Chapter 329: Cut the Five Chains

Arthur had barely finished speaking when the corrupted Beast charged.

Its enormous body tore through the darkness, dragging several thick roots behind it as though they were part of its spine. Purple Miasma poured from its mouth, and every step caused the cavern floor to crack beneath its weight.

Arthur didn’t retreat.

He looked at the roots connected to its body and immediately understood that killing the Beast wasn’t the objective.

"We cut the connection," he said.

Vedas tightened his grip on King Maker. "Like the Chief Beast."

"Exactly."

Luna looked toward the enormous roots disappearing into the darkness behind the creature. "But this one is connected much deeper."

Arthur’s expression became serious. "Then we have to go deeper."

The Beast swung its massive arm.

Vedas moved first, intercepting the attack with King Maker. The impact shook the cavern, but Vedas held his ground long enough for Arthur to move around the Beast’s side.

Eden’s perception spread through the group, allowing Arthur to see the battlefield from multiple angles at once. Star bounced from one shadow to another, distracting the creature whenever it tried to follow Arthur’s movement.

"Arthur!" Luna shouted. "The connection is exposed!"

Arthur saw it.

Beneath the Beast’s scales, a golden root was wrapped around its spine, but thick layers of purple corruption covered most of it. He could not cut it directly without risking the entire connection.

"We need to expose the core first."

Vedas drove King Maker into the ground and released a burst of force that staggered the Beast. Luna immediately followed with an attack of her own, forcing the creature to turn away from Arthur.

Eden expanded her perception again.

Arthur saw everything.

Vedas’s position.

Luna’s movement.

Star’s shifting form.

The Beast’s next attack.

And, beneath all of it, the faint golden line running through the corrupted root.

"There!"

Arthur rushed forward.

Dusk struck the exposed connection.

The impact didn’t sever it, but the purple corruption cracked.

The Beast screamed.

Arthur stepped back.

"That’s it."

The same realization was spreading through the other fronts.

The Mirrors weren’t something they needed to destroy.

They were the points through which the ancient stabilization network controlled the World Tree’s connection.

And now they had found the five places where the corruption was anchored most deeply.

The five fronts moved at once.

...

Mithra stood before the Fire Mirror with Dawn Sovereign raised while corrupted Beasts surrounded her.

The roots beneath the battlefield were retracting, but one enormous connection remained wrapped around the Mirror’s base. Purple Miasma flowed through it toward the World Tree.

Melo studied it carefully.

"That is the main connection."

Mithra looked at the surrounding Beasts. "And I’m guessing they’re going to make cutting it difficult."

"They already seem to have decided that."

Several corrupted Beasts charged through the flames.

Mithra smiled.

"Then we’ll give them something else to worry about."

She moved.

Dawn Sovereign flashed through the fire as Mithra slipped between the Beasts, never staying in one place long enough for them to surround her. Melo’s dream mist spread behind her, creating false images that drew the creatures away from the Mirror.

One Beast broke through the illusion.

Mithra twisted aside and drove her sword through its shoulder before kicking it away.

"Melo!"

"I know."

Five tails snapped forward.

The Beast stumbled directly into the path of another corrupted creature, and the two collided.

Mithra finally reached the main root.

It was enormous, nearly as thick as her body, and purple energy pulsed through it.

She planted both feet.

"This is going to take everything."

Melo moved beside her.

"Then don’t do it alone."

Mithra smiled.

Together, they attacked.

Dawn Sovereign struck the root while Melo’s dream energy weakened the corruption surrounding it. The purple shell cracked, then split apart.

Mithra pushed harder.

The golden root beneath the corruption became visible.

She swung again.

The connection broke.

A tremendous wave of golden energy erupted from the Fire Mirror, forcing the surrounding flames outward.

Mithra staggered backward and stared at the severed root.

"It worked."

Melo looked toward the distant World Tree.

"One."

...

The Water Mirror chamber was beginning to collapse when Sun and Jako reached the main connection.

