Ark pulled his sword out of the wolf's corpse, causing blood to splatter everywhere. Then he quickly used his sword to slash across the wolf's tongue to confirm the commission, just like he did with the two wolves outside the cave.
In a nearby place, Al was calmly raising the torch, his other hand holding the strap of his backpack. So this was the reason why a person who specialized in picking herbs like Ark had such a strong body. During the waiting time, he had observed and grasped quite a bit of information about Ark. That his ability was overwhelming enough to say that he was used to fighting. However, after the fight, he always walked unsteadily as if he was about to collapse at any moment, even though he was completely conscious. Then, he would grab the herbs he picked earlier and put them in his mouth and chew them straight away.
Holding the wolf's two tongues, Ark looked at him happily. "That's enough for 160 Solars." Al looked up but suddenly noticed the wolf pups sleeping soundly behind him.
"What about them?" Al asked.
"Leave them alone," Ark said, "They're not part of the mandate I received."
"So what will it do without its parents?"
"It will find a way."
"How can I save it?" Al propped himself up on his hands. He ran to the wolf pups and turned back to Ark. "If it wakes up and finds its parents dead in front of it..."
"Then it will have enough nutrients to survive this winter."
"Even so, at least let me do something, okay Ark?"
"... Okay."
Standing in front of the wolf pups and their parents' corpses, Al clasped his hands and closed his eyes, praying for something. He turned back to Ark's smiling face. Ark said, "We're almost at the end of the cave. Come on, Al." And held out his hand for Al to take.
***
When the two of them arrived at the village gate, it was already dusk. And right at the gate, the villagers were surrounding the door, followed by the howling of dogs.
Right in front of the village gate were four dogs with sharp teeth, their eyes were red and their skin was smooth as if covered with water. Thick black drops of water were flowing down from their bodies, carrying a foul stench. In front of them was a little girl whose leg was bitten and bleeding.
As Ark and Al ran over, Yvette screamed, swung her axe forward and blocked the sharp teeth that were rushing towards the child. Yvette quickly threw the dog down before swinging her axe and chopping the neck of another dog that was rushing towards her. Taking advantage of the opening, both dogs jumped at her at the same time. Ark tried to swing his arm but immediately cried out in pain. He gritted his teeth and fumbled for the herbs. Just as its teeth touched her forge, a large hammer quickly smashed the skull of a small dog.
The other one was stuck to her mother's bandaged hand.
"Father Yvette, take care of this," Aunt March exclaimed, throwing the dog that was swinging in her hand towards her husband. As the dog's back hit the ground, its internal organs immediately scattered everywhere under her husband's strong hands.
The four dogs that were finished off quickly melted into familiar pools of black, thick liquid and ran into the forest. As soon as it slithered past the two, Ark summoned pins from the air and threw them into the puddles.
Running back to Yvette, Ark worriedly said, "Y—everyone, me—me, and even my aunt and uncle..."
"Hey, it's nothing, someone has to protect our village!" Yvette put her arm around his shoulder and laughed loudly, her hand rubbing his head.
"But—but," Ark stammered.
"Ark, come here. Ouch, my knee!" Aunt March exclaimed, trying to kneel down next to the child. After being supported by her husband, she said to Ark, "Take care of this child. Look. What do you think about this?"
Ark glanced back and forth between the girl's injuries and Aunt March's joint pain. Confused that she couldn't help everyone in time, the little girl looked at her foot, which was bleeding from the jagged teeth, and cried out.
"What if she has to have her leg amputated?" Ark panicked.
"No. Now, Ark, what do you think about this?" Aunt March calmly asked him.
"This is happening because I can't help everyone."
"No, you idiot!" Right behind him, slapping down a bunch of vegetables, was Miss Miriam - the village healer.
"Go get some ointment from the freezer, some bandages, and some antiseptic," she said, continuing to hit him with the herbs a few more times. Miriam then went back to the others, tore off the hem of her shirt and tied it, stopping the bleeding on the baby's leg.
