Chapter 348: The Man Inside the Tree

Arthur kept his eyes on the dark veins running between Ronin and the golden heart. Their earlier attacks had damaged Ronin’s body, but the wounds had disappeared as soon as the corrupted roots tightened around him.

It was not ordinary regeneration, and the difference mattered. Ronin wasn’t simply healing himself. Something inside the World Tree was restoring him whenever he suffered damage.

"Everyone, stop attacking his body for a moment!" Arthur called. "I want to see what happens when he draws power from the Tree again."

Sun stared at him while gripping Long with both hands. "You want us to stop attacking the person who can turn every wound into a minor inconvenience? I just want to make sure I understood that correctly."

"Only for a moment," Arthur replied. "If we keep hitting him without understanding what’s happening, we’ll waste our strength and risk damaging the heart."

"Wonderful. Our enemy is practically immortal, and our battlefield is something we can’t afford to break." Sun glanced at Kong, who was still watching Ronin with an eager expression. "Kong, if you start punching the giant golden heart, I am personally throwing you into the nearest river."

Kong lowered his fists with a disappointed grunt before answering, "I wasn’t going to punch the heart. I was going to punch Ronin into the heart."

"That is somehow worse!"

Despite their argument, Kong moved into a defensive position beside Sun. The crimson markings along his arms remained lit, but he held back his strength while Athena and Athy watched Ronin for signs of another attack.

Athena stepped closer to Arthur, keeping Aegis between herself and the roots crawling across the floor. She studied the exposed section of Ronin’s chest, where the corrupted shell had briefly broken apart during their previous attacks. Beneath the layers of purple energy, something had pulsed independently of the golden light surrounding the Tree.

"I saw it when Vedas struck him," she said. "There was another source of energy inside his body. It wasn’t part of the Tree’s natural circulation, because it continued pulsing even when the golden light around him weakened."

"You think it’s the reason he can draw power from the roots?" Arthur asked.

"I think it’s the reason he can force the roots to respond to him." Athena adjusted her shield and watched as another strand of Miasma crawled across Ronin’s shoulder. "The Tree is resisting him, but his control doesn’t seem to come directly from his body. Something is acting as an intermediary."

Arthur remembered the artificial core Ronin had carried into the depths of the Tree, the unnatural creation made from corrupted energy rather than grown through any natural process. The dark veins spreading across Ronin’s body resembled the same energy, and their connection to the heart was too organized to be accidental.

"The core," he said quietly. "It’s acting like a second heart, forcing the Tree’s power through him and keeping the connection stable."

Athena’s expression tightened as she followed his reasoning. "If that’s true, destroying it might stop him from drawing power from the Tree. But we don’t know whether the core is also keeping the corruption contained. Breaking it carelessly could cause the energy inside him to spread directly into the heart."

"So we can’t simply destroy it," Luna said, looking between Ronin and the dark veins. "And we can’t leave it alone, because he’ll keep using it to control the roots."

"Which means we need to separate the two," Arthur answered. "First, we find out how the connection works. Then we figure out how to cut it without hurting the Tree."

Ronin watched them discuss his body with a faint smile. "You have always been good at looking for answers, Arthur. Even when the answer is standing in front of you, you insist on finding a more complicated explanation."

"I usually find the complicated explanations more interesting."

"That curiosity will be your undoing."

Ronin lifted his hand, and the roots around him began to rise. Arthur immediately moved to intercept them, but the attack never came. Instead, the roots twisted toward the golden heart, their surfaces trembling as if something beneath the bark were struggling to pull them back.

For a brief moment, the purple veins brightened, and the golden light beneath them flickered.

Eden gasped.

"Wait! Did everyone see that?" She flew closer to Arthur, her wings leaving a trail of golden particles behind her. "The roots moved first, but Ronin’s energy didn’t follow them until afterward. There was a little delay between the two!"

Athena turned toward her. "You’re certain?"

"Yes! It’s like they’re trying to move in different directions, and then something pulls them together again." Eden watched the next pulse with unusual concentration. "The golden light moves, the purple light follows, and then everything becomes synchronized. But right before that happens, they don’t match."

Arthur looked at her carefully. "Can you tell when it will happen again?"

"I’m not sure yet." Eden’s wings slowed as she focused on Ronin’s movements. "I can see the difference, but it’s very small. It feels like watching someone take a step before they decide where to put their foot."

Vedas glanced toward her, golden feathers drifting around his armor. "Then don’t force yourself to predict every movement. Watch for the moment when the two sides disagree, and tell us when you see it."

Eden nodded, visibly encouraged by his confidence in her. "I can do that!"

Ronin’s smile faded slightly. "An interesting observation. Unfortunately, noticing a flaw does not mean you can exploit it."

He closed his fist.

The roots erupted.

Arthur barely managed to raise his spear before a thick strand crashed against him, driving him sideways. A golden barrier formed around Eden and Luna as another root swept across their position, and Vedas charged through the gap between the attacks with King Maker held low.

His spear struck Ronin’s ribs, and the golden runes along its shaft ignited. Vedas twisted his weapon, using the force of the impact to push Ronin away from the heart, but the older man caught the spear with one hand and pulled.

Vedas released his grip before the movement could drag him forward, then summoned another golden spear into his hand and thrust it toward Ronin’s face. Ronin tilted his head aside, allowing the point to scrape across the corrupted shell covering his cheek.

"You have improved," Ronin remarked.

"I appreciate the recognition," Vedas replied. "I would appreciate it more if you stood still long enough for me to demonstrate."

