Chapter 358: Separate Him

For several seconds, nobody moved.

The five streams flowed around the World Tree’s heart, their golden light finally free of the purple corruption that had twisted them for so long.

The pressure that had threatened to tear the chamber apart was gone, and the roots no longer moved with Ronin’s every command. Yet the oldest brother remained embedded in the heart, held in place by roots that had grown around his body.

Arthur watched the dim purple core in Ronin’s chest. Its light had weakened considerably, but every few seconds, a faint pulse traveled through its cracked surface.

"We’ve cut every connection," Arthur said, his breathing still uneven from the battle. "So why hasn’t the Tree released him?"

Luna studied the surrounding roots, searching for any remaining traces of corruption. "The artificial core is still inside him. Even without the five connections, it’s holding him against the heart. The Tree can no longer draw its corruption out through the network, but it hasn’t been freed from the thing that’s embedded in it."

Athena nodded, her expression troubled. "The Mirrors have restored the natural circulation, but that doesn’t mean every trace of Miasma has disappeared. The core is still an independent source of corruption. If we leave it there, it could continue damaging the heart."

"Then we destroy it," Sun said, lifting Long from his shoulder. "We’ve already done the hard part. How difficult can one cracked purple rock possibly be?"

Kong gave him a disbelieving look. "You have spent this entire battle watching that cracked purple rock nearly destroy the World Tree, and that’s your conclusion?"

"When you put it like that, it sounds worse."

"It is worse!"

Melo’s tails swayed as she examined Ronin from a distance. "Sun, the problem isn’t whether we can break the core. It’s whether we can break it without destroying everything around it. That thing is practically buried inside the heart. If we strike carelessly, we could shatter the golden structure along with it."

Sun lowered Long slightly. "All right. That is a considerably more serious problem than I was hoping for."

Arthur approached the heart, careful not to touch the roots surrounding Ronin. With [Reality Dominion], he examined the remaining energy inside the artificial core, following the faint purple lines across its cracked surface. The five external connections were gone, but the core still contained a concentrated mass of corrupted energy, compressed into a structure that had been designed to endure pressure.

Its cracks were not random. They followed the places where the World Tree’s natural energy had resisted its influence, leaving several weak points across the surface. However, the golden heart beneath it was also responding to the damage, and Arthur could see how a poorly directed strike might transfer the force directly into the Tree.

"There," he said, pointing toward a narrow fracture near the core’s center. "The artificial structure is weakest at that point. If we can break it from the inside, the force should collapse inward instead of spreading into the heart."

Vedas stepped beside him, examining the fracture. His manifested armor flickered as Eden’s synchronization began to fail, and the golden rings surrounding his sword had slowed considerably.

"You say that as though breaking it from the inside will be easy," Vedas remarked. "We need to reach that fracture without striking the golden core beneath it, and Ronin is unlikely to stand still while we try."

"Then we make sure he can’t interfere."

Vedas glanced at Arthur. "And how exactly do you intend to accomplish that?"

Arthur smiled faintly. "I was hoping you’d have an idea."

"Remarkable. After all this time, you’ve finally learned to delegate."

"I’ve always delegated."

"You’ve always announced your plans and expected everyone else to survive them."

Arthur opened his mouth to argue, but Vedas had already turned toward Ronin.

The oldest brother raised his head, his expression shifting from exhaustion to cold fury. Purple light flickered beneath his skin, and the roots surrounding him tightened as he attempted to force power back into the artificial core.

"You think removing those connections has made me helpless?" Ronin asked. His voice was rougher than before, but the hatred in it remained unmistakable. "I created that core to control the power of the World Tree. You cannot undo my work simply because you managed to break a few conduits."

"Your work is the reason we’re here," Arthur replied. "The Tree never agreed to any of this. You forced your way into its heart and called it control."

Ronin’s jaw tightened. "You know nothing about what it means to possess power that the world itself cannot comprehend. The ancient people were content to preserve what they had. They feared the World Tree because they lacked the strength to command it."

"And you were so afraid of being powerless that you decided everything had to belong to you."

For a moment, Ronin’s expression changed. Arthur saw the words land, but the opening disappeared as the remaining purple light flared across his chest.

"You will not take this from me!"

The roots around the heart erupted.

Ronin forced the last reserves of energy from his artificial core, sending a violent surge through the chamber. Without the five connections, the attack lacked the overwhelming force he had wielded earlier, but the concentrated corruption was still powerful enough to threaten the heart directly.

"Everyone, get back!" Arthur shouted.

A mass of roots swept toward the golden core. Kong rushed forward, bracing himself against the largest one while Sun released a shockwave that knocked several smaller tendrils aside. The impact drove Kong backward, his feet grinding against the platform, but he held his ground long enough for the attack to lose its momentum.

"That was his last big attack, right?" Sun yelled.

