Chap 183: May the Odds Be in Your Favor

The next five days of telepathy practice were torture disguised as training. Every time Kie closed his eyes to focus, Tee’s face rose uninvited in his mind. Her laugh, the way she tilted her head when pretending not to care, the look she wore when she finally did. 

She was the only person he had ever told about Karen. The only one who had seen that ugly, unguarded part of him. And now they weren’t even together. His deepest shame lived inside the mind of someone who had already walked away.

The thought curdled inside him. He didn’t know what he was supposed to feel anymore. Was he meant to hate her for using him? Or forgive her for the moments when she made him feel real—seen, wanted, less hollow? Part of him still clung stubbornly to those memories like a drowning man to driftwood, even though they cut him every time he touched them.

With Varrak gone and no new monsters slipping through the Veil, the days blurred past as if the world itself had exhaled. Time skipped forward without asking permission. One moment Kie was half-listening to the show with his team, and the next a hologram screen snapped to life—red alarms flaring as the Commander’s face filled the room, swallowing everything in a wash of urgent, beeping light.

Orders.

Movement.

Everyone stood at once.

They dashed out to get dressed with the easy efficiency of routine—until Kie’s heart suddenly jolted, sharp as a misfired spark. The thought slammed into him. He might see Tee again. A cold shiver rippled through him, stealing the strength from his arms and legs. He stopped in the hallway without meaning to, breath catching like it had hit wire.

“Dude, you okay?” Zod asked, brow creased when he noticed his team leader frozen mid-step.

Kie forced himself upright, sealing every loose feeling behind a practiced mask. He started walking again before Zod could look any deeper.

“Yeah,” he said, too quickly.

The hologram of the Commander’s face flickered out, and the levitating tabs orbiting Tee collapsed into pinpoints of light before vanishing altogether.

Aven turned to Tee, his expression carved into seriousness. “Another chance to face the Harbingers has come. You must hurry. I’ll get you to Primus HQ.”

Engel offered a small, earnest smile as he watched them prepare to leave. “Good luck, Tee. May the odds be in your favor.”

The moment Tee stepped into the familiar halls of Primus HQ, leading toward the changing room, a shiver rolled through her. The place smelled the same—sterile air and faint metal—but it felt colder than she remembered. 

She reached out with her foresight, scanning for any trace of her teammates. None appeared. Relief loosened the tight knot in her chest. They were already gone ahead, changed and waiting. She could picture them clearly lined up, eyes sharp, judging. Waiting for her.

With a murmured chant, her ceremonial robe and undergarments dissolved, replaced by her mission attire displayed on the mannequin. She didn’t rush. There was no need. Sade would still be working to break the Sealed Bond. Besides, her hands felt clumsy, her breath unsteady. 

The nearer she drew to the mission base, the colder the air became, until it clawed at her skin and made her want to wrap her arms around herself. The white, glowing floors seemed almost painfully bright as she hurried across them. She kept her gaze low, deliberately avoiding every pair of eyes—most of all Kie’s. 

She took her place silently. They stood in a wide circle, backs turned to one another, an island of isolation for each of them. Tee stared straight ahead, heart thudding, wishing the mission were already over.

Across the circle, Saeda was quietly grateful Tee wasn’t beside her. The thought of being near that witch made her stomach twist. She too only wanted the mission finished, the tension broken, the weight of Tee’s presence gone.

Sure, Tee got the Balance Seal, and it seemed the Harbingers already knew about her dark side, so she didn’t need to wear a crest. But Zod hadn’t forgotten Tee’s deception. He couldn’t. How could someone like her have ever been chosen to become a Sentinel? Was the choosing truly random, or had they been right all along—and the real Tee had died, replaced by that imposter who wore her face and memories?

Miko, on the other hand, was somewhat relieved to have the full team together again. Everything had felt wrong without Tee, like a limb missing and never quite healing. Now she was back, marked with the Balance Seal. That should mean there was nothing to fear. No sudden loss of control, no flesh-craving monster emerging when you least expected it to.

“Good luck,” the Lieutenant said, standing beside the Commander. Both were dressed in long green jackets, their expressions unreadable, as if they were sending the teenagers off to a drill instead of the unknown.

The ground beneath the five teenagers began to glow red, the light intensifying until it burned against their eyes. In the next second, they vanished from sight.

Where they ended up was not what any of them expected.

Whirling wind tore the air from their lungs as they were hurled through open space, suspended high above anything solid, flung through violent currents and spun helplessly as though trapped inside the heart of a tornado. 

Their screams were ripped away the instant they left their mouths, swallowed by the relentless howling. Lightning flashed in jagged veins around them, briefly illuminating fragments of dark, empty chaos before plunging them back into shadow.

Zod reached out blindly and caught Miko’s hand, squeezing hard—don’t let go. He signaled for the others to do the same. Miko and Kie managed to grab hold of Tee, and together they formed a tight, desperate circle, clinging to one another to keep from being torn apart.

Then, just as suddenly as it had begun, the chaos ceased.

The wind fell away.

For one suspended, breathless moment, there was nothing, and then they began to fall toward the ground.

When their feet finally touched solid ground, the dying wind still whipped their hair about, as if reluctant to let them go. The sudden stillness after the chaos made Tee’s stomach twist.

She felt it the instant Miko and Kie released her hands. The warmth of their grips vanished, replaced by a biting cold that seemed to seep straight through her skin. As they took in their surroundings, the reality of where they were settled over them all at once.

An icy wasteland stretched in every direction. To one side loomed a massive glacier-like mountain, its frozen face rising sharp and unforgiving. Everywhere else, jagged mounds of snow and ice jutted from the ground like broken teeth, the landscape harsh and endless.

