"Soone behind her?"
Sadie glanced back over her shoulder.
"Isn't Giselle living here alone?"
"Not at all."
Gideon shook his head.
"This forest is steeped in malice. We've already crossed paths with monsters. An ordinary woman could never survive here by herself."
Sadie had harbored the sa suspicion at first. But after spending ti with the old woman, she had sensed nothing strange about her.
"Maybe the monsters are territorial," Sadie suggested. "In the West there are docunted cases—creatures keeping to their own domains and leaving certain areas untouched."
"Do you rember the question I asked Giselle at the start?" Gideon said quietly.
"I noticed her la leg, so I asked how she manages food."
"She claid that injured rabbits and squirrels are often found nearby…"
He had examined that half-skinned rabbit earlier with his Night Vision. There had been no trace of corruption on it.
"That's the inconsistency. The last creatures we fought—their blood was corrosive. The Hanks' family incident as well. Everything tied to this forest carries so taint. Yet Giselle's at was clean."
Sadie's eyes lit with sudden understanding. She hadn't noticed that detail.
"Later, I asked whether she feared wolves," Gideon continued, voice hardening. "Her answer was that she had never encountered any."
"But she also claid to have lived here for years. And still, no monsters near her cabin, no lingering malice in the air. If she has searched for her son, she must have ventured deeper into the woods… and there's no way she wouldn't have crossed paths with sothing foul."
"And yet—she's unhard."
Sadie swallowed hard.
"You're saying… Giselle is protected by sothing stronger than the rest?"
Gideon's gaze locked onto hers. "Exactly. A monster so powerful that others dare not trespass."
"You thought all this up… in the short ti we were drinking tea?"
She stared at him in astonishnt. For the first ti, she realized the aning behind all his small, cautious actions.
Compared to him, her own judgnt had been reckless. She had relied too heavily on her Dark Vision, drawing her conclusion simply because she had not seen danger.
She had always trusted that power, and it had never failed her. Until now.
A chilling thought took root: What if one day Dark Vision fails ? Would I even sense death as it closed in?
Sadie quietly vowed to herself: when this was over, she would begin training to rely less on her gift.
At the sa ti, her respect for Gideon deepened. She had thought him strong, but hadn't realized his mind was this sharp, this ticulous.
She would learn from him. Seriously.
"Of course, I never stopped doubting her humanity," Gideon added, pulling out an empty vial.
"But when she drank my holy water without flinching, I had to accept it—she is human."
That was why he left in peace. Though in his heart, he already had suspicions about the "being" standing behind her.
---
They hadn't gone far when a faint cry reached their ears.
"Help… help …"
Gideon stopped instantly. Sadie raised her firearm.
The voice led them to a massive tree.
At its base crouched a "multi-legged human," its body twisted and writhing.
High above, in the crook of the branches, a small boy clung desperately to the bark, wide-eyed and pale.
When he saw them, he shouted, his voice trembling:
"Please… help ! I'm so scared!"
The creature at the base turned then, its slick limbs twisting as it abandoned the tree and began crawling rapidly toward Gideon and Sadie.
Sadie rembered the lesson from their last battle—this ti, she wouldn't waste her close-range weapons.
She reached into her belt pouch and pulled out several incendiary rounds.
These modified bullets ignited their target on impact, turning flesh into fire.
Load. Cock. Aim. Squeeze.
Her movents flowed like water.
The gunshots cracked through the forest air. The "multi-legged human" shrieked in agony as flas erupted across its body. Within monts, it collapsed into a smoldering husk.
Sadie lowered her gun, but a knot of unease twisted in her chest. Sothing wasn't right.
She shook her head, forcing the thought aside, and looked up at the boy.
"You okay?" she asked.
She started toward him—then froze when she noticed Gideon hadn't moved an inch. His stillness stopped her mid-step.
The boy, anwhile, had climbed down from the tree. Now that the threat was gone, he stumbled forward—but retreated again quickly, eyes full of fear.