Kong strained against the root. "Would you stop asking questions you don’t know the answer to and help me?"

Sun struck again, and together they forced the roots away from the heart. On the western side, Mithra and Melo intercepted another wave before it could reach Eden, whose synchronization was now flickering so badly that her manifested connections had begun to unravel.

Mithra caught Eden’s arm as the Chrono Fairy dipped toward the ground. "Eden, you can’t keep this up much longer!"

"I know!" Eden replied, struggling to steady herself. "The Mirrors are holding the network together, but the synchronization is almost gone. Arthur and Vedas need to finish this now!"

Athena and Athy reinforced the chamber’s barriers, preventing the remaining roots from collapsing onto the restored streams. Luna maintained the five Mirrors’ resonance, keeping the golden heart stable while the others dealt with Ronin’s desperate retaliation.

"Arthur!" Athy called. "The heart is stabilizing, but that surge is putting pressure on the outer structure! You need to end this before he tries again!"

Arthur turned toward Vedas. "We have one opening. I’ll expose the fracture, and you drive the attack into it. But we need to redirect the force inward, not through the heart."

Vedas raised his spear, the golden-white light around its tip intensifying. "Understood. You control the angle. I’ll provide the force."

"And if the core begins to destabilize before we strike?"

"Then we adjust. But we are not leaving that thing inside the heart."

Arthur nodded. The golden markings across his body flickered as Eden struggled to maintain his future-state synchronization, and he could feel the borrowed power beginning to slip away. He did not need another five minutes. He needed one precise opening.

He activated [Pillars of Dominion], but instead of creating large barriers, he formed two narrow pillars on either side of the artificial core. They pressed against the corrupted structure, holding it steady while leaving the golden heart beneath untouched. Then he used [Sovereign Piercing Light] to trace a thin line of golden energy along the fracture he had identified.

The core resisted immediately.

Purple energy surged against the golden line, trying to force it away from the vulnerable point. Arthur gritted his teeth, adjusting the pressure with [Adaptive Sovereignty] until the two forces reached a fragile balance.

"Vedas! Now!"

Vedas moved.

His manifested strength gathered around the spear as he drove its tip into the fracture, following the path Arthur had created. Rather than unleashing a wide explosion, he concentrated the attack into a single point, forcing the energy through the artificial structure.

The purple core cracked.

Ronin screamed as the remaining corruption surged through his body. The roots around him convulsed, and the golden heart trembled beneath the pressure.

"Don’t let it spread!" Arthur shouted.

He tightened the pillars around the core, forcing the fracture inward as Vedas pushed his spear deeper. The purple light gathered into a brilliant point, then collapsed into itself. For one terrifying instant, the artificial core seemed to resist the collapse, its cracked surface glowing brighter as it attempted to hold its shape.

Then it shattered.

Fragments of purple light burst outward, but Arthur’s pillars contained the explosion, preventing the corrupted energy from striking the golden heart. The fragments dissolved into harmless sparks, and the remaining Miasma faded from the surrounding roots.

The chamber fell silent.

Ronin’s body sagged as the roots holding him began to loosen. The golden heart pulsed beneath him, its light growing stronger as the last traces of corruption disappeared. One root withdrew from his shoulder, followed by another from his waist, and then several more peeled away from his arms and legs.

"He’s coming free!" Luna exclaimed.

Arthur watched carefully, ready to intervene if the roots began tearing through Ronin’s body. The World Tree was releasing him, but its movements were slow and deliberate, as though it were disentangling something that had been embedded too deeply to remove all at once.

Ronin looked down at his hands, then toward the heart that had once supplied his overwhelming strength.

"No..." he whispered. "After everything I did..."

Arthur stepped forward. "Ronin, don’t fight it. Let the Tree release you."

Ronin’s expression twisted. Even weakened, he tried to reach toward the heart, but his fingers closed on empty air. The roots withdrew farther, leaving his body suspended for a brief moment before releasing him entirely.

Arthur rushed forward and caught him before he struck the platform.

Vedas landed beside them as the last traces of his manifested armor dissolved into golden light. Eden’s synchronization finally ended, and the Chrono Fairy dropped into Luna’s arms, exhausted but conscious.

The artificial core was gone.

The golden heart beat steadily, its light spreading through the chamber without the distortion that had plagued it for so long. Arthur looked down at Ronin, who lay unconscious in his arms, and released a breath he had been holding since the beginning of the operation.

They had saved the World Tree without killing the man who had nearly destroyed it.

But the battle had left the entire chamber exhausted, and the heart was still recovering from the damage it had suffered.

Arthur looked toward the others. "We need to get everyone clear and let the Tree stabilize. The corruption is gone, but we’re not finished until we know the heart can recover."

Behind him, the golden core pulsed again, brighter than before.

For the first time, the World Tree was free to heal.