'Ah… I remember now.'

No, he probably won't remember even if the world were to end.

The precious moments.

The one he missed was no more.

All that was left were broken pieces.

Bob was on his knees. His mind was a fragment of what it previously was after his eyes caught a glimpse of the calamity. He had instinctively and orderly done as Asher asked him to avert his gaze.

And he did, before it was too late.

Drip…

Drip…

Bob heard the sound of blood dripping on the ground. The sound was so loud his mind felt like it was ringing like a bell.

It was his blood. Leaking from his ears and eyes, even his mouth and pooling down on his feet.

He was shaking so much the world felt to shiver around him, and it did under the clash of the mythical beings fighting not far.

The tremors made him fall, and his face struck the hard ground drenched in his blood. Bob's breathing was uneven and body cold.

The strings that had rained on the plague had destroyed one of its avatars, at least partially.

The fog filled in Bob's mind, seeming to clear partially, and he started a story he himself has woven, connecting the fragments of a broken memory.

Bob didn't know if the memory was real or not, as it felt foreign yet precious.

He has been in Kalista for almost five years by now.

He had been an unruly person, a man with a lot of pride over joining an army through guild administration and passing several tests. For a commoner like him with no connection, it was a dream come true.

High on pride, he looked down on those who couldn't fight.

One of them was a woman. A girl with short hair and short stature, she was…

Bob couldn't remember more no matter how much he strained his fragile mind. This made his heart ache. However, he does remember the harsh word he said.

'Who are you looking at!? Do have any problems with me!'

'Hmph! You all have got it so easy, staying here without any thought of fighting.'

Bob also remembers how he didn't get any food after that in the cafeteria. The workers refused to give him any. He also remembers his paycheck was delayed for weeks, making him unable to send anything to his village.

At that time it felt like the world had abandoned him and everyone was an enemy. Bob soon understood, hearing the whispers from others that it was his fault.

'I am sorry…. I was rude.'

Bob said.

She smiled; it was a warm smile. It was a sweet smile.

'I am sorry for what my colleagues did as well.'

She had asked for his forgiveness, making his heart flutter.

After that…

He doesn't remember. This made tears come out with blood tainting his muffled breaths.

Did they talk more? For hours, maybe. He must have said something stupid, making her laugh. Bob would wait for her to eat together no matter how long he needed to wait. He remembers now that he would steal glances as she took small bites, making her blush.

The joy and laughter—he had searched for them.

That's why he would still look around, waiting for someone to come sit near him with a sweet smile.

Now those memories don't exist.

***

The plague's body was ever changing.

It was conceptual and illusory, made up of memories it had eaten. The world around its form trembled and those around seemed to momentarily forget who they were and their purpose.

Its body made of memory ignored all physical strikes, no matter how devastating they were. However, the strings raining down like hellfire were special as well. They seem to connect with it no matter how much the plague's body evades the incoming attack.

This was troublesome.

But not impossible to deal with. Plague raised its illusory figure and reached closer to the crowned head. But it was impaled by invisible strings surrounding the tall, crowned-head figure. The plague's figure shattered into hundreds of thousands of memories as it slammed on the ground before returning to the other avatars.

Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

The crowned head couldn't destroy the avatars completely. While it still managed to inflict severe damage, the battle remained in a stalemate.

The running strings destroyed the lands and tore through the forest and the mental plagues, another unholy power, made the air tremble.

The crowned head, the avenger, stood tall as the strings rained down from the heavens like hellfire, tearing apart the plague's avatars again and again. Yet the plague, ever-changing and illusory, reformed from shattered memories, its very presence eroding the minds of those nearby. The ground cracked under their clash, trees vaporized into mist, and the sky darkened as if mourning the devastation. Both beings were forces beyond comprehension, their battle reshaping the landscape into a wasteland of broken earth and fractured memories.

Asher, watching the repeated clash through squinted eyes, could only suffer and bite his lips till more blood leaked from his mouth.

'When will Commander Alos arrive?'

The hope was bleak and the thought to run away dimmer.

He doesn't have the opportunity to begin with. The whole forest and the grey sky above were a devastating and calamitous battlefield of powers he couldn't understand.

He couldn't even understand how the Plague was fighting. All his senses just screamed at the shifting and trembling air.

Now he could only place his hopes on his other backup.

Commander Clonas, he had promised to come see them once.

Asher took a deep breath and closed his eyes briefly and pushed himself on the ground even more. In his hands a pale figure of a woman with long black hair and dark eyes was shivering.

"Help will come soon. Don't give up. Sion, we will need to move soon, all of us, otherwise we will die."

Asher said with trembling lips.

Sion didn't respond. Her eyes were unfocused, staring past him at the sky, where strings of light tore through the grey like jagged lightning. Her skin was cold, too cold, and Asher pressed her closer, his own body shaking from the mental pressure radiating off the plague. He could feel the edges of his mind fraying.

Her gaze tore away from the sky and weekly held his arm.

