"This has to be a joke, right?" Luka said, her voice shaking. But none of us laughed. We all wished it was a joke, yet the silence said otherwise. The commander stepped forward and spoke in a low, controlled tone. "In the military, we use initials to mark people. 'H' stands for Head. 'T.TOR' is one of the codes we use." He paused, then said it clearly, without emotion. "It means traitor. So yes—this says Head Michel is a traitor."
"There's still a possibility those men wrote it," Luka argued, refusing to accept it. The commander nodded once. "There could be. But until we prove otherwise, we have to assume it's true." His control finally snapped. He turned and punched the wall beside him. The impact was so strong the entire wall cracked and collapsed, dust filling the air. "Listen carefully," he said. "We split into two groups. One goes to the military. The other goes to the XENO facility. We gather information, then regroup and decide our next move." Everyone answered at once, "Yes, sir."
I looked at Luka. She was crying quietly, trying to hide it. Then Matthiew leaned close and whispered, "Luka sees Head Michel as a father figure." That explained everything. I finally understood her shock. Still, this wasn't the time for feelings. We had to move.
An hour later, engines roared as we rode through the mountains. I drove my bike through the forest, branches cutting past us, until we reached a crossroads. The commander stopped and raised his hand. "Commander me and five soldiers will head to the military camp," he said. "The rest will go to the facility.".
We divided without another word, and I followed the commander with the others toward the military base. The road stretched ahead, quiet and heavy. As I rode, my thoughts wouldn't slow down. I had grown stronger—much stronger than before—but even then, I couldn't save anyone. Back then, I couldn't save them. Now, again, I couldn't save anyone. Protecting the weak was one of my philosophies, something I believed in more than anything, yet every time it mattered, people still died.
In the past, I gave up. I hesitated. And because of that, people died. Now it felt the same. Once again, I survived, and others didn't.
What was that drawing? How did he make so many people vanish in an instant? None of it made sense. But in the end, it didn't matter. Once I found them, I would kill them.
…No. I clenched my jaw. Winter, be rational. Don't let emotion take over. Not again.
****
"Hey Matthiew, you believe in Head Michael, right? He didn't betray us… right?" I asked, even though deep down I already knew what his answer would be. Matthiew stayed silent for a moment before replying that "right now we had no choice but to believe the message we received".
His voice was calm when he said it, but when I looked closely at his eyes, I could see tears gathering there, he was trying hard to hide. Hearing him speak like that made my chest feel tight. "No matter what others say or what they believe, I still believe in Head Michael," I said, even though I knew that somewhere inside me, a part of my faith was already starting to crack.
We continued riding forward until our path came to a sudden halt when the village appeared in front of us. What we saw couldn't even be called a village anymore. Houses were broken and collapsed, burned wood scattered everywhere, and in several places the ground was stained with dried blood. The air itself felt heavy as we searched through the ruins. One of the soldiers spoke up, saying the commander couldn't have gone very far and that someone should go back and inform him. two soldier immediately turned back while the rest of us continued searching the village carefully, hoping to find something—anything—that could explain what happened here.
After nearly an hour of searching every corner of the village, we finally gathered what little information we could. All the food stored in the village had completely rotted, and there was no sign of the villagers themselves. No bodies, no traces of people hiding, no signs that anyone had escaped—it was as if the entire population had simply vanished, just like what happened at the facility. As we stood there trying to make sense of it, Matthiew suddenly spoke, saying that there were two smaller villages near this one and that there was a high chance they had been attacked as well. Hearing that, I added that beyond those two villages lay a town, then a city, and after that stood the Xeno facility itself. As the meaning of those words sank in, we all came to the same realization at the same time.
They were going to attack the other Xeno facility.
After more than forty minutes, the commander returned with only Winter; the rest of the team had gone back to the military camp to report. We explained everything we had found—the rotten food, the missing people—and how dangerous it would be if other villages had also been attacked. For a moment the air felt heavy, but soon two soldiers returned with their report, saying that both nearby villages were fine. Hearing that, I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding, though the unease in my chest didn't fade.
