The four male disciples disappeared in the evening; they tried to find them but were nowhere to be seen. The Sect Leader and Elder Maron went to look for them and told the others to stay at camp.
Adonis was sleeping in his tent and couldn't fall asleep due to the missing disciples.
'This area is known to materialize fears, could they have been hurt by that? Or are they wandering around aimlessly?"
Either way, Adonis was worried. This will hinder their journey if they are not found and they may not make it to the tournament in time.
'Also, the elder and Sect Leader haven't returned either, this will definitely halt our travel.'
Adonis contemplated what he should do, and in the end, he decided to look for them.
'I can't sit around if they are possibly hurt or worse, and it's not like this fog will subside in the day either...I need to find them as soon as possible.'
Adonis got up from his tent, looked at the tent where the girls were residing to make sure no one was watching him, and disobeyed the Sect Leader's order by entering into the fog, trying to look for them.
Little did anyone know, that the Sect Leader and Elder would bring back male disciples from the woods shortly after Adonis left.
.
.
.
Adonis was currently in the forest, he was looking for the others.
'My senses are getting suppressed in here, that'll make it harder to look.'
Adonis's sharp senses were suppressed by the ominous atmosphere of the forest. It reminded him of the time during Mila's fight when his senses were suppressed also.
Before Adonis could think further, he heard something.
"...Useless..."
Adonis stopped and turned around to find nobody there.
"Huh...that was weird..." Adonis was suspicious about what he heard.
"...Trash..."
Adonis heard the voice again to the side of him, he looked yet again to find no one there. Adonis realized that this must be the forest's doing and he is hearing remarks from his past.
"How is someone like you a part of our great family?!!" An arrogant, loud voice resounded around Adonis. He recognizes it.
"Brother..."
Adonis knew this was the voice of one of his older brothers.
"I bet it is burdensome to handle a kid with no talent, even in a Great Family."
The voice of a regal lady was heard.
"Shouldn't he die to no longer taint his family's reputation anymore?"
The voice of an older gentleman was heard.
"What's the point of you if you are only going to drag us down!!?"
The voice of his older sister was heard.
"Just die you freeloader!!!"
"Useless child!!!"
"Do us all a favor and end this pitiful existence of yours!!"
"HURRY, DIE!!"
"STOP CLINGING TO US!!!"
"DON'T THINK ANYTHING WILL CHANGE!!!"
"WE'LL ALWAYS HATE YOU!!!"
"FUCKING BASTARD!!"
An amalgamation of voices resounded around Adonis, he recognize them all from people of his past. The voices continued to grow louder and louder, until...
"You're not going to get to me, you know?"
Adonis said to the forest casually.
"I have heard these types of things throughout my entire life, it won't matter if I hear them again."
Adonis was used to such harsh comments and was nonchalant about what he was hearing. However, he would be lying if he didn't feel slightly hurt when he heard his family's insults, but he didn't let it show.
The forest became quiet, Adonis continued on his way after a few seconds of waiting.
2 hours later,
Adonis figured that he would never find the boys, the elder, or Sect Leader. So, he walked his way back. If you are wondering how Adonis is going back to camp even though his senses are suppressed, it's because he made a trail of fire while he was walking through the fog, so now he going back by following that trail.
But, while following the trail, he saw a figure emerge from the fog. He prepared to fight, but what he saw caught him off-guard.
"Adonis!! There you were!"
Lena was the figure and heaved a sigh of relief when she saw him.
"Lena, how did you follow me? I swear I saw you still sleeping in the girl's tent."
"Oh! I faked sleeping, then followed you by your trail. That doesn't matter right now, let's go back to camp, alright?"
Lena was nearing Adonis, and then Adonis formed Ifrit's Sword and pointed it at her.
"W-what?! Adonis! C'mon, this isn't funny!"
"I know you aren't Lena."
Lena was taken by surprise.
"The fuck do you mean!!?"
That's when Lena(?) saw Adonis's eyes, the sclera was black, his irises gold, and his pupil turned into a slit and were white. They soon turned back to normal with blood coming from his eyes.
"You are made from the atmosphere of this forest, I can see that."
Lena(?) smiled after a few seconds and laughed.
"Hahahahahaha!!! You're quite an amazing one, aren't you?"
"Who are you?"
Adonis didn't care for the figure's comment and asked a question he needed to know.
"Oooh, I'm just an illusion, I was made to test you."
"Test me?"
"Yes, to see if you were worthy to see The Core of the Forest ~"
Adonis was shocked by this but also thought it made sense. Like Mila's Blood Earth, the only way for an atmosphere that suppressed your senses to exist is by having a core to spread the atmosphere around the area. What really took him by surprise was the fact that the Core was big enough to house an entire area.
(For reference, an average size Area like Area 8 was the size of the USA)
The illusion then blew up into a torrent of power, clearing the fog enough to let Adonis see a tree that pierces through the sky. His jaw dropped, even in thick fog, he wondered how no one saw the gigantic tree in front of him.
The tree looked like a willow tree, its trunk was almost black and it had girthy roots that dug deep into the ground. The most unique thing about it was the slit in the trunk that when he looked at it, felt like he was staring at the abyss.
Adonis's instincts told him to keep staring, even though his mind and body told him to look away. Adonis kept staring and returned his own void stare at the tree. Almost immediately after he did that, the tree's abyss glinted a violet light that hit Adonis. Adonis didn't know what happened until he heard a familiar voice behind him.
"Well, well, well, to think I could exist in the real world before I took your body over~!"
Adonis slowly turned and saw his Demon there, the Demon now had a humanoid body made of static, and they gave Adonis the same smile that they always do. Adonis felt his anger explode and the atmosphere immediately turned scorching hot.
"Wow! What an angry expression, almost made me feel like I was staring at a demon!"
Adonis didn't answer them, and asked, "What...the hell...are you doing here?!" He was stopping himself from immediately attacking his Demon with all of his might.
"What do you mean? You already know, don't you?"
Adonis remembered how the forest materialized the person's worst fear to kill them. He felt far more pissed off by the fact that his Demon was his worst fear.
"You...you're gonna try and kill me then!!"
"That's the plan~"
Adonis immediately formed his Ifrit's Sword while fire and lightning were bursting around him.
"I have to thank the forest, FOR GIVING ME THE CHANCE TO FINALLY KILL YOU!!!"
Adonis roared and charged at his Demon at full speed.
'Aaahh, this is gonna be fun~'
The Demon felt ecstasy exploding in them, as Adonis slashed at him with his sword.