Chapter 655: Night

The night was on the longer side.

Oliver had always thought so and considered it fortunate.

If the nights weren’t long, he wouldn’t have endured the bullying at the orphanage or the hard labor in the mines.

That’s why, instinctively, Oliver preferred the dim night over a bright morning.

Only after the sun went down did he find peace.

But tonight seemed unusually long, almost too long.

It wasn’t just a feeling.

After sneaking out, meeting Pandora, persuading the Dark Sorcerer refugees, stopping Roderick the Inquisitor, hearing news of the Pied Piper, and then meeting the injured Joanna, the night felt especially long.

Although time itself remained absolute, Oliver couldn’t deny that tonight felt exceptionally dragged out.

Handling even one of these would’ve been enough, but they all happened back-to-back.

So, even if he told Joanna—who lost her parents, siblings, and was severely injured—that he was too tired and left, it wouldn’t be inappropriate.

And if he remained indifferent to the sorrowful sobs and emotions he heard outside the car window, that wouldn’t be inappropriate either.

“It looks like the Pied Piper swept through here too.”

Pandora, sitting in the passenger seat, murmured as she looked out the car window.

Oliver remained silent since he had expected it.

This village was near Ark Orphanage after all.

If the Pied Piper visited the orphanage, it was unlikely this place was spared.

What could one say after witnessing a tragedy already foreseen?

So Oliver drove silently, cutting through the village.

Seeing this, Pandora questioned.

“You’re not saying anything.”

“…Because I already expected this, I have nothing to add.”

Oliver replied, and Pandora said nothing.

It was pure curiosity, not an interrogation.

Now that she had the answer, there was nothing more to say.

It was Oliver who spoke next.

“Also, I don’t feel anything.”

“…Why?”

“A lot happened today, and I’m tired. Or maybe it’s because I have no connection to the people in that village.”

“No connection?”

“Emotionally, mentally, or physically. That’s why Professor Kevin and I felt sorrow for Derek’s death. We knew him.”

Oliver subconsciously analyzed his emotions.

Although emotions couldn’t be analyzed logically, curiosity drew him to dissect them.

Without that, things would have been too confusing.

Oliver might have felt the same urge to visit Ark Orphanage before learning about the Pied Piper’s past.

He felt the need to see what happened to them before he could face the Piper’s past.

“It’s like a spider web.”

Pandora abruptly spoke.

“People’s relationships are all interconnected, aren’t they?”

“You’re not wrong. Though it’s not the best example.”

“Why not?”

“In a spider web, bugs get caught and eventually eaten.”

“People aren’t that different. They get caught in relationships and their identities are defined. As someone’s child, friend, or parent, and most never escape that web.”

Oliver was silent at Pandora’s sudden insight. It seemed accurate.

Even Oliver remembered himself as an orphan and mine worker because the orphanage director and mine supervisor stuck in his head.

Perhaps self-awareness really is shaped by the existence of others.

Bound by it, yet existing through it.

Just as he was delving into that thought, Pandora questioned again.

“We’re almost at the orphanage, right?”

“Yes, we’re almost there.”

Oliver replied as he drove past the grieving village and up the hill toward the orphanage.

He wasn’t lying.

Just like the time he visited with Yareli, a building appeared as they reached the hilltop and got out of the car.

But unlike before, the building was no longer just rundown but now in ruins.

You could tell just by looking at the rusted, open gate.

Oliver walked through the open gate and soon faced the orphanage, partially collapsed and burned but still showing battle scars even in the darkness.

Oliver unknowingly began examining the traces.

The first thing that caught his eye was the ground scarred as if the skin had peeled away, and he instinctively knew it was the Pied Piper’s doing.

The scar aligned with the collapsed part of the orphanage where a shockwave must’ve hit.

That’s why a section of the building had collapsed.

‘The Piper didn’t attack first. Someone must’ve struck first. Who was it?’

Oliver continued his examination of the ruined orphanage and spotted small footprints nearby.

Clearly from children, who seemed to walk in unison, as if under some sort of spell.

It looked like the Pied Piper used manipulation-type Dark Magic through sound to control the kids.

This would be the most effective way to kidnap many kids without any issues.

“Hmm?”

As Oliver followed the children’s tracks, he noticed footprints that seemed to belong to a woman.

They were Joanna’s.

The step patterns, depth, and urgency in the footprints confirmed it.

At that moment, Oliver envisioned Joanna running through a crowd of children walking toward the Pied Piper.

