Overlooking the scene beneath him, the stern investigator scowled with disgust. The sight of a giant tree that pierced into the clouds - so large and imposing as if it was something supposed to be revered by those much smaller than itself. However from the sprouting buds that sprawled and crawled up its trunk, came creatures of terror and horror that murdered and devoured like animals who listen to not but themselves. He looked - no glared at each of these monsters; as his comrades beneath him slayed them with all the power they could muster. With their blades they sliced, cut, broke and threw away these deviants that dared to call themselves the living. A hatred bore inside the man, he knew what he must do. He clenched his blade, put one foot on the ledge and pushed himself through.

  Jumping from the high building, the dark blue haired Investigator descended down with incredible speed. Pulling down a mechanism on the handle of his blade, his weapon glowed bright like a star. Energy enveloped the entire blade, increasing its size and width 4 times over. Pointing his blade downward, he began slicing through the infernal tree in front of him. His gargantuan blade cut through the thick tree bark as easily as he expected - however his momentum slowly began diminishing until he finally stopped to a halt right before he reached the tree's damned core. Ren clicked his tongue before quickly pulling himself out before the tree could heal from the wounds he created - avoiding the scenario where he would be trapped between the malignant bark. Landing down, he turned to the other two investigators that were aiding him.

  "Plan D is a bust... Any other ideas?" Ren asked, wiping his forehead as he began breathing heavily.

  Katherine and Elizabeth - who were busy dealing with the hordes of monsters quite literally falling from the sky - completely ignored his exclamation. Their weapons and clothes were drenched in Fester blood, and while Elizabeth seemed to be lost in all the chaos and destruction - Katherine was well aware of the situation at hand. She felt a need a spite her brother's calls of aid, despite how hard he was working for their sake. She wanted her brother to regret acting the way he did.

  Grimacing, Ren focused on the tree - a rage building up inside him. Looking at the horrid mockery of life in front of him, Ren thought back to that time. The time he had failed everyone... The time he had truly witnessed how horrid Festers were.

  [10 years earlier. Yǒnghéng de Village, Exalt]

  It was like any ordinary day for a younger Ren. The warm summer sun shined through the bamboo curtains of his grandparents old traditional home, waking the young boy up bright and early. As per routine, he stretched and picked his nose, before leaving his bed a mess - too lazy to clean up as he knew the servants would do it later. Walking through the silent home, he noticed a little cat figurine his grandma had kept high up on the shelves. He was always fascinated by the figure ever since he was a smaller child... But now he was finally tall enough to grab it! At least that's what he thought. He tried tiptoeing to grab the figure, however he didn't make it half way to the high shelf. Being the stubborn child He was, he stopped for a moment to think of a solution.

  "Ok Renyuan... How to be tall... Hmm... Papa is not tall so he makes Mama grab stuff if it's high... So I should ask mam- no she'll probably scold me for playing with grandma's things... Hmm... Well sometimes Mama isn't around so Papa uses a footstool- oh yeah a footstool! You're so clever Ren" he thought to himself, proudly.

  He quickly scoured the house for a stool, trying his best to be completely quiet. Once he had his acquired target, he quickly scurried to the hall the figure was located - using the stool to help him reach the figure. Even with the footstool, he was barely grazing the figure with his fingers - the object wobbling each time he touched it until eventually falling. He quickly grabbed it before it could fall to the fall however, breathing a sigh of relief as he realised he managed to catch it.

  "Heh, Papa would be proud" Ren said, rubbing his finger horizontally against his upper lip.

  Cautiously getting off the stool, he took the porcelain caricature of a cat in his small hands - admiring the detail and polish of the art. He could tell a lot of love was put into the artwork just from the amount of imperfection in the cat's form. It was as if to say - despite all the things that have hurt it, it still should be loved and cherished. Suddenly, as he was turning the cat statue around, he accidentally cut himself on one of the said imperfections he was just praising. He immediately dropped the artwork on the ground, pulling all the fingers on his hand back - except for the injured one. He winced, making a hurt and slightly annoyed face.

  "Stupid cat! Ugh..." The boy groaned, sucking on the wound to stop the bleeding.

  As he finally felt that the cut had stopped bleeding, he grinned a toothy grin before finally realising he had dropped his grandma's cat figurine. He tensed up as he looked at the shattered pieces of porcelain strewn madly all over the wooden floor. He desperately looked around the hallway for something to get him out of his precarious situation, until his eyes suddenly landed on his younger sister. The young girl in twin tails held her stuffed puppy tightly as she looked up at her brother with innocence in her eyes. Such innocence only a pampered child would have.

