The blow and the whole fight flashed through Kaila's eyes, the last image that passed through her eyes was the glow of the flames crossing the monster's body and illuminating the cave.
Arthur and Christopher still had their eyes glowing as the flames illuminated their faces and allowed them to see the entire scene, seeing a hole that the flames had created in the creature's body while its eyes simultaneously went out together with the disappearing flames.
They saw that the creature's body seemed inactive and Arthur still stared at it with doubt, the movement it made was of its body going backwards, with its body passing through the sword and hitting the water, completely stopping to move as it seemed to liquefy into a liquid. black.
The two boys looked at the creature's body still panting, still assimilating the information that they had killed the monster, Chris and Arthur looked at the sword that still had traces of flames that gradually went out, soon they exchanged glances and their expressions were still with doubts if they had really won, while they watched the sword fade and gradually become a common iron sword with some light marks of burnt iron.
Everything seemed fine, until with the animosity and energy diminishing, Arthur put his hand on his left arm feeling it hurt slightly and Christopher felt his body start to hurt from all the combat, however, before they exchanged words, both heard something fall on the floor. water.
They both turned and saw Kaila sitting in the water still holding the torch in both hands as she stared wide-eyed at the liquid the monster's body had become.
"I-It's over?"
She questioned still in disbelief as her arms shook and her eyes filled with tears, Arthur looked to the side and Chris smiled as he nodded.
"Yes! We won!"
The blonde approached with a smile and raised his fist excitedly, while Arthur sighed with a slight smile on his face and both approached the girl.
"You helped us to win, without the light, we would never win him…thank you Kaila."
Christopher had a wide smile as he looked at the girl who looked surprised and smiled as the tears began to fall, she brought her hands to her eyes with a smile and started to sob looking somehow relieved.
Arthur remained quiet and Chris noticed, the blonde with a quick movement gave two elbows to the swordsman's belly while he spoke.
"Hey, you too, you were hard on her, thank you."
He indicated it as an obligation and upon hearing that, Arthur frowned indicating disagreement, but soon Chris hurried the touch and spoke.
"Come on! Just this once be more communicative..."
Even with Arthur's insistence, his brow was furrowed, but he sighed and approached.
"Hey Kaila... Good job..."
He moved his hand and touched Kaila's head, lightly moving her hair as a form of affection and thanks, then passing by her who took her hands away from her eyes and looked back in surprise, still not knowing how to react to that.
But right beside him, Christopher passed with a smile and said.
"It's his way of saying thank you, please don't take this the wrong way, he's kind of shy and serious..."
Both were walking towards the exit of the cave, Christopher was unarmed and Arthur with the sword in his right hand, but before they left, Kaila got up and took two steps towards them.
"Wait a moment please..."
Hearing the girl's voice made both of them stop their walk and look back, the girl placed the torch in just one hand and brought her hand closer to her chest as she spoke.
"I want to thank them for saving me... b-but I also want to know how you guys know my name... you called me Kaila, right?..."
Her words came out with fear and she backed away still nervous about what had happened, seeing the girl's distrust, Chris smiled and spoke.
"It's a long story, but what matters is that your sister asked us to save you."
He turned with a smile, but the girl remained curious.
"My sister?"
The phrase made the girl look doubtfully as Chris raised an eyebrow and spoke.
"Y-Yes, your sis-"
"Chris, not now, we have to find the others... when we are sure of our safety, we will ask..."
The blonde looked close to the cave door where Arthur stood with a serious look, after that, he saw a torch standing near the beginning of the entrance and wielded it going towards the exit.
Seeing the swordsman leaving still with trepidation, Christopher remembered the door without the green lady's initial, Lirian.
In an instant his eyebrows lowered and he saw Arthur walking again, however, as soon as he turned around, Kaila remained confused and waiting for an answer, but soon Chris smiled and spoke.
"Let's get out of here first, then we'll talk, okay?"
He spoke soon turning to follow Arthur, while Kaila took his hand close to his chest, where there was a necklace with a blue stone and golden surroundings, it was small and easy to hide, she looked and squeezed, soon returning his shirt and quickening his steps to follow the boys in front of him.
The three left the cave, being able to see their faces clearly, Kaila saw that both were injured and with wet clothes, especially Arthur who had pieces of white clothes with traces of blood and some torn parts.
