The World Serpent

Chapter 103 - 103-Devastation

A Silver Pillar of Light shone within the Forest of Pax. It pierced through the Heavens, and it was the sign of the return of those who entered the Second Realm. It was currently raining as Dark Thick Clouds completely covered the skies. Random Thunder echoed as the sound of rain kept dropping from the Heavens. Four Figures exited the Silver Pillar of Light as it finally dimmed. They began looking around as Statera sighed. "It seems that we would have to begin a war." She then turned her head towards her comrades and saw something surprising.

Statera gazes upon a Little Girl with Pitch-Black Hair and Purple Amethyst Eyes. The Little GIrl highly resembled Persia, which only meant one thing. "The Reflection turned into Little Persia," Statera muttered as Ego and Persia turned their heads towards Statera. They then noticed Statera staring at a Little Girl. Persia raised an eyebrow as she instantly realized who it was. "Hmm... It seems that my Reflection now has a new form."

The Reflection started looking around and saw her strange perception. She then looked at her Small Pale Arms and her Soft Fluffy Face. The Reflection sighed and spoke. "I turned into a child, didn't I?" Statera, Ego, and Persia nodded as the Reflection shook its head and continued. "It seems that the loss of my original power source affected something. The Orb of Nightmare would probably take time to completely assimilate with me, which means I would get stuck in this form for a while."

The Reflection already learned a lot of things from the Old Man's Mouth. She was carefully listening since it was her existence the Old Man was talking through his mouth. It was easy to guess what happened to her based on the Old Man's words which gave her the current explanation within her mind. Statera, Ego, and Persia nodded in understanding after hearing her words.

"Now, this is quite unfortunate," Statera said as she nodded while patting the Reflection's Hair. The Reflection raised an eyebrow and looked up. She then saw Statera having a good time while patting her hair which made the Reflection sigh. Persia looked at the Reflection and also patted her head. Persia then asked with a calm voice. "Do you have a name?" It was a simple question that made the Reflection realize that it didn't have a name.

"I have forgotten about such a subject. Since names are usually given by those that give birth, The Original should name me." The Reflection looked at Persia with its Purple Amethyst Eyes that glowed like a Gemstone. Persia wryly smiled and replied. "It's your name. You should decide for yourself." The Reflection shook and denied. "A Name from the Original should be enough." Seeing the Reflection's resolute choice, Persia sighed and began thinking of a name.

She used her brainpower to skim through her memory of names. After five seconds of thinking, Persia then spoke with her calm and soothing voice. "Your name is Nyx," The Reflection nodded as she felt something warm within her. A Strange Serpentine Tatoo then formed on her small pale arm. Nyx smiled after seeing it and replied. "My name is Nyx."

"I now have a Little Sister." Ego walked towards Nyx and hugged her. Nyx felt two planets covering her face. It took a while for Nyx to adapt against the two planets as they were dangerous, especially if the target of the planets was sleeping. Persia sighed at seeing the group and began stretching her pale arms. It has been a while, but it seems that they were back on the Forest of Pax.

Persia looked around and noticed something strange. Persia then realized the heavy atmosphere surrounding them was despair. She turned her gaze and investigated everything as it seemed that the Tree House around them got burned onto the ground. She sighed as she realized that a calamity struck onto the Village Ava.

She felt the rainfall echoing through her ears as she continued investigating the area. The Corpses, Dry Blood, Devastated Buildings, and the Signs of an Invasion, The Signs of Calamity, kept repeating. Persia turned her head towards the group as she also noticed that they realized the current situation of the Elven Village. Statera walked forward and spoke. "This is impossible."

Statera walked forward as she looked around the burnt-down Treehouse. She carefully looked around as she could see numerous ashed bodies. Statera gritted her teeth, especially after seeing the corpses of the Elven Children, who Statera taught about the Realm of Piksyon. It kept raining as Statera looked down in silence. Ego also realized after looking around that the Elven Village crumbled.

The rain already took out the fire, though the rain was too late as the Elves died before it could take out the fire. Statera continued walking through the Stone Road where they recently passed. The Expression on her face didn't change, and Ego was about to console Statera, who seemed to be in pain. Persia stopped her with a single hand. Ego turned her head towards her Sister as Persia shook her head as Statera needed time alone.

