Viktor watched with interest. 'Beast-kin senses. Useful.'

"There's... something else," Bella said, her voice uncertain. She moved to another patch of ground, sniffing again. "The smell. It's not just human. There's... decay. Rot. Like something died nearby but not completely."

She crawled forward a bit, her hands pressing into the dirt as she followed the scent trail. "And this..." She gestured to a patch of crushed vegetation. "These plants. They're dying. Withering. Like back in the village."

Viktor's eyes narrowed. 'The plague. It's spreading.'

Bella continued, her voice gaining more confidence as her observations piled up. "The leaves here—see how they're curled? That happens when there's poison in the soil. And these dried branches..." She picked one up, examining it. "They broke recently. Something big passed through here."

She moved to another spot, crouching again. Her fingers traced a different kind of marking in the dirt. "And this... this isn't from boots."

"What is it?" Kaida asked, stepping closer.

Bella's nose wrinkled again. "Poop."

"You're food, huh, nobleman?" Kaida again talked dirty.

Viktor snorted, ignoring this haughty woman and accepting only her body was worth looking at, not her trashy mouth.

"But not human poop," Bella continued, ignoring his amusement. "The density is wrong. Too thick. And the smell..." She leaned in, sniffing cautiously before jerking back. "It's rancid. Diseased. Whatever left this was sick. Corrupted."

She stood, brushing dirt from her hands. "Monsters," she said with certainty. "Probably low-level demons or corrupted beasts. Something is affecting them too, making them aggressive."

Viktor stared at her, genuinely impressed as he recalled the reason why he would have brought her here, no matter what. 'My girl... she's was always this good in tracking and trap finding'

Kaida looked equally surprised, her red eyes assessing Bella with new respect.

Bella noticed their stares and immediately ducked her head, her ears flattening. "I—I'm sorry if I—"

"No," Viktor cut her off, stepping forward. "You did good."

Before she could react, his hand came down on her head, ruffling her silver hair. His fingers brushed against her cat ears, and she flinched violently, a squeak escaping her lips.

"Well done, my Bella," Viktor said, his voice carrying genuine approval.

'!'

'M-My-y... B-Bella—!?—'

The words echoed in her mind. Her face flushed crimson, her heart pounding in her chest. She blinked up at him, her golden eyes wide and uncertain.

No one had ever—

"What the hell—!"

Kaida's finger jabbed into Viktor's side, hard. He turned to find her glaring at him, her expression stormy.

"Don't flirt with her," Kaida hissed, her voice low and dangerous. "Leave her alone."

Viktor chuckled, removing his hand from Bella's head. "Jealous?"

"Shut up."

Kaida moved past him, arriving beside Bella. She placed a hand on the girl's shoulder—protective, almost possessive—and pulled her slightly away from Viktor.

Naturally, Viktor could see that Kaida was just trying to take out her vendetta on him in this way.

"Don't let him touch you so casually," Kaida muttered, though her voice lacked real heat. "He's a pervert."

Bella just nodded mutely, her mind still spinning from the headpat and the words and the strange, warm feeling spreading through her chest.

'My Bella.'

She'd spent days thinking she was worthless here. A slave. A tool. Someone they'd discard the moment she stopped being useful.

But he'd just...

Her throat tightened. Her hands clenched into fists at her sides.

'I won't disappoint them,' she thought fiercely. 'I'll prove I'm useful and maybe he will help me find my sister. I'll—'

"Alright, my ladies," Viktor said, interrupting her spiraling thoughts. He gestured toward the path ahead. "Let's keep moving. Those bandits aren't going to kill themselves."

Kaida shot him one last glare before nodding. Bella fell into step behind them, her tail swishing nervously.

They walked in silence for a while, following the trail Bella had identified. The mountain path grew narrower, the walls closing in on either side.

The smell of decay grew stronger, mixing with the earthy scent of stone and rotting vegetation.

