"Are you still serious about killing me?" Celestine chuckled, and she stepped closer to Zeno. "Keep on dreaming, then."
However, Zeno just laughed at her taunt before he spoke.
"There are a lot of ways to kill you, but I'm too lazy to enumerate them all. Let's just go with the simplest method," he said.
Then he tossed the dice and caught it in midair; it turned once more into a jet-black scythe, and he started to attack Celestine, but the umbrella immediately protected its master as soon as it flew from the woman's hand.
"Your efforts are useless," she sighed, but Zeno kept on attacking her.
Seconds passed, and Zeno's attacks were repeatedly blocked by the umbrella.
'He's not even trying.' Celestine thought as he saw Zeno just striking without any plan or objective. He was just slashing with his scythe, and didn't bother to find any opening to injure Celestine.
"What are you doing? You're starting to get on my nerves," her high-pitched voice shrilled through the air, but Zeno ignored her and continued to strike her umbrella with his scythe.
Then, Celestine shook her head and raised her hand. The umbrella spun, and it attacked Zeno. She chose to switch to offense as she got bored by the man's monotonous attack.
Her umbrella slammed into Zeno with great force, but he remained still. Then it disappeared and appeared behind him, which caused him to place the scythe at his back to fend off the attack.
Every time the two weapons collided, a crackling sound was produced, and the situation changed. Zeno was now the one who was deflecting the umbrella.
Celestine made her weapon accelerate and attack her opponent from different positions, but they were all defended and dodged by the man.
'Does he have eyes at the back of his head?' Celestine asked with her thoughts, not knowing that Zeno's senses were greatly enhanced by Eliana's Legacy.
Then, after a few moments, her vision got blurry, and she felt her head spinning in circles. Zeno's lips curled upward upon seeing her holding the temple of her head. Seconds later, she lost control of her umbrella, which dropped on the ground as soon as it stopped spinning.
"At last," Zeno said, grinning with satisfaction.
"W-what h-have y—" Celestine stuttered, then fell to her knees and looked at her trembling hands.
"So now, let's see if you can still rewind time." Zeno smirked then he walked towards the woman after he placed the scythe on his shoulder. The wide smile on his face gave him a creepy appearance.
"M-my e-energy." she murmured before her eyes closed, then she lied on the pavement unconscious.
Colors started to return from the world the moment Celestine collapsed, and the surroundings were filled with screams of people upon seeing limbs and dead bodies lying on the ground.
There were even people doing their best to ask for help; they were those who got buried in the destruction of buildings and structures because of Zeno's punch.
But after a few seconds, black smoke emerged from the ground, and the noises of people slowly vanished in the area. Zeno stopped for a moment and knitted his brows before he resumed walking.
'This thing is a little bit familiar,' he thought after he saw the smoke.
It had a strange substance that, once inhaled by anyone, would make them fall asleep; however, Zeno released some of his energy to purify the air around him.
His eyes got back to normal, and the dice in his ear stopped spinning as the domain disappeared. Then he ended up in front of Celestine and looked at her.
"It's time to harvest the fruit of my labor," he said, smiling. Then he rotated his scythe and swung it at Celestine's neck, but the smoke blocked his attack, and it wrapped around the woman's body before it floated away from Zeno.
"Energy burnout—Piero's Legacy, is it?" A deep voice reverberated, and then laughter came after it. "Ahhh, I still don't like that smug look of yours."
Then Zeno glanced to his side and spoke.
"I was thinking why it looked so familiar, so that was you, Strannard," he said. "I'm glad you're still alive; throwing away your humanity to last this long is absolutely worth it, isn't it?" He added, provoking the owner of the voice hiding in the smoke.
However, the voice responded to him with laughter.
"Indeed, it's all to exact revenge for what you did on that day," the voice replied.
"Perfect! Let's get it done now!" Zeno exclaimed before he smiled, and then he swirled the scythe on his hand.
"I'm very happy seeing your return, but it's not yet the time for us to settle things from the past," the voice paused for a second.
"This woman here is precious to him. My task is just to take her away from this place. But don't you worry, I will set up the stage for our fight, so until then, please stay alive, Manipulator of Souls," the voice added, followed by another set of laughter that disappeared bit by bit as the smoke receded along with Celestine's body.
. . . . .
Dense woodlands, packed with huge and tall trees, soaring above the sky, different kinds of plants that could only be found growing in this place, and a fog that covered the entire forest—this was the composition of the Garden of Dreams.
