《Dark Fantasy: Hero of Ghost》


 Nameless Grave

    I slowly opened my eyes and this feeling was like waking up from a long sleep. When I found myself in such a dark room, my whole body felt the chill of the air that I could feel from my skin. There was no sound I could hear, not even the sound of my own heartbeat. When I tried to move, I was stiff from head to toe. In my heart myself is dead, loneliness in this boundless shadow is indeed the death that I deserve. When I started to give up on closing my eyes, I suddenly heard the voice of a man right in front of me.


    "Welcome to the realm of the dead."


    The sound immediately startled me to wake up and made me sick. The pain made me see the dark memories, the screams, the blood spurts, and even the suffering of many people from those memories instantly flow in an instant very quickly. But the pain didn''t last long, with a heavy breath I started to think about myself but it still made me wonder.


    "Who am I?"


    Instantly a torch lit up to illuminate the room I was in, though the flame of the torch was dim. With the dim light from the torch I looked around me like an old place where there was a lot of dust with cobwebs in the dark corner of the wall. In front of me there is a black table with a red cloth on its surface and I see there is a candle in the middle of the table. For some reason I suddenly felt goosebumps when I realized there was someone behind the darkness sitting in front of me, I tried to get up from my chair but I couldn''t move my body at all. That''s when the candle in front of me suddenly lit and I saw a terrible figure sitting in front of me. The creature was covered in darkness with the shape of a human but it had big hands with sharp nails, besides that I could only see its two glowing eyes staring at me horribly.


    ¡°Welcome¡­ Dixen,¡± said the creature.


    It turned out that this voice was what woke me from the dead and made me feel the pain of those memories. Since I couldn''t move my body, I ventured to speak to the creature that might know about me.


    ¡°D-Dixen? Is that my name?" I asked.


    "Yes and I just erased your memory."


    The creature''s words didn''t seem like a lie since I just had an excruciating headache. What is the reason he erased my memory? Will he kill me? Negative thoughts had filled my head and at that time I felt hopeless because I saw my current condition.


    ¡°W-Why are you doing this? A-Are you the demon that killed me?¡± I asked again.


    "Don''t compare me to that lowly creature, you''ll understand why I did this." Answer the creature.


    I really didn''t understand what the creature was talking about because I now felt fear and despair when the creature stared at me closely. When I blinked, the creature suddenly disappeared but I''m sure it''s still around here. Without me realizing it, a large hand with sharp nails had crawled over my shoulder and it made my breathing irregular because I couldn''t look back.


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    ¡°Don''t be afraid of me, I used to be a human like you but now I''m different because I''ve been cursed,¡­ even my name.¡± Say the creature.


    ¡°W-What do you want from me?¡± I asked holding back fear.


    ¡°You live in a world full of suffering and even you die from suffering too much. Let me tell you why you died, it''s because your body was made an offering by the Demon Lord. What is your answer? You want to live again don''t you?"


    Those words made my head hurt with a snippet of memory flashing through my head. It seemed that the creature was telling the truth and I had no other choice but to obey it because in my little heart, I wanted to live again.


    ¡°I¡­ want to live again, even if my life is full of suffering but I want to fight my suffering to live!¡± I''m determined.


    "The right decision! Now listen to my words, I will give you a very special gift and use this gift to kill the Demon Lord even at any cost. My advice is to kill the Demon Lord immediately before he wakes up.¡±


    When the candle was blown by the creature, my vision immediately darkened. When I woke up again, I was immediately shocked because I could feel my heart beating again and now I was in a narrow and dark coffin. With all my might, I tried to get myself out of the crate by hitting and screaming. It wasn''t long before my hand managed to get out of the coffin with many scratches and finally I was able to come out standing on top of the grave with the nameless tombstone.


    ¡°A-Am I alive again? Where is this? I seem to be in the middle of the forest.¡±


    Because the moon was covered by clouds, the atmosphere of the forest was currently dark. Without thinking I slowly started walking through the forest with no lighting to find a way out. The more I went into the forest the more difficult the path I took and the further I walked there I began to hear strange sounds.


    The voice sounded from a distance like a roar and made me stop for a moment to look around. When I took another step, I heard small, indistinct whispers and that''s when I heard a scream not far from me.


    ¡°AAAAH!!!¡±


    Panicked and shocked, I started to quicken my footsteps and took a direction I didn''t expect. Running scared down the dark path and the bushes, I was finally in a meadow. With panting breaths I began to calm myself but unexpectedly I saw a torn corpse covered in blood and a woman who was crying covering her face. For some reason I immediately felt horror when I wanted to approach the crying woman and soon I heard a whisper that now sounded very clear.


    "Run."


    At that moment the woman turned to me with a ghastly pale face with tears of blood running down her cheeks, then her mouth opened wide with a loud scream that made me stiffen in surprise.


    ¡°AAAAAA!!!¡±


    The woman quickly strangled my neck so hard it made me feel pain, fear, and despair mixed into one. With all my might I fought the woman''s strangulation but what strength my whole body began to weaken, my voice could no longer come out as my blood began to flow out of my nose and eyes, slowly the sound of my heartbeat began to dim and my vision slowly began to blacken ending with the sound of my neck bones breaking. broken.


    Crack!


    ¡­


    ¡°Welcome back¡­ Dixen.¡±


    That voice, I recognized that voice from the darkness and woke me up from this nightmare. Was this all just a bad dream? Or am I dead and going to hell? My head is full of questions as I feel my neck and face are back to normal but I don''t feel my heart beat anymore.


