Why is this happening?
The tragic scene before her filled Senia with terror. For her, there was no nightmare more terrifying than the scene before her.
‘No… no… none of this is real. It’s just an illusion, a trial given to me by Ancestor Lord.’
She convinced herself with this reasoning. At the same time, she slowly backed away, wanting to leave this place.
Even if it wasn’t real, she couldn’t bear the damage this scene inflicted on her mind and willpower; she couldn’t stand the sound of those fangs tearing flesh and grinding against bone, nor could she avoid feeling nauseated by the stench of fresh blood that invaded her nostrils.
She retreated, pale-faced… and at the same time, more and more Magical Beasts surrounded them.
Those beasts acted as if they couldn’t see her, only rushing at the boy who had already fallen to the ground.
“Right! This is fake, it’s fake!”
Because she was inside the illusion, these things were only charging at him, focusing on destroying her spirit.
So Senia turned and sprinted away, trying to escape this terrifying illusion.
‘Were Ancestor Lord’s past trials… like this? In my memory, they were supposed to be something gentle like flowing water, something pleasant like a forest breeze…’
Senia didn’t have a complete recollection of everything she had experienced when breaking through the Barrier in the past.
Because every time the Mist dissipated, she would be lying in the embrace of the Giant Tree’s branches and leaves, as if waking from a great dream.
This was too much. Even more excessive than the previous attempt, of which she still had faint memories.
She moved through the forest, stepping over corpses and crossing streams dyed red with blood in a desperate escape.
She ran faster and faster… until she tripped over something lying across the ground and fell.
Mud and blood. Senia struggled to her feet. She intended to keep running, but the thing that had tripped her in the mud caught her eye.
“Father…?”
She froze. Even though the face of that body was covered by the mud it had sunk into, Senia could still identify him from his build and attire.
Because when he stood tall, how majestic and reliable he was!
His figure, as tall as a giant tree, always shielded her from the wind and rain they encountered during their patrols of the Forest Domain.
And during the countless warm, breezy afternoons in the Royal Garden, Senia would always lean against the same tree as him, listening with interest to his heavy snores while napping, and stroking his neatly trimmed, graying beard.
And one day, right there in that Royal Garden, she had talked with her father about death, which seemed so distant to the Fairy Race, and asked what wish he held when that seemingly endless leisurely time finally came to an end.
“Although it’s still far off… if I die, I want to become a tree in this garden. Then Senia, you can lean on me and sleep every day.”
Senia slowly knelt down. The memories cut into her heart like a knife.
“Father, Father…”
She couldn’t forget these memories; she had only buried them deep in her heart, as if they had never existed.
She picked up her father’s hand and tried to warm his already cold hand with the warmth of her cheek… just like she had done every time she dreamed of him in the eighteen years since his death.
But what good did that do? What was gone would never return.
The precious person she had lost due to her cowardice back then could not return from the underworld, no matter how much she screamed or cried.
Senia knew this… yet she still couldn’t stop her grief.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry… Father. I couldn’t find your remains, couldn’t bring you back to your resting place… I’m so sorry.”
This was a past that could no longer be changed, a deceased that could no longer be held back.
So after apologizing, she dragged her father’s body out of the mud and propped him against a tree, just like in the old days.
She covered her father’s face with grass leaves, as if he had simply dozed off from the busy affairs of state.
Then she hugged her father one last time before setting off on her escape again.
‘Is this Ancestor Lord’s trial? Creating these sorrows that make one sink, this despair that makes one collapse… and also separating that person from this journey, leaving me alone.’
‘But I am already different. Although I don’t have my father by my side now… I have loyal servants, and I know that the person I love is still alive and well, even if his appearance has changed.’
‘I can’t make them wait any longer.’
Then, before the lonely Queen who walked alone, the forest path opened up. The blood and remains scattered everywhere vanished.
“Haah… haah…”
She stopped to catch her breath, and at that moment, a falling leaf blocked her vision. When she brushed aside the leaf, she found that the place where she stood had completely changed.
“This… where is this?”
It was clearly a city… like the ones described by the ministers who had visited the human kingdoms.
But those ministers had never mentioned that the towering skyscrapers of human cities were covered with huge glass panels that reflected the blazing sun.
Senia looked closely and noticed that those panels were flashing with moving pictures.
While she was staring dazedly at those beautiful, colorful images, a voice suddenly came from behind her.
“What are you doing blocking the road? The light is already red!”
The voice was extremely familiar to her… She whirled around and saw a boy riding an iron horse with two wheels, wearing a strangely shaped helmet, looking at her with a bewildered expression.
“…Hero?”
Although the boy’s outfit seemed very strange to her, it didn’t look out of place in this bizarre world.
And his face… was clearly the same Hero who had just risked his life to protect her, the one she held dear.
“Hero? Are you too deep into your cosplay? I told you the light is red! Can’t you hear the cars honking behind you?”
Along with the boy’s impatient words came the piercing shrieks of iron boxes with glass eyes behind him… Senia had never heard such a noisy sound, so she plugged her ears in a daze.
“What’s going on!”
“Move it! Why are you blocking the road?”
Shouts and curses rose and fell… Seeing her stupefied, the boy jumped off the iron horse and pulled Senia onto it.
“Don’t just stand there, beauty! Get on first, if we block any longer the traffic cops will come!”
After saying that to Senia, he turned his head and waved apologetically at the iron boxes that clearly had people inside.
“Sorry, sorry! I’ll take her away now, please wait a moment longer…”
He sat on the front of the iron horse and turned the handlebars, driving it to bring Senia to the side of the street.
The streets here seemed to be full of people only… and Senia, dressed so differently from them, quickly became the focus of everyone’s attention.
“Wow… cosplay?”
“Look at her ears… they look almost real.”
“I want to take a photo! I’ve never seen such a beautiful girl!”
‘What are these people talking about?’
Watching the glittering little boxes in their hands, Senia was completely lost.