After his wound healed, Ryan did not speak again.
He picked up his bow once more, his fingers remaining hooked around the string.
It was as if the moment anything else emerged from the mist, he would shoot it down instantly.
Reece didn't let down his guard either. He briefly tended to his scrapes, but his gaze remained fixed on Rena not far away.
If he could get that ring, he wouldn't have to worry about making a living for the rest of his life.
But in the next second, Reece shook his head, forcefully suppressing the thought.
Thinking about this now would only get him killed faster.
Rena put away her potion bottle, her gaze returning to the central treant.
Although she had deflected Ryan's arrow earlier, it had still pried open a small piece of the withered root's bark.
Peering closely from a distance, she saw that beneath the peeled-back black bark, there was no normal wood grain.
Instead, there was a faint glow of dark-red light.
It looked like a piece of unextinguished coal embedded in rotting flesh, flickering dimly and pulsing slowly.
Even stranger, a tiny, minuscule speck of golden light flashed around that dark-red glow.
The golden light appeared too quickly, as if suppressed deep within, only leaking out for a brief moment through the crack in the bark.
The ring hidden beneath the threads on Isolde's finger suddenly grew hot again.
The warmth was faint, yet clearer than before. It felt as though something beneath the gemstone was being drawn by the aura deep inside the treant, giving a gentle nudge.
A translucent screen silently popped up before Isolde's eyes.
【Detected homologous Fallen Fragment: Hourglass of Dusk.】
【Distance too close; fragment resonance enhanced.】
【Current fragment status: Under corruptive parasitism.】
Isolde's breath caught for an imperceptible moment.
There was actually a Fallen Fragment inside this treant, and it was even in a corrupted state.
No wonder the treant had mutated.
It probably wasn't just driven mad, but trapped in a certain loop of time, continuously repeating the caravan's cargo delivery.
And because of this, whenever a ten-person party approached, they would be forcibly dragged into its rules domain to complete the cycle for it.
But judging from the skeletal remains, very few teams had succeeded. Most had died here due to greed, conflict, and fear.
So was this the fundamental reason why the trade route in this area had been abandoned?
Isolde narrowed her eyes slightly. The unsettling, malicious aura around the treant's perimeter was likely not its original power.
Rather, it was some kind of corruption that had entangled the Fallen Fragment, using it to affect the entire treant.
Thus, what they were witnessing was not a normal treant subjugation.
But a rules dungeon dragged into deformity by a Fallen Fragment.
A trace of coldness welled up in Isolde's eyes. Where had that malicious power come from in the first place?
Right then, a low laugh, sounding sometimes distant and sometimes close, echoed in her ears, like a frivolous response to the thought that had just crossed her mind.
Ryan looked at Rena's deeply furrowed brow and suddenly asked, “What did you see?”
Rena turned to look at him. His complexion had recovered slightly, but his eyes still held a look of wariness.
“I saw you staring at that piece of bark,” he said. “What's inside?”
“The thing that turned this trade route into what it is now,” Rena replied without hiding anything. “It might also be our key to leaving this place.”
Hearing this, Reece immediately walked over. “Explain.”
Rena looked at the treant. The mist flowed along its roots, where corpses, cargo carts, and broken wooden signs were all tangled together by root fibers.
“It isn't a treant that simply wants to kill us. It has been forcing us to fulfill our caravan duties. As long as there are still members of the caravan who reach the destination with the cargo, we might be able to get out of here.”
Rena looked into the thick fog, her gaze sweeping over the remaining survivors.
“Do you think the rules will still let us proceed slowly, segment by segment?”
Reece's face darkened. He understood what Rena meant.
The rules would no longer give them the chance to slowly learn through trial and error.
They were already short-handed. If they lost any more people, the burden of the duties on the survivors would only grow heavier.
He didn't even know how many road markers were still waiting for them ahead.
As if responding to his inner thoughts, the rust-covered bronze bell atop the eighth road marker suddenly shook on its own.
Clang—
The toll resonated through the mist.
The wooden plates at everyone's waists grew hot at the same time, as if urging them onward.
Reece looked at the somewhat distracted Milo and called out:
“Milo, it's your turn.”
Milo's lips trembled. He wanted to refuse, but he gritted his teeth and stepped forward anyway.
As he finished speaking, dark-red words emerged from the surface of the road marker.
【Witness established】
【Caravan casualties: 5】
【Triggered final settlement: Journey of the Remnant Caravan】
【Remaining trade routes merged】
【Please protect the remaining cargo and successfully deliver it to the destination】
【Duties can be inherited along the way】
【Destination: Contract-Devouring Treant】
Ryan gripped his bow tightly. Although the wound on his shoulder had healed, the pain of the arrow's backlash seemed to linger deep within his bones.
“Which means there are no more road markers ahead.”
No road markers meant no rest.
Whether they lived or died depended entirely on whether they could charge through this final stretch.
