"Phew... That was a tough fight."
Haise who was wearily holding his wound, was sitting on ground in exhaustion. His mana didn't get utterly depleted thanks to the slumbering cat that was still in the bari-bag he had created.
On the other hand, the twelve he had fought died and strangely turned into to ash together after a while.
Haise wondered suspiciously and assumed that that was odd. He was planning to study the corpse, but unfortunately, they all turned into ash at the same time. Therefore, a theory was already spinning in his head, after his life-and-death battle with the twelve.
The twelve was indeed strong. They don't felt pain when he wounded them which made them quite dangerous. They were like zombies and just keep attacking him like they didn't get any damages from his attack. Traits that only undead have.
That was also the reason why he separated the head from the body of his first target. It was because of his assumption and instincts. Furthermore, in his special vision, they were like the mercenaries of the shadow to which put Haise in an utter confusion despite his wits. Also, they were all smart, but not wise enough to maintain their composure.
Haise lay himself down on the grass; as he watches the moon and stars, he felt a little drowsy. The moon was indeed big and round, brightly standing out among the stars.
"Hmm—You really are a rare virgin soul."
Just when he was about to close his eyes, he heard a voice that made him widely opened his eyes. He vanished and appeared at the different angle of the place he was lying down. '
'Who is it this time?' He was already holding his sword while standing in his sword fighting stance with his eyes glowing red.
"What can a wooden sword do to me?"
"Tell me young—Oh!"
"It seems that wooden sword doesn't belong to this world."
"Naturally, I have been wandering this world for over five thousand years, and it's my first time seeing and encountering that kind of sword.... together with an otherworldly soul. Furthermore, I can sense your connection to this world as well."
Haise made a few steps backwards. He was not scared and just could feel the latent pressure coming out from the mysterious being. And all he could think was: 'This guy, is dangerous— extremely dangerous!'
"Who are you? And what business do you have in this world?" The being, who was still in the shadows, asked.
"Aren't you supposed to introduce yourself first." Haise exclaimed.
"Oh, pardon for the delayed introduction."
Slowly, the being revealed itself from the shadows.
The being was extremely tall—probably eight-footer tall or more. It wore a black smokey hoodie-cloak and has eyes that were hidden in its bluish-white glow and silhouette. Based on the shape of its the body and sound of its voice, the being appears to be a woman. And what stand about her the most was her six grey glowing wings and her face hidden behind the skull mask.
The being politely put her hand on her chest and said: "My name is Virgentae, a now wandering shadow and She who watches the souls."
Hearing the last half of the sentence of the being made Haise understood the being further. And that made him quite uncomfortable.
Seeing the politeness of the six-winged-being, who call herself Virgentae, Haise did the same as her without starring away from her and said: "I am Haise. There's nothing special about me in this world and that is a fact. And, also, you are correct and wrong about me."
To Haise, there's no point of denying it further.
Virgentae then spoke: "You are a young virgin soul, and I can sense it vividly; in fact, the purest one I've seen so far. And based on your wounds, that body of yours does not suit to become the vessel of your soul."
"I see..." Haise, who found making alibis was no longer worth it, just let out a deep sign in agreement. He doesn't even have any questions in his mind because asking her privacy and secrets is just mere pointless.
Haise made a step backward and politely and slightly bowed his head with his still glowing eyes staring at the six-winged-being. "Pardon me, but if this all then I'm afraid, I have to go—"
"Wait!"
Haise was about to leave after his words, but suddenly, Virgentae who was watching him from afar quickly interrupted and stopped him.
"I'm not here to fight... and I have a business with you." Virgentae said.
Seeing the straightforwardness of Virgentae; hearing her panicking elegant voice, made his mind turned around on her.
"State your business then..." He said with a gesture.
"As you might already know, I've been watching you from afar. I came here to make a contract."
"A contract, huh?" Haise didn't have any interest about it. He let out a deep sigh and said: "Listen up Lady Virgentae. No matter what it is, I'm already done making any contracts, specifically, about that sort of matter that is currently spinning in your head."
"Don't you wish to learn about the other side of this world more?"
