Chapter 175: Mystery
[Scene: Deep within Zisteria's outskirts, near the ocean cliffs. The air is tense. The group—Eren, Rylan, Zarek, and Commander Elara—move at high speed.]
Eren: (breathing steadily) "We're close… I can feel it. The mana flow—it's shifting."
Rylan: (grinning slightly) "Heh… finally. Feels like we've been chasing ghosts this whole time."
Elara: (focused) "Stay sharp. Kuzan escaped. That means he's planning something bigger."
[Zarek walks slightly behind them, silent. His expression is off.]
Eren: (glancing back) "Zarek… you good?"
Zarek: (holding his head) "...Something's wrong."
Rylan: "What now?"
Zarek: (low voice) "My mana… it's unstable. Like something inside me is… moving."
[Eren and Elara exchange a quick look.]
Elara: "That transformation back there… the horn, the purple mana…"
Eren: (serious) "Yeah. That wasn't normal divine mana."
Zarek: (irritated) "I don't care what it was. It saved us, didn't it?"
Eren: (firm) "At what cost?"
[Zarek clicks his tongue, looking away.]
[Suddenly—Kaitaro's voice echoes in their minds.]
Kaitaro (telepathic):"Commander Elara… Eren… can you hear me?"
Elara: (eyes widen) "Kaitaro?"
Eren: "What is it? Did you find something?"
Kaitaro:"…Something's wrong. I've been trying to track Kuzan's mana… but it's gone."
Rylan: "Gone? What do you mean gone?!"
Kaitaro:"He's no longer in the Empire. He's… moved beyond the sea."
[Silence hits the group.]
Eren: (slowly) "...No way."
Elara: (tense) "Are you saying… he's heading toward the Great Nations?"
Kaitaro:"…Yes. And there's more."
[A pause. Even the wind feels still.]
Kaitaro:"I'm sensing multiple massive mana signatures… moving across the ocean. Armies."
Rylan: (gritting teeth) "Don't tell me…"
Kaitaro:"The invasion has already begun."
[Eren freezes.]
Eren: (whispering) "...South Nation…"
[A faint crackle of red lightning flickers around his body.]
Eren: (voice shaking) "My family is there…"
Elara: (firm, stepping forward) "Eren. Focus."
Eren: (snaps) "How can I focus right now?! If Kuzan reached the South Nation—"
Elara: "Then King Thalanor will handle it."
Eren: "You don't know that!"
Elara: (sharp) "I do."
[Eren stops. Her voice cuts through him.]
Elara: (calm but powerful)"Thalanor is not weak. The Knights are not weak. We didn't come all this way just to turn back now."
[Eren clenches his fists, shaking.]
Rylan: (quietly) "She's right… if we turn back now, everything we did here means nothing."
Zarek: (smirking faintly) "Besides… you really think your dad would want you running home scared?"
Eren: (glares) "Watch your mouth."
Zarek: (shrugs) "I'm just saying. If there's a cure… it's here. Not back there."
[Eren breathes heavily… then slowly calms down.]
Eren: (low) "...Tch."
Eren: "Fine. Then we finish this. Fast."
Elara: (nods) "Good."
[Kaitaro's voice returns.]
Kaitaro:"There's one more thing… I've located a massive mana distortion beneath the ocean currents. It might be Kuzan's secondary base… or something worse."
Rylan: (cracking knuckles) "Heh… finally, something to punch."
Elara: "Send us the location."
Kaitaro:"Done. But be careful… this energy feels different. It's… unstable."
[The connection fades.]
[The group stops at the edge of a massive cliff overlooking the ocean. Waves crash violently below.]
Rylan: "So… we diving again?"
Zarek: (smirking) "Try to keep up this time."
Rylan: "Say that again and I'll throw you in first."
Eren: (steps forward, serious) "Enough."
[Eren looks out at the ocean. His reflection trembles in the water below.]
Eren: (to himself) "Just hold on… I'm coming back."
Elara: "Everyone. This next step decides everything."
[She turns to them, her presence commanding.]
Elara:"Kuzan has already made his move. That means we are out of time.""No more holding back. No more hesitation.""We find him… and we end this."
Zarek: (grinning, a hint of madness) "Now that's what I like to hear."
Rylan: "Let's finish this already."
Eren: (eyes glowing faint red) "Yeah… let's end Kuzan."
[All four step forward.]
Elara: "On my mark…"
3…
2…
1…
Elara: "MOVE!"
[They leap off the cliff together, diving straight into the raging ocean below.]
[As they descend, something feels… wrong.]
Eren: (underwater, thinking) "…This pressure…"
Rylan: (telepathic through mana) "Yo… you guys feel that?"
Zarek:"Yeah… it's like the ocean itself is watching us."
Elara:"Stay focused. Follow the mana signal."
[Suddenly—deep below them—something pulses.]
A massive… dark light.
Not blue like water.
Not purple like the gas.
Something deeper.
Something ancient.
Eren: (eyes widen) "…What is that…?"
[Far below, in the darkness of the ocean… something begins to stir.]
??? (faint, echoing voice)"…So… they've come."
[The water trembles.]
Rylan:"Oi… tell me I'm not the only one who heard that…"
Zarek: (grinning, excited) "Heh… now this feels like a real fight."
Elara: (serious) "Everyone—prepare yourselves."
Eren: (tightens fists) "Kuzan… or whatever's down there…"
Eren:"I'm ending this."
END OF CHAPTER