1398 Its Creator


    A crawling creature blocked their path, looking like a giant centipede with oozing ck tar. The elves released their spells, letting the elemental attacks rain down on the Centipede of Doom. However, it thrashed about and spilled the ck tar everywhere. Diana stared at the creature and remembered what Arthur taught her about the creatures of nothingness. The ck tarry substance was not actually something that belonged to this world but a spiritual manifestation of the nameless itself. Therefore, it was impossible to destroy it. "Nameless is akin to a poison for worlds," said Arthur on one of their dates. "It fills the worlds with corruption, leading them to downfall. However, it doesn''t have a form of its own. That''s the reason it''s weak once the vessel is destroyed." "But how do you destroy the vessel when it repels all mana?" asked Diana in confusion at that time. Arthur gave her a little grin before sharing a secret that he learned from his fights against the nameless. Diana took a step forward amidst the elves, her pair of wings spreading across the forest. The elves looked at her in awe as her feet left the ground. She raised her hands, summoning a spear of fire above her. The centipede let out a wrathful scream as it rose in the air to meet its challenger. Diana looked tiny inparison to the giant creature, which had terrified the elves for a while. "This will hurt," Diana said as she raised her hands to the sky and brought them down. The spear of fire exploded from her hands, destroying anything it touched. It went through the giant centipede, which began copsing before their eyes. "The attack is working!" shouted one of the elves. "But how?" Malrik was confused as he looked at the giant creature crumbling to the ground in lumps of flesh and skeleton. "We never managed tond a dent on it… so how…" Diana descended to the ground, not having broken a sweat. The elves stared at her in silence and gaping mouths. She looked around, confused, as they became statues in the dying forest. "Was I not meant to kill it?" asked Diana in confusion. Malrik snapped out of his daze as he rushed forward. "No, no! It''s just that… none of our attacks worked, no matter how many wended on the monster. We actually called it the Centipede of Doom because it guarded the entrance to the forest." "I can teach you how to kill it, but it''s easier said than done," Diana said as the elves approached her with curiosity. She smiled a little as she remembered her time when she led Runera as its ruler. "You just need to use spiritual energy to detach the vessel from the nameless." "…the vessel?" muttered Malrik in confusion. "What is spiritual energy?" Ranya asked as she tilted her head. "Is it a unique mana?" "Spiritual energy is the third aspect of our bodies," Diana exined as she raised her hand. "We have a body and a soul. Our souls are ethereal forms, and they are made of spiritual energy." The elves didn''t seem to understand, so Diana felt helpless. However, before she could exin this any better, another howl echoed from within the forest. Everyone turned around to see an army of creeping creatures crawl down from the giant trees to surround them. "This is just like before," Ranya said with nervousness. "We ran away from those creatures before we got separated." "Just follow my lead," Diana said as her mes burned bright. The creeping creatures, who looked like giant humanoid lizards, began falling from the sky around them. Diana allowed her fire to burn everything in its path. *** "You look worried," Tiara whispered next to Arthur, surprising him with a grin. She caught him looking toward the Dark Forest on their way toward the recovery room. "Diana can handle it." "I trust her more than I trust myself with this," Arthur said with a smile. "Diana is the master of her own emotions, unlike me. Mine somehowe with taxes." Tiara furrowed her brows in confusion, which somehow made her long ears move through her green hair. "Taxes? What do you mean?" "I have two powers: creation and wrath. Both of these powers affect my emotions," Arthur exined with a sigh. "Creation takes away from every emotion, and wrath makes me unable to feel anything other than that. I sometimes dream of myself bing a monster who only knows how to fight and kill." "You are far from being that…" Tiara said with a shake of her head. "I''vee a long way," Arthur said with a smile. "But I trust Diana would always make the right choice, regardless of her emotions. I''m worried about her for a different reason." "What kind of reason?" "Diana has lived a life of istion her entire life. She puts on a strong front that is untouchable for most, but shecks experience when ites to handling people." "I''m sure that she will be fine. Everyone loves her," Tiara said as the two of them reached the recovery room. It was built into the tallest tree with the most abundant mana. "We are here." Arthur nodded and walked inside with Tiara. The stench of death pped him in the face as soon as he walked inside. Twenty beds were lined next to each other as the patients groaned without being treated. "We feared contamination, so we isted them. Every potion or artifact we used seemed to elerate their deaths, so we stopped," Tiara said with a grim face. "You are ourst hope." Their sight made Arthur feel sad. The twenty elves inside were half-corpses that barely clung to life. They were the elves that somehow survived the Dark Forest but were unlucky enough to touch the ck tar. "Thest thing I am is hope," Arthur said as he walked into the recovery room, surrounded by death from every side. His eyes shone golden as spiritual energy leaked from his body. "But I can be its creator." @@novelbin@@