The darkness within the crevice was no longer pure despair; it now held a faint space to breathe and a glimmer of energy. Raine maintained that strange "resonance" state, like a precise and energy-efficient pump, continuously drawing the extremely sparse yet crucial core life energy from the harsh surroundings.
The process still required focus, but it was no longer as perilous as walking a tightrope had once been. Under the pressure of life and death, his control over the "Wither" ability had been forcibly elevated to a new level. He could now distinguish the "quality" of energy more clearly, instinctively avoiding portions deeply corrupted, and accurately capturing the tiny remnants of life that had not yet been completely extinguished.
The energy flowed like a slow but steady trickle, nourishing his parched meridians and repairing his damaged body. A portion of it he carefully guided into his crystal right arm, working as a meticulous craftsman to reinforce the bindings on the sealed alien energy, suppressing the dark purple veins deeper and more subtly. Another portion was continuously and gently infused into Liyana's body.
Liyana's condition improved steadily. The color returned to her cheeks, her breathing grew long and even, and she occasionally, unconsciously, leaned toward Raine's hand, instinctively seeking the source of that nurturing energy. The previously chaotic energy field within her gradually stabilized, and her own "Wither" power—bearing its inherent traits of extraction and sealing—began, like tempered steel, to slowly and stubbornly revive.
Time passed indistinctly. When Raine felt his mental energy nearing the warning threshold again and prepared to pause his drawing to rest, Liyana's long eyelashes twitched, and she slowly opened her eyes.
This time, her gaze was no longer confused or weak; it bore the exhaustion of a grievous injury beginning to heal and a rapidly returning clarity. She immediately sensed the gentle energy flowing into her body—foreign, yet unusually compatible—and noticed that she was tightly holding Raine's fingers.
A subtle flush rose to her cheeks, almost imperceptible, and she instinctively tried to release her grip, only to have Raine gently clasp her hand from the other side.
"Don't move," Raine's voice remained hoarse, but carried an unshakable steadiness. "The energy circulation isn't fully stable yet."
Liyana's body tensed for a moment, then relaxed, letting him hold her. She could feel the energy entering her body not only nourishing her physical form but subtly harmonizing her own powers, bringing an indescribable sense of comfort. The feeling… was strange, yet not unpleasant.
"…How long… have we been alive?" she whispered, her voice still a little dry.
"I'm not sure, maybe two or three days," Raine answered briefly, continuing to maintain the energy resonance. "How does it feel?"
Lianna looked inward, a flicker of surprise passing through her eyes. "…Much better than I expected. The source is damaged, but it's repairing. You…" She looked at Raine, her expression complex. "How did you do it? That level of energy corruption—even if the High Priest of the Church came, they would…"
"Learned from you," Raine interrupted her, his gaze still fixed on the void, focused on drawing energy. "'Guiding,' 'stripping,' and… 'withering.'"
Lianna froze. She immediately understood what Raine meant, utterly shocked. She had only proposed the theoretical framework, yet this man before her had, in such a short time and under such harsh conditions, practiced and enhanced it to a level she had never imagined! He could even reverse it to nourish her!
This went beyond the realm of genius—almost… a monstrous level of comprehension and adaptability.
"…You really are a…" she murmured, leaving the latter half, "terrifying person," unspoken. But her eyes said it all. Alongside shock, there was a subtle, indescribable awe, and… a deeper curiosity.
After a brief silence, Lianna struggled to sit up. Raine let go of her hand and helped her. They sat side by side against the cold rock wall, sharing the last bit of clean water and almost depleted food.
"That black armored one…" Lianna swallowed the dry, hard food, her voice low. "What is it?"
"I don't know," Raine shook his head. "It called the Seed of Life a 'relic' and referred to me as a 'thief.' Its power… is strange, not like magic, more like… some kind of rule."
Lianna's expression grew serious. "At the level of rules… this is no ordinary enemy. The 'Obelisk' it mentioned—I think I saw a similar diagram in that forbidden book: concepts like 'ending,' 'burial,' 'tomb of an era'… If that's true, things are far more complicated than we imagined."
Another fragment of memory flashed through Raine's mind—γ's desperate warning: "The 'Cradle' is a trap!"
"γ warned me that the 'Cradle' is a trap," Raine said, looking at Lianna. "You mentioned before that the 'Cradle' might be related to the origin of the World Tree?"
Lianna nodded, her brow furrowed. "Ancient legends mention the 'Cradle of Life,' said to be the birthplace of the very first life, and also tied to the core of the World Tree's roots. But if the Holy Alliance has designs on it, or even set a trap… what are they trying to do? And that Tomb Keeper clearly isn't aligned with the Alliance…"
The clues were chaotic, yet all pointed toward an extremely ancient and terrifying secret.
"We must leave here," Raine decided. "We can't return to Ash Town. That Tomb Keeper can track me, and going back will only bring disaster."
"Where to?" Lianna asked. "The forest is full of Deep Ones and corrupted creatures, and the Tomb Keeper could be out there too…"
"To find answers," Raine's gaze sharpened. "To find the 'Cradle,' or anywhere that can explain all of this. We can't just wait to die."
