The tunnel reeked of damp stone, mold, and old magic. I barely managed to keep up as Aria dragged me through its winding length, her grip like iron on my wrist. The air was stale, punctuated only by the harsh rhythm of our footsteps and our heavy breathing. Faint moss glowed dimly on the walls, casting ghostly green reflections across her face.
"Slow down," I gasped. My legs were burning, my mind still reeling from everything that had happened. "Where are we even going?"
"There's a passage that leads out into the forest," Aria replied curtly. "It's old. Forgotten by most. It is perfect for you to secretly escape."
"How convenient," I muttered, then flinched. "Sorry. That was sarcasm. Panic-induced. Ignore me."
Aria didn't respond, but her pace faltered slightly. I caught a flicker of something in her expression — confusion, guilt, frustration?
"You shouldn't be alive," she said quietly, almost to herself. "I don't understand why I'm doing this."
My breath caught. "What do you mean?"
"Rael's dead. Because of you." Her voice was sharp, but the edge dulled quickly. "And yet... I can't bring myself to leave you behind. If I do I fell as if I am betraying ideals."
I said nothing. However, my mind was filled with the thought of Favorability Fragment. Whatever that is happening, is definitely because of it.
Is it mind control? No, it couldn't be, not exactly.
It seem to tilt the emotional gravity of people around me. Made me harder to hate. Easier to trust.
And what was the Level 2? I didn't know.
Soon, we reached a worn wooden door bound in old iron. Aria pushed it open with a creak, revealing a mossy clearing bathed in the pale orange light of a setting sun.
"This is where we part," she said, handing me a silver bracelet. It looked delicate, too elegant for a boy like Leon Ardell. "It's a relic. It will guide you towards Arkion Village."
I hesitated. "You're not coming with me?"
"If I vanish, they'll know I helped you. But I can mislead them for a little while." Her voice softened. "Don't get caught. If you die now, this was all for nothing."
I took the bracelet and slid it onto my wrist. It adjusted itself with a faint shimmer of mana.
"Aria... thanks. Really."
"Don't thank me yet," she said. Then she was gone, the door shutting with a thud that felt far too final.
I turned around, and discovered that the forest had swallowed me whole.
Unlike the tunnel, the wilderness outside was alive. Buzzing insects, the distant hoot of birds, and the whisper of leaves in the wind formed a natural symphony that did little to calm my nerves.
I was in the Skelwood Forrest, if my memory served me right — a cursed boundary zone just outside the Academy's domain. In Rise of the Sovereign, this place was avoided even by seasoned adventurers.
The bracelet on my wrist buzzed. And from it a golden butterfly emerged.
It flied straight before disintegrating into millions of light.
'Is the Arkion village at that direction? Should be, it a relic after all.'
I walked slowly and steadily, trying my best to not make any form of noise, while also searching for any danger before it kills me.
I put my heart and soul into this, I didn't dare breath roughly, afraid it might be the reason for my death.
I kept walking, not even knowing for how long I walked or how far I was.
'Its getting harder to see.'
And then, what I feared occurred.
I saw a silhouette.
A towering armored figure lumbered into view, its body a patchwork of ancient metal and oozing black mist. Its gait was stiff. Its armor dented. But the worst part?
It had no head.
This single detail was enough for me to figure out what it was.
The Headless Warden.
A cursed guardian, mid-tier boss in the novel, that roamed on the outskirts of the forest. Rael had fought in his second year.
Curse my luck!
I was supposed to be a nobody. What the hell was it doing here?
I dove behind a tree, heart in my throat. Branches scratched at my arms, dirt clung to my boots. I crouched low, peering through the underbrush.
I pressed myself into the dirt, barely daring to breathe. The Warden halted, turning its body toward me.
It had no eyes, but I felt its gaze.
{Worldline Collapse Detected}
The panel appeared out of nowhere, its crimson letters jagged and twitching like static.
And it was also then that this happened.
Another golden butterfly appeared, and it too flied, just in a different direction than mine.
"Oh, come on,"
The Warden shuddered. It turned fully in my direction.
And then a noise like tearing silk split the air.
From its back, a translucent purple arm unfurled. Massive. Ghostly. Its fingers clawed through trees as if they weren't even there, phasing through reality itself.
It was reaching for me.
I ran.
Branches slapped at my face. Roots tried to trip me. The bracelet buzzed like a frantic heartbeat.
'IamdeadIamdeadIamdeadIamdeadIamdeadIamdeadIamdeadIamdeadIamdeadIamdead'
I ran as if I was going to run for the last time, it might as well me mine.
The thorns of various pants scratched and pierced my body but those pain were not even registered in brain, only the thoughts of dying and desire to survive was there.
Then I saw it.
A massive, gnarled tree rising out of the earth like a clawed hand reaching skyward. Its leaves were black — not dark green, not shaded, but truly black, as if painted with void. I knew this tree.
It had been a footnote in the novel, mentioned as a background landmark during one of Rael's adventures.
There was a crack at its base. Narrow. Just enough.
The purple arm swiped behind me, tearing a clean line through a boulder like butter.
"NOPE!"
I dove.
My body slid through the crack, the purple claw just grazing my boot. The air inside was frigid and dark. I fell for what felt like seconds before slamming into soft moss.
I lay there, gasping.