-One hour later-

At the threshold of the forest, the place where the group had agreed to regroup, Declan, Geneve and Vaelen were the only ones present. A heavy and unnerving silence hung in the air, wrapping itself around the three like molesting tentacles. Declan, standing right in front of the Eastern path, checked his pocket watch.

“You think they’re still on their way here?”

“I’m not sure,” Geneve responded next to Vaelen, crossing her arms. “They may have been lost or something.”

Vaelen had his head lowered for the entire time. It seemed as if the unnerving tentacles had a good and firm grasp on him. Before he spoke to them, he was evaluating the current circumstance; The density and dexterous landscape of the forest, the Cimmerisses, the possibility of a more powerful Earthen Being having appeared…

He eventually shook his head, non-verbally telling himself to not doubt the capabilities of Lunar and his brother. They must have been lost, or something.

“Should we go look for them?”

Declan placed his fingers under his chin.

“One or two of us should go. Just in case they get here before we reach anywhere.”

“I can go,” Geneve said, raising her hand. “I’ll be searching for fifteen minutes or so before returning here.”

Vaelen turned towards her.

“I’ll go with you.”

Right after he finished his sentence, footsteps from deep within the Eastern path approached the group at a fast pace. Declan stepped aside, slightly furrowing his eyebrows as he tensed his right arm, readying himself to summon his Grimoire at any moment necessary.

Vaelen and Geneve followed suit. The footsteps were as fast as someone trying to run away from a killer or dangerous beast. The rustling sounds of leaves and cracking twigs accentuating the tensing moment. It took several seconds for the individual to finally appear before the other three.

Declan, alongside the other two, furrowed their eyebrows and squinted their eyes. The one who arrived at the scene as if he had just finished running a marathon was Lunar. Bent over with his hands on his knees as he gasped uncontrollably.

The seemingly distressed sight of Lunar felt paradoxical to the others. Seeing him in such a state, or better said, seeing his demeanour contrasted sharply against his usual calm and composed behavior he was so well known for. Declan patted his back, trying to console him.

“Lunar? What’s wrong? You doing okay?”

“…I’m fine,” he responded in between breaths. “I tried my hardest going after him, but…”

His last few words struck a deep chord within Vaelen. He widened his eyes and stepped towards him.

“What? What do you mean? Where is Caelum?”

“He… got taken away…” Lunar said. He then let himself fall on his knees like a warrior accepting defeat, trying to grasp control over his breathing. Geneve, her arms still crossed, looked down at Lunar with a rather unamused expression on her face.

“…It seems that the Cimmerisses are not the only species within the forest. Caelum got taken away by something that seemed like a big ogre. I wasn’t able to intercept the creature fast enough…”

“He got…taken away?” Vaelen muttered.

“Yes, but I tracked down the creature’s trajectory,” Lunar responded, standing back up with Declan’s help. “I thought it would be better to take the three of you with me. I don’t think I’d be able to do this on my own.”

Declan ticked his tongue. Frowning distastefully.

“Let us go. Lead the way, Lunar.”

“Of course… Follow me.”

Geneve and Declan followed Lunar’s lead back into the Eastern path, leaving Vaelen, who stood still with a worriedly contemplating stare behind. Geneve turned back and pulled at his sleeve.

“Come, Vaelen!”

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“Y- yes. Let us.”

***

Several minutes passed, and the four eventually arrived at the place Lunar and Caelum once were. Vaelen was the first one to jump into the open space surrounded by thick bushes and trees. He actively turned his head from corner to corner, desperately searching for a clue.

…Right at that moment, a shadow fell over the three individuals behind him. Lunar, standing in the middle, spread his right arm in the air, allowing for his Grimoire, the Unholy Blade, to be summoned in his palms once more. A dark red mist swirling around his arms and gradually forming into the silver blade he used to murder his younger brother. Declan and Geneve, their faces eerily turning composed, silently watched Lunar slowly stepping forwards.

“Where is the protracted path?” Vaelen asked, his back still facing them, as he witnessed something laying on the ground. “I don’t see it…any…”

It was a pale, blood-drenched hand, slightly protruded from behind the bushes. It could only mean that someone placed a corpse, or a wounded person deep within the foliage, leaving one hand stretched out. Due to how much it was covered in crimson-red blood, Vaelen couldn’t help but stare blankly at the haunting sight.

…Unfortunately for him, his dubiousness became one fatal mistake.

No, taking Geneve’s hand and following the rest into this seemingly forgotten place was his greatest mistake.

