Behind them, a blinding light erupted, illuminating the area where a cluster of corpses lay, and where the entity stood, enacting its dark ritual. The light enveloped the ground in a radiant semicircle, expanding slowly, inching outward like a protective barrier against the encroaching darkness.
"What is happening?" murmurs rippled through the crowd of retreating figures, their eyes wide with confusion as they halted to witness the phenomenon.
Jason's gaze was fixed on the brilliant shield, then shifted to the elder who had issued the retreat order. The elder's face was a tapestry of awe and terror, cold sweat trickling down his forehead as he stared at the sky, now completely shrouded in darkness, with light cascading down from above.
"This…" the elder breathed, his voice trembling as he took in the surreal spectacle.
Curiosity sparked within Jason, but before he could voice his questions, the elder's commanding tone cut through the air. "Let us leave this place and observe from a distance. Surround the area, and if anything occurs, report immediately." His voice quivered with urgency, revealing the tension that gripped him.
With the elder's order echoing in their ears, the robed figures scattered, retreating to various vantage points around the expanding semicircle. Jason followed suit, moving to his designated position, his heart racing with uncertainty.
---
"After we retreated and observed from afar, the shield continued to expand until it enveloped the entire street. Then it stopped, and in that moment, it was as if Isle had never existed. The sky returned to its normal hue, and the isle vanished into thin air, replaced by an untouched forest," Jason recounted, his eyes locked onto Arthur, who listened with rapt attention, tension etched across his face.
"Once the isle disappeared, we attempted to explore the mysterious forest that had emerged, but it was as if an invisible barrier prevented us from even setting foot within its confines. It was a wall painted to resemble a forest," Jason explained, his voice heavy with the weight of memory.
"After that event, we lost all knowledge of what transpired in that area, and the higher-ups decided to relocate the entire city of Sidon, moving it far from the cursed ground," he sighed, as if reliving the painful memories. "They established a base for a team to monitor any changes in the area."
Jason's expression shifted to one of seriousness. "A decade passed without incident—until two days ago, when a fracture appeared near the forest."
He met Arthur's gaze. "The team was deployed to investigate the fracture, and if it posed a threat, we were to eradicate it completely. That's how I returned after ten long years, only to find the isle we had fought to protect."
Arthur's heart raced at the implications. "What did you find?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper.
"At first, I was shocked to see that it was indeed the isle where we battled that entity. I thought it dangerous, fearing it might ambush us since we had never eradicated it," Jason said, his brow furrowing in concern. "But as we continued to explore, I sensed something strange."
"What was it?" Arthur inquired, curiosity piqued.
"Theo and Tito both claimed to have encountered people in different areas of the isle," Jason revealed, causing Arthur's brow to furrow in confusion.
"Is it surprising to see people?" Arthur asked, bewildered.
Jason chuckled softly, a hint of irony in his tone. "During our fight against that entity, all souls perished. Everyone on Isle died; nothing remained but the entity itself."
Arthur's breath caught in his throat, shock washing over him as he struggled to comprehend Jason's words. "But… how can that be?"
"I was uncertain myself when I first heard it from Theo and Tito," Jason admitted. "So, I ventured to see for myself. What I found left me questioning everything. There were indeed people walking around the isle, but they were alive and yet… not alive."
Confusion deepened in Arthur's eyes, contrasting with the knowing expressions of Theo and Tito. "What do you mean?" he pressed.
"After investigating, I discovered they were all dead—mere husks created by the entity to carry the souls it had devoured. I couldn't fathom why it would play with the dead like that. Perhaps it sought to advance the essence of the souls, to cultivate something it could profit from. As they say, the more a soul lives, the more it becomes nourished—much like iron that is heated and hammered until it becomes solid and tough, meeting the demands of the smith," Jason explained, his voice steady yet laced with unease.
"I couldn't decipher how it created these husks, but I knew that with the fracture in the barrier keeping the entity contained, something dire was imminent if it wasn't addressed swiftly. That's why I took it upon myself to search the isle for clues about the entity. My abilities are more attuned to the realm of souls and the dead, making me better suited for the task than Tito and Theo," he continued earnestly.
"I scoured the isle but found only two things that were truly abnormal," Jason said, his expression grave as he bore into Arthur's eyes. "The first was a mountain of corpses at the center, where dark energy coalesced. It possessed the same essence as the entity, yet the entity itself was absent. I sensed that if left unchecked, that place could become as dangerous as it was a decade ago."
"And the second?" Arthur urged, his heart pounding.
"The second was something I never expected to find on the isle: a living person—not a half-dead husk, but a true living being," Jason stated, locking eyes with Arthur.
Arthur felt the weight of Jason's gaze, a deep scrutiny that seemed to pierce his very soul.
"And that was you," Jason concluded, a mixture of surprise and certainty in his voice.