Artemis had listened to Alista's frantic warnings about the hidden dangers near the ominous tree. She quickly came close to him and covered her eyes. Alista, following suit, tightly closed his own.
As they stood still, enveloped in the oppressive silence near the massive structure, Alista suddenly heard Artemis's voice, strange and distant: "Hey, Alista, open your eyes. It is gone."
Alista frowned deeply. He recognized the scene from the original narrative, but his mind felt foggy, disconnected; he couldn't recall what happened immediately before or after this specific moment. 'Whatever happens, do not open my eyes,' he commanded himself, resisting the hypnotic suggestion.
Slowly, the strange voice—the creature's power—started to turn into a frenzy. Alista's mind began to go wild; the [Mad King] Flaw flared violently, overwhelming his rational thought. He was gripped by an intense urge to open his eyes and fight the goddamn monster that whispered to him.
After a minute of struggle, Alista couldn't maintain control. He felt his eyelids involuntarily twitching, starting to peel open.
"I… can't… control it! I… am… about… to open… my eyes!" he gasped out.
Suddenly, a warm palm covered his face, blocking his vision completely. Alista instantly recognized the hand of Artemis protecting him. Immediately, he heard various horrifying ripping sounds near them—the sound of flesh being torn and bone snapping. Alista, however, held still, not daring to remove the hand. He was lucky Artemis was with him; without her sacrifice, he was a goner.
After some time, the frenzied urge slowly lessened, and the pervasive Mist of the creature's influence seemed to recede.
Alista spoke, his voice hoarse. "Artemis, you can take your hand off my face now."
But he heard no reply.
Alista, his heart pounding, carefully removed the hand covering his eyes. He stared in horror at what he held: only her left hand, severed cleanly at the elbow, with blood dripping onto the bark. The rest of her body was missing.
Alista was consumed by panic. He began searching frantically. 'No, no. Please, for God's sake, survive, Artemis. Don't die on me!'
He searched the entire area near the tree. Finally, he spotted the rest of her body further out, near the border of the crimson labyrinth, violently flung away by the attack.
Alista immediately ran toward the location, only to find a gruesome sight: a pile of ripped flesh, dismembered hands, legs, intestines, and a severed head strewn across the ground.
Alista stared at the carnage, still clutching the only piece of her that had saved him—her left hand. He finally understood the ripping sounds he had heard: It was Artemis's body being torn apart all along.
Alista dropped the dismembered hand near the pile of flesh and bone and started to cry. His heart was ridden with profound guilt. If not for him losing control and nearly opening his eyes, Artemis would not have fallen victim to the creature's attack.
Tears streamed down Alista's face. He had never witnessed such a brutal, gruesome death, neither in the dangerous Outskirts nor in his previous life. He finally grasped the true, unrelenting horror of this world. Even people with powerful abilities were capable of dying like this, ripped apart and discarded. He fell to his knees, utterly defeated by the realization of this world's cruelty.
Alista cried there for a long time, consumed by grief and guilt. Then, he looked up at the menacing tree.
'This tree,' he thought, his mind now clearing, 'I shouldn't have been here. I don't have the plot armor those guys have. I have taken everything for granted, and this is the fucking result.' He stared at the tree, his heart a nexus of grief and self-condemnation.
After some time, he managed to speak, his voice rough. "It is time to bury her."
A voice, soft and unexpected, suddenly cut through the silence. "Bury… Who?"
Alista jerked forward, spinning around to see Artemis standing directly in front of him. Her black hair was disheveled, and her blue eyes stared at him, seemingly whole.
"Bury… who?" Artemis repeated, confused.
Alista blinked repeatedly, his mind struggling to comprehend the impossible. She didn't have a single scratch; her hands were intact, though she was completely nude.
"What the fuck is going on?" Alista demanded, a raw mixture of shock and lingering panic in his voice.
Artemis summoned her Bronze Armor back, covering herself. "I will discuss this, but let's get away from the tree first."
Alista refused immediately. "No tree. That is way too dangerous. Let's go to the ridge." The area still felt contaminated by the creature's power.
Alista, still reeling, dragged her back toward the Bone Ridge before the night returned and the Dark Sea rose.
Later, under the Bone Ridge, Alista and Artemis were setting up their camp.
Alista tried to process the experience. 'First, the tree's influence was so strong that it made me forget the surrounding events, even causing me to forget that the Egg can only be shattered by Sunny because he is the only person to have the Shadow Essence to touch it in the first place. Luckily, my [Barbarian] Attribute enhanced my mental fortitude beyond that of a Dormant Beast, but it is still less than an Awakened Terror.'
'Second,' his mind screamed, 'How the hell did Artemis not die? Nobody can survive that!'
After some moments of internal struggle, Alista spoke, his voice low and intense. "What exactly happened? You were ripped apart. I saw your corpse."
Artemis looked at him, her expression complex. "It is my Flaw. I can't die."
Alista was shocked to the core. He could only manage a few words. "So, you can't die? You are Immortal?"
Artemis simply nodded.
Alista's eyes widened, a new understanding dawning. 'Okay, Immortal, huh? No wonder she is so open; I can't kill her, even if I wanted to.'
Artemis then turned the inquiry back to him. "Now, my turn. What the hell is at that tree?"
Alista then thoroughly explained the Mind Hex radiating from the tree, how it had caused his memory lapse, the sheer size of the crater he had seen, and the amount of time it would take them to travel around it.
Artemis frowned at the bad news. "That is bad. Traveling around the sides will take too long. And from your estimate, the tree's Mind Hex is clearly a problem. We need a boat, but we don't have any sturdy materials to build one to travel on the Dark Sea."
Alista thought for a moment, then looked pointedly in the direction of the menacing tree.
Alista pointed out toward the tree's direction and spoke, a dangerous idea forming in his mind. "Hey, does that Mind Hex tree's wood count as a durable building material?"
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