The two stood frozen, eyes wide open, staring at the empty space where Ren had just disappeared.
The dense mist swallowed him too quickly, as if no one had ever passed through, as if the only shadow they'd seen rushing forward was nothing but a fleeting illusion.
No trace, no sound, not a single disturbance on the ground.
The air turned suffocating. A tense silence enveloped them, as though the world had just lost a vital piece they could never reach.
Yuna and Nautilus glanced at each other.
A flicker of hesitation passed between them, not from fear, but from the inability to comprehend what had just happened.
Everything their rational minds told them said there was no path ahead. Nothing but towering rocks, covered in moss and tangled vines, almost blending into the mist.
A wall of nature, solid, impenetrable, without a single gap.
So why did Ren run into it?
Nautilus clenched his teeth. A chill crawled down his spine. Every sense screamed that something was wrong, but not in any ordinary way.
It didn't feel like facing a monster or falling into a trap. It felt like…
Like they were standing before something they couldn't see.
He hated the unclear. He hated acting without understanding the situation. But one thing he knew for certain, Ren wasn't someone who took reckless risks.
He always had a reason.
He saw something.
Yuna bit her lip, her hand tightening unconsciously around the hilt of her dagger. She didn't know what awaited them up ahead, but one thing was clear, if Ren chose to go in, they couldn't leave him alone.
Nautilus took a deep breath, eyes sharpening. He could feel the thick unease curling around him, like a predator hiding in the shadows, waiting for its prey to step into the trap.
But whatever it was, whatever waited ahead, he had no other choice.
There was no need to think further.
"Let's go."
Without hesitation, the two of them charged into the mist.
Because they trusted him.
Because they couldn't afford to lose track of him.
Ren sprinted forward, like an arrow shooting straight into the heart of the mist, tearing through the layers of haze that clung to his body.
The cold sliced at his skin like thin blades, but he didn't slow down.
Distorted shadows drifted past the corners of his vision, grotesque shapes swaying in a strange rhythm, as if waiting to devour him at any moment.
Beneath his feet, the terrain shifted constantly. Twisted roots rose from the ground, forming a deadly maze where one misstep could lead to ruin.
Bottomless pits opened suddenly ahead, like gaping maws eager to swallow the unwary.
Farther ahead, jagged cliffs blocked the only path forward like towering fortress walls.
Everything looked real. Too real to ignore.
But he didn't stop.
Not for a second, not even a heartbeat of hesitation.
Ren closed his eyes.
And then, the world vanished or rather, the false world did.
No more swaying shadows. No more deadly obstacles in his path. Nothing remained that could shake his resolve.
He understood now, he must not trust what his eyes saw.
What he saw could be illusions, a sophisticated trap crafted to seed fear, to make him falter.
If he accepted them as real, they would become real. If he doubted, even for a second, even for a breath, he would fall into an inescapable abyss.
Don't trust what you see. Trust what you feel.
Ren's breathing steadied. His heartbeat calmed, no longer erratic in his chest.
He focused on every tensioned fiber in his body, the cold air filling his lungs, the solid earth beneath his feet, the reality he could truly touch.
And so, he ran forward, straight through everything.
Ren kept running, as if the world itself were ending.
Then, he stopped...
...not from exhaustion, not from fear, but because of a subtle sensation creeping into his mind, like a whisper carried by a windless breeze, like a gentle stream flowing along the banks of his intuition, soft, but impossible to ignore.
The space around him still twisted and wavered, unstable.
The mist continued to drift, the shadows swaying to their strange rhythm, as if watching him, as if mocking him.
But Ren no longer paid them any mind.
His heart told him, this was the place to stop.
There was no clear sign. No footprints left behind, no marker signaling he had reached his destination.
No map, no guide, nothing to confirm he was on the right path.
But Ren knew.
Deep inside, an unshakable certainty began to form, as if invisible threads of this world were pulling taut, winding together, drawing him toward the very nexus where all the chaos converged.
He didn't know why he could be so sure. But he was.
Ren's breathing slowed. His heartbeat steady. No longer confused. No longer lost.
He had arrived.
And now, all that remained was to wait, for the truth to reveal itself.
Ren opened his eyes.
