“Hoo.”
I took a deep breath upon hearing Pebble’s words. I wasn’t too surprised as a single glance was enough to give me a clue.
Just a single glance was enough to put me into a trance.
That alone was enough to give me a sense of dread that I hadn’t felt in the past when interacting with the tree.
‘What exactly happened to the real body in the time that Owl-Mighty was with me?’
I thought about the question for a good minute before snapping out of it.
Lifting my head and staring at the numerous monsters that moved directly from the tree, I pursed my lips tightly.
‘Right, this isn’t the right time to think about this.’
There was a more pressing matter that I needed to tend to.
Turning my head, my eyes eventually settled over several figures who all rushed out at the same time, their destination the tree in the distance.
…As expected, they’re all going to the tree.’
They were most likely going to serve as nutrients for the tree to break through to the Destroyer Rank.
My heart pressed at the thought.
If the tree was allowed to break through then I was afraid that even the Head Elder from the House of Astrid would not be able to do much. By then, everyone would be forced to leave and Leon and the others would most likely die.
That couldn’t happen.
Especially since Owl-Mighty had yet to contact me.
“What are you thinking of doing…?”
“…What else?”
Licking my lips, I looked at Pebble.
“I don’t really have that many options. If I let them go, then there’s a high chance that the tree will reach the Destroyer Rank. Even if I do try to escape there’s a very real chance I might get swept into the tree’s illusion. Furthermore…”
I paused there, recalling a certain vision I had recently experienced.
‘…I think I might know who the one behind all of this is.’
With that being said, considering the nature of the visions, there was no guarantee that ‘she’ was the one responsible for everything.
Nonetheless, I still had to be wary.
“The real problem right now is getting near the tree without getting noticed.”
There were a lot of powerful monsters nearby and getting past them without being noticed was going to be a challenge.
In fact, I had no idea how to proceed.
“Don’t worry.”
But apparently, Pebble did.
“Just follow them.”
“…Ah?”
I blinked my eyes, looking in the direction of where Pebble pointed before looking back at it. “Are you serious?”
Pebble was directly pointing at where Leon and the other were.
I half-expected Pebble to retract its comment, but seeing its dead-serious expression, I knew
it wasn’t joking.
“Yes, you can follow them.”
“What, are you-“
“Did you forget you have that stupid tree’s bone inside of you?”
My brows jumped up upon hearing this.
“Are you saying that it won’t recognize me as a threat?”
“Yes. Considering that stupid tree has no consciousness, it won’t recognize the irregularity.”
“…And how sure are you of this assumption?”
I just had to ask because this felt like an extremely dangerous suggestion. One wrong move and I was done for.
Pebble’s next words almost made me puke.
“Fifty percent.”
“Haha.”
What else could I do but laugh?
Hearing the ridiculous percentage, I wanted to just turn around and leave.
‘Still, it’s worth a try.’
At the end of the day, I was confident in escaping. If the monsters didn’t detect me then with my domain, alongside my speed, I was certain that I could narrowly escape the situation.
It was still risky, but I didn’t really have much of a choice.
“Hoo.”
Taking a deep breath, I stepped forward while glancing at Pebble who rested quietly over my shoulder, ‘…If I do end up dying, I’ll make sure you fall alongside me.’
*
Thump, thump!
With each heavy step, the ground beneath me seemed to shudder, vibrating through my
bones.
“Hierk-!”
A low, guttural growl echoed from the path in front of me.
The monsters, their hollow eyes blank and soulless, moved with eerie synchrony, their focus fixed solely on the distant wall, completely dismissing my presence.
The sound of their footsteps-slow, deliberate-grew louder, synchronizing with the beat of
my own heart.
Ba… Thump! Ba… Thump!
My throat tightened, making it difficult to swallow, but I forced it down as cold sweat slicked the back of my shirt, dampening my skin.
“Hoo.”
I moved extremely carefully, trying to navigate myself through the horde of monsters and in the direction of where Leon and the others were heading.
But it was then that I had to stop.
‘Ha.’
Lifting my head, my breath left my body.
Thump!
All of a sudden, an enormous figure strode past, its immense bulk causing the ground to tremble beneath my feet. I froze, barely breathing, as the shadow of the beast fell over me. My pulse thudded in my ears, drowning out all sound except for the muffled ‘thump’ that came alongside the step.
I didn’t dare look up, but I felt its presence loom over me. Swallowing hard, my throat felt painfully dry in my throat. This was especially so after I felt a foul smell linger in my nostrils. It smelled putrid, almost like that of rotten eggs and my nose
crunched up.
Thump!
As another creature passed, I instinctively moved aside, just enough to let them pass.
“Hierk!”
