Loud bangs of the church bells boomed within the town.
"USE THE GODDESS MORANA'S STATUE."
Priest Elore's voice echoed within the town.
"IT WILL KEEP THEM AWAY."
Akamir quickly turned to look at them. "Do we have one!?"
"Yes! In the kitche—!"
A deafening crash sounded from down the street, damping Zia's words.
Akamir yelled as the creature was looming over him.
Zia ran towards the kitchen with her full strength.
The creature on the ceiling twitched, then dropped back down, landing between Akamir and Inara.
Maira lunged first, her blade slicing across the thing's midsection.
The wound hissed and smoked, but the creature didn't even wince.
Its body moved like cloth soaked in ink, bursting into three identical, twitching figures.
Each with the same smiling face, same creepy black eyes.
"They multiply?!" Zia cried from behind, stopping in her tracks.
"Zia, quickly!" Akamir barked, his body already moving towards the creature.
He vanished in a flash, reappearing behind the middle clone.
His sword cleaved clean through it, severing it in half, but the body dissolved into smoke before it could hit the ground.
She leapt over the couch and opened her palm.
A magic circle formed on it, glowing in a silverish hue.
A shockwave of silver dust erupted from her hand, forming a shimmering dome around one of them, burning it.
One of the remaining clones slammed into it and was thrown back with a screech.
Maira handled the third clone.
Her blade moved with brutal arcs, but each slash was met with a counterattack.
She cut across its arm, then thrust forward, but the creature caught the sword with its bare hand.
It laughed, yanking her forward and slamming its forehead into hers.
Maira stumbled back, dazed.
The creature lunged, only to get blasted off its feet by a crimson bolt of lightning.
Inara quickly moved forward, grabbing Maira's sword.
The creature screeched, its body jerking violently as Inara drove the blade deep into its chest.
The clone's body shuddered, and for a moment, it seemed as though it would fight against her, but then—
The creature's body exploded into a cloud of black mist, vanishing into nothingness.
"Did we get it?" Maira asked, her voice strained as she rubbed her forehead where she'd been struck earlier.
Akamir's eyes scanned the room, the remnants of the mist lingering in the air.
"For now." He gripped his sword tighter. "But we're far from done."
His gaze moved towards the window, and his breath hitched.
Tens of those beings rushed towards the window on all fours, their movement unnatural and animalistic.
Akamir yelled as soon as she walked out of the kitchen.
Understanding his words, she threw the small statue of the goddess towards him.
Using telekinesis, he quickly grabbed it before pointing it towards the window.
In an instant, those beings changed their direction.
They all turned to move away from the house as if avoiding it.
Akamir exhaled a sigh of relief as he felt his body scream in pain.
It hasn't been even a few hours since he fought the Martyr of Obsession.
He couldn't keep up with all these battles one after another.
'I definitely need to work on my body.'
Using the world's prominent energy seems better than the one he used in his previous life.
"We should go up." Akamir said, straightening his back. "I don't know how long we will be safe here."
"Lead the way." Inara said, gesturing for him to move first.
Akamir nodded, leading them towards his room upstairs.
The screams of the townsfolk echoed from time to time along with Priest Elore's warnings.
Akamir quickly closed the door as soon as everyone was inside.
"What about the knights?" Akamir asked, looking at Zia.
"They should be fine." She replied, her voice soft. "They were devotees of Goddess Morana... they should have her statue with them."
Akamir nodded softly as he looked at the statue in his hand.
"Any idea?" Akamir asked, glancing at them. "Why they aren't attacking when we have the statue."
"Because they fear the goddess." Maira said in full confidence.
"Yeah... no. It shouldn't be that simple." Akamir mumbled, playing with the statue.
"Goddess Morana was the one to banish the Witch of End."
Inara said, deep in thought.
"Maybe these creatures are the ones which were Nayomi's servants—."
"Weren't they fairies?" Akamir frowned in confusion. "Are you saying these things are fairies?"
She kept her silence, looking away.
'Is this one of the royal secret things bullshit?'
Akamir sighed, walking towards the window.
"Anyway, you are strong." Inara praised, looking at him. "When did you rank up?"
"I didn't." Akamir replied, taking her by surprise.
"I said, I still have a red rank core."
"That's impossible. How did you—."
As if she thought of something, her expression changed.
"Don't tell me, you also have an abnormal core."
Akamir turned to look at her. "What does that mean?"
"They are those who have a core that stores more mana than normal."
She explained, looking at him.
Akamir mumbled, moving towards the window.
Slowly, he peeked outside without making any noise.
"Are you going to join the academy?" Inara asked, her voice curious.
Akamir replied, looking down at the monsters who roamed on the streets.
The way they moved was creepy to look at.
A few of them were moving more gracefully now.
"You still want to go in the forest?"
Akamir asked, looking back at the princess.
She nodded seriously. "Yes."
He sighed, rubbing his temples.
His voice echoed within the place.
[A day before the Eldergrove incident.]
In a forest a few kilometers from town, a well-equipped camp stood hidden among trees.
Calling it a 'group' was an understatement.
Most of them were trained soldiers of the Lythanis Kingdom.
The soldiers moved with discipline, their armor gleaming faintly.
Their campfire crackled low as they all sat alert.
Captain Rhun stood at the edge of the clearing, eyeing the darkness beyond with suspicion.
"Anyone else feel that?" one of the younger soldiers, Bryen, whispered. "Like the air's gone thick?"
One of the older soldiers rebuked. "We have been traveling for six days and nothing has happened."
"You see this light above us?"
Another soldier pointed at the lamp glowing faintly over their heads.
"As long as we have this lamp of Goddess Morana, nothing will happen to us."
Giving in to the pressure, Bryen nodded.
"If things go alright, then maybe we can create a safe trade route."
A man sitting on the edge of the carriage chimed in. "You lots aren't even understanding what we have done."
They all turned to look at the man.
"We have made a way for saving almost seventy percent of our cost."
Lythanis was the kingdom that was made on the edge of the continent.
Their main trade was through the sea, but when a sea dragon appeared forty years ago, things changed.
Their only way of trade shut down, forcing them to turn to road routes.
The Forest of the End came in their way, making them take a huge turn around it to reach Krivos Kingdom.
Not only did that make it more costly, but they also had to pay more to get through the Kingdom of Elves.
"Things will change after this." Ruyn said, smiling brightly. "We will be rich—huh?"
A sudden wind rushed through the place, making him quiet down.
From the bushes, someone slowly started to creep towards them.
"Position!" Captain Rhun yelled, making the soldiers get up and raise their weapons.
From the shadows, a figure crept towards them.
Long blonde hair and crimson eyes staring at them.
"Sir Asher?" One of them recognized him. "It's the son of Duke Darvin."
"Why would he be here?"
The entire group was thrown into chaos as the boy arrived closer.
The boy suddenly fell down close to them, grabbing his eyes.
"What is this light!?" He barked, glaring at the lamp. "Lower it. It's an order."
One of the soldiers quickly moved to dim it down out of fear of angering a noble—.
Rhun was just a second late as the light flickered.
In that instant, the boy launched at him, ripping a huge chunk of his neck.
Before the soldiers could even fathom what was happening—
A creepy laughter echoed.....
....followed by hundreds of eyes opening around them.