Regarding the blackish-purple creature enveloped in a grayish-white aura that he had once created, whether intentionally or not, each possessed a unique magical ability at the first level of Prisoner, Error.
The two wolves he summoned through wild imagination after consuming the herbal concoction had the ability to control other animals, monsters like Chalog and others, even humans for one minute through their howls. Just as he had done to Moreira, controlling his body while allowing his consciousness to remain intact long enough to touch Zavi's watch, enabling Zavi to regulate his emotions, thoughts, and feelings.
The imitation cat he had previously created possessed an ability equivalent to one of a first-stage Prisoner, capable of transferring physical objects to a location it had occupied approximately twenty minutes earlier.
He knew that he could create replicas of animals, even humans, for himself while his original body remained still, focusing on channeling his spiritual energy into those replicas to control them and share their vision, sense of smell, and sensations. Even the slightest movement would cause his body to leak spiritual energy and disrupt the control process, and worse, he would lose consciousness.
Because he had not processed, or rather had not fully understood, Celvira's earlier words, Zavi decided to search for her. Even if he failed to find her, he would try to return to the place that had once frozen his thoughts, the road leading to the city plaza.
"Alright. I'll do it."
After muttering to himself, Zavi stepped toward the narrow road in front of Ficius's house.
A few steps from where he stood, he scanned his surroundings. Only a handful of people passed along the roadside. His eyes briefly glanced at two teenagers walking while chatting, their laughter soft yet clearly audible. In the middle of the road, a man pushed a cart covered with a blue tarp with all his strength, his face drenched in sweat. Not far ahead, a woman dressed provocatively walked at a relaxed pace. Zavi guessed she might be a dancer from one of the nightclubs in Forgenate.
As they were about to pass each other, Zavi lowered his gaze slightly. His face darkened, his expression tightly closed off, and he continued walking without looking back.
Although Forgenate, Tezny, Chapena, Hava, and three other districts were within the same city, Forgenate had always felt different, like the opposite of the five main districts. When night fell, there were always individuals, even groups, bold enough to roam outside without caring about any threats. As long as money could be earned, they would keep doing it.
Rumors of mysterious deaths that were never solved by the police, investigators, or detectives had long circulated. Yet the people of Forgenate barely cared. Life only comes once, and humans should enjoy it without knowing what lies ahead. That belief had been deeply ingrained in the people of Forgenate to this day. Yes, even though some of them lived in fear after frequently witnessing ghosts, possessions by restless spirits, or attacks by bandit groups, even terrorists.
Without any clear reason, a chill crept along Zavi's back. His steps slowed for a moment, as if something was walking beside him, just beyond the reach of his sight.
The air around him grew colder. The scent of metal mixed with something foreign, sharp and piercing, entered his head before he could hold his breath.
Zavi turned his head to the right and left. His body froze for a moment when his eyes caught something faint floating in the air, not fog, not yet fully formed.
The sky above him seemed dim. The blue that had once been there slowly faded, leaving behind a pale gray that was difficult to explain. He blinked. Everything returned to normal. Yet his chest felt heavier.
'It felt like I saw something.'
Zavi exhaled slowly and kept walking, even though he realized he was now at the outskirts of Forgenate, hundreds of meters from his previous location.
Half an hour later, after walking without stopping, Zavi finally arrived at a quiet stone road that led directly to the fountain roundabout, the plaza.
'Wasn't there an invisible barrier here before?'
Confused, Zavi grabbed both of his wrists at once, trying to summon the cat again, as his instincts told him something was off.
'Huh, it didn't appear? Something is interfering with it. But who?'
He realized that the transparent cat without flesh or skin, composed only of blackish-purple hues wrapped in a grayish-white aura, did not appear even after he performed the motion.
"How is this possible…?" he muttered softly while wiping the sweat from his face. "It should have appeared right in front of me when I did that."
'Is something wrong?'
Zavi fell silent for a moment. A few seconds later, he decided to summon the wolf instead, using the same motion, gripping both of his wrists simultaneously.
A sharp howl tore through his ears and crawled into his skull. A grayish-white aura gathered, forming a wolf standing right beside him.
"Move forward."
The wolf howled again before moving ahead, used as bait to determine whether the barrier was still there.
'Sorry for using you.'
Zavi observed it closely as his steps slowed. His body leaned slightly forward, as if something stood before him, something he could not see.
When he blinked and opened his eyes again, the wolf had vanished. Its body seemed to evaporate, struck by something moving too fast for the eye to catch.
'What was that…? I couldn't see it clearly. Damn. Is there really another barrier?'
He remained still as confusion pressed against his chest. Zavi considered another possibility, taking a route toward Chapena on the southeastern side of Forgenate. It was farther and required him to circle through Hoall Street No. 6, Chapena, to reach the main road leading east.
However, when he tried to direct his hand and body forward, he was pushed back by something unseen. A stinging pain spread across his palm, forcing him to pull his hand back reflexively and step back five paces instinctively.
That was impossible.
