''Eloise! Move your ass faster or we will leave without you!'' Alain shouted at her from the front.
''I'm coming!''
For safety's sake, the trio stayed at the forest's gates. Unfortunately, they had underestimated the chaos that was a forest.
A wolf came in front of them and attacked them directly.
''Look out!'' As usual, Alain went first, but despite him dodging, he was still bitten in the shoulder.
It was in this situation that Michael should have arrived. But this time, despite all the screams that could be heard, he never came.
So, Louis was forced to act. He charged towards the enemy, sending multiples rays of energy towards the beast. These pierced several parts of the wolf, but none of the wounds were fatal or deep.
They didn't stand a chance.
Meanwhile, Eloise froze. Even though she 'occupied' her childlike body, her mind couldn't move her shaking body.
All around her became blurry. She couldn't see properly, nor could she understand what's was going on.
She saw a figure, which she guessed to be Louis, fighting the beast relentlessly, the wounds on his body multiplying. Seeing that all hope was gone, he resolved to be corrupted by the demons. Red energy now surrounded his body, as the red star seemed to descend into this world.
Everything shook, the whole planet seemed to change under the red, no, the bloody glow of the star. Soon after, however, she returned to the hall of memories.
''What was that?'' Eloise asked, her real body shaking.
Calming down, she noticed the presence of a headless 14-years-old teenager who was casually holding the clock who now show an 0
''Did you liked the test?''
''Well... I preferred the beginning, to be honest.''
''A test is meant to have some difficulties after all.'' he replied in a soothing voice. ''I'm here to answer some of your questions.''
''Shouldn't I leave this place ?'' She looks towards the clock.
''We still have time. Don't worry needlessly.'' He stood there, waiting for her questions.
''Why did you show me this?''
''How can one make a choice without knowing multiple possibilities? I just wanted to give you this opportunity, as it would be a shame for a system holder to regret getting it.''
'How can he know that?' The person in front of her seemed more and more mysterious, which only endangered her more.
''I'm one of its creators after all'' Although she couldn't see his smile, his voice said enough to guess his emotions and mimics.
She would never dare to question someone so strong about his choices - about why a Divine entity would speak to her - so she only asked questions related to herself.
''What I saw... what was it exactly? A different path that exists?''
''This path doesn't exist. As I said it earlier, this is only a possibility, a reality that has never existed. This means that even if you search every corner of the univerium, you will never find it.''
''So... what do you want me to do?'' To show her such a vision, he must have expected something, right?
''Whatever you want. You still have the time to ask some questions."
''Can you read my mind?''
''Oh, you thought so? No, it's impossible. Though there do exist some techniques to do something similar. Still, I wouldn't use them. And since you are a system holder, it would be even harder. It's just that sometimes certain reactions completely reveal a person's thinking."
[I think that's enough] The voice of the system surprised Eloise. For once it has spoken out loud.
''Well, I won't make things difficult for you.'' he turned to face Eloise ''We may meet ourself against in the future, so see you later. I know how hard it can be to create one's own path, but the most important thing will always be your happiness. I'll be cheering for your success.'' He disappeared immediately afterward.
'Why did you intervene?'
[For your sake, and his.]
'What do you mean? We were just talking.'
[Exactly. Learning, isn't that the most terrifying thing? Given the person, nothing good could happen to you, believe me.]
'The person? who is he really?'
[...He is the Red Start. One of his manifestations.]
'Was this the devil's call? Did he wanted to pull me in?'
[He did indeed have the habit of recruiting everyone he can, but I wouldn't consider him evil even if he is the one who had killed the most lives in the entire univerium. If it weren't because you were way too weak, you would resent intense hate and want to kill him. Thankfully, your body is controlling your spirit so that he won't be influenced too easily. ]
Eloise gulped 'How much had he must kill to generate such hatred?'
[Well… Around 1x10puissance 105 human's life. But if we consider all lives…. Basically, for his objective, he only left less than 1 / 40 000 000 lives alive.]
'But didn't other Gods stopped him ?!'
[The lives he had killed were basically non-existent. They were simply a bit more than a probability, and others probability have been created too. So, to say the truth, he had created and saved more lives than he had killed. Still, he stole the chances of things that could have become life. The real reason for him to have that big of a karma penalty, however, is related to the method of obtaining his strength as well as his actions. He shouldn't have destroyed some parts of the path].
A moment later, Eloise was transported back to the first test room.