Footprints, as if a dance occurred on the same spot, were scattered in front of the origin point of the overturned ground, likely Joanna’s.

Oliver noticed that the Pied Piper stood still in one spot, likely between facing Joanna.

‘She got knocked away.’

Oliver speculated as he observed the final set of footprints.

They were shallower and fainter than the others, as if the person had been struck and sent flying.

The Pied Piper didn’t come to fight or kill but simply to kidnap the children.

‘What did he do after that? Probably searched the orphanage for more children. Even with the Warlock’s Eye, he’d want to check himself. So, what caused the fire? Why set fire on purpose?’

As Oliver slowly walked in the direction he guessed the Pied Piper had gone. He examined the charred orphanage and soon discovered something.

There were faintly burned footprints, almost erased.

“Derek…”

Oliver muttered Derek’s name with a hint of admiration, finally getting the whole picture.

It must have been Derek who attacked first when the Piper entered through the gate.

The Pied Piper then used Dark Magic to blast Derek away.

While everyone froze in shock, the Piper used his flute to control the children, and Joanna moved next, only to be subdued instantly.

In an instant, the Pied Piper nullified all resistance.

He probably approached the orphanage, and that was when Derek, driven into the building by the shockwave, set it on fire.

By igniting the surroundings, he aimed to enhance his fire to its extremity.

This was the Agni Faction’s most basic method of enhancing fire magic.

Derek likely absorbed the flames and charged at the Pied Piper, only to have them extinguished by the Piper.

Oliver knew this from his past experience, where he’d used the White Flame in his right arm to attack the Pied Piper only to be overpowered.

‘His arm was torn off.’

Oliver thought upon noticing blood stains on the ground.

The first attack only knocked him away; the second must have been a more serious warning.

Next to the bloodstain, he saw metal fragments.

Seeing them conjured the next scene in his mind.

Derek charging in again despite losing his arm, with Joanna right behind him.

However, similar to Derek, Joanna’s desperate struggle ended just as miserably.

The Pied Piper broke her mace, crushed her shield.

With the situation clearer now, Oliver could see what remained at the orphanage.

Rosburn, Yareli, and the terrified orphanage staff.

There was nothing they could do.

Having witnessed every last-ditch effort being relentlessly crushed.

Who could blame them for giving in?

‘Even the director?’

Oliver pondered this while looking around.

Just then, he noticed something he’d never seen before—a tree… or rather, Amelin the director in a tree form.

To be exact, it was the transformed form of Director Amelin, but Oliver recognized her instantly.

“…!”

Although she didn’t look as he remembered, Oliver could tell it was Director Amelin.

Not because of the pain-stricken face faintly visible on the tree’s surface, or the details of limbs barely distinguishable in the branches and roots.

It was due to the emotions exuded by the tree.

Oliver identified people through their emotions, and this made recognizing the transformed Director Amelin possible.

However, recognizing and fully accepting it were different things. Oliver needed some time to understand the scene before him.

After all, it was hard to accept that the once sensible director was now a tree, suffering as if in a never-ending nightmare.

Oliver recalled how he remembered her.

Despite her age, she used to repair the roof herself, her hair short and gray.

She not only raised over sixty children but kept their smiles and energy alive.

She even learned the kingdom’s language to teach Joanna.

She was the one who welcomed Oliver warmly when he showed up unannounced, allowing him to stay.

She treated him the same even after he revealed he was a Dark Sorcerer.

She was the one who said it’s easy to teach what’s right, but hard to act on it.

But she still insisted we must teach what’s right, even if it’s difficult.

She confessed her own shortcomings when she suggested reducing the number of children.

And most of all, she was the one who spoke about forgiveness, telling Oliver to forgive himself.

Now she was a twisted tree, not from magic, dark arts, druidic sorcery, or holy power, but a bizarre force, suffering eternal pain.

‘Why to this extent…’

Faced with the Pied Piper’s unbridled rage, Oliver could only ask himself.

Why to this extent?

Oliver called Eve using the communication device attached inside his shirt collar.

“Eve.”

“Yes, Dave.”

“Help me.”

As Oliver requested Eve’s help, immense magical energy surged from deep underground, rising like a tide.

Drawn by Eve’s power, the World Tree unleashed a massive wave of magic, radiating in colorful, aurora-like lights that draped over the earth like a curtain.

But that wasn’t the end.

