The prison had fallen completely silent.
Not a single person moved.
Everyone's eyes remained fixed on the cultist's corpse lying near the shattered prison bars, while blood continued to spread slowly across the cold stone floor beneath it. The man's head had been completely destroyed beyond recognition, pieces of flesh and bone scattered across the walls like someone had crushed him with overwhelming force. Dark blood covered the iron bars, dripped from the cracked stones, and even stained the uniforms of person standing nearby.
The worst part was that the body was still bleeding.
Blood continued to pour out continuously like water from a broken pipe, creating a faint dripping sound that echoed throughout the prison and somehow made the atmosphere even more disturbing.
Nobody spoke.
Even the captain of the 6th Squad guards, a man who had seen countless dead bodies during missions, could feel cold sweat gathering behind his neck. For the first time in a long while, genuine danger crawled into his chest.
Questions filled everyone's minds.
Who killed the cultist?How had they done it?And most importantly…
If someone could kill a prisoner inside the headquarters this easily, then how dangerous was the enemy they were facing?
The air itself felt heavy.
Several guards unconsciously tightened their grips around their weapons, while others kept staring at the corpse as if expecting it to suddenly move again.
Then finally, Chris broke the silence.
He scratched the back of his head in frustration before exhaling slowly, clearly trying to organize his thoughts despite the growing tension around him.
"So… looks like we'll have to do something now."
Everyone's attention shifted toward him instantly.
Chris closed his eyes for a few seconds before speaking again in a far more serious tone.
"The problem is… we don't know what to do yet."
The words alone were enough to make the atmosphere worse.
"We don't know when they'll attack." Chris continued quietly. "We don't know how many enemies they have. And we definitely don't know what their actual plan is. So from this moment onward, everyone stays prepared."
No one argued.
Because deep down, everyone already understood the situation was becoming dangerous far faster than expected.
Chris turned around and began walking toward the stairs.
"Go clean yourselves first," he said while glancing at the blood covering their clothes. "After that, everyone meet in the chamber."
One by one, they silently followed his orders and started moving upstairs, though the image of the cultist's destroyed head still remained stuck inside their minds like a nightmare they couldn't erase.
Meanwhile, unlike the terrifying atmosphere inside the prison, another section of the headquarters felt strangely peaceful.
Warm steam slowly drifted through the massive underground bath area while hot water reflected softly against the black stone walls surrounding the pool. The sound of flowing water echoed calmly throughout the chamber, creating an almost relaxing atmosphere despite everything that had happened earlier.
Ray leaned back comfortably inside the hot water with his eyes half closed, looking far more relaxed than anyone should have after witnessing something like that.
"We seriously need to become stronger now," he suddenly said while staring at the ceiling above them.
Beside him, Leo calmly rested his arms against the edge of the pool before nodding slightly.
"Yeah," he replied. "We'll have to work twice as hard from now on."
Ray immediately looked toward him with a grin.
"Twice?"
A second later he pointed dramatically at himself.
"No. Triple."
Leo smirked.
Then both of them suddenly shouted together loudly enough for their voices to echo across the bath chamber.
"WE HAVE TO BECOME STRONGER!"
At almost the exact same moment, the large door behind them opened.
Chris walked inside completely relaxed before stepping directly into the water without even reacting to their loud screaming.
"You two kids are way too noisy," he said tiredly while leaning back against the stones.
Leo and Ray instantly smiled awkwardly.
"Sorry."
Ray's attention slowly shifted toward Chris's body afterward. Despite looking somewhat lean, Chris's body was covered with visible muscle built from years of training and battle scars. It wasn't flashy strength. It looked real. Dangerous.
"You actually have a pretty good body," Ray admitted honestly.
Chris blinked for a moment, clearly distracted by his own thoughts before finally realizing what Ray had said.
A small smile appeared on his face.
"Well," he said casually, "I worked hard for it."
Leo immediately laughed.
"That's why Chris sir is popular with girls."
Chris looked genuinely amused hearing that.
"It's not like that."
"But it is," Leo and Ray replied together instantly.
The next second, laughter filled the bath chamber.
