Sunny instinctively took a step back.
'What's happening? How are they forgetting...'
"Sunny, what's wrong?" Cassie asked in a tense tone.
'No, something's wrong...'
He then looked down at the ground, at the fruit he had just dropped.
'The fruit...'
Sunny looked up at the tree.
'The tree. It's making them forget...'
Summoning the Ember Crown, he rushed toward the tree. The Midnight Shard materialised in a whirl of white sparks, ready to plunge deep into the trunk.
But then Sunny paused.
'Leon...'
He had to find him before he could destroy the tree. Sunny gritted his teeth, his face contorting with anger.
He tightened his grip on the blade and drove it into the trunk, using it to pull himself upward as he began to climb. Sunny had to be swift, or something horrible could happen to Leon.
Nephis widened her eyes in surprise, but as soon as Sunny disappeared from her sight, the confusion faded from her expression. She then went about her usual routine, as though nothing had happened.
A few hours passed as Sunny continued climbing. His chest heaved with each breath, and his muscles burned with strain, but he refused to stop.
During the climb, Sunny had concluded that the tree was a Nightmare Creature. Its fruits were what was needed to brainwash them. Nephis and Cassie were enthralled.
Remembering how he had eaten the fruit Nephis had given him, Sunny frowned.
'Need to hurry...'
Sunny was climbing the tree at a great speed as he approached a bird's nest. His mind felt muddy, and he nearly slept.
Crunch
Sunny screamed in pain, but the sound was muffled because he had bitten his own hand to keep himself up. After killing so many monsters, his body had grown strong enough that he could break the bones in his wrist with some effort.
He smiled darkly as he continued climbing. Faint embers trickles across his wrist, healing the wound.
Sunny had spotted a nest hidden deep within the crimson leaves. However, there was also a large disturbance among them, as if something had been thrown into the nest with great force.
'If they hid him anywhere, it has to be here.'
Although he was not sure whether Nephis — or any other creature — had hidden Leon in the tree or whether he had been thrown off the island, into the crater; he still felt some sort of pull to climb the tree. His [Fated] attribute felt like some sort of guide right now.
Sunny climbed into the nest and froze.
Leon lay in the center of the circular nest, but the sight was anything but pleasant.
Parts of the tree had already begun seeping through Leon's armor. Thin roots forced their way through the gaps in the metal, spreading slowly across his body. In some places, it looked as though his skin had merged with the wood itself.
His face was almost completely covered. The empty hole where his eye had been was sealed beneath a layer of creeping bark.
Sunny rushed forward and grabbed Leon by the shoulders, trying to pull him free, but Leon's body didn't move.
He frowned and pulled harder, but the moment he did, the roots tightened slightly, creaking against the metal of Leon's armor.
That's when Sunny noticed it. Some parts of Leon's body were no longer simply trapped by the tree — they had fused with it. Thin strands of wood had already grown into the exposed flesh around his wounds, binding him to the nest like roots gripping stone.
Sunny slowly released his grip. His expression darkened. Leon wasn't just being held by the tree, he was being absorbed by it.
The crown in Sunny's hand suddenly began to glow. A moment later, flames burst forth, surging over Leon's body.
The fire spread quickly, devouring the roots that had wrapped around him. Thin strands of wood blackened and crumbled away under the heat. Yet even as the flames burned through the nest, some parts of Leon's body remained fused with the wood itself.
When the roots finally gave way, Leon's body collapsed from the loss of support. Sunny caught him before he could hit the ground.
He frowned as he looked down at Leon.
The flames had burned away the roots, but Leon's body still looked wrong. Pieces of bark remained fused with his flesh, and his breathing was faint and uneven.
For a moment, Sunny sat there in silence, trying to think.
What could he do?
Then an idea surfaced in his mind. Sunny looked down at the crown resting in his hand. The ember within it pulsed faintly, as if responding to his thoughts.
Sunny hesitated for a brief moment, then slowly nodded. He rested his palm on Leon's forehead as a spark of electricity passed through his hand.
"Come on, buddy."
