Ren and Sosuke sat on a bench outside the restaurant they had just left. Evening air hung warm and heavy, tinted orange by the setting sun. Sosuke sparked another cigarette and slid it between his lips. He tapped a finger lightly against the side of his head, gaze far above the rooftops as if searching for something in the sky.
"What happened to your star eyes?" Ren leaned back, an arm stretched along the top of the bench, posture loose.
Sosuke didn't look away from the horizon. "I can still use them. But it hurts like hell. Last time I tried after the injury, my body acted like it didn't recognize them anymore." His voice was level, though a small tension worked in his jaw. "If the mission calls for it, I'll manage."
Ren angled his head toward him. "Are you sure?" The question held no pressure, only quiet concern. "You don't need to force it."
"Oh, now you care?" Sosuke exhaled smoke with a half-laugh. "You said it yourself. People died. Whatever pain I feel is nothing compared to that." He stood and flicked the cigarette away, grinding the ember into the pavement.
"Then we should go to where Bennet was attacked." Ren stood as well. "Even if I can't pick up what's left, your eyes should be able to."
Sosuke rested his hands on his hips, smirking. "Yes, sir. Let's finish this fast so I can actually sleep tonight."
——
The forest was quiet. Too still, like the air had stopped to listen. Sosuke stood over the corpse of a blight, its body collapsed inward and half-rotted, exactly as Lena described.
"I should get started." His voice lowered. He swallowed.
Ren watched him closely, arms folded. "Sosuke." The name came as a warning, or maybe a reminder.
Sosuke inhaled, slow, steady. Then he shut his eyes. A cold surge slid through him, threading from chest to skull. Pain followed, sharp and bright, echoing behind his temples. Manageable—for now. He opened his eyes.
White star-shaped pupils shone like fractured light, framed by a violet iris that pulsed faintly.
"I see it." His breath strained. "Ribbons of mana. Thin, but still moving. They all run in the same direction. Whoever did this didn't bother hiding their trail."
"Amateur," Ren said. "No way a whole town was wiped out by someone inexperienced."
"Or someone who didn't think they needed to hide." Sosuke stepped forward, head tilted as he followed the luminous strands winding deeper into the trees.
Ren reached out slightly, then let his hand drop. "We said we'd rest."
"If we stop now, justice takes longer." Sosuke glanced back, a tired but determined smile curving his mouth. "Let's finish this."
Ren exhaled. "You're starting to sound like Winslow."
——
They followed the trail until the forest thinned and the sky leaned toward dawn. The ribbons of mana brightened in Sosuke's vision, then wavered. His legs trembled. Sweat cooled along his temples.
Ren saw it first. Sosuke's hands shook, fingers white around empty air. "Sosuke!" He dropped his pack and closed the distance in two long strides. Ren slid his arms under Sosuke's armpits as the other man folded inward and went down.
"You idiot." Ren's voice carried no heat. He eased Sosuke to the ground with the care of someone setting a broken thing on a table. Ren crouched, jaw working. He scratched the back of his head and muttered under his breath. "What am I supposed to do now?"
He lifted him again, this time like a soldier carrying a comrade. Sosuke sagged over the shoulder, limp but alive. "That'll do," Ren said, steadying his steps.
———
Sosuke woke to insect song and the crack of a twig. For a breath he had no idea where he was. Then Ren's back came into focus.
"What the hell!" Sosuke thudded onto the leaf litter and bark. Pain flared. "Ow!" He pushed himself up, rubbing grit from his hair. "What are you doing carrying me like I'm dead?"
Ren shrugged, sun cutting the rim of his face orange. "How else was I supposed to?" He scanned the thin strip of sky now turning bright. "Dawn's here."
Sosuke stood and brushed his trousers. "Where are we?"
"I followed the trail until I could feel mana myself." Ren planted his hands on his hips. "We're close. If you want to keep whining about your dignity, then don't collapse next time. Say something like 'I'm tired' or 'it hurts'. Normal people do that."
"You're acting weird." Sosuke shook his head and laughed, brittle. "Like you can't pick what you want to be."
Ren's stoic mask slipped for half a heartbeat. "Nothing I said is out of character," he said too quickly. "You needed to see your mistakes." He turned his back and cleared his throat. "You're delusional."
"Delusional?" Sosuke snapped, stepping forward. His hands folded across his chest like a challenge. "This is why we don't talk."
