The Book Of Flowers

Farewell to a Friend

"Ah, I can finally act freely here"

Rosalia walked towards us with a cynical face. Slowly but surely, as if we were underestimating us

Reflexively, I told Luna and Veskal to be on standby and guard Verdea from her, along with me as well

We took a few steps back from Rosalia. But apparently, Rosalia actually leads to Yuriel who also put on a cynical face

"Enjoy the party, Oberon?" Ask Rosalia

I looked around the room and realized that only I, Veskal, Luna and Verdea were still moving apart from the two of them

Everyone there was silent with gaping mouths and empty eyes, as if they were hypnotized by something

And just as my worries were mounting, Yael appeared near the two of them, after the black aura that had brought him not long ago had already disappeared

"You...!" I said with a fury

"Hey, hey~ Relax first. Just enjoy the party" Yael replied in a relaxed tone

"You're conspiring!?" I shouted

"That's right" Rosalia replied without regret

"Oh yeah. I hope that Vampire did what we told him to do" Sela Yuriel

What did they ask? A vampire? What does he mean by Darwin?!

Darwin's doing something, and I don't think it's a fun thing at all

"What are you guys doing!?" Asked Luna who was ready to fire her arrows

"Calm down, miss. We'll just do something merry" Yuriel replied

"What do you mean?"

Just as Luna asked again, the sky suddenly turned red. I don't know what happened, but the sky turned red...

We all looked up at the sudden thing that happened. Things could not have happened without a hand made it

The most heinous thing ever recorded by history

"You-you!"

"You can't be!"

"Yep. Blood Sabbath!" Yuriel cuts off my words and Luna

Those disgusting creatures-!!

Did they know that doing Blood Sabbath was the most inhumane deed in the world!? Do they have common sense??

Red Sabbath or Blood Sabbath, or commonly known as Bloody Day, is a magic attack that has a world-scale size. This magic was used to eliminate beings throughout Vitario

A black witch has done it before. Marcellus and Lazarus had to work together to stop him, but that only minimized the effect

The magician killed countless people to fire this magic once, and their blood was all used as Mana fillers to activate it. And when the accumulated Mana was already overwhelming, he released the magic into the world, but was killed by Lazarus and the effect was scaled down by Marcellus

Many victims have fallen even though the effect has been reduced, both before and after Blood Sabbath. These madmen know the consequences of this deed, but it does not stop them from doing it at all

The only safe place to dodge that attack right now was Miralius, because that place was a space magic that was not supposed to be part of the world, and there was Seren protecting its exterior

We are far from Miralius now. I'm not sure

"ARGHH!"

I suddenly felt a great pain in my heart

"Will! What's up!?" Luna asked

...

...

Nope

Not likely

Nah!

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH THE GREAT TREE!?" I shouted towards Rosalia while continuing to endure her pain

Verdea, Veskal and Luna immediately gasped at my screams

"Ah... Just gouging it out little by little. That means Walter's already there, right?"

Damnit. They were there too!?

I can feel the pain of the Great Tree because I have a direct connection to it. If the tree dies, I won't die. But, that tree is too important for us Elves. If anything happens to her, only I can cure her

Luna instantly growled and shot out arrows that she could shoot, but all of those arrows were deflected by Yael with ease

Veskal and Luna immediately darted and tried to attack them, but once again Yael fended them off

"Hopefully calm down, the party still continues" Yael said cynically

...

So that's why we were told to come here. They just do it to stop us. So who is their target now? Me or Verdea?

"You may ask who our target is, and the answer is all of you"

The four of us were shocked. Jael suddenly shot towards us as two of her allies looked behind her

And just as he was about to harm us, the roof of the castle suddenly collapsed on him

"VAINZELS! WE HAVE TO RUN!"

All my other friends with the Fae came through the roof of the castle and fell on Yael

Without a second thought, I tied Veskal, Verdea and Luna to guard them

Then my eyes fell on Artorius

...

I immediately grabbed Artorius as well and darted flying with my friends, leaving the castle

...

"Ah... We can't stop them..." Jael said in a limp tone

"It's okay. Walter and his crew are already working on Miralius"

Rosalia then laughed cynically

"They're not going anywhere after that. After all, the border of Goeitias was already completely guarded by Vampires by now"

His laughter was getting louder. Meanwhile, Yuriel and Yael just smiled sinisterly while listening to her laughter

......................

"Will! Why are you bringing that person too!?" Ask Ivor

"He's alive!" I answered

I also thought he was dead. He should have died, but it turned out that his body was strong enough to withstand the poison

I even felt his pulse slowly becoming normal. But where did he-but

...

That drink was the cause of her poisoning apparently...

