The forest cradled the estate and the farms around it, making it easy for Arthur to reach it. However, a giant fist made of orange ethereal energy came from behind him as he was running, sent by one of the guards.
Arthur had to use his insignia again to diffuse it before diving into the forest. This body's stats were average at best, but the instinct to survive allowed it to sprint well enough to flee.
The roots of the forest were intertwined and so were the branches. This made it easier for Arthur to flee, even though the dim moonlight made it hard to navigate.
Through sheer luck or simply the incompetence of the guards, Arthur was able to cut a distance ahead. However, he had left an obvious trail that would surely be traced to him.
As he was running, Arthur didn't see a root that made him trip and roll down a hill. He balled himself as he rolled down, pain tearing through his flesh.
"Over there!"
Arthur heard a shout from above as his body collided with a giant tree. The air was kicked out of his lungs as he felt a throbbing pain in his back.
The footsteps of the soldiers grew closer and Arthur knew he had to run away. As he stood up, his face twitched as a foul smell entered his nose.
"This is…" Arthur frowned since the scent was familiar, yet different. He looked around and saw a shadow creep out of a tree beside him.
Arthur held his breath as the shadow revealed itself. He recognized the structure, but his keen senses toward 'existence' were thrown off by what he was feeling.
"Aha…" A low scream was issued from the creature as if crawled on the ground. Arthur backed away with fear as he saw the bones snap and reattach themselves.
"This can't be human," Arthur covered his nose as the creature, which was like a humanoid centipede, crawled in front of him. The distinctive dark substance oozed out of it resembling an Ender, but Arthur knew it was human. "Is this the monster the bartender mentioned?"
"AHHH!" The high-pitch scream took Arthur by surprise and he stumbled backward, tripping again.
This time, he didn't look back as he began running away from both the creature and the guards.
"W-what is this?" He heard a shout accompanied by the sound of clinking armor behind him. "Kill it!"
Swords were unsheathed as the monster, or the human, issued another scream. Arthur shook his head as he dived deeper into the forest. His thoughts were chaotic as he began connecting the dots.
The missing children and these creatures were the same. They were humans plagued by the dark substance of the fallen ones. However, why would they be in such a state?
Arthur's mind began racing even faster than his feet as he ran in the direction of the orphanage. He connected what the count has said with what he just realized and concluded that someone was doing this to these children.
The count mentioned a woman and there was only one woman that Arthur had met that can be the person. The mother of the child in the orphanage. Her existence has bothered Arthur since the first moment he met her, but she didn't look like the owner of this memory.
He reached the end of the forest in a blur and could see the tiled roof of the orphanage from a distance. Arthur tottered toward the gates and found them to be already closed. He tried to open them by force but his strength betrayed him.
Falling to his knees, Arthur tried to gather his breath. He needed to decide now who the owner was. Even though he suspected the woman, he didn't feel that she had anything with the Enders when he sat next to her.
However, he felt the Ender's existence in front of the orphanage. The people gathered there were the count, his guards, and the orphanage master. If one of them was a fallen one, and the count had nothing to do with the missing children, and the missing children having been turned to those creatures…
Arthur's eyes sharpened. He stood up and started running around the orphanage. He found that a part of the wall beside the yard had a crack. He used it to start climbing, despite the skin on his fingertips being torn apart.
He winced as the dirt mixed with his wounds but kept climbing. As he reached half of it, he slipped and fell. Arthur's body, or the owner's body, was begging to be spared.
Not heeding its prayers, Arthur picked himself up and climbed again. If his guesses were right, another kid was being turned into that creature right now. Even though this was a simulated world, the faces of those kids were still in his mind.
'Somewhere far away from my life,' Arthur thought as he climbed again. He couldn't feel his fingers anymore. 'These kids have seen hell.' Sadness pooled in his heart. 'How much despair did they feel if no one rescued them?'
He grabbed the edge of the wall with one hand and pulled himself up through gritted teeth. He had no energy to adjust himself and rolled over the wall, falling directly to the ground.
He heard a distinct crack and his leg burned with pain. He picked himself up, gathering all of his willpower, as he started roaming the orphanage.
He could feel it, the power of the Enders. He headed straight into the master's bedroom and used a knife he grabbed in the kitchen to unfasten his door. As he entered, the room was empty.
The smell of incense burned through his nose, but it didn't cover the foul smell coming from under the carpet. Arthur removed the carpet to find a staircase.
'They're down there.' Arthur realized as his stomach turned. He began descending the stairs as his consciousness blurred. The pain worked great to keep him awake, allowing him to reach the underground corridor.
Arthur could hear mumblings as his body rejected the Ender's existence. As if two magnets with opposite poles, his every cell repulsed these creatures.
His body was in tatters, torn at places and broken at others. However, he kept going forward since it will all be over soon. As he reached saw the lit archway in the distance, he began hearing the voices of the people clearer.
"Mommy, why are we here?" The child's voice rang in Arthur's ears. His words made Arthur realize it was the child from this morning. He frowned at the unexpected coincidence that this child would be the one brought here.
"Don't worry, sweetie." His mother's voice answered. "After this, you'll live safely with your father. I'll make sure you become a big and strong handsome man. Take care of yourself," Then came the sound of a leaked sob.
'What are they trying to do?'
Arthur quickened his pace as the mumblings grew louder. He gritted his teeth as the Ender began descending. The woman's scream resounded into his bones as Arthur passed the archway into the wide and lit underground abode.
Rather than an abode, it was an altar. The mother has been strapped in the middle with the child strapped next to her. The old man was mumbling as the mother's scream tore through her throats.
Her voice became hoarse when her body was fully covered with dark matter. The old man controlled the matter as a tongue protruded from the other and entered the child's body. Arthur pushed the tools and tables away as the child screamed.
The old man turned his way and Arthur raised his finger and pointed it at the old man.
"Ultimate!" Something left his finger and headed toward the old man, striking him in the chest. The old man began convulsing as his skin began to rot.
Arthur ignored his screams and headed straight to the child. The darkness has barely touched him but the skin was withering visibly. As for the mother, Arthur glanced at her and saw that all of her body was withering visibly.
Arthur fell to his knees and grabbed the dark matter with his hand. It began to rot as the darkness tried to swallow it.
"Begone." Arthur's eyes glowed brightly in the darkness as the darkness retreated. Arthur unfasted the child that had its skin still rotting with sadness.
'I'm sorry.' Arthur knew it wasn't real, but this has happened before. 'I'm sorry that this happened to you.'
The child was crying and calling for his mother. Arthur watched as the mother raised her hand in their direction. He saw her lips move as she whispered to him.
"Please…" Her voice was weak and hoarse. "Take care of…" Her hand fell to the ground. "… Yuran." Arthur's body began shaking as he heard her last word.
The world began breaking apart as Arthur felt people arrive at the orphanage from above. He turned at the child and finally realized why he was so familiar.
"Ah…" The pieces began to gather in his mind as Arthur's heart felt like a chunk of wood at that moment. A lump blocked his throat as he reached out. "You are…"
The world disappeared and was replaced by dark space. He was back at the World of Memories.
"You've done well." The Warden said to him but Arthur was still staring blankly ahead. He clenched his fist as he realized why Yuran has been called a cripple in the trial.
"Why have you shown me this?" Arthur gritted his teeth and asked the warden. "Did you know?"