"Why don't we talk often?" Ren asked, softer. The question landed between them like an old bruise.
Sosuke blinked. The answer dangled and then shrank. "I've been busy and you've been doing whatever you do." He tried to shrug it away. "Timing. That's it." The words sounded hollow even to him.
The forest held its breath. Then a voice cut the air, low and calm as steel.
"Silence." The word rolled through the trunks and made the birds tumble from their branches.
Both men spun. The sound came from high above. A shape detached itself from shadow and settled on a broken limb like a raven on a wire. Black fabric. A mask that caught no light.
The figure's voice was cold and oddly conversational. "Did you think my trail was accidental? I laid it like a map. You two stumble through it with the grace of fools. Turn back now. Heroes who press on will find only death. I do not seek a fight."
Ren's hand moved before his brain finished the sentence. Mana thrummed along his palm and condensed into a white blade, clean as bone. He set his feet, the sword steady in his grip.
"You killed people," Ren said. His voice was flat. Each word measured. "You made that choice. Cowards hide behind shadows. Men face you."
Sosuke edged away from the masked man, breath caught somewhere between his ribs and throat. "Let's just leave it for now." His fingers twitched at his side. He scanned the branches for an opening, anything narrow enough to slip through.
Ren didn't budge. "He's right here." His voice locked onto the figure perched above. His feet planted. His shoulders squared.
Sosuke slipped a hand into his coat and brushed the holster tucked beneath the lining. The pistol waited. All he had to do was draw it and stand with Ren, but a cold weight pressed on his chest.
Doubt gripped him like a hand around his lungs.
What am I going to do? Useless without magic.
The figure lifted a palm. Three books rose from the air in front of him, pages flaring open on their own. "Very well."
The forest dimmed.
"Starlight Volley."
Stars blinked into existence among the leaves, bright enough to burn an afterimage across Sosuke's vision. Then they dropped in streams of white fire.
Ren's sword flashed up, but the moment the light touched the blade, understanding struck him like a hammer.
This isn't the usual light branch of magic. This is real light. Speed of it too.
He moved, slipping between streaks of brilliance, then drove a slab of ice upward. The shield burst from the ground and sealed Sosuke behind him. "Run!"
Sosuke collapsed instead, curling into the shallow shadow behind the shield. His hands covered his face.
Pull the gun. Do something. Anything. But can it even hurt him? I'm useless.
His fist cracked against the dirt. The ice wall hissed as light melted through the edges.
The barrage halted. One final star sizzled past Ren's ear and vanished in the soil.
The masked figure exhaled. "Enough."
The books snapped shut in unison and drifted back behind him like obedient ghosts.
"That was your last warning." His voice floated down, calm as a judge announcing a sentence. "Continue following my path and I will not restrain myself again."
He tilted his head. "Walk away. If you come any closer, you die."
Blood streaked down Ren's face, tracing the curve of his cheekbone before dripping onto his collar. Thin burns marked his arms and neck, smoke still rising from the worst of them. Even so, he stayed upright. Shoulders squared. Eyes locked on the stranger who had nearly split the forest open with a single spell.
"Who are you?" Ren's voice carried a raw edge, quiet but unbroken.
The masked figure tilted his head. "My name is Dante."
He parted his cloak, revealing a space that swallowed all light. Spellbooks drifted into the void without a sound, as if sinking beneath the surface of deep water.
"You'd benefit remembering it."
Dante stepped off the branch. The moment his boots touched the ground, his form smeared into darkness. Then he was gone, leaving only a faint ripple of mana in the air.
Ren let out a long breath, shoulders relaxing for the first time since the volley began. His sword dissolved in a swirl of frost, vanishing from his hand. He turned toward the fractured ice shield. Sosuke crouched behind it, back against the wall, fingers still pressed to his forehead.
"Sosuke," Ren said quietly.
Sosuke didn't answer at first. He stared at the trees where Dante disappeared, chest rising and falling too fast. The forest felt colder now. As if the light had drained from it.
"I froze," Sosuke whispered. He rose slowly, brushing dirt from his palms. "He walked all over us."
Ren shook his head. "No. He walked away. There's a difference."
Sosuke didn't look convinced. He glanced down at his trembling hand.
Ren stepped beside him, gaze fixed on the long trail of bent branches and fading mana. "We're not done with him."
Sosuke swallowed. "Yeah."
The sun pushed through the canopy, dim and tired. Morning had arrived, but neither of them felt the comfort of it.