"So, are you going to tell me why?" Cole's voice trembled as he asked.
Gothel replied in a low tone, "I don't remember."
Cole scoffed and blinked. If she didn't remember, he had no right to force a response from her—or so he thought.
"I understand. But why are you harming these people?" Cole's words came out as a loud mumble.
Gothel rejected the claim. She explained her situation as thoroughly as possible to Cole. Hearing her elucidation sharpened Cole's instincts with rage; a foreign anger dwelt within his heart.
Gothel indeed had no recollection of the majority of her life; however, the circumstances that resulted in her being a cursed tree were burnt into her memory.
Not only was she sealed in a tree-like state by the Arch-Deity of Nature, but according to her hazy recollections of the past, Gothel experienced glimpses of herself doing truly heinous, unforgivable things. She couldn't remember exactly what they were, but the recurring thoughts brought tears to her eyes.
Cole was deeply pained by the revelation. He folded his hands into fists and clenched them tightly. In a low yet enraged voice, he asked, "Is there any way to save you?"
Cole's eyes were dangerously calm.
Gothel maintained a deep silence after hearing Cole's question. Perhaps she knew the answer? Perhaps she didn't.
Either way, her obstinate silence kept eating away at Cole's patience.
With a dark, shadowed face, Cole asked in a deep voice, "Is the only way... to sever the bonds with these people?...."
He then lowered his head and thickened his tone. "Do I have to kill these people to save you?"
Gothel answered with a cutting silence.
A flashing red light momentarily exposed Cole's demented expression as he dug his teeth into his lip.
'I don't know any of these people; I shouldn't be so pressed.'
Gothel spoke in a perceptibly sad voice, "Please, don't harm them, brother. I'm being punished for my misdeeds. I deserve this."
Cole didn't let out a peep.
"Did you become a Venerable, brother?" Gothel asked with thin enthusiasm.
"Yeah." He answered.
Cole thought about it and realized Gothel had also met the conditions to be considered a Venerable. A sudden thought crossed his mind.
'Is she immortal?'
Cole could feel his heartbeat stabilize within his chest. Contrary to the metaphysical body he possessed within Gothel's seal, he could feel his physical human body recuperating at absurd speeds.
In the process, Cole's metaphysical body cracked and shattered, turning into fragments starting from his left hand, spreading until his presence was nothing but a remnant memory.
The tree reverted to its vacant nature.
On the outside, the crowd had reduced to only about forty people gazing at Cole's corpse. To most, he had long passed away in vain, yet to the remaining people, his fate seemed uncertain.
The old woman sat beside him, battling sleep as she waited patiently for Cole to pull something unexpected. 'Maybe he's really done for?'
Exhausted, the old woman decided to throw in the towel, her face marked by visible disappointment. She turned away from Cole's body and walked while writing something on a piece of paper.
She shook her head in dismay. 'I'm so disappoint—'
"AGGGH!" loud shrieks struck the dull atmosphere of the area.
The old woman jolted up, startled. She spun halfway around and looked in the direction of the citizens. Their faces were devoid of belief, as if they had seen a ghost—or worse. She could feel the chill running down their spines despite the distance.
Curiously, the old woman turned to see what had frightened them. Her gaze landed on Cole's slumping body, which seemed to be straightening.
Stupefaction shoved her back a few steps; her wrinkled face twitched and squeezed into something hideous. Cole's nails dug into the tree's bark; he used it to drag his heavy body upright, nearly slipping on the soil.
Less than a second later, Cole managed to compose his body just enough to stand with little support. He then raised his previously broken head; the sound of rearranging bones played like a musical instrument. Blood still painted his face, and most of his exposed tissues sizzled and receded back into his flesh.
"I just need one sacrifice," Cole requested, his voice barely audible due to his disassembled vocal cords. His strands of hair regenerated poorly and covered a large portion of his face, casting eerie shadows extending from his eyes to his cheeks.
He then grinned from ear to ear, revealing his set of rearranging teeth and mending jaw. "Just one, and all this will be settled." He leaned heavily against the trunk.
The old woman smirked with a repulsed face. "What's with that malicious look?"
"Hm?" Cole was sort of confused by her remark.
The old woman folded the paper in her palm and tossed it far away. 'That assumption was useless.'
She then focused a strange glare on Cole. "How are you still alive?"
Cole's mouth fully mended and healed. "The deity inside revived me..." He spoke calmly. "In exchange for releasing its binding without killing everyone in Sant Flores and my life..." Cole paused, trying to direct his words as leniently as possible.
"...it requires the sacrifice of... a young female... 15 to 20 years of age, slender body, and a strong resistance to ascendant wavelength."
Everyone stared at Cole like he was a madman rambling nonsense.
The old woman, however, burst into loud, mocking laughter that permeated everyone's bones.
"Are you stupid!" she clamored. "How do you expect to find someone with such qualities? Even if the first two conditions are met, you'll never find a mortal with high resistance to ascendant wavelength."
She strode forward and leaned her face closer to Cole's. "It's best just to carry out my original idea. Sever all the roots and clean the mess," she relayed in a harsh, threatening voice.
Cole lowered his head and smiled. "Give me two days?"
"Huh?" The citizens exclaimed in unison.
"For..." The old woman parted her lips with raised brows.
"I'll solve this problem my own way." Cole flashed an overconfident smile that gleamed brightly. "I'm guessing the deity within that tree is valuable to you. She explained her situation to me..."
Cole gulped, then spoke. "Severing the roots and her binding with these people won't break her seal. It's impossible at this point." He darted his gaze to the side, trying to avert eye contact.
"Instead of wasting lives for futility, let's transfer her soul to another living body," he theorized with affirmative body language.
'If she really has met the conditions of a Venerable, it should be possible.'
The old woman scoffed and smiled. "Where do you plan on finding such a girl? Especially a 'human' one."
Cole waved his hand dismissively. "Leave that to me."
'In all honesty, I have no idea,' Cole thought.
The old woman shrugged and walked away. "Fine. I'll see you in two days by noon. You better surprise me, Cole." She faded into the distance.
The remaining citizens groveled at Cole's feet and began to thank him and shower him with gratitude.
Cole was flustered by their compliments and kind words. If only they knew Cole was winging the situation and simply riding a wave of intersected lies.
Then again, everything was 50/50.
While Cole was getting bombarded with praise, the old woman vigorously swayed her hips with a blissful smile.
"What's got you so happy?" a man standing in the shaded section of a building asked as he sat comfortably on a box.
"My interest has been piqued by someone." Her previously draggy voice was now smooth and pleasant.
"So, do you think we should join the purge, ma'am?" the man asked, his figure still hidden beneath the dark cloak of the building's silhouette.
"Hm... I'm still deciding. I can't lie, though; he's piqued my interest for a loooong time." She spoke with extensive joy. "I was a bit excited, confused, and amazed to see him in action."
She threw her gaze to the floor and whispered beneath her breath, "The nefarious Cole Raden." She giggled. "Or should I say, the nefarious accomplice."
Her voice turned seriously cold. "Calling him nefarious would be an insane stretch from what I saw. He's like a wild kitten; that do-gooder attitude of his pissed me off so much."
"And Miss Gothel?" the man asked in a careful manner.
She stretched a delicate smile. "I'll free her and give her the best life."