"It seems that someone attacked the Village when we were gone," Persia spoke with a calm voice as Statera turned her head towards Persia and asked. "Was it the Albion Empire?" Hearing Statera's question, Persia shook her head and denied it. "The Albion Empire wouldn't know where we are. Also, they wouldn't attack the Elves for us simply passing through the Forest. It can only mean one thing."

"Someone planned to attack them before we even met Elves." Statera continued as she began carefully looking around for Evidence. She could see numerous footprints that didn't belong to the Elves. She could also see explosions and gunpowder, which meant that the enemy brought cannons. The horse hooves plastered themselves on the muddy ground, which gave Statera an idea that the Enemies had a Cavalry.

"We should carefully investigate the surroundings," Persia spoke with a calm voice as she turned her head towards Ego. "Ego, Protect Little Nyx as she might be weak for now" Ego nodded in understanding. Nyx found herself confused about the nickname though she also nodded in agreement. Being protected wasn't shameful as it was normal for people to Protect who they considered important. She accepted getting protected though she wouldn't want to stay the one getting protected.

"I agree." Statera nodded as the two began their investigation on the Devastated Elven Village. Persia walked towards the entrance while Statera walked towards the Strange Tree House. As she walked through the Stone Road, She remembered the Elven Figures, though they got replaced by devastation and corpses. She gritted her teeth as she couldn't protect them. Statera turned her head upwards as she felt every raindrop on her body.

The Experience of loss wasn't that heavy, though it still affected her, especially when the memory was so clear that she could count the leaves within it. Statera walked along the Stone Road as she finally arrived at the Strange Tree House. The only thing she could see was a burnt-down tree with ashes as its grave. She sighed after seeing it as she remembered Stein. The Crazy Elf Scientist who disappeared a hundred years ago.

Remembering the Crazy Elf Scientist, Statera instantly remembered the Daughter. She looked at the Tree House as she squinted her eyes. She would have immediately sensed everything if it wasn't for the fact that she was weak in her current form. A sound then echoed as Statera felt hope. She instantly ran towards the ashen land where the Strange Tree House stood and began digging through it.

Statera didn't care about her dirty hands as she continued digging. She then felt something hidden within the ashes as she saw a small box. She took out the surrounding ash and dirt covering the box as she took it out from its original place. Statera was quite strong, so she did all such things alone without any problems. Statera looked at the box and thought to herself. 'Is this?' She hoped that what she first thought was true, so she forcefully opened the box.

A Small Figure revealed itself hidden within the box. Statera smiled as it seemed that her first thought was the truth. A Little Girl with Grey Hair and Dark Blue Eyes. It was Lilith, The Daughter of the Elven Scientist Stein. Statera couldn't help but carry Lilith under her arms as she could see the teardrops from the Girl's face. Statera understood that Lilith must have been traumatized by everything that happened in the Elven Village.

"I'll take care of you. You're safe now." Statera spoke with her soothing and seductive voice as she kissed the forehead of Lilith.

Meanwhile, Near the entrance of the Elven Village, Persia was walking along the Stone Road while holding her sword. Her eyes were cold as she saw everything in devastation along the path, The Corpses and the Burnt down houses. There were even some unknown corpses that probably came from the Invaders.

"It seems that one law wouldn't change even if you get thrown into a new world," Persia muttered to herself while looking at the destruction. She already had calmed herself though she couldn't say the same to Statera. Despite having an emotionless face, Persia could guess that Statera was quite angry at the destruction. She would have felt the same if she had known more of the elves. So Persia couldn't blame Statera.

She continued walking through the muddy Stone Road. Her soft steps echoed, which was strange. Persia also felt something strange within the Mana. It seemed that it lost something, which meant that someone stole a large part of the Mana within the Village Ava. Was it the reason why the Elven Village got invaded?

Persia had a lot of questions, and it might take a while to find answers to her questions. She continued walking as the droplets softly landed on her body. She thought that they would have started a birthday party for Nyx, but it seemed that a party crasher destroyed everything.

While walking through Stone Road, Persia heard a grunting sound.

She walked towards the grunting sound as she saw a skinny man doing sexual actions towards a dead body of an elf. She furrowed her eyebrows after seeing it. Persia then swung her sword towards the Skinny Man. She chopped off the hand as the Skinny Man began screaming in pain."AHHhhhh!!!" Unfortunately for the man, With the rainfall and the fact that he was alone.. No one would or could save him.