11 Chapter 11: Distortion

[Yggdris' POV]

Zal-sama and I descended from the steep cliff searching for the whereabouts of the Golem that no one has lived to tell the tale of

"Zal-san!! Why don't you wanna show those two your true power? Things could've been a lot easier if you did" I told him as we landed on the ravine. The grass and the flowers blooming peacefully beside the river bank that stretches across the field, the sun naturally descending over the horizon casting shadows over the ravine we are in causing mushrooms and mosses to grow endlessly over the walls

I walked towards him while he looks around the surroundings "Zal-san?" he sighed and looked at me "We need to be in the same standards as those two… they're not average but rather more talented than the strongest in their country… but we, the unholy race, far surpass their levels by a hundred fold…" he picked up a flower "Yggdris, look at this flower"

I looked at it with one eyebrow raised "What about it?"

the flower's stem gave off a faint bluish light with a black smoky texture exuding out of it "This is the unholy mana we from the Shadowbourne country share… I'm sure Lorana's having her suspicions already but we mustn't let our guard down"

"But why?" I asked

He sat down on a rock and glanced at me with a stoic expression "Yggdris… that girl is the princess of the human kingdom"

my eyes narrowed at him "How are you so sure?"

Zal-san grabbed my hand and erased that part of the illusion "This crest symbolizes your royalty to the throne" he looked at my eye "That girl has the golden brooch on her robe symbolizing the human kingdom's monarchy" he let go of my hand and the illusion returned

I turned my looked at him a bit confused so I asked "how is that bad?"

he snickered "Political disputes between two parties isn't easy to handle since the unholies discrimination over the human country's taken to the extreme" he looks at the ground with a blank stare

"So… they might actually kill us if they find out?" Zal-san shook his head "No ordinary human can kill an Arch or a Royal/Noble vampire since our race's Goddess is the progenitor of magic… but not mana itself… our race's Royals possess magic that can destroy a continent at their peak… but" he rubbed his chin with his eyes half closed.

I looked around and the realistic sky is starting to set, the tinge of purple and orange hue is accentuating the stars above us "It's so pretty…" I whispered to myself as I stare at it with my eyes wide and a smile on my face

but Zal-san picked me up like a dog and began ascending upwards "It's the twilight hours, we need to head back. I already felt the presence of that cursed existence" he said as sweat drips off of his face

he grabbed the edge of the cliff and launched us upwards, we were flying for a moment and saw a good glance of the whole place, and we noticed the distortion at one part of the horizon. It's like an electric bluish edged hole that leeks geometric shapes, but before I could even see what was inside it we were already falling into the forest. The thicket of the leaves

covered our vision, but Zal-san dropped straight down breaking any branches in his way.

We landed beside the camp site and Lorana-san looked a bit fidgety. Zal-san dropped me on the side and walked towards Hanabi and Lorana-san "What's wrong?" he said while looking at the two with sharp eyes

"A-akina's been missing for several hours now… she said she'll just explore the forest for a while" Lorana-san said as she stuttered a bit

Zal-san clicked his tongue "Reinn, go look for her" he said without even looking at me.

I nodded as I walked away, I looked back at them and Lorana-san gave me a smile while her eyes looked like a mother that lost her child…

I immediately ran deep into the woods and as I glanced back the forest seems to block out the light from the camp site.

The deeper I go the more the forest became confusing, I decided to hop onto the branches and on top of the trees

I launched myself up and as I fall I looked around, and the sea of leaves were almost unending,

until I felt it, I felt like I was being observed by a dangerous hunter that can hold everything hostage with its fist

I blanked out from the overwhelming feeling I sensed as I fell, I was nearing the ground when I snapped back into reality, I grabbed a branch that almost snapped but didn't

I let go of the branch and landed on the ground, as I looked around the heaviness of the surroundings atmosphere is almost suffocating "Show yourself…"

not too far in front of me a figure appeared seemingly phasing in and out of reality

"You…" it spoke seemingly like a million voices trapped within a single body, the silhouette is solid yet formless but humanoid. It's phasing in and out, his faceless features are almost hideous to look at for some reason.

I stared at it with my eyes wide open as I slowly step back a bit "Don't…. leave" it said as a wide smile appeared on its face… the mouth appeared out of nowhere.

My ears started buzzing, I instinctively covered it but before I even notice it my illusion's already gone "VAMPIRE!!!" It shouted as eyes appeared all over its once featureless face, the eyes looked straight at me

I felt my skin crawling, the ground began rumbling and it opened up. I evaded at the last second but the hole shot out countless, endlessly extending hands made out of precious stones.

