Returning

'What is it with all these strange appearances?' Heian Ciemnosc thought in his head. Before another thought formed, Sara's voice chipped in, letting him become a little more sober as the scare from the tree face manifesting before him dissipated away. "Believe it or not, it has to do with you! Do you really think anyone can meet the people you meet even if they were to enter these places? They're giving you face~!"

‘I guess,’ Heian Ciemnosc thought as he disregarded the notion and walked towards the tree face. Grietta trusted him and remained behind, with Anastasia standing before her. Evans returned to his original form and covered an area of 400 meters with his wings. The Eternal Return Team members wanted to follow Heian Ciemnosc, but Ruo Wei stopped them and moved them inside the wingspan protection.

Heian Ciemnosc continued walking forward. He stared directly at the thing before him. Its eyes and mouth were hollow. It had a nose running from below its eyes to just above its mouth, without philtrum, and its lips were shaped in a sighing, hurt emotion.

“Hoohh… This!... This… this is my voice… ah, how could I have forgotten?” The tree face spoke, moving its hollow eyes as if it had suddenly woken up and become alive. Heian Ciemnosc didn’t stop, but his nature reading, darkest eyes showed how startled the situation made him feel.

“Hohohohoh, this is my voice…!” The tree face repeated, beaming with memories as it finally diverted its attention to Heian Ciemnosc. Compared to its volume, Heian Ciemnosc was practically nonexistent. Yet, as the tree face looked at him, it became pitiful, and its lips moved as if holding back a sob. Its voice was amicable, slightly deep but slightly loud as well.

“Opp… omf… huu…” The tree face made several sounds as if trying to speak, but couldn’t. Like a sobbing, whimpering child or dog. It didn’t have eyebrows, but it looked as if they were knitted low, sad and pitiful. Finally, it spoke coherently, “What a grace… a don! My vestige of sacredness.”

“...?” Although those were words, it made Heian Ciemnosc tilt his head to the right until it hung above his shoulder. The tree face seemed to nod, although only its face slightly jolted up and down. It looked at Heian Ciemnosc, and then spoke as the floor rumbled, and various passageways were exposed from underneath.

“... Companions can receive as many treasures as they seek… I seek nothing. I am fulfilled… I-... what was I doing before? I… wanted to stay here… wait… but… do I need to wait- no! I don’t… I… Why would I want to wait?” The tree face spoke as stairs leading to a lower level opened in the several dozen around the wingspan protection.

Grietta inspected them all before looking at Heian Ciemnosc’s back. He felt her stare and nodded without turning his head backwards. Grietta sent his Spirit Sense towards everyone and nodded. Ruo Wei followed the notion and nodded before grabbing Cara’s hand and rushing towards one of the staircases. The other Team members realized something and dashed towards a different staircase each.

“Aah. There is no longer danger for… I would never dare harm them. Ah. What brings o venerated… here?” The tree face spoke, showing a good-natured alignment towards Heian Ciemnosc, and speaking to him strangely.

“... Someone told me there was someone else who didn’t understand what they were doing,” Heian Ciemnosc said after contemplating. He paused as the tree face seemed to grow stiff. “I’ve come to take care of it. And that person seems to be you. Could it be… that you don’t know what you’ve been doing all this time? Can’t even remember your goal?”

“... Indeed, sigh…” The tree face let out a bit of a sigh as the surroundings became more chilly, but Heian Ciemnosc wasn’t affected. The tree face stared at the ceiling. Its eyes seemingly regained intelligence; memories. It returned to look down at Heian Ciemnosc, but before Heian Ciemnosc could say anything or inquire, it explained at a regular pace.

“I’ve been trying to become an Expectre… I’ve lived so long… The last Lord… mn, not a bad one… But even he was persecuted by the whole world… This world… no longer deserves it. It doesn’t!” The tree face changed, and its countenance turned slightly frustrated, growing with hatred and disapproval.

“It has sinned… far too much! That last fly, hmph… If only… Sigh…” The tree face seemed really helpless about many things, but it seemed like only one of them made it feel complicated. It looked at Heian Ciemnosc and rapidly became calm, seemingly wanting to keep its bearing in check before continuing. “This world isn’t what it should’ve been. One after another, they dissipated. Waiting for… But no… It wasn’t possible yet.”

“They… we… didn’t feel betrayed. But the world wouldn’t let them wait in peace. One after another… one after another… they left… In the end, even nature is hopeless, and the Lords… sigh. Time, reincarnation’s hell, underworld, and protection; the Elements even… none were spared… So much is lost… Why wait? Why…?”

The tree face’s eyes fell as eyelids made from its bark covered them mostly, making it look as if it stared down, depressed and contemplating. Heian Ciemnosc kept silent but frowned, and he didn’t know why exactly.

