The moment Sealed Artifact "1-025," covered in black spots and crimson markings, vanished from the stone platform, a mummy in a certain "kingdom" opened its eyes beneath its yellowed bandages. It hung in midair, countless brown branches piercing its body and winding around it.
Pitch-black, viscous liquid steeped in corruption surged from its upper body, forcing the branches back a little.
Its swollen belly, which rose and sank as though nurturing a new life, shone with the light of a Blood Moon. The branches embedded there rapidly withered.
But it was not enough. Drawing on strength accumulated over a thousand years, the mummy unleashed a roar formed from Ancient Hermes words layered together in a way no human could imagine:
"The Fool who does not belong to this era!"
As the words rang out, faint Gray Fog flickered and vanished. Its belly swiftly shriveled, the black spots and crimson faded, and the branches that had been repelled or withered pierced its body once more.
Yet this time, the mummy did not let out its usual scream...
In a detached house in Backlund's Cherwood Borough.
Sheriff Fasin had just finished breakfast and was preparing to leave for the police station when his wife, Martha, seated across the dining table, suddenly clutched her visibly pregnant belly.
"What's wrong, Martha?" Sheriff Fasin rose at once and hurried to her side.
The child had faced one ordeal after another since conception and had barely survived with the help of "those people's" abilities. Of course he was anxious.
Mrs. Fassin gave him a small smile, her face glowing with maternal warmth. "It's nothing. The baby just kicked me."
Fassin relaxed, though he still said, "An active one, too. Let's hope the child doesn't turn out like Aitris..."
"What's wrong with Aitris? Didn't he come