The Smiling Death-Chapter 312: Loop?

Amon stood at the edge of the village for a long moment.

"So... what do you want to say? If I remember correctly, you said there was no one else in this sealed zone for thousands of years. I am the only one you met after so many years."

"Haha~ oh boy, I was asleep... also, these people might have never tried to approach where I was hanging," Vetaal chuckled while looking in another direction.

"Tch!" Amon clicked his tongue. There was no reason to keep arguing.

Then he stepped forward. He walked inside.

He didn’t greet anyone. Didn’t ask questions. Didn’t even slow down. He simply walked straight ahead, eyes calm, senses sharp.

The ground beneath his boots was packed dirt. The houses on both sides were simple wooden structures, built in neat rows. Fences lined small gardens. Smoke drifted lazily into the sky.

It was peaceful. People were living peacefully.

As he moved deeper into the village, something else caught his attention.

His steps slowed slightly.

There were humans, elves, and demons.

They were all here.

A human man carrying a sack of fruits passed by an elf woman with silver hair who was drawing water from a well. A horned demon stood near a wooden cart, speaking casually with an elderly human.

There was no tension. No hostility toward each other. Nor any fear.

They coexisted as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Amon’s eyes narrowed. That was impossible.

Demons and humans had fought wars for generations. Elves rarely involved themselves, but they certainly did not mingle like this.

And yet here they were.

Laughing together, talking to each other. Living peacefully.

As if history itself had been erased.

Then. "Amon." The voice came clearly near his ear.

He stiffened.

He turned his head slightly. But no one was there.

His heart skipped. "...Vetaal?"

"I am here," the voice replied calmly.

Amon’s eyes scanned his own shoulder. The space behind him was empty.

"You—"

"I have concealed myself," Vetaal said. "With what little power I can muster, I can turn invisible. No one can see me."

Amon blinked once. Then nodded slightly. "...Good."

He didn’t question it further. If anything, it was better this way.

"Why are you not speaking to anyone?" Vetaal asked quietly. "If this is truly a settlement, information would be useful."

Amon kept walking. He really wanted to beat this old corpse. The man was acting as if he knew how to get out of here. And yet he didn’t even have any idea why so many people were living here.

His expression didn’t change. "It doesn’t feel right," he replied.

"Oh, why’s that?" Vetaal asked curiously.

Amon’s gaze swept over the villagers again. "They’re too normal."

Vetaal remained silent.

Amon continued, "And I have a bad history with mysterious, unknown towns every time I visit them."

His tone had grown colder. "In places like this," he added, "what you see is rarely what you get."

Vetaal hummed faintly, neither agreeing nor disagreeing. For now, Amon decided not to interact.

He would observe. He continued walking straight through the village.

No one stopped him. No guards questioned him. No curious child approached him.

Many villagers glanced at him. Some whispered. Some stared with faint disbelief. But no one blocked his path.

That, too, was strange. Amon reached the opposite end of the village.

Without hesitation, he stepped out. He did not turn back. Did not look over his shoulder.

He simply continued walking forward into the forest beyond. The air outside felt slightly heavier again. The sounds of the village faded behind him.

After a few minutes of walking, there was nothing. Only black trees and silence.

He kept walking. One hour passed. Then another.

Amon kept traveling. He was feeling something very wrong.

The forest gradually returned to its familiar oppressive presence. The lighter mana density began to thicken again.

The air felt colder, denser, and very unnatural. Amon frowned slightly but kept moving.

Then he stopped. His breath caught in his throat. In front of him was a small clearing. There stood a tree.

A single tree. Slightly larger than normal. Its long black roots spread across the ground like twisted veins.

There were no leaves. Not a single one. Its bare branches clawed at the sky. Amon’s eyes widened slowly.

"...No."

His heartbeat began to pound. "This..." he knew this tree.

It was the same tree. The exact same one. The tree where he had first met Vetaal.

Where the corpse had been hanging upside down like a nightmare. His throat felt dry.

"I walked straight," he whispered.

For hours he kept walking straight and never turned. Never changed direction.

And yet, he had arrived back here. Silence filled the forest. Even the wind seemed absent.

Amon slowly lifted his head to stare at the empty branch above. The place where Vetaal had once hung.

A chill ran down his spine.

"...We left the village from the other side," he said quietly.

"Yes," Vetaal’s invisible voice replied.

Amon clenched his jaw. "Then why," he asked slowly, "are we back here?"

For the first time, Vetaal did not answer immediately.

And that silence felt heavier than anything else.

"Interesting. I thought there might be boundaries, something that might keep us from leaving this place. Something that trapped me. But to think... it was like this... hahahaha!" Vetaal talked for a while, then started to laugh at the end.

Amon rubbed his temples. "Is this some kind of loop?"

"Maybe it is..." Vetaal muttered.

"And you have no idea about this?" Amon asked with a frown.

"I never traveled this place. Never went away from that tree. I was there from the start, since the time being trapped in this place," he defended himself again.

"Sigh... but you said you know how to get out of here?" Amon asked again, more suspiciously.

"Yeah. I have an idea about it... but it might be really hard... and this is new. I guess my speculations were wrong. I need to take more time to regain my powers and find out more about this. Only then should we move forward, where we might have a chance to get out of this place." Vetaal was thinking deeply about something.

"Hah... okay... whatever. For now... let’s try one more time to see if it’s really a loop or not." Amon straightened up and decided to explore more to see if it was really some kind of loop or not.

Saying that, Amon started to walk in another direction this time.

And the result was not much different. He was really stuck in this place very badly.