    "What did you do to me?" I asked looking into the dark creature''s eyes.


    The creature looked like it was smiling or happy but I couldn''t see the expression on its face because it was covered in darkness. Finally the creature clapped for me softly.


    "Wasn''t that great? It is a special gift from me to you.¡± Say the creature.


    "What do you mean? I-I even felt the pain of this death a second time.¡± I said looking at my shaking hands.


    Finally the creature explained what special gift had been given to me, ¡°Still don''t understand? Alright I''ll tell you. At night your body will become like a living creature and you can be killed but don''t worry your soul will rise again, great isn''t it?!¡±


    Feeling hopeless, I covered my face and said, ¡°Then how do I deal with the creature that killed me?! I don''t even have the strength when he looks at me."


    "I told you, you can do anything you want. Now it''s time for you to wake up." Answer the creature by blowing out the candle.


    ¡°Wha-¡­¡±


    Before I said I suddenly woke up in the same grave as when I first woke up, in a nameless grave. This makes me wonder what kind of world is this? Am I going to keep repeating this nightmare endlessly?

 Ghost Memory

    I feel like tonight is long for me or maybe the sun can no longer shine on this damned place. Before I set foot to enter the forest again, I made sure that my body was really alive. I bit my own hand until the blood dripped from my finger and there I could feel the pain, the pulse, to the taste of the blood that I licked myself from my finger.


    On the other hand I feel a lot of fear but I try to stay positive there is still hope. Cautiously I began to enter the dark forest again and hoped that I would not meet the woman who killed me. Passing the same path and tree, I headed to the place where I was killed to investigate what happened. As the smell of blood began to waft, my heart started beating fast with cold sweat dripping down my face.


    With trembling hands softly, I peeked out from behind the darkness of the bushes to look around. Unexpectedly, I saw a corpse that I saw before I died and the corpse had now been devoured by a horde of monsters such as large mushrooms with sharp teeth tearing the fresh flesh from the corpse''s carcass. Now all I can do is stay silent watching the monsters eat the corpses leaving a few bones still covered in blood.


    A few minutes later the monsters were gone and leaving only the smell and blood soaking the grass. Seemingly safe for me to come out of hiding, I finally approached the remains of the corpses that were no longer in shape. I just hoped to find a clue even if it was a little, by groping the pooled blood and holding back the stench I finally found something in the form of an object.


    It was a sword with a piece of paper tied to the sword''s belt. With curiosity I opened the paper and it turned out that the paper was a map that pointed to a small house on a hill. Not long after that I heard another scream not far from where I was.


    ¡°AAA!!!!¡±


    Without thinking, I finally brought the sword and finally I followed the instructions from the map I brought. With as fast as possible I ran towards a dark tree behind, but unfortunately I stumbled by tree roots that blocked my way. I didn''t realize that my arm was injured from hitting a rock and my blood was now starting to wet my arm.


    Afraid that my blood would provoke the monsters in this dark forest, I immediately continued my journey by covering the wound on my arm. Fear and anxiety began to appear in my heart, step by step I passed through the darkness of the bushes by looking around me to avoid the monsters that were ready to prey on me. The more I climbed this hill the thicker the fog that blocked my view.


    Before long I saw a river flowing slowly behind the white mist at the end of the river. There were no monsters to be seen in the river area and it was finally my chance to clean the blood from the wound on my arm. At that moment I saw my blood being carried away by the flowing river which slowly disappeared and when I turned to the opposite direction, I saw a female corpse floating along the slow flow of the river.


    The corpse looked pale all over, had no legs with a floating face facing upwards. Because I have a bad feeling then I plan to stay away from this river. Just as I stepped back from the river I saw many of the same corpses and began to emerge from behind the growing fog. Fear began to seep into my soul as if I knew death would come to me again.


    I carefully glanced behind me to make sure my escape path, unexpectedly there were many large mushrooms blocking my way to escape. Yes, those mushrooms are the scavengers or corpse-eating monsters I''ve ever seen and I didn''t think they could follow me this fast or maybe they could chase after me because of the drops of my blood along the way.


    As the mushrooms slowly opened their mouths full of sharp teeth and a terrible stench, there I felt cornered with what little courage I had left I confidently gripped a sword to protect me. When I turned my gaze to the river, suddenly all the faces of the corpses floating on the river were already facing me with their white eyes wide open staring at me with blank stares like death stares.


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    ¡°AAAAAA!!!¡±


    Suddenly all the corpses screamed at me and started flying at me with their sharp nails, but when I tried to stab the corpse with my sword it didn''t work because the corpse could pierce my sword and I realized the corpse was a ghost. On the other hand, the mushrooms behind me began to emit poison fumes and made me experience shortness of breath until all my muscles began to weaken.


    At that moment the ghosts managed to grab my legs and body with their sharp nails to drag me towards the river but on the other hand the mushroom monsters managed to bite half of my body and drag me in the opposite direction. Here I can only scream in fear and pain as loud as I can even though my breath is already very tight like dying.


    "HURT!! STOP IT!!!¡±


    This feeling continues to torment me until my hope is gone with a blank stare and resigned to the death that I will experience. Not long after that half of my body was cut off with the contents of my stomach that were scattered out of the way due to the monsters and ghosts that kept pulling me.


    CRACK!!


