While the western region was ending and the United Army was hard at work, what was Arthur doing?
Well…
Arthur had been very busy since the beginning of the Second Calamity.
When the first wave of disasters swept through the region and uprooted entire continental plates, he immediately headed west with Kilemin, towards the border, and helped to search for a way out so that they could start to save as many refugees as possible.
After he was sure that Kilemin could manage by himself, Arthur moved on and headed deeper into the western region.
He spent a lot of time rescuing very specific people, unlike the common team, he went for the individuals who would have a greater impact on the future calamities.
He used his foresight to do this.
During this time, Arthur spent his days running through 'ruined settlements' and 'devastated landscapes', rescuing the kind of people no one else would have noticed under normal circumstances.
His targets were the ones who didn't seem important, or the people who would be lost if he did not show up in time.
They were those 'lost to fate'.
Forgotten Scholars, abandoned soldiers, untrained healers, discarded orphans, people with unusual talents, and even a few who carried the potential to become a disaster in the future.
He didn't discriminate.
Arthur's goal was to open as many 'doors' as possible.
"Someone will need them," he would mumble to himself, "Whether it's for good or bad, that's not my decision to make."
Even though Petra had taken one of his eyes, the vessels that held the 'Sky God's Blessing', Arthur didn't actually hold that big of a grudge.
The changes caused by the loss of one of his eyes were strange. Without it, his future vision worked slightly differently. It was like his depth perception was messed up. He couldn't see as 'far', and in a way, his foresight had worsened, but that narrowness had also given him something new.
Before, his foresight had been like reading an endless book, providing pages that were constantly being written and rewritten faster than he could follow.
It was very overwhelming, especially for a mortal like him.
But now, he was far more sensitive.
Now, he could only glimpse a few pages ahead, perhaps only a tenth as far, and the rest had gone dark. But those few pages were clearer, and he could now see the flow of small choices, trace the moments that would ripple forward, and when a decision would matter, even if he couldn't tell where it would lead, he could focus on it and direct it.
He could no longer see everything, but he could feel when something was important.
That was enough, no, that was more than enough.
Arthur didn't need to know the ending, he didn't want to.
So, he didn't carry the grudge that he should have.
That didn't mean that Petra was off the hook, but it did mean that he wouldn't hunt her down, like a certain group of lunatics that would pop up in the future.
He spent weeks crossing the fractured western archipelago, saving who he could while he passed.
He knew that the western region was far from doomed.
In fact, even in the worst-case scenario where they couldn't preserve the land, the spirit of the westerners would still live on, only more spread out.
That was exactly what he was doing now…
Sometimes he would pull a child from a collapsed building, while other times he'd dismantle an old road to block a path. His actions were erratic and nonsensical, but they always had a purpose.
Perhaps, Elena was the only one who somewhat understood the true value of his actions.
Everything he did was like a domino that would gain momentum as the years passed.
It was naïve, maybe, but Arthur, perhaps more than any of the others, genuinely wanted to be a Hero who could live up to that title.
He had the most understanding of the 'First Hero', so he knew that the title was far more than just saving people, fighting injustice, and dispelling calamity.
He liked to believe that someone, somewhere, would handle the consequences, even if one of those people that he rescued grew up into a monster.
-
Time passed like this for many days.
Then, one day, his ability pointed him south, to the Dark Swamp Archipelago, to its southern tip.
He saw a 'treasure' somewhere deep within the earth, beneath the ruins of an abandoned structure. Something old, powerful, and with the potential to become a great weapon in the future.
He followed that thread of fate, slowly advancing towards the south.
-
Now, it had been several days since he'd arrived at the southern tip of the western region's dark swamp archipelago, and Arthur had joined the temporary camp built near one of the few bridge-like roots that could be used to reach this island.
They had turned a broken village into their base of operations.
Engineers, researchers, survivors, and wandering mercenaries all gathered under a united front, preparing to explore the danger zones deeper in the island.