She looked at Chris and saw that his blond hair was dirty from the water, in addition to his clothes having dirt marks and his arms having several purple bruises, they looked very injured, but they continued walking, attentive to the surroundings even if their expressions indicated a certain pain when walking.
Kaila was close to the two and as soon as they arrived they saw that the path was darker and with fewer torches than usual, soon Arthur handed the torch in his hands to Christopher who soon received it, after having his arm free, Arthur placed it under his ribs on the right side while thinking.
"Did we really use that many torches?"
Still facing the corridor, Arthur saw Christopher arrive at his side, also seeming to be suspicious about the darkness of the corridor, most of the torches were gone and soon the blonde spoke.
- It must have been them, Arth. If they found the hatch, they left, I just hope they didn't go into the forest.
The sentence made sense and Arthur raised his eyebrows.
-Maybe you're right... I guess...
As he spoke, Arthur still felt a certain fear and noticing that strangeness, Kaila spoke.
- What happened, boys?
Christopher listened and held up the torch with a smile.
- It's nothing, let's go.
The two began to walk with Christopher lighting the front, seeing that both followed, Kaila soon quickened the step and followed them still staying close to both.
As they walked, they recognized the cave, however the few torches on the way made it seem like a dark trajectory, Kaila approached Arthur and the swordsman looked to the side seeing the girl, but remained moving forward.
The group was approaching, until they felt a cold wind with a slight movement in the torch that made Chris withdraw his arms as he spoke.
- Getting wet made things worse... it wasn't so cold when we came...
He spoke quietly and Arthur felt the chill as he looked towards the hatch ladder, he thought.
"Cold?"
They arrived close to where the hatch should be, but the route was completely empty and without torches, the corners were not lit and the young people saw only the little around them.
Until Arthur raised his eyes and noticed a light light illuminating the place, noticing the small angle, the moonlight entering the cave.
Even if they took a while to notice, as soon as he noticed, Arthur's eyes widened and they both listened.
- Did you really think that after all this noise no one would come? That's why that rough animal is noisy...
The two got scared and looked back immediately while Kaila was paralyzed with wide eyes, Chris took the front and pointed the torch forward while looking for the voice that seemed to echo from the walls.
Chris' body was sweating cold and his hand was shaking, he clenched his teeth irritably and screamed.
- WHO'S THERE? SHOW YOURSELF!
The voice was silent for a brief moment, but then it gave a short laugh that echoed with its calm, yet bizarre and frightening voice.
"What are you going to do with that? Light me up? But if you insist you want to see me..."
Soon the voice was silent and footsteps were heard approaching, the whole cavern amidst the silence seemed to echo the sound of the boots becoming louder and more frequent, but still seemed to come from everywhere, making Arthur squint attentively while Chris he swallowed hard, pointing the torch to the sides trying to find the owner of the steps that were becoming louder and louder.
The stomp of boots became loud to the point that it seemed to echo inside their heads, while Chris clenched his teeth and Arthur moved his eyes around, while Kaila remained paralyzed while muttering something.
Arthur moved the sword and the little light that reached its edge made it gleam while making a slight cracking sound, until the footsteps suddenly stopped.
The two boys stared at the surroundings looking for any image that manifested itself, but there was nothing, the steps had just stopped and all they could hear were their still panting breaths and their hearts beating at an accelerated pace.
Until:
- They shouldn't be here.
The voice came from behind them and the first to react was Arthur who widened his eyes turning already pointing the sword to his target.
Arthur saw the image of a man who had pale skin and seams all over his body, the left part of his face had seams from half of the forehead reaching to the cheek with grayish and dark skin, the rest was white with a dead tone. and his eyes were yellowish, one of his ears was pointed and on the other side there was no ear.
One of his eyes was low and the other something, his wrinkled and somewhat plump skin caused strangeness in the retreating swordsman, his apparently expensive and well-groomed clothes contrasted with his appearance, he gave a smile full of crooked teeth and Arthur recognized it as one of the men who had arrived at the mansion earlier that day was Tytew, who was leaning on a cane with a gold tip and talking.
- You're a long way from home, boys...
Arthur felt his body frozen in front of that man and Chris stood next to Arthur already pointing the torch still nervous as the two faced Tytew.
