Chap 173: Caress
Kie reacted instantly, summoning an Ultramana construct. A shimmering rectangle of energy enclosed her form. To the crowd, he said smoothly, “She’s just a hologram. Just testing something.” His hands slipped casually into his pockets, posture calm.
He walked away, but kept her in sight. Minutes ticked by. Then Tee vanished.
He dismissed the construct with a clenched fist. Rage flared—how dare she run? But as quickly as it came, it ebbed. Maybe it had been too much for her. Maybe escape was all she knew.
His thoughts turned inward. Xeno-victims felt too. They’re human. The reminder tasted bitter. Memories surged—blood on his hands, betrayals, abandonment. His brother leaving. His own desperate flight from the orphanage. Pain like a shadow he could never outrun.
He teleported back to base, demanding of the Lieutenant, “Where did Tee go?”
“She left,” The Lieutenant answered carefully. “New coordinates.”
“What?” His fists clenched. Was she finishing her death list without him?
Tee had already returned before him. And without a pause, she had asked The Lieutenant to teleport her again—to a coastline she’d glimpsed earlier in the library’s database.
The sunset there swallowed her. Waves glittered orange and gold beneath the dying light, stretching endlessly. She dropped to her knees in the sand, fingers clawing into the grains as though to anchor herself. Shoulders shook, her breath breaking. She tried to hold it in, but the sobs escaped anyway.
She cried harder.
She wanted Tetra. Tetra’s arms, Tetra’s warmth—always enough to make her feel safe. But Tetra wasn’t here. The emptiness widened.
Memories of Jack stung sharper. His rejections, his cold refusals—even over simple things like going to the mall. Rejection cut deepest when it came from someone lodged in your heart. Would Kie be the same? Was he already?
The thought hollowed her.
Back at base, Kie waited. He positioned himself under the grand archway, certain she would return through it. Why did she leave without warning? He knew the answer but fought it. He remembered himself running—running from the orphanage, running from his mother’s tears, from his brother’s absence. Tee’s escape felt too familiar.
When she appeared, she wasn’t Tee anymore. She was a ghost. Her white hair hung in a veil across her face, the crest crushed in her fist. She moved like she didn’t see anyone. The Lieutenant froze, shock on her face.
Kie’s voice cut sharp. “Hey, you!”
She didn’t stop. She walked right past him.
Then he saw it—the mangled crest in her hand, as if she meant to cast it aside.
Not a chance.
His hand shot out, seizing hers in a grip like iron.
Her head jerked up, eyes wide, strands of hair clinging to her damp cheeks. Red-rimmed eyes met his glowing ones.
He opened his mouth to scold her, but the words died. Her face… eyeliner smeared, lashes wet, eyes raw with grief. She’d been crying. He had never seen her cry—never thought she was capable of it.
He hated depressed people. But he couldn’t turn away. He forced his gaze aside, fighting the unfamiliar pull in his chest.
Tee thought his silence was rejection. She yanked her hand, voice rough. “It was irritating my skin. I’ll put it back on—since that’s all you care about.” Her voice cracked low, deeper, gravelly.
She tugged again, fury simmering. But he didn’t let go.
Instead, his lips curled into a mocking grin. “You poor thing. I hope a hug’s on your list.”
Before she could protest, he pulled her against him.
Shock froze her. His arms wrapped firm, steady. His chest pressed warm against her trembling form, his head resting lightly against hers.
Her body screamed she should push him away. But she didn’t. She couldn’t. The warmth, the heartbeat. So human, so steady. It unraveled her.
Her tears returned, unstoppable. She buried her head into his neck, shoulders shaking.
Kie’s grin faded as he felt her clutch tighter. Her muffled sobs reverberated against him, real and raw. He had expected her to fight him off, not collapse into him.
“Hey… calm down,” he muttered, his voice cracking with an edge of panic.
But his hands didn’t move. He couldn’t push her away. The thought of peeling her off hurt worse than holding her.
