Chapter 347: The Heart Erupts

Ronin moved first.

The roots surrounding the World Tree’s heart tore themselves from the walls, their enormous bodies twisting through the air as purple Miasma spread across their surfaces. Arthur barely had time to raise Dusk before Ronin crossed the distance between them, his corrupted arm swinging down with enough force to split the golden floor beneath their feet.

Arthur met the blow with his spear, but the impact drove him backward. Vedas appeared beside him and thrust King Maker into Ronin’s side, forcing the older man to turn away before he could follow up. Golden light burst from the Goblin King’s armor as he pressed forward, his spear aimed at the cracks running through the corrupted mass covering Ronin’s chest.

"Don’t give him room!" Arthur called, recovering his footing as he followed Vedas into the attack.

Ronin’s expression barely changed. He caught King Maker between two fingers, and the roots beneath his feet surged upward, striking Vedas across the chest before the Goblin King could withdraw. Vedas flew backward, but golden feathers scattered around him as he twisted in midair and landed on his feet, his armor scraping against the ground.

"That was unpleasant," Vedas remarked, straightening his helmet. "I would prefer not to experience it again."

"Then stop letting him grab your spear!" Sun shouted from behind them.

"An excellent suggestion. I will inform Ronin that he should stop doing that."

Sun opened his mouth to reply, but the floor beneath him suddenly split apart. He jumped aside as a thick root burst through the stone, narrowly avoiding being swept into the air with it. Kong caught the root with both hands before it could swing around for another strike, his broad frame braced against the ground as crimson markings ignited across his golden fur.

"Got it!" Kong announced, tightening his grip. "Sun, hit this thing!"

"That thing is connected to the giant tree we’re trying to save!" Sun protested, raising Long into position. "I can’t just blow it up!"

"Then don’t blow it up!"

Kong pulled the root downward, forcing it against the floor. Sun stared at him for a moment before releasing a concentrated Point Shockwave into the section where the root met the ground. The impact knocked it sideways without tearing it apart, allowing Kong to throw the writhing mass away from their allies.

"See?" Kong grinned. "Easy!"

"You say that because you’re the one holding the giant root!"

The exchange ended when another root came sweeping toward them, and Sun had to duck while Kong caught it with one hand. Their complaints continued even as they worked together, but the second root was forced away from the heart before it could reach the golden surface.

Above them, Athy divided into several luminous copies, each taking a different position around the chamber. Her golden eyes followed the movements of the roots while her clones scattered through the air, drawing the attention of smaller tendrils away from Eden and Luna.

"Arthur, the roots aren’t moving randomly!" Athy called, her real body banking sharply to avoid a strand of corrupted energy. "They’re following the flow of Miasma from Ronin’s body, but the Tree keeps changing their direction!"

Athena raised Aegis as a root crashed down in front of her. The shield caught the impact, its golden surface flaring while the force drove her boots several inches across the floor. She held her ground long enough to redirect the root toward an empty section of the chamber, then glanced toward the heart.

"That explains why their movements keep changing," she said. "The Tree is resisting him, but Ronin is forcing its roots to obey. We’re caught between two opposing forces, and neither can fully control what happens next."

"Which means we need to keep our distance from the heart," Luna added, drawing back as a wave of purple energy rolled across the floor. "If the Tree is fighting him from the inside, we can’t assume its next movement will be safe for us."

Arthur heard them, but his attention remained fixed on Ronin. Vedas had already returned to the front, his golden spear sweeping toward the older man’s shoulder as Arthur approached from the opposite side. Their movements fell into the familiar rhythm they had developed over countless battles, with Vedas forcing Ronin to defend against direct attacks while Arthur searched for an opening.

Vedas’s spear flashed with golden fire. He drove forward with Armor Piercing, the attack striking Ronin’s shoulder and breaking through the corrupted shell covering it. Arthur followed immediately, thrusting Dusk toward the exposed section before Ronin could turn around.

For a moment, the attack appeared to succeed. Dusk pierced through Ronin’s body, and golden light spread from the point of impact as Arthur released a controlled Magic Burst. The explosion drove Ronin several steps backward, tearing away the surrounding Miasma and exposing a glimpse of the man’s original clothing beneath it.

"That worked!" Eden called, her wings beating rapidly as she hovered beside Luna. Golden particles gathered around her hands, ready to interfere with Ronin’s next movement. "Arthur, do it again!"

Arthur started to withdraw Dusk, but the golden heart behind Ronin suddenly pulsed.

The entire chamber shook.

The roots surrounding Ronin recoiled before surging toward him again, and the Miasma covering his wound began to twist and gather. Arthur felt resistance against his spear as the flesh beneath it shifted, pushing Dusk out of the damaged area. Before he could retreat, Ronin caught the shaft and pulled him forward.

"Arthur!" Mithra shouted.

She crossed the distance in a flash, Dawn Sovereign cutting through the corrupted strands wrapped around Arthur’s arm. Arthur twisted free at the same moment that Ronin swung his other hand toward them, forcing Mithra to change direction before the blow could catch her.

She landed beside Arthur, her sword raised and her expression unusually serious. "I was hoping you’d give me a little more time before doing something reckless, but I suppose that was too much to ask."

"I had an opening."

"You had a spear stuck in a man who is connected to the world’s largest tree. Those are not the same thing."

Melo’s five tails spread behind her, their silver moon patterns shining through the dream mist curling around her pink-and-blue fur. Several copies of Ronin appeared around the chamber, each surrounded by a false trail of Miasma, and the illusions drew the corrupted roots toward empty spaces while Mithra moved between them.

"Your definition of an opening needs work, crazy person," Melo said, watching Arthur with her crescent-marked third eye. "Preferably before you get yourself pulled into the tree."

"I’ll take that under consideration."