But he could never know. He could never understand. He could never foresee what would happen to him… What fate would await him after it befell his younger brother.

“…Cae…lum?”

Those were his only words, as he noticed the vintage wristbands around the hand’s wrist. It could only be Caelum. It couldn’t be anyone else. Vaelen realized this, but he was not fast enough to realize his situation.

As soon as Vaelen was about to fall on his knees, Lunar plunged his Unholy Blade into his back with such force that the entirety of the ‘blade’ stuck out from Vaelen’s chest. Vaelen recoiled his head with widened eyes as blood gushed out from his mouth. Declan and Geneve silently watched the macabre spectacle with crossed arms.

As soon as this happened, as if triggered by Vaelen’s death, a swirling maelstrom of black butterflies materialized before the group, their vibrant wings creating a mesmerizing, living wall, buzzing the air with the fluttering of countless wings.

As quickly as they appeared, the butterflies dispersed in a dazzling explosion of demonic blackness, revealing four figures standing right before the largest tree at the other end of the space.

The one standing on the far left was Grisha. The one on the far right was Knight Three. Standing between them was the Lady in Black, and leading the trio, positioned in front of them, was Michel, who had his arms crossed behind his back.

The other three, Declan, Lunar and Geneve recoiled backwards, sensing their overwhelming presence and power that emanated from their figures like visible echoes. Michel and his entourage were still standing a solid distance away from them, allowing Lunar to instinctively reach for Caelum’s corpse right beside him, leaving Vaelen’s limp body rotting on the ground.

He pulled Caelum from behind the bushes, revealing his lifeless body with a now gruesome gaping wound penetrating his chest that allowed for one to see through it. Lunar did not hesitate and placed his body on his shoulders, his head and limbs drooping like an unused marionette.

And then, Michel spoke out with a firm and commanding tone.

“What do you think you are doing, Lunar Geinzweilt?”

Lunar sneered at him, frowning his eyebrows, as Declan and Geneve summoned their Grimoires, readying themselves for combat.

“Heh, does it not seem obvious enough, Michel? Did you really think we would comply with turning him into one of your puppets like those three? I’m sorry, good sir, but you won’t be getting a hold of his body. He doesn’t deserve to be caught in the hands of the fallen.”

“The Dark Triad,” Michel began. “Your purpose was to orchestrate Caelum’s death by bringing him into the real layer of the forest, not to kill him on your own. You decided to go against my word and sabotage my plans without any foreword. Are you prepared for the consequences that follow?”

“Consequences?” Declan said, chuckling. “You really think we are just like your little minions, huh?”

He then tilted his head, trying to have a peek at the Lady in Black standing behind Michel.

“Geisterpriesterin was your name, no? Is this guy always like this?”

Leaving Grisha and Knight Three behind, she took a stance right next to Michel, as a swarm of black butterflies emerged from thin air and swirled around her right, outstretched arm, eventually forming into a large, black scythe.

“Michel has spoken to you. You ought to answer him. Failing to do so will result in your death.”

Right after she said this, everyone, including her, suddenly ticked their heads towards the source of a loud, rustling sound from the right side, as though a gigantic snake was aggressively approaching them from behind the bushes.

However, it was no snake. It was something far more significant.

Jolting out of the bushes like a leaping bunny was a bizarre Creature with the broad, flattened body of a strange fish, complete with a wide, blunt snout, combined with human arms and legs. Its entrance caused everyone to tense…except Lunar, who widened his eyes and smiled from ear to ear in pure ecstasy.

The Creature instantly propelled itself toward Lunar and snatched him from the ground, leaving behind a wind pressure that caused all the bushes and trees to aggressively flutter in the current. Michel was overwhelmed enough to hold his wide-brimmed hat on his head. He then turned around, facing the dead end filled with foliage, and spoke out with an authoritative tone.

“Geister, kill these two fools. Grisha, Dunkel, go after Lunar and retrieve Caelum’s corpse. It seems that Emon is seeking to join the dance.”

Declan and Geneve tightened their grips around their Grimoires, as a swarm of black butterflies formed into a set of wings on Geisterpriesterin’s back. Grisha spread his right palm in the air, and a massive sword glowing with gold and white light descended from the skies. The sword rotated and flattened, transforming into a makeshift surfboard. Dunkel and Grisha leaped onto the blade, and surged it forward, pursuing Emon’s Creature. In its wake, a powerful gust of wind erupted, sending everything and everyone in the vicinity fluttering in the current.