Blood Of Platinum
Chapters 16. Gems in the Night World bag. 1
Ryou had run quite far from the place where he left the corpse of the giant orc behind him. There was not much to do except run down a hollow road full of huge roots while shouting Kino and Kaito's names. Despite yelling many times, there was no sign of them answering. A faintly audible echoing sound bounced off the side of the remaining building walls.
The atmosphere in ‘world tonight’ this time is really not so good.
“This is twice...no, five times more troublesome than meeting a group of goblins. I think it would be worse if I met something else. As long as it's not a stray dog like last night, I guess I can still do something”
Ryou began to understand something about the forest. From everything that happened to him, he could think of a possibility.
‘My place was some time ago with the place where I found the corpse of the giant orc was very far away. It was impossible just by running for a few minutes I could arrive at a different location in a short period of time. It seems like this forest has the ability to move the location of all of us. This forest also seemed to appear to separate me from the two of them’
Only that possibility could be concluded by Ryou. However, despite all the things he had thought of, he still held his top priority of protecting the older brother. He kept thinking of finding Kino first.
“I have to find Kino before she gets hurt. It would be great if I could meet Kaito as well after passing this path. Whatever it is, I hope they don't get hurt”
Ryou's steps came to a halt as he looked at the vines that formed a wall in front of him . From the crevices of the plant wall, he could see a path there. Although it was destroyed but he clearly saw it was a street like an alley. As he cut through the vines that formed the wall, he was shocked by the real scene behind it and was left speechless.
“What...what happened? How...can...”.
A sight that was indeed familiar to him but how could it possibly be there, that was what he thought. Who would have thought that after all the vines were cut, the path he saw was not the path to an alley. The road was filled with the corpses of groups of goblins that had been partially destroyed by large roots, some were covered in vines forming thickets.
As he looked to the right side where he was standing, he saw a familiar building. The building with the door destroyed but the front of the building was overgrown with vines as well. He looked
a little into it and saw a table that was split in two because of the root in the middle. There were also about ten or eleven goblin corpses bound to vines and tree roots.
“It's like a maze in the game. Who would have thought that for fifteen years of my life, I would experience something like this game world.”.
Ryou is certainly no stranger to the building. It was a gun shop in the ‘day’ world he visited this afternoon and became the first hideout when ‘world malam’ appeared. The tables and corpses of the goblin group that were inside were proof of that. It's a goblin's corpse that Kaito killed when they found Ryou and his friends hiding behind a table.
After looking at it for less than two minutes, Ryou decided to go out and was silent for a while at the place. He put his sword back in and only held the dagger in his hand.
‘Now all clear. This forest seems to have magical powers and can easily change. The more I tried to search, the further I got lost. It's just gonna waste time. In addition, even if we can meet again after ‘world tonight’ is finished and wait for ‘world noon’ to come, there is no guarantee we will come out in a state without wounds’
Ryou was very confused and started to hesitate to move from there. The things he thought about began to make sense. If he decided to move from there, he would probably arrive at an unexpected place. Walking will only make it further away. In addition, the amount of energy is also limited.
“Sleeping for approximately three hours is enough to help get energy and mental improvement but it is still not enough. It's only a matter of time until things get worse”
Just ten seconds after he finished speaking, something came from Ryou's left side quickly.
******
Kino walked over the bridge and stopped to look at the waterways.
“That water channel is still flowing despite its many roots and vines. Besides.”
Kino looked at the vines, touched them and plucked some leaves. He noticed some familiar leaf shapes.
“These leaves are similar to the leaves of the [Morning Glory] flower plant, but all of these plants have no flowers. Then, this one is similar to [Black-Eyed Susan] as it is in school. There are several forms similar to those in Japan. ‘World night’ this time is really full of surprises”
Kino didn't leave right away after he finished seeing the leaves. He tore off a bit of his lower clothing and stored the leaves using the tear. After that he folded it neatly and put it in his pocket.
