They traveled the wasteland together while anticipating any monsters that would appear. However, there was none. The only enemy was the distance between them and the pillar.
Originally, Arthur thought that the tunnels underground changed to keep him inside, but what if it also moved him farther away from the others? If this was true, then this fact implied something bewildering and yet dreadful.
They tried to separate Arthur from the rest for some reason, and Arthur could only think of one. Whoever was behind this knew of Arthur's connection to creation and his ability to eradicate the Enders.
This made Arthur run faster, but his tired body needed recovering. There was also Rae carrying Ori, as the scarf needed mana to be used. She didn't complain at all, but Arthur knew that she couldn't travel faster after her earlier display of power.
To be honest, Arthur was shocked that she could break that monster's skull at all. After all, it should have the properties of anti-magic. Yet, Rae used physical force only to break its skull.
As they were walking, they heard another scream as the bones started gathering to form another creature. Arthur's face paled at this as he was still recovering from earlier.
"Quick, carry him on your back!" Rae shouted and Arthur didn't think twice before doing as she said. He carried Ori on his back as Rae ran over to him and spread her scarf.
The scarf surrounded the three like a cocoon with Ori on Arthur's back and Rae standing close to him. The scarf slid underneath their feet as it started to levitate and move.
The scarf then grew transparent and Arthur was able to see the monster beyond it. As soon as they hid, the monster lost sight of them and fell apart into smaller bones.
"Where do I buy one of these?" Arthur was amazed at how versatile it could be. He suddenly felt a ticklish as a breath of warm air blow on his neck. He turned to see Rae sweating and breathing heavily. "Are you alright?"
"I am, now shut up." She said, breathless. It seems she was pushing her limits by hiding all of them. Arthur stared at her silently and placed his hand on her abdomen. "What are you doing?!" She panicked and looked down.
"Don't resist," Arthur said as he sent mana toward her energy center. His mana wasn't differentiated, meaning it could supply all awakeners without causing a conflict of energies.
"Take your hands off!" She shouted visibly shaken as she tried to remove his hand. However, she stopped when her body started glowing and became rejuvenated. "What is this?" She asked with her mouth agape.
"A little help to my lackey." Arthur smiled. She met his eyes and he could see the amazement in them.
"Is there anything you can't do at this point?" She sighed. "Giving me your mana would just be counterproductive. If we met any of those giant fishes, we would…"
"It's alright, I have a high stamina." Arthur wasn't worried. His stamina resembled that of tankers as it allowed him to recover faster. As for his mana, his art allowed him to replenish it faster than any arts he could get his hands on.
"Mm," Rae nodded and looked down on his hand. She seemed reluctant to leave it there, but she didn't say anything. Like this, they continued their trip unbothered by the other monsters.
It was half an hour later that they arrived at their destination. The black pillar of light pierced through the sky of the wasteland of bones. Beneath the pillar, they found a castle of bones standing imposingly.
"I don't think there are any other monsters here," Arthur said as he looked around. "Their existence could threaten the castle." He looked at Rae who had gotten used to the help he offered.
Arthur removed his hand and the mana supply was cut off. Rae flinched but didn't say anything. As the scarf unfolded, they landed again on the bony ground and Arthur placed Ori on the scarf again.
Looking at the castle in the distance, it was surrounded by roaming undead. From skeletons to undead monsters, there were hundreds of them roaming around the castle.
"We need to take care of them."
"Yeah, but that would take a while." Arthur looked at the castle with worry. "There's something wrong going on." He said with unease.
"What do you mean?" Rae asked with confusion.
"They're screaming for help." Arthur could hear their cries clearly from inside the castle. "They are… ceasing to exist." He could feel their existence fading. "We need to go, now." Arthur waved his hand as purple mana left his body.
In front of him appeared Lilo, stretching its body before letting out a deep roar that shook the heavens. Its majestic aura made the undead look their way with unease. Rae backed away at the sudden appearance of the dragon while looking at it with fear.
"Come on!" Arthur jumped on Lilo's back while offering his hand to Rae. She looked at him with both shock and suspicion. "I'm showing you all of this because I trust you. I know that I've hidden a lot of things, but I need you to trust me."
"…" Rae looked at him silently before waving her hand. Ori was carried to Lilo's back where Arthur grabbed him and placed him in front of him. Even now, he was unconscious. "I can jump on my own," Rae said before she jumped and landed gracefully behind him.
"I need you to protect Ori once we're there," Arthur asked of her. The only reason that he has shown so much of his powers now is that he could feel something familiar from within the castle.
It was the same feeling he had when he saw Yuran in the sea of memories. The Enders were trying to invade his body and take over his existence, and his screams were similar to what he was hearing now.
Whatever the thing that was going on inside of the castle was a repetition of the past. If this was the reason that Ori was like this, then it would mean that Ellen was also in danger of the same fate.
Lilo flapped his wings and they soared into the skies. They rose until they were above the castle before Arthur placed his hand on Lilo's head.
"Let's blast it open, Lilo," Arthur said as he started using the Art of Creation. The Dragon Mark on his hand started glowing as his mana seeped into it and then into Lilo.
"Hehe, this is fun, master." Lilo roared in delight as it opened its mouth preparing a mana blast. The sphere of mana turned golden as Arthur's mana seeped into it as well. The sphere sank into space as if the latter was a piece of fabric.
"Alexie Linan, what exactly are you?" Rae's voice came from behind him. "I'm starting to suspect that you aren't just a rural noble's illegitimate son."
"Well," Arthur smiled as the mana blast grew bigger. "I'm just a nobody." The mana blast was released and it tore through the skies in a golden pillar and struck the castle's roof where the black pillar was leaving it.
The mana blast collided with the castle's roof causing a shockwave to push them backward. There was a giant explosion as the castle's roof started to break down revealing the hall inside.
Lilo rose farther making Arthur see what was inside. A giant black circle was drawn on the ground with several bodies lying around it. It was the source of the black pillar and to Arthur's dismay, the people lying on the floor were the guild members he had arrived with.
"What is this?" Rae muttered in disgust at the scene. Every guild member was bleeding dark substance from their orifices while their eyes were white. "Is this some kind of altar?"
"Exactly," Arthur nodded as he looked at them, searching for Ellen. He found her after a few seconds lying in the center of the circle with her eyes closed and her face covered with black tar.
"Lilo, dive!" He commanded Lilo and they entered the bony castle through the hole in the roof. Without waiting for Lilo to land, Arthur jumped and landed in front of Ellen's body.
"Ellen!" He shouted as he cautiously looked around the hall. However, it was dark inside as the only light came from the glowing of the circle. He was surrounded by darkness.
Seeing that he couldn't be assured of his safety even while being cautious, Arthur ran toward Ellen and rested his knees beside her. He grabbed her shoulders as he tried to shake her awake.
There was no response.
"Ellen!" Arthur called out as he placed his fingers on her neck to feel a pulse, but there was none. She wasn't breathing either and her skin was cold. "No, wake up." Arthur injected her body with mana as he started compressing her chest to bring her heart beating again.
