Hunter of the Evernight
Chapter 302: Melandrach

Chapter 302: Melandrach

The man continued for a few more minutes with Ana forced to remain there as she tried her best to keep pace with his words.

Based on the emotions he radiated, Ana deduced that whatever he was saying had to deal with whatever had destroyed the Elven society.

Of course, this was merely a calculated guess and held very little substance to be considered a potential lead.

Unable to stay silent any longer having tried her best to understand the man’s words, Ana was forced to speak up, damn the consequences.

"Who are you and what exactly are you talking about?... In case you haven’t noticed, I can’t understand a word you’re saying."

She didn’t expect the man to react considering he’d ignored her the first time, so her words were merely uttered in a bid to let out her frustration.

So imagine her surprise when the man stopped speaking and seemingly reacting to her words, slowly adjusted the wheelchair he was seated on.

He soon turned, coming face to face with Ana.

She gasped, having not expected the appearance revealed to her.

He was an elf as she’d expected with pointed ears, a well-aligned face, and a slender physique.

Unfortunately, just as she’d deduced, the man had been affected by the aura of the Abyss with his skin appearing quite pale with blackened cracks all over while his eyes were a sickly grey hue.

He donned a pristine white robe, reminiscent of that priestly attire worn by the Angelican Priests though instead of a visual representation of the Only One God Marduk or the Lightbringer, it was of a glorious tree with its canopy stretching over a wide forest.

The elf’s appearance left Ana feeling listless for a moment as she recalled the disaster that led to the creation of the Southern Ruins and the orchestrator of it all, Lincoln.

Clenching her fist, she reminded herself that all that was in the past.

Lincoln was dead and though the Southern Ruins were still in a state of disrepair, it was enough that such destruction wouldn’t happen anywhere else.

So, letting out a sigh to calm her nerves, Ana calmly intoned while trying to gesture with her hands. "Can you hear me?... My name is Ana. What’s your name?"

The elf priest tilted his head to an angle and then to another, his eyes trained on Ana as he seemed to be scrutinizing her.

"Uhmm." Feeling uncomfortable with the scrutiny, Ana inched back only for the man’s lips to quiver and out of them, unexpected words were heard.

"Melandrach."

Ana turned wide-eyed as she stared at the Elf, unable to believe that she’d just heard him speak Razan, albeit slightly broken.

"How..."

"How do I know your language?"

"... Yes."

"A gift of the Mother. The gift to discern all languages, allowing us to speak to even rocks and trees. Isn’t it wonderful?"

Unsure of how to feel about the situation, Ana took a moment before she nodded. "Yeah, it is."

Though tempted to inquire why he hadn’t just started communicating like this with her from the beginning, Ana decided to ask more important questions like... "Can you tell me what happened here?"

"You shouldn’t be here." The elf replied. "Leave before it’s too late, before the corruption devours your senses."

"... I’m sorry but I can’t. The corruptive air here is leaking to the outside world and is causing extensive damage."

"That’s impossible. The offsprings of the Mother would not allow such happen."

"The offsprings of the Mother..." Ana muttered under her breath as a bold connection came to mind. "Are you talking about the Tree Spirits?"

"Of course, with the Mother gone, they were birthed from her residual divinity. They are pure creatures and wouldn’t allow the corruption to escape this dead hole so leave now, leave." The priest was slowly getting agitated as he spoke but Ana knew she couldn’t just and so, she remarked.

"The Tree Spirits lost, please, I need to know what happened here."

"You don’t need to know anything!... Now leave or I shall ensure you never do so."

At the blatant threat, Ana’s brow quickly furrowed. "Will you not tell me?"

Crack

"I have said it, time and again, leave, run away, get out... yet you do not heed my warning. Fine then, as a fervent believer and servant of the Mother, I shall ensure that you do not taint the world above by returning."

As he spoke, his physical features began to morph, taking in a more grotesque appearance.

His head was covered by moss with his limbs stretching to unnatural lengths.

Thorny vines covered in rotten flesh wrapped around his body as he rose to his feet and then... he froze.

Ana didn’t hesitate to pause his time before leaping through time to appear in front of him.

Then, she raised her hand and clenched her fist before turning, reverting the time of the elf to the point before he transformed into the vine-covered monstrosity.

The elf, taken aback by the situation, remained silent as he stared at Ana in disbelief.

"I’m sorry but I need to understand what happened here else I can’t leave. Please, help me by telling me what you know."

The priestly elf’s expression contorted in anguish as he fell to his knees with his head down.

"Are you alright?" Ana inquired.

"This won’t last long." The man remarked, taking a moment to look up at Ana who after a moment of silence, nodded in response.

"... I see. I thought maybe someday I’d be able to see the Elven society rise once again. She promised that when I opened my eyes again but... her way was wrong, going against the very principles of the one that birthed us. Even though the Goddess abandoned us, how could I support such a distorted reality?... And so I and much of my brethren refused which was why she left us like this, so that when she returns... we would have no choice but to watch her go ahead with her plans. Despicable, don’t you agree?"

The man’s expression seemed to relax slightly as he put up his palm and regarded it for a moment.

"I..."

"Underneath the pew. Therein lies a key... there are three other pieces and with the four, you might be able to finish what we started."

"Alright, but you..."

"... Are dead. I am a memory of a forgotten civilization. To be honest, I was scared. Scared to die again but now... now I wish for nothing more than to be done with this suffering. This isn’t living and I will not suffer my ancestors further by deceiving myself to think so."

And with those words, the elf closed his eyes with his body slowly desiccating, prompting Ana to set him on the concrete floor.

All it took was a minute for the sickly body to quickly dry up, leaving behind dry bones.

Ana held a complicated expression on her visage as she regarded the bones for a moment before deciding to heed the man’s instructions.

She approached the pew and upon reaching it, utilized her senses to inspect for any incongruities which she quickly found.

Moving it aside, she bent down and knocked on the ground with an echo following soon after, indicating a hollow space underneath.

Pulling up the concrete slab, Ana found a purple gem within, one that glowed rather quaintly in the purple-lit environment.

Reaching in, Ana made contact with the gym and immediately found herself transported to a different time.

She stood before a mirror in a large room illuminated by uniquely glowing flowers, quickly realizing that it wasn’t her appearance reflecting on the mirror, but instead a female elf that radiated an uncanny beauty and vitality.

"Priestess, you called for me." A familiar voice said from behind.

Ana, or rather, the female elf turned round to face the one that spoke, with Ana quickly recognizing him as the man that she’d fought with seconds prior.

"Melandrach... I have a question for you." The lady remarked, her silky smooth voice sounding just as beautiful as she looked.

The male elf, or rather, Melandrach replied. "Is there a problem, Priestess?"

"Perhaps..." the Priestess trailed off before adding. "But that’s not why I called you here. Tell me... The Goddess would never abandon us, would she?"

"Of course not!... Priestess, how can you ask such a question?" Melandrach inquired in vague annoyance, masking it with reasonable fanaticism.

The Priestess hesitated before slowly replying. "I... I don’t know why but, the Goddess, why does it feel like the Goddess is so far away at this moment when we need her the most?"

***

As the conversation continued in the memory with Ana absorbed in its contents, she had no way of noticing the movements of vines behind her, slowly entwining the bones settled at the center of the cathedral and giving life back to it.

Within seconds, Melandrach returned and his return was followed by a breakdown and abrupt transformation into the state Ana had saved him from.

A single step and it appeared behind Ana, a mere arm’s length between them.

Like the reaper, it raised its arm and then...