  "Ming? What're you doing here?" Ren asked, panicking as he had just been caught red handed.

  Katherine explained that she saw him sneaking around trying to play spy, so she wanted to join.

  "Niao-niao wants spy too..." She said, hugging her puppy plushie.

  Ren was surprised she had been following him around all this time with him even noticing, a bit creeped out by her sneakiness. He quickly shook off the feeling before trying to shoo her away.

  "Okay... but Gege? What was that noise?" The young Katherine asked, looking at him with her innocent eyes.

  As an older brother, Ren couldn't resist those puppy dog eyes she was giving him - the guilt setting in as he stopped shooing her away. He then desperately tried to try to explain the situation to her, however his unreliable narration would be cut off by his father appearing behind him. Without even turning his head, Ren could already tell the look on his father's face - fear engulfing his entire body. He gulped before turning his head up to face the man.

  "W- well you see papa, the cat actually came alive because a spirit took over i-" but before he could finish his sentence, Sieg had already begun pinching his ear.

  Dragging the boy into the living room - making sure he swept up any shards beforehand - he sat the child down in front of him, making him sit on his knees. Sieg sat on the couch, the height difference between the two was now much more intimidating. A moment of silence permeated throughout the open room - Sieg staring his son down with his cold red eyes. It seemed even the cicadas didn't bother to chirp in fear of being burned by Sieg's gaze. The boy lowered his head with guilt before apologizing meekly.

  "Sorry... It was a mistake. I cut myself and dropped it..." The boy said, his eyes not lifting from the soft carpet.

  Sieg sighed before patting his head and lifting him up onto the couch. He gently looked at each of his fingers before finding the one that had been cut. Softly pinching his son's index finger, he began disinfecting the wound with very gentle flames created from his descent energy. The flames were diligently adjusted so it was hot enough to kill the germs that might infect the wound, but not hot enough to burn skin or cause discomfort. Afterwards, he used his miracle on the boy, healing the wound up as if it didn't even happen. Ren looked at his finger with amazement, before looking at his father with the same look in his eyes. Quickly however, he returned to a reserved look as he had remembered what he had done.

  Seeing the quick change in mood his son was experiencing, Sieg gently patted his head.

  "Listen buddy... While I'm kinda mad you broke your grandma's cat statue... I'm more upset that you didn't take accountability. When something bad happens because of you. Take accountability. Don't blame ghosts or someone else. Do the responsible thing and be truthful. Then take any punishment proudly." Sieg explained, continuing to play with the boys hair.

  Ren nodded, a bit happy that his dad wasn't too mad about him breaking the cat statue - however his face quickly darkened as he realised the implications of what his dad's last sentence meant.

  "S- so I'm going to be punished?" Ren asked, a weary smile on his face as his body shook.

  The man smiled softly, his short straight dark pink hair framed his face. He then opened his eyes slightly, staring down at the boy.

  "You bet your butt I will, mister..."

  Ren's eyes widened with fear. He knew what was happening next. He knew the horrible punishment his father would dish out to him. A punishment he had endured many times before... The naughty corner.

  Sitting in a corner of the living with his back turned to everyone else, the young boy pouted as he crossed his arms. Adjusting his "I did a bad thing" hat, a tinge of jealousy filled his heart as he heard his favourite television show begin playing in the background. The sound of his little sister giggling with glee as she watched the show made him even more infuriated, feeling as if she was rubbing it in his face. She definitely was, but she kinda felt bad for her brother too. Coming up behind him, she placed down her little dog plushie beside his chair.

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  "Doggy will protect, Gege..." She said, before patting the dog's head gently then leaving.

  Seeing her leave the living room to go play elsewhere, Ren felt a pang of guilt in his heart. Even if his sister was annoying or completely dense at times... She was just a sweet girl deep down. Grabbing the plushie, he hugged it close to his chest before pouting more.

  "Why'd she name it doggy though... She seriously needs to work on naming things" the boy said, hugging it tighter.

  After a while of reflecting, he finally heard the familiar footsteps of his mother and father entering the room. His eyes widened as he turned around and looked at them energetically.

  "Alright! Renny has reflected on his mistakes, and now knows what he did was wrong! Renny will even use his savings to buy ahma a new figure!" He said, purposely using the third person to make him sound cuter and more innocent.

  Yue patted his head before shaking her head.

  "You don't have to do that kiddo. Your cash is yours. End of story." Yue chuckled, a warm smile on her face.

  Sieg chuckled as well before looking at the woman and playfully tapping her shoulder.

  "Honey you spoil him too much. Let the boy suffer at least a tiny bit..." Sieg joked.

  Yue rolled her eyes - a smirk playing on her lips.

