He was split in half. One of the Traveler's severed parts contained half of his face and the upper right side of his torso. It lay next to the rest of his body, which was still standing. The rest of the scenery, having been cut and warped along with him, reverted to how it was before.
"Traveler!" Elise shouted in surprise. Reacting instantly, she drew her sword and quickly put some distance between herself and the old man. He held his sickle in his right hand once again. Had he really done that with just a sickle?
"You... you killed him!" She tried to keep her composure, but she was shaken to the bone. Her defensive stance quickly crumbled before she could even act.
"Killed him? Hah, I wish," the old man answered. He was still staring at the standing half of the Traveler. "You don't even know... who you are following, girl."
She opened her mouth to object, but what could she do even if she opposed him? She had to do something. The Traveler was her Master, after all. It was obvious she had no way of defeating this man with her current skills. She at least wanted to say something, but just as she gathered her courage, she was interrupted.
"Well, this is a nice way to welcome an old friend."
Elise looked at the source of the voice, just to make sure she wasn't hearing things out of shock. But no, the fallen half of the Traveler was reaching out to the main body, which grabbed the severed arm with its remaining one. There was no blood, only a dark void covered by a layer of muscle and skin.
He pulled his severed half up and put it back where it belonged. The cut quickly stitched itself back together and healed, as did his other injuries.
"You are as sharp as ever, my friend." His weird clothing hung from his waist. It started covering his upper body strip by strip, forming his usual white attire that looked like loose layers of rags. The corroding weapons on the ground also flew inside the layers as they closed up.
"Friend, my ass," the old man grunted.
"Come on! Don't be like that! You know I like you..."
"Fuck you!"
"...I even brought my apprentice to you so you could teach her."
"It's not happening. Leave! I know you are under a Bind, and you know I can drive you off in that state." He weighed the sickle in his hand, as if ready to swing it if necessary.
"Don't worry about that. I extracted the information on these hounds' master's whereabouts. I need to settle this," he said, pointing at the unstable orb, "and learn who they are and what I did to them."
He started walking back toward the colorful orb. "I left this open just in case. I don't want to deal with the God of this place again..."
"Don't you dare." The old man was surprisingly displeased. Wasn't this what he wanted, Elise thought? Why was he annoyed now? She started moving toward the orb, following the Traveler, but she didn't expect what came next.
"...You two get along; I'll be back in a short while."
"Wha–" She couldn't even finish her word.
He jumped up. "Say hi to Kaith for me." Then he vanished along with the orb, leaving Elise alone with the old sword master, whose face was now as red as a turnip.
They looked at each other for a moment. Based on his expression, she thought he might kill her at any moment. Instead, the old man turned toward the forest and started walking away. She could only stand there and watch his back as the distance widened between them. Her brain had completely stopped working, and she didn't know what to do.
But then, the old man stopped and lowered his head. He was still playing with the sickle in his hand, aggressively tightening and releasing his grip. Suddenly, he tucked the sickle back into his belt and turned toward her. He stared at her for a while, making Elise even more nervous.
"An outsider will cause more problems if left alone," he muttered, before turning around and walking away.
She hesitated. Was that an invitation to follow him, or something else? She looked around like a scared doe, desperately trying to gather her thoughts.
"You coming or what!?" he shouted without looking back.