Chapter 321: Fire in the Roots

The deeper Mithra and Melo went, the less the forest resembled the one they had entered only a short while ago.

Trees burned without falling, their blackened trunks somehow still alive, their branches twisting toward the sky as orange flames crawled across their bark.

Rivers of molten earth flowed between the roots, and every few seconds, another burst of fire erupted from beneath the ground.

Mithra slowly raised Dawn Sovereign, its golden blade reflecting the flames. "This is getting worse."

Beside her, Melo looked around. Her five tails swayed behind her, silver moon patterns glowing faintly through her cosmic pink-and-blue fur, and dream mist drifted around her paws as the crescent mark on her forehead opened into her third eye. "It smells like fear."

Mithra glanced at her. "Fear?"

"Animals." Melo’s ears twitched. "They’re afraid."

A distant roar echoed through the burning forest, and Mithra’s expression turned serious. "Then let’s hope they aren’t the only ones."

The heat grew stronger with every step, but Mithra didn’t slow down.

She moved between the flames with effortless ease, weaving around burning branches and leaping across cracks in the ground.

When a tree collapsed in front of her, she didn’t even stop.

Her foot touched the falling trunk, and she used it as a step, flipped over it, and landed on the other side, while Melo slipped beneath it with dream mist trailing behind her.

"You’re enjoying this," Melo said.

Mithra smiled. "A little."

"You’re strange."

"You’ve known me for a long time."

"Unfortunately."

Mithra laughed. "That’s the closest thing to affection I’ll ever get from you, isn’t it?"

Melo’s ears twitched. "Don’t get greedy."

Another explosion shook the forest, and Mithra’s smile disappeared. Something was coming.

Melo’s third eye opened wider. "I see them."

"How many?"

"Three."

The trees ahead exploded as three enormous Beasts charged through the flames. They looked like giant wolves, but the corruption had twisted their bodies. Burning cracks split their fur, purple Miasma leaked from their mouths, black veins ran beneath their skin, and their eyes burned purple.

Mithra lowered her stance. "Three?"

Melo stared at them. "Four."

Mithra’s eyes narrowed as a fourth Beast emerged behind the others. It was much larger, a massive horned creature covered in blackened scales, and when it roared, the flames around it burst outward.

Mithra vanished.

SHING!

Dawn Sovereign flashed as she reappeared beside the first Beast and cut across its shoulder, and before it could even stagger, she was gone again. She appeared behind another and slashed, then another, moving so fast the flames seemed slower than she was. The Beasts twisted desperately, trying to follow her, and they couldn’t.

Melo watched calmly. "Show-off."

Mithra appeared beside her. "Was that aimed at me?"

"Yes."

Mithra smiled. "I’ll take it."

The largest Beast suddenly charged. Mithra stepped sideways, and as it thundered past her, she twisted and brought Dawn Sovereign down on its back.

BOOM!

The Beast crashed into the ground, and Mithra landed lightly. "That should..."

The ground moved, and Mithra stopped. Black roots burst from beneath the Beast and wrapped around its body, purple Miasma surged through them, and the wounds on its back began to close.

Mithra’s eyes narrowed. "Of course."

The Beast stood again, and Melo’s expression hardened. "The roots are feeding it."

"Just like the Guardian Beast," Mithra said, clicking her tongue. "I should’ve remembered."

The corrupted Beast charged again, and Mithra met it head-on. Dawn Sovereign collided with one of its horns.

CLANG!

The impact sent her sliding back, but she twisted her sword and redirected the horn, and when the Beast stumbled, she stepped straight into its blind spot.

[Dawn Sovereign: Golden Flash]

Her blade struck three times, shoulder, side, and leg, and the Beast went down, but the roots rushed toward its blood at once, and it began to heal.

This time, Mithra didn’t attack again.

She leaped back. "Melo."

"I know."

Dream mist spread across the ground as Melo’s third eye glowed, and the forest changed.

For a brief moment, Mithra saw two versions of the battlefield at once, one real and one a dream.

Melo created several false copies of herself, each running in a different direction, and the corrupted Beasts reacted immediately, chasing after the illusions.

Mithra smiled. "Found them."

Beneath the illusions, thin black roots were visible, moving through the soil, one connected to each Beast. But they didn’t stop there. Mithra followed them with her eyes, and they stretched farther, toward the center of the Fire Region, where something glowed in the distance.

"The Mirror," she said.

Melo nodded. "The roots are connected to it."

Mithra looked back at the Beasts. "And they’re using the Beasts as fuel." She raised Dawn Sovereign. "Then we cut the roots."

Melo’s five tails lifted. "Finally. Something simple."

Mithra smiled. "I wouldn’t call it simple."

The first Beast charged, and Mithra moved, but she didn’t go for the creature. She went for its root.

