CHAPTER 57: LINGERING SHADOWS

The crystal pulsed softly, its glow steady now that the entity was bound. But I didn’t trust it. Not yet.

"Wallace," I said, voice low but firm. "Seal the array. Double-layer it."

Wallace blinked, clearly drained, but nodded. He pulled out another carving tool and crouched down, adding extra runes along the perimeter of the array he’d just finished. His hands were steady despite the exhaustion weighing down his limbs.

"You sure that’s necessary, Professor?" Julien asked, leaning heavily against the cave wall. His breathing was still uneven, but his usual cocky smirk was creeping back. "We just stuffed that thing into a crystal."

I didn’t take my eyes off the pulsing gem. "Yeah. And we’re keeping it stuffed."

Julien’s smirk faded. "Got it."

Mira stood a few paces away, arms crossed, her gaze locked on the crystal like it might lash out at any second. Smart. She didn’t trust it either.

Felix and Leo, on the other hand...

They were both keeping their distance, lingering near the entrance of the cave. Felix’s hands were still trembling, and Leo was unnervingly quiet.

"Felix," I called softly.

His head snapped up, eyes wide and unfocused.

"Breathe."

He blinked.

"Now."

Felix sucked in a shaky breath, then another. Slowly, the tension in his shoulders eased.

"Good." I gave him a small nod before shifting my gaze to Leo.

"Leo?"

Nothing.

"Leo." My tone sharpened, cutting through the silence.

Leo flinched, but his eyes were distant, staring at something that wasn’t there.

"Damn it..." I moved closer, keeping my steps measured. "Leo. Look at me."

It took a second, but his eyes finally focused.

"Stay with us," I murmured. "We’re not done yet."

Leo swallowed hard, giving a weak nod. But I could tell—he was barely holding it together. Whatever the Swert had shown him... it wasn’t letting go.

We’ll deal with that later.

"Alright," I said, raising my voice slightly. "We’re not out of the woods yet. Wallace?"

"Almost there..." Wallace muttered, carefully etching the last rune. "Just a bit more..."

Mira shifted uneasily. "This place feels... off."

"Because it is." I scanned the cave, senses on high alert. The mana in the air was thicker than before—heavier. And it wasn’t just because of the crystal.

Something was still here.

Residual echoes?

Maybe.

But my instincts were screaming otherwise.

"Professor," Mira murmured, her voice tight. "You feel that?"

"Yeah," I muttered.

The shadows on the walls were... wrong.

They weren’t moving.

After the Swert’s defeat, they should’ve settled, faded. But they were still.

Watching.

Waiting.

"Wallace." My voice was sharp now. "Finish it. Now."

"I’m trying!" He hissed, beads of sweat dripping onto the stone as he carved faster.

"Move faster," I growled.

The air thickened, the temperature dropping noticeably.

Something’s wrong.

"Mira, Julien—back on guard," I ordered, my cane already raised.

Mira’s dagger glinted in the dim light as she shifted closer to Wallace, her stance low and ready.

Julien pushed off the wall, rolling his shoulders. "Again? Seriously?"

"Always assume the worst."

"Great," Julien muttered, but he raised his sword anyway.

A cold wind swept through the cave, carrying with it a faint whisper.

"Professor..." Mira’s voice was barely above a whisper.

I heard it too.

Whispers.

Dozens of them.

Soft. Incoherent. But growing louder.

"Wallace," I said again, my voice hard. "Finish it."

"I’m done!" Wallace gasped, the final rune blazing to life as he poured the last of his mana into it.

The array pulsed, the runes locking in place and forming a solid barrier around the crystal.

The oppressive weight in the air... lessened.

But it didn’t disappear.

Damn it.

"Seal’s holding," Wallace panted, wiping his forehead. "But..."

"Something’s still here," I finished, eyes narrowing.

The shadows didn’t recede.

They gathered.

Formless shapes shifted at the edges of the light, swirling and coiling like snakes waiting to strike.

"Julien," I murmured.

"On it," he said, but even he sounded uneasy.

He took a step forward, his blade glowing faintly with mana. But the moment his foot touched the ground—

The shadows moved.

Fast.

"Down!" I barked.

Julien barely dropped in time as a jagged spike of shadow lashed out where his head had been.

"Shit!" He rolled back, coming up with his sword ready.

Mira was already in motion, hurling a burst of dark mana toward the mass of shadows. The magic collided, sending a ripple through the air, but it barely slowed the thing down.

"Professor!" Mira’s voice was sharp. "This isn’t part of the Swert!"

"I know." My jaw tightened.

This was... different.

Residual mana? No. It’s too focused.

This wasn’t just leftover energy from the Swert’s defeat.

It was something else.

"Leo, Felix—fall back!" I ordered.

But Leo didn’t move.

He was staring into the shadows.

"Leo!" I snapped.

His lips moved, but no sound came out.

"Damn it," I hissed, moving toward him.

But before I could reach him—

The shadows struck.

A tendril of darkness lashed out, coiling around Leo’s arm.

"Leo!"

I grabbed him, yanking him back just as the tendril tried to drag him deeper into the shadows.

The moment I touched him, a surge of cold slammed into me.

Not mana.

Something worse.

A whisper brushed against my ear.

"Too late..."

I shoved Leo behind me, forcing mana through my veins to push back whatever the hell this was.

But the whisper...

It wasn’t gone.

It was inside.

"Professor!" Mira shouted, her mana flaring as she sliced through another shadow.

"Hold them back!" I barked, pushing Leo toward Felix. "Don’t let them touch you!"

"Got it!" Julien growled, his sword glowing brighter as he swung.

The shadows recoiled, but they didn’t stop.

They were relentless.

"Wallace!" I called.

"Trying!" He was already reinforcing the array, but whatever this was—it wasn’t part of the original equation.

"Professor..."

Leo’s voice was barely audible, but I caught it.

He was trembling.

"I... I heard it..."

I clenched my jaw. "Ignore it."

"I can’t," he whispered, his eyes wide and filled with something I didn’t like.

Fear.

But not the usual kind.

This was deeper.

Darker.

"I know," I murmured, my voice softer. "But you have to. We’ll get through this."

I didn’t know if that was true.

But I had to make him believe it.

"Julien, Mira!" I barked.

"Still here!" Julien grunted, blocking another tendril.

"Wrap it up!"

"We’re trying, Professor!" Mira’s voice was tight, her mana flaring with every strike.

But the shadows weren’t weakening.

Why?

I focused, stretching my senses outward.

Come on... where are you...

And then—

I felt it.

There.

Buried beneath the pulsing mana of the sealed crystal.

A second source.

Damn it.

"There’s something else," I muttered, eyes narrowing.

This wasn’t just residual mana.

It was... a fragment.

A leftover piece of whatever the Swert had once been.

"Wallace," I said, voice calm but firm. "New plan."

Wallace glanced up, sweat pouring down his face. "What now?"

"We’re not sealing this thing," I murmured.

His eyes widened. "What? But—"

"We’re destroying it."

The crystal pulsed, almost as if it heard me.

"Julien, Mira," I called out. "Buy me ten seconds."

"Ten?" Julien barked. "You’re killing me, Professor!"

"Then die faster," I muttered, already channeling mana through my body.

Mira’s curses flared, binding the shadows tighter.

"Go!"

I knelt beside the crystal, pressing my hand against the array.

"Alright," I murmured, mana pouring through my veins.

Let’s end this.