Lianna was silent for a moment. She knew it was their only choice. She glanced at the sealed entrance. "Most of my equipment is lost, and you're not fully recovered yet. Just going out like this…"
"We don't have that long," Raine interrupted her. "My energy recovery is accelerating. And…" He raised his left hand, palm upward, and a faint jade-colored energy, mixed with a very thin trace of Lianna's withering power, slowly appeared, forming a small but stable energy vortex. "…My perception of this forest is much clearer than before."
Perhaps it was due to repeated deep energy absorption, or perhaps because of some strange connection between the Seed of Life and this cursed land, he could now vaguely sense energy flows and distributions over a larger area. Where the corruption was thick and needed to be avoided, where relatively safe paths might exist, and even… where there were unusual, non-corrupted energy fluctuations.
At that moment, the strange, soul-affecting sound of the ancient horn echoed faintly from deep within the earth once again!
Woooo—!!!
Fainter than before, yet somehow clearer, it felt as if it were very close! And this time, the horn's sound seemed to carry… something else? Broken, vague, like sighs… whispers?
Raine and Lianna shuddered simultaneously!
Even more astonishing, the Seed of Life mark on Raine's left chest and Lianna's newly revived, mutated divine root resonated faintly at the same time! It was as if the horn and whispers were calling to a shared source of power!
"Did you hear that?" Lianna grabbed Raine's arm, her voice trembling with excitement and disbelief. "Those whispers… they seem to be pointing… in a direction?"
Raine nodded gravely. His mechanical right eye couldn't analyze the sound, but the throbbing of the Seed of Life and his vague perception indicated roughly where the horn was coming from—the deeper forest, somewhere away from the mine shafts.
A trap? Or a genuine guide?
Impossible to tell. But it was almost the only possible direction in the darkness.
"Let's gamble." Raine stood, stretching his body, still sore but largely recovered. The dark purple patterns on his crystal right arm had been fully suppressed, at least for now.
Lianna struggled to stand as well. Weak, but her eyes lit up again with the resolve and curiosity unique to a researcher. She straightened her tattered clothes and tightly grasped the pair of intact special long needles in her hands.
"Alright, 'Gardener Raine,'" she even forced a pale smile. "Looks like our 'field study' is about to level up."
Raine didn't smile. He only gave her a deep, steady look, then began carefully moving the rocks blocking the entrance.
Outside, the forest was still suffocating under the blood-red moon. But this time, they were no longer aimless, headless flies.
Relying on Raine's enhanced perception and his vague sense of the mysterious horn's direction, the two of them moved like ghosts, silently weaving through the twisted trees. Raine led the way, always managing to avoid areas with abnormal energy fluctuations and wandering corrupted creatures. Lianna followed closely, clearing traces and keeping watch over the flanks.
During a brief rest, Raine once again drew energy. This time, with Lianna assisting—though she lacked the strength for large-scale spells, she could subtly adjust Raine's resonant frequency with her own energy, further boosting efficiency—the recovery accelerated significantly.
During one such absorption, Raine's "resonance" seemed to touch an ancient, extremely faint, yet carefully protected energy node deep underground.
In an instant, a clearer—but still fragmented—vision slammed into his mind!
It was an endless, dazzling starry sky. A massive black obelisk, its material indescribable in words, floated silently among the stars, its surface shimmering with starlight. A vague, softly glowing figure (not the Tomb Keeper) stood before the obelisk, seemingly… crying? The sorrow in the scene felt almost tangible.
The view abruptly zoomed in, focusing on the base of the obelisk. There, an inscription in a script he had never seen appeared directly in his consciousness:"Here lies the echo of the First Epoch, the relic of arrogance."
The vision snapped away.
Raine gasped sharply, cold sweat forming at his temples.
"What did you see this time?" Lianna asked, concern in her voice.
"…Obelisk… starry sky… burial… First Epoch… arrogance…" Raine repeated in fragments, each word weighing heavily.
Lianna's pupils contracted again. "The First Epoch?! That's the era of myth! Even the Ancient Gods were born after the First Epoch! Arrogance… that sounds like… some kind of original sin?"
The clues seemed to begin connecting, pointing toward a far grander, more horrifying possibility.
The Holy Alliance, the Blood Moon, corruption, the Tomb Keeper, the Seed of Life, γ's warning, the Cradle trap, and now the First Epoch obelisk that buried 'arrogance'…
A chill ran up Raine's spine. He vaguely sensed that the Seed of Life within him was connected to an ancient secret capable of overturning the entire world.
And he and Lianna were inevitably drawn to the very center of this storm.
He looked toward the depths of the forest—the direction from which the horn sounded, the possible source of all answers and perhaps even the end of everything.
There was no turning back.
He gripped the Frostwhisper Sword and glanced at Lianna, weak but steadfast-eyed beside him.
"Let's go."
They rose once more, resolutely stepping into the unknown forest, thick with ancient whispers and a sense of danger.
Their goal was no longer merely survival—it was the truth. No matter how cruel that truth might be.