A word I remember every curve of.
The Clown.
Someone from the other five spoke with blood-red eyes and a suspicious smile. "You must be the guide. My name is Fang," he extended his hand to me.
I didn't shake it. "I… am called Arthur. I am not the guide."
Let's play a little game.
The boy raised his eyebrow slightly, and Arthur tried to hide his surprise. Of course he would be surprised because I claimed to be him without warning.
Arthur stepped forward and said: "I am the guide. I am called Ethan."
He caught on quickly, and that's what's needed. No rules were mentioned, so exchanging names is not forbidden.
Then new writings appeared on the wall, written: "The wizard supports. The auditor plans, the third eye communicates mentally, the reaper kills, and the guide leads."
The Clown was not mentioned. This means two possibilities, the first is that the Clown is something hidden from everyone. The second possibility is that the Clown is something outside of the entire matter, something that wasn't planned to exist.
I got the title of Clown in the adventurers' test, but is it something deeper than just a title in a test? Is it really related to the test? And most importantly, what does the Clown represent?
This is what occupied my mind, until we found ourselves in a completely different place. Just the five of us in some forest, and the other five who are supposedly our enemies are not with us, so I assume they are somewhere in this forest as well.
The first phase of Eternal Est… the same name I heard when I fell into that gang's trap. Is this also a gang? No. These people are different, everything is precise. Did that gang take the name trying to impersonate the real Eternal Est? There are so many questions… and unlike usual, there are no answers.
The boy with the role of reaper introduced himself: "I am Yuan."
Arthur replied with a calm smile: "I am Ethan, nice to meet you. Even though you already know my name, it would be rude not to say it to you directly."
That's why you are a great companion. Even if he is our ally, that doesn't mean we should trust him, because as we know, there are no rules.
"What is the thing we're supposed to achieve here?" asked Ank, still holding her staff.
I answered her: "Based on what we've seen so far, we have to kill our enemies."
I don't feel any breeze.
"This will be extremely chaotic," said Kafka.
"I don't think so. Each role has its own task, and I assume that whoever does the task of a role that's not his will be punished in some way. And that means the reaper is the only one who can kill or finish the kill."
I continued after Arthur: "It was mentioned that the third eye communicates mentally, but I can't communicate mentally with anyone except Ethan. That means the mental communication only works between the third eye and the guide."
I hope Kafka doesn't slip and reveal our name switch.
The forest is completely still.
The stillness was broken, by wind. And before I could realize, a dagger in front of my right eye.
Arthur shot the dagger with his pistol to push it away, and Kafka used earth magic to pin the attacker to the ground. I didn't even need to move.
Sending their reaper was a stupid move. Unless their guide Fang is also a Clown, that's assuming the Clown is even something present here.
A faint light appeared from the man, and before I could continue my thinking, his body exploded completely! I used the earth element to protect myself with a wall, but it was destroyed, and I took damage from the explosion.
It wasn't severe thanks to the wall, but the wall was easily destroyed because I've never trained in the earth element.
Arthur protected himself with earth magic, Ank protected herself and Kafka with the ice element, but the interesting thing was Yuan, this boy used the earth element to protect himself with a wall and used water on it to reduce the explosion damage. The only person who can use two elements here is Arthur.
The explosion left nothing but smoke, no flames.
Yuan spoke after examining the situation closely: "This is a replica."
"That means they have an ice element user," said Ank.
"Let's find a place to stay for a while now," said Arthur before starting to walk into the forest. We followed him immediately.
It's better for Arthur to guide us now, we don't know if there's another replica watching us. Also, I... wonder about my abilities now as the Clown.
The forest trees were large, making us unaware of the mountain at the end of our path. But luckily, there was an opening in the mountain that led to a small room, suitable for our current state.
The rocks were cold, and in the corner of the place, there was a small opening from which water dripped. The sound of the falling drops was the thing that welcomed us.
Everyone sat in silence and calmness, leaving their weapons, until Kafka broke the silence with his words: "What's next?"
"Nothing," Arthur replied.
I looked at the corner from which the water dripped. A drop fell, then another, and we remained silent.
Yuan was still standing.
