The small guard was Wei Song all along. So that was the reason why Xing Cai thought that the stance and techniques that he was using earlier was familiar to her.
"B-brother Song… What are you doing here?", remembering how he did not even care about the small guard earlier, Viel's voice started to weaken. It turned out that the small guard was actually Wei Song!? Then he almost killed his friend!
"Well, I kind of… borrowed a uniform. I didn't steal it, I swear!", Wei Song vehemently waved his hands repeatedly.
"This is reckless! You could have died!", Xing Cai quickly reprimanded Wei Song. In a way, this was her fault. She should have realized who he was right from the start when he was acting weirdly close towards her and Viel. And now that she remembers it, Wei Song was not there when Viel's friends said their goodbyes.
He was here all along, right under their noses.
"A-are you alright, Brother Song?", Viel ran slowly approached Wei Song, clearly checking if he was injured.
"Heh. Of course, who do you think I am!?", Wei Song placed his hand on his hips as he raised his nose, laughing.
"Why would you even pretend to be a guard!?", Xing Cai once again reprimanded Wei Song.
"…Because I am Viel's big brother!", Wei Song looked at Xing Cai with a dumbfounded expression. Like what he stated was something already obvious. "I am here to protect him! I promised my sister that I would protect her future husband!"
"Eeh. But you are weaker than me?", Viel said as he tilted his head.
Of course, he knew that. But how else would he repay Viel for saving his mother and sister?
"T-this…", Wei Song's confidence was instantly crushed, "B-but who was it that covered you from those people that were throwing rocks at you!? Yes, it was I!"
"Hhmm… That is true", Viel placed his hand on his chin as he thought about it seriously.
"Eh, what did you think? Was my disguise good? You think I can serve as a guard in the Palace now?", Wei Song repeatedly nudged Viel with his elbows.
"But you were shivering in fear earlier though?"
"…T-that was me charging up"
Xing Cai could not help but pinch the ridges of her nose as she watched the two. She no longer knew what she should do with this situation.
And it didn't help that the two kids were actually having a normal conversation in a place that was filled with dead bodies just a few minutes ago.
Should he send Wei Song home?
No, that was impossible. She knew the number of disciples of her sect, the lifeless horde that they fought earlier was not even an eight of the total number of disciples of her sect.
Should he let Viel let loose? No, it was evident earlier that Viel's control on his powers were not quite there yet. If he used it in a larger scale, something bad might happen. Xing Cai still remembered General Diao's report from when Viel covered the whole of Taizhou in a barrier.
Then the only option she had was to bring him along inside the dungeon, as originally planned.
"Wei Song, please know that this is not a game. You almost died earlier", Xing Cai interrupted the two's enthralling conversation, "And your life will most certainly be in danger again once we are inside the dungeon"
Wei Song's expression quickly turned serious as he heard Xing Cai's warning. "This student is ready, Elder Xing Cai!", Wei Song said while bowing.
"Let us go. Before more of the treants come", Xing Cai said.
"Ooh", Viel clapped, "You are going to like it there. There's this room full of lights called an arcade…"
Viel then started to tell his experiences of the dungeon to Wei Song while they were walking towards the portal.
Seeing Viel somehow returning to his old self even just by a little, Xing Cai could not help but slightly smile.
Friends.
This is what Viel truly needs. Perhaps without them, Viel will truly become what the world feared him to be, a monster.
No! Viel is not a monster! Xing Cai had already made an oath to herself. She will try her best not to make that happen.
She would remind herself of this everyday until her dying breath.
"Yeah, and there's this redhaired man, very bad-… Brother Song?"
They were almost at the front of the portal, but Xing Cai could not help but stop walking when she noticed that Viel and Wei Song's conversation stopped abruptly.
She then looked back, only to see Wei Song kneeling on the ground while clutching his stomach.
"B-brother Song? What's wrong?"
"GUHHIKKK!!"
Wei Song suddenly shouted as he wriggled in pain on the ground, a huge amount of blood spraying from his mouth.
Seeing this, Xing Cai's hair stood on ends.
She quickly rushed towards the suffering Wei Song and ripped his armor.
And, like fate toying with them, one of the worse things that Xing Cai thought could happen, happened.
Slithering…
There, on the skin of Wei Song's stomach, purple vines were slithering.
"UGH!"
Once again, Wei Song howled in pain as tears started to fall from his eyes. His skin, starting to get pale from all the blood he was puking.
"E-elder Xing Cai. P-please… help me…"
Wei Song's expression was twisted in desperation. He knew the fate of those affected by the purple vine.
He saw as their limbs fell off, only to be replaced by the vines.
He saw as their skin hang from their body, being torn apart piece by piece with every second.
He saw as their bodies were twisted, and the disgusting sounds that were made whenever they move.
"No…No… please… please…"
Wei Song… knew his fate.
And the worse part of it all?
He was only 12 years old.
Xing Cai knew this, and she was horrified. Think! There must be something from the texts earlier!
Xing Cai closed her eyes and tried to concentrate. She tried to remember all the contents of the information earlier about the treants.
But no matter how much she recalls it in her mind, there was nothing.
Nothing about removing the treant from a live host.
Nothing.
Once again, Xing Cai could do nothing.