***
Leon was lost.
He was in an empty void. Wherever he looked, there was darkness. Kneeling, Leon grimaced. His body hurt everywhere.
'Stop it...Stop...'
He may not have felt fear, but the pain he felt was real.
"This is all your fault," Sunny said — perhaps for the hundredth time by now.
Leon gritted his teeth.
"You keep repeating the same damn thing."
Slowly raising his head, he looked at Sunny.
"But I know you're not real."
Leon forced himself to stand. His body trembled as the pain surged through him again, but he endured it. A crooked smirk slowly formed on his face.
"You think this is enough to break me?"
Grabbing Sunny's collar, he screamed,
"I NEVER ASKED THEM TO FOLLOW ME."
"I RISKED MY LIFE, NOT THEIRS."
Leon laughed madly. His mind had already begun slipping into madness after the endless torture the fog creature had inflicted on him.
"They should thank me for getting rid of the Carapace Demon! I am reckless? SURE."
He leaned forward, his eyes burning.
"But I never dragged them into anything."
Sunny — no, the fog creature — stared at him expressionlessly for a moment. Then it began to laugh.
"You really are delusional, aren't you?"
Leaning closer, the creature whispered,
"But how much longer can you keep watching your past...watching your friends despise you?"
Leon breathed slowly, steadying himself.
"Go ahead, you piece of shit."
"Show me every single moment of my shitty past. Every single person talking shit about me."
Tightening his grip, Leon spat at the creature.
"But when I'm out of this...I will make sure you beg me to kill you."
The creature laughed again, but its gaze soon darkened.
"Who are you, Dreamspawn?"
Its voice became softer, more curious.
"Your soul tells me one thing...but your memories."
It smiled softly.
"Is such a world even possible?"
"Where are you from?"
Leon clenched his teeth, ready to shout again, but another wave of pain exploded through his skull. Clutching his head, he screamed.
Then another voice echoed through the void. This time, it was Cassie.
"You should just die."
"You're the worst kind of friend someone could have." Nephis appeared beside her.
The voices continued speaking as Leon felt a sharp pain creep through his chest. His breathing became uneven. It felt as if thousands of tiny needles were piercing the space around his right eye.
'Am I feeling fear again...?'
He did not know. He did not care.
He just wanted the pain to go away.
The two figures continued spouting hate at Leon. Then even more people appeared. This time, it was Teacher Julius, Master Jet, and Instructor Rock.
Everyone surrounded Leon.
He groaned in pain as he looked at them, still on his knees. He recognised every single face.
Then he saw someone he had not seen in a very long time. He narrowed his eyes as his face contorted in anger.
'This woman again...'
The caretaker from his past spoke.
"Stop living in your delusions, kid."
She rested her palm gently against his cheek.
"Your story ends here."
The pain increased as Leon clutched his head again. He screamed in agony.
It felt as if the agony would never end.
'I swear...I'll find it, and kill it...'
Leon gripped his head as he prepared to face the pain once again.
But then something changed. All the figures froze, not uttering a single word.
Orange flames erupted across the void. They descended like pillars of fire falling from the heavens. The darkness was instantly consumed as the flames tore through the illusions.
One by one, the figures vanished. The pain in Leon's body slowly disappeared. His entire body softened as he looked up.
Orange flames covered everything. The dark void had now become full of flames. The flames then lunged at Leon and swallowed his body.
His fatigue disappeared.
'This...'
"Good job."
Leon widened his eyes.
'This voice...no...'
Slowly, he looked up. Standing before him was someone he both wished to see again — and someone he never wanted to face.
"Aurelia..."
Aurelia stood in front of Leon. She looked just like the first time Leon had seen her. Her green eyes looked at Leon as she smiled brightly.
She held her hand out.
Leon frowned.
"...Or is this another trick?"
Aurelia just looked at him for a moment.
"Still suspicious, I see."
Leon didn't answer immediately. His gaze moved across the burning void, studying the flames — the absence of pain, the silence that had replaced the creature's whispers.
Slowly, he took another step forward.