"Damn it, I don't have much time," he muttered softly. "Where is that woman now? Showing up out of nowhere, spouting nonsense. I already told her I don't know where Moreira is. Damn."
After muttering that, Zavi decided to return to Forgenate. There was no choice but to pass through the quiet outskirts, then enter the main road before heading toward the southeastern side of Forgenate.
But as he turned his body and took a few steps, a woman with an elegant and striking appearance and a flat expression appeared out of nowhere.
Their faces nearly collided, and Zavi's left arm almost brushed against her chest as he was about to check his money supply.
"Who are you?" he asked, his voice restrained. His hand gripped tightly the small knife inside his coat pocket that he had bought earlier that day.
From the front, another man appeared. His blue eyes glimmered faintly under the dim streetlight. His gaze then shifted, focusing on the two figures standing not far in front of him. Zavi and his companion, perhaps it could be called a "Partner".
Zavi's chest tightened. His breath halted, as if something was pressing on his shoulders and preventing air from entering his lungs.
'What does he want from me? Something is off about him.'
"You want to go in there?" the man said in a hoarse voice. "But you can't, because there's an invisible barrier, right?"
Zavi's eyes widened. He did not expect the man to know his intention. His vigilance immediately sharpened in his mind.
'Were they already here before I arrived? Did one of them see that grayish-white wolf?'
"Yes," Zavi answered hesitantly.
Instinctively, he stepped back little by little, unsure whether the two were enemies or something else.
"Don't be afraid," the woman beside him whispered, her expression flat. "Mr. Zuhen just wants to talk to you."
'This cannot be called talking. This is an ambush!' the woman added inwardly.
Zavi remained silent as he thought.
'Talk to me? Is this related to the invisible barrier and what's happening inside it? Or the opposite?'
Zavi turned back, his tired blue eyes and uneasy chest still fixed on that road.
He looked at both of them, fell silent for a moment, then spoke in a cautious tone.
"Talk to me? About what?"
Zuhen chuckled softly before stepping forward. His footsteps were rhythmic on the empty road, making no sound at all, creating a hollow impression as he approached the woman.
When he arrived and stood right beside her, Zuhen took out a pack of cigarettes. He pressed the pack slowly until one stick emerged, then said, "Want a smoke? And a chat about something very important?"
Zuhen offered the cigarette, slightly more protruding than the other ten sticks neatly arranged inside the pack.
Seeing Zavi's wary reaction, Zuhen pulled the cigarette back and slipped the pack into his pocket. Then he placed the cigarette between his lips, lit it, took a deep drag, and exhaled the smoke slowly while letting out a soft breath.
"I know being wary of others isn't strange," Zuhen said in a hoarse voice. He glanced at the woman beside him and continued, "Felina, bring out the horse. Let him know what really happened."
'Did this man really receive such a reward?' he wondered.
Felina nodded. She walked to the middle of the quiet stone road and performed strange movements with both her hands that could not be followed by the eye.
A few seconds later, she ran away from the location of the simple ritual while chanting a summoning incantation in a restrained voice.
"Sir," Felina murmured while running. "There will be a burst of smoke that will make your chest feel tight."
"Yes, alright," Zuhen replied with a faint smile. He looked at Zavi, who still seemed confused. "You'd better move away from here immediately."
Zuhen held his round hat as he prepared to move away.
'I don't know what that woman just did. Her mouth moved as if she was reading something, was that a spell? Her hand movements were strange too. Was that a simple ritual?'
After thinking for a moment, Zavi finally followed their instructions and ran behind the two of them.
About a minute later, after hiding dozens of meters from the previous location, the three of them returned.
Zavi was truly shocked when he arrived.
For Zuhen and Felina, everything seemed normal. But for Zavi, a demonic horse lay in the middle of the road.
Its form could no longer be called a horse. Its hooves were serrated, its tail was a pale red like dying embers, and its fur was as sharp as razors. Two sharp horns grew from its head, one of them broken, the wound rough as if torn apart by a brutal attack.
"So this is what you wanted to talk about?" Zavi said in shock. "Or did you just want to show it to me to show off?"
Zuhen took a drag from his cigarette, then slightly raised his shoulders, signaling Felina to explain.
Felina nodded. She stepped closer and spoke in a restrained tone, her voice almost hoarse.
"Yes. That monster came from the group of demonic horses we defeated. And that horse is the one that completely destroyed part of Krensen, Gours. Chapena was not completely destroyed. Tezny lost half of it. Gours is the same as Tezny, although its main road is no longer in good condition."
'So the state of the city I saw earlier… was that a hallucination? No. More precisely… was it the effect of the invisible barrier?'
Zavi swallowed. He did not expect their earlier statement to be true. But one thing continued to bother him. Why did the people in Forgenate seem unaware of what had happened to the other districts?
"Yes, although it was troublesome," Zuhen said softly as he took another drag from his cigarette, as if dispelling the remaining tension. "Felina and I managed to defeat that demonic horse. Although there was something strange before we truly defeated it." His voice lowered at the end of the sentence.