[Dawn Sovereign: Golden Flash]

The golden blade cut clean through it, and the Beast stumbled as the purple glow in its eyes weakened. Mithra went straight for the second, and another root fell. The third Beast lunged, and Melo’s tails snapped forward.

BOOM!

Five sharpened tails struck the creature at once, sending it flying sideways, and Melo landed. "Next."

Mithra laughed. "Now you’re showing off."

"I learned from you."

The fourth Beast roared. It was the strongest of them, and its body swelled as flames erupted from its back and the roots around it tightened.

Melo’s expression changed. "That one has more."

Mithra looked closer. It wasn’t connected to a single root, or even five. There were dozens.

Her smile disappeared. "That isn’t just a Beast."

The creature roared, and the whole forest shook.

Melo looked toward the deeper region. "It’s a gathering point."

Mithra understood. The corrupted network wasn’t just feeding individual Beasts. It was concentrating power. "This thing is connected directly to the Mirror."

The Beast charged, and Mithra raised Dawn Sovereign. "Then we’ll disconnect it."

Its claws came down, and Mithra disappeared as the claw smashed into the ground.

BOOOOOOM!

Flames exploded through the forest, and Mithra came out of the smoke moving even faster, her sword flashing again and again.

The Beast tried to follow her, but it couldn’t, because she wasn’t fighting it directly anymore.

Every movement was calculated, and every strike was aimed at a root, until one, two, three, and four of them had snapped, and the Beast grew weaker.

Melo flooded the battlefield with illusions, and suddenly there were ten Mithras, then twenty. The Beast lunged at one, and it vanished, and another appeared behind it, and another, while Melo’s dream mist wrapped around its legs and slowed its movements.

Mithra appeared above it.

[Dawn Sovereign: Golden Flash]

She brought the sword down, and the last root snapped. The Beast collapsed, and the battlefield went quiet except for the flames still burning around them. The purple glow had faded from its eyes.

Mithra lowered her sword. The Beast was breathing heavily, but it was alive.

Melo walked toward it. "You could have killed it."

Mithra looked at the creature. "That’s not what we’re here for." Melo looked at her, and Mithra smiled. "Besides, Arthur would complain."

Melo’s ears twitched. "He would."

Mithra sheathed Dawn Sovereign. "And then he’d probably ask why we didn’t try to save it."

Melo nodded. "Then tell him we saved it."

Mithra laughed. "Exactly."

The Beast slowly got to its feet and looked at them, and then it turned and disappeared into the burning forest. Mithra watched it go, and for a moment, neither of them spoke.

Then Melo looked toward the deeper region. "The Mirror."

Mithra followed her gaze to a golden light shining between the burning trees. "There."

They moved on. The deeper they went, the hotter the Fire Region became, the flames climbing higher and the ground growing unstable beneath them. And yet, strangely, the closer they came to the Mirror, the less corrupted everything seemed. The flames remained, but the purple Miasma thinned.

Mithra slowed. "Do you feel that?"

Melo nodded. "The corruption is weaker."

They reached a massive clearing, and Mithra stopped, her eyes widening. At its center stood the Fire Mirror. It was enormous, a golden frame around a surface of deep crimson light, with flames spiraling all around it, and yet the Mirror itself was untouched.

Mithra took a step forward and stopped again. Five enormous roots surrounded the Mirror, each thicker than a building, rising out of the ground and wrapping around the clearing as they pulsed with purple energy.

Melo stared. "The Mirror isn’t corrupted."

"No," Mithra said slowly, looking at the roots. "But the network around it is."

The five roots pulsed, and the entire Fire Region shook.

Mithra raised Dawn Sovereign. "If we cut these..."

"We might weaken the corruption," Melo finished.

Mithra smiled. "Then we know what we’re doing."

She stepped toward the first root, and the moment her sword touched it, a shockwave exploded through the clearing.

BOOOOOOM!

Mithra was thrown back and landed on one knee, and Melo’s tails spread protectively around her. "What was that?"

Mithra slowly stood. The roots had reacted, but not to them. Something else had entered the clearing.

A deep roar rolled through the forest, and the flames bent outward as trees shattered, and something enormous landed behind them.

BOOM!

Mithra turned, and her eyes went wide. A gigantic Beast stood at the edge of the clearing, far larger than the corrupted wolves they had fought.

Its body was shaped like a massive lion covered in black-and-red scales, six horns curved back from its head, flames poured from between its teeth, and purple Miasma crawled across its body.

But unlike the other Beasts, its eyes were completely focused. It wasn’t attacking blindly. It was staring straight at the Fire Mirror.

Melo’s expression turned serious. "It wants the Mirror."

Mithra tightened her grip on Dawn Sovereign as the Beast lowered its body and flames gathered around its claws. Then she stepped forward, and a playful smile returned to her face. "Well..." She raised the golden sword. "Looks like we’re not alone."

The Beast roared.