Arthur himself wasn't much of a fighter. He was a 'Runic Scholar', a 'Runesmith', and a 'Magitech Engineer'. His strength lay in design and prediction, not pure destruction. A runesmith was a person who engraved runes into objects, and a magitech engineer was a person who used rune-engraved parts to create machines. ('machines' are not the same thing as an artifact)
As for a 'Runic Scholar', a Runic Scholar was a person who studied the rune language, as opposed to a 'Runesmith', who used memorized patterns to engrave runes.
One day, just as he was returning from an inspection outside, he suddenly noticed a small figure crossing the bridge that led to the island.
It was a small, little ant girl, an already rare sight, that covered itself in a long cloak like a child. It was alone, with only a small backpack tied to its back.
Something about its presence caused a flicker in his perception.
When he focused on it with his ability, it simply… wasn't there. No threads of cause and effect, no traces of future or past. It was just a blank space in the world, like a bottomless pit that had concealed itself beneath a veil of flesh, cutting through fate like ink on a red canvas.
His steps froze.
He had seen this before.
Not long ago, back in Imai…
Arthur narrowed his eyes, his hand tightening on the strap of his satchel. He stepped closer, boots sinking into the soft mud.
When he was close enough…
"Are you…" He hesitated, his voice uncertain, "…Petra?"
There was a pause.
* * *
"Are you… Petra?"
Arthur stood on one side, while 'Petra' stood on the other.
The small creature, Petra's Avatar, tilted its head, its big black eyes flickered faintly, and then, with a subtle hum, it smiled.
There was a very long pause, then a soft pop…
A stream of green energy wrapped around the Ant Avatar's hands and condensed into a glowing bubble above its head. Inside the translucent sphere, glowing words appeared one by one.
Arthur blinked.
[Yo, shorty cyclops! What's up? Tee~hehehe~!]
Then, his face went pale.
Arthur took a step back, his eye already twitching madly.
The bubble floated lazily above Petra's head, wobbling side to side, almost mocking him.
He gritted his teeth. "You…!"
Before he could finish, another bubble formed beside the first, shoving it aside in a very animated 'bump'. [What's our favorite four-eyed hero doing in a dump like this?]
[Kek—I mean three-eyes! Nyahahaha!]
Arthur felt his temple throb.
The sight of the expressionless little ant paired with those cheerful speech bubbles made his heart itch.
He wanted to punch a wall.
He wanted to punch a wall really hard!
Arthur couldn't remember the last time he was this irritated.
He pointed furiously. "What is this, some kind of disguise!? What, too scared to show your face now that you're wanted by the whole continent, you little brat!?"
The ant's head tilted again, and the third bubble pushed the other two aside.
[Hmph! What do you know, ugly goggles guy? I'm doing great, I'll have you know!]
The Ant Avatar puffed out its flat chest and placed its hands on its 'hips', striking a proud pose. From a distance, one would find this conversation a bit similar to an annoyed older brother reprimanding his baby sister.
Arthur's eye twitched again. "You're a Controller?"
[Yeah, that's right!] Another bubble appeared, spinning dramatically. [The great lord who super slapped you was a glass cannon! Kahahaha!]
Arthur's expression darkened even further.
His good eye nearly went red, and he lost control.
"Y-you, you think I won't attack you here?" he said through clenched teeth, his body shaking.
A new bubble popped into existence, glowing brighter than the rest. [I don't mind taking another eye! That's good stuff! That's good stuff!]
Arthur froze.
He couldn't even imagine what this tiny freak would do with his eyes.
His voice dropped an octave. "Brat!? There's a limit to how far a second-level, no, a third-level controller can hide with this level of puppet!"
[Kekeke~ then find me, little shrimp!]
Arthur's jaw tightened. "Who's the shrimp!"
He took a step forward, his aura flaring with a snap.
He had no idea, not even the faintest clue, that the smug little ant in front of him was being piloted by Petra from across the entire region.
