360. Oddities

“I came here to fucking help you guys, but what did I get? I was nearly stabbed in the fucking face.”

Amanda cursed as she got back to her feet. I tilted my head, facing her and listening to her complaints. Daniel wore an annoyed look on his face, while Edithe and Orgaf just looked confused. But I just smiled.

“I’m glad you’re here, Amanda! I’m so sorry that happened— Orgaf! Why’d you attack her?”

I turned to the Elite with a frown. I looked at him accusingly, and he drew back.

“What? I sensed we were being followed. I thought it was an assassin.”

He shook his head, gesturing at Amanda.

“No, she is an assassin. I can tell. You’re… part of the Harrowed Vindicators, aren’t you? Amanda the Silent Serpent.”

Orgaf’s eyes narrowed. He stared at her suspiciously— not really wary, considering he could deal with her with ease if she tried anything. Not that I’d allow that. I liked Amanda.

The brown-haired woman spat back at Orgaf.

“So what if I am? Do you have a problem with assassins, thief?”

“No. But I do have a problem with those who lack any respect for their betters. Watch your words carefully, girl. Or the next time I swing for you, I won’t miss.”

He spoke dangerously, taking a step forward as he brandished his dark blade. Amanda bit her lower lip, clearly nervous, but didn’t back down.

“Fuck you—”

“Alright, that’s enough.”

I clapped my hands together before either of them could kill each other. Orgaf opened his mouth to protest, but I raised a hand.

“Amanda is a friend, Orgaf. I don’t appreciate that you attacked a friend, simple as that. Now let’s just apologize and make up, ok?”

I looked between the two of them. Amanda shifted, averting her gaze. She said nothing, while Orgaf shuffled his feet as he grumbled.

“She’s the one who started it first, it’s not my fault…”

“It doesn’t matter whose fault it is. We’re not here to fight each other, but fight alongside each other. Now shake hands and apologize!”

I made them shake each others’ hands. Orgaf murmured under his breath.

“Fine, I’m sorry…”

“It’s whatever, I shouldn’t have insulted you either—”

Amanda spoke without meeting his gaze. I grinned, patting them both on the shoulders while a small audience watched.

Edithe blinked a few times, taking in this scene. Both Orgaf the Thief of the Golden Scale and Amanda the Silent Serpent were apologizing to each other like they were children who’d gotten in trouble. And Salvos, of all people, was acting like their mother.

The redhead turned to the other member of the audience.

“Daniel… can you please explain to me what I am watching?”

He closed his eyes, slowly burying his head in his hands out of sheer embarrassment.

“I don’t know either…”

And a voice laughed. Edithe turned around to face Willy, the [Will O’ Wisp] cackling behind them.

“Heh.”

“Someone, please, pinch me.”

Edithe sighed. This day can’t get any weirder.

Now that that was settled, I led the group away from that small forest clearing.

“Come on! It’s just a few miles from here.”

“I didn’t expect you to find Sickleshade Valley so soon. It must really stand out quite a bit, huh? Is it actually shaped like a sickle?”

Edithe commented idly. I shook my head.

“Oh, I didn’t find this Sickleshade Valley.”

I replied with a straight face. Willy piped from my left.

“Because I found it.”

“What? No! I saw it first!”

I sputtered, but the [Will O’ Wisp] was insistent.

“Nuh-uh. Me first!”

“You only knew what it was when I pointed it out to you—

“Wait, what do you mean by that?”

Daniel’s voice interrupted our bickering. I smiled at him, running forward. I ushered my companions to hurry as I ran on.

“Come on, you’ll see.”

We continued for about five more minutes before I came to a halt. My companions, Orgaf, and Amanda were a step behind them. They all came to a halt as I spread my arms wide.

“Yep, this is it.”

They stared with wide eyes. Speechless. They had nothing to say— no input. Willy flitted around me, and I turned back around to face the desolate landscape. The forest of trees came to an end here. Or, at least, was briefly cut off. Trees lay overturned at the fringe of the trampled ground. A line had been cut through the forest. A path paved by a stampede.

“This is proof the [Goliath Oliphants] had been through here.”