Water flooded through the ancient streets while enormous pieces of the city fell from above.

Sun looked at Jako.

"I hate to admit this, but we’re going to need each other."

Jako glanced at him.

"I already knew that."

"Could you at least pretend to be impressed?"

"No."

Sun sighed. "Worth trying."

The main root was wrapped around the base of the Water Mirror, and the corrupted Water Long Serpent Dragon was still fighting nearby.

Jako looked at the creature.

"Hold it."

Sun raised an eyebrow.

"You’re giving me orders?"

"I am asking you to do something useful."

"That’s definitely an order."

Kong roared and charged before Sun could complain further.

The Fiery Stone Ape slammed into the corrupted Beast and forced it away from the Mirror. Sun followed, using Long to redirect the creature’s attacks while Jako guided his Water Long Serpent Dragon around the opposite side.

The three attacks came together.

The Beast was forced back.

"Now!" Jako shouted.

Sun and Jako moved simultaneously.

Sun drove Long into the corrupted root while Jako’s Water Long Serpent Dragon wrapped around it.

"Pull!"

The two attacked together.

The purple corruption shattered.

The root snapped.

For an instant, the entire ancient city became silent.

Then the Water Mirror released a massive pulse of blue light.

Sun stared at it.

"Two."

Jako looked toward the World Tree.

"Three more."

Sun grinned.

"You’re starting to sound like me."

"I hope not."

...

Athena and Athy stood before the Earth Mirror while Rokkaku protected the chamber from the remaining corrupted roots.

The ancient mechanism they had discovered earlier had awakened around them.

Five channels surrounded the Mirror, but only one was glowing.

Athena immediately recognized the structure.

"This isn’t a weapon."

Athy looked down from above.

"Then what is it?"

"It’s the control mechanism for the stabilization network."

Athena placed her hand against one of the ancient pillars. Symbols appeared across its surface, matching the inscriptions they had studied earlier.

Rokkaku glanced toward her.

"Can you activate it?"

"Not alone."

Athy descended beside her.

"Tell me what you need."

Athena pointed toward the five channels.

"The mechanism needs the Mirror to recognize the World Tree’s original connection. We have to force the corrupted energy out of the channel without damaging the Mirror itself."

Athy frowned.

"That sounds complicated."

"It is."

"Can you do it?"

Athena smiled.

"Probably."

Athy stared at her.

"That’s not reassuring."

"It doesn’t need to be."

The mechanism began shaking.

Black energy flooded into the chamber.

Rokkaku raised his weapon.

"Whatever you’re doing, do it quickly."

Athena placed both hands against the central structure.

"Athy, when I tell you, attack the upper channel."

"How hard?"

"Hard enough to break the corruption."

Athy grinned.

"Finally, instructions I understand."

The Earth Mirror began glowing.

Athena waited.

The corrupted energy surged.

"Now!"

Athy struck.

The upper channel shattered, and golden energy flooded through the ancient mechanism. Athena redirected it through the remaining pathways, forcing the purple Miasma backward.

The Earth Mirror responded.

The entire chamber illuminated with golden light.

Athena exhaled slowly.

"Three."

Rokkaku looked toward the World Tree.

"The resistance is increasing."

Athena nodded.

"Then we’re running out of time."

...

Arthur’s group was still fighting the enormous corrupted Beast.

The creature had become increasingly violent after the other connections began breaking.

Arthur realized why.

The network was collapsing.

The Beast was losing the support that had connected it to the World Tree.

"Keep it away from the root!" Arthur shouted.

Vedas slammed into the creature from the side while Luna attacked the exposed connection.

Star shifted beneath the Beast’s feet, creating an opening.

Eden expanded her perception again.

Arthur saw the moment.

He moved.

Dusk struck the cracked purple shell.

Once.

Twice.

On the third strike, the corruption shattered.

A golden root appeared beneath it.

Arthur drove Dusk through the connection.

The root split apart.