Their hot breath brushed past my face as I closed my eyes and stood rooted on the spot, my
body tense and ready to react at any second.
Thankfully…
Thump, thump!
Just like the first monster, it moved past me and didn’t look back.
‘It’s working.’
My nerves were running high, but it was working.
Pebble’s suggestion was working.
…I was able to move forward without the monsters taking note of me.
Looking ahead and seeing the numerous monsters that were heading my way, I secretly
swallowed all the apprehension away and increased my pace.
Ba… Thump! Ba… Thump!
Despite my best attempts at trying to calm my nerves, my heart continued to beat wildly.
So much so that I found a rare notification flash past my eyes.
‘Ha…’
I almost had to do a double-take to make sure I wasn’t seeing things.
It had been a while since I had last seen such a notification that didn’t deal with ‘that’
emotion. It felt almost welcomed considering how I had been stuck recently with regards to
my Emotive Magic.
“Hoo.”
Taking another deep breath, I brushed the thought away and continued to march forward.
Thump, Thump!
With each step of the monsters the earth shuddered.
Several times, I almost found myself stumbling forward, just barely keeping myself
balanced.
Despite none of the monsters looking at me or even paying attention to me, I remained extremely tense. One wrong move and I was certain I would end up dying.
Just in case, I had a small vial inside of my lips.
That was my last resort.
….I thought about using it beforehand but thought it’d be a waste considering how things
would become more dangerous the further I went.
I wanted to use it at just the right time.
‘And I might not have to wait for too long for that time.’
Slowly lifting my head, my vision became engulfed in a deep, unsettling red.
Rustle~
Its trees gently rustled in the air while its dark bark shot up towards the sky, towering over everything within its surroundings. My eyes grew slack upon setting sight of the tree, and if
not for the fact that I immediately took my eyes away, I was afraid I’d have already fallen into
an illusion.
In fact, I wasn’t even sure if I was an illusion or not at this very moment.
…And this was what made the tree especially terrifying.
Because it could sweep someone under its control without them noticing. Thankfully, I
wasn’t fully unprepared for this.
‘I can feel the bone inside me resonate slightly.’
It almost felt like it was screaming for the large tree in front of me.
Rustle Rustle-
In response, the tree’s leaves rustled with more force.
The sight made my body tense but I quickly dismissed it when I finally saw Leon and the
others stop.
‘They’re stopping.’
I took the chance to get closer to them, blending quietly within the surroundings as I tried to
look for any other presence, but as I looked around, I realized there was no one present.
‘…Where are they?’
I was sure they were somewhere, but where exactly?
Where could they-!?
Spurt!
It was right then that the ground beneath trembled.
Before I even had time to react, several large roots sprouted from beneath where the others
were, shooting toward them rapidly and tangling over their legs and arms. Its movements were rapid, and in just a second I saw everyone get wrapped by the roots.
I wanted to do something but stopped myself.
I was rational enough to understand that whatever I did at the moment would only jeopardize
myself.
The only thing I could do was stare at the scene with bated breath.
…Or at least, that was what I thought at first.
All of a sudden, looking towards the others, I realized something.
‘Leon. Where is Leon?’
Looking around, he was nowhere in sight.
‘Strange, he was just there. How did he…?!’
My head flicked back all of a sudden and my heart almost jumped out of my throat as a figure
appeared behind me.
‘When?!’
I hadn’t even noticed them.
However, it was too late. By the time I realized, a root sprouted from the ground, and
reaching for my throat.
I tried reacting quickly, imagining a green orb, but it was too late.
“Ukh-!”
The root tangled itself around my throat and I felt my body get lifted into the air. All of this
happened in a matter of a second and by the time I understood what had happened, it was too
late as I found myself getting thrown towards the tree.
Bang!
“…..!”
I felt the wind get knocked out of me as I smashed directly onto the bark of the tree.
Squelch~
A root appeared shortly after, tangling my right arm right as I tried to get up and I heard the
sound of a single step ahead of me.
Tak-
Looking up, a pair of gray eyes looked directly at me as the world above appeared to be
covered in a veil of red.
With his mask gone, and his disguise thrown away, his presence felt a lot more pressuring.
SHILING-
Unsheathing his sword, Leon pointed the sword directly my way as his cold eyes looked down
on me.
“Ah.”
Seeing the state he was in, the corner of my lips pulled as I leaned back.
The scene, while slightly different from the vision still ended up being the exact same. Since
that was the case…
I raised my head and looked behind Leon.
Towards the figure standing far behind him.
“…Are you not going to greet me?”
The figure stepped forward, revealing her soft features resembling much of my own. That’s
when I felt my lips pull even further.
For some reason, the situation felt strangely amusing.
“Mother.”