Her cries filled the archway, echoing off the stone. In them, he heard his mother’s weeping, years past but never gone. He clenched his teeth. No, he couldn’t let that mean more than it was. She was his subordinate. A Xeno-victim. Nothing more.
The Lieutenant stood frozen at the archway, relief washing her face when she saw them. She turned away quickly, leaving them to it.
Under the arch, they stayed locked together, the world outside forgotten.
When Tee finally pulled back, her eyes avoided his. “That was on my list,” she whispered, her voice thin.
Kie didn’t answer.
They walked back together in silence, their steps heavy. At the dorms, she vanished into the female’s wing without a glance back. He turned toward his own quarters, equally silent, carrying the weight of her tears like a stone in his chest.
Tee buried her face into the sheets, the fabric muffling the sound of her uneven breathing. Shame clung to her like a second skin. Kie had seen her cry. He must have thought she was weak, pathetic. A loser.
She squeezed her eyes shut, replaying the moment under the archway. His arms around her. His voice cracking as he told her to calm down. That warmth. That steadiness. It didn’t make sense. He knew she was a Xeno-victim.
So what was that hug?
A tease? A cruel game to make her feel small? Or… was it real? Genuine? The thought twisted inside her, dangerous, because she wanted it to be real.
Her fingers curled into the blanket. She wasn’t supposed to feel that. Not for him. But something stirred inside her chest, a pulse she had buried long ago, and it scared her.
She wondered—if she cried again, if she broke again—would he hug her like that? Every time? Could she keep borrowing pieces of his warmth just to hold herself together?
The temptation almost brought a smirk to her lips. Almost. But her sadness weighed too heavily, dragging the expression back down. Her heart ached too much to twist that into something playful.
So she lay there, silent and small, torn between wanting to never face him again… and secretly hoping he wouldn’t let her go.
It was yet another day, and still Tee had not received the Balance Seal. Kie felt like a puppet being played, but he kept his composure. At least she was wearing her crest—that was a small win. Those thoughts, however, quickly slipped from his mind.
The forces of the planet were at play again. Another odd phenomenon was for cause of concern…An open rift in a Vergant village. It wasn't uncommon for Leaks to escape into this world through rifts in the Veil. But the rifts never stayed open. And worse, that rift had Leaks coming through.
The Commander's short brief replayed in their heads. That village did not specialize in defence, but really research and botany. Plus never had they experienced a static rift before.There was no contingency plan for it. The Vergant defenders fought off some of the Leaks that had come out earlier, which had caused the damage they were witnessing. They were currently evacuating civilians.
Tee thought the planet needed some coffee. First, there was correspondence about the Sentinels, then fragments getting sensed, then a giant creepy eye at the side of a mountain, then that. A static rift plus Leaks. What would be next?
Of course, the Commander sent her and her comrades to rectify the matter. It was a form of training. They got plastic raincoats to wear over their normal mission attire. It was for the weather.
Saeda lifelessly, “If an image of me wearing this ever got leaked online, I will die.”
Her jest was short-lived.
The white floors of the mission base were replaced with muddy ground, and the far away glass walls swapped with tall buildings with domed shaped roofs, many smashed into, advanced water channel systems but parts looked broken and mashed into, many strange looking plants, many trampled on. The sound of constant rain drumming on domes, reflections everywhere. Shattered glass. The sight was like a stampede barged through the place.
They felt the patter of the rain on top of their heads. Their boots sinking into the ground. Red blood bleeding in the water. Tension in the air.
The cold made Tee reimagine the warmth from Kie's hug. She glimpsed Kie. He pretended like nothing happened. She too had to pretend.
But the way he held her. She exposed herself and was so vulnerable. She won't be the same again. She would not forget it.
But why did she allow it to happen? Why did she break down like that? It's like she didn't know herself anymore. And that scared her.
But she could ask the same of him. Did he really do all that so she would get the Seal?