‘It might be useful later. Now I have to quickly find Ryou and Kaito-san’
After finishing, Kino walked straight until he reached a road that was wide enough. His face turned strange. He looked around the road. There were many large roots and trees growing from under the building, destroying the building and forming a hole that destroyed the road.
“It shouldn't be this road. After crossing the bridge and walking a bit, I should have reached the tavern back. Why can it penetrate to this road?”
Kino walked a few steps and from a distance he saw something. Something was not so visible because some had been hit by large and closed roots. Kino decided to run a little to where the object was. This time he was shocked by it. A goblin corpse that had a sword stab wound on its chest.
“This... the goblin corpses that attacked me and Ryou as we attempted to go to tavern”.
Kino remembered the corpse clearly even though most of his body was covered in roots. When he saw the corpse, only a gaze so shocked could he show. His face was difficult to express any other feelings other than confusion and surprise. In fact, his mouth could not say anything more. Only his heart revealed his thoughts.
‘He should have been in the direction before that bridge. Why did everything turn out like this? Am I the one who moves every time I move without realizing it or is this forest always changing? Not really no good. I couldn't find Ryou and Kaito-san’
Kino looked around but found nothing as a clue anymore.
“If I move from here, most likely I will return to the place before or be in a place I do not know. But waiting until one of them came also didn't help me at all. Moving without making plans is also not right. What should I–”
From the front, Kino saw something coming quickly.
******
Kaito was already preparing with his sword. The fountain pool and altar in the same place are like an illusion because the two places are opposite if the structure of the building ‘world night’ is equated with ‘world day’.
The fountain pool he always saw in ‘world noon’ has a depth of about seven to eighty centimeters. In the middle of the pool there is a small statue in the form of an angel as a decoration and the edge of the statue decoration there are ornamental trees. And in front of the current Kaito, all those descriptions matched that pool.
“Since when did the ‘world night’ I know have tastes as good as this? If they had it in the first place, they should have given me ‘Elf’ or ‘Dryad’ to be my opponent, not the dark wolf or troll that obviously made me almost die yesterday”
Kaito walked over to the fountain pool. While stepping on the grass, he looked around him.
‘This is not true. I could not feel the presence of any other creature. After being noticed again, there was none
signs of other monsters also came. I'm sure after the previous creature was exterminated, other dangerous creatures will definitely appear not long after that. All this time that's the pattern that happened to me when I was at ‘world malam’ until I memorized the pattern’
Nothing really happened at all. The closer to the pond, the higher Kaito raised his sword. He was within a short distance to the edge of the fountain pool. As you can see, nothing has happened so far.
Kaito briefly looked at his pocket watch, then put it back in his pocket in his robe. The clock shows at 02:35 and Kaito feels his time is getting wasted without finding a clue about his memory pieces. Kaito's level of vigilance has reached its maximum. He began to walk closer to the pool until he finally managed to be on the edge of the pool while still raising his sword.
After noticing the pond, he seemed to see a glowing spot at the bottom of the pond. Kaito put his sword back in and crouched down at the edge of the pond to look at it. Something that looks shiny is seen at the bottom of the fountain pool. At the sight of her, Kaito's chest skipped even louder like seeing something he had so longed for. Kaito's eyes widened and his gaze could not stop paying attention to what was at the bottom of the pond.
“It... purple gems..”.
As if his breathing had stopped, a strange feeling began to envelop him. Without realizing it, Kaito's tears suddenly trickled down. A big smile was seen on his face.
“That gem... the gem that I've been–”.
As Kaito entered the pond and tried to retrieve it, suddenly the little angel's eyes shone and in a flash the ground around the pond shook. From underground it emerged long roots and moved towering upwards in large numbers and attacked Kaito in rapid movements.
“…!!!”
Kaito did not get to take the jewel. The move is a little late. But before the root hurt his body, he held back his attack with the sword he quickly let out. The roots pushed him strong enough to cause him to be thrown far enough away from the Pool.