His large, clear blue eyes shimmered like gemstones, catching the faint light through the mist, reflecting absolute focus. He stared intently at what stood before him.
A tree?
Not a strange pillar of stone. Not a mysterious gate. Not an exit from this labyrinth.
Just... a tree.
But it was different.
Unlike any tree he had seen in this forest. Not tall, not majestic, not bearing sprawling branches that reached to cover the sky.
Compared to the towering ancient trees swallowed in fog, it was surprisingly small.
The branches reached upward, slender and delicate like intricately carved lines. Its leaves weren't lush green like the other trees, but instead held a faint silvery hue, emitting a gentle glow like moonlight. Not a single drop of dew clung to them, even though everything around was soaked in a cold mist.
It stood there, silent and solitary, like an entity from another world.
And yet…
Ren felt something he couldn't put into words. An existence that shouldn't be… or rather, a beauty that defied all language.
It was divine, in a way no creature could ever imitate or replicate.
A light breeze swept by, causing the silver leaves to sway gently, producing a vague sound like a distant melody echoing through space.
Ren held his breath.
Quietly, he stepped closer.
Then… Ren noticed something strange.
At first glance, the tree before him was too perfect to be real, a slender trunk rising through the mist, standing there as if it belonged to another world, utterly disconnected from the forest around it.
Its foliage wasn't dense, didn't spread wide like the massive ancient trees surrounding it, yet it held a peculiar allure. Something indescribable, both familiar and foreign.
But as he drew nearer, as his eyes settled on the smooth bark, something unusual began to reveal itself.
Marks.
Faint carvings.
At first, they were so subtle they seemed swallowed by time. But if one looked closely, tiny scratches, small cracks scattered across the surface became visible, as if something had once clung to this tree, had once tried to pierce its bark.
They weren't deep, nor were they signs of violent hacking, but they carried a meaning Ren couldn't quite grasp.
A strange feeling swelled inside him.
He couldn't explain it, but his instincts told him this was no ordinary tree.
He reached out, intending to touch its bark, to confirm it was truly there, to see whether it was real or just an illusion created by the maze.
But in that very moment.
"Ren!"
Yuna's voice rang out, pulling him from his thoughts.
At the same time, hurried footsteps approached from behind. A breeze swept past, carrying with it the breathless panting of those who had just arrived.
Nautilus and Yuna.
They had caught up.
Ren blinked, his mind snapping back to clarity. He looked at his two companions, one with worried eyes, the other tensely surveying their surroundings.
And himself, what had he just been about to do?
Ren's gaze returned to the tree in front of him. Those carvings… did they really exist, or were they something only he could see?
Should he tell them?
Or were there things… better left unsaid?
But before anyone could act..
The tree attacked.
Ren didn't have time to react. In the instant he hesitated between explaining or staying silent, a sudden motion tore through the stillness.
Roots.
From the ground, roots shot up in a flash, whipping toward them like massive serpents lunging at prey.
The earth trembled violently, chunks of dirt and stone flying into the air, exposing twisted roots that surged from below as if they had never truly slept.
The group had mere fractions of a second to comprehend what was happening, and that was enough for Ren to be certain.
This tree was no harmless, passive creature.
"Get back!"
Ren shouted, instinctively leaping backward. A root lashed through the air where he'd just stood, slicing through with a sharp, shrieking sound.
But it wasn't over.
From the quivering canopy above, a metallic rain suddenly poured down.
Not ordinary leaves.
Silver blades.
Sharp, cold, and gleaming faintly in the misty light. They shot downward like hundreds of throwing knives, tearing through the air at a terrifying speed.
The space around them was immediately ripped apart by the eerie hiss of the wind. The ground where the blades struck shattered into fragments, leaving razor-sharp gouges.
"Damn it!" Nautilus growled, slashing with his sword to deflect part of the incoming barrage. Yuna recoiled in shock, gripping her weapon tightly, her breathing ragged.
Ren clenched his jaw, eyes scanning their surroundings quickly.
There was no more room for doubt.
This tree was alive. It was aware.
And more importantly.
It saw them as enemies.
The roots continued to surge forward, showing no signs of stopping. The silver blades above quivered again, ready to release another deadly wave.
What now?
Fight… or flee?