Chapter 312: The Corrupted Chief

The forest had become almost unrecognizable.

The group moved carefully between the enormous roots spreading across the newly connected land, steering around streams of molten rock and patches of blackened earth where the Miasma had already begun eating away the mana.

They were heading north, toward the forest where Eden had spotted the students, and every minute they spent weaving around the roots was another minute those students were running for their lives.

Eden kept the perception connection running between them, and Arthur could see through several sets of eyes at once. Mithra watched the path ahead, Vedas covered the rear, Athy surveyed the sky, Athena studied the terrain, and Sun kept an eye on the ground.

Even Kong’s view appeared now and then, though Arthur wasn’t entirely sure why Kong kept staring at the same few trees.

Then Eden stopped, and Arthur felt her attention shift. "What?"

Eden looked ahead. "I can feel something."

Mithra reached for Dawn Sovereign. "What kind of something?"

Eden shook her head. "Big."

Sun sighed. "That’s becoming a terrible measurement."

A low roar rolled through the forest, shaking the trees and sending birds and smaller Beasts fleeing from the canopy. Another roar answered it, closer this time.

Arthur’s expression turned serious. "Everyone, get ready."

The forest ahead exploded.

BOOOOOOM!

A gigantic Beast crashed through the trees, and Arthur’s eyes went wide. He recognized it, not personally, but from the ancient carvings. It had once been depicted beside the World Tree. Its body resembled a massive stag, far larger than any ordinary creature, with six enormous antlers glowing faintly gold and golden patterns covering its body. Its hooves barely touched the ground, and roots grew naturally around its feet.

"It’s one of the Guardian Beasts," Arthur said.

Athena’s expression changed. "You recognize it?"

"From the carvings." He looked at the creature. "It was protecting the World Tree."

Luna’s eyes widened. "Then why is it here?"

Arthur didn’t answer. The Beast lowered its head, and its golden eyes were gone. They had turned purple. Black veins covered its body, its antlers were cracked, and purple Miasma leaked from its mouth.

Luna’s face fell. "...It was corrupted."

The Beast roared, shaking the forest.

Arthur’s eyes narrowed. "That’s not all."

A faint pressure spread across the battlefield, and everyone felt it. The Beast wasn’t merely strong. Its presence was overwhelming.

Athena’s expression turned serious. "Silver Rank."

The Beast’s body began to change. Its muscles swelled, its antlers twisted, and roots wrapped around its legs, but the evolution wasn’t stable. Parts of its body kept shifting even after the transformation had finished. One side of its chest was covered in golden armor, the other in blackened bark, and its antlers kept growing and cracking.

Arthur stared. "The Miasma is forcing its evolution."

Athena nodded. "Or corrupting the evolution it already had."

The Beast vanished, and Arthur barely saw it move.

"Behind!" Eden shouted.

Through the connection, Arthur suddenly saw from Mithra’s eyes. She had already turned, and Dawn Sovereign flashed.

CLANG!

The Beast’s antler slammed into her sword, and the impact sent her sliding backward.

"Damn!" Arthur said.

Vedas charged, and King Maker struck the Beast’s side.

BOOM!

The Beast barely moved. It turned toward Vedas, and its antlers began to glow as dozens of roots burst from the ground.

"Move!"

Vedas jumped as the roots shot upward like spears.

SHOOOM! SHOOOM! SHOOOM!

Arthur raised Dusk.

[King’s Mark: Piercing Light]

Golden light tore through several of the roots. Mithra cut through another cluster and Melo tail tore through the others that tried to attack Luna.

Vedas smashed three apart with King Maker, and Sun struck one with his weapon while Kong smashed into the others.

Dozens became hundreds, and the roots kept coming.

Arthur leaped backward as three spears tore through the ground where he had been standing. "These things are annoying!"

Mithra landed beside him and cut apart another root that shot toward her. "Annoying? I think murderous is a better word."

Arthur laughed. "That too."

The Chief Beast charged, and Vedas intercepted it.

BOOOOOOM!

The shockwave shattered the trees around them, and Vedas was pushed back. As the Chief Beast pressed forward, Vedas transformed. Golden energy covered his arm and his muscles swelled, his partial Beast transformation making him visibly stronger, and he slammed his fist into the Beast’s chest.

BOOM!

The Chief Beast staggered, and Vedas followed with King Maker, striking again and again as the Beast blocked with its antlers.

CLANG! CLANG!

Vedas ducked beneath a strike, and the Beast’s hoof came down, blowing apart the ground where he had been. He leaped clear, and Mithra appeared above the Beast.

[Dawn Sovereign: Golden Flash]

Her blade cut across its back, spraying black blood across the ground, and the Chief Beast screamed.

Then the roots moved, rushing toward the blood.

Arthur’s expression changed. "Wait."

The roots wrapped around the blood and absorbed it, and the Beast’s wounds immediately began to close.

"It regenerated," Arthur said.

Athena had seen it too. "The roots."

Every drop of blood that touched the ground was being drawn into them, and the Chief Beast was growing stronger. Its antlers grew, and its aura intensified.

Arthur’s expression hardened. "We can’t just kill these things."

Athena looked at him. "Why?"

"Look."

Vedas drove his fist into the Beast’s chest again.

BOOM!

The Chief Beast staggered, and blood poured from its mouth, but the roots absorbed it at once. Its wounds closed, and its aura grew even stronger.

Arthur’s eyes narrowed. "Every time we hurt it, the World Tree feeds." He looked at the enormous roots surrounding them. "We’re making it stronger."