“Kagh...” Kaito bled out blood from his mouth
This situation is not so good. The roots began to spread back to each side of the forest and at a very high speed they penetrated every building, wall, and wall, destroying the huge roots that had grown and the roots that spread out in all those directions also nearly killed Kino and Ryou at the same time.
******
From Ryou's left side, there was something that suddenly came with speed. Something very dangerous was very long and its rapid movements made the huge roots around the place crumble as soon as it passed through it.
His body was pushed by the root and crashed far enough away from where he was standing before to make him roll on the ground. After throwing his body away, the roots just continued to move in all directions.
“Ukh... this...where did it come from? Akh...” Ryou tries to get up.
His dagger blade had been lost due to the surprise attack earlier. Ryou tries to move his body to wake up but he cannot move it. His entire body was crumbling as a result of being knocked down and attacked by the roots that suddenly came.
‘I feel like my left hand is broken and my body hurts a lot. Don't try to stand up. I can't even move my little end. My body is like a wreck.’
Ryou could only use his heart to speak, explaining what he felt at this moment.
His entire body was covered with wounds, both in the form of scratches until it was bleeding quite a lot. Blood from a wound on the forehead is one of them. He felt dizzy from it, as if his consciousness would be gone. But, he tried to endure the pain and tried to move, crawling slowly towards the wall of the building on the side. The huge root finally stopped moving. But that doesn't help Ryou's condition. Ryou takes a long time just to go to the wall of the building on the side.
With a breath of breath, he leaned back his body and took the cloth bag he was carrying. He was looking for a green bottle filled with medicine to treat the wound. Inside the bag were six bottles he had and he took them all. He hoped that the medicine was like potion potion on a game that instantly treated his entire wound, but even though it did not have an instant effect, it did not, at least he hoped that at least he could reduce the pain he felt so as to make him able to move.
‘I forgot to ask Kaito about how to use this medicine, whether taken or applied to the wound. But I don't want to know anymore. If this drug is like in the game, I will be very helped’
After the bottle was opened, he smelled the scent of the medicine before taking it. Having given up all his senses because the pain in his body was getting so much that it made him want to cry and scream, he immediately sipped the medicine without thinking about how to use it. Moreover, instead of just one or two bottles she drank, Ryou drank all of the medicinal liquid at once.
“I... should find Kino. I... should..”.
After taking the medicine, Ryou's consciousness continued to disappear. His gaze turned black until he finally lost his consciousness.
******
Kino looked around but found nothing as a clue anymore. Suddenly from the front, Kino saw something coming quickly.
“What is it?!”
WOOOOSH
It was coming at a great speed and Kino knew he would not be able to avoid it so quickly. As the object was about to approach, he reflexively dropped his own body onto the ground.
-bruuuk
He dropped himself hard to make a sound, but most importantly he did not have serious injuries, only scratches on his hands. He looked towards the roots. The root still continued to move quickly, destroying the huge roots and vines it passed through.
“If I get late avoiding it, I might get seriously hurt. Why did the roots suddenly come? Where did it come from?”
That huge root was still moving and Kino could not do anything. He watched until the roots stopped moving. As the root stopped, he woke up slowly and made sure it did not attack him.
“Not moving. What happened?”
He saw the direction the roots came from.
‘That's from the front. Is it possible that I can go to the source of this root if I go that way?”
Kino looked at the root and touched it. The roots were not as strong as the huge roots surrounding the city. It felt soft and could likely be cut with his knife. But he did not do so out of fear that this root would attack him. With a doubtful look, he looked towards the front and intended to walk there.
“I don't think I have any other choice. Staying here won't make me calm. Besides I'm afraid Ryou is hurt. I hope Ryou and Kaito-san are okay”
Kino took his pocket watch and saw the time show at 02:35. After putting it back in, he started running towards the direction the roots came from.
Kino ran as fast as he could. Along the way, he saw many buildings that were already covered in vines, there were even plants emerging from the holes in the road. Kino also still looked at the soft roots followed by him until his attention was fixed on the large wooden stick that was in front of him. He paused in front of the stick and looked at it more closely. The large wood was approximately two meters long which had been wrapped around the vines and the roots around it. Kino touched it a few times and saw the sharp end that stuck in the road.
