Chapter 367: Tracing Her Tracks

Swoosh—!

As the night grew darker, the snow worsened.

It was well past midnight by now, and a mild but relentless blizzard had dominated the sky—a howling maelstrom of pure white that devoured the horizon and lashed at them with frozen teeth, spreading the coldness of Boreas, the God of Winter.

Kai, Matilda, and Bree were traversing through the blinding storm.

Even though Abigail was a new addition to their group, she was still a part of the group.

And an attack on one of them meant an attack on all of them.

Naturally, there were no other options but to chase after Abigail despite the weather.

Bree was at the front, riding the special Griffin. Her body hunched forward as she encouraged the beast to push a little bit further. Unlike the Pegasi and Feeny, the special Griffin was much heavier—it was filled with muscles.

As a result, traversing the mild blizzard was harder for it than any other mount.

It needed constant reassurance from Bree.

Kai looked over at her and realized she was shaking violently.

Even though Bree’s translucent membrane shielded them from the direct blast of the wind, regulating the immediate temperature, the permeating cold of the blizzard was still bleeding through relentlessly.

Dorian’s Halo would’ve been perfect to warm them, but he wasn’t here.

Kai’s mantle could’ve done the trick, but he had given it to Talitha.

After what happened, he couldn’t trust those moronic Guard Angels at all, especially to bring Talitha home safely through the cold, so there had been no other choice. Kai wouldn’t want to risk saving Abigail and getting back to a sick Talitha or even worse.

Kai reached forward, wrapping his hand around her arm and pulling her back.

"I’m fine," she protested.

Her voice was chattering as she pulled away, staying stubborn when she was at her limit.

"You’re shivering, Bree. Look—" Kai pulled at her sleeve, revealing ghastly pale skin. "Even your skin is already this pale. Come here, let’s get you warmer." He glanced over his shoulder at Matilda. "Take over. She’s close to hypothermic."

Matilda stared at Bree, and her eyes narrowed.

She saw through Bree’s fa?ade in an instant.

Bree wasn’t freezing; she was leaning into the damsel-in-distress act to get Kai to hold her.

"How about you take over?" Matilda said flatly; her tone brooking no argument. "I will take good care of her. I think it’s better for you to be the one in control—since you can see far better than me in the dark."

Bree snapped her head to look at Matilda over her shoulder.

A snarl crept to her face, one corner of her lips raising in pure disdain.

Had it been for the mask, the annoyance on her face would be exposed for all to see.

She couldn’t believe that Matilda would even suggest this.

But Matilda didn’t care; she ignored Bree’s sharp glare.

"I guess you have a point." Kai nodded and rose to one knee, moving aside a little so that Bree could scoot backward. She huffed—and reluctantly scooted back. Only then did Kai sit down again. "Hold on for a bit longer. I think we’re close."

Behind, Matilda wrapped her arms tightly around Bree.

Bree rolled her eyes but didn’t refuse the embrace—she was really freezing.

Just not as much as she made it out to be.

"You’re starting to get on my nerves, Matilda," Bree whispered through gritted teeth. "Have I been too accommodating for you? I think I need to remind you of your place again. I’m already close, so don’t get in my way."

"Close?" Matilda sneered. "Whatever makes you happy, I guess."

"Hah! He already kissed me. What have you even achieved in these last few months?"

"Don’t ask questions whose answers you can’t bear to hear."

"Hm? What’s that supposed to fucking mean?"

"Stop moving, or else I’ll let you freeze to death."

Kai, completely oblivious to the silent, petty warfare between the two girls, took charge of the special Griffin. He patted the beast’s sturdy neck that felt more like a log. "Just a bit more, big guy. Once we’re there, we’ll rest before going back again."

Instead of feeling assured, the special Griffin wobbled left and right in protest.

Almost like it was annoyed that Kai was the one riding it.

"Fuck is wrong with you?" He cursed and shook his head.

Fifteen minutes later, the Griffin battled against the headwind.

Kai half-glanced back at Matilda, who was still cuddling Bree’s smaller body. "How far?"

"Erm..." Matilda lifted her wrist, checking the digital watch—Kai had demanded it from those moronic Guard Angels earlier. She stared at the brown dot ahead and then fixed back on Kai. "A few miles. We’re close."

Kai nodded and turned forward again.

But then, something caught his eye.

A glint of light through the swirling white curtain—something was reflecting the moonlight.

He narrowed his eyes and pointed at it. "Go there."

Reluctantly, the Griffin obeyed, banking smoothly and descending from their high altitude.

"Kai, it’s freezing!" Bree complained, her teeth chattering audibly as she wanted nothing more than to reach the hive. It should be warmer there, or else all the people in it would be dead. "Why are we stopping? We should hurry!"

"Just a minute," Kai muttered. "It won’t take long."

Once the Griffin descended, he dropped down.

His boots crunched into the deep snow, and then he threaded forward against the cold wind.

