Rustle…
The severed roots hadn't even settled before they began to regrow, as if they had never been harmed.
The cuts left behind by the blade lasted only a moment before being filled in by a fresh layer of bark, like wounds healing themselves right before their eyes.
Ren clenched his teeth. This tree wasn't just indestructible, it could regenerate its roots at a terrifying speed.
It didn't fear swords. It didn't fear damage. It was as if everything they'd done was just a breeze brushing past a stone, meaningless.
"It doesn't have an HP bar..." Nautilus muttered, doubt flickering in his eyes. His hand tightened unconsciously around the hilt of his sword, as if the weapon alone could give him some sense of security. "We're striking at something that can't be struck."
Something that can't be struck.
No HP bar.
No visible damage.
A cold chill crawled down Ren's spine.
Then what was this?
A special kind of monster? A natural barrier? A hidden mechanic never mentioned in any guide?
It wasn't in the data.
No information. No hints. No optimal strategy. No way out.
But Ren refused to believe there was no way. There couldn't exist a threat that couldn't be defeated. Everything in this world followed rules, even if those rules were hidden.
He gripped his sword tighter, the cold of the metal grounding him in reality.
Whoosh!
A massive root suddenly shot up from beneath their feet, curling like a giant serpent, jaws open, ready to swallow its prey.
"Jump!"
Ren shouted instinctively, pushing off the ground and leaping into the air just as the ground beneath shattered from the root's force.
Nautilus reacted instantly. He bent his knees, twisted midair, flipping to avoid the strike. But just as the two of them landed…
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Three more roots were already descending from above like enormous spears, too fast to dodge.
No room to retreat.
No time to think.
Ren narrowed his eyes.
He didn't need to analyze. Didn't need to plan. Didn't need to search for a strategy.
His body had moved before his mind even gave the order.
His hand clenched the sword, legs coiled to spring, every nerve stretched to the limit.
He didn't know how to defeat it.
But if they didn't fight.
They would die.
It was beautiful, but deadly.
Silvery leaves swayed gently in the wind, casting a dappled light on the forest floor.
Ren wouldn't have been surprised if the thing attacking them was a giant, twisted, ugly tree spirit.
But…
It wasn't a towering tree. On the contrary, its trunk was modest in height, shorter than many trees around them. At a glance, it looked unremarkable, save for a divine beauty that defied description. Aside from that, it was just a part of the wild. Nothing more.
But that was only the facade.
Because beneath that tangled network of roots was a deadly trap.
Rustle…
Roots began to rise from the ground, squirming, crawling like snakes awakened from a deep slumber. These weren't lifeless tree roots. They had intent.
They were hunting Ren and Nautilus.
No matter how many they cut down, no matter how precisely they dodged, they couldn't evade them all.
Crack!
A root lashed into Ren's side. Pain exploded through his body, forcing him back. His vision shook for a heartbeat.
Thud!
Nautilus wasn't any better. Another root struck down from above, hitting his shoulder, halting his movement mid-stride.
And the moment their momentum faltered.
The roots came again.
They gave no time to recover. No moment to breathe.
Crack! Crack!
The roots struck from every direction like iron whips, merciless and powerful.
Ren gritted his teeth, trying to dodge, but...
Too fast.
Too many.
Another root coiled around his ankle and yanked hard.
His HP dropped rapidly.
Chunks of his crimson health bar were torn away with each blow, no mercy, no hesitation.
Sweat trickled down his temple. His heartbeat pounded like war drums.
Ren clutched his sword, breath ragged. They couldn't keep going like this.
He had to do something.
He had to find a way to fight back…
Now.
He forced distance between himself and the roots, there had to be a way.
Ren's heart beat faster, his body close to exhaustion. The haunting mist cloaking the area wrapped the tree in a veil of madness.
They couldn't even tell where the next attack would come from, damn this cursed fog.
Suppressing the urge to curse aloud, Ren rushed toward where Nautilus was standing. They needed to cover each other.
But every effort was in vain.
No matter how hard they fought, how sharp their blades were, how many roots they severed, they kept growing back, stronger, denser, as if they had never been harmed.
