Chapter 346: The Heart of the World Tree

Ronin’s raised hand remained suspended between them as the enormous entrance behind him continued opening.

Arthur tightened his grip on Dusk, then stepped forward with Vedas beside him. The others followed, their attention fixed on the roots winding around Ronin’s body and the purple Miasma leaking from the cracks in his artificial core.

Nobody rushed to attack.

After everything they had learned about the World Tree, charging blindly into its heart would be foolish. They had finally reached the place where the corruption had concentrated, and one careless decision could destroy the very thing they had spent so long trying to save.

Ronin noticed their hesitation and smiled.

"What’s wrong? You’ve come all this way, yet none of you seems eager to take the next step."

Arthur glanced toward the entrance. "We’re deciding how to stop you without destroying the Tree. You should try thinking about that for once."

Sun snorted. "He has a point. Most people would probably consider destroying the thing they’re standing inside a bad strategy."

Kong nodded. "Especially when the thing is large enough to crush us without even trying."

Melo looked at the roots surrounding them. "The Tree is already struggling to keep him contained. If we make the situation worse, we might give the corruption exactly what it wants."

Ronin’s smile faded slightly.

"You speak as though the World Tree is an innocent victim. It possesses enough power to sustain an entire world, yet it has spent centuries resisting anyone who attempts to use that power."

Athena raised Heavenpiercer. "You keep confusing restraint with weakness. The Tree’s power supports everything living inside the Secret Realm. Taking control of it isn’t the same as understanding it."

"Then perhaps you should learn the difference between understanding power and possessing it," Ronin replied.

Arthur shook his head. "We already know the difference. That’s why we’re here."

He walked through the entrance.

For a moment, nothing happened.

Then the world opened around him.

Arthur stopped so suddenly that Vedas nearly collided with his back. The Goblin King caught himself and looked over Arthur’s shoulder, only to fall silent as well.

The heart of the World Tree was enormous.

A vast chamber extended in every direction, its boundaries disappearing into layers of intertwined roots that resembled mountains. Golden branches curved overhead, forming a natural dome so large that the people standing beneath it seemed insignificant. Rivers of mana flowed through transparent roots embedded in the walls, converging toward the center of the chamber.

And at the center floated a golden core.

It was enormous, its surface formed from countless layers of light that moved and shifted like the surface of a living star. Golden veins extended from it into the surrounding roots, pulsing in a steady rhythm that Arthur could feel through the ground beneath his feet.

Yet black veins had spread across the core’s surface.

Purple Miasma clung to them, burrowing deeper whenever the golden light attempted to push it away.

Luna slowly approached the edge of the chamber.

"So this is the heart."

Her voice was quiet, but Arthur heard the wonder in it.

Eden floated beside him, her wings trembling as the golden rings around her body began rotating faster. "There’s so much Time here. I can feel moments layered over one another, like the heart has been carrying the same memories for thousands of years."

Arthur looked at her. "Can you tell what’s happening to it?"

"Not everything." Eden frowned as she studied the core. "Some of its movements are happening now, but others feel much older. The Tree is trying to preserve itself while something keeps forcing the corruption deeper inside."

Athena examined the roots surrounding the chamber. "Then the heart isn’t merely a source of power. It’s the center of the entire network."

She pointed toward the enormous streams of light extending from the core.

"Look at those."

Five streams flowed toward the heart from different directions, each carrying a distinct energy. One burned with the warmth of Fire, another shimmered with the movement of Water, and a third carried the steady weight of Earth. The fourth was darker and more difficult to perceive, while the fifth shone with a clear golden light.

Arthur stared.

"The five Mirrors."

Luna nodded. "Their energy has been flowing toward the heart this entire time. The regions, the barriers, the ancient mechanisms... everything was connected."

Mithra looked toward the streams. "So the Mirrors weren’t just keeping the regions stable. They were helping the Tree maintain its balance."

"Exactly," Athena replied. "The five stabilization points regulate its connection to the Secret Realm. If they’re functioning properly, the Tree can sustain the ecosystem without allowing the corruption to spread unchecked."

Athy looked toward the black veins covering the golden core. "But Ronin has forced himself into the middle of that system. He’s using the same connections the Tree needs to survive."