"If you're another trick," he said hoarsely, "you picked a terrible time."
Aurelia chuckled.
"What? You think I wouldn't haunt you after what you did?"
Leon froze.
The words didn't sound like mockery. They sounded...familiar. Before he could respond, the flames flickered violently.
The burning void collapsed. In the next instant, Leon was standing in the middle of his shattered Soul Sea.
The vast ocean stretched in every direction. Dark fractures ran across the water like deep wounds. The waves crashed against one another in chaotic currents, as if the sea itself had been disturbed.
From beneath the fractured waters, enormous roots had forced their way upward. They were thick as towers, dark and twisted, their bark bled with a strange black sap.
Some pierced straight through the ocean surface, while others wrapped themselves around the space surrounding his soul core.
Leon looked around slowly.
"...Right."
His gaze sharpened.
"Definitely not an illusion."
Aurelia stood beside him, the orange flames still dancing faintly around her figure. Her bright eyes studied the fractured ocean below.
For the first time, her smile faded.
"That's...unpleasant."
The sea trembled. At first, it was subtle — just a faint ripple moving across the dark water. Then the entire ocean shuddered violently. The waves parted slowly.
Leon frowned as he watched the fractured waters begin to part between the massive roots.
A grotesque shape forced its way through the broken waters. What rose from the depths no longer resembled the fog creature Leon had faced before. The mist that once formed its body had thickened into something far more obscene.
Its body was a shifting mass of pale tissue, layers of tendons folding over one another like a living avalanche of flesh. Veins pulsed across its surface in slow, sick rhythms, carrying dark fluid through its swollen form.
Strands of fog still clung to it. Near the top of the writhing mass, something pushed outward. A head — or something that resembled one.
The skull-like shape forced itself free from the shifting flesh, its surface stretched thin over bone that looked almost unfinished. At the center of the face, a single crimson eye opened slowly.
Then the creature spoke. Its voice was wet and hollow, like air being forced through a throat that had never been meant to speak.
"Well...this is disappointing."
Its eye narrowed slightly.
"The little Dreamspawn brought a guardian?"
Aurelia folded her arms, flames dancing lazily around her.
"You're talking too much for something that's supposed to be devouring souls."
The creature's eye twitched.
"You two misunderstand."
Its flesh rippled slowly as if breathing.
"There is no battle here."
"This soul will be mine."
As the words left its mouth, the sea trembled.
The massive roots spread across Leon's Soul Sea suddenly shifted.
One of the colossal tendrils tore free from the fractured water, writhing like a living serpent. Dozens more followed, rising from the depths as the entire network of roots began crawling around the three of them.
The crimson eye slowly turned toward the roots. For the first time, the creature grew quiet. The enormous tendrils twisted through the air, their jagged surfaces dripping black liquid.
Aurelia clicked her tongue.
"Well," she said casually, flames growing brighter around her.
"Looks like we're not the only ones interested in your soul."
The creature's flesh rippled with irritation.
"Hungry wood," it muttered.
The Soul Devouring Tree was not trying to actively influence Leon's soul along with the fog creature.
Absorbing the fog creature's remaining corpse has given it the ability to influence someone's soul on a deeper level.
Now, a three-way battle would ensure inside Leon's soul. The victor would have access to his soul sea, which Leon did not find pleasant.
The roots surged forward. The fog creature's grotesque body shifted violently as layers of flesh peeled back, revealing rows of twitching tendons beneath. Aurelia stepped forward, flames gathering around her like a storm about to break.
None of them were looking at him anymore.
Leon glanced around once. Leaving the Soul Sea was never easy. It was as though the fog creature constantly tried to hold him imprisoned inside his own Soul Sea.
Or perhaps that was simply the limit to Leon's understanding of a Soul Sea. Without deeper knowledge of his own soul, he didn't have complete control.
The sea trembled around him as the first root slammed into the fog creature, sending waves crashing across the fractured ocean. Aurelia's flames exploded outward a moment later, engulfing several tendrils that had lunged toward her.
The battlefield erupted into chaos.
