It didn't look like a wildfire. It seemed more like something deliberately set—maybe by people.
Beyond the forest was enemy territory, at least from Dominic' point of view.
Something about it made Shiao Yi curious.
So instead of going to Dominic, he jumped toward the fire.
As a teleporter, Shiao Yi had often been sent on missions to infiltrate enemy land.
He landed silently on the branch of the tallest tree near the edge of the forest, hiding in the thick shadows of the leaves.
He wore dark gray pants, but his upper body was bare.
If any light—especially fire—hit him, he'd stand out even in the night.
Above him, one of the moons still hung in the sky, a bright half-circle.
The night was more than bright enough.
He looked toward the fire. It seemed to be set in a wide clearing, arranged in a large circle.
Inside that circle, there were other glowing lines, shining in strange, irregular patterns.
Shiao Yi squinted, focusing. Near the fire circle, there were also some temporary camps set up—probably for overnight use.
It looked like a large operation.
As he searched for a better place to hide, he felt something strange.
There was almost no sign of people nearby. That was odd, considering the scale of this camp.
Even the most skilled troops couldn't erase their presence completely. Something felt wrong.
Taking a risk, he reached out with his telepathy.
Telepathy was useful, but dangerous.
If the person being scanned was sharp enough—even a normal human—they could sense the intrusion and trace it back.
"Ugh!"
A groan escaped his lips.
He had picked up emotions—pain and fear. Someone was suffering. Someone was crying for help but couldn't move.
One person. Then another. A third.
Three in total.
But beyond those three, he couldn't sense any other active thoughts.
There were no signs of others thinking nearby.
Shiao Yi took a deep breath. Then, without hesitation, he jumped—teleporting straight into the area where the fire circle burned.
"Uwaaaaahhh!"
As soon as Shiao Yi came out of his teleportation jump, he screamed in pain.
Was it a barrier? A trap?
Had he just been caught in a special barrier meant to stop teleporters?
He had thought this was another world—was he wrong?
Fear and panic rushed over him, and for a moment, Shiao Yi almost lost control of his mind.
It felt like his entire body had been shocked by high voltage. His arms and legs were bound tightly, unable to move.
The tears spilled from his eyes—not from emotion, but from the intense physical reaction—yet he still struggled to look around and understand what was happening.
Thankfully, his body hadn't been torn apart at the molecular level.
In the distance, through his blurry vision, he saw flames dancing in the shape of a huge circle.
The fire seemed to rise straight from the ground. It formed a wall of fire that surrounded him. And in between the gaps of that red fire, he could see the pale-blue flames he had noticed earlier.
Shiao Yi twisted his body, trying to break free from the bindings that held him up in midair.
As the shock slowly faded, he began to realize something—this wasn't the same kind of barrier he had experienced before.
But something was definitely keeping him trapped. It had to be some kind of magic.
Just as he was about to use his telekinesis, something broke through the ground beneath his feet.
A vine that looks thick and strange colored a poisonous blue-violet rose up and reached toward him like a snake.
Shiao Yi's eyes widened.
He quickly looked around and saw a similar blue-purple shape not far away. It looked like something a human might be trapped inside—twisted and unnatural. There was another one even farther away.
Now that he knew what to look for, he noticed them all around him, scattered here and there in the shadows.
As th vine touched Shiao Yi's foot. He reacted immediately, he striking it away with his telekinesis. At the same time, he activated his power again to break himself free from the invisible prison that held him.
It felt like trying to rip himself off an extremely strong, sticky tape. For a moment, he thought all his skin might peel off.
Rip. Rip. Rip.
He tore himself away from the force holding him and collapsed to the ground, gasping for air. His strength was completely drained.
But his skin was still intact. Maybe the feeling had just been an illusion, a trick of the nerves under stress.
Suddenly, the ground bulged nearby with a soft pop, and another thick, blue-purple vine slithered out.
Forcing his body to move, Shiao Yi pushed himself up and ran from the vine a d heading toward the tangled mass he had seen earlier.
"...!"
Between the twisted vines, he caught sight of a human form. The person seemed completely unconscious—or worse. It was hard to even tell if they were still alive. Their skin looked dry and shriveled, and their bones stuck out in sharp angles. It seemed like the vine had drained the life out of them.
The stubborn vines weren't done. If he stayed still for even a moment, they would burst from the ground again and reach for him.
He kept running and made it to another lump he had seen farther away.
"Help me..."
The voice entered his mind—a direct thought, not a sound.
He grabbed the vines wrapped around the form and tried to pull them off. Using his telekinesis, he began peeling them away until he could finally see the person's head.
But then, Shiao Yi froze in horror.
The vines had forced themselves into the person's body—not just through the mouth, but through the ears, through every opening. They had invaded completely, inside and out.
"There's no way to save you now. Do you want to die?"
Shiao Yi spoke to the victim silently, through his mind.
"Yes... I want to die. Please, kill me."