"Please… I… I don't want to die…", Wei Song's tears started to gush out even stronger as his breathing turned ragged, "Brother… "
"I…I'm scared"
Wei Song chuckled as he looked at Viel, with blood oozing out from his mouth at the same time, causing him to cough. And slowly, Wei Song closed his eyes as he fell into unconsciousness.
And then, a bright light suddenly appeared beside him.
"You are not dying, brother"
[Lu Yi: Heal]
Viel said as his palm started to light up even brighter, and a huge ring of light appeared above his head. Viel had enough of losing people that he cared about, this time, he will save his friend.
And Xing Cai watched, Xing Cai watched as Wei Song's breathing slowly turned normal.
The color on Wei Song's skin also started to return, and most important of all, the purple vines that were starting to spread on his stomach was also starting to disappear.
And slowly, but surely… the purple vines disappeared without a trace of it even being there.
"Hm…", Wei Song's eyes flickered before it slowly and peacefully opened, "B…brother… you…"
"Thank you…", said Wei Song with a warm smile on his face.
Xing Cai couldn't believe it. She covered her opened mouth as she wiped the single tear that managed to fall from her eye. She has seen a lot of deaths, but a person that was barely a teenager dying in pain? That was something else entirely.
Viel shook his head, "It was nothi-"
*SPLURT*
Then, Viel felt something warm hit his face.
He made a mistake.
He made a mistake on using his skill.
He realized it as soon as he saw the enormous bunch of vines and flowers that were in front of him.
And, with his hand shaking, Viel touched his wet face.
Blood.
He was covered in blood.
Both his hands started to shake as he soon found himself gasping for breath, choking.
A monster.
Monster.
He was a monster.
Viel the slowly looked at Wei Song's face. Wei Song's eyes were open. They were wide open, as if he was in shock.
Viel's eyes then slowly traveled back to the vines and flowers that now scattered in front of him. And there, he finally saw it clearly.
Wei Song's body was split in two.
"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
A monster.
He was a monster.
Viel held his head as he shouted, causing Wei Song's blood to drip from his hair. His shout was loud enough to shake the entire building.
His breathing became rapid as his whole body seemed to begin to shake. He was a monster.
A monster.
He should just disappear.
How? How would he disappear?
It was then that Viel slowly looked at the entrance of the dungeon as he stood up… and slowly walked towards it.
His breathing still ragged, and his pace abnormal.
This is your fault.
You should just disappear.
Demonspawn.
Monster.
All the things that the mob had called him came rushing to his mind as he slowly approached the portal.
While Xing Cai… Xing Cai was frozen in shock.
Some of Wei Song's blood also reached her face.
Xing Cai's mind was blank. She was just standing there staring at Wei Song. Even when Viel's shout quaked the whole building, she just stood there.
She then slowly looked at Viel, who was now slowly walking towards the entrance of the dungeon.
But she just watched. She watched as Viel got nearer and nearer towards the entrance.
'What are you doing!? Chase him!', Xing Cai thought.
But still, she did not move. Her body was not listening to her.
No.
That wasn't true.
She could move if she wanted to.
But she was hesitating.
She was hesitating because what she was chasing was a monster.
'!!!'
It was then that Xing Cai was finally able to move herself. Viel…
Viel is just a child.
Xing Cai quickly chased after Viel, whose body was now slowly disappearing into the dungeon.
"Viel, wait!"
She reached out her hand, but all she could touch was Viel's hair.
And then, before she could enter the dungeon to chase after him…
[Land of the Elves 20/20 Full Player Capacity Reached! Closing the entrance until dungeon is complete, or until all participants have died!]
A floating text suddenly appeared in front of her.
And just like that…
The portal vanished.
"No… oh no…"
Xing Cai made a mistake.
She should not have hesitated.
She should have chased after Viel as soon as he stood up.
And now, she made a grave mistake.
Because of her…
Viel was alone.
-END OF VOLUME 2-
"No… no… What have I done!?"
In a vast and dark empty space, Lord God Lu Yi could be seen kneeling in front of the huge screen.
"Lu Yi, listen to me. It's not your fault", Xanthus tried to calm her down, trying to pull her away from the screen.
"Get away from me!"
But Lu Yi pushed Xanthus away as she continued to stay in front of the screen.
"No… Baby Viel… I am sorry. I am so… sorry", tears were falling from Lu Yi's eyes as she almost hugged the screen in front of her.
The Judge of Karma was standing on the side, also clearly down by the events that just happened.
Xanthus could do nothing but grit his teeth.
"Why… put so much power on such a fragile child…"
*PLOP*
It was then that the three of them heard the sound of water dropping.
"!!!"
All of them were alarmed by the sound. And then, a pressure slowly dawned upon the three of them.
[Original Player, Rain, 50% Recovered]
Suddenly, out of nowhere, a bright light shined a few meters away from the screen. Causing the Lu Yi and Xanthus to slowly avert their eyes away from it.
"Hm. Interesting", only the Judge of Karma had his eyes set on the bright light, "So, this is Rain? Weird…"
Slowly, the bright light started to dissipate as Lu Yi and Xanthus could finally see the silhouette that appeared from the light.
And there, they saw a brown skinned man was floating… sleeping. His body though, looked translucent. You can look right through it, it was as if…
"…A part of its soul is missing"
-TO BE CONTINUED IN VOLUME 3 "Alone"-