Scene- Fragile
The elder sister couldn't move.
The figure standing before her looked like the Traveler.
Same body.
Same white hair.
Same clothes.
But the person inside it—
wasn't him.
Black smoke drifted from his eyes.
The remaining dead charged.
Arafial turned toward them.
He raised one hand.
Nothing happened at first.
Then—
the mountain went silent.
Every corpse stopped.
Their bodies began trembling.
Black smoke emerged from beneath their skin.
One.
Then ten.
Then hundreds.
The smoke spread through the entire battlefield.
The dead collapsed.
Not one at a time.
All at once.
Bodies became ash.
Ash became dust.
Dust vanished into the wind.
Within moments—
the mountain was empty.
No army.
No spider.
No Black Bird.
Only the red moon remained.
Arafial lowered his hand.
His breathing changed.
Once.
Twice.
His shoulders tightened.
A thin line of blood appeared beneath his nose.
The elder sister noticed.
Arafial wiped it away with the back of his hand.
He looked at the blood.
Then at the Traveler's body.
"Fragile."
His voice carried quiet irritation.
The elder sister stared.
"What are you?"
Arafial looked at her.
"I asked first."
She hesitated.
He took one step closer.
The ground beneath his foot cracked slightly.
The elder sister instinctively stepped back.
Arafial stopped.
He looked around the unfamiliar mountain.
The red moon.
The ruined graves.
The endless forest.
His expression became colder.
Then he looked directly at her.
"How do I leave this world?"
The question stunned her.
She had expected a threat.
An order.
Perhaps death.
Not that.
"You... don't know?"
Arafial's eyes narrowed.
"If I knew, I would not ask."
The elder sister swallowed.
"I don't know."
Silence.
Arafial studied her.
"Who rules this world?"
"No one."
"Gods?"
She shook her head.
"I've never seen one."
Arafial's expression didn't change.
"Then who controls the Blood Moon?"
"I don't know."
Arafial looked toward the red moon.
For the first time—
something resembling annoyance crossed his face.
Then the Traveler's body suddenly staggered.
Arafial caught himself.
His hand pressed against his chest.
His breathing became heavier.
The black smoke around his eyes flickered.
The elder sister noticed.
"You're hurt."
Arafial looked at her.
"No."
He corrected himself.
"The vessel is."
The words were quiet.
He looked down at his own hands.
"This body cannot contain me."
A pause.
"Not yet."
The elder sister stared.
"Vessel?"
Arafial didn't answer.
The body trembled again.
His fingers tightened.
For a moment, the blackness in his eyes flickered.
Arafial looked toward the western horizon.
Then back at her.
"Where is the nearest settlement?"
She hesitated.
"Why?"
Arafial's expression became completely emotionless.
"Because I need information."
The elder sister looked at him.
Then at the body that had once been the Traveler.
She still didn't understand what stood before her.
But she understood one thing.
Whatever this being was—
he was trapped here too.
And somewhere inside that body—
the Traveler was still watching.