Ethan's brow furrowed.
"Seriously? There's more? Is this native the protagonist of this world or something?"
Dozens of vines shot out from his palm, wooden spikes erupted from beneath the stone slabs, and Seed Bombs flicked from his fingertips.
Attacks rained down on the green light from every direction.
Vines snapped.
Wooden spikes shattered.
The Seed Bombs exploded against the surface of the green light, their shockwaves completely absorbed by the radiance.
The green light remained perfectly still.
Ethan spread the fingers of his right hand, and a Giant Wood Spike erupted directly beneath the green light.
The thick wooden spike pressed against the bottom of the light sphere. The wood groaned under the unbearable pressure, creaking before it began to splinter at the tip, disintegrating inch by inch into sawdust.
The green light didn't even flicker.
Ethan's eyelid twitched.
Back with Zhuoya's shield, his Flying Leaves had at least caused ripples.
The wooden stakes had made the barrier tremble.
The Seed Bombs had actually exploded on the surface.
But this green light gave no reaction whatsoever.
"What is this thing? Is some flower-protecting hero going to show up next?"
Thinking this, Ethan glanced toward the entrance.
There was nothing.
"Tsk, just scaring myself."
Before the words had fully left his mouth, Ethan turned back to Leah and his pupils contracted.
Leah was gone.
The green light had vanished, leaving only a few spots of blood on the ground.
"..." Ethan fell silent for a moment, looking at the still-glowing moss. "Honestly, can't you bastards learn not to put decorations everywhere? You're just like your ancestors—carving hollow patterns even if it means sacrificing the strength of your weapons."
He stomped his foot heavily.
Thick vines erupted from the ground, sweeping toward the moss.
Crack!
With a sound like shattering glass, Leah appeared, bound tightly by the vines. From her ankles to her neck, every inch of her was constricted by the dark brown, woody vines.
She struggled desperately, her amber eyes filled with terror and disbelief.
"Impossible! How did you find me!"
With a wave of Ethan's right hand, the vines lifted Leah up to his eye level.
Their faces were less than half a meter apart.
Ethan stared into those amber eyes.
The vines dragged Leah's right hand out, binding it separately to her right side.
Her palm was forced open by the vines, her five fingers spread wide, suspended in mid-air.
Ethan reached out with his left hand and pinched the tip of her pinky finger.
"Talk," Ethan said. "How did you see through the disguise?"
Leah gritted her teeth, refusing to utter a single word.
Ethan's thumb and index finger gripped the first joint of her pinky, slowly applying pressure.
The finger bone made a faint grinding sound between his fingers. The cartilage beneath the skin was flattened, followed by the bone itself.
Crack.
The sound was soft, like treading on a dry twig.
Leah's body suddenly tensed, her teeth chattering as she ground them together, the veins on her neck bulging.
Ethan let go of the deformed finger and moved to the first joint of her ring finger.
Crack.
Middle finger.
Crack.
Index finger.
Crack.
Thumb.
Crack.
Leah's face turned from a sickly pale green to a deathly ashen gray. Sweat and tears mingled as they ran down her face, but she still didn't say a word.
Ethan raised his right hand, and a pale green light surged from his palm.
The healing energy of Withered Wood Revives poured into Leah's body. The shattered bones of her right hand's four fingers knit back together, the twisted joints returned to their original shape, and not even a mark was left on her skin.
Then, Ethan gripped her wrist.
Power erupted from his fingertips, snapping both the ulna and radius simultaneously.
This crack was louder and duller, like wet wood being snapped in half.
Bone fragments pierced the skin, and pale green blood trickled down through the gaps between his fingers.
Leah let out a muffled groan of agony, her body twitching violently.
Her amber eyes bulged, the whites shot through with blood.
Heal. Snap again. A third time. A fifth. A tenth.
After the wrist came the elbow joint.
Ethan held her forearm steady, balled his left hand into a fist, and smashed it directly into the center of her elbow.
The joint bent backward, ligaments tore, and the ends of the bones poked out from beneath the flesh.
Leah's willpower was much more stubborn than Ethan had anticipated.
She gritted her teeth and endured for the first half hour without saying a word.
Occasionally, when the pain reached its peak, she would let out a hoarse scream, but after the scream, those amber eyes would still glare death at Ethan.
Ethan was in no hurry.
He moved his focus from the wrist to the ankle, from the ankle to the knee, and from the knee to the collarbone.
Each time the location of the fracture was different, and after each healing, he would pick a new joint to start over.
Another half hour passed.
"You outsider bastard, the World Mother will curse you! Your soul will be torn apart by thorns, your flesh sucked dry by vines, and your bones ground to powder by roots!"
Unfortunately, a curse couldn't kill Ethan immediately.
Ethan hooked his fingers into her shoulder blade, his digits sinking into the flesh to grip the triangular flat bone, then squeezed inward.
The vibration of the bone shattering traveled up his fingertips as half of Leah's shoulder collapsed.
Her cursing turned into a scream.
Another hour passed.
Leah's voice had gone hoarse.
She could no longer produce complete syllables; only raspy gasps remained in her throat.
Her amber eyes had lost their focus, her eyelids drooped, and she hung limp from the vines, her limbs dangling like wet noodles.
From her fingertips to her shoulders, from her toes to her hips, almost every joint in her body had been crushed at least once and repeatedly healed. No scars were visible on her skin, but her bones were filled with fresh cracks that had only just knit together.
Ethan released Withered Wood Revives once more.
Emerald-green light poured into Leah, instantly healing every shattered bone and restoring her mangled throat.
"I'll talk."
Leah's voice was no longer filled with curses. She lifted her head, her amber eyes devoid of anger, containing only a hollow numbness. Her pale green face was stained with tears and blood, and her long, pointed ears hung lifelessly at her sides.
"The Eye of Nature. It allows us to see directly who belongs to this world and who does not."
"Be specific."
"After the cracks appeared in the sky, it was a special ability that randomly appeared in those with Priest-level supernatural powers." Leah's voice grew softer and softer, as if every word required her entire being's strength to utter. "There was no warning. One day I woke up, and I just knew. I could see it. The people of this world have the Mark of Nature on them. You don't."
Ethan stared at her for a few seconds.
"Only you have it? What about your grandmother?"
"Grandmother doesn't have it." Leah shook her head, the movement so weak it was barely perceptible. "I'm the only one in the entire tribe. News from the Sacred City says that Priests who awaken this ability are extremely rare, and they are all young. Not a single one of the older generation of Priests has awakened it."
"To what extent can you see? Can you see my strength?"
"No. Only truth and falsehood. Those who are real are the children of this world; those who are false are the invaders. Nothing else."
Ethan nodded.
He released his left hand, then gripped the first joint of Leah's right pinky finger again. Crack.
Two hours later.
Leah answered everything she was asked. Her voice grew smaller and smaller, as if each word drained the last of her energy. Her amber eyes had completely lost focus, staring fixedly at the rock ceiling above, her pupils unmoving.
Ethan had repeated the process seven times. The questions were the same every time, and Leah's answers were identical every time. No deviations, no contradictions, no new information.
Ethan raised his right foot and stepped on Leah's neck. Crack.
Ethan withdrew his foot and turned to walk toward the slope.
"So that's how it is. It wasn't a problem with the Wizardry Tool." He muttered as he walked. "Tsk, this world is a bit special. Whatever, I'm done playing. After this harvest, I'll just wait for the War Fortress to descend."
His footsteps paused for a moment.
"Huh. I wonder if those four unlucky bastards will be found? Oh well, who cares."
Rate on N.U.