Soon, through the howling wind, he saw it—a smooth, highly reflective surface on the cloud ground, catching the hidden moonlight from above. Kai stood over it and then went down to one knee to take a closer look.

"A frozen pond?" Kai muttered silently.

Across his months being in the First Sky, he has never seen a random puddle.

Other than in the cultivated clouds, the cloudy expanse was basically the same everywhere.

So, this piqued his interest.

"Mana..."

Kai’s senses picked up mana within the puddle.

Crack—!

A punch shattered the thin ice coating the puddle. He noted that the water wasn’t fully frozen, which meant the mana it contained must’ve left the pond not long ago. Puddles on the cloud ground were abnormal, so someone most certainly made it.

And since mana was a gift from the Gods, provided through nature, it liked to linger around.

It would wane with time, but took longer than most people realized.

Most Supernals who wanted to be discreet would erase their tracks manually—rather than let nature take its course. And then, as the mana seeped out, a sparkle flickered on the surface of his eyes.

"Spissos must’ve been controlling her. Perhaps bewitchment?" Kai thought aloud.

From the get-go, he already expected this to be Spissos’ doings.

And now, seeing this mana-infused pond made him even more certain that it was Spissos.

But Spissos was a Supernal of Poseidon; he should not have any ability that would allow him to bewitch anyone. That kind of ability mostly belonged to Hypnos, the God of Sleep. So, this was strange.

"Is there a helper? A third party?"

Kai contemplated, and another pair of hands helping Spissos was very likely in his opinion.

Just then, light footsteps approached from behind.

"What do you have in mind?" Bree asked, still shivering from the cold badly.

"What are you doing here?" Kai looked up at her, startled. "Go back."

"You are taking a long time. Thought I’d help whatever you’re thinking so that we can get out of here."

"Fine. I’m thinking how Spissos could lure Abigail out here."

Kai pointed at the pond with his index finger and continued.

It still seethed with faint mana.

"I’m pretty certain that this pond has something to do with Spissos—and I’m also certain that he used this to somehow lure Abigail here. But a Supernal of Poseidon wouldn’t be able to do that. So, I thought he had had help."

Bree understood his concern.

Right now, they were chasing after Abigail like this without knowing anything about the big picture. None of them knew why Abigail was targeted. None of them knew what Spissos’ real purpose was. And none of them knew whether it was really Spissos or someone else.

As far as they were concerned, this could be a trap to lure them—not Abigail.

Kai has learned to be really meticulous the hard way.

Had it not been for his hard work and bloodline, he would’ve fallen to Chester’s antics.

Never again.

"No, he’s alone," Bree said without thinking much. "I’m pretty sure."

"Hm?" Kai raised a brow. "Why do you think that?"

"He’s a Supernal of Poseidon. Abigail, on the other hand, is a Supernal of Amphitrite. She’s Poseidon’s wife."

"Right..."

Kai paused and then nodded, realizing that Spissos was most likely alone.

Even though he wasn’t quite sure how that would work, it still somewhat made sense.

Perhaps Spissos would have mild control over Abigail because of their bloodlines.

Kai and Bree eventually returned to the Griffin after inspecting the frozen pond.

On the Griffin, Matilda saw them coming back and asked, "What did you find?"

Kai swung himself back onto the Griffin’s back after helping Bree get up, and then seized the reins again. "Spissos." He said firmly. "He’s most certainly the one behind this. And from the frozen pond, it looks like he’s alone."

He then tapped his heel against the Griffin’s flank, and it launched skyward again.

As they flew, Kai’s eyes meticulously scanned the frozen cloud floor below.

It didn’t take long for him to spot more frozen ponds, scattered like glassy eyes.

From what he observed, he assumed that while Spissos had control over Abigail simply due to her Patron Goddess, Amphitrite, being the wife of his Patron God, Poseidon, the control he had was mild.

Not absolute.

Spissos had to constantly reinforce his grip, using these frozen ponds as anchors.

So that Abigail didn’t break out of her trance and snap back to reality.

Eventually, the Griffin pierced through the massive, swirling vortex of clouds.

It emerged into the calmer airspace of the Hive.

Kai guided the Griffin down to the outskirts. A Guard Angel approached immediately, but Kai paid her no mind. Matilda and Bree dropped from the Griffin’s back—they were clearly more than relieved to be out of the biting wind.

Naturally, the Hive was noticeably warmer than the open sky.

Both of them then turned to look at Kai, expecting him to dismount right behind them.

Instead, they saw him already ascending again; the Griffin’s wings kicked up a flurry of snow.

"Kai?" Bree called out, her voice strained with confusion. "Where are you going?"

Kai didn’t turn around.

He simply adjusted his grip on the reins, while his gaze fixed on the labyrinthine streets of the Hive below.

"Just making sure." He called back; his voice barely carrying over the wind.

And then, with a powerful beat of the Griffin’s wings, he blasted away—leaving Matilda and Bree standing on the outskirts at a loss for words.