Leon lost his balance and began to fall. Right before he hit the water, his vision faded. He had exited his Soul Sea.
***
Leon opened his eye. He noticed that he was inside the giant bird nest. Sitting up slowly, he clutched his head. But right then, a sickening sensation permeated his entire body.
He clutched his heart as he tried to scream, but no voice came out. It felt as though his life force was being continuously eroded. The ongoing battle inside his Soul Sea was affecting him.
"Welcome back," he heard a voice say.
Looking up, Leon saw Sunny smiling.
"Hey," he said in a weak tone.
The moment the word left his mouth, another wave of pain rolled through him. He bent forward slightly, gripping his chest as his vision blurred.
Only after a few breaths did he notice something else.
Thin splinters of dark wood still clung to his skin. They had grown from his flesh earlier when the Soul Devouring Tree had begun absorbing him. Most of it had broken away, but traces remained — jagged fragments embedded along his arms and collarbone like dead thorns.
Leon breathed slowly.
'How long...will she take?'
He did not know whether he could trust Aurelia or not. If she failed, his soul would fall into the possession of the fog creature or the tree, and if she had won, she could just as easily hold his soul hostage.
"You alright?" Sunny asked in a tense voice.
Slowly nodding, Leon stood up shakily.
"We need to...hurry up and..."
A violent cough interrupted him. Leon frowned as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.
"Kill the tree..."
Even if Leon had left the vicinity of the Soul Devouring Tree, he doubted that the tree would disappear from his soul. The only way to free himself now was to kill the tree.
Sunny nodded. "Listen closely."
Leon leaned against the branch while Sunny explained what had happened while he was unconscious. By the time Sunny finished, Leon let out a long breath.
Leon sighed. "So they're enthralled?"
Sunny nodded. "I think so. We might have to fight them."
Leon then sat up slowly as he inspected his limbs. They seemed to be fine. But he now noticed something important.
'No...this is such...'
He shook his head left and right. He raised his palm and closed his left eye.
Darkness.
Leon's right eye was gone.
"Well...shit."
After taking a moment to digest the loss of his eye, Leon hoped that either Nephis or the crown would be able to heal him.
"Then we don't waste time," Leon said in a raspy voice.
Sunny raised an eyebrow.
"You sure you can move?"
Leon straightened slightly, though his body still trembled.
"I don't really have a choice."
He glanced at Sunny and forced a weak grin.
"If I collapse halfway there..."
"...you can drag me."
Sunny sighed. Taking a momentary pause, he said,
"Thanks for trusting me with the crown."
Leon smiled.
"Who else would I trust if not my best friend?"
Sunny froze as he stared at Leon.
Leon then stretched his arms.
"It must have been nearly a week since they have been enthralled. I think Nephis might just fight us if we try to burn the tree," Leon said as he sighed.
"You're right. She might as well be climbing the tree right now," Sunny added.
Leon glanced at Noah, who stood inside the nest. He crossed his arms and had an indifferent expression.
Leon nodded.
"Well, I do have the echo of the egg I killed earlier. Maybe that can help?"
He summoned the runes for his lone echo.
Vile Thieving Bird Spawn
Echo Type: Devil
Echo Class: Supreme
Echo Description: [Born from greed too ancient to be called sin, the Vile Thieving Bird's Spawn exists. Even diminished, the Spawn remembers its purpose. To take, to keep, to return ruin in equal measure.]
Echo Attributes: [Prismatic Abyss]
[Prismatic Abyss]:
Description: [The echo absorbs elemental phenomena that come into contact with it — flame, lightning, frost, water, radiance, shadow, and even true darkness.
Absorbed forces may be stored, amplified or reflected. However, the prism can contain only one phenomenon at a time.]
After glancing through the description of his egg, he turned to Sunny to formulate a plan.
Right then however, they heard a small crackle near the entrance of the nest.
The two shot their heads toward the entrance.
Nephis was standing there, with her longsword gripped tightly in her hand. She looked at Sunny and Leon with quiet indifference.
'One after another. When can I catch a break?'