Neil continued leaping from tree to tree, making haste. The dense canopy above him was still in its greyish depressed mood, no fleeting shadows were evident as they were laid across his path. Each step was driven by an uneasy tension lodged deep in his gut. The remnants of his battle against Yoke and Scarlet still clung to him like cobwebs—faint aches in his bones, a broken right wrist, a severed left arm, tattered clothes and flickers of her Nux were clinging onto him and the memory of her severed head rang louder than a freight train.
He couldn't get her face out of his mind.
Yoke—beautiful, terrifying, and fanatically devoted to the dead. Her gothic attire billowed like a wraith's veil, and her eyes had burned with an unnatural intensity. She had wielded her Law like a scalpel, precise and cruel.
What disturbed Neil more was just how close they came to killing him – he with all his talents and abilities almost died to a Cinth in the Ethereal Aspect. He who believed could even go toe to toe to a Cinth in the Corporal Aspect, this was pure humiliation and he would not accept such a thing again.
Now, as he moved through the forest, he let himself process what happened.
Chrono-Spatial Dominion had taken a toll on him—freezing time and space had stressed his body to a high degree after all this was a Law related to Space-Time so even using it for a few seconds would completely tire him out to the point of collapse. His right hand trembled slightly, something he tried to ignore because of how Yoke broke his wrist but the pain coming from the wound on his amputation was even more prominent. His focus kept diverting and thus he decided to take a quick rest.
He sat on a large tree branch and conjured a few Runes which he aimed to himself. Once the Runes lodged themselves into his body the exhaustion and pain began to fade slowly.
"Where is that little thing when you need him?",
Neil proceeded to invoke a strange whistle and right in front of his eyes the pigeon that always followed him around spawned in front of him.
"You're still sleeping even now?", Neil spoke in irritation.
The pigeon was seemingly floating in midair snoring loudly and as he said those words the pigeon's droopy eyes popped awake. It was in shock and obviously angry but when it saw Neil's condition it calmed down.
"Coo, coo?", the pigeon flapped aggressively. (What happened?)
"I met someone with a Taboo Law just like me, Death."
"Coo…, coo?", Neil swore that its beak curved in amusement. (Haha…. You, seriously?")
"Stop that and I killed her so don't worry."
"Coo." It calmed down a bit (Nice.)
Neil sighed as he sat on the tree branch "Could you heal me up?"
"Coo. Coo. Coo?" (Sure, we wouldn't want you fighting with one arm now, would we?)
"Thanks"
"Coo. Coo." it replied again. (Oh, and you owe me twice the amount of Fire Seeds)
"Damn What a greedy thing. You think they grow on some random trees?", Neil said out loud.
"Coo? Coo?", (Deal or no Deal?)
"Okay I'll double the amount. Just heal me up", Neil said. He knew he took a loss here and could only accept it
"Coo.", the pigeon flapped its wings and landed atop his head. It closed its eyes and a white Nux began to congregating around it which channeled towards Neil.'
Once he was doused in a white light all his wounds began to close, his arm grew back, his broken and cracked bones were returned to their former state. Even his clothes were renewed . He felt rejuvenated like a man reborn.
"Nice", Neil stretched out his new left arm and did a few light body stretches.
"Coo", (Don't forget our deal)
"I won't", Neil said.
He now refocused and looked into Ernest's group's direction.
"I need to head out and finish the job. It will be quite troublesome if that guy dies", Neil sighed.
"Coo", (And that's my cue)
"Wait, I may need you on this. I have a bad feeling. Just stay close to me", Neil said
"Coo. Coo?", (Oh. are we tripling the rewards?)
"Damnit!!!! Just calm down", he said in frustration.
"Squeak! Squeak!" (Haha! Haha!)
"It will be too difficult to get that many Fire Seeds so I'll give you a Mystic Seed."
"Coo." (Deal)
"Good. Let's move ", Neil set out again but this time with a friendly companion. The pigeon sat on his shoulder as he moved through the bone forest with more speed.