That appearance indicated something human and not human at the same time, which generated a certain fear in both, but soon Tytew smiled and spoke.
- Finally I found who freed them, but I hoped they were knights of the gods and not two children...
Upon hearing the phrase, Arthur raised his sword and Chris took a step back, forcing Kaila to retreat, still holding the torch.
"Where are they? What did you do with them?"
Chris questioned feeling the cold sweat run down his face, Tytew was smiling and calm despite his grotesque appearance, that calm smile that seemed to hide ulterior motives disturbed Chris who clenched his teeth together with the torch handle.
Seeing the boy's hostility, Tytew raised his hand and Arthur prepared to advance, but before he could advance, Tytew moved his hand towards the swordsman as he smiled and spoke.
"Shadow Swamp."
At that moment, the ground around Arthur became completely black in moments, surprising the swordsman who widened his eyes and tried to move, however, before he managed to escape, Tytew closed the hand he had extended and made ribbons emerge from the ground.
The swordsman clenched his teeth and tried to move, but his body did not respond, it was as if he were trapped in shackles everywhere and soon the ribbons went to his arms and legs, trapping and squeezing his limbs, making him grunt in pain. as he was pulled down as if the straps wanted to bring him to his knees.
Chris widened his eyes and screamed.
"ARTHUR!"
Chris lifted the torch, but his legs failed and trembled, as if he was afraid and could only squeeze the handle of the torch tightly, Arthur glared and began to struggle, moving his body to the sides while forcing his own body to rise and seeing that, Tytew smiled and spoke.
"Wow, you seem to have some will, don't you? It's okay, I'll show you..."
The gray-skinned man raised his hand and a wind came up, in the supports of the walls that didn't. there were torches that started to burn, small balls of fire appeared that illuminated the corridor and revealed what was around the young people all the time.
Arthur and Chris could see that in the corner of the walls all the residents they had rescued were scattered, children, men and women, part of them were lying on the wall with bruise marks while others were bleeding on the floor.
Some seemed to shake while others were completely immobile, it was not possible to know if they were dead or passed out, making the boys clench their teeth when they saw the scene.
The swordsman shouted:
- BASTARD!
Tytew listened and widened his eyes in surprise as he spoke.
- Wow, hold on, hahaha. They haven't died yet...
Seeing that scene made Kaila's eyes widen as her body shook, Chris clenched his teeth unable to react and the man continued.
- Thanks to you, the miasma will stop acting in that region, it's a pity. So much time and investment for nothing, really... that Shape was pathetic...
While he was still trying to move, Arthur spoke still altered.
- Why the hell attack this city? Who are you? What is Miasma???
The swordsman spoke as his movements became more and more frequent, little by little he moved more and noticing that, Tytew looked surprised.
- Wow... you definitely feel like it, kid. Alright, I'll answer your questions...
He spoke as he started to walk towards the questioning swordsman.
- What?
As soon as he questioned, Tytew would point his index finger and touch Arthur's forehead as he spoke.
- But, that'll be a fair exchange.
As soon as the man spoke, his eye glowed yellow along with Arthur who widened his eyes that became the same color as the sewn-man's eyes, Tytew smiled and spoke.
- As you asked, I will answer three of your questions and you will answer three of mine.
Hearing those words that came out in a calm tone while seeming to hide an ulterior motive made Arthur clench his teeth irritably, his expression clearly demonstrated the anger he had and seeing that made Tytew smile and speak.
-First about the city...
He distanced himself and started walking towards the walls.
- We needed an isolated place to do the experiment and not draw so much attention, it's good that the people here lowered their heads to any charitable nobleman who appeared here, so it was very easy, I like stupid people.
The words that came out of his mouth seemed to come with a certain satisfaction that was shown with the smile sketched on his face, the young people who listened stared with disgust on their faces while Arthur continued to struggle with an enraged expression, soon after Tytew stopped toward a torch and stared at its flame while still smiling.
- It doesn't matter what we call ourselves, but they want us to introduce ourselves as "Noah's ark" and we are occultists. It's bullshit from the superiors, but we have to accept it, don't we? Haha ha.
Arthur was facing Tytew and when he heard the word, he immediately questioned it.
- Occultists?
- No more questions, boy.
