Cole stared at the tree for a solid thirty seconds. He was unsure whether his softened resolve was due to accumulated trauma or the curse.
The old woman studied him from the side, curiously observing his actions.
Cole pressed his lips into a thin line, then spoke. "I'll do it. But I won't touch these people."
'I already have enough innocent blood on my hands.'
The old woman smiled and gestured for Cole to proceed.
Cole exhaled sharply, dug into his pocket, and pulled out his Swiss Army knife. He spun it around to get a grip; compared to the tree, the blade looked comically small.
'A Swiss knife?' The old woman raised both brows in intrigue.
First, Cole stooped down and touched the roots with his fingertips. Oddly, they were as soft as a loaf of bread. Next, Cole dug the knife into one of the roots.
Nothing happened.
Cole turned to the old woman and shot her a confused stare. She simply waved at him with a friendly grin and kind eyes.
'Something must be wrong.' Cole curved the edges of his lips and narrowed his brows.
"Hey, what are you doing?" a citizen asked, his face a messy heap of fear and confusion.
The man's face tensed. "I asked you a question."
Cole kept silent for a moment, then answered, "Just doing some weeding."
Upon hearing Cole's response, the man's face twisted with fury. He grabbed Cole's collar and pulled him up.
"Listen here!" He sprayed spit with every word. "Don't come near this tree again!" the man burst out.
Cole grabbed the man's arms. 'Remember, he's still just a normal person.'
Cole turned nimbly, releasing the man's grip on his collar while simultaneously lifting him off the ground. He tossed the man across the roots; luckily, he only suffered a few minor scratches.
Cole's eyes darted back to the old woman. This time, he plastered a displeased look on his face, only to be met with an encouraging expression.
He clicked his tongue and returned his gaze to the tree. Cole lifted the knife above his head and drove it into the trunk with a violent thrust.
Nothing happened.
Aside from a loud squishing sound that reverberated through the large branches, there was no effect. Stupefied, Cole was left asking himself why the task was so plain.
Perhaps the old woman meant the size was the challenge? Though that wouldn't make sense; Indulgers with superhuman abilities could easily take down the tree, especially since it wasn't a moving target. Unless it was a sort of emotional test—or just a test in general—it made no sense why Cole was given such a mundane task.
Or maybe the experience from his previous challenge had built him up to the extent that what seemed simple to him was life-threatening for others? Then again, those guardians were no joke. Such thoughts stormed Cole's mind at the time.
"AGGGH!"
Cole's pondering was shattered by a loud, pained cry.
The source was behind the tree. Cole shifted to the side to get a better view. After adjusting his angle around the tree's large stump, he saw six people gathered in a circle.
Cole approached the small crowd out of curiosity. After passing through the stacks of large roots and webby vines, he tapped one of the citizens on the shoulder. The citizen moved aside in fear.
Cole was left speechless as he stared, wide-eyed, at the center. The man he had tossed earlier was dead—not because of Cole's actions, but because of a massive stab wound resulting in severe blood loss.
Cole bent down to examine the body. He couldn't spot any signs of struggle, and judging by the condition of the ground and the pool of red liquid, the man hadn't moved.
It didn't make sense for a murder mystery to take place during his task. Then again, it wasn't really Cole's business, nor was the death a result of his actions...
'Wait.' A thought struck Cole's mind like a bolt of lightning.
Cole dashed back to the tree, ignoring the people's protests. With one casual swing, he slashed through another of the tree's roots.
A bald man standing idly in the distance was decapitated by thin air.
Seeing this, Cole clenched his jaw like a growling beast, furrowing his brows until lines stretched from his temples down to his cheeks. Cole shifted and gave the woman a heated glare as his veins popped, revealing a darker, uglier expression.
The old woman smiled. "If the bodies get in the way, clean them up and finish your job."
Before Cole could utter a word, one of the citizens stumbled while running toward him. Instead of getting up, she slid to Cole's feet, streams of tears flooding down her cheeks.
"Please don't kill the tree! I'm begging you!" she pleaded, gripping Cole's leg tightly.
The others followed, filling the area with their disjointed cries and pleas. Their voices began to echo from every angle. When Cole turned his gaze to the side, he saw groups of people gathering on their knees, hands folded, begging him to spare the tree.
It wasn't just from the side; Cole scanned the entire area where he stood. Behind the buildings and the tree itself, on the rooftops, from both sides, and above the branches and vines, the people of Sant Flores were assembling to beseech Cole.
Their incoherent voices invaded his ears, piercing them like needles through skin.
"Please spare our blood! Save our lives! Have mercy on our families! Leave the tree!" they chanted repeatedly, as if conjuring a spirit.
Cole looked away, changing his focus to the old woman who sat comfortably on a root, resting her head on her palm with narrowed eyes and a satisfied smile.
Tensing his body, Cole's rage seethed through his clothes; his eyes slowly turned red, and his composure flickered like a switch.
"Damn you, old bat!"
In the blink of an eye, Cole changed course.
Pointing the knife forward, Cole sprinted, his figure a mere blur due to his intense speed. He planted his foot to break his momentum, and using his left hand to shove the knife's hilt, he thrust the blade forward.
Only a few inches remained for the knife to pierce her neck. Unfortunately, it was intercepted midway by the tip of her thumb and index finger. The old woman held Cole's knife like a used toothpick, her smug look damaging him more than any attack.
But she punched him in the gut anyway, just for the sake of it.
The pain shot through Cole's body; for a brief moment, he went numb. Barely able to maintain his balance, he hugged his stomach, reeled back, and let out a dry cough.
If that wasn't enough, she smacked the blade of Cole's knife, effortlessly breaking it before his eyes, reducing it to a hilt and some broken iron.
"You have two options." She lowered her face, gripped her chin, and glared fiercely at Cole. "Kill the tree, or..."
She smiled. "Offer yourself as a sacrifice and convince the tree to yield itself."
Cole spoke in a hitched voice, the pain still jogging up his nerves. "Why can't you do all this yourself?"
"There's a reason for that, but I can't reveal every little thing to strangers." She giggled.
Despite grappling with the pain, Cole's stinging senses could feel something strange. The old woman he'd been interacting with was different, yet the same.
It was as if her demeanor was more youthful and playful, though her appearance remained constant. What truly gave her away was the juvenile gleam escaping her eyes.
Clutching a branch, Cole waited until the pain subsided. The repeated begging of the people played like a broken record, becoming increasingly annoying.
Killing was nothing special—targets and the innocent alike. Normally, his heart was so toughened he would do heinous things for the "sake of the job," regardless of who was affected. Now, of all times, he struggled to make that decision.
Certainly, it wasn't from a change of heart, but neither was it a result of the tree's curse.
Cole clenched his chest and lowered his head. 'Just what is going on?'
"Hurry up, Snider, you're wasting time." The old woman strolled to the side. "You're only delaying the inevitable."
"..."
Cole sat as though he were deep in thought. He rested his back on the tree and raised his head to the branches above, his emotions a mix of regret and intrigue.
Despite the pain fading away, something else kept tugging at his gut, rising all the way to his throat. Between the constant muttering of pleas from strangers and the dubious old woman keeping him on a short leash burning at the other end, the situation required Cole to make his next decision carefully, calmly, and strategically.
'Just what is this tree? What does this old woman want from it? And why did she keep emphasizing that I kill it?' Cole introspected.
'When I think about it, the roots were unnaturally soft for a tree. It felt more like...'
Cole's eyes steadily widened. He covered his ears and pressed his back against the tree's bark.
*BADUMP!*