CHAPTER 15: CHAPTER 14: BLOODY ENDING (6)

The black substance began crawling over the body of the Great Autumn Spirit at a faster rate.

It spread across her limbs and wings until her form grew larger and more feral.

Her horns became longer and thicker, and her wings grew much larger and far more terrifying.

The masked man raised his charred hand, and in the other hand he lifted his golden pistol.

The moment his hands met the aura of the Autumn Spirit, a golden light burst from his hand and struck directly against the black aura pouring from her body.

Light and darkness clashed with each other.

Even the monsters stopped moving for a moment, then retreated backward in obvious fear.

But instead of fleeing, they changed direction. Groups of them moved quickly toward where Oliver and the others were.

As soon as he saw them approaching, Oliver shouted,

"Run."

Everyone started running immediately. Oliver, Tell, the sage, and Elinor headed to the left

while the rest scattered in different directions, each one looking for a slim chance to survive.

One of the monsters jumped over a corpse and chased Oliver.

Oliver didn’t think. He just ran and climbed the wall of one of the cracked buildings.

The sage was almost dragged down by his leg, but Elinor and Oliver grabbed him at the last second and pulled him up.

The sage sat on the rooftop, gasping for air, then turned to Tell.

"Didn’t you say that as long as Oliver is with us, they won’t attack?"

"That’s what kept happening, but something has changed. I don’t know what it is, but they’re more savage now."

The sage threw his back against the rooftop.

The monster finally moved away from them when the flashes of explosions from the battle between the Autumn Spirit and the masked man reached this side.

The light of the battle was illuminating the entire village as if daylight had arrived.

Everyone was filthy and exhausted.

Oliver looked toward the distant fight.

"Do you think he’ll manage to defeat her?"

The sage didn’t even look at him. He simply stared at the sky.

"No. He’ll most likely fail."

Elinor turned to him.

"Why are you always like this? Say at least one encouraging word for this kid."

The sage turned his head toward her.

"There’s no point in giving false hope. When there’s a real chance, I’ll say it. But do you really think this is the limit of what the Autumn Spirit can do?"

He turned toward the place where the Great Autumn Spirit was fighting the man.

"Something is restraining her or making her resist. I don’t know the reason behind her turning into this form, but if she loses control completely, it won’t be just this village that ends. The entire forest could die with her... maybe more."

Oliver asked,

"To the outside world?"

He got no answer.

A wave of energy from the battlefield struck the building.

The rooftop shook violently, enough to throw them off balance.

Before the roof collapsed, Elinor lunged forward instinctively and wrapped her arms around Oliver.

The building collapsed completely, and once everything settled, Oliver crawled out from between the rubble, leaning on one hand.

His face was covered in dirt, and Tell was squeezed inside his coat.

They were the only ones able to stand up immediately.

The sage pushed rocks off his body with difficulty.

He could barely stand, and one of his arms was broken.

But even so, he ran immediately toward where Elinor had fallen.

In the exact spot where Oliver had been standing earlier, Elinor was now standing.

But she wasn’t in any condition to stand. Her body was covered in bruises and wounds.

Oliver approached her quickly, but the words stuck in his throat the moment he saw her up close.

The sage was the first to speak.

"Are you alright?"

She answered while trying to appear steady despite the blood covering her arm.

"Yes, I am. Just minor injuries, nothing more."

She was lying. They both knew it, but there was no time for discussion.

They didn’t get even one second to catch their breath.

Because the same monster they escaped earlier had returned.

Oliver dashed off and ran as fast as he could, while Elinor and the sage ran at a slower pace.

Oliver noticed that, so he slowed down, trying to return to them, but Elinor yelled at him,

"What are you doing? Run as fast as you can and don’t look back."

"But..."

"No buts. If you slow down, the chances of all of us being caught increase. Run. I’ll be right behind you. Just trust me."

He looked forward again and ran. This time he didn’t look back, even though he felt like he was leaving her to die.

The sage noticed that.

"I think he realized you’re lying. That kid is smarter than he looks."

"Just like you when you deliberately slow down your steps?"

The sage smiled as if admitting it without saying the words.

"That’s not true. I just don’t see the point in running. That monster will catch me anyway. I’m already tired. Better to give the kid a chance to escape. Isn’t that exactly what you’re doing right now?"

"I expected you to say something like ’what you’re doing is pointless and he’ll get caught anyway.’"

"I considered saying it, but this time I feel the kid actually has a chance."

They changed direction quickly to draw the monster away from Oliver, and the plan worked. The monster chased them and left the child alone.

The monster was extremely fast. It quickly caught up to them, and when it leapt at the sage to tear him apart, Elinor shoved the sage with all her strength.

The monster collided with her instead.

The sage fell to the ground, and Elinor’s scream was cut off the moment the monster closed its jaws around her body.

The sage stood, staggering like a drunk. For a moment he didn’t move.

He stared at the monster as it devoured Elinor.

After that he ran, or rather, his legs carried him forward on their own. He fell, stood, fell again.

...

The masked man’s hand was in a miserable state.

The skin was torn enough to reveal bone in some places, blood dripping from it. And despite that, he remained standing.

Saving the villagers wasn’t his goal. He wanted to stop the Great Autumn Spirit or at least force her to retreat so he could prepare to kill her later.

He knew he would face her. That was the main reason he came to the village.

But he didn’t expect to see her like this under corruption, at least not this quickly.

With every passing second, she was turning into something more grotesque, and she was growing stronger.

If things got worse, there were ways he could end her. But they were costly methods, possibly fatal.

And he still had many goals he needed to achieve.

He stepped back to catch his breath, and then he noticed Oliver running toward him.

The child looked miserable, and Tell was curled up inside his coat.

Behind them, a group of monsters were trying to reach them.

The masked man ran toward them, then raised his pistol and shot the monsters, turning them into pieces.

He stopped in front of Oliver, who collapsed to the ground the moment he saw him.

"Kid, didn’t I tell you to run?"

There was no response. Oliver stared ahead with empty eyes.

The masked man turned, and there stood the Great Autumn Spirit.

He raised his gun and prepared to fight again, but the spirit stopped as she approached him and Oliver.

She lowered her head and looked specifically at Oliver.

A sound came from her, not a single voice but dozens layered over each other.

The words were unclear, but carried something like pleading or farewell.

Her eyes regained their natural colors again, a blend of green, brown, and orange, as she stared at Oliver.

Her body quickly disintegrated into half decayed leaves and scattered into the air.