Alain finally took a good look at himself. His shirt was damp, ripped, burned, all manners of damage was on it. Looking back, he really wished he'd have brought along the Academy's cardigan and jacket.
The path ahead was clear. After the clearing, a path laid ahead, carved in stone, as if someone wanted them to reach the peak.
Though, the trip itself was relatively uninteresting. One of them was on the verge of dying, the other two extremely tired and drained of both physical energy as well as ether. So talking was kept to the bare minimum.
However, the scenery changed instantly. The cavern ceiling had fallen away entirely. In its place, an open summit stretched before them—white, endless, and untouched by anything except the wind.
The sky above was a pure white, clouds scattered like paint thrown over a canvas.
For a moment, Alain forgot his burning palm, the exhaustion in his legs, and even the weight of his situation. All he wanted to do was…take in the view.
Kai'el let out a weak sound, half awe and half fevered delirium. "It… looks like the top of the world…"
"Easy," Theo murmured, tightening his grip on him.
Alain's eyes swept the plateau.
Then he saw it.
At first, he thought it was a trick of the light. A shard of ruby catching the sun. But as the wind shifted, the shape sharpened, breath leaving his chest entirely.
A tree.
A crystal tree.
It rose from the center of the peak like a sculpture carved by the divine. Its trunk a translucent red, catching every ray of sunlight until it glowed like molten glass. Branches spread outwards in perfect symmetry, each holding delicate crystal leaves that swayed softly when the wind touched them.
The only word that could describe this—was beautiful.
Kai'el reached out with a trembling hand, eyes glazed but awestruck. "It… feels warm…"
Theo adjusted his grip again, his tone softening despite everything. "Let's get closer. Maybe there's a path down from here. Or something that can help him."
Alain nodded, finally letting out a slow breath he hadn't realized he was holding.
Whatever this tree was, it didn't feel hostile.
It felt like… wonder.
The summit wind should have ripped through their coats, but instead a gentle heat radiated from the crystal tree, melting the snow in a thin circle around its base.
Theo blinked through it, squinting.
"It's… warm enough to melt snow at this altitude? That shouldn't be possible."
Kai'el leaned against him more heavily. His skin was alarmingly pale, but even he tilted his head toward the warmth as if instinctively drawn to it.
Alain kept his distance, studying the tree's trunk.
Theo reached into his pack and pulled out a metal disk, no larger than a handspan but densely engraved with tiny runic plates. Four pronged legs folded out beneath it.
Alain glanced over.
"That's the transmitter Duke Bertran gave you?"
Theo nodded, setting it gently into the snow. "Yeah. Limited range. But if we're lucky, it'll be close enough for at least someone to get our signal."
He breathed on his hands, warming them before twisting the dial along the device's rim. The prongs lit up in sequence—yellow, then white, then a faint green.
A soft hum joined the quiet of the summit.
"We'll need a minute," Theo murmured. "The mountain's full of interference. Just keep watch."
Alain nodded and turned his gaze outward across the plateau.
Kai'el shifted, teeth clenched as another wave of cold—or poison—took him.
Theo immediately knelt beside him, unpacking a small red vial. "Drink slowly."
Kai'el obeyed weakly, half-conscious.
Alain knelt in front of him, brushing a few red crystal vines aside to give him more room.
"Hang in there," Alain said softly. "We're almost done with this mountain."
Kai'el gave a faint, tired laugh.
"Just… make sure I don't fall asleep."
Nodding his head, Alain assured him confidently.
The wind chimed softly through the crystal leaves. The entire scene was quiet, almost peaceful.
Alain let out a slow breath—
relief, exhaustion, something lighter than either.
For the first time since entering the mountain, he let himself believe they were safe.
He shifted his hand to sweep a vine away—
and the sharp crystal edge bit into his palm.
Alain hissed under his breath as the crystal edge sliced cleanly across his palm. Red welled up instantly under his skin.
"Damn—"
He jerked his hand back, more startled than hurt.
Theo looked up from the humming transmitter.
"Alain? What happened?"
"Nothing. Just… caught it on one of these stupid vines." He wiped his palm against the snow, smearing the blood away
For a moment, nothing changed.
