The sunlight in the city of Kozto felt far harsher than the mountain air Elara and Sylveras had grown accustomed to at Gorion's hideout.
This transit city was bustling, filled with the sounds of carriage wheels grinding across stone roads and merchants shouting as they sold exotic spices.
Yet to Elara, the noise felt hollow.
Gorion's harsh words on the palace balcony still echoed in her ears—a reprimand that had shattered the image of the mentor she had admired for so long.
They had just stepped out of Kozto's teleportation tower.
Ahead of them, the two VON agents walked with measured, silent strides, a stark contrast to the crowd surrounding them.
The male agent leading the way—a sturdy man dressed in black tactical attire without any identifying insignia—stopped briefly at an intersection leading toward the city outskirts.
"We will proceed on foot until we reach the edge of the city before retrieving the horses at a hidden outpost," the male agent said coldly.
His voice was flat, as though emotions were forbidden within the shadow organization.
As they passed through a narrow alley, the savory aroma of spices and roasted meat drifted through the air, teasing their senses.
Sylveras suddenly stopped, his eyes lighting up as he stared at a small shop with a wooden sign that read:
Larry's Curry.
"El, look! That's the curry shop Gorion once told us about," Sylveras whispered, momentarily forgetting their tension. "He said it serves the best curry in all of Urtz. We should stop by for a moment..."
Before Elara could answer, the female agent ahead of them—the one Elara was convinced was Mirell despite her constant denials—turned slightly.
Her black mask reflected the harsh sunlight.
"Remain focused on the mission, Sage Elara, Companion Sylveras," Mirell said sharply, her voice like steel scraping against a blade.
"We are operating under time constraints. The kingdom's security will not wait for your stomachs to be full. We will reach the edge of the city shortly. Our transportation unit is already prepared there."
Elara sighed and tugged on Sylveras' sleeve.
"Later, Syl. If we survive Mavet."
They eventually arrived at a hidden stable near Kozto's southern gate.
Two large black horses with intelligent eyes were already waiting.
The male VON agent immediately mounted one of them with practiced ease.
Elara and Sylveras, however, stood frozen beside the animals.
"Wait," the agent frowned. "Don't tell me neither of you knows how to ride?"
Sylveras scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
"Well... back in the village, my job was mostly teaching basic magic theory to children. I usually traveled on foot or relied on simple spells. Horses were a luxury I never touched."
Elara nodded weakly, her face turning slightly red.
"I spent most of my time at the monastery or healing people in their homes. No one ever taught me how to control an animal this large."
The male VON agent let out a long sigh, a rare display of frustration.
"VON's code of conduct prioritizes efficiency. We do not have time to teach the basics today. Mount up. I'll take Sylveras. My partner will take Sage Elara."
The situation felt incredibly awkward.
Sylveras was forced to ride behind the stiff male agent, while Elara climbed onto the horse behind Mirell.
As her hands wrapped around Mirell's waist to keep her balance, Elara felt it again—the familiar texture of her clothing, the same faint perfume, and the way Mirell held her posture so perfectly straight.
This is definitely Mirell, she thought.
"Is something bothering you, Sage Elara? Why are you paying so much attention to me?" Mirell asked without looking back, sounding slightly uncomfortable.
"No... you just feel familiar somehow," Elara replied softly.
Mirell merely snorted.
"Perhaps you have mistaken me for someone else."
The horses galloped away from the walls of Kozto, heading toward a barren landscape where the vegetation had begun to decay.
The air grew colder—not because of the weather, but because of the negative aura creeping through the land.
They finally stopped at a hidden cliff overlooking Mavet Valley directly—a place known as the Blind Spot of the Gods.
"We continue on foot from here. The horses' energy would be too easily detected by the residual demonic mana within the valley," the male VON agent ordered.
He pulled out a magical device shaped like a small circular rune glowing with a dim purple light.
It was a high-grade mana detector designed specifically to track unnatural energy.
"Look at this."
The agent held up the device.
The rune vibrated violently as it was pointed toward the valley below.
"This energy... it feels like burning dust. It perfectly matches the traces left behind by the demon responsible for the chaos at the Colosseum yesterday."
"Ashell..." Sylveras muttered, clenching his fists.
"The trail leads into the valley, but the pattern is strange. She didn't merely pass through," the agent analyzed while studying the rune's movements.
"It appears that the demon established a temporary portal here to enter the Caelora region without being detected by the kingdom's warning systems or the All-Seeing Eye."
Elara surveyed the surroundings.
The valley felt unnaturally silent, as though even sound itself feared to echo there.
Yet as her gaze swept across the ancient rocks in the distance, she sensed a strange pulse—not the pulse of death left behind by Ashell's traces, but an incredibly pure resonance hidden behind the thick mist.
"That portal must have been concealed exceptionally well," the male VON agent continued.
"We'll send word to headquarters and request a teleportation research team immediately. We need to understand how they managed to bypass the kingdom's detection systems at this location."
"But wait," Elara interrupted, stopping in her tracks.
She pointed toward a massive stone structure half-buried along the hillside, far from the portal's location.
"There's something there. Ashell's traces are definitely around that portal, but it feels as though the portal was built near... a sacred place that has already died."
Mirell and the male agent turned toward where Elara was pointing.
The valley mist shifted slightly, revealing the silhouette of an ancient structure without doors, its surface shimmering like dull crystal.
It was the Temple of Lunara, though none of them knew that yet.
For centuries, it had been regarded as a myth because no one had ever succeeded in finding its entrance.
"We'll establish a temporary camp here while waiting for the research team," the male VON agent decided.
"Remain alert. This place is a Blind Spot. Whatever happens here will not be known by anyone above."
Elara stared at the silent temple, her heart pounding.
She felt as though a formless voice was whispering her name from beyond those doorless stone walls—a call from the past, buried alongside the erasure of Solara Village from the kingdom's maps.