The first mage tried to recover." It wasn’t supposed to... the system was interfered with, we’re trying to stabilise...."

She stepped forward and that was all it took. The man dropped to his knees.

"Trying?" She whispered.

Her head lowered. Stands of her hair slipped forward, shadowing her eyes.

"He was right here."

Another step.

She climbed on the platform her pressure breaking it further.

"You let him disappear, " she accused, quietly but her words carried venom.

"I... we didn’t..."

His voice broke, followed by his body. His bones felt as though they were breaking under an invisible weight.

The other three finally noticed the danger they were in but reacted too late.

One tried to channel his aether but his body stopped on its own. Another reached for a fail-safe, the mechanism snapped in his hand.

The last one stepped back and realised there was nowhere to go.

Outside, heavy and hurried footsteps came but Lilith wasn’t deterred.

She stopped in the middle of the platform, exactly where Atheline was pulled and disappeared into.

Her power surged as she channeled her power into the circling, trying to find his last traces.

Inside, she hoped the tracker wasn’t broken by the teleportation, she couldn’t place their connection even after a few trials as though something was interfering.

At that moment a crashing sound came, the door had been kicked open.

Fully armoured soldiers and manipulators burst into the room.

"Get down from the circle!"

That was the first command that reached her the moment they entered.

Her head lifted, slowly.

When she looked forward to the soldiers, there was nothing human in her expression.

The commander stepped back to relieve the pressure affecting the other soldiers.

"This is all your fault!"

She mummbled almost to herself.

The surroundings shook.

Her aether spilled outwards, uncontrollable now, searching, tearing, reaching for anything that might lead her to him.

Threads of power lashed through the broken teleportation circle, forcing connections, digging into the remnants of the failed power.

She could feel the thread from the tracker, connecting them but she couldn’t place him directly.

She knew he was alive but what if he was seriously injured?

The backlash hit instantly and violently. The circle wasn’t meant to be forced like that. Energy snapped back at her, her surroundings tearing even more.

The remaining manipulators and soldiers were thrown back like debris.

Lilith on the other hand remained unaffected, the reaction was nothing but a child’s tickle.

Her eyes burned with both fury and desperation.

"Where!"

The words tore out of her mouth, cold and demanding.

For a brief structured moment, the circle responded. It wasn’t clear but enough for her to understand.

She could feel it, the place was wild, untamed, and dangerous.

Her breath hitched, just once then stilled.

"Of course, " a cold whisper slipped out followed by a homourless laugh.

Her gaze darkened with rage.

"They sent you there," she said with clear finality.

Her hands closed slowly into a fist.

The remnants of the teleportation circle collapsed entirely beneath her feet.

Everything that had failed him was destroyed, from pure pressure.

Silence filled the whole room. No one dared to move or even breathe too loudly in the hopes that they wouldn’t anger her more or attract attention.

’She’s a monster ’

The thought passed through everyone’s mind while staring at her.

Her gaze went to the soldiers who stepped back vigilantly.

"Tell your king, if I do not find my husband, I will raze this kingdom to the ground. "

Everyone paled.

They had seen her power.

Lilith looked up at the cracked ceiling, blankly.

The forest.

He was there.

Whoever had done this...

Whatever had taken him...

Whoever thought they could separate them...

Her lips curved into something sharp, the grudge had gone beyond person level.

"I’m coming, " she muttered softly.

Her shadows started to cover her.

"And when I find you," she paused, just long enough to breathe, " I’ll make them wish the beast tide had killed them first."

And then, she was gone.

Left behind, was a kingdom that fell into panic.

.

.

.

The first thing Atheline noticed after his teleportation was suffocating silence.

He rose from the ground but didn’t reach far, the pain hit.

It twisted through his veins without warning. His body jerked against the ground, his fingers digging into damp soil as his breath locked in his chest.

Searing heat far worse than normal surged through his body, like something burning had been dropped into his bloodstream.

The familiar metallic taste reached his mouth first followed by the blood.

His body seized before he could cover his mouth. All the blood ended on the dark forest floor.

It was more than normal, a concern he couldn’t ignore.

"Tsk..."

His voice broke halfway.

Another spike tore through him, stronger this time.

He forced himself onto one knee, his jaws tightening as his vision flickered.

For a moment, the world tilted. He caught himself before he could fall.

His hand came to his lips cleaning the last traces of blood.

He let out an exhausted exhale.

’I really shot myself in the foot, huh’

He had been the one to say things were going too smoothly and the universe decided to make their journey rougher.

Atheline knelt there breathing slowly through the after shock, waiting for his body to settle.

When the pain left, only a dull ache remained deep within his bones and flesh.

[Suppressant resistance +10% increase]

[Suppressant adaptation:39%]

[Evaluation: Don’t overexert your body]

He wasn’t even shocked by the increase but the evaluation part did worry him.

He pushed himself upright.

His hand reached into his pocket and took out the small bottle of suppressants and he popped one into his mouth.

He glanced around him. The forest stretched out around him, dense with uneven roots rising from the ground. The air carried the smell of wet soil and something faintly rotting underneath.

His gaze lingered for half a second longer than it shifted away.

’Lily must be worried... I hope she’ll find me soon the poison doesn’t help my chase at the moment’

He clenched his hand briefly on his side.

’They really thought of a good way to get rid of me’

Heat almost burnt into his skin as the chain Lilith gave him got hotter and hotter a sign of danger.

’At least I’m still alive’

A low rumble rolled through the trees at the moment. It was too heavy to be only one beast and he was extremely familiar with those sounds.

’A beast tide... really... they sent me to freaking Death forest’

Atheline could already see their plan. They clearly wanted him dead before Lilith reached him and what better way than to drop a juicy piece of meat in the middle of a hungry tide in the human continent.

’They’re close’