The magical currents, though appearing as curtains, began to disintegrate into particles. Controlled by Oliver and Eve, they began to reconstruct, layering over reality itself.

The World Tree’s memories reemerged into reality, reconstructing the Ark Orphanage as it was before it became a ruin.

It was nighttime, just like now. The gate wasn’t rusted or open.

Instead, a man stood at the gate with dozens of children.

It was the Pied Piper.

In eerie silence, he reached out to the gate. The once solid gate rusted over as if weathered by time, then weakly opened.

Creak, snap.

Then he casually walked inside.

As Oliver predicted, the situation inside played out similarly.

The inside of the orphanage went into chaos when the Pied Piper approached.

Everyone scrambled to wake the children and escape.

But it was physically impossible.

Derek drew his sword and charged first to buy time while Yareli supported him with ice magic.

With ice magic behind him, Derek charged.

When the Piper played his flute, the space warped and a shockwave shattered Yareli’s ice magic. Derek was swept away, crashing into the orphanage.

The orphanage collapsed under the impact.

The flute resounded again—a strange mixture of lively melody with undertones of sorrow.

At the sound, the fleeing children lost focus in their eyes and marched toward the Piper. Joanna, who tried to hold them back, rushed at the Piper, but a swing of his arm sent her flying.

It wasn’t even a fight, just a typical overpowering.

Just when everyone was gripped by fear, the injured Derek set the orphanage on fire to absorb the flames.

A desperate attempt to raise his firepower to the maximum.

Derek, surrounded in flames, charged at the Piper again, only to have his arm ripped off.

[Grrrr…!]”

[Gugh…!aaaaaaagh!!!]

Joanna also lunged at the Piper again, but he overpowered her too, grabbed her by the throat, and knocked her out.

The terrified orphanage staff and Yareli, whose will was now broken, stood behind her. Rosburn, too.

Projected through Ideation, the scene didn’t diverge from Oliver’s expectations.

[You… Do you know him?]

The Piper asked as he neared Yareli.

Yareli and Rosburn replied, and the Piper, after some thought, withdrew.

He spared Oliver’s acquaintances—more precisely, Oliver.

[Will you stand in my way?]

The orphanage staff shook their heads, and with the desired answer, the Pied Piper left as if nothing had happened.

That was when…

Click-!

Amelin sprang out from the ruins.

Bang!

She fired a gun at the Piper.

Not even a scratch.

The Piper reached out and grabbed Amelin, asking.

[You know it’s futile, right?]

Amelin replied.

[Futile or not… Someone has to protect the kids…]

At that moment, Oliver felt Amelin’s sincerity.

Even though it was a projection made from the World Tree’s memory and he shouldn’t be able to read emotions, Oliver could feel her sincerity.

[…I see.]

The Piper’s voice, more somber than usual.

At the same time, an unfamiliar darkness poured from the Piper’s body, engulfing Amelin, turning her legs into roots, her skin into bark, and twisting her arms into branches.

As if she were a sinner being punished in hell.

As Oliver’s eyes locked onto the pure malevolence, he was distracted by a sudden burst of flames.

Derek, with one arm torn off, gathered his last strength to stab the Pied Piper.

[You… You fucker…!!]

Derek’s attack burned even his life force.

But the Piper caught it with his bare hand.

The Piper’s stony eyes flickered faintly.

[You’re a Tower of Magic wizard, aren’t you? Why risk your life for kids you don’t even know?]

[Fuck off!!! Who needs a reason to save kids?!]

With death looming over him, Derek unleashed a harsh breath as he yelled.

Faced with this, both Oliver and the Pied Piper fell silent, uncertain.

An eternity passed in the silence, and after some thought, the Piper raised his hand.

In that moment, from another time, Oliver realized Derek’s imminent death. Derek seemed to have realized it too and shouted.

[Let the kids go and get lost! Someone worse will kill you!]

As soon as he finished speaking, the Piper moved his arm, piercing Derek’s chest.

“…”

“…”

“Pandora.”

Oliver, who was silently witnessing the scene, called Pandora.

“Yes, Father.”

“You’re skilled at retrieving memories from the past, right?”

“Yes, Father.”

“Help me with this, along with Eve.”

Pandora, as if expecting this, nodded and without further questions placed her hands on the ground, attempting to connect with the immense magic from the World Tree.

With the combined strength of the two Eves that were once one being, the scenes of the past and present melted together, and the desolate landscape reshaped.

They found themselves in a forest where a man walked with a child.

[Dad!]”