"Poison?"
Ethan's voice caught in his throat, as if an invisible hand had seized it. The word pierced his spine like an ice spike, instantly freezing the blood in his entire body.
In just a few short days, from Brooklyn to Sanctum, from a cursed boy to an accused murderer—everything had happened too fast, too fast for him to think.
No, not too fast. Someone wasn't letting him think.
Someone was silently observing from behind, pushing each event forward like manipulating puppets, step by step forcing him toward a dead end.
Did they want him arrested? Or expelled back to the mundane world? Or perhaps... The Reapers had already infiltrated Sanctum, and those soulless eyes were watching him through someone's mask right now?
The air in the corridor solidified. Time seemed to have been put on pause.
Finch's face, which always wore a gentle smile, was now etched with unease—not anger, not suspicion, but deep, profound unease.
Behind him, two black-robed figures wearing white faceless masks stood like ghosts, their mere presence carrying a cold, oppressive weight.
"Don't ask." The left one spoke, his voice processed by magic, hollow as if echoing from an abyss, each syllable carrying an eerie reverberation. "Come with us. Now."
No explanation. No warning. Two icy hands simultaneously pressed down on Ethan's and Leo's shoulders. The touch didn't feel human—more like some kind of metallic construct, cold enough to sting the bones.
Third floor underground, the main building. Interrogation room.
The moment Ethan stepped into the interrogation room, he felt the Soulforce within his body being completely drained away.
Ethan could feel his eardrums stinging—not from physical pressure, but from some kind of Soulforce suppression that kept intensifying.
The iron door slammed shut behind them with a heavy, dull thud. The room had no windows, yet was blindingly bright.
Walls, ceiling, floor—every inch of surface was carved with dense, intricate spell runes. These runes weren't static; they writhed slowly, like countless pale-green snakes entwining and crawling, emitting a cold, phosphorescent light.
The entire room was one massive Soulforce suppression array, specifically designed to deal with Psionics like them.
"Sit."
The voice came from across the room. Two cold metal chairs faced an equally cold metal table. The room's two Vigils, their designations were 22 and 24.
The one who had just spoken, Vigil 22, had a massive eye embroidered on his chest. That eye wasn't embroidery—it looked more like some kind of living creature. Ethan swore that when he entered the room, that eye rotated, its pupil fixing on him.
Leo abruptly stood up, muscles tensing like a drawn bow. "There must be some misunderstanding here! We didn't do any—"
"Sit." This voice carried its own oppressive weight, echoing through the interrogation room like a reverberation. It didn't come from across the table, but from behind them.
Vigil 24 had somehow already positioned himself behind them. His hand pressed down on Leo's shoulder. Leo's body instantly stiffened—not because he was afraid, but because some kind of suppressive Soulforce, like iron chains, locked his joints, muscles, even his breathing.
Ethan watched all this, cold sweat seeping from his palms. He could feel the Soulforce field of the man behind him—cold, precise, without a single ripple of emotion. This was a seasoned veteran, someone who had truly killed before.
He forced himself to take a deep breath, suppressing the impulse to erupt from fear.
When the door opened again, Skylar was shoved inside.
Her green short hair was disheveled, her uniform collar askew, a small scratch on her cheek—clearly, she had been taken by force, and there had been struggle during the process. Seeing Ethan and Leo, her eyes widened instantly.
"What the hell—" she began.
"Quiet." Vigil 22 cut her off, his voice devoid of any warmth. He withdrew a letter from his robe. The paper's edges were yellowed, as if it had been stored for a long time. "We have received an anonymous letter.
It accuses the three of you of conspiring to murder fellow student Caleb Flood using a potent poison."
The air solidified for three seconds.
Then Leo exploded. "What the hell are you talking about?! We were together all morning—"
"Leo." Ethan whispered, stopping him, his gaze fixed on that letter. His body leaned forward slightly, trying to see the details on the paper from different angles.
"Where were you after leaving the headmaster's office this morning?" Vigil 24 asked from behind, his voice still icy.
The three took turns explaining. How they crossed Abyss Lake, where they ate lunch, who they met—aside from the clues about the curse, they told everything truthfully.
Vigil 22 gave a slight nod to his companion. The latter chanted a spell in a low voice. A strange electrical interference sound, like an old radio tuning frequencies, crackled in the air. A few seconds later, both nodded simultaneously.
"Confirmed. The three speak truthfully."
The atmosphere loosened slightly. But only for a moment.
"Even if you weren't present at the time," Vigil 22 turned to Skylar, those eyes behind the mask seeming able to pierce her soul, "as a member of the Sterling family, you are fully capable of controlling snakes to carry out remote poisoning."
Skylar's face instantly paled. "I didn't—"
"Caleb's arm shows clear snake bite marks." Vigil 22 pushed a tablet to the center of the table. The screen lit up, playing a high-definition video—a close-up of Caleb's swollen, blackened arm. Around two tiny puncture wounds, the flesh had already begun to rot, oozing yellowish-green pus.
The video zoomed in, freezing on the wound. The tooth marks were clearly visible: two main fang imprints, surrounded by several smaller tooth marks.
"We have searched the entire academy," Vigil 22's voice was terrifyingly calm. "From comparative analysis of the dental patterns, no snake-type spirit beast in the vicinity matches these marks. This means..."
He paused, the eyes behind the mask fixed intently on Skylar.
"That snake might still be with the poisoner. We need... you to surrender the snake on your person for verification."
Ethan's heart gave a violent lurch.
He remembered yesterday in Spirit Beast Manipulation class, that small snake peeking out from Skylar's sleeve. At the time, it smelled the Golden Beetle and grew restless. Skylar had struggled to push it back inside. If that snake's teeth...
