Flynn slowly regained consciousness, still feeling a sharp pain ripping through his body. Therefore, he slowly opened his eyelids.
"..."
He listened to his own labored breathing, but the sunlight shining through the gaps in the trees dazzled him, forcing him to close his eyes again.
Although the pain was still there, his consciousness had fully returned. He now lay limp on the ground. In other words, he was helpless.
However, he was still a strong Nephilim. With all his strength, Flynn tried to rouse himself until he finally woke up fully.
At that moment, he realized he was in a dense forest. But his attention was drawn to Nathan's body lying on the ground not far from where Flynn was.
"..."
Suddenly, that brought back memories of the previous incident.
Moments after Infori was pushed into a floating circle that seemed to suck anyone nearby into the void, Flynn, clearly not accepting this, wanted to settle things immediately.
"Appear!" he said, opening his hand to summon his sword—Exceed The Storm.
However, the mysterious man didn't give Flynn any chance. Without a sound, without any warning, the void creature resembling Infori immediately lunged toward Flynn. He, meanwhile, was merely controlling the creature from a distance.
With a single fist, he managed to gain momentum and deliver a devastating blow to Flynn's stomach.
THUD!
With that single movement, Flynn's defenses were instantly shattered.
"ARGHH?!"
His body was thrown through the air at such a rapid speed that his back collided with a tree, even piercing through it, causing a significant impact.
Flynn's body, having stopped being thrown, rolled on the ground until it finally came to a stop and lay helpless, enduring the pain that was felt throughout his body.
"Ack...! Uhh...!"
Without Flynn's knowledge, the infori-like creature appeared near him, grabbed his neck, and pulled him upward. The stranglehold grew stronger, as Flynn tried to smack the creature away, but failed.
"Hah...! Uh...!"
The creature gripped his neck even tighter, making it nearly impossible for Flynn to breathe. He groaned in pain, but no one could help him now.
This creature was created from the void, its void body unassailable and untouchable. It completely disappeared. However, it could touch beings who were clearly not void. That was what made it so dangerous.
Flynn's body thrashed, wanting to be freed from the infori-like creature's grip.
"...!"
Meanwhile, the creature tightened its grip.
"Enough." At that moment, the mysterious man's voice stopped the creature from moving forward. He broke his grip, grabbing only Flynn's neck. "Our mission is complete, let's return to Queen Noya."
In an instant, the creature released its grip and roughly dropped the helpless Flynn to the ground. His body lay on the ground, where it then abandoned him.
The infori-like creature's body transformed into dark particles that weaved through the air and then entered the man's sword.
Afterward, Flynn, who was slowly losing consciousness, saw a dark energy emerge from the man's hand, opening a portal behind him that moved forward, causing the man's body to disappear.
That was all he remembered from the previous incident.
Flynn stared at the tree with a large scar from the impact of Flynn's overly powerful body, and pondered something about the man.
(Who is that man? Why... Does he have such unreasonable strength?)
Perhaps these were new questions that might be answered if he sought the answers, but for now, Flynn decided to stand and walk over to Nathan.
He then tried to wake him.
"Hey, Mr. Nathan. Wake up," he said, patting his back.
Nathan regained consciousness and slowly opened his eyes again after hearing Flynn's voice nearby, then fully saw Flynn in front of him.
"...What happened?" he said, holding his head. "Where's Infori?"
"A lot of things happened..." Flynn replied, but decided not to answer her question right now. "But I won't explain everything now... Infori disappeared, and the mysterious man disappeared along with her."
"Infori's gone?! How is that possible?"
"I'll explain later, but for now, we should rest first and then think things through."
Nathan agreed with Flynn. "I agree, besides, my body hurts more than ever."
The two of them decided to take a break, especially after being so badly beaten by the creature that couldn't be attacked or touched.
However, it was clear. They were also worried about Infori.
⟨⟩ ⟨⟩ ⟨⟩
Infori's destiny now had a branching path that created ambiguity, and he hadn't even reached the end of his destiny. This branching path was likely a result of Infori's constantly changing direction.
Pathways of the World—is what binds all destinies into one dimension through the manifestation of paths that have doors as the endpoints of certain destinies.
His other self understood this, and therefore questioned the existence of Infori, who was still intact and hadn't disappeared or been cut off from the life sustained by the sacred tree—Everness.
"The current ambiguity could trigger changes in the destinies of others."
"What?"
Then, his other self made a rather surprising statement.
"Your destiny is connected to Flynn Deschain's, Infori." Hearing this, Infori gasped. But before he could speak, his other self continued. "The branching of your destiny could affect the destinies of others as a whole."
"Affecting the destinies of others? You mean, by branching my destiny, it could impact the destinies of those closest to me, right?"
"I'm sure that's true. But destiny isn't something that can be changed at will." Then, he continued, his voice still even, neither rising nor falling. However, the atmosphere became more serious again. "Therefore, the ramifications that have occurred must be addressed immediately."
Infori understood his words, and from that statement, he also sensed something odd, leading him to ask this important question.
"I understand. But, what was the purpose of that mysterious man transferring me here?"
"..."
"You also mentioned the word 'Believer' to me earlier, but why did that word appear in my vision back then?"
"Someone might answer it."
"Who? You?"
"Queen Noya."
"...?!" Infori gasped at the name, her eyes widening again. Her breath hitched.
"Noya...?"
She sensed a presence in this void, other than the two of them.
"Nice to meet you again, Infori." A woman's voice filled the void, her voice firm and clear. It came from behind her.
Infori swallowed, her body suddenly tensing. She turned slowly, as if her shock still overwhelmed her. Then, her eyes widened when she saw the figure of a slender woman wearing a black dress with a thigh-high slit and long purple hair. The gaze of her golden eyes filled Infori with a sense of nostalgia and anxiety.
"Noya...?" Infori said softly.
"Six years have passed since our first meeting... It feels like so long."
"..."