He roared, releasing his War Cry. The force of his command disrupted the roots surrounding Ronin, holding several of them still for the briefest moment. Arthur used that opening to charge, Dusk sweeping toward the dark veins on Ronin’s back.

The attack connected.

Golden light spread along the spear, and Arthur felt the resistance of the corrupted shell give way. He pushed forward, trying to reach the connection beneath it, but Ronin’s body twisted in a manner no ordinary person could manage. A root emerged from his side and curled around Dusk’s shaft, forcing the weapon away from its target.

Ronin had already adapted to their approach.

Arthur tried to withdraw, but another root shot from the floor behind him. It struck before he could turn, and the impact sent him toward the golden heart.

"Arthur!"

Vedas moved without hesitation. He abandoned his attack on Ronin, crossed the space between them, and caught Arthur by the shoulder before he could collide with the heart’s outer surface. He planted his feet against the floor and used his own body to absorb the remaining force, his golden armor ringing beneath the impact.

Arthur recovered his balance, but Vedas remained between him and Ronin.

"Are you all right?" Vedas asked.

"Yes. Thanks for catching me."

"You’re welcome. Next time, try not to let the enemy throw you toward the thing we’re trying to protect."

"I’ll keep that in mind."

"You said something similar the last time."

Arthur gave him a brief, apologetic smile. "And I meant it both times."

Vedas shook his head, although the faint glow leaking through his helmet suggested that he was more relieved than annoyed. He raised King Maker again, ready to resume the fight, while Arthur stepped beside him instead of rushing forward alone.

Across the chamber, Mithra had already begun moving with Melo. The fox’s five tails spread wide, silver moon patterns shining as dream mist rolled across the floor. Several false versions of the heart appeared among the surrounding roots, confusing the corrupted tendrils and drawing them away from the real structure.

Mithra used the opening to flash between the roots, striking their vulnerable joints with Dawn Sovereign whenever they threatened the others. Her movements were precise, but she avoided cutting deeply into anything connected directly to the heart.

"Melo, the ones on the left are following the illusions!" Mithra called.

"I noticed. The ones on the right are following you because you keep giving them something real to chase."

"Then I suppose you’ll have to make me less interesting."

"I’ll consider it after we survive."

Melo’s tails snapped forward, cutting through a strand that had nearly wrapped around Mithra’s ankle. The swordswoman flashed away before the remaining roots could close around her, reappearing beside Athena with a quick glance toward Arthur.

"How much longer until we know what we’re supposed to attack?" Mithra asked.

Athena didn’t look away from Ronin. "We’re getting closer, but I need more information about the connection. If we strike the wrong point, we could damage the heart or make the corruption spread."

"Good. I was worried the answer might be something simple."

Mithra returned to the fight before Athena could respond, and Melo followed with her dream mist trailing behind her.

Sun and Kong had found their own way to keep the roots occupied. Kong caught a pair of thick strands and forced them together while Sun struck the floor with Long, sending a concentrated shockwave through the stone beneath them. The impact disrupted the roots’ movement without shattering them, allowing Kong to throw them toward an empty section of the chamber.

"That was good!" Kong said, grinning at Sun. "We should do it again!"

"We should do it only if we have to," Sun replied. "I am trying very hard not to destroy the ancient, irreplaceable thing we’re standing inside."

"Then hit the ground harder."

"That is the opposite of what I just said!"

Even so, Sun adjusted his grip on Long and watched the roots more carefully. Kong’s strength could hold them in place, but Sun’s control over the shockwaves gave them a way to interrupt their movements without tearing them apart.

Above them, Athy’s clones scattered again, and her real body circled the heart to study the corrupted veins from another angle. Athena coordinated their movements with short calls, directing the defenders away from the most unstable roots while Luna watched for changes in the golden light.

Eden remained focused on Ronin.

"There!" she suddenly called. "The purple light is moving ahead of the golden light again!"

Arthur saw it this time. For an instant, the dark veins tightened before the surrounding roots responded, and Ronin’s body jerked as if the connection had pulled too hard. The Tree was resisting him, but the artificial core inside his body forced the two sources of power back into alignment.

Arthur’s expression changed as the pieces finally came together.

"The core is forcing the connection," he said. "The Tree is trying to push him out, but the core keeps pulling its power through the roots and feeding it back into his body. That’s why his wounds keep healing."

Athena nodded slowly, her gaze fixed on the same pulsing veins. "And every time the Tree resists, the struggle travels through the roots and reaches the heart. The longer this continues, the more damage the heart may suffer."

Ronin’s eyes narrowed. The roots around him rose once more, and the purple light beneath his skin became brighter.

"You understand the problem now," he said. "But understanding it will not save you."

Arthur tightened his grip on Dusk, though he no longer looked at Ronin’s body as his primary target. He watched the dark veins instead, following their path from the artificial core toward the roots embedded in Ronin’s back.

They could not win by destroying his body, because the Tree would simply restore it. They could not attack the heart, because doing so would risk destroying the very thing they had come to save. And they could not keep trading blows while the connection grew stronger with every exchange.

Arthur looked toward Vedas, who met his gaze without needing an explanation.

"We need to separate him from the Tree," Arthur said. "Not overpower him. Not destroy the core while it’s still connected. We have to sever the connection itself."

Vedas turned King Maker toward the dark veins, his expression hardening beneath the golden helmet. "Then we find where the connection can be cut, and we make sure he cannot stop us."

Behind Ronin, the golden heart pulsed again, and the corrupted roots rose to answer him.