"So the compass is broken?"
"It might be, Lilo... I don't know."
After discovering the unusual behavior of the compass, the two continued in the same direction. The needle still pointed north, but the forest didn't seem to agree.
"It's kinda funny, you know."
"What is?"
"I was trapped in that cage by those damned demon-worshippers. Fought my way out... only to get trapped in a forest."
"Hey, at least you've got the best company."
"Yeah yeah... but you're right. Thanks for being around."
"Hah! Of course I'm right. I'm the great Lilo, after all."
Nathan let out a long breath.
The two kept walking. The mood had lightened, slightly, but unease still clung to them. That tower and the compass weighed heavy on their minds.
"Hey, Lilo... shouldn't it be night by now?"
"Oh yeah... weird."
Something was wrong. The sun refused to move. It just hung there, suspended, as if time itself had stalled. But the forest was still alive—rivers trickling in the distance, birds chirping, frogs croaking, leaves rustling softly in the breeze.
"Huh? What the hell?"
"Oh!"
The compass they'd taken from the dead soldier suddenly lit up, glowing with white energy.
"This thing... it has to be connected to all of this."
"It doesn't look like an artifact. Maybe something magical... or cursed? Ugh, I don't know!"
Nathan moved the compass by accident, and the glow flared even brighter.
"Wait... is this?"
He slowly turned it toward the northwest. The glow intensified. He tried other directions, but nothing happened. Only northwest triggered the reaction.
"I guess... that decides our path."
"But what if it's a trap, Nathan?"
"Lilo, you might be immortal, but I'm not looking to die like that guy in the tower. Wasted away."
"Fine... I guess."
She didn't like it, but he had a point. So she followed, though the feeling in her gut said something was wrong.
"You're right. It doesn't seem like night's coming."
"At this point, I'm done trying to figure it out. I'm just glad we didn't wake up in the same place again."
"Because of how bad sleeping on branches is?"
"Mostly."
"Hehe~"
Lilo giggled, her mood lifting for a second ... just a second ... before the path threw another obstacle at them. A thick wall of bushes blocked their way.
"I hope we're lucky this time."
"Should we just go bac—?"
"F*ck it."
Nathan pushed straight through. Lilo scrambled after him.
"Hey! Wait for me-Whoa...!"
"What the hell is this doing here?"
It was both breathtaking and tragic. A village with high walls, built for defense. But those defenses had failed. The gates were smashed open, and bodies littered the entrance.
"Nathan, let's just go back! Who knows what demon did this?"
"Lilo... this is our only lead. We can't turn back now."
"...Fine. But please, be careful."
"Don't worry."
Nathan gripped the handle of the sword he'd taken from the demon cultists and stepped toward the ruined gate, every muscle tense.
"Lilo, is that the Empire's flag?"
"It should be... Huh?"
"What?"
"That flag... I've never seen it."
"Didn't you say you're a spirit? Haven't you lived a long time?"
"Yeah, I have... but I'm still pretty young. Only three hundred years old."
"So... it's a flag that's at least three centuries old. Great."
It wasn't just a coincidence. That hunting tower wasn't random. The village and the old empire's flag ... something deeper tied them together.
"Nathan, I have a bad feeling about this..."
"Lilo, just follow me."
He didn't slow down. Didn't stop. The gates were torn apart, maybe by a battering ram. Inside the village, the destruction stretched far. Homes burned down or ransacked. Bodies everywhere men, women, children. Soldiers, mostly near the gate. They'd tried to fight.
"They tried to protect the village."
"But they failed."
More corpses lay in the heart of the town. As they walked past what used to be the market, they saw rotting fruit and vegetables, crawling with worms, still left out on broken carts.
"Ugh... the smell."
Nathan didn't say a word. His eyes scanned the wreckage.
It wasn't just a battle. It was a massacre. A conquest, maybe. War. But the villagers hadn't started it. They didn't get to choose where they were born or who ruled them. Yet they were the ones who paid.
"They didn't choose to live under that flag... so why?"
His hand clenched around the sword hilt, knuckles pale. Lilo reached out.
"Hey hey. Getting angry won't help now. Let's just find answers, alright?"
"You're right."
"Then let's go."
They passed the ruined market, stepping over bloodstained cobblestones. The compass began to glow again... pulling them toward the far end of the village.