The entity before them is close to formless at first yet their eyes can see that the entity is slowly gaining a humanlike form slowly but surely. And the voice is now coming straight from it.
"[Are you perhaps angry that I am going to meet with my only son again after lending him to you?]" the entity’s form wriggles, making it uncanny to look at since even if it has a humanlike form, it remain as something formless.
"Lend?! Raye is not an object that can be lended and retrieved once the time is right! And besides, you gave him to me back then. I have no choice that time since you shove your responsibility of raising him to me. But as a Mother, I decided to throw those thoughts away and embraced him as my own son. And now that we are just passing by you decided to interfere with us? And what, bring him with you and reseal him on that large Quartz?!" Elaina is angry and is ready to fight against the entity of necessary.
Raye is confused on what is going on and wanted to ask but Adelaide stops him and shook her head. "Watch carefully and listen closely, Raye. This matter is related to how you are born and who your real parents are. Mother might be the one who raised you, but you already know that she was not your real mother. Before us might be the one that has given birth to you."
"Raye. We are here to support. Don’t worry and we are always at your back no matter what it takes. After all, even though we are not related by blood, we are still siblings!" Arthur pat Raye’s shoulder, reassuring him over this.
"I know. But if I needed to know what I really am, I have to acknowledge that thing that is speaking with Mother as my real mother, if that is what that thing really is and not something else."
Elaina remains steadfast. "If you plan to take away Raye from us, then you will have to come and fight me first!"
"[You are strong, human woman. But not strong enough. Soon, there will be a calamity even you cannot brute force alone. And right now is not the right time for me to meet you. And don’t be mistaken. I am not here to take my son away from you. I am here to give something to him. You might have raised and taught him many things but those things are from humans. Therefore, I too shall give him the knowledge a devil like him needs.]"
Before Elaina and the others can react, something was flicked so fast that it was like a bullet that squarely hit Raye in the forehead without any chances to dodge. And like he got shot by a gun, Raye falls flat to the Quartz floor and his eyes open wide. The only thing is that his eyes are glowing red and his mouth is also glowing like he got possesed by something.
"Raye!" Arthur and Adelaide rushed to Raye’s side only for them to be repelled by an unseen force, causing them to tumble far from the convulsing boy.
Elaina couldn’t handle this anymore and unsheathed her sword.
"What have you done?!" She sliced the formless humanlike entity only for the formless entity to ignore the attack.
Elaina know she had sliced somethinh but the moment the blade has made contact with the entity, it somehow felt like she didn’t get to cut anything at all.
"[Relax, human woman. This is a normal process. One advice before I go. Human woman. A calamity is coming really soon. It will arrive like lightning and you won’t be able to prepare for it. Your destiny is already written and you cannot cheat it.]" The entity warned Elaina before slowly vanishing.
"Wait! I said wait!" Elaina tried to grab the entity as soon as she can but like how it felt when she tried slicing the entity, the same thing happened when her hands were about to touch the entity. It just passed through.
The entity vanished completely and they are left behind on that floor. Although she is curious on what she meant on her words, she decided to ignore all of that and head to her children who are trying to get close to Raye who still continues to glow in his eyes and mouth while also groaning like he is in pain.
"Ade, Arthy, are you both okay?! No injuries whatsoever?!" Elaina inspected the two to check their injuries.
"We are fine. What’s important is that we needed to get close to Raye and help him on whatever is happening on his body!" Adelaide said as they try to get close to him again.
Since they already anticipated they will be sent flying again, Arthur and Adelaide are taking their distance while also closing in to Raye. As soon as they are about to reach him, something blocks their path and whatever it is, it is stopping them from interferring on what Raye is experiencing.
"Raye! If you can hear us, don’t worry! We are here to help!" Arthur shouted.
"Brother, Mother, how about we hit whatever is repelling us using our weapons? If it is some kind of barrier, perhaps we can break it?" Adelaide suggested while already on a stance to release a spell to attack.
"I doubt this will work, but its worth the shot," Arthur ready his sword.
"If we are hitting this barrier stopping us, we should ensure we are far enough from Raye if we strike. We can’t afford to hurt Raye in the process!" Elaina added.
The three nodded and take a bit of distance from Raye before they attack the invisible wall that tried to repel them, only for those attacks to not have any effect as they bounce back. Even Adelaide’s magic didn’t work and disappeared the moment it hit the barrier.
As they are trying to help Raye on whatever is happening to him, his real form shows, revealing his horns and his wings. His skin started to show some kind of markings that glow red for some reason.
Elaina and the others tried their best to hack away the barrier but they failed. But they didn’t need to wait too long as before they try to think of another way, the barrier itself disappeared and Raye stopped on his tracks. Not only that but his transformation also reverted and his human form returned.
As soon as the barrier that blocks them disappeared, the trio rushed as fast as they could to Raye.
"Raye! Wake up man! Don’t die on us!" Arthur shook Raye who remained unresponsive.
"He is still breathing but he remained unconscious. I will try to cast some healing magic and see if I can help him regain consciousness," Adelaide said while preparing the mana potions she might need as she readies herself to cast healing.
"Thanks, Ade. Raye, please wake up." Elaina said as she held Raye’s hands in hopes that the young boy moves and reciprocrate her gesture and tell her he is awake.
However... Raye did not woke up.
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"Should we camp here then? I shall prepare fire and prepare the little tent we need to lay down Raye there until he wakes up," Arthur suggested.
"Since Raye is not waking up, its best we camp here for now. We can go back but that would cause some alarm to the others on what happened to Raye and we also can’t afford to have that same thing that happened to him also happen the moment we arrive on the surface," Elaina nodded in response.
"True. Sure the others in our farm wouldn’t mind seeing Raye revert to his true form but considering it might suddenly cause a spectacle if things happened like earlier, we might be attracting unwanted attention to ourselves," Adelaide seconded.
Elaina knows that things might get dangerous for them with Raye but they can’t afford to bring him to danger and also drag the farm to something else. So as much as she wanted to leave that accursed floor, aside from the Dwarf Village, this is the place where they can safely stay without the worries that monsters will attack them.
As her children sets up the camp, Elaina recalled the words of the entity. As much as she doesn’t trust the entity, her words struck a bit to her. Considering that Elaina have seen the future her children in a world where it was infested by monsters, that must be what the entity meant of the calamity that will arrive.
Elaina might not make sense of what the entity said, but she is quite sure that preparations will not happen as it will happen suddenly. She just hopes that it was just a rambling of something or someone in the hopes to intidimidate her. But like what the entity have said, even if Elaina tried to prepare, it will catch her off guard no matter how hard she will try.