When she saw Ark running back, she complained to Aunt March, "Oh, look at him, all the effort went into training such a student, but look at the way he runs. One foot keeps tripping over the other, is he really an adult? Even with that appearance, how can he get a girl with that kind of behavior?"
"Haha," Aunt March laughed, "maybe my Ark can do it. My husband Hugo was just as clumsy as Ark is now."
"Yes. There are many things that haven't changed much," Uncle March said, stroking his thick beard and laughing.
***
After the crowd dispersed, Ark whispered to Al, "I need to check something."
"Can I come along?" Al asked, pulling on Ark's cloak sleeve.
"...Okay."
Al was then led to the four corners of the village. At each corner, he saw complex symbols carved on the ground or on some piece of wood or fence. However, at the corner of the village near Ark's house, one symbol was broken by the shape of sharp claws.
Ark touched the smudged symbol, muttering, "The protective sigil can only be broken at the same time when there is an external impact. However, if only one is broken, it means—"
"That force is coming from within," Al speculated.
"Can you hear what I'm saying?"
"I'm a half-rabbit."
"Anyway, you were right," Ark continued, "and the pins I threw down earlier carried my mana. And when I retrieved them, they were... over there." Ark pointed somewhere in the forest in front of the village. "Let's go."
Walking into a place in the forest, they found a pool of thick, black liquid boiling, from which a strange shape, resembling a humanoid, gradually formed. Its body, now covered in liquid, took the first step, leaving a small, sticky puddle. It quickly turned its "head" and looked towards them as if searching for something.
From the nearby bushes, a scarred hand pushed the bushes away. Seeing Ark, the liquid sloshed into shape, the humanoid figure gradually becoming more complete. Before long, a man wearing a similar cloak to Ark appeared in front of the two, but with longer, silky black hair and a pair of round, dangling red earrings.
It looked at him, and the strands of hair turned into large tentacles that shot straight towards the two. Ark waved his hand, and the tentacles were quickly cut off by the wind, falling down and dissolving into puddles. Ark furrowed his brows. He gritted his teeth, clenching his fists. Ark stared straight at the thing in front of him, gritting his teeth. "You are the thing from that ritual."
Without responding to Ark, the mindless tentacles continued to aim straight at his heart, then broke off one by one. The monster leaned over, gathering its strength and launching tentacles towards Ark at an astonishing speed. But Ark still cut the wind away without any resistance. However, when he waved his hand, a hidden tendril quickly stabbed into his side.
"Tsk, annoying," Ark said with a displeased expression. His nails grew claws, grabbed the tentacles and threw the monster into the tree in front of him. It quickly stood up but the surging pressure around it gradually enveloped it. It opened its eyes wide and looked at Ark. Ark was holding his hand out and his fingers were curled up.
The liquid was tightly wrapped in the invisible pressure in the space as if it was being surrounded by storms. It immediately concentrated its strength, its two earrings lit up, summoning hundreds of tentacles to stab one after another. But in just a blink of an eye, all the tentacles were destroyed into dust. It recognized everything.
In front of it, the figure of that person had now become as majestic and tall as a mountain. The overwhelming aura of that person looked down at it. And it was just a grain of sand that was shrinking, waiting in the palm of its hand.
All of its hairs stood on end, its eyes opened wide, staring blankly at the judge before it. It stood still as it watched the giant hand in front of it slowly move towards it. The hand slowly and majestically pulled along a swirling storm that overwhelmed all its senses. Although it could not describe it in words, it understood. This was the feeling of a hunted animal. This was fear.
Ark's two hands were pointed straight at it; palms facing each other, each step of pressure increasing with each word he said, "It's over."
The two hands came together; the judge gave the order.
***
Al held his breath as he looked at Ark. His whole body was still trembling from the aftershocks of what he had just witnessed. Before his eyes, a part of the forest had vanished into thin air, where the monster had been standing, there was only a puddle of water and a hollowed-out area. Al couldn't even move his fingers. And just now, he had burst into tears as he faced imminent death.
