Chapter 314 - Bad Wolf
The octopus grew relentless in its attacks, striking the two time and time again. They dodged when they could and blocked when they had to.
"The world shall freeze,"
Dia spread her arms as the mountain appeared again, but this time it looked more like a giant spear. It descended on the monster, aiming to crush it.
Whipping with its tentacles, the octopus broke the ice mountain apart until it exploded into countless shards. The unceasing attacks made the ground shake.
As the mountain disappeared, a net of intertwined fire ropes appeared behind it, descending on the octopus and cutting away its escape routes.
The giant fire net enclosed the octopus, and the scent of burned flesh filled the well. The monster gave a loud shriek and tried to break free from the fire using its tar-like secretions.
"Futile." Arthur followed after his net as a golden dagger appeared in his hand. He threw the dagger and controlled it using his ethereal arm, infusing it with an enormous amount of spiritual power.
The dagger's surface exploded with light as it descended. Suddenly, the blade disappeared and reappeared on top of the octopus. It tried to protect itself using the black matter, but the dagger slashed apart everything in its path.
Even though it tried, the octopus couldn't block the dagger, and it tore through its flesh and straight to his heart. The spiritual power exploded to destroy the other two hearts, and the octopus fell to the ground, dead.
"How did you..." Dia looked at him with a shocked expression. "This monster ate away mana. Why couldn't it eat yours?" She asked Arthur, who descended and walked to retrieve his dagger.
"My mana tastes bad, I guess." Arthur used his spiritual arm, and the dagger appeared, covered in blood and the black-tar substance. Using his mana, Arthur cleaned it and returned the weapon to his subspace. He then took out the core of the monster and placed it in his subspace.
"That weapon is powerful," Dia said with a hint of envy. "Do you even need it? You have so many powers."
"Says The Daughter of Ice and Fire." Arthur smiled as he walked back. "You can carry me up now since you wanted to do so earlier."
"You don't need me,"
Dia smirked and flew away. Arthur shook his head as he looked at her childish behavior. He teleported and appeared at the top of the well, where he welcomed Dia back.
"Welcome!" Arthur grinned as he looked down. "You're a little late!"
"Dammit!" Dia bit her lower lip in frustration.
"You seem to be having fun." Gala squinted her eyes at them. "Is it over?"
"Yes, the well has nothing but a corpse now." Arthur nodded. "Are you satisfied, Mother Rega?"
"Thank you, ancient one." The voice appeared again as the root that connected to the next island began growing. "You can advance now. There are more monsters for you to defeat."
"More?" Gala frowned. "It's using us, Seika." She warned Arthur.
"I know, but this works better for us." Arthur nodded. "Instead of interrogating everyone in the duke's house, offending the duke, we can just set up a trap for them."
"A trap?" Roya asked while hugging Gala.
"Uh, to catch the big bad wolf!" Arthur said, making Roya close her eyes with fear. "Bad Wolf won't sit around as we save the tree, so he's bound to make an appearance."
"His name is Bad Wolf now?" Gala laughed. "That's offensive to some people."
"Not if he was truly a wolf." Arthur smiled as he looked up the tree. "We'll find out eventually who wanted to harm this city just to make people hate me." A dangerous light flashed in Arthur's eyes.
The next island had a mountain, and Mother Rega told them that they needed to save the mountain's core because it was infected. As Arthur and Gala entered the caves and looked around, they met with several Ender creatures ordered to attack them. Working together, the two exterminated them quickly. They found the core that a giant black crack into it.
"How are we to fix this?"
"Mm, I think I have an idea." Arthur walked over and touched the giant ore in the middle of the cave. His mana cleansed the ore as it defeated the Ender's powers.
The mountain shook in joy after Arthur restored its core. When Arthur turned around, Gala looked at him with a frown.
"It's the first time I've seen someone cleanses corruption without destroying the infected parts." Gala squinted her eyes at him. "They call you Lorius or Seika, but I don't think you're any of those two."
