Cor said smiling "I saw a boy… he had the same eyes as you on the day you left the town to come with a poor excuse of a man like me." and he sighs.
"Maybe I was selfish and I let my own anger out on someone else. I guess I am not any better than those who hurt someone else for their own selfishness"
Cor laughed "I mean you were the one who teached me that… ha~ look at me using your words…"
… He waited for someone to say something. But the dead can not speak except for memories they left behind. He was alone seated there waiting for a ghost to appear and say something.
Cor sighed "Drinking didn`t help at all… I guess that makes the two of us liars…"
Camlon's body wrapped in white sheet stained with blood yet his expression still unchanged "I am sorry… Camlon I am sorry for not going with you on that dam scout mission…"
Cor repeated "And I am sorry but it was I who used to look up to you. I just acted high and mighty saying scout missions were way past me…"
Cor said to himself "It's hard to accept but this is the truth…"
He sighed as he looked towards the sky "Come back safely. We will be waiting…"
Meanwhile at the arean came a tall handsome man with long red hair which stood out from the rest. They were uneven and a bit messy that fell all around his head and shined like flames in sunlight and raced against the gust of wind.
His eyes were red, wide and sharp. A color no human commonly has yet it "supposedly" only increased his beauty. He had thin eyebrows and a sharp face.
His build was not that of a warrior or a soldier but still well built. He only had a plain wooden sword on him which looked like it was just for decoration as he wore plain clothing with no armor underneath.
His hair ran all over his face and was a mess showing how he came here running and stopped at the commotion around the arean.
'How odd' he wondered and went to ask around.
There came a teen in a cloak whose only visible feature was his bronze skin which was uncommon in these region.
The red haired man stopped to ask 'What happened here?'
The teen was hiding his face as he responded 'A duel went on. Apparently some kid covered in bandages was challenged and defeated someone known as "The Strongest Adventurer of the Village" in Almodu way. I question the duel itself.'
He continued as he turned his face towards a direction 'Supposedly that boy was brought under some suspicion by soldiers and went as far as being treated like a criminal.' The teen pointed at a direction saying 'That boy went off that way.'
The red haired man stared at him and said 'I see thanks…' as the teen was slipping away.
The red haired asked asked 'Have we met before?' making the teen pause on his track 'Just a bypassing admirer' and went off on his own path.
The red haired man smiled and thought 'You are not that careless to let this happen. But looks like we both are running out of time'
He looked at the pointed direction and thought 'Is that not the place where that New Void appeared… why would he go there?'
The red-haired man thought to himself 'I can catch up to the boy but those soldiers… i guess I can no longer wait for them. Come on Ananke, do not be late this time.' and took a single step before starting to run once again. The speed at which he walked was almost like he was flying through the air.
The teen thought 'Interesting for him to show up' looking at him running towards the veil. 'I guess there was no need for me to come here.'
Meanwhile the boy had already reached the Veil with his supposedly fast walking pace. It was the same Veil his group was sent to scout for before meeting their demise.
Veil, also known as "Veil In-Between the Worlds" due to its unique look. A large hemisphere that covers the land like a Veil. The world atmosphere inside looks completely different from outside and the land inside the Veil is usually a place where no normal life can exist for its harsh environment. The Veil slowly expands and spreads around eating the land like poison and alternates the terrain.
The terrain does not change even after the Veil is removed, making it race against time before the Veil either breaks, unleashing what's inside or slowly consumes the outside world whole.
He noticed the string going inside a large smoke like barrier of the Veil covering around like a border, surrounding the large land within its hemisphere. It was as if it invited him inside.
The kids' gut felt something off about it. As he walked towards it and slightly touched it, it felt like nothing existed there.
'So this is what the Veil Between The Worlds looks like' as he stepped into the smoke following the sting.
The moment he put his leg inside of it, it felt as if something pulled him inside the dark veil.
The boy landed face first on the ground. The land inside the Veil looked dead and desolated with no signs of life but seemingly larger than the hemisphere from outside, the air felt polluted, smoky and weird as he breathed it and started coughing. It was like a whole different world inside there yet felt familiar.
The kid turned back just to find the Veil appeared in front of him as it blocked his way out. The veil showed up only when he was close to it and disappeared when he stepped away, showing a whole different world inside. He could faintly see the outside world.