“Am I one of the last?” The tree face was devoid of hope, and only the sound of its voice resonating throughout this empty cave displayed signs of it still being alive. Heian Ciemnosc waited for a few seconds before it looked ‘up’ again at him. “I beg… of you. Please, do not let this world off… They… never deserved it… they deserve it even less now.”

“...” Heian Ciemnosc felt like he should say something if he could, but he had nothing to say. He stared down, pensive, while the tree face kept quiet. He heard footsteps behind him, from his group, moving back and forth between different staircases. It seemed like the staircases hid many treasures and materials, not just for individuals.

Furthermore, when some entered staircases that others had already ventured into, they found more hidden treasures that others didn’t see or couldn’t find for some strange reason. Nevertheless, they found many resources and even some materials for Sky grade forging. They were glad to find so much treasure, partly for themselves and the army at the Region.

“Then, what is holding you back?” Heian Ciemnosc said, trying to figure out what he was supposed to aid this tree to realize he should stop trying to become an Expectre, as it put it.

“Me? Nothing. Why would I? There’s no need anymore.” The tree face flatly responded, but its tone was contented. It even formed a light smile on its lips, giving Heian Ciemnosc a doting yet respectable sensation. Heian Ciemnosc tilted his head to the far left and right as he tried to discover something… anything.

However, Heian Ciemnosc understood 1 thing. His objective in coming here was achieved, although he didn’t understand how or why. But, since it worked, then there was nothing else he had to do.

Thinking up to here, Heian Ciemnosc glared at the tree face and noticed the easygoing aura it emanated. He couldn’t help but feel in a good mood. How many times had he completed a complex task without having to lift a finger? It even presented gifts to his people just because they were related to him.

“Thank you, tree,” Heian Ciemnosc casually said without bowing or clasping his hands. Although this lost soul was a senior that should have lived since before that acclaimed last Lord, Heian Ciemnosc had the premonition he didn’t need to act politely and courteous with it.

“Ahh… It has come, it has come… That event a few moons back… This Kingdom is lighted with so many different colors because of it… I… wouldn’t have noticed you coming here if it wasn’t for it. It shook me a little. I had forgotten what it feels like to have a body… But worst yet, I nearly lost sight of…” The tree face looked at Heian Ciemnosc with fieriness. This was a fervor Heian Ciemnosc hadn’t really felt before.

He wasn’t a leader known throughout the world and was merely known in the Existence he was born and the Crimsonbreaking Faction. As for the Wrath Nihility Academy, he never commanded them. Only the Blauw Empire knew him as a leader, besides his Large Flotilla and those he commanded in the Change’s first Existences’ war.

“I am, yes, I am…” The tree face said, seemingly content and lighthearted after communicating these few words to Heian Ciemnosc. Although Heian Ciemnosc would rather ask it and know more, he didn’t bother the poor, non-existent, dissipating old tree. Since it felt at ease, he’d rather not tarnish such a rare sensation in the world.

‘Would it be… no, wouldn’t it be something if I can spread such a feeling everywhere?’ Heian Ciemnosc had an idea as he looked at the tree face who peacefully narrowed its eyes. Its mouth closed, no longer in an emotion of purely pain, nor showing its hollowness. Sara chose to remain silent this time, which she rarely does.

“I’ll leave an eye in this Kingdom when I leave so that even after I leave, I can consider this Kingdom,” Heian Ciemnosc suddenly felt a notion and spoke his heart out towards the tree face. The tree face’s eyes looked down, which could be seen with how its bark-skin eyelids lowered. It formed another little smile but offered no more words. Yet, Heian Ciemnosc could feel its contentment.

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… The 11 others continued to move between staircases, compare individual gains, and exchange what they didn’t need or wouldn’t be helpful to them for things that would aid them. Then, once they were finished after a few hours, they looked at Heian Ciemnosc as if staring at a moving treasure.

Step, step, step. The group walked towards Heian Ciemnosc, with Anastasia on the left flank on the rear with Grietta behind her. Grietta didn’t pick anything, but that was because none of these Third Step treasures were helpful to her. Of course, she assisted Anastasia in finding more mass resources than anyone else for the Calatida Region’s special operation.

“Boss! When can you make our Sky armor sets, weapons… ah! And Relics?” - “Dad! I also want my Sky thingies, heehee! Can you make me a collar type Relic? Like the ones Mother Mei uses when she meditates and communicates with nature!”

As he heard them, Heian Ciemnosc revealed an understanding, thin smile. He looked at everyone before spoiling Anastasia as he held her head before his chest while she looked up with a victorious glint in her eyes.