    I heard the sound of my bones breaking with a torrent of blood rushing out of my body. I can''t scream anymore it seems like my voice has been cut off because I screamed too loud, now I can only see part of my body being pulled into the river from inside the mouth of the monster that is ready to swallow me before I close my eyes.


    ¡°¡­¡±


    Am I going to repeat this death over and over again? What will happen if I can''t reach my goal? Now I''m starting to hate this world but what can I do that doesn''t know how to survive in this world. If I am destined to go through this endless suffering, then I will kill to survive!When I opened my eyes, I was now back in the same place above the nameless grave.


    By drawing a sword that I didn''t think I was still carrying, this is a sign that I really have to kill to survive. With a feeling of anger, I shouted running through the dark forest that I was no longer afraid of. I attacked every mushroom monster that got in my way even though the monster attacked me with its poison and hit me, I still forced my body to keep moving to attack the monster until it died.


    "DEAD! DEAD!"


    I continued to stab my sword at the monster many times even though I knew the monster was dead. This satisfaction continues to flow into my soul, I can finally feel the revenge that is so delicious. But soon the effects of the poison that hit me have now flowed through the muscles of my body and made me fall limp. That''s when the other monsters came and started tearing my body apart until I died again smiling.


    When I came back to life, I repeated the same thing I did by killing the monsters one by one and I died again in the same way torn apart until I could see the pieces of my own body being eaten by other monsters. How many times have I died? I didn''t think about it anymore because I was fed up with this death, until in the end I managed to kill all the monsters that got in my way.


    Before I could breathe to calm myself down, a woman suddenly appeared from behind the shadows of the trees that were so shady and dark. Yes, that figure is the crying woman who killed me the first time I rose from the dead. Her pale hands covered her sad crying face with a low moan as if she wanted to ask for help.


    ¡°Sob¡­ Sob.¡±


    Her cry will not be able to deceive me a second time, on the other hand I already realized that the woman is a ghost. Therefore my sword will not be able to hurt her at all, I finally decided to keep my sword and try to talk to her because there must be a reason behind her sad face.


    "Why are you crying?" I asked.


    Not expecting her to answer my question, taking a step back I tried to prepare to dodge her attack if she really wasn''t a person to talk to. But I didn''t expect her to answer my question in her low voice with a tone like someone holding back anger.


    "I.. hate men!"


    She was able to quickly strangle me even though I was prepared to dodge her ambush, her stranglehold was so strong she could even lift my body up with her. She shouted loudly at me to frighten me like the first time I was killed by her hands but now I can resist her efforts with all my remaining strength.


    If she''s a ghost then I can touch her because from the start I was a ghost. With both my hands, I screamed trying to release the strangulation which was so strong with all my might.


    "AAAAH!!!¡±


    Feeling a little reproach I finally banged my head against her forehead so hard it bled and that''s where I seemed to see pieces of her past. I saw she was a beautiful woman with wavy black hair that flowed in the wind and she had a gentle smile until everything turned black. Why can I see those memories? As if I had made memories with her, I fell to the ground with my head bleeding making my vision blur.


    "Looks like I''m going to die again." I thought.


    But unexpectedly the ghost was just silent as if realizing something and in a low voice he said "M-My hero?" then disappeared into the mist accompanied by a light as if morning was coming. I didn''t realize I passed out and I felt like I saw a small creature coming towards me.

 Book in Old Wooden House

    When my body was helpless, I fell unconscious but before that it looked like a small creature was coming towards me. Looks like I''m going to die again in my mind, that''s when my vision started to slowly blacken. I don''t know how long I closed my eyes, but when a strange feeling came over me, I suddenly woke up.


    "Where am I?"


    I woke up in an old wooden house, where all the furniture in this wooden house had rotted with age. Hollow walls, broken floors, and lots of dust and cobwebs that can be seen in the corners of the room. When I looked out of the window, it seemed like there was a road going downhill and it made me think that I was now in an old house on a hill as pictured on the map guide.


    "Who brought me here?"


    That question makes it hard for me to remember what happened earlier when I closed my eyes but I can''t remember. Without thinking I quickly got up from the dusty mattress and started walking looking for a clue in every dark corner of the room. This old house has one bedroom and one main room, besides that there are lots of books scattered in this room.


    "It seems the owner of this house lives alone, is he the one who brought me here?"


    On the other hand, seeing the condition of an old house like this makes me doubt if the owner of this house still lives in this house, then what is wrong with this house? Soon the moonlight shone from behind the perforated roof and shone on an old book that lay on the table. With curiosity I finally approached the book and touched the dusty cover, but suddenly my hand felt an electric shock until I was shocked while pulling my hand until the book opened by itself.


    In the moonlight I read the book,¡°For those who can see and open this book, you are my successor. You already received the rest of my power the moment you touched this book¡­¡±


    This book contains like a will written by the owner of this house and a brief description of what happened in this place. This place is the territory of the Vereden kingdom and I am now in the lowest region called Chrondus. The Vereden Kingdom has a King and Queen who have made a deal with the demons of hell by sacrificing all of their people in order to gain eternal power by becoming a Demon King to expand the territory of their kingdom.


    This book has hidden knowledge of this place but much of the writing is unreadable because it is covered in ink or blood marks and some of the pages have been torn. Then I read the part that intrigued me. If you want to become strong and make the Demon King weak, you must defeat the 12 dark zodiacs. They were creatures of darkness who had become the strongest sacrifices and became the greatest source of darkness for the current Demon King''s power.