They didn't just want to bind.
They wanted to devour.
The roots slithered up, cold and slick, coiling around their legs like starving serpents, slipping through gaps in their armor, tightening around calves, knees, and then slowly climbing, bit by bit.
From legs… to chest.
From chest… to neck.
Tightening.
Tightening even more.
Ren gritted his teeth, a cold chill running down his spine as the crushing pressure bore down on his body. It wasn't just physical pain, it was the sheer helplessness of being robbed of control.He couldn't move.
He couldn't raise his sword.
He couldn't run.
Thud!
Nautilus, just beside him, wasn't faring any better. His arms were tightly bound by layers of twisting roots, his blue eyes wide with alarm as he watched a thicker mass curl around his waist, dragging him down, as if to bury him whole.
Crack…
A faint sound echoed.
At first, Ren thought it was the sound of his own bones straining under the force. But no...
It was the ground.
The earth was splitting.
Not because they were resisting. But because they were being pulled under.
The once-solid soil had become a collapsing void, a yawning pit ready to swallow its prey. Layers of earth gave way, folding in on themselves as the darkness crept closer.
The roots squeezed tighter, layer upon layer, weaving together into a natural coffin, sealed tight, not a single sliver of light slipping through.
They were being devoured.
They were being entombed in eternal darkness, buried deep with the cursed tree.
No escape.
No way out.
The tree was burying them, as if offering a twisted mercy for the sin of trespassing.
Thump.
Ren's heart pounded against his chest, each beat screaming a warning he already understood.
If he didn't act now.
They would die.
Another root slithered up his cheek, cold, rough. It coiled tighter, pinning both of them as the collapsing earth pulled them further down.
He couldn't move.
His sword was still in hand, but his fingers were going numb, strength bleeding out with every second.
Dragged down.
Swallowed whole.
Crushed.
No!
Ren clenched his jaw, his breath ragged. He couldn't die here. Not yet. Not like this!
A way out... There had to be a way out!
He scoured his mind, desperate for anything.
Anything that might save them.
But there was nothing.
No tricks. No guidance. No escape.
Damn it!
Suddenly...
A thunderous sound split the air, making the entire forest quake.
The tremor felt… familiar. Just like when they sensed something slithering beneath the soil back in the labyrinth.
Ren felt the pressure on his body ease, only slightly, but enough to notice. As if something had disturbed the tree.
And in that fleeting moment.
A shaft of light pierced through the tangled roots that held them.
Just for a second.
Just a narrow slit.
But Ren saw it.
He looked up.
Bound and pinned against the cold earth, he could now see it more clearly than ever, the thing looming above them.
The tree. Towering. Still. Regal. Like a divine being that didn't belong in this world.
Its vast canopy stretched wide, silver leaves glimmering faintly in the ambient light, gently swaying as though breathing, sensitive to every motion below.
It was beautiful.
Pure, immaculate, so ethereal it felt unreal, like something drawn from a dream.
But it was wrong.
He couldn't ignore the blotches marring its surface, wounds that didn't belong on something so flawless.
They weren't normal cuts.
They were gaping gouges, violently carved as though someone had once tried to tear the bark open.
Chunks of bark stripped away, exposing the coarse, dried wood beneath, ugly and raw, like wounds that never healed.
Those scars shattered the perfection, like a masterpiece defaced by irreparable slashes.
And then...
Ren noticed something.
Something was moving across the trunk.
Not a living creature. Not anything with a defined shape.
A shadow.
A distortion.
A twisted patch of reality, so warped the eye could barely make sense of it.
No color.
No form.
Only the way it bent the space around it.
Light and darkness spiraling into a single point before fracturing apart.
It was crawling.
Slowly.
Deliberately.
Slithering down the trunk like a nightmare clothed in silence..Like a predator, patient and poised.
And as if seizing a sliver of opportunity, Ren cried out..
"Yuna! Strike one-third of the way down from the top of the tree!"
He didn't know if she heard him.
Didn't know if she'd understand.
But he had to try.
He couldn't fight back, not like this, restrained, crushed, sinking deeper by the second.
But Yuna…
Yuna was still free.
She could still answer his call.