"Please don't throw your sword like that, sir. I had a hard time finding it." Selvic handed over the blade, covered in blood and mud, his voice laced with frustration.
"If I hadn't thrown it, Snyx would have been dead by now," Michael replied with a touch of mockery. He took the sword and pulled a white cloth from the pouch tied at his left waist.
Michael wiped the blood and mud from the blade, then tossed the stained cloth aside.
"Alright, everyone—gather up," Michael commanded loudly.
Everyone was preparing to venture deeper into the Ether Forest. They gathered their gear from the supply bag Vix had brought, checking weapons and securing essentials in tense silence.
One by one, they circled around Michael. The anxiety in their eyes was unmistakable—silent proof of the unknown danger ahead.
Michael turned his head to Alice and Selvic.
"Take the lead. Head to where you spotted the footprints." Without a word, they both nodded and moved ahead, heading toward the river.
Michael and the others followed in silence.
The forest was silent, as if holding its breath. Only the soft patter of rain broke the stillness.
The sharp, metallic scent of Ether clashed with the damp, earthy aroma of the ground. Each step felt heavier than the last, as if the very air sought to choke them. Even with the rain, cold sweat trailed down their brows—drawn not just by exertion, but by the oppressive fear of the unknown.
Thick branches veiled the gray sky, shrouding the forest in an eerie darkness that felt unnatural for daytime.
The group trudged through wet leaves drooping from the trees, each brush against their faces cold and unpleasant, like the forest itself was trying to slow them down.
While walking Klint's eyes locked onto something unnatural. He leaned closer to Divas and whispered, "You... look at that tree."
Divas followed his gaze. "What's wrong with it?" he asked, frowning.
The tree bark was coated in a strange red bioluminescent fungus. But that wasn't what unsettled Klint. It was the shapes the fungus had taken—like screaming faces, mouths agape in silent horror.
Divas swallowed, his throat suddenly dry.
Vix, walking a few paces ahead, heard the exchange and spoke without turning back.
"It's normal."
Klint's voice lowered further. "What...? What's normal..? Does that look normal to you?"
"According to the manual," Vix replied in a casual tone, "it's a common occurrence. The fungus here grows in bizarre patterns—often mimicking pained human expressions. No one knows why." He paused for a moment, then added, "But some explorers believe the fungus reflects the final expressions of those who died here."
Hearing Vix's explanation, a cold shiver crept down Klint and Divas's spines.
They quickly averted their gaze from the grotesque fungus, forcing their eyes forward. As they continued walking, a sudden wet thud broke the tense silence.
Selvic had fallen flat onto the muddy ground.
"What happened?" Michael asked, his voice tinged with concern.
Chris stepped forward and offered his hand, helping Selvic to his feet as the latter gave a sheepish laugh. "Nothing… I wasn't looking down. Got tangled in a root and tripped, that's all."
Selvic's eyes quickly flicked to Alice. She looked just as startled as she was concerned, her brows knit in worry.
"Be careful, Selvic," Chris said, tapping his shoulder.
The group didn't waste much time and continued moving forward.
Due to the rain, the ground had turned soft and soggy. With every step, their boots sank into the thick mud, which clung stubbornly to the leather and weighed them down. Every few minutes, they had to pause and scrape off the mess just to keep moving.
As they moved deeper, the trees began to take on twisted, unnatural shapes. Their branches stretched out like clawed hands, gnarled and grasping at the air. The bark was warped with strange, curled-up growths that made the trunks look like they were writhing in silent agony.
"You okay?" Selvic asked softly.
"Hm? Uh, yeah. What about you?" Alice replied, her voice laced with unease.
"I'm fine." He waved his hands lightly in the air. "Don't overthink the surroundings. It's just trees."
"Says the guy who face-planted in the mud," Vix chimed in, a teasing edge in his voice.
Selvic ignored Vix and glanced back at Michael. "Sir, we're almost there."
In a few moments, they reached the riverbank.
The water was dark—almost black—and the river wasn't too deep. It flowed silently beneath the steady rain, winding deeper into the eerie heart of the ether forest.
Everyone scanned the area carefully. There was nothing out of the ordinary—except for the unsettling stillness and creepy atmosphere that clung to the forest itself.