  Despite the flirting going on in front of him, Ren completely ignored it as he found his father's idea quite interesting. He turned to the two with an innocent excitement in his eyes.

  "Yeah yeah! We can go buy it now! We can go to the market and pick one out! Even ahma and ahpa can come too! It'll be a family day out!" He said, excitement and joy in his voice.

  The two investigators expressions quickly turned dim as they looked at him with guilt and regret in their eyes. The two looked at each other before nodding knowingly. Ren was confused... But he had a sneaking suspicion of what was going to happen.

  Crouching down to his eye level, Yue gently caressed her son's cheek. She gave him a warm smile, the kind she'd always give him when she tucked him into bed. Though behind her seemingly warm eyes, Ren could see pain hiding in them.

  "Renny... Your father and I were asked for a mission... We have to go. Okay?" She said, trying to sound as gentle as possible.

  Ren looked at her for a moment, before hugging the dog plushie tighter and looking down.

  This had already happened so many times before this, he had lost count. It was so bad that after Katherine's birth, they had to move in with their grandparents so Sieg and Yue didn't have to scramble to find a babysitter for the two whenever they got a mission. He'd gotten used to it at this point, Katherine even more so.... But he couldn't lie, it hurt to see them walk out the door with the slim chance they'll never come back.

  Looking up at the two, the boy made a desperate statement born from pure emotion.

  "... Is this another punishment? Did I do something wrong?" Ren asked, tears welling up in his eyes.

  Seeing this, the two couldn't help but hug their son. They held him tight, reassuring him that it wasn't his fault in the slightest.

  "Trust me, if we could, we'd just ignore the mission and go out on that family day... But we… There's so many people counting on us... I'm so sorry, son..." Sieg said, looking into his son's eyes.

  The boy wiped his tears before nodding.

  "I understand... I understand... Please... Please just come home soon..." Ren said, his voice was still shaky.

  The two looked at him, smiling softly before sticking out their pinky fingers.

  "Pinky promise" the two said in unison.

  Ren giggled slightly at their gesture, before sticking out his own pinky fingers. The boy pinky promised his parents, as if it was his good luck charm so they would come back as quickly and as safe as possible.

  The two adults stood up, before ruffling Ren's hair respectively. He pouted a bit, as now his hair looked even more messy than it already was.

  "Aww... The little puppy is pouting..." Yue teased, using her baby voice.

  Ren crossed his arms before looking away, making a huffing noise to emphasize his frustration.

  "I'm not a puppy... I'm a big strong wolf" Ren said.

  Sieg chuckled, asking why he didn't want to be a big strong fox instead.

  "Foxes are smelly and bitey" he explained bluntly.

  "You damn brat!"

  After half an hour had passed, the two investigators finally stood at the entrance - getting ready to leave for their trip. Katherine was practically clinging on both of their legs for the two not to leave, but they were pretty adamant on their duties.

  "Come on Ming... We already told you it'll be just for a while..." Sieg said, gently pulling her off of their legs.

  "Yeah kiddo, you have your grandparents and your Gege. There's nothing to be scared about." Yue said, patting her daughter's head softly.

  She pouted at the gesture, not wanting to be treated like a child.

  "Yeah yeah... Hmph... Niao-Niao is a big girl... Fine... But you're gonna bring back Niao lots of presents!" The girl said, hugging onto her plush dog.

  The two chuckled nodding and agreeing that they would buy all the most expensive gifts from around the world, just for her. Ren felt a little jealous they were giving Katherine so much attention, though he quickly shook it off as he noticed the front door opening.

  "Take care of your little sister okay, buddy?" Yue said, opening the door.

  Ren gave a thumbs up, making them both smile with relief. Seeing such cooperation from their son, the two felt that everything would turn out well in the end. That they'll be

  able to have that family outing after all their work was done... How wrong they were.

  The following day was a blur for Ren. All he could remember was death and chaos as disgusting creatures crawled throughout the small quaint town like the parasitic pests they were. Some were larger than him, some were just barely his height. However they were all equally dangerous. How could he forget how dangerous they were? They showed him how much of a threat they were. He could still remember how it felt when his grandparents’ blood spilt on his face. He remembered the look that Fester gave as it turned to Katherine next.

  That day... Renyuan Ying killed a Fester for the first time in his life.

  Clenching his sword tightly, the man threw it at the tree - lodging it deep into the malignant wood. It seemed as if it was just the last stand of a man who could do nothing... However Ren was not a fool. With the last remaining amount of descent energy inside of the blade, he had activated its burst mode on a delayed timer. Once it was buried inside the wood, the weapon burst with energy, infecting the bark with foreign energy. Cracks formed around the sword before a hole emerged from the decaying wood. The tree tried to heal itself, however due to the foreign energy being spread throughout the plant matter - it had slowed down significantly. With the opportunity he made for himself, Ren climbed up into the hole he made before it could close up.