Vedas crossed his arms. "Which means defeating him by destroying everything around him isn’t an option."

Sun sighed. "Of course it isn’t. Why would anything about this place be simple?"

Kong gave him a friendly pat on the shoulder. "Because simple things are boring."

"Not when you’re trying to save the world!"

Despite the exchange, Arthur remained focused on the heart.

Something about the way the five streams converged bothered him. Their energy wasn’t simply flowing into the core. Each stream carried traces of the Tree’s golden light outward as well, maintaining a continuous circulation between the heart and the surrounding structure.

The corruption had disrupted that circulation.

And Ronin was standing directly in the middle of it.

Arthur followed one of the golden veins with his eyes until he found the place where it disappeared beneath Ronin’s body.

He finally understood.

"That’s why the Tree keeps resisting him."

Ronin stood near the heart, his lower body embedded in the enormous roots surrounding the core. Thick roots extended through his torso and limbs, while the cracked Miasma artifact in his chest pulsed violently. Every time the golden core brightened, the roots around him tightened, forcing the corruption to recoil before it could spread farther.

But Ronin remained connected.

He had placed himself directly between the heart and the corruption, forcing the Tree to fight against him while attempting to preserve its own existence.

Arthur’s expression hardened.

"The Tree isn’t asking us to destroy you."

Ronin watched him carefully.

"No?"

Arthur shook his head. "It wants us to separate you from the heart."

The chamber became silent.

Luna looked toward Arthur, then toward the five streams of energy. Her expression changed as the pieces finally came together.

"The Mirrors can help stabilize the Tree while we separate the corruption," she said. "But the connection between you and the heart has to be broken without destroying either one."

Athena nodded slowly. "That would explain why the ancient civilization created the stabilization network instead of simply trying to destroy the corrupted Tree. They needed a way to separate the corruption while preserving the system that sustained the Secret Realm."

Melo’s ears lowered as she watched Ronin. "But he’s woven himself too deeply into it. If we attack without understanding the connection, we might hurt the Tree more than we hurt him."

"Then we’ll understand it while we’re fighting," Mithra replied, drawing Dawn Sovereign. "We’ve dealt with worse situations than this."

Melo looked at her.

"That’s not particularly reassuring."

"It wasn’t supposed to be."

Kong laughed, but his expression quickly became serious again as Ronin’s aura surged across the chamber.

The oldest brother had been listening without interrupting. Now he slowly lowered his hand, and the roots embedded in his body began moving.

"You finally understand," Ronin said.

Arthur looked directly at him.

"Yeah."

Ronin’s eyes narrowed. "And?"

Arthur raised Dusk.

"We’re going to cut you out."

For several seconds, Ronin remained silent.

Then he laughed.

The sound echoed through the chamber as purple Miasma erupted from the cracks in his artificial core. The roots surrounding his body tightened, and the golden streams connecting the five Mirrors to the heart began trembling under the pressure.

"You believe that understanding the problem means you can solve it?" Ronin asked. "You think a few clever observations and the cooperation of your friends will be enough to overcome the power of the World Tree?"

Arthur adjusted his stance.

"No. I think it’ll take all of us."

He glanced at Vedas, then at Eden, Star, Luna, and the others standing behind him.

"We didn’t come this far because we were stronger than everything in our way. We came this far because we kept finding another way forward."

Vedas stepped beside him, his armored fist tightening.

"And we’ll find one here."

Eden’s golden rings rotated faster as she studied the heart, searching for the moments when its defenses weakened and the corruption became exposed. Star bounced onto Arthur’s shoulder, his body glowing faintly as he prepared to protect his partner. Luna drew a breath and fixed her gaze on Ronin, while Mithra and Sun moved into position with Kong, Athena, Athy, and Melo.

Behind them, the five streams of energy continued to pulse.

The World Tree was still resisting.

It was still alive.

And it was still waiting for someone to help it free itself from the corruption embedded in its heart.

Ronin raised his hand again.

The roots around the chamber began to move.

"Then come," he said, his enormous aura spreading through the heart. "Show me how you intend to separate me from the power that will make me king."

Arthur smiled as Dusk gleamed in his hand.

"Gladly."

The golden core pulsed.

The five streams of energy brightened.