    Again I found many more pages that were torn and finally I found a page that only describes one creature from the 12 dark zodiacs named Lanasta the Dark Virgo, he is described as a ghost girl with a sad face and a torn mouth. It is said that during her lifetime, this girl suffered from mad princess syndrome and received a lot of torture both mentally and physically until her mouth was torn from screaming in pain, so she was made a victim by her own family.


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    Long story short, the author of this book tells that he promised to marry the girl if the war ended but he could not keep that promise because the author lost the war and the girl was eventually made a victim until death. Here I assume if the ghost girl is always sad and hates men maybe because of this. Then at the end of the line there is a sentence if you want to save the girl''s ghost then you need to look for her valuables in the Elf''s grave which is located north of this hill.


    "If this can make her not sad anymore then I will do, ... what is this?"


    I''m finally on the last page which contains a message from the author of this book. Three prohibitions that you must obey, firstly, never find out about me, secondly, never approach the black eye family, thirdly, never mention my last name and my last message is to believe the words of the dark creatures that appear in your dreams. The final message made by this author makes me believe that the dark creatures I have met already know about the author of this book.


    Kreek!


    Suddenly the door behind me opened and I saw a small creature carrying a spear appear in front of me. The little creature was like a dwarf but had green skin with full cuts and pointed ears. His gaze seemed surprised when he saw me and he immediately lowered his body.


    ¡°Welcome back M-My Ghost Lord.¡± he said.


    "Do I know you?" I replied.


    I feel like I''ve never known a creature like him or is this the impact of my previously erased memories. Then the creature approached me sniffing and finally it came to its senses.


    ¡°You may not be my lord but at first glance you look like him and now i can sense a thin elemental aura from you just like my lord, follow me.¡±


    Unsuspectingly, I finally followed him to the outside. Outside this house I saw a very thick fog circling under the hill and on this hill I saw a big old tree with a hole in the middle like an animal''s nest. For some reason this place makes me feel safe, very different from the places I''ve been before. Finally the creature introduced himself.


    "My name is Gob the Goblin shaman who brought you to this place and also Owli the Owl my Lord''s pet, come here Owli!" Gob tapped on the trunk of a big old tree and out came a brown owl which immediately perched on Gob''s shoulder.


    ¡°Before that, thank you for bringing me to this place. My name is Dixen, I am a ghost with no memory.¡± I say.


    "Ah, so that''s it. No wonder you''re different from the dangerous ghosts of this region¡­ but I''ll admit you''re brave enough to fight the Mad Princess Ghost that roams down there.¡± Gob replied.


    "You know about her?" I asked.


    ¡°Mad Princess Ghost? Of course I know! She always roams under this hill and waits for my Lord to come to fulfill his promise, besides that she has protected this place from strangers who want to enter this place.¡± Gob replied.


    That pretty much explains why she kills if a stranger meets her, on the other hand I want to help her after reading the book I read earlier. I asked Gob for help so he would teach me how to fight or survive in this place and I told Gob if I found a book written by his Lord to help the Mad Princess Ghost. Then Gob also said that the last time he saw his Lord was writing a book and then his Lord disappeared mysteriously.


    "I can''t really open the book but if that''s what my Lord wants then I''ll help you." Gob said.


    Gob then taught me many ways ranging from exorcising ghosts by lighting lanterns with fairy powder, how to make antidote, then how to fight using weapons or elements that I just got, and in the end Gob gave me a piece of equipment.


    ¡°Remember what I said, elements are different from magic that uses spells. Control your breath and don''t let negative feelings overwhelm you, use this lantern when passing through fog or if a ghost is coming your way but don''t use fairy powder if the ghost doesn''t attack you." Gob said.


    Finally, Gob gave me a map that describes the Chrondus region and it looks like there are several places written with their names starting from the ghost hill, the Elf graveyard, the corpse lake, and the Chrondus Tower. Now I''m on ghost hill and my destination is Elf''s grave located on the north side of this hill. I am very grateful for Gob''s help and finally my adventure begins as I descend the hill behind this thick fog and suddenly I hear a whisper that clearly I have heard that voice before.


    "Be careful." Whisper sound.


    When I turned my head it turned out to be the whispering sound of an Owli the owl who slowly opening its third eye on the forehead of its head. It was the whispering voice that once told me to run away from the clutches of the Mad Princess Ghost the first time I met her.

 Dead River

    When I opened my eyes, I woke up in a room that was familiar to me in a room that I often enter when I dream or when I die. In front of me was a nameless creature that was always shrouded in darkness, as if this creature had been waiting for my arrival.


    "How many times have I died?" I asked.


    "Nearly a hundred, how do you feel?" The creature asked me back.


    ¡°I just¡­ don''t know if my actions were the right or wrong choice.¡± I answered.


    "There is no right or wrong choice, you are free to choose anything to find the truth you want to find." Said the Creature.


    Suddenly now I woke up in the middle of a misty forest and when I lit my lantern I saw a wide and deep trap hole where at the bottom of the trap hole there were several monster corpses that had been stuck in very sharp stakes. It made me remember that I had been stuck in that stake with the monsters that were trying to pounce on me.


    Not wanting to go through a road full of traps again, I finally decided to take a detour through the thick white fog. This fog seems to make me feel memories of the past that I can''t recall. Did I really live in a foggy place? Before I could think any further I heard footsteps from behind me.