She looked away and created a force field over her head of dark mana, to take a better look around. She looked up to see the water droplets hitting onto it, then rolling down its dome shaped, and then running off the edge.
Her teammates followed and created energy shields above their heads for the rain.
“Static right?” Saeda yelled above the patter of the rain. She put her arms out as if sensing something. She sighed and dropped her arms disappointedly. Then she gave Tee a glimpse of disapproval. Knowing if Tee was not there, her aura-sensing would have worked.
“Greetings!” came a voice from a distance.
Several Vergants came rushing forward—one draped in a long robe, the others clad in battle-worn armor. Their steps barely touched the ground, as if they walked not through the mud, but across the very surface of the water.
The Sentinels bowed and nodded to show respect.
The one with the robe spoke, getting straight to the meat of the matter.
“The Leaks that descended upon the village were but forerunners; countless more yet linger within the forest. They are not mindless beasts, but creatures of cunning. Our folk still labor at the evacuation. Yet some civilians remain trapped beneath the rubble, whilst others, stubborn of heart, refuse to depart and hide themselves away.”
One of the other Vergants stepped out and spoke. Sorrow on his face, and scrapes all over him. “Those among us who ventured nearer to the rift—the defenders—have perished. Our skill in defense has long diminished, for countless ages have passed without strife or turmoil in our village. We are, by nature, a people of peace.”
“Cunning? Intelligent Leaks.” Zod gulped.
“That can’t be good,” Kie added.
The team moved as one toward the forest, bodies tense, their focus honed on the glowing mana constructs hovering above their heads. Each construct shimmered faintly against the downpour, bending the rain into rivulets of silver light as it kept them dry. The sound of water pattering against the translucent shields was constant—like drumming on glass, heavy, relentless.
They leapt across the domed rooftops of the village, boots skidding dangerously on rain-slick stone. Every landing required perfect balance, every step an act of control. The coarse texture of the roofs gave them just enough grip to keep from slipping into the streets below.
Down there, the scene was chaotic. Vergant defenders corralled panicked civilians in tight clusters, ushering them toward the glowing teleportation stations. Crowds pressed shoulder to shoulder—children clinging to parents, robes drenched and plastered to skin, a swirling mess of colors, mostly oceanic blues.
Faces were pale with fear, eyes darting skyward or back toward the forest. The hum of Ether sorcery thrummed in the air as gates opened, flashing light whisking people away from the only home they had ever known.
The further the Sentinels advanced, the more the signs of devastation grew. Houses lay shattered, walls broken in, rooftops caved under the weight of unseen force. Pools of water swallowed the mud, masking the deep gouges in the ground, but not everything could be hidden. Here and there, crimson bled into the flood—blood, carried thin across the surface until it clung in red swirls at their boots.
At the forest’s edge, they stopped. Two defenders waited, their robes soaked, weapons drawn though their hands trembled. Their report was grim.
“Still do the Leaks come forth from the rift.”
“We need to know what we’re up against,” Kie demanded, voice sharp even under the hiss of rain.
One defender stepped forward, his eyes shadowed. “They are cunning—too cunning. They move with unnatural swiftness, evading strikes with ease. From their bellies they unleash fire, cutting down any who dare inscribe glyphs of sorcery. And worst… they hunger. For flesh. They crave it.”
A chill ran through the team.
“Stop heading into the forest,” Kie ordered firmly. “We’ll handle it. Get everyone out. No hesitation.”
The defenders hesitated, then admitted, “Still are there multitudes of civilians within the village, held fast in their peril.”
“I think they mean they’re still many trapped in the village,” Zod mumbled.
“Then we’ll help,” Kie promised. His voice softened, but his eyes burned with command.
Before more could be said, the earth trembled. A deep vibration shuddered through the mud and water. Trees swayed violently as something massive forced its way out. Then, with a crash like thunder, the Leaks burst forth.