Chapter 9: One of Them is Lying

Chapter 9: Chapter 9: One of Them is Lying The border was burning. Smoke curled into the sky like black wings, twisting in the wind. Villages lay in ruins. Soldiers scrambled across charred ground, carrying wounded and whispering prayers to gods that weren’t listening. Kai Veyron stood on the crest of a hill, staring at the destruction below. "...Okay," he muttered, "this is officially not funny anymore." Three days had passed since his humiliating (but technically undefeated) duel with Zephyr. Now, the king had sent Kai and his "companions" to reinforce the border after the sudden demon incursion. The problem? This wasn’t a random attack. This was coordinated. Kai had been in this world long enough to know when something was staged — and this battlefield had all the subtlety of a script. Too clean. Too convenient. Too... timed. Elira stood beside him, scanning the terrain with her sword drawn and her eyes burning. "The demons didn’t come to conquer. They came to send a message." "To who?" Kai asked. "Us," said Lira quietly from the shadows. Behind them, Yulia floated a mana-sensor orb into the air. "The magical residue is inconsistent. Some of these spells are... not demonic at all." Kai turned. "Wait. Are you saying humans attacked with the demons?" Yulia nodded once. "They were helped." Kai looked around at his team — his dysfunctional, beautiful, terrifying team. Elira. Yulia. Lira. And— Virela. The demoness walked up from the rear, hands behind her back, seemingly unfazed by the smell of death in the air. "Ironic, isn’t it?" she said. "Everyone expects the demons to break the rules. But here, it’s your kind bending them." Elira scowled. "Don’t pretend you’re innocent." "I never do," Virela said with a smile. Kai watched the two of them — how their shoulders stiffened, how their hands drifted toward weapons, how they never turned their backs to each other. He sighed. "Okay, everyone," he said. "Let’s not kill each other before the actual enemy shows up." No one responded. [System Alert: Party Tension – Critical] Passive Aggression: 92% Murderous Impulses: Steady Climb Suggestion: Emergency Group Therapy (Not Recommended) Hours Later — The Village Remains The group scouted the ruins of a border village that had been overrun just the day before. Kai crouched beside a broken toy sword in the dirt. He turned it over slowly. "There were kids here..." Lira knelt beside him. "They were evacuated. Mostly." Kai looked at her. "How do you know that?" She hesitated. "I asked around." [System Ping: Lira – Emotional Reading: Concealment Detected] He frowned. She wasn’t lying — not exactly. But she was hiding something. He turned to Yulia, who was tracing energy lines through the ground with her gloved fingers. "What do you see?" "Residual teleportation magic," she said. "But not demonic. Someone moved forces here deliberately, then withdrew." Kai stood up. "So this wasn’t just a raid. This was a performance." Yulia nodded. "Yes. And the audience... was us." Night fell. The group made camp at the edge of the broken forest. A magical perimeter was set — Yulia’s wards, Lira’s tripwires, Elira’s flame orbs. Virela built the fire. Kai tried to cook. Failed. Burned water. Again. They sat around the fire in uneasy silence. Kai finally broke it. "...One of you is working with Zephyr." No one moved. The fire crackled. He continued. "I don’t mean friendly alliance. I mean... sending him information. Watching me. Feeding him just enough to stay one step ahead." Elira stood immediately. "You think I’d betray you?!" "No," Kai said gently. "But I had to say it. To see who reacted first." Everyone turned to Elira. Her face flushed with rage. Yulia frowned. "That’s not fair, Kai." "It’s not about fair. It’s about figuring out what the hell is happening." He looked around at them, slowly. "We’ve had four attacks in the last two weeks. All perfectly timed. Zephyr always shows up right after. And you know what the common factor is?" He pointed at himself. "Me." Lira said nothing. Just stared into the flames. Virela smirked. Elira crossed her arms, eyes narrowed. "You think one of us wants you dead." Kai looked up. "No," he said softly. "I think one of you wants me alive. Just long enough to make sure I die at the right time." Silence. [System Message – Hidden Trait Unlocked:] Insight of the Doomed Grants Kai limited instinctual perception of betrayal from loved ones. Effect: Increases as affection rises. Side effect: Emotional collapse. Kai clutched his head. [Status Effect: Trust Fatigue – Active] Virela leaned forward. "You should get some rest, Hero. You’ll need your strength." He didn’t answer. Instead, he stood and walked off into the woods. Later That Night Lira followed him. Not because she was ordered to. Not because she was concerned. But because something about Kai walking alone made her chest twist in a way she didn’t like. She found him sitting on a tree stump, staring at the moon. "You’re really thinking about all this, aren’t you?" she said softly. Kai nodded. He didn’t look at her. "I know someone’s going to betray me," he said. "The system told me. The prophecy told me. The gods won’t shut up about it." She stepped closer. "So why not leave?" He smiled. "I’d rather be betrayed by someone I loved... than never be loved at all." Lira froze. Something inside her cracked. She turned. Left without a word. In the distance, a magical mirror pulsed. A voice whispered through it: "Report." And one of the girls answered. "He’s starting to suspect. But... he still trusts us." "Good," the voice replied. "Keep it that way. We only need a little longer."