    Scratch¡­ Scratch¡­


    The sound of footsteps seemed to pass through bushes or grass and immediately I turned off my lantern and hid behind a bush of trees. While waiting for the right time to ambush from behind, I began to calm my mind and heart as if I had merged with the darkness where I was hiding. The closer the sound of the footsteps got, the more I controlled my breath and made my heartbeat start to slow down.


    Dub¡­ Dub¡­


    I could see five skeleton wolf monsters walking beside me, I hoped they didn''t notice me when I was about to attack one of them. This is indeed difficult for me to do because the monsters can immediately attack me simultaneously. Seeing one of the monsters approaching my hiding place, I slowly raised my sword with great care.


    Without realizing it, an arrow shot quickly from a distance and penetrated the monster''s head until it broke until the monster''s blood hit my face because of the strength of the arrow. Seeing that the monster died with a single shot, the other monsters were running around in fear. There, I was silent, shocked to see that, my heart began to beat irregularly until my hands began to tremble.


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    Shortly thereafter a large monster appeared with a very strange shape, he had a half-human horse body on the back with a giant horn in front of him that was shaped like a bow and the monster could create sharp arcs with his magic spells. Luckily the monster didn''t notice my hiding and immediately went to hunt the monsters that were running earlier.


    When the atmosphere was safe, I finally moved from my hiding place to the river to wash away the monster''s blood that hit my face. Arriving at the riverbank, I didn''t expect to find a piece of paper embedded in an old tree. I was surprised if the scraps of paper I found were scraps from books I had read before.


    "I am familiar with this writing." I said while looking at the piece of paper.


    It says be careful with the dead river in front of you. The river does look calm but it is very dangerous if it suddenly moves or flows. If you see the river flowing, a ghost will appear like a floating corpse, and that''s when you should move away from the river slowly and don''t stare at the ghost for too long.


    This paper contains a warning but I already know how to keep the ghosts away from me as taught by Gob. After saving the paper, I finally washed my face with the river water by lighting a lantern just in case. After cleaning from the monster''s blood, I tried to check the map I brought and hoped that I didn''t get lost.


    "There should be a bridge on this river."


    I didn''t see any bridges around this river but I only saw pieces of wood floating in the river, it made me think that the bridge here was destroyed. Suddenly I heard a sound of crying like the voice of a female ghost who had killed me before. Because I still didn''t want to meet her, without thinking twice, I immediately threw my body into the river.


    The river was indeed not too deep, only up to the waist of an adult and slowly I began to move my feet to walk along the river. One step two steps I began to feel that something was stuck in my foot, after I checked it turned out that there was a bone stuck in my shoe. Out of curiosity, why could there be bones that could get stuck in my shoes, so I shone my lantern on the river water and I saw lots of bones in the bottom of this river.


    Surprised to see that, I started to speed up my steps to cross this river but unfortunately I still haven''t reached the middle of the river. The more I was in a hurry, the more difficult it was for me to move my feet and at that moment the river which was initially calm became moving and flowing. Reminded by a note that I just found, if this river moves to flow then there are ghosts that will pass through this river. With trembling hands carrying the lantern I tried to calm myself by closing my eyes and started walking slowly.


    Now my vision is dark and only the light of the lantern will guide me to cross this river, I can only hear the sound of the water around me and I don''t know how far I have stepped. Silence and silence, I no longer listen to any sound including the sound of the wind, I begin to doubt the notes I read earlier if there is a ghost that will pass through this river then I have been attacked from before.


    Slowly I started to dare to open my eyes and did not realize that there were already many ghosts surrounding me in the middle of this river. Realizing I made a mistake, all the ghosts stared back at me with their mouths wide open.


    ¡°AAAAAA!¡±


    With alacrity my hand immediately grabbed the fairy powder from my pocket but the ghosts pulled me from all directions to make me drop the fairy powder into the river. I haven''t given up hope yet I try to bring out my elemental power but it''s true what Gob said, the element won''t come out if I''m filled with negative feelings. Dozens of ghost hands have restrained my movement, in fear I began to be slowly pulled into the river.


    My body began to sink into the river which immediately looked like a deep and dark ocean, at least before my last breath I wanted to scream loudly but a ghost hand immediately covered my mouth and drowned me. I know that even though no one will help me if I scream, this repeated death makes me really sick and miserable.


    Before the ghost''s hand closed my eyes, a shadow appeared from above the river but I couldn''t tell who it was because my vision suddenly became dark. I don''t know how long I closed my eyes, now I suddenly woke up on the other side of the river which had become calm.


    ¡°W-Where am I? Why am I here? ¡­ Did the shadow I saw just now save me?¡±


    My mind is now full of questions but for sure I have arrived at the Elf Graves that are in front of me.

 Elf Graveyard

    When I stepped into the Elf Graveyard area, I felt like I was being watched from behind the darkness. Without fear I finally lit my lantern to walk through this place, I saw around me there were many old tombstones and some of them were destroyed. I can''t read the inscription on this tombstone at all since it''s probably written in Elven Language.


    The night began to feel cold with a gust of wind when it touched my skin, many soft whispers from behind the darkness but I didn''t care about it. I didn''t forget my aim to find valuables belonging to the ghost girl who was here but I didn''t know where to start looking. Fireflies started flying from behind the tombstones and circled around my lantern. Somehow I feel calm when I see the glow of fireflies that seem to want to accompany me on this silent night.


