LOTM: Seekers

56. Prophecy is a scam

I was engulfed by the white flame—its touch unlike Uriel's fire. It felt strange, unfamiliar… yet my wounds mended within seconds.

Neph let out a deep breath, concealing something behind her eyes as she quietly extinguished the flame.

"Rest," she said, before turning to assist Sunny.

"Once again… I survived," I murmured, like a weary scholar voicing a thought with no clear purpose, my gaze lingering on them as they cleaned up the last of the scavengers.

The four, along with the Echo, finally reached the towering tree. Without hesitation, they began to climb, racing against the encroaching dark sea.

Perched atop one of its massive branches, we settled in, believing the worst had passed—unaware that an even greater danger loomed just ahead.

Cassie suddenly felt a jarring shift, as if her vision had glitched and time had abruptly skipped.

Before them stood the colossal tree—engulfed in white flames.

***

After the exhausting night, the sun rose as it always did, and the dark sea receded into hiding once more.

The carcass of the Carapace Demon lay sprawled across the ashen ground, still radiating a kind of grim majesty.

I had already warned them—the meat was no longer safe to consume.

Still, with the swarm of scavengers that had rushed in at the end of the battle, they wouldn't have to worry about food—at least for the time being.

Besides, this lustrous tree—with its towering black bark and crimson leaves that looked like blood against the desolate landscape—also bore fruit.

The fruit looked fresh, vibrant, and undeniably appetizing.

And just like that, our breakfast was decided.

+1 Point

!!

I stared at the fruit in shock.

"You okay?" Sunny called out to me, noticing how I suddenly froze.

"Is it poisonous?" Neph asked, eyeing it cautiously.

"Mm, yeah, I'm fine. You guys can try it too," I replied, volunteering myself as the poison tester—after all, my body could resist most toxins. But the fruit… It was even more incredible than I expected.

Is this a money tree? I couldn't help but wonder. Sunny wore the same stunned expression as I did the moment he took a bite.

We had no choice but to reconsider our plans—the road ahead was no longer viable.

Beyond the tree lay a downward slope, stretching endlessly into the distance. Even from our high vantage point, unobstructed by fog, it continued to descend with no visible end.

That meant even if we found elevated ground below, it still wouldn't be high enough to rise above the dark sea's level.

It was a dead end—we couldn't go that way.

We considered circling around it, but… that too seemed impossible. Even from this height, the sides of the slope appeared to run in a straight line, not a curve. 

Whether the land simply continued downward from here, or the slope was actually the edge of an enormous crater—so vast it disguised its curvature—it made little difference.

Either way, going around it didn't seem like a viable option.

Neph noticed the disparity in the terrain ahead and turned to Cassie once more.

"Cas, can you tell us about your vision again?" she asked, hoping to glean more clues from it.

Cassie gave a quiet nod.

***

"Sunny," Cassie called, just as they finished clearing the remaining scavengers. "Can you help me with something?" she asked softly. Hearing her simple request, Sunny agreed.

Together with Neph, Cassie, and his Echo, they approached the exhausted Chris.

That was what had happened—yesterday.

"I dreamed of a vast, ruined city built from weathered stone," she began, describing the vision from her dream.

"It was surrounded by tall, impregnable walls. Various monsters roamed the streets, but at the heart of the city stood a hill—and atop that hill, a magnificent castle."

It was the same dream she had shared with them before—the very reason they were trying to reach this place in the first place. But Cassie wasn't finished yet.

Solemn and trembling slightly at the memory, Cassie continued,

"I saw seven seals—holding back a darkness so terrible I dare not look directly at it. Just witnessing it could drive me insane. One by one, those seals began to break… until only the final seal remained."

"Then I saw the same castle again, but this time at night," Cassie continued, her voice still trembling slightly.

"A bright white star hung above it, solitary in the dark sky.

Under that lonely star, the castle suddenly erupted in flames—engulfed by fire and a river of blood." She fell silent for a moment, and just as we thought she had finished, she continued again.

"I saw someone drowning beneath a swarm of Nightmare creatures, a hunter striving to pierce the sky, and a guardian consumed by shadow. And myself… praying."

"That's all I saw." Cassie finally fell silent, leaving a heavy, solemn silence hanging over the group.