“A jacket would’ve been nice,” Zod muttered, his breath fogging thickly in the air.

The coordinates of the Alpha Seal fragments were always unpredictable, and the places where they manifested were just as uncertain. There was no way they could have known they’d end up somewhere that brutally cold, not without proper warning. Unless the elders—who were likely watching brief, distorted glimpses through the interference—had enough time to alert them. But even if they had, it was far too late. Thankfully, their skin hardening and rigorous training had prepared them for extreme conditions, even ones like that.

Saeda lowered her hand from her temple and pointed toward the largest glacier dominating the wasteland.

“There,” she said. “I’m picking up a strong energy signature coming from over there. That must be the fragment.” Her brows knit together in confusion. “Strange… I’m only sensing one strong energy source in the distance. Why don’t I feel the Harbingers?”

Without giving the others time to respond, she continued, “Maybe the Harbingers have a similar block to the one that was on Tee—something that prevents me from sensing their aura.”

Zod frowned. “What if the same person who put that block on Tee did the same to the Harbingers?”

Tee stiffened. She didn’t like them talking around her, as if she wasn’t standing right there. Still, the thought lodged itself deep in her mind. Who had put that strange Seal on her in the first place?

Before the conversation could spiral, Kie cut in. “Let’s focus. Remember the plan—outnumber and strike. No heroics.”

Not wasting another second, they set off toward the towering glacier-mountain, boots crunching through the snow.

As they moved, Tee couldn’t help but notice how familiar the land felt. It resembled the Northern Lands—harsh, frozen, but not alien like some of their Harbinger missions. Maybe the Sealed Bond here was close to breaking, and the world had already begun to revert to what it once was.

The massive glacier showed no obvious entrance at first. Just an unbroken wall of ice and frost. That was what they thought, until Tee closed her eyes and let her foresight spread outward and around, scanning the frozen surface. A faint distortion answered her.

“There,” she said, pointing.

They moved to the spot she’d indicated and found a jagged opening hidden along the glacier’s face. It looked as though something—or someone—had violently blasted through the ice, carving a long, narrow tunnel that disappeared into darkness. The same thought settled over all of them at once.

The Harbingers.

Without a word, they summoned their swords. Kie’s Ultramana crystal blade flared the brightest, its edges wreathed in flickering flame. The others’ metal buster swords ignited with steady blue fire, casting cold light against the ice. Tee’s swords, by contrast, remained plain—no flames, no glow. The sight tightened her chest. She couldn’t afford to be seen as the weakest again.

They rushed into the tunnel, boots pounding against frozen ground, the air growing heavier with every step. Then something rippled over them—subtle, sharp—like their second sense screaming a warning.

Too late.

A white portal snapped open without warning and swallowed Zod whole. It began to seal itself shut, its edges slicing the air. Zino reacted instantly, darting forward to grab him—but another portal flared to life between them, cutting Zino off.

Tee didn’t hesitate. She poured sorcery into her muscles, moving faster than she thought possible, and reached Zod just as the space around them twisted. The portal slammed shut behind them.

They were gone.

Miko, who had been pulled toward yet another portal, barely managed to wrench herself free. She tumbled back into the tunnel, skidding across the ice before catching herself. When she looked up, the tunnel was silent again.

Zod and Tee were nowhere to be seen.

Kie, Miko, and Saeda stood back to back, scanning the area for any more random portals.

“You guys okay?” Kie’s voice came through their telecoms.

Zod and Tee pushed themselves off the ground, catching the low voice with their superhearing before it even fully registered.

“How is this possible?” Miko asked, glancing at her holomap. “It says they’re right next to us. But they’re… not here.”

“Sorcery,” Zod said with a shrug. “Nothing has to make sense.”

Tee felt the words were completely off but she kept silent. Instead, she focused, trying to find a way to get them back or recreate the portal. She poured her energy into the space where they had vanished, forming a portal with trembling precision.

Light flared, and she stepped through—but ended up exactly where she had started. The portal led nowhere. It was nothing more than a fancy doorway, a passage through itself that offered no escape.

She exhaled sharply, fatigue washing over her. They were still separated and she didn’t have the solution.

Before Tee could answer, the ice ahead cracked.

The sound split the frozen silence like a gunshot.

Her vision sharpened as she activated her special sight. Through the haze of snow and mist, she saw them—fast-moving shapes gliding over the ice.

A pack of ice-sabers.

Sleek, muscular creatures with thicker front legs built for sudden lunges, their bodies covered in thick, pale-white fur that bristled against the cold. Their breath steamed violently in the air, pluming like smoke from a fire as they prowled forward in a tight formation, eyes locked, teeth already bared.

“Ice-sabers,” Tee said quietly, her voice tight. “Run.”

Zod didn’t argue. He turned and followed her, boots slipping slightly as they bolted across the frozen ground. But the terrain betrayed them. The ice narrowed, the walls closing in, and suddenly—

A dead-end.

Tee skidded to a stop and summoned her swords, the familiar weight and hum of energy settling into her hands. Zod planted his feet beside her, lifting his palms, energy already gathering in his fingers, ready to blast.

The creatures came rushing at them, claws scraping against ice, their sharp teeth gnashing together in a sound that made Tee’s stomach twist.

In the short moment before impact, Zod muttered under his breath, “Great. We’re going to kill creatures that were just trying to defend themselves.”

Tee felt the words hit harder than any blade. She knew the statement was directed at her—calling her cruel, calling her evil. Her chest tightened. On instinct, she dismissed her swords mid-summon, the energy dissolving back into nothing, and instead held one palm out toward the charging beasts.

She closed her eyes.

She channeled her Ether energy into her mind, gathering it like a tide pulling inward, and then formed the command with everything she had.

Stop.

Her eyes snapped open, glowing white.