Down With The Gods

“Don’t tell me you dyed your eyes red,” Wyn says.

“No no. I was born with red eyes, and no fangs.”

“So, what are we supposed to look for in the Haunted Forest? We just came from the Twilight Forest,” Anish asks.

“In that case, you may want to go straight to the newly renamed Mystical Land. The two forests are similar in difficulty, so the Haunted Forest may not provide much of a challenge.”

“Renamed? From what?” Wyn asks.

“It was the Mystical Forest before. The area has been revamped after complaints about how boring the Dark Forest was.”

Wyn checks the map and finds that the area has indeed been renamed. The lobby is nearly empty, as Catati explained earlier – souls have rushed to explore the revamped area. With the changes, the A3Ms can no longer be operated within the Mystical Land. Instead, there’s a new, unique method of transportation that either thrills or terrifies the souls.

“To get there, just follow the map. That means you will need to pass through one of the forests,” Catati adds.

“Then can we go through the Haunted Forest? I want to see something spooky,” Yu voices out.

“And spooky you will see,” Catati adds with a paw on her mouth, chuckling.

“I don’t like the sound of this,” Mira mutters.

The map also shows a village near the Shalmali tree, simply labeled "Village." With no wall between the Abandoned City and the Dark Forest, souls can reach the village from the Abandoned City as well.

“What’s that village about?” Wyn asks.

“It is where you will find a village of intelligent beings,” Catati explains.

“‘Intelligent’? ‘Beings’? Did I hear you right?” Wyn questions.

“Mind you, it is not the kind of village with happy men that sing,” Catati says with a paw on her mouth, chuckling.

“Where did you even learn that from?” Wyn asks.

“They will not harm you, nor will they sing for you. However, you may challenge them. They are stronger than the champions, so I advise against provoking them.”

The team gathers around a table in the lobby to discuss their next move. Wyn and Mira are more inclined to head straight to the Mystical Land, while Yu and Anish are eager to collect catnips from the Haunted Forest. To break the tie, they turn to Christine, but she refuses to vote.

“I just don’t want to run into another spooderface,” Mira says, shuddering.

“Or another millipede centipede,” Wyn adds.

“Think about it! The forest is probably empty now, since the other souls have gone to the Mystical Land. You hate people, right?” Yu points out.

“I hate everything.”

The deadlock drags on until Christine reluctantly votes for the Haunted Forest to appease Yu. Respecting the majority, the team takes an A3M and sets off toward the Haunted Forest. The plan is simple: drive the A3M as deep as possible, explore a section they find interesting on foot, then return to the vehicle and continue further until they reach the Mystical Land. Mira changes into a hatless witch outfit as they prepare to enter the woods.

The Haunted Forest is dark, yet visible thanks to the eerie glow of moonlight, despite not having a moon. As its name suggests, the creatures here are spooky. Armsters and legsters reappear, alongside several spooderfaces. Swarms of mosqui-toes fill the air, while bat and owl-like creatures flutter and perch in the twisted trees. One such creature, the eyeless bone bat, has a skeletal body shaped like a baseball bat with two large wings at the handle. It flies upside down, its top resembling a deformed human head with a disturbing mouth right at the tip. Relying on echolocation, it hunts by clubbing its prey into submission.

Another bizarre creature is the hypnowl, a chunky, round, plastic-red fire owl. It’s nearly as round as a roundo but significantly bigger. Its body is covered in spinning spiral white spots that both hypnotize prey and act as feeding mouths. Fortunately, the hypnotic effects don’t seem to work well on human souls. These airborne pests, though no match for Wyn and team at their current strength, still manage to annoy them as they venture deeper into the forest.

From time to time, the group is greeted by cardboard cutouts of ghosts and ghouls, suddenly popping out to attempt jump scares.

“This is what the cat meant by ‘spooky’?” Wyn asks, unimpressed.

“Lame!” Yu scoffs.

“You can’t blame her. She did say we should go straight to the Mystical Land,” Anish adds.

As they travel deeper, the trees grow denser, and electric webs stretch across their path at all heights. The A3M isn’t able to push through the obstacles, so the team has to step out and clear the webs to continue. So far, the journey feels relatively smooth – until the A3M suddenly drops into a pit. While it isn’t deep, the darkness is so complete that the team can barely see each other’s silhouettes. Unsure of how to lift the A3M back up, the team exits the vehicle to assess the situation.

“If we go back to the campsite for a new A3M, that would set us back quite a bit,” Wyn says, considering their options.