I walked over the broken trees and fallen branches. It was like a hole had been carved through the forest, leaving destruction at its wake. I glanced left and right, seeing it spread out far and wide. It curved like a river flowing through the forest. I could see neither ends of this line of destruction, but one side led to the northeast to seemingly nowhere while the other led southwest to the Motharis Mountain Range.

“So…”

I looked back at my companions, still surveying this landscape. I pointed at one end of the path, then the other.

“Where do you think the Oliphants went?”

—

No one in our party was a tracker, per se, but we did have Skills. Passive Skills that would help us survive in the wild. And with the help of those Passive Skills and our general intuition, we all agreed that it was highly likely the Oliphants traveled to the southwest.

Towards the Motharis Mountain Range.

It only made sense. Their original habitat had been deep within Motharis before the Wyverns drove them out. They probably had a natural instinct that would draw them back to their home.

So we set out towards those mountains in the distance as the sun began to set. Edithe and Daniel were slightly nervous, but they’d already resolved themselves to grow stronger. Meanwhile, Willy, Amanda, and Orgaf had no qualms about this since they were higher-leveled.

These [Goliath Oliphants] weren’t even that big of a threat anyway. Edithe would’ve struggled the most against them but I believed in her power.

But despite that, I was the most nervous out of all those present. Or maybe nervous wasn’t there right way to describe it. I was… antsy. Excited. Anxious. Why? Well, the answer was simple.

Belzu was last around the Motharis Mountain Range.

There was a chance I could run into him again once I entered Motharis. Sure, that chance was minuscule. After all, the Motharis Mountain Range spanned hundreds of miles long. Yet, there was a building trepidation within me— either hope or worry— that told me I’d run into Belzu again.

We always seemed to find each other, no matter what happened, and I didn’t know why. But this time, I wasn’t going to fight via clones. I wasn’t going to run. I had everything I needed to beat him.

My fist tightened as I led the way, and Edithe walked up to my side.

“Are you alright, Salvos?”

“Hm?”

I cocked my head. She peered at me, studying my expression.

“You just look worried about something.”

“Do I?”

I didn’t know that it was that obvious. But I paused. I glanced back. I saw Amanda looking uncomfortable as Daniel rolled his eyes.

“Fuck, if I’d known I was going to be attacked for offering my help—”

“No one asked you to come, Amanda. Seriously, stop complaining—”

Willy and Orgaf didn’t pay much attention to my feelings either.

“So, what is a Grand Spirit doing without a [Summoner]?”

“...no understand.”

“I was under the impression all Spirits were born with [Universal Language Comprehension]. How odd…”

“Uh… no speak?”

“But you’re speaking right now—”

It was just Edithe. She noticed my subtle fidgeting masked with each step. And she looked at me warmly.

“I know I’m the weakest one here, Salvos. But I’m not an idiot. And I’m your friend. You can tell me if something is wrong.”

“Um…”

I shrugged, not sure what to say. Then I met the red-haired woman’s gaze.

“If anything really bad happens, Edithe, I want you to run.”

“Run?”

She furrowed her brows. I nodded.

“Yep. I’ll be fine, don’t worry. But you have to run, alright?”

“...I see.”

That was all she said, and the conversation ended. I could’ve told her that I had a feeling we were going to run into Belzu, but she’d have immediately turned back. There was no way she was going to let me face the Primeval Demon at my current level.

But I didn’t want to endanger her life. So, I raised a hand and snapped my fingers.

“And don’t worry.”

I spoke as all six of my clones appeared around me in an instant. They were summoned quite quickly, too. Was it because my Skill was maxed? Edithe paused. Amanda looked away from Daniel, giving me a puzzled look.

“What’s she doing?”

“Just some precautions.”

I answered the former assassin before turning back to Edithe. I gave her a reassuring smile.

“I’ll make sure you and Daniel are safe.”

Edithe nodded slowly. We continued on. The Motharis Mountain Range was still so far away. And we followed the trail of destruction. It would lead us to the undulating hills. We spoke about mundane topics. I barely paid attention as Daniel and Amanda recycled their usual banter.

“Seriously, just leave if you don’t want to be here—”

But as day turned to night and we were still miles away, I began to sense something was amiss.

“Huh. Why aren’t we there yet?”

“It’s just a few more miles. We’ll be there by sunset.”