In that moment, they all realized—Cassie was fighting alongside them, just on a different battlefield.

After several moments of silence, with no one moving or speaking,

"Let's take a break for now," Chris suggested. "Take some time to clear your mind, then we'll revisit this later." He approached Cassie and gently rested his hand on her head for a moment before leaving the camp.

 Neph and Sunny followed, giving her some space while offering quiet encouragement.

"You've worked hard."

"Thank you," she replied softly.

Left alone, Cassie felt their words settle deep in her heart.

After a few minutes, Cassie quietly walked away from the camp. Without any particular destination in mind, she simply followed her feelings and instincts. The breeze fluttering through her hair felt like a warm embrace from the wind itself.

Before she even realized it, she had arrived here.

"Cas?" She wasn't sure how she had found him, but he was exactly who she had been searching for.

Just like before, after giving her a subtle cue, he gently pulled her down to sit beside him.

"I didn't see you," she said softly once she rested beside him.

They both understood the meaning behind her words.

***

"I didn't see you," Cassie said suddenly, stepping closer as I sat quietly, lost in the emptiness of the scenery.

"Then I must have left that place," I replied, fully aware she was referring to her vision—how, from beginning to end, there was scarcely any trace of me within it.

After a few moments of silence, Cassie spoke again.

"What do you think of the prophet? The future vision?" she murmured hesitantly, uncertain of what kind of word she wanted to hear. Something was destined to happen—something she deeply hoped to avoid.

"Future vision, huh?" The words stirred memories of my own predicament beyond this ritual. It wasn't exactly a future vision, but he possessed some knowledge of what was to come—just in a different form. Yet, in that unfolding future, he was merely a stranger, insignificant and unknown.

After a moment of reflection, I answered firmly, "Future visions? To me, they're nothing but a scam."

"A scam?" she echoed, bewildered by my unexpected response.

"Exactly. Both scams and prophets are easy marks for that deception."

I looked into her face and chuckled, "You really just made a funny expression."

"Well, I can give you an example to explain," I added.

"Please," she replied earnestly—haunted by that power that had claimed her eyes, an unwanted gift with a heavy price she never wished to bear.

"Give me your hand," she obeyed, extending her left hand. I gently bent it at the wrist, then softly pinched the flesh of her small elbow.

"Can you imagine this?" I asked. Since she had no vision, we had to rely solely on her memories.

She nodded in response.

"Yes."

"See, this is just a normal human's elbow," I explained. "However—" I guided her other hand to trace the spot where I had pinched. "If it's just this small area, doesn't it feel like a cleavage or the curve of buttocks?"

She was stunned for a moment, then quickly withdrew her hand and wiped it as if trying to clean some filth there..

I chuckled again at their reaction. "Never tried that before? My childhood friend used to do it all the time."

"Well, anyway, future visions are just like that. You only catch a glimpse of what might happen, but you don't understand the cause and effect behind it. With just a slight change in perspective, you could interpret it as something completely different. It's the same principle."

"Because you know the future, you might think you can change it, right?" Cassie was silent, but I could tell she understood what I meant.

"But the truth is, you never really know whether that future happens because you interfered—or because you didn't. And when the moment arrives, you realize it unfolded precisely because of your interference… or your lack of it. See? Isn't that just a scam?" I complained, though deep down I knew that even understanding this, it still felt mostly futile.

"It's hard to be a bystander, isn't it?" I added, especially when it concerns those you care about.

Cassie said nothing but simply nodded.

"It's easy to say, 'Just do what you won't regret', but they understand nothing.'" she replied, nodding again. "There's even a crazed cult whose credo is: 'No matter what you choose, if you're going to regret it anyway, just do whatever feels easiest in the moment.'"

Cassie was about to nod once more but stopped halfway, sensing something off about the saying.

"Anyway, what I want to say is this: even if you can see the future, don't sacrifice the present for it. And remember, you can always ask for help."

I tapped her gently on the head. "Feel free to ask me anytime."

"Un, thanks," Cassie nodded again. Even if it was just an empty phrase, and even if half of it seemed like he was teasing her, it definitely lightened her heart. It gave her a little more courage to try something new—to test her knowledge and satisfy her curiosity.

She reached into her pocket and took out a small circular object.

"Thank you," she smiled, then placed the circle over her right eye, wearing it… a monocle.