    Not long after that I saw a statue in the middle of the grave area which was shaped like a human riding an animal but the statue had no head. Embedded in the statue was a scrap of the same paper I met before. The scrap of paper contains another clue from the same author, the contents of which he wrote about that this area was once a forest of elves but most of them had been killed during a major war.


    Then below this piece of paper was written a warning, ¡°Be careful if you meet Elf in this grave because¡­¡± The rest of the writing was no longer readable. As I was trying to understand this hint I suddenly heard the sound of a tree branch snapping behind me and made me immediately draw my sword. How surprised, I saw a human but has long and pointy ears.


    "Who are you?" I said suspiciously.


    ¡°H-Hey calm down, are you human?¡± He said raising his hand.


    "Yes." I replied.


    ¡°As you can see I am an Elf. Quickly follow me, we shouldn''t be in this place too long.¡± Said the young Elf.


    Soon I heard the sound of a monster from a distance and that made me choose to follow this Elf I just met. The elf invited me to go into the deepest and darkest forest, on the way we chatted a bit about who I was and where I came from which of course I answered that question with a fake answer.


    Then the Elf said that there are some other Elves who are still alive and they are in the deepest place in this forest or where the real Elf graves are, So the graves that I passed before were the graves of humans who died during the big war. The elf said that if an elf dies, the body will quickly dry up leaving the bones and the bones are put into a tree that has a hole so that the spirit of the dead elf will become a Dryad or known as a forest spirit.


    After the Elf''s long explanation, I unknowingly found myself in the depths of a forest with a huge tree rising up, that huge tree also had a hole filled with many Elf skulls. When we arrived at the gate of the Elf settlement, there was an old Elf who came to greet me as if he knew I was coming.


    "Welcome to this secluded place, please come in." said the old Elf.


    Out of curiosity I finally asked, "Before that may I know your names?"


    ¡°Ah sorry, we are forbidden from saying our names to the humans we just met.¡± replied the young Elf.


    ¡°Our name is from an Elven language that is difficult for human mouths to pronounce, so don''t bother. Just call me Village Chief and he is Youth.¡± Old Elf continued.


    "Fine." I said.


    When I just entered this small village, all of the elves looked at me as if they welcomed me but I could feel something strange from their cold stares and fake smiles. Then I said to the head of the Elf village that I had come here to look for valuable items from human women who had stopped here, but the head of the Elf village said that the last human to visit this place was 100 years ago so it was confirmed that the items could have been lost or damaged aged.


    Not believing what the head of the Elf village said, I finally asked permission to go around this place and finally I was welcome. When I walked around this place for some reason I felt that there was an oddity like the villagers who seemed to be watching me with their cold eyes, then they spoke in Elven language that I didn''t understand, when I started to get confused looking for what I was looking for there I saw two little Elf children who always staring at the skull in the tree hole.


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    When I approached them, I saw that their bodies looked thin and dirty to the point that many insects covered their bodies as if they didn''t care if they died now. When they turned to look at me, they were surprised and tugged at my sword belt as if they were familiar with this sword belt that I was wearing.


    ¡°Vza! Vza!¡± Say them in Elf Language.


    "What are you talking about? I don''t know." I said shaking my head.


    It seemed they knew that I didn''t understand their language, finally one of the Elf children took the folder I was carrying and drew a picture on the ground in the shape of an Elf carrying a sword indicating a place in the folder. Now I understand, they want to say that they know the owner of this sword that originally I found this sword in the carcass of a corpse killed by a Mad Girl Ghost when I wanted to climb the ghost hill.


    Because I don''t know Elf''s language, I deleted the Elf''s picture and shook my head once again, indicating that the Elf in the picture was gone. The two little Elf children understood what I wanted to convey and finally they were sad but their tears didn''t come out as if their tears had run out.


    ¡°Yvok! Yvok! Rghal de!¡± they said.


    They spoke Elf language again which I still don''t understand, suddenly came a young Elf that I knew and his arrival immediately made the two small Elf children silent in fear. The Elf youth immediately took me to the Village Head''s place and said that they had human relics which might be one of the things I was looking for. When I arrived at the old house, the Head of Elf Village let me in and there was already food and piles of goods.


    "Why don''t you just rest first? You must be tired and hungry right? Eat it while it''s warm." Elf Village Chief said who then left me alone.


    At that moment I realized that all this time I haven''t eaten anything and strangely I don''t feel hungry or thirsty at all, is it because I''m a ghost? Not wanting to linger, I finally decided to look for what I was looking for in that pile of stuff, soon I found another piece of paper containing instructions that I could find what I was looking for by just touching that item. This clue always makes me think about what is the meaning behind this hint, without realizing it a needle shot into my neck and the attack immediately made me weak and fell down.


    ¡°Ezta, Yve Ighradno Svylat!¡± Elf Village Head said.


    ¡°Rvah Ikth.¡± Said the young Elf.


    Now I realized that these Elves framed me and I saw many ventilation holes that were used to carry out this poison needle attack. Because I couldn''t move my hand to take the antidote that I had made, I was finally hit on the head by the Elf youth until I fainted. It didn''t take long for me to wake up on a large rock, my hands and feet were tightly tied and there I saw many Elf residents gathered with smiles accompanied by their cold gazes.


    ¡°W-What happened to me?¡± I said.


    "Be grateful, you will be made an offering to our King." Said the young Elf.