"The footprints were found around here," Alice said, pointing to the damp ground.
Michael looked around, then walked over to a fallen tree trunk covered in moss and sat down.
"Hmm... Are you sure the tracks lead deeper?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes. I'm certain, though we didn't follow them too far because of the obvious danger," Alice replied. Selvic nodded in agreement beside her.
"All right. We'll follow the river—see if it leads us to anything." Michael stood and started walking forward.
They followed the riverbank, making their way deeper into the Ether Forest
As they walked along the riverbank, a grim sight caught their eyes several humanoid bodies lay scattered along thier way. The corpses looked like they had been there for a long time, their skin almost completely overtaken by a strange, brown fungus that spread like iron rust across every inch of the body.
The fungus seemed to grow from the deepest cavities — stomachs torn open, mouths agape in silent pain, hollow eye sockets, and other broken orifices. Thick strands of the brittle, rust-colored growth curled and snaked outward, intertwining with shredded remnants of clothing, the only proof that these were once human.
Vix looked at the disturbing sight and said in a calm voice. "I think they're the people from the villages outside the outer zone."
Everyone nodded in silence.
Divas asked while walking and looking down on the fungus infested bodies. "Is it really necessary for these people to illegally enter here. How do they even bypass the guards."
"The guards don't do shit. How do you think Nazim got into the forest so easily?" Vix said, eyes scanning the fungus infested bodies. "The Empire's supposed to regulate this area, but the guards barely get paid. So they let villagers slip in for a little sum of money. These poor bastards risk their lives hoping to find Medicinal herbs and sell them for a better price in a city."
He paused, then added with a hint of disdain, "The villages are completely neglected. They're forced to pay taxes every four months and get nothing in return. Honestly, it's worse here than the villages back in our kingdom. Without proper purification devices, they end up dying slow, painful deaths from slow ether exposure."
"True... I saw some people selling masks when we passed through the village. Probably fake purifiers. No wonder so many were buying them," Klint added.
After walking for roughly thirty minutes, they came across nothing unusual. The rain had slowed to a drizzle.
A few minutes later, they reached a fork in the path that split into three directions.
The middle path continued along the river, while the other two branched off to the left and right.
"Sir Michael, I have a request," Klint said, his voice tinged with frustration.
"What is it?" Michael asked.
"Let me scream curses at that bastard," Klint muttered, exhausted from the endless chase through the mud.
"Ah… sure, go ahead," Michael said, barely paying attention to the odd request.
Klint took a deep breath and shouted at the top of his lungs, "NAZIM, YOU MOTHERFUCKER!" But the sound was muffled by his purifier and didn't carry as far as he'd hoped.
"Satisfied?" Divas asked with a chuckle.
"Nah… I wanted it to echo, man," Klint replied, a bit more relaxed now.
The group laughed at his strange outburst, and the mood lightened.
"Let's split up," Michael said in a serious tone.
The mood shifted immediately. That didn't sound right. Even when they were all together, there was still fear—splitting up only made it worse.
The forest had been silent for too long. No monsters, no movement, nothing. Just rain and the thick air filled with Ether. It felt wrong.
Everyone looked at each other. No one said anything, but the fear in their eyes was clear.
Despite the cold, they were sweating. Not from the weather—but from the growing feeling that something was waiting for them.
Michael noticed their tense expressions and spoke in a steady, reassuring voice."I know this doesn't feel right. But remember why we're here. What Nazim's done… it can't be undone. Catching him won't bring back the people we lost—but it'll give peace to those left behind. We owe it to them. This bastard shamed our kingdom, spat on everything we stand for. We stop him, and we take that honor back. Whatever he's planning, we'll tear it down. Just don't forget why you became knights."
Hearing Michael, Alice asked in an uncertain tone, "B-but, Sir… do we really have to split up? Can't we just check each route together?"
Selvic and the others gave a slight nod, agreeing with her suggestion.
Michael replied, "And waste time? I'm not asking you to fight. Just scout quietly—see if he's there or not, that's all. If there's danger, run. And if you can't run, use a Flair Beam. I'll come to you, no matter what."
