Ethan exhaled quietly, relief flickering across his face, but he still nudged Radit to keep moving. They crouched low, dashing through the corridor of shadows. The pale moonlight followed them, a silent witness to their escape.
"Ethan… what we heard back there, was that really… a suicide plot?" Radit's voice trembled, disbelief and fear tangled together.
Ethan stopped. His jaw tightened, his eyes cutting through the darkness. "Yeah. They're not just extremists. They're an organization… and Raphael might be one of them."
He clenched his fist. "We have to warn Kaivan. Now."
They quickened their pace but kept silent. Every shadow felt like a watching eye, every whisper of wind carried an unseen threat. The quiet street stretched longer than usual, as if time itself tried to keep them from reaching safety.
Meanwhile, on the road toward the inn, Kaivan and Felicia walked side by side. Only the sound of their footsteps echoed through the night. Felicia's grip was tight, almost desperate, as if that small warmth was the only thing holding her together.
Kaivan noticed her trembling hand. He turned slightly, studying Felicia's face, it looked more fragile than he remembered. Then, in a soft and trembling voice, she asked:
"Kaivan… does this mean we're engaged now?"
Kaivan stopped. The question hung between them, heavier than the silence around them. He met her gaze and replied with a faint smile, gentle, but distant.
"It was just an act, Felicia. You can let go now."
Felicia didn't answer right away. Her fingers slowly slipped away from his, surrendering to the creeping cold. Her smile was stiff, fragile. "Oh… just pretend, huh," she murmured, barely audible.
They began walking again, but no longer side by side. There was a space between them now. A quiet distance, born from a truth too honest to deny.
When they arrived at the inn, Radit and Ethan rushed straight to Kaivan. Their faces were tense, breaths uneven.
"We found their base," Radit said quickly. His eyes burned, not with panic, but with the weight of a truth too cruel to keep silent.
Kaivan crossed his arms, standing firm. "How can you be sure?"
Ethan stepped forward. "We followed a group of teens into an abandoned building. Inside… we heard their plan. It's huge, too big to ignore. They're recruiting troubled kids… to turn them into suicide bombers."
Silence. The world seemed to hold its breath.
Felicia's hand tightened around Kaivan's arm. Radit stared at the floor, jaw clenched. Kaivan lowered his gaze, anger flickering beneath his calm expression.
"I know what we have to do."
He opened the Tome of Omnicent.
The pages glowed softly, ancient letters shimmering like whispers of fate. Lines of text appeared, moving and reshaping into commands that could not be disobeyed.
Felicia stepped closer. Ethan and Radit stood behind Kaivan. Together, they read in silence, gathering courage, forming resolve. Beneath every word, they understood: this wasn't just a mission.
It was their first act of resistance. And failure wasn't an option.
Kaivan lifted his eyes from the Tome, its light reflecting in his pupils. "There's a path we must follow," he said quietly, voice steady yet sharp. "The book doesn't lie. We just have to walk its course."
Felicia nodded. Beneath her calm expression lay the realization that this went beyond strategy. It was a test, of trust, friendship, and faith.
The pages turned on their own, forming sentences that pulsed with meaning: Infiltrate their ranks. Do not be swayed. Convince them to abandon the cause of terror. The words lit a fire in Kaivan's chest.
"So we're pretending to be terrorists now?" Ethan asked flatly, his tone skeptical. His eyes narrowed at Kaivan, who was still bathed in the Tome's glow.
Kaivan didn't answer immediately. He reached for a karambit and a thin chain he'd brought from Cimahi, linking them together with deliberate, focused movements. "We're not joining them," he said, low and firm. "We're infiltrating."
The conviction in his voice was contagious.
Radit leaned against the wall, eyes distant. "We're just four high school kids," he muttered. "And our enemies… they know how to kill without leaving a trace. We don't even know what they're after."
Felicia stepped closer to the window, her silhouette outlined by the dim glow of the streetlights. "But we know they're wrong. We know their teachings are twisted." Her eyes were sharp, cutting through the fog of doubt. "They won't be able to manipulate us easily."
She turned toward Kaivan, searching for an answer in his silent face.
Kaivan said nothing. He set the chained karambit on the floor and took a deep breath. His mind spun rapidly, this wasn't just infiltration anymore. It was a battle without any promise of survival.
Silence settled over the room.
Then, the television flickered on by itself, casting cold light across their faces. A breaking news report appeared. A reporter stood in front of an international building, rows of flags swaying behind her.
Something far greater was already in motion.
"Seven days until the Asian–African Conference…"