"Y-yes. Lead the way; I will follow you. J-just don't let go of my hand."

Asher didn't reply either. His gaze first roamed at the ground, seeing the fallen soldiers reeking with the smell of blood and the shadows of countless avatars down below.

"L-let's go."

Asher with shaking feet stood up and held Sion's hand in his own, pulling her off the ground.

She was too light for Asher to even consider her weight.

Sion stumbled forward, her steps unsteady as if the ground itself might swallow her whole. Her hand felt like ice in his, trembling with each earth-shattering tremor from the battle nearby. The air tasted metallic—blood and ozone—and every breath scraped his lungs raw. Ahead, the forest lay in ruins, trees splintered like matchsticks, the earth gouged open in deep, smoking furrows where the strings had struck. Shadows of the plague's avatars flickered at the edges of his vision, whispering half-formed memories that threatened to unravel his focus.

"Don't look back... Just focus ahead."

"I will help. You plan to pull the soldiers aside, don't you!"

Asher almost briefly looked back, pulled by Sion's sudden courage and the laughter of the acosador from behind. His gaze matched with its for a second, the two yellow burning cores on its wrinkled grey face with an uncanny grin and long arms still dangling below.

Asher's breathing hitched as he shook his head before speaking.

"Thank you."

That's all he could muster to say with his mask slipping away and being stored in his bracelet.

Asher and Sion both started with Bob, dragging his body from the puddle of his own blood. Then with others, trying to do the same. Bob's limbs were limp, his uniform soaked crimson, but he groaned when they hauled him up—a raw, animal sound that cut through the ringing in Asher's ears. Sion, despite her pallor, gripped Bob's arm with surprising strength, her knuckles white as bone. They moved in a ragged shuffle, boots slipping on blood-slicked earth, dragging the barely conscious soldiers toward the splintered husk of a tree that offered meager cover.

However, that didn't last for long.

Everything happened so fast Asher could see nothing.

A string came hurling toward him like certain death.

At the same time, he saw Sion's expression for the first time. While her face was pale and her body was weak and shaking so much that it wouldn't be wrong to consider her living in fear. However, she was smiling bashfully.

"Ah."

She gasped, her eyes widening in surprise as Asher was pulled in the air, powerless to do anything.

Her expression darkened, and her shadow grew deeper, flickering briefly. Her fists shook as they had been holding one of the fallen soldiers and then they let go of her. Letting the soldier fall on the ground with a wet thud.

"I have been enjoying my time."

"How dare you!"

"I was going to let you live. Even at the expense of losing my avatars."

"But not anymore."

Asher, who had closed his eyes in chance of seeing the plague, suddenly felt a chill run through his spine as several voices comprising many sounds and vibrations entered his ears.

Asher's body suddenly froze midair. The string digging deep inside his skin and wrapping him tightly shivered.

In his hand the crystal sword he had taken out felt powerless for the first time as he tried to cut through the white silk at this moment. But his body failed to produce enough strength.

"Asher… Do you like this avatar? If yes, I would like to avoid losing it."

Feeling a nonexistent pressure emitting from ahead, Asher was forced to open his eyes. His face went pale and blood cold as dark eyes, Sion eyes, gazed at his very soul.

All the avatars seemed to have vanished, merging with Sion's flickering form as it struggled to maintain the image of a young girl.

His heart sank.

'What was happening!?'

'Why was it happening!?'

Was he really just being played with all this time? Was this the reason he could defeat the Plague's mental mist with his will so easily? A lot of questions seemed to answer themselves.

"...Why?"

"Why you ask? Hmm, I have taken a liking to you! I was in ecstasy running around as you held my hand. When you hold me closer trying to save me. The moment when I first put my gaze on your very soul. The light you emitted… What do you humans even name this emotion!? This must be something divine."

A strong pressure crushed the surroundings. A white-blue light like lightning rushed closer. Asher's face was only going paler and more alert with each passing second. The crowned head, who was momentarily stunned, let out a scream as the whisper of destruction and the storm brewing in its mind destroyed its very being.

At the same time. The plague—the avatar Sion—eyes widened as the space was crushed almost folding, and then it cracked. An illusory space opened and monsters were thrown out from the gaps in the sky. The gate in the sky expanded with cracks and tremors.

Sion hesitated and from the space took a step back as Asher's body wrapped in strings was pulled further back by the maddened crowned head throwing him in the sky.

An otherworldly light washed over him as Asher caught the glimpse of an endless void.

And then—

Thud!

His battered body touched the land.

Asher couldn't scream or let out any voice.

The only thing that happened was the crucifying pain that ran through his bones as if shattered on impact.

Asher's eyes opened and closed several times as no new sound was heard from the monstrous clash.

"Wh-where am I?"

The painful groan came briskly with dry blood coating his lips.

All he saw was a blue sky and white sand.

—x—

[Vol. 4, Road to Nowhere, Part 1 complete]

Next chapter will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.