“It's like a spear. From his height it was impossible for a goblin to lift him. Moreover, their weapons were only short swords and shields, so most likely.”.
Kino stopped continuing his sentence and walked slowly forward. Not far from where the long spear was, he saw a huge foot covered in plants and roots. Although somewhat surprised, Kino tried to take a deep breath and look at the creature for a while.
“Kurasa... This creature called giant orc”.
His face looked calm but his eyes did not lie. The contents of his heart explained how shocked he was to see the creature.
‘Biggest. I can't believe that a giant orc has a body size this big. Kaito-san killed this alone before going to our place. I can't imagine what kind of fight Kaito-san went through against her. Kaito-san doesn't even look hurt at all”
But after taking a good look, Kino began to realize his strangeness. He looked towards the back where he first came before looking at the huge spear. Now Kino's face became visibly shocked.
“Wait, this city is not right. I don't know where to say it from but this isn't true”
Kino started thinking and remembering everything she had encountered since the city turned into a forest.
‘When walking over the bridge, I who initially thought I would get to the tavern building before this actually got to the place before we came to the tavern. Even I came back to see the corpse of a goblin who attacked us while we were on our way to the tavern building. Then, now I saw the big spear and the corpse of the gianto orc. Kaito-san says that she fought him before getting to the tavern. That means, this giant orc was in the place before, right behind us’
Kino came to the conclusion of it all.
“As if actually I was walking back to the place behind me before this”
The structure of the building has changed since it became a wilderness. Many destroyed buildings and roads made everything seem foreign and different, naturally they could no longer recognize the direction of where and from
where they come. But, after careful thought by Kino, all made sense. He always got back to where he was before. On the conviction of that thought, he finally knew what was about in front of him.
“If I'm right, I should be back to where we were when we first came to ‘world night’ this”
Kino with complete confidence, finally dashed back forward following the direction the soft root was coming from. It only took him a few minutes until he finally saw many goblin corpses on the road. The corpse of course had a condition that was no different from the previous giant orcs. Walking forward while continuing to pay attention to the corpse, Kino found several broken arrows.
“If if it is true that I was walking to the place before, it is likely that this is the corpse of the goblin that Kaito-san killed before fighting the giant orc. These six arrows were strong evidence. That means up ahead is the place. I have to hurry”
******
Kaito is facing a serious fight here. All of those roots had stopped spreading to all sides. But, now it looked like a web of plants was blocking its way back to the fountain.
Kaito immediately took the medicine in a cloth bag in his belt and drank a bottle. After which he quickly jumped up and cut the tree roots. Although the soft root has been cut many times, it will grow back immediately.
“Soaring!! I'm not gonna let go. Finally...finally I found that ‘benda’. After being trapped in this place, I will not let this ‘world’ take him away again from!!”
With an angry look and emotion, he continued to cut through the soft roots even though he knew they would grow back and instantly covered the way back shortly after being cut, but he did not give up.
‘It's endless! If it's like this, the sun will rise and I'll lose the jewel. I don't know if I'll find her again tonight. I don't want that to happen. I'm sick of this ‘world tonight’!!’
He's running out of time. All the attacks were free, unable to open the way. Then, he realized the roots were coming from deep in the ground. Maybe if it could do something with soft root sources
that, he could break through the webs of these plants. These nets were also not completely tight so he could see the part of the root growing from the ground. Kaito took a small red bottle from the cloth bag underneath.
“It probably won't be what I expected. But poison is poison, and the root is still a living thing. So worth to try”
Kaito immediately threw the small bottle through the gap of the root net. The bottle fell right next to the root that emerged from the ground and broke. The poison liquid enters and is absorbed by the root. After throwing the bottle, Kaito continued to make his attack again without waiting for a reaction from the poison. This was done because he did not want to waste every single one of his precious seconds. But, not long after his attack occurred something unexpected by him and it made his circumstances change.
******
