CHAPTER 178: [WHERE’S ELI?]

Caelen’s sword lowered slightly—not out of surrender, but instinct.

Because he heard it too.

Kairo’s voice.

"...Eli?"

The name cut through the crackle of dying fire and the low hum of mana like a blade slicing through fog. It wasn’t barked in command or gritted through anger—it was soft. Distant. Wrong.

Caelen frowned, pulse skipping once as he straightened. "What?"

Kairo didn’t answer. His blue aura flickered like a dying flame, his eyes scanning the battlefield with precision and... something else. Worry, maybe. Fear disguised beneath control. His usual sharp focus—the kind that cut through chaos—was still there, but now it was fraying at the edges.

He was looking for something.

No—someone.

And Caelen suddenly knew.

A low, uneasy feeling twisted in his gut. He pivoted, scanning the terrain himself—charred ground, scorched roots, collapsed trees where Arman’s pulse had split the earth. His team stood scattered but alive—Zaira and Mel opposite, battered but alert, the others steadying themselves.

But Eli—

"Where is he?" Caelen’s voice broke the silence.

It wasn’t a question—it was an order. His tone dropped, steady but rough, carrying a weight that made even Punzo freeze mid-motion.

"What do you mean, where—" Punzo started, sparks still dancing between his fingers.

"Eli," Caelen snapped, his head jerking from the smoke to the cracked ground to the treeline. "Where the hell is he?"

That was enough. The teasing in Punzo’s voice vanished. His flames died instantly. Arman’s aura dimmed, the golden shimmer around him bleeding into nothing. Even Jabby reappeared from her veil of wind, her expression shifting from focus to unease.

They all looked.

The clearing, moments ago a battlefield of roaring flame and clashing light, now felt like a graveyard. The only sound left was the faint crackle of burning roots and the creak of broken branches swaying in the wind.

Kairo stood still. Completely still. His breath came slow, measured, but the tremor in his hands gave him away. His gaze stayed locked on one spot—the space just behind where he’d stood minutes ago.

Where Eli should have been.

"Not again."

The words left him barely above a whisper, but in the silence, they echoed.

Caelen’s head snapped toward him, irritation twisting with something heavier. "What do you mean, not again?"

’Has he disappeared like this before?’ Caelen thought, narrowing his eyes.

Kairo didn’t answer right away. His grip on his sword tightened until the veins stood out on his hand. When he finally spoke, his voice was quiet, flat—but heavy with memory.

"The first time I met him," he said, eyes still fixed on the empty ground, "he disappeared. Just like this."

Zaira’s eyes widened, the realization hitting her late. "Oh—yeah... yeah, I remember that."

Mio nodded slowly, still catching his breath. "We were talking. Just for a bit, and then—"

"No," Kairo interrupted. His voice was low, sharp, leaving no room for doubt. "He didn’t run. He vanished. One second he was there—beside me—and the next, gone. No mana trail. No sound. Nothing."

Arman frowned. "That’s not possible. Even concealment leaves traces—mana residue, air distortion, something."

"I know." Kairo’s jaw clenched. "That’s what made it odd then—and what makes it worse now." His gaze lifted, sweeping across them, hard and calculating. "There are six of us here. A- to S-Class hunters. And not one of us noticed him move."

Caelen’s chest tightened. He didn’t like admitting it, but Kairo was right.

He could feel every signature in this field—every pulse of mana, every lingering echo of battle energy. But Eli’s was distinct. Subtle.

And now it was gone. Completely

.

Jabby took a small step forward, her voice soft but trembling. "Maybe he’s hiding. Maybe he saw you both about to fight and—"

"—and what?" Caelen cut in, eyes narrowing. "Ran?"

She faltered, her lips pressing together.

"Eli doesn’t run that fast," he muttered, almost to himself.

"Maybe he’s still nearby," Zaira offered gently, scanning the trees. "Just... give him a minute."

"Eli!" Punzo’s voice echoed through the clearing, forced and too loud in the sudden quiet. "Oi! Where the hell are you, kid?"

"Eli, come on!" Arman shouted next, his tone gruff, trying to disguise the strain in his voice. "We’re done fighting!"

"Eli, did we scare you?!"

The forest swallowed their voices.

No echo came back. No movement. Not even the faint hum of mana that might suggest life nearby.

Just silence.

Thick.

Heavy.

Caelen’s sword arm twitched as his pulse quickened. His eyes darted between the smoldering mist, the trees, and the fading traces of blue and red aura that still lingered in the air.

Zaira exchanged a tense glance with Mio. Her voice dropped to a whisper. "There’s no trace," she murmured. "No mana trail, no footprints—nothing. It’s like he..."

"Vanished," Mio finished grimly, his silver threads flickering faintly before dissipating.

Caelen’s jaw tightened. His eyes swept the clearing again, this time slower, more deliberate. The shattered forest loomed in silence, the remnants of their battle still hanging in the air—smoke curling from scorched bark, bloodlight fading from broken earth. Shadows stretched long and uneven beneath the fractured light filtering through the canopy, twisting like specters across the mud.

For a moment, he almost thought he saw something.

A figure. A flicker. The outline of someone small—standing in the haze.

But when he blinked, it was gone.

Only empty space.

’This doesn’t make sense,’ he thought, pulse pounding in his throat. ’Not with that kid. Not now.’

He clenched his teeth, frustration crawling up his spine. "He wouldn’t just walk off."

Kairo’s head turned toward him, eyes narrowing, voice low but cutting. "Wouldn’t he?"

The words landed heavier than they should’ve—sharp, measured, testing.

Caelen glared, the faintest tremor of anger flashing behind his composed mask. "You think he ran? After everything that’s happened?"

But before Kairo could reply, Zaira’s voice broke through the tension—soft, trembling, careful. "What if he didn’t walk off?"

The silence that followed was instant.

Everyone turned.

Her gaze drifted toward the treeline, her expression drawn tight with dread. "What if something... took him?"

The words hung there, echoing through the smoldering air.

No one spoke.

Because they were all thinking the same thing.

The serpent.

Even weakened, even wounded—it was still out there. And if Eli was gone without a trace—no aura, no sound, not even the faint shimmer of mana—then there weren’t many possibilities left.

Mio swallowed hard, his voice unsteady. "The serpent’s last signal was from the northern ridge. It hasn’t surfaced again."

"Or it’s waiting," Arman muttered darkly, scanning the deeper forest beyond the smoke. "Hiding. Watching."

Caelen’s gaze followed his line of sight, toward the same direction—where the forest grew darker, denser, untouched by light. The ground there was still rippling faintly with residual mana.

’Eli’s energy was always faint... if the serpent pulled him under, we might never—’

He forced the thought away before it could finish.

"...We find him," he said finally, his voice steady but low, hard. "I don’t care how. We split up and find him."

Kairo’s straightened, eyes flicking toward him in disbelief. "You want to split? After that thing just fried half the cave?"

"Do you have a better idea?"