...

  The Vault remained exactly as it had been moments before. Every artifact was secure, every shelf undisturbed, except for the glass case in the center.

  That reinforced box of heavy glass lay shattered, its jagged shards scattered across the floor like frozen tears.

  Still, the vault was much better, because the lab outside was in ruins. But no one tried to clean up the mess. How could they?The investigation was still in its heat, and Raghav was at the center of it.

  He stood over the broken pedestal, staring intensely at the shards, occasionally reaching out to inspect a specific fragment with his bare hands.

  Randheer, standing behind Raghav, had warned him several times,

  "Raghav-ji, be careful. The glass is incredibly sharp; you'll cut yourself."

  But when was Raghav going to listen? He was in his own world.

  "Yes, yes, Officer Randheer... just... a little more..."

  Tushar and Trisha stood nearby, watching Raghav with the same puzzled expression as Randheer.

  The Vault was sealed from the inside to ensure no one disturbed the crime scene. Meanwhile, Ansh and Sameer had stayed behind with Pranali to gather a list of all the Guilds and their leaders currently present at Kaalminar, just as Raghav had requested.

  Raghav thrust his hand toward the empty space where the dagger had been, mimicking a punching motion several times. It didn't quite look right to him.

  "Sir Randheer! Could you pretend to throw a punch at this box...exactly where it's broken?"

  Randheer blinked, taken aback by the odd request. But he nodded. He had begun to trust that if Raghav was saying this, he must be thinking something. Randheer knew that much.

  "Alright, Raghav-ji."

  Raghav stepped to the right to give him space. The AHSF soldier squared his shoulders, took a combat stance, and drove his tightened right fist toward the area where the glass had shattered.

  "Freeze! Stay right there!"

  Raghav's shout was so sudden that Randheer jerked, wondering if he'd done something wrong. Thankfully, that wasn't the case.

  Raghav leaned in, measuring the distance between the soldier's knuckles and the glass fragments, moving his hand in and out to visualize the impact. A realization solidified in his mind.

  『Hmm. Whoever did this... their knuckles must be badly bruised or cut.』

  "Dr. Trisha!"

  Raghav turned to the researcher.

  "Could you walk me through the entire sequence of events one more time? From the very beginning?"

  Trisha said nothing for a few moments, as if processing what to say and what not to say. Finally, she started all over again.

  "We entered the Vault to ensure everything was secure. Suddenly, the circuits outside began to crackle. We moved toward the entrance to check the sensors, and in that split second, the glass case exploded. The alarm blared, and the 'Kālay Dagger' was gone. Neither I nor Tushar saw a single soul."

  Raghav replayed the scenario in his mind. It didn't make sense, but in a world of magic and monsters, nothing ever fits. Nothing that had happened to Raghav so far seemed to fit.

  He noted everything down in the diary Sameer had given him.

  『Whoever did this... did they have wings to fly away with the dagger?』

  Wings...

  Wings...

  Golden blue wings...

  And his eyes widened for a moment, just like wings. The memory he had almost suppressed came rushing back. This was the moment to reclaim what belonged to him.

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  "Um... Mr. Tushar? About...my butterfly. Can you give it back to me?"

  Tushar listened, raised his eyebrows, and scratched his head awkwardly. He didn't know how to tell Raghav the truth. He wasn't even sure if the creature was still alive. Still, adjusting his glasses, he replied to Raghav,

  "Actually... the thing is... I sent that butterfly away through a portal. And my portals... they usually open in places where coming back is... impossible."

  "..."

  Raghav didn't say a word. He didn't need to.

  Deep within his chest, he could still feel a tiny heartbeat that wasn't his, but seemed to come from him. He had the feeling that his little companion was still alive, breathing, and maybe...

  It was very, very angry...

  "Just try once,I've heard that those with the least hope are often the ones who survive."

  Tushar couldn't fathom the depth behind what Raghav said but he could certainly understand the depth of his portal very well, and he thought it better to do so right now.

