"... threads are thin. Be cautious."
The voice once more resounded like a melody in Aren's head as he woke in the same place.
He was ready to let all of the built-up frustration out with one long scream that could've been heard in all of Caelum Leonis.
But, choosing the wiser option, he opted not to.
Aren let out a muffled groan, followed by a more concerned expression.
'It's like fate itself is trying to play games on me!'
Trying his best to keep it together, he curled his fists and aggressively allowed the nails of his fingers to cut into his palm with force barely enough to let the blood drip out.
Thinking very carefully, he came to a quick conclusion that would solve this in a second.
He stepped up to Faye, then held her hand as she was approaching the entrance.
"Faye… I don't need a weapon. We can find one at a different place."
Faye raised a brow, confused at his sudden change of mind.
"Why?"
Despite having both her eyes closed, Aren stared deeply with determination.
"I have a bad feeling about this." Faye opened her mouth to speak, but Aren hurriedly spoke, without giving her the chance, "Please, Faye. I know this is all very, very confusing, but I need you to believe in me."
She closed her mouth, letting the silence linger for longer.
"Okay."
Aren slowly released her hand and thanked her sincerely. It wasn't much, but it calmed the storm raging in his mind.
There was still more to uncover, unfortunately.
Aren was simply lost. He was never good with mysteries such as this, nor talking to beings that claim to be divine.
It just didn't add up. First, he had lost his sanity. Second, he went back in time after dying multiple times… And most importantly, Horacis.
Horacis had said he was the one who oversees the Eclipse Spiral, but that too was a term Aren was not familiar with, which wasn't surprising, knowing the fact that he'd grown up in poverty.
'Guardian of Reality. The One Who Oversees the Eclipse Spiral. Such flashy names for a dragon that likes to speak lies — how believable.'
Aren wanted to mark it down as a dream that he'd occasionally have, but he'd give it more time later.
All of a sudden, something moved inside Aren's long robe, specifically around his waist like a snake crawling on it.
It was cold. It was bitterly cold it made Aren shiver.
His eyes quickly widened, and before he even realized it, he was getting pulled back with immense force like gravity itself had attached itself to him.
But it was something far more unexpected. He turned his head back while gripping the stone tablet, only to see numerous chains latching themselves onto his right arm.
'Chains! How!?'
The force on the chains pulling him back got even stronger, to the point that the stone tablet had started cracking.
"Faye!" He shouted out loud.
The stone tablet broke. He extended his hand — palm open in a miserable attempt to grab onto her.
Faye ran up to him to try and catch his extended hand, but he was already flung backwards before she could do anything.
Aren's back struck the already ruined building of the city, breaking his way to the wielder of the chains.
He grunted loudly each time he'd hit an object. Despite them all being on the verge of collapse, the pain was immense.
He finally emerged onto an open street where parts of buildings were reduced to small pieces of rubble that appeared massive when combined.
The force on the powerful chains decreased by a heavy amount as Aren stumbled down onto the ancient street.
His body rolled around the concrete floor, letting even more dust and rubble stick onto his robe.
'Again, again, and again! This is endless!'
The chains that had somehow made their way inside Aren's robe without him even realizing, flung backwards.
Aren turned his head up as he was still on the floor, to see who had done this.
A lone figure in darkness, wearing a grey coat under a white jacket with a black tie stood in front of him.
His face was covered by a hat that was quite unusually long. The man also radiated a presence that Aren could never hope to understand.
'A human?'
Not only that, his attire was something citizens of Helmond City would often wear.
The thought of him being from the Order crossed Aren's mind, but there was no badge engraved on him, giving Aren some relief.
Aren got back up to his feet as he'd finished inspecting the man quickly.
"Are you the one who did this?"
The man gripped the chains in his palm, then let an unexplainable silence hang over them.
Aren furrowed his brows, "Who are you?"
Once more, the man who hid his face did not respond.
Aren wasn't gonna have it after this odd human had just flung him here. He balled up his fists and put himself in a stance to intimidate the man.
"Either you reply, or this'll turn ugly."
A rush of cold air blew through the surrounding area, making the rubble and dust fly all over the place.
Again, there was no response.
"I warned you!"
He tensed both his feet before sprinting toward the quiet man in front of him.
Aren raised himself into the air, a couple of meters higher than the man, and moved his feet to strike his head with a decisive kick.
He lowered his head, thinking he'd caught him. The man raised one hand, stopping his foot just as it was about to hit him.
The man gripped Aren's foot with such force that Aren looked as if he was floating mid-air.
Pain surged up his entire body, feeling as if his leg was about to be split in two.
In a single moment, he moved his head in an attempt to collide with the other man's head.
The man gripping his leg moved his head slightly to the left — dodging Aren. With no hesitation, he took his other hand forward and hit Aren with his palm.
The palm strike unleashed a powerful shockwave, sending debris flying and clearing the way with explosive force.
Aren spat out the saliva as he was blown backwards, rolling once more on the ancient street.
He coughed up whatever rushed up his throat in an unsightly manner.
Back in the same position as when he first arrived, he turned his head upwards to look at the man.
"You're going to regret that."
The man chuckled. Then, he started laughing as if uncovering something.
Aren's eyes widened. Not because of fear, and not because of anger either.
As he saw the man laugh, every muscle in his body tensed, and his spine shivered with a sensation he'd never felt before.
"Who… are you?" His voice was stiff, and the words came out subconsciously.