Ark fell to his knees. He held his head and tried to crawl up with his hands. Ark tried to keep his balance and looked at the puddle in front of him - where now only a small pin and a pair of black earrings remained. Ark picked up the earrings, muttering to himself, "It seems like it was smart enough to store all its energy in these earrings. But, for now, I'll seal it."
He took out the remaining two pins from the space. Tearing off a flap of his shirt and placing a total of five pins in it, he said, "All of your powers will be sealed. And the condition to break the seal is according to the world's rules, as always, when you—"
"Become human." Al's eyes widened. He had interrupted without thinking. He didn't know what he had done until he saw Ark looking at him, angry.
Al stepped back, his hands shaking. What did he just say?
"Fine." Ark sighed, "Even though this monster will never be able to become a human. He continued, "And today, Al will be the witness to this seal."
The cloth flew up, floating and curling around the earrings, then three pins were immediately pinned to the cloth. Sparks flew up, following the cloth, carving strange symbols that burned black. Then, the cloth tightened the earrings into a small object.
"What are you going to do with it?" Al gathered all his courage to ask Ark.
Ark looked at the earrings thoughtfully, softly saying, "Maybe this is the result of going beyond the law of cause and effect, of the resurrection ritual... I don't know what this is." Ark rubbed the earrings in his hand, "But I can't let it fall into someone else's hands."
After saying that, the object floated up and disappeared. Ark turned back to where the liquid was lying. When he was about to raise his hand, Al unconsciously shouted. Al felt a wave of anger was seething inside him, as if he was being controlled. And Al could only let everything be left to his instincts.
"Why don't we just leave it alone and send it somewhere else?" Al said.
"Why are you trying to be a know-it-all now?" Ark sneered, feeling annoyed at being interrupted again.
"It's already sealed to its full power, how can it hurt anyone else?"
"And you really believe that?" Ark raised an eyebrow, his voice full of sarcasm.
"You don't believe in your seal that much?"
"It's never too late to be careful."
"There are so many mysterious things in the world, but this is the only thing you're afraid of?"
"Shut up," Ark interrupted. He pointed at the liquid. "You know, this is what's been stopping me, from doing something right for once!"
"You mean resurrecting Alice?"
"Yes! And if it wasn't for that damn ritual, things wouldn't have turned out like this!"
"It wouldn't have turned out like this? You mean without me?"
"Al—" Ark paused, he immediately shook his head, "N—no, I mean—"
"Fine!" Al shouted, "Then do whatever you want to satisfy your ego! Everything you do is for yourself, isn't it? Did Alice ask you to revive her? And me?" Al sobbed, "I didn't force you to bring me into this world?"
Ark looked at Al, his face stiff, his lips trembling as if he was about to say something but then stopped. Ark went to hug him. Ignoring the rabbit's hits, he continuously patted Al, "No, I didn't mean that. Al is very important to me. I'm sorry. I would never trade you for anyone."
"Not even Alice?" Al hiccupped.
"Not even Alice."
After patting the little rabbit, he picked Al up and hugged him to his chest. Ark once again reached out towards the motionless liquid, Ark sighed, "I... can't break the laws of nature again."
"Then why don't you let it go?" Al sobbed as he tugged at the hem of his cloak and the black shirt that was being grabbed; he might have even grabbed his flesh if it weren't for the black T-shirt behind.
"But where?" Ark smiled wryly.
"Where would be the best place to help it become better, for example."
Ark patted Al's head, "You have a really good perspective on this world. But okay, I know a place by the way."
Ark waved his hand, a wind rose up, carrying the liquid to a random place where the villagers could easily subdue it. After that, the two of them went back and checked the protective symbols for the village one more time before going home.
***
As soon as he got home, Ark put Al down. Before he could reach out to pat Al's head, Ark screamed and quickly covered his head with both hands. Ark staggered a few more steps. His hand clumsily groped for the herbs but was too late. His hand loosened, the leaves fell to the floor. And Ark raised his head before his body froze and he fell down and hit the floor.
Al panicked, he immediately ran to find Miriam.