This part of the land was governed mostly by elves and centaurs. They divided the land by using the river as the boundary for their stronghold. It was flowing downhill from the mountain range and connected to the vast ocean below the entrance to the spirit world.
The centaurs were one of those who did not participate in the war to subjugate the Demon King; their leader thought that gathering all of the forces to eliminate a single entity was simply overkill, and he didn't want to see his people grieve for the deaths of their loved ones.
"I came to see the chieftain," a centaur said, after he came into a large hut made from dried woods and leaves from trees.
His lower body had black stripes, while a tattoo that resembled the sun was imprinted on his chest. On his back was a bow with a quiver filled with arrows, and his hand was holding a spear.
"Come in," an old voice said inside the hut, and the centaur entered as soon as he heard it.
He lowered his head to show his respect for the old centaur sitting on the pile of leaves. His hair and the color of his lower body's fur were white, while his upper torso was covered with scars.
"I have something to report; last night, when we were patrolling the borders, we found a group of sirens heading to the elf territory," the centaur said.
"And?" The chieftain asked, then stood up and walked closer to his subject.
"They are preparing for a war with us with the siren's help. We should strike them before they get us," the centaur suggested.
"Insolence! Elves are not like what you think; they are not hostile beings," the chieftain shouted, his eyes glaring at the man before him.
"Please listen! We were attacked by an elf—" He exclaimed but couldn't finish his words as soon as the chieftain spoke.
"Stop that delusion of yours! We would never wage war with the elves. This land belongs to no one. It's a place where anyone is free to roam," he said. Determination was bound to his voice.
The centaur shook his head before he left the hut, dissatisfied by his chieftain's judgment.
"My decision won't change; as long as I'm alive, I won't ever let war destroy this peace of silence," he uttered.
. . . . .
Somewhere on the opposite side of the Garden of Dreams, houses were built around and above the trees. Ladders made of vines were hanging down from the branches.
At the center of it all was a huge tree with vines glowing with a pale blue hue. The span of its trunk was more than a hundred meters wide, and its leaves were spherical in shape. It was the largest tree that could be found and recorded in history.
"Kizhaia!" a female elf shouted upon seeing a woman walking towards her, then she ran and hugged her tightly as she came within her reach.
"Crescent, you woke up so early," Kizhaia said, then she caressed the elf's silky blonde hair.
They were the Siren Queen and the Elven Princess. Kizhaia kept her promise to visit her once in a while, and they got so close with each other that the princess even referred to her as her big sister.
"What are you doing in this place?" She asked, then the woman whom she called Crescent got out of the hug and answered her with a bright smile.
"I just want to take a little walk. Are you hungry? Let's get back and have breakfast," she said.
Kizhaia nodded, and Crescent called the elf behind her to ask her to prepare the food for them.
The elf didn't speak; instead, she bowed her head and smiled at her princess as a sign of courtesy before she went on her way.
Then, the two of them also decided to go back, but the Siren Queen halted her step as soon as she stared at the large tree, not from afar.
"Is there something wrong?" Crescent asked, her round eyes filled with worry.
"Nothing." Kizhaia shook her head and smiled at her. "I just realized that I'm still enchanted by its appearance," she said before they resumed walking.
"It's called Piero's Emergence. As far as I know, this was only a small tree, but after my ancestor buried Piero's body underneath, it began to grow and became this big." The elf princess shared her knowledge with the curious queen.
Kizhaia nodded, satisfied by Crescent's answer; however, she still asked another question.
"May I know who is Piero?" she said while still scanning the gorgeous appearance of the tree.
"He's considered a hero for chasing away the demon army from this land by offering his life thousands of years ago." Crescent answered; she was smiling, but there was a hint of sadness in her eyes.
"He was an amazing person then, but why didn't they fight back?" Kizhaia replied with a question once again.
"They did, but the demon army was too strong for them to defend, and Piero's Legacy was not good for large-scale fights. He could chip away the energy of those he fought, then they would soon realize that they were suffering from energy burnout, but that was not enough," Crescent said.
"Enough asking; let's come inside," she said, smiling and even winking at Kizhaia.
Then she pulled the Siren Queen up to the stairs heading above the large tree; a structure was hidden behind the thick leaves of it; it was the princess' home, the Royal Elven Mansion.
. . . . .