Neither Alice nor anyone else said anything, they just nodded in an agreement.
Michael then spoke in a commanding tone, "We're splitting into three teams. Vix, Selvic, and Alice—you take the right path. Chris, Klint, and Divas—you take the left. I'll follow the river straight ahead."
Klint and Divas exchanged a glance, clearly unhappy about being paired with Chris after what had happened earlier.
Michael noticed and shot them a disappointed look. "This isn't the time. Get over it."
The two hesitated for a moment, but said nothing. They knew Michael wouldn't change his decision.
After a few moments of silence, they all went their separate ways—uneasy, but resolute. They knew this wasn't just about duty. It was for their people… and for their pride.
After all, the tragedy happened while they stood tall, clad in polished armor and royal cloaks, carrying hollow pride that shattered in an instant. That day, the blood of their citizens ran through the streets, staining the kingdom's roads red.
***
Klint glanced at Divas and whispered, keeping his voice low so Chris, walking ahead, wouldn't hear. "You think he's still mad at us?"
Divas shot him a sharp look. "What do you think? You just blurt things out—'maybe we're overestimating him'? What the hell was that?"
Klint blinked, caught off guard. "What? Didn't you agree with me? Dude, you're such a hypocrite."
"Yeah… I did," Divas muttered, looking around. "But when I heard Chris, I changed my mind. I feel bad now."
Chris, walking ahead, seemed to catch part of the conversation despite their efforts to keep it quiet. He stopped in his tracks and turned around, his deep violet eyes locking onto them.
"You two got something you want to say to me?"
Klint and Divas looked at him, their eyes slightly apologetic and regretful. They wanted to say many things but they couldn't mutter a word in front of him due to his overwhelming presence.
"I'm not mad at you. Just angry at myself don't think too much about it and let's focus on what we are here to do." Chris said in a calm tone.
"Really?" Klint asked still suspicious of Chris's behaviour.
"Yeah that's it.. don't think too much about it.." Chris said.
Chris then turned around and started to walk again.
Divas looked at Klint he had same expression as his a surprised one.
"Have you guys heard the stories about the great emperor Bahel Mephestus?" Chris asked.
Klint and Divas were caught off guard by the sudden question. Klint replied, "You mean the one who founded the Valhalla Empire during the Great War between the Devil King and the Seven Gods?"
"Yeah, him…" Chris said quietly. "My father used to tell me his stories. How he rose from nothing. How he became one of the generals in the Great War through sheer strength and courage. I was a scared kid back then—weak, fragile. My brothers used to bully me for it."
He paused, then continued. "But my father… he always believed in me. He used to tell me those stories when I cried alone in my room. He said the great emperor wasn't always strong—he was like me once. But he never gave in to weakness. That idea… and my father's love… it kept me going. It made me want to become a warrior. A protector."
Chris stopped walking and looked up at the sky. His voice lowered.
"But that day… I couldn't protect what mattered most to me."
Klint and Divas looked at him with wide eyes, the mood shifting instantly.
"My father… was a 5-Star mage. He had to guard the king. But that bastard—Nazim—trapped the spell inside him, locked his own internal energy in his body when he was still casting the spell. And then… he exploded. Right there. From the inside."
Chris's voice cracked. His legs trembled, and he dropped to his knees. Klint and Divas rushed to his side, holding his shoulders, but he kept talking, his words broken by tears.
"The same hands that raised me with love… gone. The arms that hugged me—ripped apart. The heart that loved me… was lying shattered on the floor. I had to collect his body… in pieces to even hold his funeral."
"H-his death… it wasn't painless at all…" Chris's voice trembled. "He suffered. Every second, he felt his body being torn apart from the inside. He didn't deserve that. He was kind—to everyone. Even to me, a failure. If only I had been there… maybe I could've stopped it."
He clenched his fists, eyes burning with grief.
"But it's not like I saved anyone else either. I couldn't protect the citizens. I couldn't prevent anything. That day… I felt like ending it all. Just putting an end to this miserable life. But I'm still alive for one reason—so I can see the end of that bastard. The one who took everything that mattered to me."
KILL/ME/KILL.
Arc - Désespoir et Mort.