Chapter 6: The Raven with the Fire Scar

After noticing the hot food and the house burning, and investigating the matter, Arni, Zeus, and Cobra concluded that the source of the fire was coming from near the forest beside them. The incident happened less than half an hour ago, due to the hot food.

The trio decided to enter the forest, trying to discover the cause of what was happening in the area.

With cautious steps, the trio walked between the branches. The birds' calls were loud, the trees were tall and damp, unlike the ground, which was a hard, dry swamp. Ash surrounded them, covering the forest like fog, obscuring their vision.

Arni: "Come closer to me. We don't want to lose anyone. We don't know what's here or if it's dangerous."

They continued walking until they encountered something black and thin on the ground.

Cobra noticed it and said: "Arni, Zeus, what is that thing over there?"

Arni advised them not to touch it, as they didn’t know what this place was or what was inside it.

Zeus scoffed at Arni's words, arrogantly relying on his strength.

Zeus approached the shape and picked it up.

He was surprised by what he saw, then carried it back to the trio, handing it to Arni, who was speechless at the sight.

What he saw was the burnt and charred body of a child. There were no features to identify it, only its outward shape.

Arni appeared shocked by what he saw: "It seems that what’s here is no trivial matter. Burning a wooden house, any fool could do that with a match, but turning a child to ash... what did this, carries a flame like no other."

Cobra responded: "Did you forget that we burned and destroyed an entire palace in Heaven just a few hours ago? This is nothing compared to that. Zeus would be much stronger than this."

Arni was convinced by Cobra's words and regained his focus to continue their journey, exploring the forest around them. The bird calls had disappeared, the trees were no longer damp, some had withered. The ash in the air now carried a hot breeze, and the atmosphere grew tense, the climate around them changing.

As they walked, Arni stepped on something on the ground and broke it. He looked down to see what he had stepped on, and it was a charred man.

They continued walking, finding more ashes, birds, animals, and even people, all charred on the ground.

Melted metal pieces barely held any of their old features.

There were tools like picks, sickles, and primitive wooden weapons scattered around the charred bodies, along with straw hats.

Arni understood what had happened: "These are the villagers. They gathered here with their weapons, trying to stop whatever was here, but in the end, they were all burned. They were prepared."

Cobra and Zeus focused their attention as Arni closed his eyes, attempting to communicate with Karobo.

Arni: "Hey, Raven of Rain, are you there? Can you hear me? I’m talking to you, don’t ignore me."

Karobo’s voice echoed loudly in response: "What’s happening around you? What do you want?"

Arni: "Can you see what’s around us now?"

Karobo: "Yes, I always see."

Arni: "We might need you later. Do you still want to leave?"

Karobo: "I decide when I leave. Don’t try to use me."

Arni: "I don’t know what’s out there, but if it’s really strong, you’re the one who can defeat it, no doubt about it."

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Karobo appeared from the darkness, meeting Arni face to face to speak with him: "Are you this weak, little one?"

Arni: "I’ve never fought a real battle before. I don’t have any powers like the others around us."

Karobo vanished in the blink of an eye.

Arni opened his eyes to find Karobo right in front of him. He felt something in his stomach, a sharp pain and dampness, something leaking from him and something else inside.

He looked down to see his stomach, pierced by a massive sword that entered his belly and exited through his back. Karobo laughed, holding the sword high with Arni hanging from it, moving him swiftly and throwing Arni away.

Arni was struggling to breathe and felt like he was about to die. His vision began to fade when Karobo appeared before him again, picking him up and placing him back on his feet. Suddenly, Arni felt better, his breathing returning, and he looked down at his stomach to find it unscathed.

Arni, terrified, asked: "How did you do that?"

Karobo: "You’re in my world now. Everything is under my control. I am the god here, and when I leave, I am a god as well. I do as I please."

Then Karobo changed his tone to seriousness and said to Arni: "Outside, there are strong people. You’re too weak to stand with them. Even your friends, all of you are weak. You won’t last much longer out here. But don’t worry, I can help you a little since this place is a bit boring. Come train with me from time to time."

Arni opened his eyes to find himself back in the forest at the exact moment, as if nothing had happened and no time had passed. He looked at Cobra and Zeus, who exchanged puzzled glances with him.

Arni looked around, thinking about what Karobo had said about the danger of this place, and said: "I think we should pull back. I’m not feeling reassured."

Cobra glanced at Arni dismissively: "What’s wrong with you? You look like a rock hit your head. You’re acting really strange. Calm down, coward. I’ll check on you."

Zeus laughed, and they continued on their way, forcing Arni to follow them.

The farther they went, the hotter the air became. The ash in the air turned into a gray smoke, more than just ash. The atmosphere was scorching, and the corpses continued to scatter. Everyone in the village had been killed here. There was no sound of wind, no life, no scent. Even the air had lost its color. Everything around them was black and white. The trees were no longer trees, and the ground was no longer earth. All that surrounded them was scattered ash.

As they walked further, the features of the forest began to fade. The trees had completely disappeared, and the place was barren, empty. All that lay before them was a mound of sand and scattered ash, surrounded by a heat aura.

The trio understood that what they were searching for was there.

