Throughout his journey, Celine constantly used his benevolent aura with the instruction of Pixie to communicate with the animals.
And at the end, when he was exhausted, he rested under a tree where birds sang to entertain him.
"That's odd, you didn't ask me why we need this many animals under our care," Pixie landed on his shoulder and tapped his ear.
"Well, it's good they owe me and I could ask them for anything in return. Also I can see you're preparing me for something big... and terrible."
"My opposite. Soon, I expect you to meet her. She's unlike me... Peace is her plaything, and destruction is her playground."
"Sounds like real trouble to me."
"That's why we're doing this preparation for now. Come on, hurry up! We've got more ground to cover."
As Pixie urged, Celine stood up again and journeyed through the forest, finding animals and making them obey him.
Because he possessed benevolent aura, these naturally peace-loving creatures tended to like him and show him favor.
. . . . . . .
Throughout his journey in the forest, Celine had already finished gathering berries and firewood he came to get for his parents and As the night closed in, the two ended their work and headed back to the village.
Though the road led to his home, Celine walked quietly and saw from the far his mother picking up dry clothes and taking them back into the house.
His mother, who was about to get into the house, stopped and looked back, where she saw Celine from afar. A kind and gentle smile appeared on her face.
"You... stubborn... kid, why do you waste your time with these things? You should—cough!—play with friends."
She scolded her son as he gave her the basket of berries. Celine obediently listened and lowered his head like a puppy to her.
Pixie had already disappeared, and right now, he was only the dear son of his mother and father.
Cough!
With a violent coughing sound from inside the house, a grown man came out. Even though his skin was extremely weary and rough, he was still someone in his thirties.
Looking at his mother and father, who were suffering from a terrible disease that would eventually take their lives someday, Celine sighed secretly.
He had a benevolent aura, which he now saw as something that could do anything. But to his dismay, Pixie had already informed him that it wouldn't be able to heal his mother and father.
This made Celine more depressed. The thought of losing his loving parents was something painful to bear.
However, this pain also made him strong and determined to find a cure for his parents in any way.
. . . . . .
In the middle of the night, the benevolent Pixie was heading back toward the direction of the forest.
Her golden spark appeared like a fire torch in the pitch-dark night.
However, when she reached the forest, it was like she passed through a few layers of space. The forest suddenly became bright and radiantly beautiful. The sound of birds chirping was like honey to the ears, and the soft wind melted the body with comfort.
The trees were way taller than in an ordinary forest and rose to the sky, far past the clouds. But despite that, there were still leaves falling down with the wind—pink color, green color, red color—all kinds of colored leaves enhanced the beauty of the forest.
After flying through the forest for a certain distance, Pixie came to an open area where a field of flowers bloomed. In the middle of the forest sat an extremely old man, eyes closed, breathing calmly.
The old man had a golden crown on his head with three piercing points directing at the sky.
The wind blowing around the old man became extra soft as they comforted him, and the field of flowers waved in the direction of the old man.
Benevolent pixie landed on one of the flowers in the field, gazing at the old man.
After a few moments, the old man moved his voice.
"You're in distress, pixie. Is the quest to find my successor seems unachievable?"
His voice was ethereal, and the forest acted as if it regained new life as his voice resounded. The birds became silent, and the wind flowed in sync with his voice.
"My king, I found a perfect candidate for your title, but he... has been spotted by the evil."
"Oh... The misbehaving pixie. Didn't you already expect her?"
"She was my opposite, and of course, I expected her, but not this soon... This is abnormal."
"Are you sure, pixie? Sometimes knowing too much leads to ignorance. Maybe this isn't that misbehaving pixie... maybe this is someone far worse than you could imagine."
Right as he said this, the calm and unmoved eyebrows of the old man furrowed after ages.
"My king, is that a prophecy?" the pixie asked. No one but her knew about what her king could do, and this time, she felt that what he said had a deep meaning.
But the old man stayed silent.
"There are some things I cannot interfere with, pixie. After the ancient war... my time already came to an end. However, this crown needs a king, one benevolent and wise, with a heart that feels sympathy for others. You already found him, and now I think it's time he should know the truth."
With the old man's words, the wind blew across the flower field. The beautiful violet flower petals loosened from their plants and surrounded the pixie. When they blew away with the wind, the pixie was already outside of the forest. In the dark... in the silence.
. . . . . . . .
When morning fell, Celine woke up, tended to his parents, and assisted them with their work. After taking his first break, like always, he picked up an empty basket from the kitchen and stepped out.
"Be safe out there, son..." her mother's caring voice came from inside the house.
However, when he was walking through the village, he saw a group of villagers gathered around what looked like a newly built shop.
He curiously investigated the place and saw that most of those people around it were sick. Some had the same diseases as his parents.
"Are you really saying the truth that this could heal this cursed disease?" a man asked the shop owner, who was a young man.
"See for yourself, man. Just buy it with one copper coin, and in only a few hours, you will feel like you're living a new life."
"One copper coin? That's so cheap... Give me one, there's nothing to lose anyway."
The rows began to buy the medicine bottles the young man sold.
Celine also thought about buying but decided to stay patient until someone else drank it and showed its effect.
"Only a few bottles remain. If you're buying, hurry up!"
However, when he heard those words, Celine hurriedly rushed past others and bought two bottles from the seller.
With two dark-colored liquid bottles in his hand, he quickly ran back to the house and gave them to his parents.
"Son... We've done everything we could, and there's no point in building any hope for us," Celine's stepfather sighed, holding the bottle in his hand. But despite showing no hope, he still drank it.
After handing the medicine to his parents, Celine headed back into the forest to train.
. . . . . . . . .
When it was the middle of the day, a dark cluster of clouds appeared in the sky, lightning striking through the clouds, sometimes roaring and growling.
Thinking it was about to rain, civilians headed back to their homes.
Thump! Thump!
On the empty road, a nobleman wearing a dark suit was slowly advancing forward.
From inside their houses, people looked at this figure curiously.
As the handsome young man, who was actually Mordred, walked, he whistled, and the tone was somewhat gloomy to hear. Behind him followed two figures, also dressed in dark suits. They were Vanessa and Negun.
Whee!
While whistling, Mordred eventually came to the middle of the village where three roads connected to each other.
There, Negun placed a chair, which the noble young man sat in.
Looking at his hand, he watched the time pass on his watch.
Tik! (one minute)
Tik! (two minutes)
Tik! (three minutes)
Tuk!
Raghh!
When the fourth minute passed, a loud roar came from within a house of the village.
Cries of fearful children and women came, then the cries turned horrific, then to pleas for mercy, then... silence...
Only for a few minutes, before the village succumbed into madness and darkness. The innocent began to cry while victims struggled in the grasp of death. Roars of the beast rose, all the while the devil stood in the middle, observing the world.
"Right on time, just as planned"