  "...Fine. But let's go out into the lab. I can't take the risk of opening a portal inside the Vault."

  Raghav agreed, and the four of them stepped out, and Trisha sealed the Vault behind them.

  The lab was a graveyard of broken machines and smashed furniture, the aftermath of the Millipede's rampage.

  The lab outside looked as ruined as the monster had vandalized it.

  Tushar closed his eyes, centering his energy. A brilliant green glow began to radiate from his hands, expanding until it formed a massive, swirling portal in the middle of the room.

  Silence followed.

  The portal showed nothing but a swirling void and...

  A cold guest of wind...

  ?°?°?°?°?

  The relentless thunder of gunfire echoed through the frozen wasteland, punctuated by the gutteral roars of monsters.

  Eight soldiers were currently struggling to rip a massive tusk from the carcass of a five-armed beast. The creature was gargantuan, easily sixty to seventy feet tall.

  "I'm telling you, the Major is going to walk away with the highest kill count again!"

  "Why? Did you ever doubt it?"

  The soldiers shared a grim laugh as the tusk finally groaned and broke free. In the distance, a lone soldier was firing with such surgical precision that no monster could even get close, despite them being High-tier threats.

  The team quickly broke the tusk into smaller, manageable fragments.

  "Major! We're done over here!"

  One of them shouted. But in the middle of the howling blizzard, his voice didn't carry as far as he hoped. However, the distant soldier heard him perfectly.

  Their once white uniforms were now covered in red splotches, a sign of how long and how much they had been fighting here in this cold, where no one was there to care for them.

  Major Shaurya ran back to his team. The speed was less than expected and there were two reasons – fatigue and knee-deep snow.

  "Major Shaurya, our equipment is almost depleted. And what do we do with this tusk?"

  One asked, but the others were looking at him, as if they had the same question. The Major, on the other hand, just tilted his head and looked at everyone.

  "Strap it to your backs."

  The soldiers stared at him in confusion. They couldn't understand what was going on in his head. But an order was an order and all the soldiers also considered the order as an order.

  "Uff! This is heavier than I thought."

  "Forget the weight, Major! It's been over six hours and there's no sign of Kaalminar. And this cold... it's increasing unnaturally."

  Shaurya strapped the largest section of the tusk to his own back. Before he could explain, another wave of monsters emerged from the whiteout.

  A soldier nearby used his ice powers to freeze the front line, but everyone knew it was a temporary fix.

  "If you're cold, then run with me!"

  The Major shouted, signaling his team to keep running straight ahead by pointing his open palm forward.

  The soldiers understood. They began carving a path forward while Shaurya held the rear, taking down the larger beasts that pursued them.

  "The number of monsters... it feels like it just doubled!"

  "Yeah, I feel it too!"

  The Major, on the other hand, laughed at their confused conversation, even though he had a gun in his hand and was about to run out of bullets.

  "The tusk is attracting them."

  "What?!!!"

  "Then why did you order us to carry it, Major?"

  The soldiers looked at him as if they had been scammed and perhaps it had really happened.

  "Major, seriously! If you don't have a valid reason for this, we're going to attack you before the monsters do!"

  Shaurya replied with the same carefree grin he always wore.

  "It's much more fun to run when someone is chasing you!"

  And so, they ran.

  The reason wasn't valid, but the major was still alive.

  ?°?°?°?°?

  Inside the lab, the portal remained empty and silent. Raghav's heartbeat accelerated. He felt a strange pull toward the void, a sensation he couldn't identify.

  Tushar stood directly in front of the portal, peering into the darkness.

  "I think the butterfly—"

  Before he could finish, Raghav lunged forward and tackled Tushar, dragging him back.

  At that exact moment, a surge of blue and gold light erupted from the portal with such terrifying velocity and energy that if Tushar had been an inch closer, he would have been obliterated.

  The light spilled out into the lab, blinding everyone. Raghav looked up, and everyone else too.

  Blue-gold wings were fluttering in the air, radiating an aura of absolute fury.

  The same fury Raghav had felt...

  To be continued...