After we parted ways, I sprinted forward towards the path leading straight at a very fast pace. I became a blur of kinetic intent. I locked my speed at a precise 534 m/s. It was a calculated risk. I knew that if I pushed toward the absolute limits I had reached during the emergency battle between Marcus and Caleb, my muscular structure would begin to fray. My body was evolving, but it wasn't yet a vessel capable of sustained hypersonic travel without consequences. At this speed, the wind didn't just hit me, but shrieked against my skin, ionizing the air around my frame.
I sprinted through the gloom, the scenery of the enchanted wilderness passing in a distorted smear of violet and grey. On the way, I sighted ancient beast statues and monolithic stone carvings of creatures that had long since gone extinct, their eyes seemingly following me through the mist. I bypassed the skeletal remains of people I didn't recognize the treasure hunters or failed adventurers who had been claimed by the woods decades ago, their bones now part of the soil.
Then, I stopped. The air here was thicker, smelling of sap and iron. Before me stood a jagged oak, its trunk wide enough to swallow a tank. But it wasn't the size of the tree that caught my eye, it was the fruit it bore.
Seven Vanguardian Elites were pasted in a vertical line against the bark. They weren't just leaning, they were part of the tree. Thick, rope-like branches had been driven through their chests, skulls, and mouths, stitching their bodies into the wood. Their eyes were open, frozen in the moment of ultimate betrayal by the nature they were sworn to protect.
"This wasn't a random mutation," I muttered, my voice a low vibration in the silence. "This was a harvest. Whatever predator did this has a taste for order."
I closed my eyes, mentally focusing the mana to link with the team.
"Report," I projected through telepathy. "Have any of you found anything?"
"Nothing yet," Kael's voice responded, sounding strained. In my mind's eye, I saw him crouched on the forest floor, his palms pressed against the dirt to sense vibrations through the earth. "The ground is too noisy. It's like the roots are screaming."
"I haven't found a soul," Ria added. I could hear the rhythmic hum of her metal plates in the background.
"I think I found the something new," Kageno's voice cut in, sharp and cold. "There's a thick mist at 12 o'clock. It's radiating a corrupted density of mana that's making me a bit restless. Whatever is at the center of that fog isn't human."
"I have a visual on a slaughter," Sinata replied, her voice trembling slightly. "A group of dead bodies... some roasted to a crisp, others missing heads and limbs. It looks like a feeding ground."
"And you, Oliver?" Ria asked. "What did you find?"
"I also found some dead bodies," I responded, staring at the tree-bound corpses. "Whatever killed them has a tree-control affinity. High-level puppetry."
"With what we're seeing, guys, I think we should regroup," Ria urged. "The map was right. This place is a death trap. We can't afford to go solo."
I gave a deep sigh, my gaze lingering on a Vanguardian whose mouth was stuffed with oak leaves. "Alright. Regroup at 3 o'clock west. I'm waiting right the—"
I froze.
A sudden, violent chill ran down my spine. It wasn't just col, it was a disturbing presence, a weight in the air that felt like a predator's breath on the back of my neck.
"Oliver? What's wrong? Why did you stop?" Sinata's voice was frantic in my head.
"Change of plans. Continue to my location," I said, my voice hardening. "I'll handle what's here. Just keep moving."
I cut the telepathic connection. The silence of the woods rushed back in, but this time, it was predatory.
I stood perfectly still and closed my eyes. I didn't rely on sight but instead, I relied on my natural perception. In my mental state, the world shifted into a spectrum of grey and dim silver. The corrupted air particles became visible, swirling like tiny insects. I could hear the heavy rustle of a leaf three hundred yards away, the drip of dew, and the rhythmic, jagged pulse of killing intent lurking just behind a veil of mana. And then I saw it.
I opened my eyes, a small, cold smile tugging at the corner of my mouth. Shoving a hand into my pocket, I resumed my pace, walking toward a massive, weeping willow.
There, hiding behind the trunk, was a young girl. She couldn't have been more than seven. Her clothes were tattered, stained by the mud of the woods, and she was sobbing into her hands, calling out for her mother.
I walked toward her, my gaze expressionless. "Don't cry, little girl," I said.
She looked up, her eyes wide and brimming with tears. She began to sob harder, narrating a heart-wrenching story of how the monsters had come, how her mother had pushed her into a hollow log to save her, and how she had been hiding ever since.
"I'm sorry to hear that," I said softly. I bent down, reaching my hand out to touch her shoulder. "Your mom is already dead, huh? I see. I truly wish I had been there sooner... before the death of both you and your mother."
The girl stopped sobbing. She stared at me, her face flickering. For a brief second, the mask slipped. A look of confusion, of something going wrong in her calculations.
"And that's why I can't forgive you," I added, my voice turning into a sub-zero rumble. My eyes locked onto hers with a piercing, expressionless stare. "For impersonating this body."
My hand, which had been reaching for her shoulder, suddenly snapped upward, my fingers locking around her throat like a vice.
The girl's form instantly warped. The soft skin turned into jagged bark. The tattered dress became a weave of toxic vines. She shifted back into her true form which was an ugly, mutated tree-beast with a sickeningly feminine torso. Thick, rope-like branches, tipped with obsidian-sharp thorns, erupted from its back, lashing out to impale me and free itself from my grip.
I didn't move. I channeled my Heavenly Thunder, allowing the black lightning to ripple across my skin like a suit of armor. Every branch that touched me was instantly vaporized, the ozone scent filling the air as the beast's attacks were rendered useless.
I released its neck, letting it fall to the dirt. The beast, thinking it had a chance to escape, scrambled backward and prepared for a desperate sneak attack.
"Die," I whispered.
I didn't even lift a finger. I simply clicked my thumb together with my middle finger at once.
A bolt of black lightning tore through the canopy, striking the beast with the force of a falling star. In a single heartbeat, the creature was roasted into a pile of grey ash and charred wood.
"It died too fast," I muttered, staring at the spot. "Whatever that was, it wasn't the original threat I felt. Just a scout."
I continued my pace. After walking a short distance, I reached the regrouping point. Ria and Sinata appeared from the opposite thicket, their faces weary. Kael arrived shortly after, his eyes scanning the trees for traps. But Kageno was missing.
"Where's Nenji?" I asked.
"Looking for me?"
The voice cut through the air from above. I looked up to see Kageno sitting casually on a thick oak branch, tossing his kunai into the air and catching it with a rhythmic flick of his wrist.
"How long have you been there?" I asked, impressed despite myself.
"For about ten minutes ago," he replied, hopping down with the silence of a ghost.
I frowned. 'Was that stealth? Or total presence suppression? Even with my perception active, he had been a void in my awareness.'
"You were too busy to notice I got here first," Kageno said, walking past me toward the clearing. "I saw your little performance."
"You saw that, did you?"
"Of course. You were too soft, Oliver. Showing sympathy to a monster before killing it... how adorable."
"Huh? A monster?" Ria asked, her eyes widening as she spotted the roasted remains of the tree-beast. Her face turned pale. "I see the opposite, Kageno. That looks... heartless."
"It's the wilderness, Ria," I said, pulling a sleek, dark mask from my belt, the one Sherach had provided. "Empathy here is just a way to get your throat slit."
I fitted the mask over my face, the filters hissing as they purified the heavy, mana-corrupted air. The others followed suit, their faces now obscured, leaving only their determined eyes visible.
"Now," I said, looking toward the misty valley Kageno had described. "Let's find the thing that's actually in charge of this forest."