He flickered between stepping forward and backing down.
Arthur was struggling to control his emotions.
In the end, even as he was about to crush his jaw, he somehow forced himself to back down and turn around with a snort.
He left in a huff.
Petra watched him leave with a smirk.
What a coward!
She definitely didn't have the ability to fight him right now, at least, not the same way she did before. It would be much closer, perhaps even devolving into a fight where she would have to cheat.
Petra shook her head and left.
-
Petra only stayed in the encampment for a few hours before moving on and heading deeper into the island. The land she was on was part of what people had started to call the…
'Black Swamp Archipelago, Southern Tip, Lion's Tail Island'. It was a temporary name.
Nobody was quite sure who came up with it, but it was widely accepted.
'Lion's Tail Island' had once been the territory of the Black Lion Organization's Headquarters, a powerful branch working under the Mercenary Alliances umbrella.
This was their original stronghold.
After the devastation two months ago, they had been hit with disastrous luck. Although in general, the island was left untouched, one of the massive fissures that cut through the region had opened directly beneath their main headquarters. The entire base had sunk into the abyss, taking everything with it.
After that, those from the Black Lion decided to abandon the island.
That decision came directly from Hexfill, the man currently overseeing the largest portion of the western region's evacuation.
Technically, Hexfill wasn't even part of the Black Lion, but since he was the organization's true leader, and Bouer Blacklion, his subordinate, was still missing, he'd taken command by default.
The last anyone had heard from him, Bouer had gone to the northern region on a witch hunt for his son's killer, literally.
He never returned, not yet at least…
So, the Black Lion's remaining forces naturally followed Hexfill's orders and relocated whatever they could salvage to the Grey Plains. The Mercenary Alliance was already planning to withdraw from the western region and move north, so this process was relatively quick.
As for what the Black Lion actually was…
They were an underground auction house operating beneath the Alliance's shadow. They often worked with the Black Market, or the so-called 'Black Chain', trading rare resources, artifacts… and occasionally… uh… everything else… You know what I mean.
What they'd lost when their headquarters collapsed wasn't particularly devastating, most of it was material wealth and stored goods. Still, for many treasure hunters who had heard about it, that alone was reason enough to gather.
The promise of the 'Black Lions' treasures scattered between the crevices of the island had turned the Lions Tail Island into a scavenger's paradise. Combined that with the fact that it was one of the least damaged areas after the collapse, this place quickly attracted a lot of people.
Petra, however, didn't care about any of that…
She had long since stopped thinking about the madman who'd been chasing her down for revenge.
That was old news, and it no longer interested her.
All her attention was on the environment around her.
Petra left the encampment and entered the forest.
Unlike the rest of the Dark Swamp Archipelago, down here, near the southern tip, the apocalyptic landscape unique to the western region had taken a breath and became slightly more normal.
There were green forests and tall mountains.
This was the 'Silver Song Forest', a massive woodland that stretched around the 'Red Rise Mountain' and bloomed outwards in the vague shape of a triangle. The forest was home to several local tribes unique to the western region, the Black Tail Tribe, the Red Ring Tribe, and… the Screaming Potatoes.
What the fuck were 'Screaming Potatoes'… you might have asked?
You probably did, right?
Yeah, at least, you definitely thought that…
Well, they were basically mandrakes… just not so directionally challenged. Unlike their dirt-bathing brothers, these naughty little girls liked to run around like toddlers, sneak up to you while you were sleeping… and then do the mandrake thing.
"…"
So~ it should go without saying, but those who lived in this forest had developed very particular sleeping habits over their long lives.
Anyway, Petra disappeared, swallowed by the forest foliage.
Thick waves of mist drifted between the trees like the slow breath of the wind, wrapping around Petra's small frame as she moved deeper into the green sea. The sound of the camp faded behind her, replaced by the distant calls of unseen creatures stirring within the branches ahead.