CHAPTER 56: ENCODED MESSAGE RECEIVED

The clearing was too quiet—the kind of silence that only existed when something was about to happen.

Eren was sitting on a smooth stone, cleaning his fingers with a cloth, while Kaela paced in circles like a bored and irritable lioness.

Nyssa was huddled beside him, rocking slightly back and forth with her translucent body tinged in blue, as if trying to calm herself. Morwynn, elegant as ever, hung upside down on an invisible web between two trees, softly reciting:

""The night has come... and with it, the words that should never have been whispered." What a beautiful scene of decay, don’t you think?"

"Talking to yourself again, spider-lady" commented Kaela, snapping her fingers.

Morwynn ignored the comment with the grace of a lady from a forgotten century. Eren just sighed until he felt the slight chill in the air. The kind of sign that didn’t come from the system, nor from a monster—it came from someone who knew exactly where to touch to be noticed.

It was Nyssa who pointed out, softly:

"E-Eren... over there..."

A flickering light appeared among the branches. A small, shimmering winged being, floating with impossible precision. Its wings seemed made of living script, and its body of liquid glass where phrases danced. A living, enchanted creature—a message bearer.

"Don’t attack" said Eren, raising his hand before Kaela could bare her teeth. "This isn’t hostile."

"Looks fragile... but it smells like masked magic — murmured Kaela, eyes narrowed."

The creature landed in front of Eren and, without ceremony, dissolved into fragments of light and runes, which entered his fingers like living ink. Nyssa let out a timid squeak and shrank back. Kaela huffed. Morwynn merely whispered:

""Words that write themselves under the skin... like unconsented promises." Ah, inspiring."

Eren didn’t even blink. His arm shone with arcane veins. And then, the world darkened around him.

[Encoded Message Received]

From the center of the empty space, a projection emerged. A sphere of energy, spinning on three axes, reflecting living symbols.

Four symbolic figures appeared inside: a skull of roots, an iron flower, a stitched eye, and an inverted hourglass. No voice came from the air—it emerged directly into Eren’s mind.

"Eren Vale. Anomaly confirmed. Unforeseen symbiosis. Link with entity Sylha: irregular. Access: authorized."

"Hehehe... they mentioned me!" Sylha vibrated, appearing out of nowhere, spinning in the air with her typical frosted transparency. She had floating hair like smoke, large eyes that glowed like magic lanterns, and a smile that seemed too innocent to be trustworthy.

She spun upside down and floated in front of the projection, making faces.

"Hey! I’m irregular? I prefer "charmingly eccentric," okay? Pretentious idiots, they didn’t even send me flowers before spying on my fusion with the hunk Eren!"

"Sylha..." murmured Eren, trying to stay focused. She responded with a dramatic pout and intertwined fingers."

"Okay, okay, sorry... continue your important evil plan thing. But if there’s more naked hologram, let me know!"

The projection continued, completely ignoring the ghostly interruption.

"Hagan. Commander of the Order. Fragmented. Point of vulnerability: intersection of magical veins. Location identified. Cyclical meditation. Disconnection between body and command: 7 minutes."

The image showed a runic map. Lines of energy cut through the territory like magical arteries. Three of them converged on an isolated point—marked with golden pulses.

"Maximum vulnerability at this location. Absence of protection ritual. Surveillance: blind during window between chants. Opportunity: unique."

"Seven minutes? Hagan seems like the type of guy who needs thirty just to get into a trance " muttered Kaela. "I’ve had stomach aches that lasted longer."

"He is unbalanced, Kaela" commented Eren, observing the flows. "And doesn’t intend to appear fragile. But he is."

"If anomaly survives, it must head to the marked point. Core Refuge. Protection against divine tracking. Access conditioned: victory."

A new hologram appeared: a hideout buried in spirals, surrounded by forbidden symbols. Nothing living circulated in the surroundings. A place too quiet to be natural.

"Ahhh, a haunted basement just for you, little Eren..." sang Sylha, spinning around him like a leaf in the wind. "Want me to decorate it with green torches? Soul rugs? I can make it quite... cozy."

Kaela growled.

"Is the ghost going to decorate now?"

"Hehehe, and you’re going to handle the cleaning, angry wolf? Relax, I’ll take care of the traumas!"

Before the discussion could escalate, a pulsating crystal appeared before Eren. It seemed alive—with red veins, a pulsating glow, and a core that beat like a caged heart.

[Item Received: Core’s Living Key]

[Mission Updated: Ambush Hagan]

[Conditioned Refuge: After confrontation]

Upon touching the key, a rune appeared on the back of his hand. A seal of authorization—or observation. It was hard to say. Sylha stared at the crystal, mesmerized.

"Can I hold it? No? Can I smell it? No? Can I lick it? Okay, I’ll just touch it with my little finger, okay? Just a little bit!"

Eren completely ignored her.

Kaela approached, arms crossed, eyes fixed on him.

"Are you going to accept this? A plan made by people who didn’t even introduce themselves properly?"

"I don’t need introductions" he said, storing the crystal in his belt. "I need results."

Nyssa timidly tugged at his tunic.

"W-what if it’s a trap?"

"Then we blow everything up" murmured Kaela.

"Or dance in their blood" completed Morwynn, as if proposing a toast.

Sylha dramatically opened her arms and shouted:

"Blow everything up, dance in the blood... what a beautiful group I have! Come on, little Eren, where’s the next ritual? I miss seeing a cultist cry before dying!"

