The Antagonist's Full Moon

29. Sacred Rope

Today, as had been planned two days earlier, Dean, Liv, and Frode had arrived around the outer side of the Hartvig city border wall. Not far from there, the trees of Nitville Forest have been visible, tightly spaced and more lush than the surrounding. The hoarding makes the atmosphere of the forest so darker and seem scary.

"I want to buy something for you guys, before we actually part ways. Wait here" said Frode. Dean and Liv just obeyed not understanding. They both got off the wagon, letting Frode drive alone into Hartvig City.

After an hour of waiting, Frode returned with two pairs of wooden shields and a simple sword. Dean and Liv were given a pair each.

"This is just in case. You don't have magic powers, while Miss Liv's magic is very weak. You can only fight those monsters with physical strength" Frode told Dean, handing over all the fighting gear.

"Uncle, this sword, isn't cheap! Uncle bought it for us?" liv asked, surprised to see the iron sword in her hand.

Frode chuckles. "It's okay, Miss. I could be more worried about letting go without any means to survive."

When the farewell arrived. Liv hugs Frode tightly, which is reciprocated by him. The old man hugged Dean too. "Be careful. I'll wait for you in Themaris! Promise me to make it out of Nitville!"

"I'll work it out." Dean patted Frode's back. The old man held back the tears that were already in the fertilizer.

"In just a few weeks, my life changed. In a moment, Miss Liv's life will also change. It's all because of you, Dean!"

Dean just smiled wryly in response to it. He doesn't know what to answer. Dean changes Frode's life and will do the same for Liv. But from the beginning he made them miserable.

***

Frode took the last one to the edge of Nitville. The closer it got, the dark aura of the forest grew more and more pronounced. Liv's face looked terrified.

"We're just gonna get through this rope?" liv asked, as soon as she saw that there was a large white rope tied to the poles that lined up along the edge of the forest.

The rope is a sacred barrier, so that the wild animals in it do not run outside and attack the residents. The priests attached the rope, after they had cast light magic on its surface. The light element can make wild animals that have dark elemental magic go away.

The air around the sacred rope will form a thick layer of visible after being paired by the priest, so that even ordinary people will not be able to pass through it, unless the rope is successfully lifted.

Liv's near the rope. Just as her hand was about to touch, Liv bounced back to the ground. Luckily, the black fog inside her instantly faded out and thickened, protecting the lower part of the girl's body from impact.

Dean swiftly approached Liv. "Are you okay?"

"I'm okay, just shocked!" exclamation Liv. "I feel like I'm being pushed by that rope!"

"Is it possible, because your black fog has dark elements, huh?" Dean tried to conclude something. The man helped Liv get back on her feet.

This time it was Frode who tried. The old man approached very slowly, so that if he were to be rejected, he would not have toppled over like Liv had. Apparently, Frode did not bounce because his magic element was neutral, but his hand was completely unable to move the rope.

"It's heavy! It seemed, it would take a person with an enormous amount of magic energy to be able to lift this rope!" exclaim Frode.

"How is this?!" Liv started to panic.

Dean started thinking. It is true, he wrote in the novel, what Frode had just said. Dean walked over, trying his luck. Dean approached the sacred rope and extended a hand.

"You don't have magic, do you?" ask Frode in doubt. Dean shrugged. "Well, what's wrong trying."

Miraculously, the rope was easily touched, even lifted by Dean with one hand. Liv and Frode glared at Dean as they looked at it.

"Are you writing about this rope, so that it can be touched by humans?" Frode asked.

Dean shook quickly. "No! I don't give that kind of characteristic. I even forgot about this sacred rope, until I saw it!"

"But why can you?"

Dean lifted the rope high so Liv could bend over and enter through it. Then, it was Dean's own turn to cross the line. Now between the two of them and Frode was separated by a sacred rope.

"See you, Uncle!" liv. Dean added a wave of hands, then turned more and more into the forest. Liv turned around, but still occasionally turned to look at Frode in the back.

Frode replied with a smile, so that Liv would calm down. "See you soon, Miss! Dean!"

***

"Groaaa!!"

"Tch! Watch out!" Dean pulls Liv's hand behind him, so the girl is spared from the fire-eyed wolf attack that comes leaping towards them. Dean slashed the wolf. The animal's head broke off and rolled in front of Liv. The girl screamed.

"Don't scream! It's noisy!" dean's Nagging. Liv looked at him timidly. Both of his hands were shaking.

Dean took a deep breath and exhaled, very very slowly. The man was holding back the emotions that were about to burst out from within. Already dozens of ferocious animals attacked them, even though it was still morning. It had only been a few hours since they entered Nitville, but Dean was already exhausted. This was because Liv was too afraid to swing a sword.

Dean looked at Liv upset about it. The man could not say a single word, so badly. The look in his eyes was quite frightening to Liv at this moment.

"Ma-sorry---"

"You I made you weak, but not a coward!" Finally Dean's patience ran out. Liv's ever-deprecated neighborhood makes Liv that way.

Dean did not write the specific nature of Liv on that one, but the environment changed Liv's personality. The environment Dean created himself. So, actually Dean was the cause of Liv being a coward. However, at this time Dean needs to vent his emotions.

"But--"

"If I manage to change your destiny, then you are still this timid, you will still be insulted by people!"

Liv gasped at Dean's words. The girl admitted that the author of her world had a point, too. Dean held tightly onto Liv's shoulders and exclaimed, "You must take responsibility for yourself! Fear not! Remember, you are the strongest!"

"The strongest person ... ."

"Really! You can defeat yourself, until he has to strengthen himself to fight you! So, dare!"

Without them noticing, a two-horned bear-like animal appeared from behind Dean. Liv saw the animal from behind Dean's body, she screamed again hysterically.

Dean turned around, swiftly the man brandishing the sword. The bear attacked, in one flick of a hand, Dean's sword was thrown. The man now had only one wooden shield. The animal's eyes were so lit that it saw two flesh walking before it.

Dean gulped. He has to think fast. He could have run, but he couldn't leave Liv. The elf girl's stamina was unreliable, she must have been exhausted halfway through, let alone chased by a bear. The girl must hide first.

"Come! I'll distract this monster!"

Liv is shocked by Dean's orders. "then leave you? No!"

"I'll catch up with you, you idiot! Now, just run---"

As they argued, the bear had already jumped up and attacked Dean. Reflex, the man raised his wooden shield, which instantly shattered instantly. Not wasting any time, the bear leaped towards Dean, making the man fall to his knees with the bear's body propped up on it. The bear managed to bite Dean's shoulder.

"Gurghhh!"

***