I stood up immediately and ran into the thick bushes of the forest and back into the direction of the camp, but before I even made some distance I heard a scream "Help!!" It was Akina, her voice coming from somewhere around.

"AKINA!!!" I shouted as I looked around, but it was a fatal mistake that I shouldn't have made.

I felt a stone cold touch grab me by the back of my head "Found you" its raspy terrifying voice sent chills down my spine.

I kicked backwards and it let go of my neck. I immediately ran back towards the camp.

I was running so fast that I didn't even minded the branches wounding me, the moment I arrived at the camp site they were talking about the plan "The Golem's awake!!"

Hanabi-san casted a barrier around us "You three continue the discussion, I'll hold it back when it comes" she said as she raised her wand on the air and a semi translucent glowing orb covered us

I immediately walked towards Lorana-san and Zal-san "The Golem's here!!!" I said as sweat drips off of my face, I tried to catch my breath but the sinister feeling was coming closer

"Lorana… what is the earth elemental's weaknesses?" Zal-san asked her with a composed expression "Erosion of its self is really effective, but that needs high magical purity water spells… I haven't studied water magic enough to do it" Zal-san stared at the ground for a moment "I'll do it…"

Lorana-san nodded, and as they concluded their plan the map made out off ice melted

I looked back at where Hanabi-san was, the Golem was already standing in front of her… its formless humanoid glitching in and out silhouette stood before her, her skin became paler, her eyes wide and couldn't avoid eye contact with it. The Golem's eyes glanced at all of us at once

Hanabi-san then stomped her feet and a trail of ice leading to the golem formed and freezed over in a huge ice crystal that's almost as big as the trees "I need to find Akina…" I remembered she was still lost in the forest

I hopped out of the barrier and into the branches as I jumped away from them "REINN NO!!" Hanabi-san stopped me.

When I looked back Zal-san and Lorana-san were preparing a spell together again

I looked at where I was going and felt that something was wrong, I jumped onto the ground and the moment I landed the floor was a trail of stone leading to the camp "The Golem's influence" I mumbled… but the closer I looked at it there I saw flowers seemingly growing out of the stone

then I realized he is the Golem of life, I shrugged it off and followed where it lead to, and I arrived at a huge crater where life seems to be blooming out of graciously

at the center of the crater there I saw a golden leaved tree of wisteria that flutters petals to the ground, and at the center of the tree is Akina seemingly crucified grabbed by the barks of the tree wrapping her feet and arms with the roots of the tree "Help…" she weakly whispered

I ran towards her but the trees leaves shot at me in bullet speed, it barely missed me, but when I looked at where it landed there was a deep hole on it. My eyes widened but I didn't let that bother me,when I looked back countless of leaves were coming right at me, and the tree seems to be alive

I jumped up and the leaves penetrated the ground, I landed and continued running. I summoned my sword and let the flames cover it, the trees sent out countless leaves again

the first few I was able to slice through, but the others were too fast, some even grazed my face and some almost stabbed me through my sides. As I continue running

I made my sword transform into a bow and shot the tree's visible core

but the leaves covered it and my arrow wasn't strong enough to penetrate through it

"Tch" I exclaimed as I threw my sword at the tree as my sword bursts in flames

but the tree focused its attack towards the sword to change its direction

I felt the wind against my feet but I continued running, I caught my sword back and jumped towards the tree's core preparing for my final strike

but the tree was also preparing for its final strike

I slashed my sword through the leaves and through the core, but I felt like a hundred knives penetrated through me, I fell to the ground as I cough up blood

the tree started to vanish and Akina fell from the tree's grasp

I ran towards where she'll land and caught her.

I placed her down as I sat beside her "You're safe now!" I said as I lay at the grass slowly losing my consciousness.

[A day with Author-kun and Editor-san]

"I thought I told you that, that was my last warning regarding about your problem with the difference of Its and It's?" Maru san said as he glanced At Roku

"Heh… what're you gonna do about it?" he said as he smirked at Maru-san

Maru-san fixed his glasses "Do you really wanna know?" he said with a stoic expression

Roku chuckling "Ho ho?! I dare you to do so"

"Say goodbye to all your future chapters then" he said with a smirk as he fixes his glasses

"W-wait y-you're not serious about this are ya?!" Roku said with a half hearted smile as sweat drips off of his face

"I take my job seriously…" he tilted his head a bit as he walks out

[5 mins passed]

"WAITTT, DON'T LEAVEE!!!" Roku grabbing Maru by his feet

Maru annoyed "Tch… fine! Just learn to differentiate its and it's" he said as he glared at Roku.