Bella kept her senses sharp, her ears swiveling at every sound. She noticed things the others missed—broken twigs, disturbed rocks, faint scratches on tree bark that indicated something with claws had passed through recently.

"Stop," she said suddenly, holding up a hand.

Everyone froze.

Bella crouched again, her fingers brushing a patch of mud. "Fresh tracks. Very fresh. Within the last hour."

"Bandits?" Viktor asked.

Bella shook her head. "No. Look." She pointed at the print—cloven hooves, but wrong. Twisted. The toes splayed at unnatural angles.

"Demon," she whispered.

As if summoned by her words, a squeal pierced the air.

"OINKKKK!"

High-pitched. Furious.

From around the bend in the path, something charged.

It was small—maybe the size of a large dog—but 'wrong' in every way that mattered. A pig, or what had once been a pig.

Its skin was mottled gray and black, covered in oozing sores that wept yellowish pus. Its eyes glowed with a sickly green light, and its tusks—far too long, far too sharp—jutted from its mouth at jagged angles.

A demonic pig.

It barreled toward them with surprising speed, hooves kicking up dirt as it charged.

Kaida's hand went to her sword, but Bella was faster.

In one smooth motion, she drew a dagger from her belt and hurled it.

SKCHLT!

The blade buried itself in the pig's skull, right between those glowing eyes. The creature squealed once more—a sound like metal scraping stone—before collapsing mid-charge. It slid to a stop at their feet, twitching once before going still.

Silence.

Viktor clapped slowly, the sound echoing off the stone walls. "Well done."

Kaida lowered her hand from her sword, eyeing the corpse warily. "Demon pigs. Great. What's next, demon chickens?"

"Demon chicks just might be good," Viktor muttered.

Bella stepped forward, crouching beside the corpse. She pulled her dagger free, wiping the blade on a patch of moss. Her expression was focused, analytical.

"It's corrupted," she said quietly. "Some kind of disease maybe. It's in the animals too."

Viktor watched her work, then stepped closer to the corpse himself. He leaned down, inspecting the creature's hide.

His Herb Mastery kicked in automatically, analyzing the discoloration, the texture of the sores, the smell.

'Poison. Demonic corruption. Plague residue.'

His eyes traced the patterns on the pig's skin—raised veins, blackened tissue, pustules filled with greenish fluid.

And then he saw it.

A mark. Faint, almost invisible beneath the matted fur and crusted filth. But there.

A symbol. Carved into the flesh like a brand.

He knew that symbol.

From the dream. From the nightmare that had shown him the demon of plague—Rian Millbrook.

It was a green vomit-like marking that engraved in flesh.

"Viktor?" Kaida's voice cut through his thoughts. "What is it?"

He straightened, his expression unreadable. His mind was already racing, piecing together fragments.

And until they found that demon body—until they destroyed or purified it—the plague would continue spreading.

"Nothing," Viktor said finally, turning away from the corpse. His voice was calm, controlled. "Just confirming something."

He started walking again, his hands shoved into his pockets.

'That's what I thought,' he thought grimly. 'The demon's corpse is the source. And it's close.'

Behind him, Kaida and Bella exchanged confused glances before hurrying to catch up.

The path ahead narrowed further, the stone walls pressing in like the throat of some massive beast. The air grew colder, heavier, carrying that same rancid smell—decay mixed with something sweet and wrong, like rotting fruit left in the sun.

Viktor's boots crunched against loose gravel. Each step echoed off the canyon walls, creating a rhythm that was almost hypnotic.

Bella walked behind him, her eyes scanning the terrain, her nose twitching as she analyzed scents. Her tail swished nervously, brushing against her thigh with each movement.

Kaida brought up the rear, one hand resting on her sword hilt, her red eyes darting between the shadows.

Everything was quiet.

Too quiet.

No birds. No insects. No wind rustling through dead leaves.

Just the crunch of their footsteps and the sound of their breathing.

Viktor's jaw tightened. 'Something's wrong.'

And then—

'"AHHHHH!"'

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