CHAPTER 43: CHAPTER 42: PARADISE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FOREST (16)

That tall being, with its inverted face and horrifying form, was carving its way between the trees.

And right behind it, the masked man advanced.

Inside his wide coat, Tell was sitting hidden.

The farther he walked behind that tall being, the darker the forest became again.

And the black fog grew heavier and thicker once more.

Tell lifted her head cautiously and looked forward.

At first she saw nothing but a moving mass of fog, but the closer they got, the clearer the shape of that thing became.

Its height was exaggerated beyond reason. It wore a wide brimmed hat.

And formal clothes with a long coat as it moved without making any sound.

Tell trembled harder and looked up at the masked man.

"What is happening here, and what is that thing"

He did not look at her. His eyes remained fixed on the dark path ahead of him.

"It is better for you to lower your head right now."

She was about to ask him why, but she changed her mind and sank back into the coat again.

The masked man continued walking behind the being.

With every step, the trees melted into each other, the ground and the trees blurred together, and the black fog thickened.

Then the scene began to change. The black forest turned into narrow streets and wooden houses.

Ahead of him, smoke began rising from chimneys that did not exist moments earlier.

At that moment, before the village fully formed, the masked man raised his hand.

But not toward the creature. He raised it toward himself, and from his fingers a golden light burst out, illuminating his face before fading quickly.

And when the flash disappeared, he was no longer standing behind the monster.

Instead, he appeared in a dark corner of the village, not in the center where he would have emerged moments later.

There were traces of light burns on his face, and his decayed hand looked even worse.

The skin was peeling, and the damage spread farther than before.

Tell raised her head outward.

The village was an identical copy of Mowan Village.

When she saw that, she flew out of the coat and hovered in front of him.

"What is this place"

He answered while fixing his hat.

"It is the domain of a mythical creature."

Her eyes widened.

"And why does it look like that village"

"Most likely because this place was formed from the memories of those villagers you asked me to pull out of the Great Forest."

"Wait, explain to me what is happening. Who is that strange being, and why is this place built from the memories of Oliver and the others"

He answered while wiping his face with his hand.

"As I told you, the fog, the path, and this place are all created by a mythical creature. And that thing we were following was not a real creature, but an illusion formed by digging into my memories. It used what it knew about me and what it heard me say to lure me into its domain and lead me to its center."

Tell fluttered closer to him.

"It reached your memories? How did you know it was just an illusion"

"I am the one who allowed it to access those memories. I let it see the details I wanted it to see. And I let it hear my desire to protect those people."

"You did that on purpose? Why"

"So I could reach this place."

"Wait, all that just to come here"

"Yes."

"And why"

"To eliminate the mythical creature that created all of this."

Her eyes narrowed with suspicion.

"I am not convinced. I feel like you are hiding something."

And she was right. The masked man had not been honest with her.

The appearance of that being had not been expected, but the moment it appeared he realized something was wrong about its presence.

Following it had only one purpose, to reach the heart of the legendary entity behind the illusion.

And destroy it from the inside. But what he had not expected was to end up inside a village carrying the same soul as the Great Autumn Spirit.

The masked man looked ahead.

Where the villagers were gathering again, preparing for the harvest festival.

...

Oliver and the others left the tower with Orion and stepped outside.

As soon as their feet touched the village square, the same small autumn spirits surrounded them, filling the place with their light.

The villagers also came out of the alleys, heading toward the square.

Autumn colors covered everything. Leaves fell slowly, turning into small buds of light as they descended before disappearing.

The forest giants walked among the people.

The sight captivated Lemur. He stood stunned with his mouth half open, his eyes darting between the floating spirits and the village.

Aria, who had returned to her old woman form, stared at the spirits in surprise at the scene.

Unlike them, Oliver and the sage stood still as expressions of disgust and unease crossed their faces briefly.

This scene brought back the memory of that cursed day. The day the village fell, the day all those people died in front of their eyes.

Oliver could not bear it. He clenched his fist and exchanged a quick look with the sage before both of them took off running.

They knew exactly where they needed to go.

The square. At the end of the festival, everyone goes to the square.

Lemur noticed them running and shouted their names, then dashed after them while Aria walked calmly behind, simply watching.

Oliver and the sage pushed through the crowds, trying to cut through the gathering.

They did not know what would happen at the end of the festival.

But they knew for certain it would not be anything good, and neither of them wanted to find out what that ending looked like.

When they reached the square, surrounded by hundreds of faces, the sage looked everywhere.

And finally he found Allen and Maron and the two other men standing near a small platform.

He hurried toward them, shouting as he waved his hands in front of their faces.

"Allen! Maron! Wake up! This is an illusion! Listen to me!"

But they did not even turn toward him.

They were laughing, talking, eating candied apples just like they did that day.

The sage grabbed Allen’s shoulder and shook him.

"You idiots! This is not the village! This is an illusion! The village was destroyed! People died! Wake up!"

But Allen simply pushed his hand away and continued celebrating.

On the other side, Oliver found the woman and her daughter walking with smiles beside a man who looked like her dead husband.

Oliver tried standing in front of them, but they walked past him without even noticing him.

With the first bell ring, the petals of the autumn flowers gathered in the air, this time above the statue in the center of the square.

From the statue, the shape of a massive stag formed.

One of the small autumn spirits rose toward it, carrying a bottle in her hands, and threw it at once.

As soon as the glass shattered and the liquid touched the spirit, the spirits transformed.

Their gentle faces twisted into horrific ones, their bodies stretched into distorted shapes, and they rushed toward the people.

Oliver stood in the middle of the square watching that scene repeat itself again.