This felt similar to the barrier he saw in his dream so he wondered 'No way it will shock me— will it?'
He tried to touch the veil and felt an electrical surge but much stronger to be called harmless. It was the same as the boy had experienced in that dream of white haired girl who called herself Aeel in her weird way of talking.
He thought 'This is not Alie doing… is it?'
There was almost no resistance going inside but going out seemed almost impossible.
'Oh well, I did not think I would get trapped' as he sighed?
'I guess it was a good thing I brought my sword.' and he looked towards the string questioning 'Just what are you trying to lead me to?… My Death?'
Around him was no sign of life as if the land was deserted and hopeless for life to exist. There resided ruined structures of a small village in the middle of its ruined terrain, and in the center a ray of white light shooting up high at the sky from ground at the center of the veil and weird fog curved around it.
He looked towards the light and exhaled slowly with a slight smile 'I mean not like I have any other choice'
He started to walk towards the center from where a ray of light was beaming upwards.
As he entered the ruined village, he turned around the corner only for something to crash into his foot.
He looked down and was shocked to find a malformed humanoid creature but not human-ish. They had overall larger bodies in height compared to humans and their back curved with their legs not standing straight.
Their skin was grey-ish colored, dehydrated and hard while the skin of their mouth was missing which exposed their teeth directly. Their nose and ears cartilage were missing leaving behind holes.
They wore bandages or clothes covering their eyes with some stains on them as if they were made from tears and a large tatted cloak over their body which covered most of their body and face.
Their arms size varied, some had large arms while others had small, the length was inconsistent for among them while having overall larger bodies compared to humans.
Their legs were long and their backs were curved, showing their spine structure visible from behind even from the tatted cloak they wore over themself that hid most of their bodies.
Their ribcage structures were visible like of a starved creature but the chest where their organs like lungs resided were missing, leaving a hollow space caving inwards while the bones curved outwards like claws from their body looking like a cage.
The ribcage's bones were pointing out like sharp spikes cutting through their cloaked and leaving a hollow space between them which resembled a cage.
This instantly reminded the boy of Half Bloomed Flowers but one would prefer them closed.
'So this is what they meant by creatures almost like they are from other worlds? The Weeping Beasts' he mumbled and thought to himself for some moments 'Yea… this does not resemble Ella that much~'
Most of them had clear sharp wounds made from swords on their back where the human heart resides.
In some distance, he could still hear soldiers fighting nearby and went closer to investigate knowing it would be town guards, the string started vibrating violently while leading to another direction, either safeguarding him or dooming him.
While it can be safe to be with others, it was also dangerous as they would alert the creatures towards them with their song of swords… or maybe he just did not trust them with how rough they treated him.
He looked towards the string and said 'Well I guess I will follow you for now and if something does happen, I can defeat a few of them to escape…'
He started following the string and met with many creatures on the way and looked like they were mocking human behavior but he was able to sneak past them.
But not before long, he encountered two creatures on the way, they walked slowly yet oddly weird, the string divided itself into multiple strands. Some were ending while others were going on without ending.
The kid was easily able to find the path by following the one that was not ending and dodge the confrontation with those creatures easily uptill now.
One was ending at a hiding spot near crates while the other was flowing behind the wall. The one hiding in the crate was separated and served while the other one gathered into a single point like a thread ball that glowed but that space was wide open from both sides.
'You got to be kidding me' he thought to himself questioning if string was playing games on him.
He decided to trust it as it was the reason why he was not caught till now but also the reason why he is in this mess.
But even in the worst case scenario, there were only two of those creatures roaming around. He hid behind an open wall to both sides. As creatures from both sides were stepping closer to him. One had long arms and his leg hit onto the hiding spot causing the crates to fall to ground as the creature swung his arm instantly at the wooden planks as it let out a screech, destroying them like a piece of paper.
The kid tightened his grip onto the hilt of his sword firmly ready to take actions as the both came closer cornering him on both sides.
Surrounded by creatures behind the wall, they stepped closer and they started moving their head towards the kid.
'Yea… I do not think I can take them at all' he said as his last words to the world, closing his eyes like he was saying his good bye.