Orgaf spoke simply. I shook my head.

“But hasn’t it already been sunset for a while?”

I gestured at the line where the sky met the earth. The sun was setting. Slowly. But it didn’t seem to fully descend. Orgaf, however, just gave me a confused look.

“What do you mean?”

“I…”

I trailed off. I looked towards the sunset. Then towards the Motharis Mountain Range. Orgaf shrugged and turned back to Willy.

“It’s probably nothing. Don’t worry about it. Anyway, what’s a Grand Spirit like you doing without a [Summoner]?”

He addressed the [Will O’ Wisp]—

And I froze. Didn’t they already have that conversation? I faced my companions. Amanda was arguing with Daniel again as Orgaf and Willy were having the same small talk as before. Then I turned to the sunset. The orange ball was hanging there in the sky, where it’d been before. And I craned my neck towards Motharis. No matter how much closer we get, we were not getting closer—

“Salvos?”

Edithe’s voice interrupted my mind’s ramblings. I sputtered before she could speak.

“Is something—”

“Not you too?”

I stared at her, aghast. She blinked.

“Me… too? What are you talking about?”

“Don’t you see what’s going on? This doesn’t make sense. None of this makes any sense. I—”

She grabbed me by the shoulder.

“Calm down, Salvos. What are you talking about?”

“This is has to be magic. A curse? An illusion? No—”

I pursed my lips. Edithe narrowed her eyes. She met my gaze.

“Are you sure, Salvos?”

I nodded as I activated [Planar Navigation], but I didn’t sense anything was wrong. Everything felt right to me, even though I knew it was wrong. I tried to work my jaw.

“It’s an illusion. It has to be Belzu’s illusion. And a curse, maybe. But my [General Status Effect Resistance] isn’t…”

I couldn’t finish my explanation. Edithe was staring at me as I stammered wildly.

“Belzu? His illusions? But why is the Primeval Demon—”

And she paused. Edithe’s eyes widened. Her green eyes shimmered for a moment. As if she saw something I couldn’t. I took a step back.

“Edithe?”

“This is an illusion!”

She yelled, swinging her staff at something. Daniel, Amanda, Orgaf, and Willy turned to her as she was knocked to the ground by thin air. I shouted, running to her side.

“Edithe!”

And a figure stepped in front of me. No— not just a figure. Six figures. They made me come to a halt. My own clones stopped me. I tried to move them out of the way, but all six of them ignored me.

All six of them? That wasn’t right. I didn’t have only six clones. With [Salvo of Vanity] maxed at Level 25, I had ten clones now. Also, the fact that I was still at full strength even after summoning them… unless I didn’t summon them at all?

One of them lashed out my way as the realization sank in. Orgaf’s eyes widened. He shouted, leaping to intercept the attack.

“Salvos—”

He cut through the attack with ease. He looked around in alarm as I warily backed away from him.

“What’s going on? When did we get trapped in an illusion? Why are your clones attacking you?”

“It’s Belzu’s! The Primeval Demon’s illusions! He must’ve caught us off guard—”

I started, and Edithe rose to her feet. She glared at something in the sky and shouted.

“That’s enough!”

Edithe’s voice echoed. She slammed her staff on the ground, casting a beam of light to the sky. The sky cracked from the blast. I covered my eyes from the blinding light. The world shattered around me as Orgaf, Daniel, Amanda, and Willy drew back. We all looked on as the illusion was torn down. A dark dome hung overhead, speckled with stars. A warm breeze washed over us. I stumbled back, casting my gaze around as I caught sight of the dead trees.

These desiccated trunks jutted out of the ground and spread out for a mile in every direction. Figures moved between them, and what had previously looked like my clones transformed to Mindreapers.

And up above, floating underneath the moon, was Belzu. The Primeval Demon. Edithe was staring right at him. He clicked his mandibles together.

“Hmph. if you’d just followed the illusion and left this forest, you wouldn’t have to die today. Alas…”

He raised his arms, and a cacophony of terrible shrieks echoed from all around us. I looked up as Wyverns darted around him. I felt the earth shaking as Oliphants charged us from every direction. Belzu finished as he pointed at me.

“This will be the last time we ever meet, Salvos. Goodbye. [Forlorn Execution].”