    ¡°W-What did you say?!¡± I replied


    ¡°Even though I was hoping that you would eat the poison bread I made so that your stomach would be filled before you died. Oh, but don''t worry, we only took your guts and lower body, so we''ll throw the rest of your body into the river and you can be free again. Ha ha ha!" Said the young Elf.


    ¡°HGHVAR!¡± Elf village chief shouted along with his citizens.


    The Head of Elf Village then stabbed my stomach repeatedly until my insides came out with blood soaking the offering stone. The Elves all screamed happily as if to cover up the screams of pain I was suffering from. In this crowd I was tortured just to be used as a sacrifice for their King but behind the happy faces of the Elves, I saw the two small Elf children I met earlier tied to a pillar with several cuts. Their faces were frightened, but their hands, which were tied together, could no longer cover their eyes when they saw me dying in pain.


    "Why? ¡­ Why are they doing this?¡± I said to myself.


    After my body was cut in half, the rest of my body was thrown into the flowing river. The rest of my blood made the river water red and at that moment I saw a river ghost floating in the river like me. It made me think that this river ghost was the sacrifice of the Elves. Arriving in the white mist, the river ghost''s hands began to slowly pull me into the water until I died.


    When I woke up, I was already in the place where the Dark Beings were waiting for me.


    "You''ve died ninety-nine times." Said the Being of Darkness.


    ¡°What will happen if I die more than a hundred times?¡± I asked.


    ¡°You will slowly become something terrible, but calm down. I will give you a little surprise!¡± Replied the Being of Darkness.


    When I revived, I stood in front of the two small Elf children with cuts and they were facing the skull on a large tree. What is this? It seemed that I had experienced this before and when I approached the two young children, they screamed the same words I heard before.


    ¡°Vza! Vza!¡±


    When I came to my senses, I immediately covered the mouths of the two little Elf children and I used a gesture to tell them to be quiet. Then I drew a clue on the ground by giving them a map, I gave a hint for them to wait for me outside the Village and luckily they understood what I meant. Then came the Elf youth who invited me to come to the Elf Village Chief''s house.


    Now I realize that time has gone backwards and now I am repeating the events that I have experienced, this is my chance to avoid death. Before I walked towards that place, I asked the young Elf.


    ¡°Do you know what Yvok and Rghal mean?¡± I asked


    ¡°Hey I''m surprised you can speak Elf, that means run and danger. But don''t worry, there''s no danger here because this place is protected.¡± he replied


    ¡°I see, thank you¡±


    I quickly plunged my sword into the Elf''s throat until he couldn''t scream and died with his head chopped off, if I had to kill to survive then I would. To launch my attack, I hid the Elf''s corpse and took the knife weapon then I drank an antidote to avoid the effects of the poison. When I headed to the Elf Village Chief''s house, I met him and immediately plunged the knife into his throat and penetrated his mouth. Knowing that, the Elf who was behind the vent immediately attacked me with their poisoned needles but I already knew that and the poison would have no effect on me, I finally used my electric elements to counterattack them and ended up making a scene.


    Some of the Elves used their fire magic to attack me but I was able to dodge the attack with my element power electricity to speed up my movement for a moment. In cold sweat, I managed to kill several Elves until their blood soaked the village streets. The angry elves finally went berserk by releasing their fire magic and attacking blindly to attack me but I managed to avoid it, until they didn''t realize they burned their own village and woke up their King.


    ¡°HGHVAR!¡± The citizens immediately prostrated themselves before their King, Elf King Hghvar who had the form of a gigantic black tree monster and roared loudly when I met his eyes.


    GRAAAA!

 Hundred Year Promise

    Hghvar, the name of the Elf King that I heard from the cheers of the residents of the Elven graveyard when I felt a terrifying aura emitting from a large tree that stood firmly behind the offering stone. The sound of cracks was heard from within this burial ground which began to move to shake leaving deep cracks, the Elves who were there could only be silent watching their house destroyed by the disaster they caused themselves but that did not frighten them and instead they continued to cheer for the King''s arrival which they honor.


    He has a large body like a giant old tree, his whole body is united with the bones of elves and humans who have become sacrifices for his offerings. He has a crown that looks like horns, his face is covered with tree roots but his eyes seem to glow in the darkness, he has no legs but he has many roots that can spread far throughout the area of ??the Elf graveyard.


    ¡°Eghv Siej Khalvr Sofctr? Man? I haven''t tasted human blood in 100 years." Hgvar said as he looked at me.


    ¡°Your Highness Hghvar, he is a sacrifice for you yet he has fought and killed the Elves!¡± shouted one of the Elves.


    ¡°How disappointing for the Elves living in this era, they are struggling just to hunt a single human. But I am proud of you for still having hatred for humans and bringing me this human offering.¡± Hghvar said.


    Hghvar''s cold eyes looked directly at me and before long he growled raising both his hands followed by tree roots also rising up. He was able to control all the trees that had mixed with the bones around him, then Hghvar pointed at me with a roar and it made all the roots attack me from all directions. Attack after attack I avoided but still I received a scratch wound because my body began to weaken exhausted.


    "Element user, no wonder the Elves have trouble catching you but your element won''t affect me, Hahaha!" Hghvar said.


