"Did you mark the coordinates leading to the source?" Kristen asked, eyes gazing at the ruined cityscape as he walked beside Asher.
"Four o'clock northeast. The source is grounded, so it shouldn't be a problem to nullify it."
"That is--if we don't encounter a Vilesworn"
"The possibility of there being one is higher than it being not present, considering how many Hollows we encountered yesterday."
"Did you get in contact with the Central?"
"The communication seems to be interrupted every time I try making contact. Probably interference from the Monolith"
"Ahh, what a pity. I wanted to let Lylia know we were bringing in guests."
Asher's expression remained impassive, glancing at Kristen, he asked."Do you believe them?"
Kristen shrugged, "Based on our conversation back at the shelter, they seem to be completely clueless about the situation."
"But their situation doesn't make sense at all. How can they not remember anything at all?
"There is one possibility," Kristen replied, his tone serious.
"And how are you so sure? They might simply be lying all along."
"I'm confident that my deductions are correct."
"What makes you think that?"
"They have Aetherian blood running through their veins." Kristen's expression got grim as he continued.
"It seems like the Aeriths have finally managed to make a vessel capable of handling both Ember and Aether simultaneously."
"…You think they were test subjects?"
Kristen nodded, "Possibly."
They might have been brainwashed, tortured, and experimented on. Then, they were discarded and left to die in the forsaken woods. Somehow, they managed to survive and ended up here.
"What makes you think they are failed subjects?"
"Their body didn't have any Aether flowing through their body despite having Aetherian blood, which is unnatural, and even after getting the Rune of Indemnity, their body still doesn't have any Ember as if it's rejecting them".
"What if you are wrong? What if–" before Asher could continue, they suddenly heard rapid footsteps leading up to them.
"Well, it looks like we have company," Kristen sighed, pulling out a heavy staff from his back.
"Let's clean up here, I wanna go home already." Runes flared to life on his arms, and the heavy staff became a war hammer with intricate runes woven all around its haft..
Asher unsheathed his blade, crimson runes flared on its blade, and with a resigned sigh, he dashed forward. It seemed like this was going to be a tiresome day.
They made their way closer to the Monolith's location; however, upon reaching there, they encountered something strange, something they couldn't wrap their heads around."
"The Vilesworn…it was already dead. Its body lay in its own blood, the eyes gouged out, leaving behind two bloodied sockets, its lower half shredded as if someone had eaten it alive."
"What the fuck happened here" Asher whispered, gazing at the horrifying state of the vilesworn's body.
They scanned the surroundings looking for clues as to what could have happened here, but instead found more dead corpses, many of them being Hollows and some Nameless ones as well, all of their bodies mangled up.
"What kind of creature could have done such a thing?"
"I'm not detecting any new source; this seems to be the only one in this city," Asher said, fiddling with a strange holographic device in his hand.
"But then, how did all of these creatures die?"
"Whoever did this seems to be extremely good at hiding, even the radar isn't picking up anything."
"What should we do then?"
After pondering over the situation for a while, Kristen finally made the decision.
"Our mission was to destroy the source, we can leave the rest of the work for the Central after we report to them on what happened."
Asher agreed, and they went forward towards the monolith, a twisted black tree with crimson leaves and red veins spreading in all directions.
"It's massive, seems closer to a weak Spire of profanity than a Monolith," Kristen uttered.
"It doesn't matter either way," Asher muttered as he took out a knife, it shimmered in golden radiance.
"Give us strength, Oh benevolent mother," with that, the entire area was engulfed in scorching yellow flames.
Rayne's POV
I opened my eyes to find Zei sleeping beside me. Looking around, it seemed like Asher and Kristen were still outside,
"How long was I asleep for?" I murmured, trying to get up carefully without waking her up.
Suddenly, I felt a tug at my shirt. "Mmm…where are you going?" she mumbled, still half asleep. I smiled.
"I am going to wash up. You should get up soon as well."
"Mmhm, I will," with that, she drifted back to sleep.
The sky outside glowed with the warm orange of the fading sunset. It was evening now. We must have slept through most of the day. Given how exhausted we'd been, it didn't come as a surprise.
Kristen had told us to make ourselves comfortable, so I brewed myself a cup of coffee and stepped outside. The scent of damp earth and the soft whisper of the wind greeted me.
There were still countless questions and doubts ravaging my mind. However, one thing had become clear to me after everything that had happened.
I need to become stronger.
To protect Zei and live a life where I don't have to hide and feel helpless anymore. The strange ability I'd used, a foresight ability, was still a mystery.
Zei also gained some sort of ability which seemed much more destructive than mine, but she hesitated to talk about it.
Perhaps we can get some help from Asher and Kristen, I thought, but revealing that we have such powers to them might be dangerous, even though they are kind enough to help us. It's better not to reveal too much.
I sipped my coffee and sighed.
About an hour passed before Zei stirred awake; neither Asher nor Kristen had returned, so we had nothing to do except wait for them.
We spent the next 2 days exploring the surrounding area, being careful not to venture too far.
On the third day, both of them returned.
Apart from some light stains of blood, they seemed completely fine. Kristen had the same warm smile on his face, meanwhile Asher looked as calm as always.
"Ah, how have you been? Was there any problem while we were gone?" Kristen asked warmly
'We are grateful for your hospitality, we enjoyed these past days to the fullest," Zei replied
"As I told you, don't fret over it," Kristen said, waving her off. "Anyway, we will soon be leaving this god awful place, and you guys will be coming with us since we can't leave you here."
"To where?" I asked cautiously
"The Republic of Eleithiya, where we live. My wife would be pleased to meet both of you." Kirsten said with a cheerful expression on his face.
"She isn't the best cook in the world but at least it's better than the packaged crap we have been eating for days right?"