And so, as he kept moving, he began to frown. It seemed as if his intuition was right. Something was wrong and the only thing he could hope was that they weren't all dead especially Ernest or Evergreen will most probably hunt him down. He did not want to be hunted down.
The trees began to thin. It became harder to breath as if the air was being compressed—unnaturally so.
Neil paused on a thick branch, surveying the terrain ahead. There were large potholes everywhere. Blackened trees. He could smell ash and the faint metallic tinge of blood.
"Dammit, I hope you are not dead. I still need to get the rest of my rewards," he muttered, dropping to the ground.
As he approached the epicenter of the devastation, his bare feet crunched over scorched earth. Pools of melted stone dotted the ground. The entire region had been decimated fierce Laws colliding with each other.
"Ughhh!!!"
Neil heard a voice seemingly in pain and rushed towards it and just as he approached, he quickly hid behind a scorched tree and leaned in to get a glimpse of the situation.
Ernest was lying in a pool of dark blood. His premium royal purple garments were destroyed and his sharp, tactical armor was shredded. His once-pristine coat hung in scorched ribbons. And worse—his arms were gone. Both. Sliced off near the shoulders. His breathing was ragged, and his face was pale, almost translucent.
A mature woman stood nearby, blades in hand, her beauty unmarred by the violence she had dealt. Her smile was delicate, almost maternal, but it never reached her eyes. They gleamed with a quiet, crazed and chilling pleasure.
"You just don't want to die, do you?" she said softly, placing one boot on his wound. Then she pressed down—slowly. Ernest's body twitched as pressure met bone. He grunted but didn't cry out.
"Your regeneration's impressive," she continued, crouching beside him. "But that just makes this more fun."
She raised one of her crescent-shaped blades and traced it lightly along the skin just below his collarbone. The edge broke flesh effortlessly, carving a shallow line across his chest. She followed it with another—crossing the first—then another. A slow, deliberate pattern of intersecting slashes, like a morbid embroidery.
"You heal... but not fast enough to forget."
Ernest's jaw tightened. She noticed.
"Oh, don't be shy," she whispered in his ear like a mother tending to her child, placing her blade against the side of his neck. "I've seen men scream for less."
Instead of slicing, she dragged the flat of the blade across his cheek, letting the cold metal burn against the nerves.
Then, without warning, she stabbed the blade down—not deep, just enough to pierce muscle and lodge into the soft tissue near his ribs.
Ernest coughed blood.
She twisted the blade. Just a little.
"I want to see how long you can last." , she smiled before standing up looking into Angon's direction.
She walked to him and looked at him.
"Well, you are boring I must say, not even your Aspect Execution could reach me. What a shame", she said with pity.
Angon remained silent. He couldn't retort because his body was in immense pain and right now, he felt despair.
"Well, goodbye now", she said and swung her moon blade decapitating him in one fell swoop. She then sighed and look at the grey clouds.
''I know you are there. You can come out now", she smiled.
Neil was shocked because he was hiding his presence the entire time and so when she said that, he questioned whether she truly located him. So, he did not react and stayed in his position.
"I KNOW YOU ARE THERE!!!!", she swung her moon blade creating a crescent arc of pink Nux that flew in Neil's direction.
Neil felt her intent and quickly jumped out to dodge the attack and landed a few meters away from her.
"Oh… Another one.", her charm began to shine once more.
"Coo. Coo", the pigeon spoke.(Be careful. )
"Yeah, I know. A Charming Law. I can feel my mind already trying to succumb to her", she whispered to his companion.
"Coo. Coo.", (More like a Bewitching Law)
"Who are you talking to?", she interrupted their conversation.
"None of your business."
"Well, it doesn't matter, it will all be the same anyways", she spoke in a nonchalant tone. She had already concluded the battle in her.
"Let's see about that", he spoke and immediately conjured his Azure Runes. This time he would not let his guard down.
"Oh. a runesmith. This will be interesting", she chuckled. Her voice was heavenly which made Neil shake a bit but he calmed down and focused.
Dealing with opponents who can attack the mind and soul is always a hassle. DAMNIT