"Commander, I have a theory," Winter said, his voice steady as all eyes turned toward him. "Go on," the commander replied. Winter continued, saying that if we remembered history, there was a chapter that talked about how the devil came to earth after the devil's followers drained more than ten thousand human souls, and that to call a devil, a specific drawing was required. The commander nodded slowly and added that it was true—the devil was summoned by a drawing, but it was betrayed by its own followers, and it was said that one day it would return to end humanity. As winter spoke, I couldn't help thinking about when this chapter was even taught; I was terrible at history.
"Still, we shouldn't take any chances. If this was connected to the research facility, then waiting would only make things worse," I said, and everyone slowly nodded in agreement, I sat on a nearby stone to rest for a moment. I focused and tried forming a small attack spell I had learned earlier in battle, and a faint spark appeared in my hand. I let out a small smile as I stood up and said firmly, "Commander, we should go. It will take a week to reach the facility, so we need to leave now. The soldiers can inform the military on the way." He nodded without hesitation, and just like that, we set off, leaving the uneasy calm behind us.
We reached the town in half an hour and saw that it wasn't destroyed. We informed the village head about what had happened in the previous village, and his face tightened with worry. We told him not to panic, that the military would be deployed here as well. After that, we moved on to the next village and did the same. By nightfall, we reached another town, informed the authorities and the mayor, and only then did we finally stop. Exhausted, we went to a hotel, deciding that the next day we would head straight to the city.
****
At night, I stepped out of the hotel, just wanting to walk and rest my mind. The streets were quiet, only a few places still open, when I noticed Luka and Matthiew walking ahead, holding hands. I couldn't help but smile and followed them, keeping a distance as they strolled under the dim street lamps. Then, to my surprise, they stopped, and in the soft glow, I saw them kiss. I couldn't contain a quiet laugh, shaking my head at the sight. But then, someone touched my shoulder, and I jumped back in shock. When I turned, I saw who it was—and I smiled.
"Ohh, who do we have here? Second ranked," I said, standing in front of me. Athena. The one who always came second in magic construction, the one who competed with me every time but never managed to beat me.
"Athena, how have you been?" I asked, only to get a quick punch. "I'm fine," she said with a grin, "but what do we see here? You've become a creep, spying on couples."
I tried to explain, stammering, "Ahm…" Then I glanced to my side and saw Luka and Matthiew standing there, arms folded. I couldn't help myself and smiled, "Nice scene," which only made both their cheeks flush bright red.
"Athena, these two are Matthiew and Luka—and Matthiew, Luka, this is Athena, my best friend," I said casually, like it was nothing. But the moment the words left my mouth, Athena froze. Her eyes widened slightly, and she repeated, almost testing the sound of it, "Best… friend?"
That reaction caught me off guard. I frowned and looked at her. "What? You don't consider me your best friend?" I asked, half serious, half confused.
She shook her head quickly. "No, it's not that," she said, then paused, looking straight at me. "You're the one who always said you don't consider anyone a friend. So hearing you call me your best friend just… surprised me." Her words made something click in my mind. I remembered what I used to say back at the academy, how I kept everyone at arm's length.
"…Yeah, I did say that," I admitted after a moment, rubbing the back of my neck. "But that was in the academy. It's not like that anymore."
She stared at me for a second and then replied, "It hasn't even been a month since we left the academy, you know."
I let out a small sigh and waved it off. "Let's just leave it," I said. Then I glanced at Matthiew and Luka, standing there awkwardly. "I've changed. Look at these two—they're my close friends now. People I can actually trust."
As we talked more, the three of them suddenly decided to go to a bar, and before I could even refuse, I ended up following them. The place was noisy and dim, filled with laughter and the smell of alcohol. Athena and luka started drinking without holding back, and Matthiew joined them soon after, while I just sat there with a soda in my hand, quietly watching. About half an hour passed, and Luka's face was already red, her words slurred as she leaned closer to me. She looked straight at my face and suddenly laughed, then said-
"Hey, Winter… that rumor about you, that you massacred a village… is it true?" The table went silent the moment those words left her mouth.