was still slightly warm from the explosion that resulted in the engraved image.

I tilted it slightly to avoid the sunlight from glaring back into my eyes and stared at what had been recorded.

The image came into focus.

A top-down impression of the Humton Forest spread across the surface. It was stark and in high contrast, rendered entirely in shades of shadow and light. Elda's device couldn't capture color, but it compensated for that with eerie precision in how it recorded brightness. The black trees, the grey curvature of the road, even our black carriage, all were crisply visible.

~Oho. What an intriguing device. It really did capture the landscape from above.

Apophis hissed approvingly from my shoulder, his scaled head inching forward to peer over the plate. His purple eyes narrowed, tongue flicking out.

I scanned the road first, spotting our carriage. I traced east and west, orienting myself with the sun above and the most notable trees nearby. Then my eyes moved toward the strange darkness in one corner, in the west.

I frowned.

There, depicted among the otherwise evenly lit, albeit dark forest, was a strange patch of pure black. Not a shadow. Not negative space. Just a wound of black, among the gnarled trees.

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[[ That's the phoenix... right? ]]

I inquired of Apophis, not having Leona by my side yet to provide additional insight she was sure to have, having seen what occurred from her vantage point in the sky.

Where the phoenix was should have been the brightest point on the image, just as Leona appeared when her egg first hatched. It ought to have been radiant, even in grayscale. But instead, it was a blot of dark void, etched into the plate like a burn mark.

~Indeed it is, he replied. It must have transformed, or rather mutated, under the pressure of surrounding dead mana and its own unstable living core.

I stared at the silhouette a moment longer. Then sighed.

[[ System, please record into memory its location. ]]

The ultimate goal in this loop was to record the location and attempt to intercept the phoenix before it perished in the next loop.

While the two men retrieved the second parachute and image plate, Leona's warmth suddenly settled on my right shoulder. Her presence was invisible, but unmistakable. She trembled faintly, her claws digging into my shoulder more than I would have liked.

[[ Leona, what did you see? ]]

I asked, brushing my fingers gently over the space where she perched, offering my consultation.

That thing... Her voice rang softly into my mind, thin and shaken. I don't know what it is, but it's no longer a phoenix. Even if we had arrived earlier... we couldn't have saved it.

"Young Master Luca, the second plate," a guard interrupted our covert conversation, offering the warm metal disc with both hands.

I accepted it, the heat still clinging to its surface.

As my eyes landed on it, I inhaled deeply.

The first plate showed a black scorch mark instead of a bright egg. It was an unusual absence where the light should have bloomed. But this was something else.

The darkness had grown. It spread outward.

What had once been a burn mark was now a smear of black, like tar spilled across the trees. It stretched outward in uneven tendrils. The shape was formless, unsettling, and although the image was still, the slight smudging suggested that it was alive and moving in a way that defied structure.

"What is that…?" I murmured aloud.

~That, Apophis hissed from my left, is the result of unintentional Chaos.

Before I could respond, Henry's shout cut through.

"Woah!" Henry yelled out. "Help!"

The reins slipped from his hands as the horses jerked violently. Panic surged through them, their hooves pawing at the road, eyes wide and wild.

My other two guards rushed to grab hold of their respective horses, who had seemed intent on leaving, with or without their riders.

Apophis turned his head toward the forest on our left.

~We need to leave. Now. It's heading here.

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

"Master, I just received a report: there should be a carriage up ahead," Belestris announced.

Claude didn't respond immediately. His gaze remained on the forested road beyond the window. There was an eeriness to the Humton Forest that he hadn't felt on previous travels. Something reminiscent of the buzz of electricity filled the air, raising his hair to stand upright.

They had entered the forest half an hour ago, having passed the Town of Ascot, where Luca's grandmother resided.

"It must be him," he murmured. "Stop the carriage."

The sleek black carriage groaned to a halt, wood and metal settling with a soft jolt. Claude pushed the door open and stepped down onto the road, the thick black cloak over his body billowing gently from the movement.

Twisted, mutated black oaks of the Humton Forest stood on either side of him on the broad road.

He took in a breath of the damp, mineral-rich air, cooler than one might expect on a summer day such as this.

Beyond the eerie forest, a faint yet unmistakable rhythm of hooves and wheels grew louder, approaching.

He's coming.

The corner of Claude's mouth twitched. He could barely contain his excitement and anticipation, like a child awaiting the unwrapping of a much-awaited present.

It was unlike himself, but he had good reason.

With a gloved hand, he rubbed the inside of his left forearm and wrist, where the tattoos from the last two loops were scribed in. They all spoke of a peculiar young man, who had evaded Claude's past selves' detection for all but the previous two timelines.

Three lines stood out among the rest:

Luca Frey is a treasure. Protect him. Save him at all costs.

Luca Frey is in control of the loops now. Not Grandov. The Game ends with him.

Luca extended his dying grandmother's and Adovoria's king's lifespans.

They were all peculiar and unsettling, but that last one had caught Claude's attention the most.

He valued longevity. Obsessed over it, even. And if Luca held the power to delay death… Then Luca wasn't just a mere asset—no, he was a potential cure to the end of life itself.

But there were also risks.

Several tattoos in particular raised his blood pressure, detailing the concerning enemies that Luca had managed to catch the attention of.

Duke Hatis Maudel was of minute concern and Claude planned to address that little matter shortly.

However, Zuni Keita from the Kobar Empire's side was a different matter altogether. He was a member of a dangerous group that Claude's tattoos explicitly warned him against going into direct conflict with.

To avoid them at all costs.

However, despite the risks, Claude's agents had already intervened on Luca's behalf once in the previous loop, helping protect him against an attack of the undead. Such intervention wasn't a pattern he wanted to repeat casually. However, if he intended to form a partnership with Luca, he had little choice but to adopt an unfavorable stance against this dangerous group.

Then there was Ra Sol, arguably the most powerful mage on the two continents, at least as far as raw destructive magic was concerned. A walking apocalypse. And in the previous loop, his fury targeted none other than Luca's family. His attack had turned the Frey manor to ash. Yet, miraculously against all odds, Luca and his entire family had survived.

That was not luck. That was power, coiled and hidden.

And now, the mysterious young man was arriving as predicted.

The sound of hooves grew louder. Claude turned slightly toward the curve in the road.

His coat fluttered in the breeze, the black fabric brushing against itself. Feelings of anticipation rumbled within his chest.

Show me who you are this time, Luca Frey.

The Frey family's carriage appeared around the bend, its crest unmistakable. Behind it, three mounted guards galloped at full speed.

Claude furrowed his brows.

The carriage was moving far too fast. And the guards were glancing back. Repeatedly.

Fuck. They're running away from something.

"Turn the carriage around!" Claude roared, vaulting back inside. "Don't lose to them in speed!"

He was no sheep. He did not follow blindly. But this was the Humton Forest, and if Luca Frey was retreating at a full gallop, then something was wrong. Terribly wrong.

As his carriage lurched into motion, Claude leaned toward the window, his eyes scanning the edge of the trees.

Then he saw it.

A flicker of movement—no, a shadow—darting through the forest, too fast, too fluid, skimming the treeline like a streak of smoke.

What is that...?

Claude's mouth tightened.

It was moving quickly, too fast for his carriage to get away.

Tch.

"Belestris," he said sharply, aloud. "Activate the Circle of Death. Now."

Whatever was coming, it wouldn't be outrun.

But it could be met.

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