"No, you won’t."

Mithra almost smiled, but Ronin’s next movement wiped the amusement from her face. He extended his hand, and the corrupted energy gathered around him erupted outward in a broad wave. Melo’s illusions shattered as the force swept through the chamber, forcing Mithra to retreat while she cut down the strands reaching for her legs.

Athena moved in front of Luna, bringing Aegis around to shield them both.

Athy’s clones descended from above, striking the incoming roots with concentrated light, but each attack only diverted them for a few seconds before they began moving again.

One of the roots slipped past Athena’s shield and struck the ground near Luna, sending fragments of golden stone flying across the chamber.

Luna stumbled, and Athena caught her arm before she could fall. "Are you hurt?"

"No, but I don’t think the Tree can keep this up forever," Luna replied, staring at the golden heart. "Look at the surface. Every time Ronin draws on it, the light becomes weaker around the place where he’s connected."

Eden followed her gaze, and the excitement in her expression faded. The heart was still enormous and beautiful, its golden surface glowing like a sun buried inside the Tree, but dark veins had spread farther across it since they had entered the chamber. Every pulse sent a tremor through the surrounding roots, as if the Tree were struggling to maintain its own rhythm.

"Then we have to stop him before the heart gets hurt," Eden said. She flew higher, releasing golden particles that gathered around Ronin’s head and shoulders. For a brief moment, his movements slowed as Charm interfered with his next attack, giving Vedas enough time to rush in and strike at his side.

King Maker struck with a heavy metallic clang. Vedas followed with a second thrust, then brought his spear around in a wide arc that forced Ronin to release his grip on the surrounding roots. Arthur used the opening to retreat toward the others, watching the way the Miasma moved whenever Ronin suffered damage.

"His body is recovering too quickly," Arthur said. "Even when we break through his defenses, the corruption gathers again before we can exploit the damage."

"Then we hit him harder," Kong suggested, cracking his knuckles as crimson flames gathered around his fists. "If he keeps healing, I’ll just keep breaking him!"

"That is not a strategy," Athena replied, though she kept her shield raised as she spoke. "And we don’t know how much damage the Tree can endure while he’s using it to repair himself."

Kong looked toward the heart, then reluctantly lowered his fists. "Fine. But I would like everyone to remember that I had a very good strategy ready."

Sun patted his shoulder while keeping Long pointed toward the nearest root. "I’ll remember it fondly, right up until the part where you destroy the thing we’re trying to protect."

Star bounced anxiously beside Arthur, its dark, glossy body stretching into several long strands as it tried to follow the movement of the roots.

One strand wrapped around a smaller tendril and pulled it away from Eden, while another hardened to withstand a shower of falling stone. When the corrupted energy crawled toward its body, Star immediately reshaped itself, allowing the purple strands to slide off its smooth surface.

Arthur placed a hand against Star’s head for a brief moment. "Good job. Keep those roots away from Eden and Luna, but don’t let them pull you toward the heart."

Star wobbled in a determined nod before springing back into action.

The small gesture helped Arthur settle his thoughts. They had enough strength to keep Ronin occupied, and their different abilities were allowing them to protect one another even as the chamber collapsed around them. What they lacked was a way to turn their attacks into lasting damage without putting the World Tree at risk.

He looked again at the heart and noticed something he had missed during the first exchange. The corrupted veins around Ronin’s body were not merely spreading outward from him.

They reached behind his back and disappeared into the roots surrounding the golden core, pulsing in time with its light. Whenever Ronin was injured, those veins brightened, and the damage began to disappear.

"Vedas, pull him away from the heart!" Arthur shouted. "Don’t aim for his body. Force him to move!"

Vedas understood immediately. He drove King Maker forward, using the spear’s reach to pressure Ronin without committing to a strike that might carry through into the heart behind him.

Arthur attacked from the other side, forcing Ronin to turn between them while Mithra and Melo used their speed and illusions to interfere with his attempts to counterattack.

For several seconds, the strategy worked. Ronin was pushed away from the golden surface, and his connection to the nearest roots stretched taut. His expression changed for the first time, irritation breaking through his calm as he realized what Arthur was attempting.

Then the roots beneath his feet moved.

They wrapped around Ronin’s legs and waist, pulling him backward before Vedas could force him farther away. Arthur saw the corrupted veins tighten, and he immediately raised his hand to stop the others from attacking. The golden heart pulsed again, sending a wave of energy through the chamber that threw everyone off balance.

Ronin stood upright as the wounds on his body closed. The broken shell over his shoulder reformed, the damage from Arthur’s Magic Burst vanished, and even the mark left by Vedas’s spear disappeared beneath fresh layers of corrupted energy.

Arthur’s grip tightened around Dusk. "You’re using the Tree to restore your body."

Ronin looked at him, his expression settling back into its earlier calm. Behind him, the golden heart continued to pulse, although the dark veins across its surface had grown thicker.

"Restore?" Ronin repeated. "You still think this is a simple matter of healing."

He raised one hand, and the roots around the chamber lifted with him, their enormous bodies moving as if they were extensions of his own limbs.

The wounds that would have crippled an ordinary Silver-level opponent had already vanished, leaving him standing without a trace of the damage they had inflicted.

"As long as I remain connected to the World Tree, you can tear my body apart a hundred times and it will make no difference," Ronin said. "Every wound you inflict will be repaired, every attack you land will be answered, and the power you need to defeat me will only strengthen my connection to this place."

His gaze shifted toward the heart behind him, and the corrupted veins brightened in response.

"You cannot defeat me by fighting harder, Arthur. The World Tree will give me everything I need to keep standing."

Arthur said nothing, but his eyes remained fixed on the dark veins running between Ronin and the golden core. They had found the reason their attacks were failing, and it was worse than he had expected.