    Hghvar continued to attack me without stopping even though I was able to dodge his attacks from behind the rubble and the moment I let my guard down, a root immediately wrapped itself around my leg causing me to be dragged and lifted up. Then the root immediately slammed me into a ruined wall so hard that several of my bones were broken and some of them were cracked accompanied by bleeding bruises. As my sword fell to the ground, I asked myself. How do I defeat this creature? Am I resigned to face my death again? Hghvar opened his mouth wide as he lifted the helpless me up, his tongue sticking out to feel my dripping blood dripping into his mouth.


    Desperate to accept my death, I saw a point of light inside Hghvar''s mouth. When I stretched out my hand, I felt an energy that immediately took me to see the past. The point of light was a ring worn by a woman I know and it made me think that this was what I had been looking for all this time. Back to my senses, the coils of roots in my legs unraveled and plunged me into the jaws of Hghvar''s mouth until my legs were snapped off by the fangs in his mouth.


    Inside Hghvar''s belly full of carcasses, I heard the cheers of the Elf residents outside. Waiting for my death to slowly rot along with the carcass inside Hghvar''s stomach, I began to doubt my previous intentions. Why am I doing all this for a ring for a female ghost? But the other me is like saying only I can save her and that''s the only way to weaken the Demon King''s power. When I looked at the sparkling ring that I was holding, I realized a small thing when I questioned whether I was weak? No, I managed to get what I was looking for.


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    Instantly I came up with an idea with the lantern I still carried, "I hope my plan works."


    Focusing on eliminating negative feelings, I began to adjust my breath to release a spark of my electric element to burn this lantern. I know this plan will kill me too, but it is the only way to get out of Hghvar''s stomach. From the outside, neither the Elf nor the Hghvar knew what plan I was carrying out and suddenly an explosion of fire erupted from inside Hghvar''s stomach, burning him up.


    BLARRR!!


    ¡°AAA!! GHAA!!¡± Hgvar screamed in heat.


    The elves panicked when they saw their King burning, finally they used water magic to put out the fire and that''s when I released my electric element to stun them from the flow of their magic water until they fell paralyzed. When I felt Hghvar''s body hit the ground, I managed to get out of Hghvar''s stomach covered in blood and other carrion organs. With the last of my strength left, I tried to crawl with my remaining two arms as my legs. I don''t care about the pain of my legs that have been severed, even though the blood is running down the ground I''m walking on, I will still fight to return this ring.


    With this strong feeling, I suddenly saw the ghostly figure of the Mad Princess who had appeared before me with her mouth wide open. This was my chance while the Elves were still in a paralyzed state after being stung by my element. The seconds I lifted my helpless body and stretched out my right hand with a ring in my hand, I only hoped that she could be saved from her suffering which tormented her until the end of her life.


    Instantly a piece of past memory made me feel the pain of the memory and made my mouth say her name. ¡°Lanasta.¡±


    Hghvar''s roots suddenly penetrated my stomach until my blood spurted out but I still managed to hold out my right arm which was immediately cut off by an ax thrown by an Elf who had awakened from the effects of my previous attack. Before I died for the hundredth time, somehow I felt happy when I saw the ghost of Lanasta taking my severed right hand which was still holding her precious ring.


    ¡°¡­¡±


    I can''t smile anymore even though my heart is happy, ¡°This is enough for me¡± I said to myself.


    The elf who came over then grabbed me and slit my throat with a very sharp knife slash, blood was pouring from my neck which made me unable to scream in pain anymore. As I lay down, I could only see the Elves who started to surround me and slaughter me with their sharp weapons. The slashes and stabs had torn through my flesh and my already helpless body was covered in blood. Before I close my eyes, I''m grateful that they can''t see the ghost in front of me and now my vision starts to blacken until I finally die for the hundredth time.


    ¡°You know, if you die for the hundredth time then you will turn into something terrible.¡± Said the creature of darkness that whispered to me.


    ¡°¡­¡± I couldn''t say anything else.


    On the other hand, Lanasta''s ghost saw me, who had been slaughtered to death, leaving my severed head, making her remember her past and she saw me like a lover who had died when his promise had been kept. Her anger and deep sadness she couldn''t hold back anymore and made it into something even more terrible.


    ¡°My hero!!! AAA!!¡± Lanasta screamed.


    Before Lanasta slaughtered the Elves to avenge me, my body suddenly returned to its original state to stop it and instantly Lanasta turned into a beautiful female ghost with tears streaming down her cheeks. I couldn''t control my body anymore but I was still half-conscious seeing this scene, like someone had taken control of my body. My fragile hands moved by themselves to take the ring in Lanasta''s hand and put it on her ring finger. It made my awareness look at Lanasta''s past by holding her hands in a flower garden, her longing for a hundred years has now been paid off with a ring on her ring finger like a promise made by her lover whom she calls a hero.


    ¡°Y-You came back, I knew you would come back for me.¡± Said Lanasta who rubbed her hand on my face.


    ¡°¡­¡± I couldn''t express my feelings but inside my heart felt the same way that Lanasta felt and it made me feel that this wasn''t me.


    In my new form, I still can''t see my face but what I see are the holes in my palms. At that moment my hand moved on its own like controlling an energy and made my sword fly into my hand. This surprised the Elves because suddenly they could see Lanasta''s ghost and my new form. I floated closer to the Elves and when I saw the blood pooling on the ground, there I saw my face which had black eyes and had no mouth or nose. I started to ask myself, What kind of creature am I?


    ¡°The black eye has appeared!¡± shouted the frightened Elf citizens who saw me.