Then the broken vine at his feet… absorbed the drop of blood he left behind.
Alain froze.
Theo's eyes caught the faint shimmer.
"…Did that thing just—?"
He didn't finish.
They both could see the droplet of blood traveling along the vines until it reached the tree's trunk.
The tree pulsed once…twice… a third time.
Theo stood abruptly, the transmitter forgotten.
"This can't be good," he waved a hand at Alain, "Hey, get back—!"
Then, a deafening screech echoed throughout the mountain. A sound loud enough to shake even snow on the ground. Even with his hand covering his ears, Alain could still feel pain from the sound.
Suddenly, black veins started creeping up its trunk, spreading like a parasite that has taken over its host's body.
Alain could see it clearly, shifting small ghostly figures floated around inside the tree; there had to have been thousands of them, floating frantically like they were trying to escape. He instantly knew what this was.
A death-cry of every Titan buried in this mountain.
The scream of blood and betrayal and centuries of rage, erupting from one crystallized throat.
The sound ripped across the peak like a shockwave.
Kai'el collapsed completely, hands over his ears, blood dripping from his nose.
Alain saw the movement too late.
A massive crystal root lunged at him like a spear, missing him only because the ground cracked beneath it.
He rolled aside, heart hammering, mind blank.
The tree screamed again—
His hand glowed golden, light dissolving into air like mist, arranging itself like he'd been used to.
[Aberrant Detected—status: weakened.]
[Objective: Defeat the Colossal Tree of Souls.]
"Please…free them."
A chill ran down his spine—that voice, where'd it come from?
Though he already knew the answer. The obsidian pendant glowed warm underneath his shirt, expecting this moment to arrive.
The snow under his boots shivered.
Then the mountain gave a single, deep groan, with tremors rocking throughout the ground.
Alain barely managed to dive to the side before a long fracture raced across the summit like lightning trapped under glass. The snow split open in a jagged white line, and an entire slab of the peak slid cleanly off the edge.
It vanished into fog below, the impact never reaching their ears.
A third of the summit was simply gone.
Theo stared, pale. "We're losing the whole peak…"
The ground buckled beneath them.
A massive red crystal vine—thick as a tree trunk—writhed under the snow, pulling itself free with a sound like stone screaming. Snow erupted off its surface. The entire plateau lurched.
Kai'el's limp body began sliding toward the new drop.
Theo swore and lunged, grabbing his arm just in time and dragging him back.
Alain staggered to keep his footing, the air vibrating around him.
Another tremor ripped through the mountain.
A second crack opened across the center of the plateau, wide enough that snow poured into it like sand in an hourglass. The ground tilted slightly, pulling toward the chasm.
Alain caught himself against a slanted stone. His heart hammered.
The tree hadn't even attacked yet—this was just the result of it moving.
The mountain wasn't built to withstand it.
A sharp clicking sound grew beneath the snow.
Then—
CRACK—!!
A blood-red crystal erupted upward from the ground, exploding into the air in jagged columns. Alain dove aside as a spike tore through the space he'd been standing in only a breath earlier. Three more pillars speared skyward beside it, forming a rough semicircle around the awakening tree.
They were huge: towering, translucent, humming with the same violent glow as the trunk.
Theo dragged Kai'el behind the nearest pillar.
"Alain! These things might hold—use them for cover!"
Alain pressed his back to the smooth crystal surface, panting like he had run a marathon. After he'd settled for a bit, Alain dared a glance.
Steam rose from the hot crystal pillars. Snow drifted in thin sheets across the slanted ground.
And at the center of it all… the Aberrant took shape. No longer a tree…more of an abomination of mismatched parts made of glass.
It lifted its head, or what Alain recognized as one, and looked at him.
Not with eyes, but with the whole tree's combined soul.
Every crystal on the plateau turned toward him.
A voice, layered, broken, rang out.
"AESIR…YOU."
The Aberrant's torso straightened. Its half-formed arm—made of fused crystal limbs and Titan souls—dragged free from the trunk with a shriek of tearing roots.
The ground cracked again beneath Alain's boots.
Theo shouted something behind him, but the sound drowned in the rising hum.
The Aberrant raised its first massive limb—and brought it down.