For a moment, nobody said anything.

Mithra slowly lowered her sword. "So brute force is making the problem worse."

"Exactly," Arthur said.

Sun looked at the roots. "Then how are we supposed to fight it?"

Arthur watched the Chief Beast, which was already charging again. "We don’t fight it the same way."

The Beast opened its mouth, and a torrent of purple energy erupted. Arthur threw himself aside, and the blast tore apart the forest behind him.

"Arthur!" Athy shouted from above.

"I know!"

Eden’s perception network expanded, and suddenly Arthur could see the battlefield from every direction. Mithra’s eyes showed the Beast’s left side, Vedas’s showed its right, Athena’s revealed the roots beneath the ground, and Athy’s showed the entire battlefield from above.

And Sun saw something Arthur hadn’t noticed, a small cluster of roots behind the Beast, pulsing.

"There!" Sun shouted, pointing. "The roots are connected to those!"

Arthur looked. The Chief Beast wasn’t regenerating on its own. The roots were feeding energy into it.

Athena understood immediately. "The Miasma is using the World Tree’s root network to keep it alive."

Arthur nodded. "Then we cut the connection."

Mithra smiled. "Now you’re thinking."

The Chief Beast charged again, and Arthur raised Dusk. "Don’t attack the Beast."

Vedas looked at him. "Then what?"

"The roots."

Vedas grinned. "Finally."

The group changed formation. Instead of surrounding the Chief Beast, they went after the roots. Mithra dashed left, Vedas charged right, Sun and Kong tore into the smaller roots, and Athy stayed overhead, calling out positions.

"Three roots behind you!"

Vedas turned.

BOOM!

King Maker smashed through them.

"Two beneath Mithra!"

Mithra leaped, and Dawn Sovereign flashed, severing both.

Arthur went for the largest connection, and the Chief Beast noticed. It roared, and its whole body exploded with purple energy.

"Arthur!" Eden warned through the connection.

Arthur turned. The Beast was charging straight at him, and he raised Dusk just as it hit.

BOOOOOOM!

Arthur was thrown backward, and the Beast came after him. He rolled across the ground and barely avoided another strike, and when he looked up, its hoof was already raised above him.

Too late.

CLANG!

Vedas blocked the blow, his transformed arm shaking under the force.

"Vedas!"

"Go!" Vedas shoved against the Beast. "I’ll hold it!"

Arthur ran for the massive root connecting the Beast to the World Tree. It was enormous, thicker than a building, with purple veins pulsing through it. He raised Dusk.

[King’s Mark: Piercing Light]

The golden attack struck, and the root cracked, but it didn’t break.

Arthur’s eyes narrowed. "Again."

He struck, and the crack widened. The root pulsed, and Miasma exploded outward, throwing him backward.

"Arthur!" Eden’s voice echoed through the connection.

Arthur landed hard. He looked at the root, and then he smiled. "Okay." He stood. "I know what we need."

"What?" Athena asked.

Arthur pointed at the root. "We don’t destroy it." He looked at the Chief Beast. "We separate them."

Athena’s eyes widened. "From the World Tree."

"Exactly."

Mithra appeared beside him and raised Dawn Sovereign. "Then let’s do it."

Vedas pushed the Chief Beast back, Sun and Kong cleared the surrounding roots, and Athy shouted from above. "The connection is exposed!"

Arthur’s eyes sharpened. "Eden. I need everyone’s vision."

Eden nodded, and her perception expanded. Suddenly Arthur saw everything at once, Mithra’s blade, Vedas’s fist, Sun’s stance, Athy’s view from above, Athena’s analysis.

Arthur smiled. "Got it."

They attacked together. Mithra severed the left connection, Vedas smashed the right, Sun destroyed the roots beneath the Beast, and Athy struck the upper tendrils while Athena guided them to the final opening. Arthur charged straight for the exposed core.

The Chief Beast roared, broke away from Vedas, and charged at Arthur, but Arthur didn’t stop. As its antlers came down, he stepped aside, and the attack missed. He spun, and Dusk struck the exposed root.

BOOOOOOM!

The connection shattered, and for one second, everything went silent.

Then the Chief Beast screamed. Purple energy burst from its body, the roots recoiled, and its regeneration stopped as the black veins across it began to fade.

Arthur stared. "We did it."

But the Chief Beast wasn’t dead. It stood there trembling as its corrupted form collapsed, and the golden patterns beneath the Miasma began to return.

Luna stared. "It’s..."

"Still alive," Arthur said.

The creature slowly lowered its head, and its purple eyes flickered. For one brief moment, golden light returned to them, and then the Beast collapsed. Silence settled over the forest.

Arthur slowly lowered Dusk as Mithra walked over. "Did we just save it?"

Athena approached the fallen Beast and studied it carefully. "I think so."

Arthur looked toward the World Tree. The roots around them had stopped moving, but far above, the black veins kept spreading across its enormous trunk.

His expression hardened. "Then we know what to do."

Vedas looked at him. "Find the connections."

"And cut them," Arthur said, looking out at the endless roots stretching across the Secret Realm. "Because if the Miasma is using the World Tree to corrupt everything..." His grip tightened on Dusk. "...then we have to stop it from feeding."

Above them, the World Tree pulsed.

THUM.

The roots answered, and Arthur looked up. There were thousands of them, maybe millions, and somewhere inside that enormous network, Ronin was waiting.

But not yet. Arthur turned north, toward the distant forest where the students were still out there, and the path the Chief Beast had been blocking now lay open.

"Let’s go," he said. "Students first. Then we climb."