The Beast screamed.

For several seconds, the entire cavern trembled.

Then the darkness became strangely quiet.

Luna stared at the severed root.

"The connection to the heart..."

Arthur looked toward the darkness beyond it.

"It’s broken."

Eden suddenly looked upward.

"Arthur."

He turned.

"The World Tree is changing."

Arthur felt it too.

The resistance beneath them had become stronger.

The four severed connections were pulling against something deeper.

Only one remained.

...

The professors stood around the Light Mirror as the entire chamber shook.

Leon looked toward the ceiling.

"The other four are already moving."

One professor nodded.

"Then this is the final connection."

Mephistopheles stared at the Mirror.

"What happens if we fail?"

The professor’s expression hardened.

"The four severed connections will reconnect."

Leon tightened his grip.

"Then we don’t fail."

The Light Mirror was different from the others.

It wasn’t simply another regional stabilization point.

It was the center.

The central stabilizer.

The remaining connection ran beneath it, directly into the World Tree’s heart.

Purple energy began flooding through the chamber.

The professors worked together, reinforcing the Mirror while Leon and Mephistopheles held back the corrupted roots.

"How long?" Leon asked.

"As long as necessary."

"That’s not an answer."

"It’s the only one I have."

Leon laughed despite himself.

"Fine."

The roots broke through the floor.

Mephistopheles intercepted them while Leon moved toward the central mechanism.

He could feel the pressure building.

The Light Mirror was beginning to crack.

"Now!" the professor shouted.

Everyone moved at once.

The professors poured their energy into the Mirror.

Leon struck the final corrupted channel.

Mephistopheles destroyed the roots surrounding it.

And the Light Mirror released a blinding wave of golden light.

The final connection broke.

For one heartbeat, nothing happened.

Then all five Mirrors activated together.

Fire.

Water.

Earth.

Darkness.

Light.

Five waves of energy raced through the World Tree.

The purple Miasma network began collapsing.

Across the Secret Realm, corrupted roots broke apart and fell away from the golden ones beneath them. Purple veins disappeared from the branches, the black clouds above the Everglades began thinning, and the corrupted energy that had spread through the Beasts was suddenly cut off from its source.

The World Tree began glowing.

Gold spread across its trunk.

Its branches brightened.

The roots beneath the Secret Realm returned to their original color.

For several seconds, the entire Everglades became beautiful.

The flames of the Fire region burned cleanly.

The Water region reflected the golden light.

Ancient ruins rose from the earth beneath clear skies.

The Darkness beneath the ground became quiet instead of hostile.

And Light covered everything.

Mithra lowered Dawn Sovereign and stared.

Sun stood in the flooded city with his mouth open.

Athena looked upward in disbelief.

The professors fell silent.

Arthur stood beneath the Darkness region and watched the golden light travel through the roots.

"It worked."

Luna smiled.

For the first time since the World Tree had awakened, the Secret Realm felt peaceful.

Then the World Tree cracked.

A gigantic fracture appeared along its trunk.

The sound was so loud that every person in the Everglades heard it.

Arthur’s expression changed.

"That shouldn’t be happening."

The golden light suddenly flickered.

A black-purple glow erupted from the crack.

Something fell from the enormous branches.

Ronin.

He crashed through several layers of branches before disappearing into the lower canopy.

Luna stared upward.

"Ronin!"

Arthur’s grip tightened around Dusk.

But then something else moved.

The corrupted sections of the World Tree began following him.

The black-purple branches twisted around his falling body, roots wrapping around his arms, legs, and torso.

Ronin didn’t resist.

Instead, he reached toward the trunk.

A faint smile appeared on his face.

"You thought cutting the connections would separate me."

His voice echoed through the roots.

"But you still don’t understand."

The roots pierced deeper into his body.

Purple Miasma erupted from the fracture.

The golden World Tree screamed beneath the corruption.

Ronin’s body began disappearing into the trunk. "I no longer need the network."

His eyes opened.