Chapter 1112 Sleepwalkers
Chapter 1112 Sleepwalkers
"We don't fear monsters," said Ilia Perli with a smile. "Thank you for the warning. Can you tell us how to reach the trial?"
"Are you new here?" muttered the leader of the party with surprise, and Ilia nodded with confusion. "That explains a lot. In the third floor, you can access the challenger's menu here. There, you can find an arrow that directs you toward the trial of heroes. Of course, it would not be a direct route like the arrow thinks, but it gives you a general idea."
"Oh, I see," muttered Ilia as he opened the menu and navigated toward the arrow, which was indeed there. It was labeled Compass, and an arrow appeared in front of them, pointing in a certain direction. "Can you see this too?" Ilia asked Jonathan.
"I can," nodded the knight before he turned toward the group. "Thank you for the tip. We will be on our way," said the knight before he nodded toward Arthur and tried to walk past them.
"Wait there, friend," said the man as he raised his hand. "This forest is like a maze, and we have been hunting here for the past few years. It just so happens that we wanted to go toward the monument for a while."
"A weird coincidence," said Arthur with a smile as he stared at the man. Once he met the golden eyes that seemed to see him bare, the man averted his gaze with an uncomfortable expression. "We would love it if you guided us there."
"Our pleasure! It is our duty to help one another," said the man before he nodded and turned around. "You can follow us through this forest. We know every turn."
"I'm sure of that," said Arthur as he began following them. The rest shrugged and walked behind him, letting these strangers lead them somewhere.
Jonathan remained vigilant, watching the arrow turn before him. The rest could see it too, so they did not understand some of the choices the group made. Seeing their confusion, a chubby old man with a bald head explained from among the group.
"These routes are dangerous for beginners, so we are taking a detour to ensure your safety," said the chubby bald man as he slapped his armored chest. "We are veterans, so leave this to us!"
"Is that so?" muttered Jonathan with suspicion before he glanced at Arthur, only to find him carrying a relaxed smile. Since his insightful lord, who could discern the intentions of the Lord of Blood Keep, was relaxed, Jonathan also decided to see where this goes.
Other than their leader, the rest of the party were cheerful and chatty. They chatted with Sarohan and Ilia, who were friendlier than the rest. It was soon revealed that this party has been hunting together for almost ten years. At this point, they considered each other family.
Two of them were a couple who got married years ago but never had kids. Another two seemed to be flirting nonstop, grabbing each other here and there as if the rest did not exist for them. The last two were the leader and the old man, who remained single among the group.
At some point as they walked deeper into the forest, it got darker and fog rose from the ground. However, the group kept chatting, even fighting among themselves with mock anger. Jonathan was still cautious, but his king was far from worried.
"We walked this path twice already," said Seraphine all of a sudden, silencing the noisy group with confusion. "Where are you taking us, exactly?"
"…we are almost there…" answered a voice that seemed to be coming from the leader as he turned around, with flames flickering from his torch. His eyes were rolled back, revealing nothing but white, as saliva dripped from his mouth. "Almost… there…"
"What the hell?!" shouted Sarohan as he jumped back, putting his hands before as if he was about to chop the man apart. "What is wrong with your leaders, Sivan?!"
Sivan was the name of the chubby bald man, who seemed just as shocked by his appearance. He shouted some name, which probably belonged to the man, but there was no answer. As his neck twisted unnaturally, the man turned around and resumed his movements.
"There is no use," said Arthur as he stared at the fumes rising from the ground. "He has fallen into a dream-like state ever since we entered this fog. It seems whoever breathes it will fall asleep and lose control of their body."
"I feel fine, though," said Whisker as he clenched his fury fist. "I know this is not a dream, at least. Is it not working against us?"
"If this was a biochemical fog that affected the mind, it would have worked against us," said Arthur as he crouched on the ground, picking something up and raising it for the group to see. "This is an ethereal fog that controls creatures through dreams."
The thing that Arthur had picked up was a skull that belonged to a human. It had nothing but skin and bones, with hollow eyes and mouth. Time did not eat the flesh, but something else did. As the group shouted in horror, the leader resumed walking.
"Whatever curse has taken control of your leader is not a creature, but an automation created by a powerful being," said Arthur as he stared at the skull with sadness before raising his palm. Golden mana shone on the skull before it began to disintegrate in peace. "The aim is to lead others toward a trap."
"Why are we still awake, then?" asked Lian with confusion as he stared at the fog. "We inhaled a lot of it already."
"Because of the blessing I have given you," said Arthur with a smile as he began following after the leader again. "You are immune to such pathetic attacks because of my mana."
"Wait a second… sir!" shouted Sivan with fear as he took a step back. "The rest of us are wide awake, not in a dream! This is the first time that this happens to us!"
"Your leader lost consciousness because his mental fortitude is far stronger than the rest, so the fog could only drive him into unconsciousness. You are sleeping right this instant. I suspect that you have lured countless challengers to their deaths, only to forget about it."
His words shook the group to their core, but they could not tell if this was reality or a dream for them. As they tried to remember the events of the past years, they began having headaches.
"Please… wake us up," asked Sivan as he fell to the ground, looking at Arthur with despair as he held his head.
"If I do that, you will lose your mind because of the things you might have seen," said Arthur as he glanced back toward them. "This amnesia is not a curse, but a blessing. Your leader is different, so he had to suffer the gruesome scenes that are about to follow."
"Then, how can we make the headaches disappear?" asked the married woman as she supported her husband.
"Just stop focusing on the past, and watch the present," said Arthur as he turned toward the mindless man. "I will save you all."
As the group followed his gaze, they found hundreds of challengers walking while asleep. They reached a clearing where fog reached their waist and everyone walked at the same pace toward the circular tree trunk that acted as walls.
"There are almost three hundred people here…" muttered Sarohan with shock as he watched the hordes of sleeping people walking. "Some of them seem to be awake, but absent-minded."
"Those are similar to these five," said Arthur without turning back. "They have achieved their mission and made the victims fall asleep, so they stopped acting like humans. They have been programmed by the fog to repeat this cycle."
"Is this a dream, or is this reality?" muttered Sivan with trembling cheeks as sweat covered his face. "What am I supposed to believe now?"
"Your dream makes you forget what you have done, that is all," said Seraphine with a frown as she stared at the tree trunk. "How about we wake them up, my king?"
"Not yet," said Arthur with a frown. "If we do, then the one responsible will notice and have time to run away. Act like you are sleepwalking until we enter that tree trunk. The battle shall begin then."
Everyone nodded and followed his orders as they began marching toward the tree trunk. There were many entrances into the tree, which led them through a path that could only fit one person at a time. After passing the outmost layer, they entered the central part where a wide ledge surrounded a giant pool.
"Is that… acid?" muttered Ilia with a hushed voice as they stared at the pool in the middle, which was as big as a lake. The fog rose from this pool, into which the sleepwalkers threw themselves. After that, they no longer resurfaced.
"My king… these people are dying…" muttered Whisker with a frown as he prepared to dash forward, but Arthur raised his hand to stop him.
"No one is dying. They are being turned into that husk that we saw earlier," said Arthur with his hand raised. "Just a little more, and we will catch the bastard behind this human-farm."