Emisarry Of Time And Space-Chapter 188: Mabite and an attack.

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About ten minutes into their advance, Orion felt it.

The scouting unit had stopped.

It wasn’t abrupt. There was no emergency signal through the bracelets, no sudden fluctuation in Reina’s Beacon, no panic ripple through the link. It was simply a pause—clean, controlled, deliberate.

Almost immediately after, the side teams halted.

Then the rear unit.

The synchronization was precise. There wasn’t hesitation or confusion. They had encountered something worth stopping for, but not worth alarming the rest of the group over.

For anyone else, protocol would have been to wait. Either a message would come through the bracelet, or Reina’s Beacon would show instability around one of the units. Only then would intervention be justified.

But Orion wasn’t anyone else.

For him, that pause was enough.

With a single Aether Step, space folded and unfolded again, and he was standing beside the scouting team.

He immediately understood why they had stopped.

Corpses.

Bones.

Not a single body, not a neat pile, but a wide spread of remains littering the forest floor. Some were intact enough to recognize, others reduced to fragments. Broken limbs, cracked skulls, torn muscle. Blood had soaked into the soil, dark and sticky, but it hadn’t yet dried.

Fresh.

Selene crouched near one of the larger carcasses, her expression serious.

"They’re fresh," she said. "Recent."

Orion nodded slowly, eyes moving across the scene. He didn’t need to be told twice. The smell alone confirmed it. This hadn’t happened days ago. Hours, maybe less.

Of course it was possible. This was a forest, after all. An ecosystem. Predators hunted prey. Death was expected.

But they hadn’t gone far.

And this wasn’t a single kill.

He lifted his gaze, scanning the surroundings. The trees here were thick, their canopies tightly interwoven. At least eighty percent of sunlight was blocked even now, when it was still early in the day. The forest floor was dim, uneven, filled with shadow pockets where sight failed quickly.

At night, it would be worse.

Much worse.

They would have to regroup after sunset. That was non-negotiable. He couldn’t risk their lives spread out in terrain like this when visibility dropped further.

But that was later.

For now—

"What monster is it?" Orion asked, turning back to Selene.

She had more practical knowledge of monsters than he did. Theory was one thing. Identification in the field was another.

Selene examined the wounds again, moving carefully.

"It’s hard to say," she replied after a moment. "The bite marks aren’t clean. Too vague. And the victims are badly mutilated. But based on what’s here... I’d say Mabites."

Orion’s eyes narrowed slightly.

Mabites.

He knew them.

They were far stronger than the field fangs he’d hunted when he was younger. Large, aggressive forest dwellers. Their build was similar to oversized apes or gorillas, but reinforced with scales, claws, and powerful jaws. They were territorial and notoriously difficult to deal with in groups.

A pack of Mabites could easily wipe out smaller predators.

Which meant—

Something very strong had wiped out them.

That was the real concern.

Orion’s mind worked quickly, running through possibilities. Individually, any one of them could defeat a Mabite, even barehanded if necessary. In a coordinated group, it wouldn’t even be difficult.

But whatever had done this to multiple Mabites was going to be a problem.

A serious problem.

Either they had crossed into another predator’s territory—or something was moving through the forest that sat higher on the food chain.

Orion shrugged internally.

It would take something extreme to threaten him at this point. He was confident in that. And confident in his team’s ability to respond.

"Let’s keep moving," he said.

No hesitation.

The scouts nodded.

The moment they resumed movement, the rest of the group did the same. The pause dissolved, and the formation continued forward as though it had never stopped.

They moved deeper into the forest.

After the carcasses, encounters became more frequent. Not hostile—just present. Creatures moving through underbrush, eyes watching from shadowed branches, distant sounds of movement and life.

Most of them fled at the first sign of human presence.

Others froze, watched briefly, then retreated.

Humans were clearly unusual here. Unfamiliar. Most of the forest’s inhabitants preferred not to test them.

The deeper they went, the more life there was, even under the heavy canopy. Plants grew thick and wild. Roots twisted across the ground like coiled ropes. The forest wasn’t dead or barren—it was crowded. Thriving.

By two in the afternoon, Orion ordered a rest.

They weren’t exhausted, but that wasn’t the point. They were in unfamiliar territory, with unknown threats. Burning themselves out early would be stupid.

They regrouped briefly, keeping noise low. Thirty minutes later, they resumed movement.

By six in the evening, Orion called it for the day.

They gathered fully, collapsing the formation. Items were pulled from storage rings quickly and efficiently. No fire was lit—too conspicuous, especially in a forest that darkened this rapidly. Instead, they used compact heaters and low-visibility cookers. Enough warmth. Enough food.

Nothing flashy.

Cold in this forest would be unforgiving once night settled in.

They talked quietly among themselves as they ate. Animated, careful, but excited. No matter how disciplined they were, they were still fourteen-year-olds on a mission without direct supervision. The novelty hadn’t worn off yet.

Orion sat with them, participating enough not to isolate himself. But his mana sense remained active. Temporal Locus was running in the background. Protocol filtered everything continuously.

Nothing escaped his range.

And then—

It hit.

No warning.

No buildup.

Just immediate clarity.

Something was coming.

Fast.

Mana sense registered it first. Protocol followed instantly, tearing through incoming data.

Speed: approximately two thousand distals per hour.

Body structure: quadrupedal.

Movement pattern: catlike.

Mass: heavy.

Alignment: forward-leaning, predatory.

It was powerful. Fast. Built for ambush and pursuit. Whatever it was, it carried enough force to move at serious speeds.

Orion didn’t speak.

He didn’t need to.

The team was already moving. Training kicked in automatically. Positions adjusted. Mana surged quietly.

The creature burst into range—a blur of muscle and motion tearing through undergrowth, momentum carrying it forward in a straight, lethal line.

Orion glanced at it.

That was all.

His eyes glowed faintly in the darkness.

Space locked.

All momentum vanished without resistance or distortion. The creature froze mid-stride, suspended in a single coordinate, unable to move, unable to react.

Before it could even process what had happened—

Nova Spark detonated.

Daenys and Erevan struck simultaneously, spatial compression tearing the creature apart in an instant.

No struggle.

No scream.

No suspense.