"You… you're not bad people, are you?" he stamred.
"I—I live in Ambrose, just nearby. The townsfolk will co looking for soon."
The words carried the weight of a warning, as though daring them not to harm him.
At the ntion of a nearby town, Sadie's eyes lit up. Perhaps there would be news of Sister Sasha there.
She glanced at the priest for direction.
"We wandered into this forest by mistake," she explained gently.
Gideon finally spoke, circling slowly around the boy.
"Is that so? Then you're saying… we're not the bad ones here?"
The boy hesitated, then nodded quickly. "Right! In that case—I can lead you out of the woods." Relief softened his voice.
"Wonderful," Gideon murmured. By now, he had almost completed a full circle around the child.
"What… what are you doing?" the boy asked nervously, eyes following him.
"We should leave soon," the boy urged, voice cracking, "or more monsters will co when it's dark."
Sadie frowned, confusion plain on her face.
But Gideon stepped forward, looming over the child. His eyes were cold, rciless.
The boy flinched under his gaze. "Wh-what are you going to do…?"
Gideon's lips curved in a thin smile. "Why don't you guess?"
Then, in a move that stunned Sadie, the priest drove his boot into the boy's chest, slamming him against the tree trunk.
"Ghh—cough!"
Blood sprayed from the child's mouth as he gasped for air.
"What… what are you doing…"
"Hey!" Sadie shouted, fury and disbelief in her voice. "He's just a kid!"
But Gideon ignored her. He pressed harder. The boy's chest caved inward under the weight, bones creaking.
Blood dribbled from his lips as his wide eyes turned pleadingly toward Sadie.
The sight twisted her gut. This was too cruel, too inhuman—she had to intervene.
"Stop! Now!" she cried, stepping forward.
But Gideon's next words froze her mid-stride.
"You've made too many mistakes."
He stared down at the boy.
"First—no ordinary child would dare enter a forest crawling with monsters."
"I… I only wanted… a birthday gift… for my mother…" the boy wheezed, choking on blood.
"Convincing," Gideon sneered, "but your act doesn't hold."
"Second—after being rescued, a boy your age wouldn't stay so calm. Yet you imdiately thought to warn us that your family would be searching. Clever, but calculated."
"Third—you feigned caution, yet trusted us the mont I tossed out a casual reassurance. That shift was far too sudden."
The priest's eyes narrowed.
"And then—there's the matter of the monster we fought earlier. They climb trees faster than n can blink. So tell , how exactly did you survive up there long enough for us to arrive?"
Sadie's stomach dropped. The inconsistency was glaring now that he had said it aloud.
Gideon slamd his fist into the tree above the boy's head. The trunk cracked with a splintering roar, leaving a deep imprint in the wood.
"Fourth—you're being crushed under my heel, and yet you still have the strength to argue for your life. That's not a boy's body I'm pinning down."
Sadie's jaw went slack. She hadn't realized just how much strength the priest commanded.
The boy's expression darkened, all pretense slipping away.
"And fifth—" Gideon's voice cut like ice. "No matter how well you mask it, the stench of a wraith clings to you. My sight stripped away the disguise the mont we t."
In truth, there was another detail. Gideon knew Ambrose all too well—famous for its wax museum of human effigies. That town was no place for innocence. No boy from there could be trusted.
The child's face smoothed into eerie calm. When he spoke again, his voice was no longer that of a boy, but of a grown man.
"Well, well… a sharp one. I suppose you prefer to do this the painful way, then—"
"Enough." Gideon's words cut him off, hard and commanding. His gaze sharpened like a blade. "It's my turn to ask questions now, Mr. Simo."
The na landed like a hamr. For the first ti, true surprise flickered in the imposter's eyes.
"You have two choices," Gideon continued, raising two fingers.
"Answer honestly…"
"Or I'll purify you here and now—then return to Giselle, and send you and your dear mother to hell together."
The mask finally cracked. Rage twisted Simo's face as he spat between clenched teeth:
"You… wouldn't dare!"
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