“We can talk about it above. Let’s grant this senior a well-deserved rest. Don’t you think?” Heian Ciemnosc’s words clicked in their minds. They agreed, and some nodded, before bowing in the direction behind Heian Ciemnosc. Even Grietta bowed slightly, looking at the tree face with lingering fear hidden in her eyes. She had never seen something like this, but she knew Hong Mei would grow crazy in ecstasy after she saw these images. As for her… it was too scary!

“Tree, can I bother you with bringing us out?” Heian Ciemnosc turned around and asked. The tree face seemed unwilling or incapable of speaking any further, but it lifted its ghastly white twig, which was projected from its face like it was just a hologram. The ghastly white twig rose until it encircled and revealed the hole whence Heian Ciemnosc and the others came- no, fell from.

“Oh.” Heian Ciemnosc exclaimed emotionlessly. He cleared his throat and looked at Evans, who had a helpless expression on his fierce eyes. With a rueful heart, Jing Evan spread his wings and aimed his handsome head at the hole. Heian Ciemnosc nodded satisfactorily before giving the tree face a last look.

“...” However, when Heian Ciemnosc looked at it, its eyelids were also hollow no more. They were covered by its bark, and it even seemed to lose volume. It was strange. Moreover, its nose nearly dissipated before Heian Ciemnosc looked at its face again, finishing the process under his darkest eyes.

Heian Ciemnosc felt a loss deep in his heart, which Sara timely decided to appear to and massaged the empty darkness around his heart within his inner universe with her little hands. Heian Ciemnosc silently thanked Sara before stepping towards Evans. The tree face behind him slowly lost it face.

FLUUTTEEER~!! PEW~! CRRRGGGGHHHHH~~...~...~...~...

Evans wasted not a single breath as soon as Heian Ciemnosc floated onto his back. Grietta seemed ready to hold him and knelt beside his spot. Heian Ciemnosc immediately flopped his head on her thick, melee-cultivator-worthy lap.

On the other hand, Evans directly flew into the skies, leaving the empty cave behind them. This time, there was no sense of incoming danger, and after the group left, no dirt moved towards it to fill everything so it could return to nature.

Everything was… empty. Just as it was left.

Evans fluttered his wings once and his body isolated the air and wind that could possibly hit his majestic body. Dark Vigor Energy started from his beak to the rest of his body, not just protecting Evans, but the group in general, and was supported by Grietta’s Vigor Energy.

Evans felt the rocks and hidden roots of other trees from above teared apart by his powerful wings and shoulders. It added some solace after being used for making way through a small hole. Although it wasn’t his first rodeo.

“...” When there were still a few seconds, and a tiny dot of light could be seen from above, Heian Ciemnosc felt the calling again while Grietta softly rubbed her hands on his sternum. She could feel the energy fluctuations within him changing slightly. It was a little difficult because the speed at which everything inside Heian Ciemnosc’s body moved was blatantly impossible, but she could still discern it.

Heian Ciemnosc’s darkest eyes seemed to change a little. Not from any noticeable or existent appearance, but from within. However, there was something else. Something that seemed to… form a blockade towards such a change. It was as if…

‘I’m lacking something… something… what?!’ Heian Ciemnosc suddenly frowned and shouted in his mind. Rumbling noises echoed as Sara looked around, perturbed. Heian Ciemnosc’s wasn’t overreacting. He could feel something, and similar to when he knew there was something wrong with his dark Soul, he discerned the lack of something.

However, what Heian Ciemnosc felt then and what he was feeling now were totally different. Even though Heian Ciemnosc could feel this sensation of lacking something deep within him, something that he should realize what it is, at least with his Master’s help. Heian Ciemnosc’s mind blanked, and he felt an empty, endless hole in his memories.

‘?!’ Such a notion was terrifying to one’s mindset. The mere knowledge that one’s knowledge was inconclusive, and they couldn’t remember what it was, was utmost despairing. Heian Ciemnosc nearly felt like holding his temples and tearing through them with his dark claws.

“Daddy, I’m sleepy, make space~,” Anastasia said. Just at the moment Heian Ciemnosc’s overly pale skin started darkening on his palms and backhands… Anastasia’s face appeared above his. Heian Ciemnosc’s darkest eyes’ contents shrunk to a pinky fingertip size.

“...!” Flashes of so many faces went through his head, and his darkest eyes grew absentminded. Mother, Valeria, Fu Lan, Aola, Samina, even Cala, Yolin, Katherine, Schnell, Grandma Jing, Elena, Teacher Puru, the first Team he belonged to, the Concealed Ornament Team, the Eternal Return Team, the Eternal Return Large Flotilla, Alyona, Hong Mei, Elena, Milyy, Sara, Shuna, Ishikyy, and Calisneia.

