บท 33: 33. The Soul-Siphoning Banyan Tree

After hearing those words, all of his friends instinctively scanned the forest, their eyes darting across every corner within their reach.

"Failed Product here actually makes a good point," Casildo quipped, as he finally realized that the ambient sounds of nature that had filled their ears had suddenly gone silent.

"Where did all the sounds go?" Gavin echoed, sounding uneasy.

Trying to reassure everyone, Arkana patted Kairav's shoulder. "It's fine. Let's just keep moving. But stay alert," he instructed, before resuming his lead.

The rest of the group followed him, their minds heavy with a growing sense of dread, hoping nothing terrible awaited them ahead.

But that hope was never destined to last. In the midst of this unsettling atmosphere, Kairav suddenly felt a drop of water land on his face.

Startled, he looked up, his gaze meeting the once soft, orange twilight sky, now gradually overtaken by dark, menacing storm clouds.

"Rain," Kairav muttered as the droplets began to fall more heavily against his skin.

His unease deepened when a thick fog slowly descended from the horizon, wrapping the entire area in a suffocating 'white curtain.'

Kairav's mind raced, recalling the chilling words inscribed on the inscription stone: 'Raindrops and leaves bring the fog.'

His face paled as he remembered the mention of Dwarapala, the giant guardian, a legendary figure from the Nusantara lands, written on that inscription.

"Damn it!"

Sensing the imminent danger, Kairav snapped his focus back to the path ahead and tried to warn Prince Arkana. "We have to—"

But his voice caught in his throat. As soon as he looked forward, Arkana was gone. The prince, who had been right in front of him, was nowhere to be seen.

Panic setting in, Kairav spun around, desperately searching for his other friends. Yet again, not a single trace of them remained. The rain had ceased, leaving behind only the thick fog, which now obscured his vision entirely.

Frantic, he began calling out their names one by one. "Prince Arkana! Gavin! Baron!" he yelled. "Dairy cow!"

"Where are you?!"

Kairav started moving carefully through the blinding fog, trying to avoid crashing into any trees or rocks in his path. His mind raced with frustration.

Earlier, in a fit of annoyance, he had dumped most of his belongings into Casildo's bag, including his infrared goggles—something that would've been extremely useful right now—all for the sake of annoying the bothersome guy.

But now, all that was left for him was regret!

Realizing his frustration wouldn't change anything, he quickly started brainstorming other options. That's when it hit him—he still had his walkie-talkie inside his jacket.

Quickly, he pulled it out, hoping to hear something, anything from his friends. "Guys, it's me, Kairav. Are you all okay?"

There was no response, just the irritating crackle of radio static.

Kairav furrowed his brow in concern but decided to keep trying as he cautiously moved forward, hands feeling for obstacles around him.

"Baron, Gavin, it's me. Can you hear me? I'm right—"

Thud!

"Oww! Damn it!" he cursed as his foot hit something, causing him to stumble and fall face-first into the ground.

"This place is seriously cursed!" He spat, rising to his feet and swinging his arms wildly to make sure there was nothing else to trip over.

But then something made him freeze. His fingers brushed against a small, long, silky object.

Kairav frowned, trying to figure out what he was touching.

He paused for a moment before finally murmuring the answer aloud, "Hair?"

It couldn't belong to any of his friends, could it? None of them had hair this long.

Driven by curiosity and a hint of fear, Kairav hesitantly leaned forward. His heart pounded in his chest as his vision started to clear, slowly revealing more detail.

He felt warm breath against his face. And just inches away, Kairav froze in terror as he found himself staring into a pair of lifeless eyes.

"Whoa!!" he screamed, falling backward, his heart racing uncontrollably.

Struggling to steady his breathing, his mind scrambled to process the pale, frozen face he had just seen. "Trisha?" he whispered in disbelief.

Her body was stiff as a statue, her skin cold and ghostly pale, her eyes empty and emotionless. What horrible force had turned her into this?!

***

Three Days Earlier

The fog thickened, engulfing every corner of the forest, bringing misery to countless souls like the endless waves in the vast ocean.

A gentle but frigid breeze rustled through the fog-producing leaves, creating an eerie whisper among the trees.

The once vibrant twilight had long since given way to the somber night, and the haunting calls of crows, harbingers of death, echoed from the branches of an enormous banyan tree standing in the heart of the Forest of Lost Souls.

The crows that inhabited the forest, their eyes unclouded by the fog, could witness the sinister movement of the banyan tree's hanging roots, where they perched for shelter.

Their pitch-black eyes observed the hungry roots slithering through the cold air, searching for new prey that had strayed into the mist to drain their souls.

These roots often began their torture by impaling themselves into the victims' backs, instantly freezing their bodies like mannequins, before feeding on their souls until the first light of dawn.

Many lost souls were trapped within the soul-siphoning banyan tree, all waiting for their release. But the only way to free them was to destroy the tree itself.

The problem was, destroying this mysterious tree was no easy feat. Even the nameless young man had struggled, unable to make the tree even tremble.

Just like now, as he moved nimbly through the fog's blindfolding grip, dodging the attacks of the hanging roots that sought his back.

Relying on his sharp instincts and heightened hearing, the nameless young man attempted to predict the direction of the attacks targeting him.

Swishhh...

The sound of several hanging roots slicing through the air reached his ears. The nameless young man narrowed his eyes in full alertness, trying to gauge where the attack would come from.

Confident in his estimation, he swiftly spun around, and just in time, he deflected the five hanging roots that had come within inches of his face, nearly striking him.

His black sword, engraved with golden Phoenix wings, cleaved through the five roots in a single swing.

But that didn't save him from the dozens of other hanging roots, which now rushed toward him from every direction, encircling him.

"This fog doesn't affect me. Leave this to me!" a voice reverberated inside the young man's mind. "These souls keep begging for my help!"

The nameless young man sheathed his sword, which he had named Sambara, meaning 'The sword ready to defend the justice.' He then unleashed his technique, Radiant Soulforge Awakening.

As the majestic Phoenix spirit awakened, the sky was suddenly adorned with a swirling spectrum of radiant colors, orbiting around the red star Luminous Remnants in the Phoenix constellation.

Waves of light, like the northern lights, illuminated the entire horizon as Cosmic Resonance Radiation shot toward the ground, enveloping the nameless young man in a crimson mist.

The Phoenix totem carved on his back came alive with divine light, and a long sword made entirely of blazing fire materialized in his grasp as he stomped his foot and leaped into the air.

[Eternal Ember Slash]

The fiery sword hurled toward the incoming hanging roots. A deafening cry of a giant bird echoed through the forest as the sword spun in the air, transforming into the mighty Phoenix spirit, flames engulfing its entire form.

The firebird soared, following the movements of the hanging roots. At one point, as it flapped its fiery wings, several flaming feathers broke free and floated through the air.

Dozens of these fiery feathers seemed to have a life of their own, rapidly dispersing and darting toward their chosen targets.

Swoosh... Crack! Crack!