  Inside of the tree, it was almost completely hollow save for the small plant forms that acted as stairs which led down to the core. Picking up his sword off the ground, the investigator quickly made it down the steps. It felt as if the stair went on forever and ever. The moment he looked up, the light from the hole had already diminished to only a small shine. He could barely see his exit. Gulping, he was steadfast in his resolve, heading down further and further. The more he went down though, the more his regret and fear started to take over him.

  The words... The gazes... The pain... He could remember it all over again. With each step, the light began to fade away. With each step, the closer he was into darkness. With each step, the more he could hear the words ringing - no screaming into his ears. It was as if those memories were physically there haunting him.

  "You promised us..."

  "How can you even show yourself here anymore?!"

  "Worthless brat!"

  "That's what we get for trusting you people..."

  "All these investigators are so useless... We should just stick to local help"

  Gritting his teeth, Ren soon began laughing. He looked up, a crazed look in his eyes. It seemed he had finally broken under pressure... Exactly as it wanted. The apparitions that were criticizing him got closer to him. They all reached out to him, their hands becoming sharp and animal-like - all the while Ren could only just laugh and stare blankly into the sky.

  Taking one closer step to him, the apparitions shared a grin amongst themselves. That grin would quickly be wiped away as Ren lifted up his sword - gripping it so tight veins popped up from his hands.

  "Sword technique: Moon piercer"

  Slamming his blade down into the ground with his entire body and might, a shockwave ran out through the tree - until he could hear a change in sound. Running towards the left, Ren swung his blade madly. He didn't care if his attack was elegant or even powerful. He just needed to hit something... And hit something he did.

  Feeling reverberations as his blade stopped in the cold empty void - Ren dropped his maniacal facade. The apparitions all looked at him with fear, before lunging at him in panic. Ren could only look at them sternly as he raised his blade.

  "The first rule of a battle... Never believe you've won. Even if the enemy has lost their mind"

  Pulling back his arms, he practically threw his blade at the object hidden in the darkness. He heard a cracking noise, before eventually the darkness around him shattered like glass. As the shards of blackness hit the ground and dissolved into descent energy, Ren looked at the split orb in front of him. He smiled a content grin, before staggering slightly - using his blade as a crutch.

  Breathing heavily, he wiped away the sweat on his face before calming himself down. Well in the most Ren way possible at least.

  "I almost gave in... I'm still too weak..." He gripped the handle of his blade tightly in frustration.

  Taking a deep breath, he pulled his sword out from the ground and cut himself an exit.

  Stepping out, he could see Katherine laying on the floor covered in Fester blood, while Elizabeth sat on top of Fester corpses she obviously piled herself. He was quite disturbed by BOTH of them. However, he didn't have time to reprimand them - hearing the sound of something large falling. Turning around, he saw the giant decaying tree falling to the right - crushing multiple buildings in its wake. Ren grimaced at the sight - realising he's going to have to write various long winded apologies to the business that owned those buildings. Katherine however was cheering and clapping at the downfall.

  "Yay! Yay! Renny's in trouble!" She said in a song manner - still on her back.

  Ren glared at her - being met with a middle finger because of it. Elizabeth chuckled a bit at the banter, jumping off the pile of corpses as she put her hands in her pockets.

  "You're cool doing that to our squad captain." The mint haired woman said, towering over Katherine.

  Katherine stared blankly at her before getting up herself. She dusted off her off-the-shoulder coat, before putting it over her shoulders and lifting up the hood. She looked at Elizabeth for a moment before scowling and walking away.

  "Yeah whatever..." The purple haired woman said, clearly annoyed for some reason.

  Elizabeth clicked her tongue - though she wondered if that's how she came off to other people. Kicking a few rocks, she looked at Ren with a scowl.

  "Tell your sister to be friends with me..." Elizabeth demanded.

  Ren could only laugh at the notion before patting her shoulder. He shook his head then looked at her with a serious expression.

  "Nobody can make her do jackshit. Me of all people especially..." Ren retorted.

  Elizabeth looked at him with anger, before rolling her eyes and slapping Ren's hand away.

  "Why are siblings so dysfunctional? I'm glad I'm an only child now..." Elizabeth commented.

  Ren chuckled before looking over the horizon. Seeing the empty skylines void of any miserable trees, he smiled.

  "Let's just hope the most dysfunctional siblings I know do their job properly now…”