“We’re already halfway there, according to the map. Should we go on foot? I’ll get us out,” Anish says.

With the A3M out of commission, the group presses on by foot, utilizing Mira’s fire as a light source. Eventually, they come across a moon-lit large tree stump, surrounded by normal trees. Tired from walking, they decide to rest on it.

“I’d like to see a movie where a ghost kills someone, and then that person becomes a ghost and goes after the original ghost for revenge!” Yu say.

“Yesss! And I thought I was the only one!” Wyn says, giving Yu a high-five afterward.

Christine gives Yu a disapproving look, and the conversation ends immediately. Mira, feeling awkward, breaks the silence.

“What’s your body count?” Mira asks Wyn.

“I’ve lost count. I could check the history,” Wyn replies, after taking some time to find a way to dodge the question.

“Don’t play dumb! You know what I mean!”

“Well…let’s just say I don’t need both hands to count.”

“Awww. You need more experience.”

“You didn’t ask how many times I’ve done it. Like how most people would prefer one one-hundred-dollar bill over a hundred one-dollar bills.”

“One one bill bills, what? You lost me, Oppa.”

“It’s quality over quan…”

The conversation is cut short as the team hears a sound from the trees above. Hanging on the branches is a pitch-black creature shaped like an oval fruit bulb. Its single white eye, positioned in the middle of its body, reminds the team of the traineater. As it releases itself to the ground, bouncing a few times upon landing, a shadowy blade emerges from the top of the bulb. More start falling to the ground. Surrounded by at least twenty of the fruit creatures, the team assumes a defensive stance. Wyn moves to the center of the circle, preparing to charge up for an attack as the bulbs bounce and extend their stems, ready to strike.

Wyn releases a cyclone around the stump, blowing away many of the bulbs. Those that break through are handled by Yu and Anish, who engage them with their weapons. One bulb bounces into the air and swings its ax horizontally at Yu. He deflects it by sweeping his blade from beneath, pushing the ax upward, and follows with a water orb aimed at the eye. However, Yu quickly realizes his water attacks are ineffective. Dodging the bulb’s counterattack, he thrusts his blade through its eye for a quick victory. Anish, channeling wind into his javelin, sweeps it to blow the enemies off balance. Controlling the javelin with wind, he then skewers two bulbs.

“Help me out, would you, Christine?” Wyn says.

Christine, overwhelmed by the number of creatures, stands frozen until Wyn prompts her to summon snow walls around the stump. However, the bulbs bounce over the walls. Mira hurls her whip upward, aided by Wyn’s cyclone, causing an explosion that disintegrates the bulbs near the blast and burns those further away. This gives Wyn the opportunity to use his mini cyclones to scale up into the air, slicing through multiple enemies as he ascends. Recognizing fire's effectiveness, Yu instructs Mira to combine her power with Wyn’s to create a fiery cyclone. The combined cyclone quickly takes out the remaining bulbs. Any that breach the cyclone are met with upward fiery gusts.

“Plant?” Wyn asks.

All the guys sustain minor cuts, but they pay little attention to the wounds as they’re more curious about the devil fruit creatures. The description they find reads, "Please don’t eat it. You won’t gain any powers." This is Anish’s first encounter with plant enemies, though he recalls a former leader of a group he once followed mentioning how plant specialization has an advantage against water and snow but weak against fire and lava.

“A type with strengths and weaknesses? How interesting,” Wyn remarks.

“Lucky we have Miss Mira!” Anish says.

“Good observation, Yu!” Wyn compliments.

“I’m happy I could help! I’m actually more surprised your eagle eyes didn’t catch that!”

“It’s dark, kinda. Well, I’m old, okay?”

After taking turns resting on the stump and standing guard, the team continues deeper into the Haunted Forest.

“You hear that?” Mira asks.

“What is it? It’s faint,” Wyn responds.

“Is it a scream or a shout?” Yu asks.

As they follow the sound, they realize it’s a scream for help. Pressing forward, they find their path blocked by layers of electric webs. With no easy way through, they decide to carefully fly over the trees to avoid drawing unnecessary attention. Ahead, they spot a fairy circle. Hovering above it, they see tree houses connected by wooden planks and thick vines. In the center of the circle lies a large, flat stone bathed in moonlight, with a symbol carved into its surface. On the ground, near the trees and on one side of the circle, stand several vertical wooden restraint tables. On one of them, a male soul periodically screams for help.

Mira adamantly urges the team to rescue the man, simply because he’s completely naked – and she likes what she sees.