Eren took a deep breath. The seal on his arm still burned. But not with pain—it was more like a reminder: that he was being watched, evaluated, and pushed in the right... or wrong direction.

And for the first time, he smiled back.

"Let’s go to the snake’s lair. And this time, we’re going with firewood, oil... and a lit match on the tongue.

The cave was stifling, carved into the living rock as if it had been forcibly dug by some giant creature with curved tusks.

The walls sweated moisture. The constant sound of dripping water reverberated like a broken clock — a rhythmic reminder that time was running out.

Eren sat on the central stone of the room, surrounded by map pieces and traces of mana floating in strands he conjured with his fingers.

Kaela leaned against the wall, arms crossed, her tail swaying as if it wanted to hit something out of sheer boredom.

Nyssa remained next to Eren, trying to understand the diagrams with an adorable pout of confusion on her face — her cheeks shimmering in a lilac-pink hue.

Morwynn crawled lightly along the back walls, leaving small silk symbols that glowed in shadowy tones.

Sylha... well, Sylha floated upside down, legs crossed in the air, humming a tune without a defined melody.

""Let’s kill a sick prophet, let’s see him scream... Let’s give him seven minutes to cry and then explode..."" she hummed, swinging like an overly cheerful pendulum.

Eren ignored all the noises around him. His eyes fixed on the point of the magical crossroads shown by the Guild’s message.

Three veins of mana intersected in a delicate knot. A space where, according to the Core, Hagan disconnected from the system for a few minutes — enough time for someone like Eren to do the impossible.

He began to speak, still looking at the map.

"Hagan enters this point during the spiritual reconnection rituals. He becomes vulnerable because he maintains three divided anchors: body, soul, and command of his legion. At that moment... he needs silence. Introspection. And that’s where we come in."

"We who?" Kaela asked. "Because if you’re going to make me invade a sanctuary while he’s meditating, I’m already warning you I’ll break in with the face of one of his followers."

"No" Eren replied. "You will be the noise outside the ritual."

"Ahhh, nice... I like that part" she said, cracking her shoulders.

"I’ll use the distraction you all create to enter through a reverse mana channel. It connects to the center of the sanctuary. A direct line between what he believes is private... and what we’re going to invade."

Nyssa raised a gelatinous hand, hesitant.

"B-but what if he notices?"

"He will. But too late."

Morwynn, with his gothic and theatrical tone, whispered:

"A prophet stripped in the center of the temple... while the world collapses outside. What a... symbolic scenario."

"Is that art, spiderling?" Kaela asked."

"That is tragedy, dear"Morwynn replied with a cold smile."

Eren continued.

"When I go in, I won’t take any of you. Not even Sylha."

"What?!" Sylha shouted, floating closer to him with the expression of a betrayed child. "But what about my ethereal dramatic possession performance?! I’ve rehearsed! I even have the invisible costume ready!"

"You’re a neon glow in the dark" he said, without looking at her. "He will notice. And this time... I need him not to notice until it’s too late."

Sylha brought her hand to her forehead, collapsing in the air with a dramatic moan.

"Ahhhh... I’m disposable! I’m a translucent object only good for laughs and scares! I cried."

Nyssa rushed to try to console her, but Sylha was already spiraling with fake tears streaming from her eyes.

Morwynn clapped slowly, approved by the performance. Kaela muttered something like "I don’t have the patience for this."

Eren raised his arm. The seal of the Core’s Living Key still burned slightly under his skin. He clenched his fist, feeling the core pulse like a second heart.

"The ambush begins with provocation. Kaela, you lead that. Make as much noise as possible, as if you were really going to invade."

"Wow. Finally recognizing my talents" she said, raising an eyebrow."

"Morwynn, I want your threads all over the outer area. Visual and sensory traps. I want him to think he’s surrounded by a dozen monsters."

"Like an orchestra of faceless eyes... how beautiful" Morwynn whispered.

"Nyssa, you’re in charge of the security barrier. Keep the escape route clear. And if something goes wrong... dissolve the ground."

"Y-yes!" Nyssa said, clapping her tiny hands."

"And Sylha... " Eren turned to her at last. The ghost was sitting in the air, arms crossed and cheeks puffed."

"Are you going to ground me?"

"No. I’ll need you later."

Sylha widened her eyes, suddenly radiant.

"Oh, he wants me! Okay, okay! I won’t get in the way, I promise. I’ll just watch... maybe sing softly... and give a scare or two. Only if he deserves it!"

Eren smiled slightly. It was a rare smile. Sincere on the surface, ironic underneath.

He looked at the map again. The countdown had already begun — even though no alarm had sounded. The plan was crazy. It was suicidal, even. But the kind of madness he could control. The kind of trap he knew how to use.

Hagan was a predator. A commander. A fanatic. But Eren had learned from the monsters he tamed: predators don’t fall into common traps... but they always slip on their own certainties.

He stood up. The cave light flickered, but his shadow seemed more solid than usual.

[Mission: Ambush on Hagan | Status: Advanced Preparation]

[Estimated Execution Time: 48 hours]

[Target: Commander of the Order – Hagan]

Sylha spun in the air.

"Oh, how exciting! It’s like a wedding... only with more knives!"

Kaela cracked her fingers.

"Finally. Something worth the effort."

Nyssa blushed.

"W-we can do this... right?"

Eren didn’t respond. He just clenched his fist, activating the seal of the living key. The pulse responded as if saying: It’s almost time.