Another drop fell, but this time it glowed brightly for a moment that I thought it would explode, but it just fell.
I turned to tell the others that leaving is the better option.
Another glowing drop.
I felt like everything stopped for a moment, the light of this drop was different, stronger.
"Take cover—"
And indeed, the drop exploded with tremendous force that destroyed the place completely and pushed us outside along with the shattered rocks that hit our bodies and the black soil that covered our clothes. But this isn't what I'm worried about. Kafka was the closest to the source of the explosion.
I lifted my head with difficulty, my vision blurry and my hand trembling, but I lifted my head, and I saw him.
His right arm was completely torn off, the bones of his feet crushed by the falling rocks, and burns spread across his body.
Even though my body screams in pain, even though my skin is deformed, even though small rock shards are embedded in my back, I screamed his name in a way I never imagined in my life.
"KAFKAAA!!!"
Despair, weakness, regret, anger... love?
I haven't felt this mix of emotions since I was born, but it gathered in my voice now, echoing in the forest louder than the explosion, louder than the silence that followed.
A loud silence. Extremely loud.
I raised my body against its will and ran towards Kafka's wrecked body. I held his face, but his body shivered from my touch on one of the burns... his body was completely covered in burns.
I didn't know what to do. I looked around to see the others in bad condition too, but they were better than us.
My gaze quickly returned to Kafka, my hand wants to hold him, wants to do anything to improve the situation, but holding him will only hurt him more.
His deformed body, his broken breaths, and the blood that came out with each breath made me tremble... with worry. Every organ, every cell, and every atom I felt in my body that grew hotter with the intensity of my emotions. The world's colors seemed very dull and gray, and its edges sharp and stabbing. My breaths rose above my pain and my eyes trembled.
Why am I so suddenly useless?
Why do I care about Kafka?
Why can't I help him?
I must find a way to heal myself.
What about the others?!
I knew my emotions would cause a lot of trouble!
There must be a way to heal Kafka!
I just need to think... I need to think to find a solution as I always do!
My mind... too scattered...!
I felt a hand on my shoulder, it was Yuan.
He came close to my ear and said: "Kafka was a perfect first victim."
The world shattered like glass.
Did the gods create... a being like this?
I screamed Yuan's name and swore on my gray past and unknown future that he will not leave here alive... he will never leave here.
Fire ignited all over my body and I drew my sword, aiming a spinning strike toward Yuan's neck. For the first time in my life, for the first time I want to kill someone this much, carrying these emotions.
Arthur shouted, telling me to stop using the Despaye, but it was no use, even if my now sensitive body burns more, even if I take my own life by my own hand, I must kill this damn cold one.
Why do I care about Kafka? Why do I burn for Kafka? I've only known him for a few days, I've only known everyone for a few days.
Do I feel the same emotions towards Arthur and Ankvorena? Would I sacrifice myself to avenge them if something similar happened to them?
The more I swung my sword, the more my thoughts distorted.
Why... do I want to cry?..
A tear formed in my eye and slid to the ground.
And as it fell, and split into smaller drops, the white thing on my waist lit up.
The Mask of Eternity moved from its place, hovered until it reached my face, and was placed.
---
I felt something on my chest. I opened my eyes to see Esteliora lying on my chest.
Next to me was Arthur and... are we on a carriage?
I woke up and raised my body after I remembered what happened, but I felt severe pain all over my body that forced me to lie down again.
"Take it easy, we got out of there," said Arthur. His hands were covered with bandages.
Ank was asleep in the corner of the carriage, and Kafka was lying next to me, his body completely covered in bandages and barely alive. Surely Ank will take us to the royal palace, I don't need her to say that directly to know.
"Honestly, what happened?" I asked.
Arthur took a deep breath and then spoke: "Since that mask flew to your face, you completely lost your mind. A terrifying scene, you killed Yuan in the blink of an eye. And in seconds you killed Fang and his followers. Then a rift appeared in front of us and took us out to a wheat field in one of the farms."
He paused for a moment as if trying to think clearly.
"Ethan, you weren't someone with the Reaper's rank, so how did you manage to kill them?"
"I... don't know." In truth, I think I do.
The Clown.