‘...fuu…’ Heian Ciemnosc’s forehead suddenly dropped a bullet of sweat as he felt Anastasia cuddle his left arm and close her eyes to relax. Meanwhile, Heian Ciemnosc felt as if his chest was sunken to the heaviest level, something he had never felt before besides when Fu Lan and Valeria died in his arms.

Crrgh- tiiiiightttt~!!! PLOOWWPP~!! WHOOOOSH!!!

He felt every vein in his body palpitate once, twice; with so much power that he felt dizzy. Then, a headache followed, but only for a few seconds before the world around him seemed to become lighter. Just in time, Evans’s wings soared from underground, meeting the last rays of the setting sun as his feathers were colored yellow for 2 seconds before everything turned dark.

At that moment, Heian Ciemnosc’s darkest eyes were fully open, calmly looking at the sky. Spotless and starless. His mind moved, ‘Yes, you are right… They don’t deserve it… They deserve nothing!’

Heian Ciemnosc’s darkest eyes grew ultimately cold, seemed lifeless, but were adorable to die for. Needless to say, Grietta suddenly cupped his jaw and bent her body as Evans aimless floated and rotated without worrying about those on his back. Her face arrived close to Heian Ciemnosc’s, and her lips smooched the tip of his overly pale nose before moving, still touching his nose.

“You look very hot when you have a face like that. What happened?” Grietta’s eyes were hidden because of the angle, but Heian Ciemnosc, who became startled, chuckled and held Grietta’s face like it was just right. Grietta’s eyebrows slightly jumped, but it felt nice, so she let him hold her face. Then, she heard Heian Ciemnosc’s hoarse, dragged-on, terrifyingly enchanting, hypnotizing, and irresistible voice.

“Let’s return. Everyone can have a small vacation here for a couple of weeks. Then, we should return and bathe those northerners with the mantle of rebellion they so willingly chose. That’s fitting enough.” Heian Ciemnosc’s canines showed, and the squinting of his darkest eyes enchanted Grietta.

It wasn’t until she was amidst a deep kiss, receiving Heian Ciemnosc’s darkened tongue as if she willingly let him mark her that she woke up from the enchantment and, under her slightly shaken heart, continued to deliver her mouth to his every whim.

“Zzzzzz…” Anastasia soundly slept while hugging his left arm, unaware of the delicious scene happening a few heads above hers. The Eternal Return Team wasn’t looking out of respect, but Grietta’s face blushed until Heian Ciemnosc let her body go.

‘...!’ Grietta’s heart beat hard, and her eyes couldn’t leave Heian Ciemnosc’s face. She touched her lips. Despite the passionate struggle she became hungry for and lusted for, seconds after waking up, that remained there, Grietta sobered up and memories and sensations of everything she felt when she lost her composure remained there. However, it didn’t feel like lust, but dedication, and instead of passion, it was doting. Grietta didn’t suddenly fall for Heian Ciemnosc. But it was something… mystical.

In other words, Grietta suddenly felt that Heian Ciemnosc could have just not have done that and a mere kiss on her cheek, forehead, or backhand would have given her the same results. She felt… flabbergasted!

However, she also understood something else. Heian Ciemnosc saw her differently to anyone else whom he might do that in the future, just an innocent peck on the face or the hand. While Grietta knew Heian Ciemnosc was always open for her, Tania, and the times Alyona brings harlots to his bed, she knew he only had ‘promiscuous’ behavior when he was much younger in the Academy and the Blauw Empire.

Heian Ciemnosc rarely sought pleasure after that, and while he didn’t deny some interested gals, he instead added them into a ‘circle’ where he only started making them work for him after breaking into the Third Step. That’s how he gained access to the crew members that his Large Flotilla currently has.

“You, too, bring Anastasia around to have fun after this big-brained fella has had his fun. I will be cultivating, but I’ll welcome you in my arms if you look for me. Just don’t leave Anastasia alone,” Heian Ciemnosc said and placed his wrists below his head before closing his eyelids.

Pshift. Knowing he didn’t like his eyelids being seen, Grietta covered her lap with Spirit Sense before looking into the distance. Her heart fluttered but rapidly calmed down. But her mind was thundering… This was… a big change, right? But was it good… or was it really good?

“...” Grietta returned her pretty black eyes to Heian Ciemnosc’s face. She suddenly had the impulse to see him march to war, not just battles, or to a battlefield. She suddenly… had a desire to follow him in the future. Not only that, but she wanted to do it already, and bask in the prospects of what the future might bring, but her rationality wasn’t taken away because Grietta wasn’t enchanted, she…

Discerned through truths she could not understand.

‘Little Cici, what kind of monster are you really?’ Grietta thought as she lovingly caressed his overly pale eyelids. Heian Ciemnosc softly hummed in delight.

…