Skylar's expression grew grave. She analyzed a terrifying possibility from the Vigil's words—the teeth of her small snake might perfectly match the bite marks on Caleb's arm. This wasn't coincidence. This was a frame-up, and an extremely precise one at that.
Her fingers curled slightly. A subtle squirming movement came from her sleeve. The small snake sensed its master's emotions, preparing for battle.
Leo also sensed the abnormality. His gaze darted rapidly between Vigil 22 and 24, his brain calculating at high speed—which one to deal with first? Distance, angle, intensity of Soulforce suppression... He subtly concentrated Soulforce beneath his feet, building up power like compressing a spring.
"You'd better not make any sudden moves." Vigil 24's voice suddenly sounded right by his ear, so close he could feel the cold breath exhaled.
The binding spell abruptly intensified.
The three bodies felt as if pressed down by invisible weights. Their shoulders involuntarily sank, cervical vertebrae emitting faint cracking sounds. Ethan gritted his teeth, resisting the force trying to press them to the floor.
Right then—
A thick smoke seeped through the door crack.
Not ordinary smoke. This smoke was pale purple, carrying a pungent odor, rapidly spreading through the interrogation room. Vigil 22 and 24 simultaneously covered their noses and mouths, but it was too late—the thick smoke instantly filled the entire room, wrapping around everyone like a living entity.
"Cough—!"
"My eyes—!"
Ethan felt his eyes stinging as if pierced by needles. Tears welled up uncontrollably. He blinked desperately, but his vision was reduced to a blurry purple haze. Violent coughing sounds reached his ears—Skylar, and the Vigils...
Except for Leo.
Leo had held his breath in advance.
The moment the thick smoke seeped in, his body moved—not to break free from the binding spell, but to use the binding spell's counterforce.
His right foot slammed against the ground, his body shooting forward like a cannonball, simultaneously kicking the metal table in front of him.
The table crashed into Vigil 22 with a tremendous impact sound.
Leo didn't stop. Using his momentum, he spun, his right palm gathering all his Soulforce, slamming it fiercely into Vigil 24's chest.
"Thud—!"
A dull impact sound. Vigil 24's body flew back like a broken puppet, slamming heavily against the wall, his mask cracking open a seam.
"Go!" Leo roared.
Skylar's eyes transformed into snake eyes amidst the smoke—pupils vertical, vision shifting to a thermal-imaging red world. She saw Ethan's position, saw the door's direction, and also saw... that blurry thermal-imaging figure outside the door.
No time to think. She released her small snake to scout the path, while grabbing Ethan with one hand and Leo with the other, dragging them toward the door.
The door was open.
Outside, the corridor was also filled with pale purple smoke, though less concentrated. The three burst out of the interrogation room, their lungs greedily inhaling the relatively fresh air, but their eyes still stung, vision still blurry.
Right then, they saw it—
A Lizard.
It stood in the center of the corridor, those abnormally large eyes staring straight at them, as if waiting. Seeing the three emerge, it emitted a sharp chirp, turned, and ran.
"Follow it!" Ethan rasped.
No choice. The three followed the Messenger Lizard closely, sprinting through the maze-like corridors. Left turn, right turn, upstairs, through door after door... The Messenger Lizard seemed to know all the shortcuts. Its speed was extreme, but always just right to let them keep up.
Five minutes later, they stopped before a heavy iron door.
The Messenger Lizard bumped its head against the door, then disappeared into the ventilation duct beside it.
Ethan pushed open the iron door. Teleportation room.
"Bang!"
Ethan closed the door, sliding down to sit with his back against the door panel. After the frantic run, his lungs burned with pain.
His eyes could barely open, but purple afterimages still lingered in his vision.
"Just now... who released the poison smoke?" he gasped.
"I don't know either." Skylar leaned against the opposite wall, face pale. "I sensed someone outside with my snake, but couldn't identify who. After we got out... didn't see anyone."
Her small snake peeked out from her sleeve, cautiously observing the surroundings.
"Didn't expect you to react so fast, Leo." Skylar looked at Leo, a hint of respect in her tone.
Leo sat on the floor, examining his right hand—palm and wrist already swollen, skin showing an unnatural purplish-red. That palm strike earlier had hit the Vigil's protective Soulforce, hardness comparable to steel.
"I heard movement outside," Leo panted. "Glanced and saw smoke seeping in from the floor. I guessed someone was helping us... but where is this place?"
He looked around. He had never seen this room before, never even heard of such a place in Sanctum.
"This is where I was teleported from." Ethan said, voice still hoarse.
He struggled to stand, walking to the edge of the array. Yes, this was the array—this was where he arrived in Sanctum.
"Look." Ethan pointed at the ground.
The array's lines were growing brighter. Not the faint blue light from when they entered, but a bright, nearly white radiance. The light spread from the array's center outward, like ripples on water.
"The array... is activating." Skylar whispered.
The three exchanged glances. The air was thick with tension, confusion, and a hint of... resolve.
They had already resisted the Vigils. They were already fugitives. Turning back now would only bring harsher judgment, perhaps even direct imprisonment in The Hollow Spire.
"Should we... go in?" Leo asked, uncertainty in his voice.
Ethan looked at the increasingly bright light at the array's center. Something within that light seemed to call to him—not a sound, not an image, but a feeling.
"We have no choice." he said.
Skylar nodded. Leo took a deep breath, stood up.
The three walked toward the array's center, hands clasped together, just like when Ethan stood here alone before. The light swallowed their ankles, knees, waists...
At the very last moment, Ethan suddenly felt something moving on his back.
He reached back to feel, but his fingers found nothing. Perhaps an illusion, perhaps over-tension...
He didn't see, beneath his collar at the nape of his neck, a mechanical spider, its eight legs gripping the fabric tightly, its single red eye flashing with a faint light.