For the first time since the prison incident, the tension disappeared completely around them.
There was no fear. No panic. No pressure.
Just warm water, exhausted smiles, and a brief moment of peace before the storm waiting ahead.
Chris leaned slightly forward afterward before speaking again.
"You two should grow up properly first. Then maybe you'll look decent too."
Both Leo and Ray nodded seriously as if receiving life advice from a legendary master.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the headquarters, the atmosphere couldn't have been more different.
Skye and Aarya sat quietly inside another bath chamber surrounded by rising steam, yet neither of them looked relaxed in the slightest.
Aarya remained completely lost in thought ever since hearing the word "demon."
That single word alone was enough to terrify her.
Because everyone understood one thing clearly—if demons truly became involved, then the situation could grow far worse than a normal cult attack.
Even Skye looked unusually tense.
She stared silently at the water in front of her while countless thoughts moved through her mind.
What should they do now? How strong was the enemy? And why did everything suddenly feel wrong?
For the first time in a while, even Skye couldn't find a clear answer.
Later that night, Leo, Ray, and Chris sat inside the main chamber together on one of the large sofas while silence once again filled the room.
A few moments later, Skye and Aarya entered before quietly taking their seats nearby.
Nobody spoke immediately.
The tension from earlier slowly returned.
Then Chris suddenly broke the silence in a completely serious tone.
"First… let's drink tea."
Skye instantly frowned in annoyance.
"Can you focus on important things for once?"
Chris looked toward her calmly.
"Alright. Fine. Let's talk seriously."
The atmosphere immediately became heavier.
Chris leaned slightly forward, his expression now completely different from before.
"The cultists moving toward us are already dangerous enough," he said. "But the real problem isn't the attack itself."
Everyone listened carefully.
"The real problem," Chris continued quietly, "is that we don't know when they'll come… or what their actual plan is."
A cold silence followed his words.
Then suddenly, Leo spoke.
"I think they wanted us to know they're coming."
The room immediately turned toward him.
Most of them clearly didn't agree at first.
But Chris narrowed his eyes slightly.
"Why do you think that?"
Leo's expression slowly became serious.
"Because if their leader truly knew we captured one of their members," he began calmly, "then he could've killed him immediately using that strange power."
Nobody interrupted him.
"But he didn't." Leo continued. "He let the cultist stay alive long enough to tell us exactly what they wanted us to hear. Not more. Not less."
The room fell silent again.
"And after that…" Leo said quietly, "they killed him."
This time, even Chris looked impressed.
"That…" Chris muttered slowly. "Actually makes a lot of sense."
The realization made the atmosphere even darker.
It meant the enemy wasn't acting emotionally.
They were planning things carefully.
Chris finally stood up from his seat.
"Then we prepare starting now."
He turned toward Aarya afterward.
"Your group needs to focus entirely on healing potions from this point onward. We don't know when an attack might happen."
Aarya immediately stood up respectfully.
"I'll inform my people right away."
Without wasting another second, she quickly left the chamber.
Chris then looked toward Skye.
"You should warn everyone else to stay alert."
Skye nodded slightly, though she didn't bother standing up.
Chris stared at her for a moment before speaking flatly.
"I'm still your captain, you know. You could at least stand when responding."
Skye looked at him with complete indifference.
"So?"
Chris sighed tiredly.
"Fine. Don't."
"Good," Skye replied immediately.
Ray almost laughed seeing the exchange, but before he could say anything, Leo suddenly spoke again.
"There's another problem we're forgetting."
Ray turned toward him.
"What?"
Leo's expression darkened.
"Next month…"
His voice became quieter.
"The child sacrifice ceremony happens."
The entire chamber froze.
Even the air suddenly felt colder.
Chris's face immediately hardened.
"We have to stop that no matter what."
But Skye slowly lowered her eyes before speaking in a calm yet heavy tone.
"The cultists aren't the biggest threat anymore."
Everyone looked toward her.
Then finally, she spoke the words none of them wanted to hear.
"Demons could become a far bigger problem than all of them combined."
The room fell completely silent after that.
Because deep down…
every single person there knew she was probably right.