Chapter 96: Like the Bark Of A Tree

Moments into their walks inside the accursed forest, Mel lost control over all of her senses. Her vision was the first to flee, then as fear gripped her heart, her mind, body, and eventually her consciousness died off one after the other. Thrown into a limbo–a cycle between death and purgatory, her eyes opened once more, but instead of flesh, she found herself to be made of roots and branches.

'W-what's happening?!' She wondered, her mind racing rampant.

Looking around despite lacking any eyes, she quickly realized her predicament but didn't remember how she got there. And with a blink, everything changed before her eyes again. Now being worked on by a sculptor, her body slowly came to be. Yet confined by her body of wood, she couldn't move a finger or speak.

'Where am I? Where did everyone else go?!' The more her mind raced, the faster the time before her flowed. Landing herself under a layer of clear resin, she was now trapped inside a table used by some royalty.

Her belly was torn open, they'd sown seeds inside her body, and they progressively sprouted more and more, she could finally feel something, pain. As if her very veins were being filled with molten tar, her mind and body began collapsing on itself, even though the wood sculpture didn't seem to be affected one bit.

'AGHH! FU-FUCK! GET ME OUT! THIS HURTS! THIS HURTS!' She wanted to cry but she couldn't, she wanted to scream but she couldn't. All she could do was watch as days passed while the royal family neglected her body until it was completely hidden underneath the growing saplings from her own belly.

That's when she heard it, the voice of her tormentor, as coarse as chalk on board, and yet sweet as honey.

"Melicia, an orphan, a disappointment so large her progenitor tossed her the goddess' doorsteps," with a cackle, the voice grumbled in her head.

'W-who are you?' She demanded as time raced once more.

'WHAT THE HELL DO YOU EVEN WANT?!' She demanded, and the monster responded in a whisper.

"To live in your mind, torturing every one of you, forever and ever!" Like a rat's squealing, it began to laugh.

Its laughs, however, were quickly cut short as a moment of weakness suddenly took over its entire being. Feeling itself losing control, the illusion shattered like glass, and the body of the archer disappeared right before him. Left dazzled by the sudden change, the horror could feel itself growing weaker and weaker but with its form limited in people's minds, it had no clue why that was.

"Why in the hell would you go in there?" And while it was left confused, Helga had already carried Mel as well as the other two's bodies outside the accursed forest. Dropping them off like logs in front of Erika and Aria, she glanced over their unconscious bodies, each suffering from a different kind of ailment.

"Nonononono!" Her heart pounding at the sight of her friends whom she presumed to be dead, Eriaka quickly rushed over to Helga, all the while, Aria was simply too stunned to even move from her place.

"They're alive," kicking Mel's thigh, Helga managed to fully pull the archer out of the horror's charm.

Even still, staying unconscious, she was still suffering from nightmares as a result of the monster's torture.

"Morons, why not take a stroll around your usual spots? You're clearly not ready," having her leg shoved away by Erika, Helga scoffed in the priestess's face. "Just take them inside the tent, I need that monster in their heads still, and the only way to get it out without killing them is to wait for them to break free of the illusions themselves."

Stepping away from the bodies, Helga let the priestess and dark elf take care of their friends. However, even then in the back of her mind, all she could think of was getting that horror out of their heads so she could kill it once and for all.

Note: For those who read for lewds lol, it's coming once the serious parts are over XD