And Rosalia was the one who handed the glass to him earlier

Rosalia had planned to kill Artorius from the beginning. And that means, he's after the Hortensian throne

Then, to make sure that nothing would hinder him while on the throne, he tried to get rid of us. That's because we know the best of his foul guise

But... That means he'll kill his other family too

Damnit. I should have saved them too

Their plans are too neat. But I still have to find a gap

We continued to fly, even out of the palace

Verdea lamented Thyme Castle from above, as we slowly left the palace area

"We have to go to the city of Calendula first" I said

"Why!?" Ask Luna

Verdea looked at me. He suddenly cried, either out of fear or something

I gotta hurry. This magic will begin soon. It might be an hour, visible from the Mana that was still trying to gather at one point in the sky

Mana that looks like a black cloud in the sky Blood red. The black clouds covering the sun as a whole scared me

I only heard how sinister Blood Sabbath was, and when I saw it firsthand, I already understood very well the fear created by this magic

"We need to hurry!"

"Yes!"

......................

- - City Calendar - - -

"Mr Frank!"

"You! My granddaughter!"

We all went down in the Calendula town square. Frank and Verdea immediately embraced, followed by their cries

"We need to get going now!" I said

Frank turned to look at me, then turned to look at Artorius who was still limp

"Why he-"

"I can't explain it now. We have to go first"

I intend to tie Frank up with my tendril...

All of a sudden, a black figure hit the ground, not far from us and made all the residents there shocked

A Vampire with a starving face looked here and there. The entire city square was filled with the sound of the residents shouting to see the figure of a non-human creature

The vampire then darted towards a resident, but I quickly stabbed him into the wall. Then, his heart also came crashing with another hand and he died instantly

But everyone is still screaming. Some even tried to secure their families

And I stood there staring at the Vampire's body

...

...

Ah...

"Vain...?" Verdea approached me slowly

But, he was shocked when he saw my eyes that were shedding tears profusely

...

I'm aware of something. I can't cross easily to Goeitias. The Vampires and Monsters must have been keeping a tight guard there to hinder me

And since there was no sun, the Vampires were in their strongest phase

L'm...

I can't possibly harm Verdea, Veskal and Frank

There must be other places in the world besides Miralius. A place that is safe for them

...

I don't like this... My tears are dripping more and more because of this...

...

Not knowing what else I could think of, I knelt down in front of Verdea and removed the necklace around my neck

Verdea began to shed tears as she felt something was happening

I then showed her the necklace I had just worn, then extended her hand towards me

I then placed it on Verdea's palm, closed my eyes, and said, "Come here, Uncle Zero"

In an instant, the talisman glowed and took out a ball of light. The ball of light then landed on the ground beside us, and Uncle Zero saw it from the ball of light

"What's going on right now, Vainzel!?" Ask Uncle Zero

But, I kept staring at Verdea while continuing to cry. Staring into his eyes which also came watering it

"This is Uncle Zero. He will guide you wherever you go. Use this necklace to call her, and you-"

"Vain-"

"- Will always be safe under his guidance. I'm sure it's-"

"The rain!"

"- You will definitely stay safe. I'm sure"

I hope he understands.... He has to understand...

Every place on the surface of the world is very dangerous today... L'm... Can't take him with me while he's in danger...

He had to go to the Dwarven city... Right underground... Where is the black magic or the vampires can pursue it...

"Will! I don't want to!"

He tried to get the necklace back, but I kept the necklace in his hand

I tried to hold back my tears as much as possible, but I couldn't. Not wanting to waste any time, I turned to look at Uncle Zero who looked puzzled

"I--Titip him, uncle-I beg you to take care of him-!" I said with sobbing

Uncle Zer doesn't know what else to do. And because of that puzzling situation, he just nodded at me

Verdea then hugged me and tried to hold me back, but the effort was in vain. As I walked over to my friends, the handle slipped off, and he fell to the ground. Veskal came to his aid

"Luna-I'm sorry, but-"

"Yes, I get it. I'll take care of him. I-I'll take care of them all"

"... Thank you-Thank you-!"

I hugged Luna, amidst all the people who came to shed tears

Verdea is awake. He tried to reach me again, but was held back by Veskal and Frank who were crying

Her tears poured down the ground with a rush, and she kept shouting my name

But, as if saying farewell, I smiled at him in the midst of my tears, and said

"Remember. We will always be friends, no matter how far we are. I will always love you, wherever you are. If you feel sad, just call me

See you later - We'll meet back-"

We see the same sky. As long as I live, I won't leave you alone

But I can't protect you now. I won't be strong enough to get you into danger

I'm sorry Verdea. Don't falter and keep moving forward. Wait-wait...

Our hands slipped from each other's grip, for the first time. And we have absolutely no idea how long we'll see each other again

Then, I flew away quickly, leaving her wanting to say something. He shouted my name out loud and made my heart waver. But, I know this is the best. He has to keep moving forward

I don't want to say goodbye to him, nor do I want to hear good-bye from him

I just want her to be safe. And one day I was sure, very sure, that I would be able to see him again

This battle will be over, and we'll all be back to how we were

"... Are you sure you want to do this?" Ask Ordelia

I just nodded while wiping my tears, then prayed in my heart. Praying as hard as I can

Whatever it is. Whoever it is. I beg you

Take care of the boy

Pl-please...

Whatever it--- Whoever it-- I beg---

Please take care of the boy... Don't let him die...

We split up the road only for a while. I hope it's only temporary. I beg-just temporarily...