Is it Vic, or... Ade?
Ivana didn't understand at first what this meant, staring blankly for a while before her eyes widened in realization.
"This, how is this possible?!" Ivana's voice began to tremble, "Why would you think that way? You're human! You..."
Ivana recalled Vic's previous words and rushed forward, going back into the inner room to re-examine the skeletons.
But Ivana knew it was pointless because they had already searched many times before and couldn't find anything new.
"There are only the hunter's corpses here."
This was something Vic had said earlier, and Ivana previously hadn't felt anything was wrong, but now she understood what Vic really meant—only the hunters' skeletons, there were no hounds' remains.
Yes, the ones who died here were all hunters.
But how could this be?
Ever since the God of Senluo fell, all the hunters who entered the Sacrificial Arena with the inherited power came along with their hounds. Yet, the hunters mostly died here, and there were no signs of their hounds.
So does Vic think of himself as the hound?
"No, impossible!" Ivana looked at Vic again, "This is too absurd!"
And at this moment, Vic had once again sat by the door, clutching his head desperately.
Ivana saw that his fingers were rapidly lengthening, with sharp nails and fur growing quickly.
He was transforming into a wolf!!
"No!" Ivana quickly moved forward, grabbing Vic's hand, and said loudly, "Don't think about these things! This must be a trick of that Saint! Don't be deceived!"
Vic raised his head to look at Ivana: "Saint?"
"Yes! I know the information now is a huge shock to you!" Ivana said through gritted teeth, "But this isn't enough proof, is it? There are too many mysteries, why would you immediately assume you're Ade? Surely that Saint is up to no good again! It's disrupting your perception!"
Vic's eyes were full of confusion: "It's disrupting my perception?"
"Yes!" Ivana said emphatically, "It must be! It's always been trying to do that, hasn't it?"
In truth, Ivana wasn't sure if it was the Saint's interference, but she had to say this because she feared Vic might lose control.
Ivana could feel that the closer they got to the Sacrificial Arena, the more unstable Vic's mental state became, and she had to intervene.
"Don't go mad over uncertain things!" Ivana said quietly, "The truth is seen with the eyes, not guessed with the mind, right? That Saint has always wanted you to use your mind to confirm your identity, but that's wrong!"
Under Ivana's persuasion, Vic's transformation into a wolf finally halted, reverting back to his normal human form.
Although Ivana could still feel his hands trembling, it was enough to make her breathe a small sigh of relief.
After all, Vic's transformation was frighteningly fast; except for when he transformed to save her the previous night, he was usually very stable.
But just now, the wild guess directly triggered his transformation, making Ivana realize how huge an impact it had on Vic's psyche.
So she had to comfort Vic once again: "Don't worry, take it slow, we still have time to go slowly."
Vic's trembling finally stopped.
"Alright." Only then did Ivana release Vic's hands, "Now let's calmly figure out, why do you think you're Ade? Just because all the dead here are hunters?"
Ivana spoke cautiously, knowing it was a sensitive topic.
But sensitivity didn't mean it couldn't be touched. On the contrary, both she and Vic were eager to know the truth.
Vic replied with a "hmm" and then explained his reasoning: "Ade and I came here, but only I returned, so I've always thought Ade was left behind. But I've never seen Ade's body, nor the bodies of the hounds, so I thought the one who returned perhaps wasn't really..."
Vic didn't know how to continue because he wasn't sure if he should say "Vic" or "Ade," he was very confused.
Listening to Vic's reasoning, Ivana couldn't help but frown.
To be honest, she thought the reason was a bit too far-fetched.
"I think that's not right." Ivana stated her thoughts, "You should know how big the Sacrificial Arena is; the area we've walked through is less than a tenth of it. So it's possible not only hunters died, but perhaps the hounds' bodies were placed elsewhere, isn't it?"
"Placed elsewhere?" Vic asked, "But why would they do that?"
"Who knows?" Ivana said lightly, "Who can really understand the doings of a cult?"
Usually, Ivana's quips could quickly divert Vic's attention, but this time they didn't succeed, as Vic still sat gloomily, not much lively in his eyes.
"Alright, let's get to the bottom of this." Ivana turned back, looking once more at the bones behind, speaking quietly, "Not considering that the hounds' bodies were deliberately put elsewhere, if they truly survived, then where did they go? And why only they survived?"
Vic racked his brain, but couldn't come up with any answers.