He talked with the same smile in the face while holding the torch with one of his hands.
- And about the miasma, well, there's only one way I can explain it to you...
Looking down he saw a man with light brown hair starting to wake up, his clothes were common for a peasant and he seemed to look at the surroundings still confused.
Until he saw Tytew's feet, but before he could react, in an instant the sewn-man took his hand to the man's neck, grabbing him and putting him against the wall while making him suffocate.
His face showed doubt as he suffocated, but upon seeing Tytew's face, the expression soon turned to despair as he tried to struggle to free himself, but it seemed to be in vain.
Arthur forced himself to move as he grunted with the force he was doing, his eyes widened and his eyes turned orange, his movements seemed more frequent, but still it wasn't enough to free himself and soon the sewn-man saw the eyes of Arthur.
- Wow, you use energy, perfect, so the explanation is easier...
He squeezed even tighter the man's throat who tried to scream, but the sound that came out was muffled as it showed the effort in his expression to try to breathe.
- You seem to use the energy that is focused in your core and distribute it to the whole body, although earlier I felt something, but maybe it's just an impression... in the end, what Miasma does, is to change the nature of the energy from the place so that it becomes absorbable... do you know what happens when you absorb all the energy of a living being?
With a smile on his face, he shook his hand and something black similar to the creature's skin came out of it, but it seemed to stay only in a part of the neck, as if it were a mark that formed on the man.
At the moment when his way of struggling gradually became only weak and slow movements, the young people noticed that the man began to lose weight and his skin became increasingly flabby and dark as his responses diminished.
From behind the two, Kaila was screaming.
"DAD!"
The two boys widened their eyes and Arthur forced himself to struggle as he screamed.
"STOP IT, DAMN IT."
Hearing the scream made Tytew open a wide macabre smile as he continued to squeeze the man's neck who gradually stopped moving, his eyes became bulging and the movements became weaker and weaker, the sewn man continued to smile.
Until the two heard a heavy step and again a strong light passed through Arthur, in an instant he saw Christopher with his eyes glowing yellow next to Tytew who stared in silence and stopped, while Chris screamed.
"UUUUURGH!"
With both hands he rotated his body to strike the body of the sewn man, the torch was aiming at his trunk at high speed while Tytew seemed unable to react.
The shock happened and soon the torch hit, however, different than expected, the blow did not even move the sewn man, being closer, Chris could see that he had hit something that black that moved protecting where the torch would hit, it seemed viscous and sticky in addition to preventing the blonde from removing the torch.
Tytew kept looking at the blonde with a serious expression, but he soon opened a smile and spoke.
"And then?"
Slowly he extended his hand towards Chris, the blonde looked at the approaching hand and tried to back away, but soon Tytew grabbed his head and spoke.
"Don't get into it."
At the touch of the sewn man, soon Christopher's head was forced down with violence and Tytew followed, the force made Chris have his face sunk into the ground, leaving him only to clench his teeth, but losing consciousness right away.
Arthur saw the scene and widened his eyes still in disbelief of all that difference in power, he saw the sewn man get up and Chris remain still, already unconscious.
"He is determined, but nothing more."
Turning his sights to Arthur he spoke.
"Let's go back to where we left off, your third question..."
Soon he smiled and turned his face to the man who was already thin and with less colored skin, he seemed to be in a rapid aging process, the man's skin began to fall off as if it were dust and Tytew continued to smile.
"STOP IT, PLEASE!"
It was Arthur who screamed as he tried to free himself from the tapes that held him and the sewn man listened, but still he continued to smile as he squeezed the man's throat even tighter, his voice didn't even come out anymore and Kaila called as her tears continued to fall .
"DAD! DAD!"
"STOP IT, BASTARD!"
Again Arthur screamed, but Tytew's smile grew even bigger, until suddenly his smile was gone and he was staring at the man's body.
"But is that all?"
The body didn't move, there didn't seem to be any more muscles while his eyes looked empty and deep indicating that there was no more life there, he soon after let go of the man's body that slowly fell, making an empty and dry noise when it hit the ground .
After that, the sewn man sighed and spoke.
"It is a shame."
However, soon after he looked back at Arthur and his smile returned to his face while his eyes became black and deep with a slight white light where his iris would be.
"Now it's my turn to ask, boy."