They decided to climb the mound, walking on the hot, scattered dirt. Just being in the place was enough to make them sweat and feel exhausted by the heat.

Zeus couldn’t bear it anymore, as his human form exhausted him greatly. He decided to revert to his dragon form to gain resistance to the heat and fly to the top of the mound faster.

Arni and Cobra climbed onto Zeus, both tense, flying toward the mound’s peak. With every approach, the heat intensified, and even Zeus wasn’t used to this kind of heat.

The features at the top of the mound began to appear. The view was very strange. The top of the mound was entirely empty, except for one thing: a glowing blue point in the center.

Zeus tried to fly above it, but with the high heat and the steam rising, Zeus was pushed further upwards, throwing him off course, landing far from the blue point.

Zeus, Arni, and Cobra got up, and Cobra spoke nervously to Zeus and Arni: "I think coming here was a mistake, but there’s no turning back now. I’ll get closer to see what this is."

Arni and Zeus also approached Cobra, and just as they did, they heard a loud, coarse voice, crying in pain, screaming: "Please, please, leave me alone!"

As Cobra got closer, he pulled out his chain, turning it into a sickle. The blue flame stopped crying when it heard the sound, and then it screamed at the top of its lungs, terror running through the trio’s bodies. The blue flame turned around, revealing a flaming body with no features, no limbs—just a floating skull in the heart of a blazing blue fire.

Zeus froze in shock and transformed back into his dragon form, trying to extinguish the fire with his wings. Meanwhile, Cobra ran, holding his sickle, trying to strike.

Zeus’s flapping didn’t help at all with the fire. Every time it scattered, it reignited like an eternal flame.

The burning figure launched a fiery wave from its body, knocking Cobra away several meters, while it shot fiery rays that brought Zeus to the ground.

Throughout all this, Arni stood frozen, unable to move. He had never seen anything like this before. He didn’t know what to do since he had nothing to defend himself with.

Zeus and Cobra got back up, trying to do something to stop this creature. Zeus flew up, charging a lightning strike, hoping to damage the fire man. He released it with all his might, and the force of his strike created enough waves to push Cobra and Arni back several meters. As the dust cleared, Zeus landed again, facing the fire man, who was still standing. Cobra, coming from behind at high speed, grabbed him, tying him with one chain while turning the other into a sickle and driving it into the skull, putting a crack in it.

Zeus returned to his human form but kept his scales intact, striking the fire man around him, while the fire man screamed, launching more waves of fire that sent them flying. Arni was left alone in the battlefield as the fire man shot beams of fire at him, throwing him away with Zeus and Cobra, causing a burn on Arni’s right hand, making him scream and wail in pain.

In the midst of the darkness, Karobo laughed mockingly: "Seems like you’re all done for. You look pathetic."

Arni screamed and whimpered: "Please, Raven of Rain, please come out."

Zeus and Cobra got up again, exhausted and unable to stand firmly, trying to continue the fight as the fire man approached them.

They heard the sound of laughter from behind and turned around, surprised, seeing that Arni was nowhere in sight. Instead, there was a strange man standing with a raven on his shoulder. Zeus recognized him as the friend of Hades who appeared after Arni’s death in the third hell.

The Raven of Rain walked between Cobra and Zeus, instilling a sense of dread around them. He approached the fire man without any regard for the heat.

In the blink of an eye, Karobo grabbed the fire man’s skull and crushed it with his hand, throwing him away.

The fire man screamed loudly, unable to control his power, exploding with all his fiery energy, creating a burning aura, transforming into a fire tornado coming toward them, engulfing everything around them in ash.

Unfazed, Karobo snapped his fingers, making the sky rain heavily, causing the ash on the mound to melt into a large patch of mud and ash, extinguishing the great fire tornado.

Leaving Zeus and Cobra dumbfounded.

Karobo, feeling bored, walked toward Zeus. As he approached, both Zeus and Cobra collapsed to the ground from the aura around Karobo.

Zeus asked: "What’s happening? Why can’t I stand?"

Cobra, speaking rudely, said: "Who are you, bastard? What do you want?"

Karobo smiled and said to Zeus: "Come on, turn into a dragon. Take me on a tour."

Zeus looked at him in disbelief and said: "I’m not your servant, bastard."

Karobo raised an eyebrow, looking down at Zeus with disdain: "Yes, you are. Transform now."

Zeus lost control of his human form due to the pressure and was forced to revert to his dragon form. Karobo climbed onto Zeus and laughed.

Karobo: "Come on, fly faster, show me what you've got."

Zeus flew as fast as he could, rising into the sky, soaring over the forest and passing the village, flying far away.

Then Karobo said: "Enough already, you're too slow. Land me."

Karobo stomped on Zeus’s head, knocking him and Cobra to the ground.

Karobo turned back to speak to Arni, who was still writhing in pain from his burned hand. "Your pet amused me. Here’s a token of thanks."

Karobo grabbed Arni’s burned hand, healing the wound and pain, then disappeared again. Arni woke up between

Cobra and Zeus, who were looking at him with pity.

Arni raised his right hand to find a burn scar covering the entirety of his right hand.

End of chapter.