The air was cold enough for breaths to be visible.
Suho stood a short distance away from the team, his phone pressed to his ear, his gaze drifting toward the white horizon.
— "...Yes."
— "We haven't obtained any new information about the Tower's test inside the gate."
— "It seems… as if it's happening for the first time."
He fell silent for a moment, listening.
— "Alright," he said calmly.
— "Inform me if anything changes."
He ended the call and remained standing for two more seconds, as if weighing the words he had heard, before returning to his companions.
They had lit a small heating point.
The faint fire reflected on their exhausted faces.
Reinhardt was the first to speak:
— "Nothing new?"
Suho shook his head.
— "Nothing clear."
— "Even the Association… has no similar precedent."
Kevin pursed his lips.
— "I don't like this."
Eileen sat on a supply crate, resting her chin on her hand.
— "I heard you talking about dark mana."
— "Do you think this is… black mages?"
Suho's expression shifted slightly.
He sat facing them, extending his hands toward the warmth.
— "There are mages who didn't just use mana…"
— "They corrupted it."
— "How… do you corrupt mana?"
Suho answered slowly, choosing his words carefully:
— "Mana, by nature, is neutral."
— "But when it's used as a medium for sacrifices…"
— "Souls. Blood. Hearts…"
— "It changes."
A heavy silence fell.
Reinhardt spoke in a low voice:
— "Demonic sacrifices."
Suho nodded.
— "In the stories about them…"
— "The black mage didn't seek power alone."
— "He sought shortcuts."
— "An unnatural leap."
Kevin scratched his head nervously.
— "Is that why the hearts are taken?"
— "The heart," Suho said.
— "The closest point between the body and mana."
— "And the cruelest point, if taken while it's still beating."
Shuang-Yu spoke:
— "But this isn't the behavior of a novice."
— "Nor an improvised ritual."
Suho looked at her.
— "Exactly."
— "That's why this is troubling."
Elsewhere in the area,
other student groups were moving.
Scattered scenes, like consecutive snapshots:
— Two students talking near a transport vehicle, one saying:
"I heard the number of bodies is higher than what they announced."
— Another group whispering:
"The hearts… always the hearts."
— A female student pulling her coat tighter, saying anxiously:
"This isn't a hunt. Why are we even here?"
Fear wasn't loud.
It crept in quietly.
The scene returned to Suho's team.
Eileen stared into the flames.
— "If this is a black mage…"
— "Are we ready?"
Suho smiled faintly, without humor.
— "No one is ever ready."
— "But we're not alone."
He looked at their faces one by one.
— "And that…"
— "Makes a big difference."
Someone asked:
— "So… what's the plan?"
Suho stood.
— "We continue searching."
— "But with doubled caution."
— "Any trace of dark mana…"
— "No one approaches it alone."
Reinhardt rose as well.
— "And if we find the culprit?"
Suho looked toward the dense forest.
— "Then it won't be monster hunting."
Snow continued to fall.
And night
began to descend rapidly.
Somewhere, far from their eyes,
something
was listening.
The group gathered around a field stove inside the temporary shelter.
Outside was unnervingly silent.
Suho spoke first, his voice calm:
— "What you've heard about black magic…"
— "It's not all lies, and not all as we see it today."
Reinhardt raised an eyebrow.
— "What do you mean?"
Suho sighed lightly, then continued:
— "In its early days, black magic was like any other art."
— "Pure. Balanced. With rules and limits."
— "The problem wasn't the art itself…"
— "It was the method."
Eileen asked:
— "The method?"
— "Mana conversion," Suho said clearly.
— "When mana is forcibly transformed into darkness in an unnatural way…"
— "It begins to rot."
A brief silence followed.
Emily asked hesitantly:
— "And this corruption… does it affect the mage himself?"
Suho nodded.
— "Over time."
— "Constant proximity to demonic corruption…"
— "Leaves neither the mind…"
— "Nor the soul untouched."
Kevin crossed his arms.
— "So… they're not insane from the start."
— "No."
— "But many end up that way."
Shuang-Yu spoke in her usual cold tone:
— "That makes sense."
She paused, then added:
— "But…"
She looked directly at him.
— "Wasn't what you showed that day dark mana too, Suho?"
He wasn't surprised.
As if he had been expecting the question.
He smiled faintly.
— "A fair question."
He straightened, as if preparing for a long explanation.
— "There's a difference."
— "A big one."
Reinhardt immediately asked:
— "Between what and what?"
— "Between pure darkness…"
— "And manufactured darkness."
Emily's eyes widened.
— "Pure… darkness?"
— "Yes."
— "Its base is normal mana."
— "It's mixed with a trace of darkness only at the moment of execution."
He raised a finger, emphasizing the point.
— "It isn't warped."
— "Nor forced into another form."
Eileen said:
— "That's why your magic was… purely combat-oriented?"
— "Exactly."
— "Pure darkness is inherently sharp."
— "Direct."
— "But it isn't trickery."
Kevin muttered:
— "I like that definition."
Suho continued:
— "It can be used in spells as well."
— "But it requires extreme control."
— "Otherwise…"
— "It turns on its user."
Shuang-Yu asked:
— "And the manufactured kind?"
Suho's tone shifted slightly.
— "Manufactured darkness…"
— "Is mana corrupted from the root."
— "Rituals. Sacrifices. Continuous distortion."
— "Can it be fixed?" Emily asked.
— "Theoretically… yes."
— "Practically?"
— "Very rare in this era."
After a moment, Reinhardt said:
— "And your ability…"
— "Void Severance."
Everyone looked at Suho.
He took a deep breath.
— "Void Severance…"
— "Isn't a strike."
— "It's a state."
— "A state?" Kevin repeated.
— "A sensation."
— "As if the world slows down."
— "As if everything becomes clear…"
— "Painfully clear."
Eileen said softly:
— "You were… different."
— "Because I wasn't thinking."
— "I was… responding."
He looked at his hand.
— "I felt the void."
— "Not nothingness."
— "But the space between things."
Emily whispered:
— "That's… terrifying."
— "Yes," he said with a faint smile.
— "That's why I can't use it whenever I want."
— "Maybe… when it decides."
— "But… I don't know who it is."
The scene shifted.
The mobile command room.
Screens. Thermal maps. Mana readings.
One supervisor said anxiously:
— "The signal is back."
— "Which signal?" another asked.
— "Mana fluctuation…"
— "Irregular."
— "Not a monster."
Tension rose in the room.
Someone muttered:
— "And not human."
A faint dot appeared on the screen.
Then… vanished.
The supervisor spoke in a low voice:
— "Something…"
— "Is watching us."