"Then what am I?" Arthur asked as his lips curled up. "Be kind to enlighten me."
"I don't know what you are, but I just know one thing." Gala stared at him in the eyes. "You are something the world needs."
***
Another root grew, and the group reached the final island. As they arrived at it, they found a single hut with flowers and plants around it. The cabin seemed old but elegant.
"Welcome back." The voice spoke from within the house. The rest were confused by the words, but not Arthur. He was only curious.
'Have I been here before?' Arthur wanted to walk toward the hut and meet the voice owner, but memories rushed into his mind from somewhere.
The memories lodged themself into Arthur's mind, but he knew they weren't his. At least, he didn't experience them himself. The memories weren't long, just bits and pieces.
He was watching through the eyes of someone, witnessing the same scene in front of him. However, the hut was on a giant tree instead of this island.
The memories changed to reveal a small creature with roots for limbs, leaves for hair, and a wooden body. The tiny creature was sleeping next to Arthur as he sat beside the hut.
"I'm home," Arthur muttered the words that appeared in his mind. An aura exploded from within the hut when he replied, its door and windows thrown open.
A strong gale of wind rushed from within the house, fluttering their robes. A light appeared from within as the same creature in the memories Arthur saw came out of the house. However, its roots have dried, and its leaves turned yellow.
The creature was half of Arthur's height, looking like a baby. However, its body was of smooth wood and roots acting as limbs. Two eyes' sockets of green marbles looked at Arthur with longing.
"You are back." A greenish liquid fell from the marbles as if they were tears. "I've protected this place all this time." The creature said to Arthur.
As he looked at the creature, Arthur was confused. He doesn't remember this creature, but somewhere deep inside, Arthur felt like he did with those memories in his mind. Looking at its dying appearance, Arthur couldn't speak out his questions.
"Un." Arthur nodded. "You did well."
As soon as it heard Arthur's words, the creature tried to form a smile. However, it fell to the ground on its face, revealing a black wound on its back. The black substance was corroding the creature, and its lifeforce was growing weaker.
"Is it dying?" Dia asked with a frown. "What did it mean by that?" She looked at Arthur.
"I don't know." Arthur shook his head and hurried to sit beside the creature. Its marble eyes were closed. It was breathing its last.
"Why did it make us kill those monsters if it was about to die?" Gala walked over and crouched beside Arthur. "This is a spirit, a low-ranking one."
"Low-ranking?" Arthur furrowed his brows. "This spirit built a world, and it has a physical body."
"The physical body is the tree itself," Gala noted. "I don't know how it grew to be this huge, but this is undoubtedly a spirit. It must have contracted to someone in the past, but that doesn't make sense."
"Nothing makes sense anymore." Arthur frowned. "That's why I'll make sure it makes sense." Arthur raised his right hand, and the Mana of Creation exploded.
Gala hurriedly backed away as Arthur brought down his hand. The Power of Nothing and the Power of Everything collided as one ate away at the other.
The tree's inner world began to shake, but Arthur's mana began taking control. It seeped into the spirit's body and began to cleanse it. The spirit's lifeforce began to grow stronger again.
A loud explosion shook the space and split open a rift above the group as the Enders Powers on the creature extinguished under Arthur's relentless mana.
As he looked up, Arthur saw someone descend from the rift, and it closed behind him. The newcomer was none other than Traitor, who told Arthur about the plan to kidnap the princess.
"See, Gala?" Arthur grinned. "I told you it would be a bad wolf. The only surprise is that this one is rotten."
"You knew?" Traitor looked down on them.
"You are the only person who knew about the plan from the beginning. I sensed a familiar existence in the city when I arrived, but it was just a suspicion."
"You did well. It's time that you die." His body began to grow larger until he looked like a small mountain.
"Now, it's time to find out who wants me dead." Arthur stood up as his mana exploded, his spiritual arm condensing into a semi-physical form. "Let me try this out," He said with a grin.