Reece's gaze fell upon the cargo chests.
The wooden chests were still there, all six of them intact.
Since Severn was dead, they should abandon his chest to lighten the party's burden.
He proposed this idea, and none of those present objected.
They were afraid they would survive to take them, but not live to spend them.
Milo remembered what he had said earlier, and his throat felt as if it were stuffed with cotton, making him choke up slightly.
Kolo looked down at her wooden plate.
With both the 【Guard Captain】 and 【Pathfinder】 identities pressed upon it, the edges of the wooden plate were already burning hot.
She fell silent for a moment, then suddenly fished the last carrot out of her bag. Turning her back to the others, she stuffed it into her mouth and crunched it down in a few bites.
Milo stared at her blankly. “You can still eat at a time like this?”
Kolo mumbled, “If I don't eat it now, I might not get another chance.”
Milo: “...”
A rumbling sound echoed from behind the road marker. Rena raised her head to look forward.
The thick mist was parting to both sides.
The path, which had originally been segmented by the road markers, was now forcefully mashed together by some unseen power, piecing together a winding, damp road.
The end of the stone path faced the incredibly eerie, colossal tree directly.
Within the cracks of the treant, the dark-red light pulsed dimly, resembling a heart wrapped in rotting flesh.
At the same time, all the decaying leaves on both sides of the path began to churn.
Countless ghost hands, withered branches, and black roots squirmed out from beneath the soil, thrashing restlessly against the edges of the stone slabs.
They did not pounce immediately, but waited quietly for them to set foot on the final stretch of the road.
Reece took a deep breath. “Looks like this is indeed the final stretch.”
A fire had long been burning in Ryan's heart. Glancing at his few remaining arrows, he took a step forward.
“Then let's just slaughter our way through.”
Kolo lowered her heavy axe from her shoulder, its blade scraping against the ground with a dull, grinding sound.
“I'll clear the path.”
Milo's voice trembled. “What about me?”
Reece glanced at him. “You still stay in the middle. If you don't want to die, do your best to make sure we don't lose the cargo chests.”
Ryan notched another arrow, saying coldly, “If even one chest falls, I'll pin you to the road first.”
The words were harsh.
But strangely, Milo actually felt a bit more at ease.
At least Ryan was still willing to threaten him, which meant he wouldn't be abandoned for the time being.
Rena gripped her cracked staff tightly. The white light at its tip flared once more, causing the roots alongside the road to shrink back slightly in fear.
She looked at the central ancient tree, a deep coldness suppressed in her eyes.
The Hourglass of Dusk fragment.
Since she had run into it, she had no intention of leaving empty-handed.
Only this time, she could no longer slowly test the rules like before.
The longer they dragged things out, the more people would die, and the remaining survivors were still useful.
Isolde raised her staff, the white light compressing into a thin line from the tip.
She quickly reviewed everyone's duties in her mind. If they kept fighting individually like this, none of them would make it to the end.
Rena looked up at Reece. “I want to briefly outline our battle plan.”
Reece did not hesitate. “Speak.”
But Milo immediately looked up, harboring obvious hostility:
“Why should we listen to her?”
The air fell slightly still.
Ryan also glanced at Rena, the wariness in his eyes not entirely gone.
Reece swept a cold gaze over Milo. “Because of everyone who survived to make it this far, most did so because she figured out the rules.”
Milo wanted to say more, but Reece cut him off in a deep voice:
“Do you have a better idea?”
Milo's face turned ugly, but he was speechless.
He didn't even know if he would survive the next moment; what kind of plan could he possibly have?
Reece looked back at Rena. “Continue.”
Having received the consent of the 【Acting Caravan Master】, Rena spoke rapidly.
“Kolo will clear the path ahead. Ryan, only shoot things that actively cross the boundary. Do not touch the ancient tree's main body again.”
Ryan's face stiffened. He clearly didn't think there was anything wrong with his arrow earlier.
But the pain of the backlash piercing his shoulder still lingered in his bones. After a moment, he gritted his teeth and nodded.
“Understood.”
Rena continued, “Reece, guard the flanks and rear of the cargo chests. Don't let the roots drag them off the stone path.”
Reece said deeply, “Can do.”
“I'll take the front flank, responsible for lighting, healing, and observing changes on the road.”
She finally looked at Milo, who beat her to the punch. “You don't even have to say it. I know. I won't run around blindly.”
“I should hope so.”
Once everyone had received their battle assignments, Reece raised his broadsword, pointing its blade forward.
“Do as Rena says. As long as we don't panic, we can get out of here alive.”
Finally, Rena looked at the churning mist ahead.
The ghost hands had already pressed against the edge of the stone path, their skeletal knuckles tapping against the stone slabs as if urging them to set off.
She gripped her staff tightly and stepped onto the final segment of the trade route.
“Since the goods must be delivered, then the outstanding debts should also be collected.”
Rate on N.U.