Haise already knew that the world he was staying is twisted. However, he can't just deny that he lacks true knowledge about the truth of the other side of the world.
"(Sighed) You really are good in this, aren't you?" Haise said, impressed.
"Well, I'm one of the oldest after all." Virgentae replied, proudly.
"It's not good for a lady to call herself old." Haise said, honestly.
Virgentae was taken aback of what Haise just said. She was quite flatter. "Ahem..." She coughed, pretendedly yet elegantly.
"Now let's move on." A book suddenly appeared on Virgentae's hand and asked: "Do you still remember this?"
"That book! Where did you get that accursed book?"
"This book is originally mine... and a particular page is missing." Virgentae's tone became serious at the last part of her sentence.
"Page— Wait! Are you that mysterious old lady, who gave me that book."
"I thought, calling a lady old is not good." Virgentae chuckled.
"Shit! I didn't mean that!" Haise exclaimed. Realizing something... "Oh shit! You got me there."
Seeing his reaction like that, Virgentae could not help but giggled in amusement.
"I am not that 'mysterious old lady' you're talking about." Virgentae stated.
"Huh?" Haise was quite confused.
"I just lend her this book under a certain contract."
Confused about what kind does the six-winged-being have before him, he asked: "How does that even make any sense?"
"If you already know about me, then—" Haise suddenly stopped, realizing something odd. "Shit! You really got me here."
"You created this situation to know about me further, aren't?" He was not mad, or rather, he was amazed. While he was at it, he suddenly heard a laugh.
"Hahaha!"
Virgentae was laughing hard. Witnessing his reaction, she really couldn't hold back anymore her laughter.
"LOL..." Haise just exclaimed in his neutral expression.
"Forgive me about that. I haven't laughed this hard for a long very very long time." She said, then added: "You said you wanted to live an ordinary life, right?"
"I can help you, but you cannot live like that forever." Virgentae tossed a thing on Haise and added: "After all, you now belong to the literal 'other side' of the world."
Haise catched the thing with his hands and stared at it, perplexedly. "A scroll?"
"It will help you in your journey and quest."
"You see, before the modern civilization even exist in this world, there were once seven Azodian who ruled over this world for a very... very, very long time in the past of the past."
"The Pyro-Monarch, the Hydro-Monarch, the Electro-Monarch, the Geo-Monarch, The Dendro-Monarch, the Anemo-Monarch, and the Cryo-Monarch."
"The power they possess, represents the cycle and life of the world itself."
"Just like the highest order in the spirit-realm?" Haise asked, curios. Despite his pursuit to knowledge, he really doesn't have a single clue about the true history of the world.
"After the end of the unending war and the fall of the Cryo-Monarch, the remaining Azodians chose to disappear and fled to another world.
Haise was confused and show interest to the story. However, there something odd that made him asked: "What does that story have to do with this scroll?"
"Good question. It just contains a small portion of the knowledge you must learn." Virgentae replied.
"I see. I never imagined even this world to be more twisted than I thought."
Remembering the people who can use the power of the seven primologial elements through the use of magic, Haise suddenly asked: "Wait! Does this mean this world is already abandoned, too?"
He was just making an assumption in his mind, but still to him, it makes more sense given to the fact that the world is not even entirely expose to the existence of magic.
'This young soul's mind is indeed terrifying. Firstly, he vanquished twelve trusted members of the Black Hats Order despite how weak he is compared to them. And now this?' Virgentae thought in astonishment.
"You are right and wrong. However, there still a lot of deities around this world that governs their own nation. Hence this world, I can say, is not utterly abandoned."
"I see..." That was the only words Haise can express.
"By the way, what this scroll cost?"
"Prioritize to awaken your Knightmares as soon as possible. After that we will continue with the real contract." As the voice slowly fading, the presence of Virgentae was also fading as her body slowly becoming transparent.
"Wait!"
"My time is up. We will meet again, young Noctifer."
"For now, take that scroll with you and through that we will be able to communicate again."
Just like that, Haise was left alone with a lot of unclear questions in his mind. Mysteries that he must unravel no matter what.