Fifty miles from the city of the Inflamed Chalice exists a vast range of mountains, referred to as the Mane of Louf.
Scarlett and her father were exactly there, in one of the many valleys, where an ancient and vigorous forest stood untouched by humanity's crescent invasion.
Their exact location was well hidden and almost only possible to find with enough luck.
"Scarlett... it's right here..." the middle-aged man said with an eager look: "... we will reach the underground cave after this long tunnel."
The trio kept moving downward and reached their destination after half an hour.
As soon as Scarlett entered the cave, her heart started beating fiercely from the magnificence of the view.
"Father... what is this place?"
"Well... Initially, we thought it was the bandit's warehouse... yet only later on we found out the truth..."
She looked around curiously, but her father's words were too compelling.
"... we aren't completely sure, but this place should be one of the legendary Ancient Sites related to a Progenitor!"
His statement was simply too much for the young woman. She took back her gaze from the room and turned her head at him: "If it is true... then we really got an incredible fortune..."
She still found it hard to believe it, so she took a deep breath and said: "There are rumors in the Blazing Lazarus Divine Sect about these so-called Ancient Sites of the Progenitor. All of them had one thing in common, a giant statue of the related Progenitor should exist in the room. Unfortunately, I don't see any statue here..."
"Actually, there is a statue here..." the man said with a troubled look.
"Mhm?! And where is it?"
"Follow me... but prepare yourself because it will be a bit hard... Brace your heart, Scarlett."
She followed him closely, and they reached what looked like a wall after a while.
"Father..."
She was just asking something when her father disappeared as if encompassed by the wall.
"A formation..."
There were no perils, so she stepped forward, yet as soon as the world behind the wall appeared, her face paled in terror and disgust.
"Those... Those are the skeletons of kids... What devilish place is this?"
She lived in a world filled with violence and sins, so she had her fair share of bad experiences. Of course, she could also be considered a killer in the ordinary world, but what was in front was beyond what any human or demon could do.
"Hmm... you are right... those were all kids between the ages of five and ten."
He confirmed her words and gave her an even cruel truth.
"All those poor children were so young... who could be so... so malevolent to do this?"
"We don't know..." He stepped closer to Scarlett and held her hand firmly, trying to calm her a bit.
"We should bury them... we can't let their poor souls wander in this forgotten place." She said, looking to the side.
"We tried, but we can't move any closer than this... there is an impenetrable wall of energy all around."
Scarlett took a deep breath and turned her head in front, looking at the beautiful Progenitor statue in the cave's farthest place.
"Damn that demon..." Her curse wasn't so loud, yet her voice resonated in the cave and became even more clamorous.
"Scarlett... shut up!"
He looked back with terror, but his worst nightmare came true.
Scarlett was gone.
She was there a moment ago.
He was holding her hand.
"SCARLETT!!"
His roar was loud, but nothing compared to the words spoken by the young woman and magnified by that demonic power.
His gaze moved around frenetically, and sure enough, he found her standing beyond the invisible barrier.
"Scarlett... come back now!"
He shouted, but his voice couldn't reach her.
"Kason... help me destroy this fucking barrier..."
His anger was boiling, but his fear was even greater.
BOOOM!!!! BOOOM!!!!
His Techniques were beyond ordinary. It was a miracle that the cave was still fine after a single attack.
BOOOM!!!! BOOOM!!!! BOOOM!!!! BOOOM!!!!
"Scarlett!!!"
He tried for hours to break the barrier, but it was all for null.
His Chaos Energy couldn't last for too long, and sure enough, after half an hour, his knees gave out.
Kason caught him in time and held his body up. His heart was worried for Scarlett, yet he had to protect his Lord at all costs: "Lord Doran... calm down. We can't do anything for now..."
It was supposed to be an event for rejoicing, but it had turned into tragedy.
|||
Old River was standing further to the side and saw everything with her own eyes. She wanted to help that little girl, yet the barrier was too powerful even for her.
"Poor girl... You are alone from now on... If it's your destiny, then everything will be fine..."
Looking at the piles of bones all over the ground, she couldn't help but think about the past: "It's exactly like what we encountered years ago. But, if all those children died, how did Atlas survive?"
This was another unsolved mystery, but sure enough, it was unbelievable.
Anyway, Old River's mission was accomplished. Since there were no concrete perils on this side at the moment, she could check the information gained along the trip and then go back.
|||
"Where am I?"
There was lava everywhere except for the vast island she was standing on.
"I was... with my father a few moments ago... What happened?"
She was clearly disoriented, wildly looking around and finding the place so extraneous.
Scarlett didn't know how to handle the situation, but a voice came from afar: "Young human... I heard your voice..."
"Who?" Scarlett looked around with alertness, but there was nothing.
"... Little girl... your voice's tone was filled with disgust... but what could an ignorant child know about the immensity of the Universe?"
The voice came once again and was nearer this time.
Her eyes kept looking around, and her Chaos Energy was constantly trembling, ready for any mishap.
"You live in this forgotten world where we created peace. But what do you truly know?"
The voice was even nearer as if the one talking to her was standing a few steps away.
"Who are you? Stop hiding like a thief!!" Scarlett shouted, turning back to where the voice was coming from.
Sigh...
There was a long and heavy sigh as if to express its disappointment, and then the voice continued: "We gave you false freedom, but maybe we made the wrong choice..."
This was talking so highly that it was as if everything belonged to it as if the one talking was one of the rulers.
"What nonsense are you spouting?" Scarlett screamed, having enough of all this stupid reason.
"Ignorant child... you call me a demon..."
Scarlett turned back as soon as the voice returned, and surprisingly, someone was standing behind her.
There was a woman in her middle thirties. She was pretty tall and gorgeous. Her beauty was something beyond human concepts to even charm Scarlett.
Her face was what attracted Scarlett's eyes because every inch was unique.
Starting from her hair, darker than a simple brown, and with the tips covered by what seemed flames.
And the eyes weren't normal, either. One was burning red like an intense sun, and the other was shining gold as if made by the purest mineral in the Universe.
Then, her thin lips were marked by a reddish dye, giving her even more charm.
It was indeed a beauty from the highest heaven.
"What are you?" Scarlett was a woman and recovered briefly.
She took a step back, but the gorgeous woman to the front caught her rosy cheeks.
Her skin was so soft that Scarlett felt as if she were touched by precious silk, but the woman's action took her by surprise.
"What... what do you want to do? Release me!!"
Scarlett felt locked in place. Her feet wanted to move, yet her face was held in such an intense way that it was useless.
"Child, look in my eyes..."
The woman's face was so close that her voice reached Scarlett instantly.
She subconsciously looked up, and those mysterious eyes devoured Scarlett's mind...
"... let me show you a true demon!"
AHHHHHHH!!!!
Scarlett's screams echoed in the world, yet there was nothing around other than lava...