Amon continued to stare at the tree with awe and fear.

It didn't look celestial. Rather, it looked dangerous—unholy.

Amon ran a hand through his dark, messy hair, adjusting it. His hair had grown a little longer. The bangs now reached his eyes, so he pushed them back.

"What should I do?" he questioned. Everything was becoming more and more messy. He had managed to find human soldiers—soldiers from his own kingdom—but now he was lost again.

He remembered the map clearly. The tree was located at the center of the island. Huge mountains surrounded the entire area where the tree stood.

That was one of the reasons the tree was not visible from the side where the human base was, despite being so massive.

Now, Amon was standing just a short distance away from it.

Sigh.

A tired sigh escaped his mouth. In just the span of a few days, so many things had happened.

He was thrown into this forest. Somehow survived it and met the knights. Met new people and teammates.

Then fought against demons. Lost all his teammates. Was captured by demons. Tortured by them. Killed one of his friends with his own hands. Then somehow escaped by killing Zareth.

All of this happened in less than a month.

"Fuck…" Amon cursed again.

He remembered Mira, Harvey, and the others. He had only known them for around a week, but he had grown very close to them.

It was hard to believe that those five were dead now. Only he survived.

He closed his eyes and rested there for a while.

After some time, he looked at the tree again.

He couldn't rest or sleep here. The reason stood right in front of him. No matter what shit he had gone through, a part of him was yelling. Making him excited, making him curious.

It was none other than the dead Celestial Tree.

How could someone like Amon not feel curious about it? Not only Amon. Anyone who saw it would feel the same.

"I don't know where to go… so why not there," he muttered. He had come to a conclusion.

Who knew when he would get another chance to see the tree from this close? To touch it with his own hands? To explore it a little?

Amon pushed himself up. He looked around and saw both his weapons lying on the ground, at the place where he had emerged.

Amon frowned. Suddenly, he realized something important.

"How the fuck did I come here?" Amon questioned himself. But he couldn't come up with any answer.

There was no way in hell he could have walked this far by himself in a single night. Or was the demon base located near this tree?

No. It couldn't be. Something wasn't right. Amon rubbed his temples. The more he thought about it, the weirder the situation felt.

He walked toward the weapons lying on the ground and lifted them. The blade of the sword was covered with dried blood.

Knowing whose blood it was, a smile formed on his face. He put his hatchet back into his storage ring.

Keeping the sword in his right hand, he said, "Okay, let's go and see what this tree is all about."

With a smile, Amon started to walk toward it.

"Fuck!"

His body was still aching all over. He needed to get used to this pain more. Though somehow, the pain felt familiar now.

He continued to walk slowly between the gaps of long black roots. Some rose above the ground, while others were submerged in the soil.

Amon moved forward slowly.

Each step sent a dull ache through his battered body, but he ignored it. Pain had become familiar. Almost background noise.

The ground beneath his feet was uneven, dominated by massive black roots that rose and sank like frozen waves.

Some roots lay exposed, thicker than city walls, their surfaces rough and cold beneath his palms. Others disappeared into the soil, only to emerge again meters away, splitting the earth apart as if it were nothing.

Amon had to climb.

He placed his sword aside for a moment, gripping a root with both hands. His muscles screamed as he pulled himself up, boots scraping against bark hardened like stone. His wounds protested violently, sharp flashes of pain tearing through his nerves.

"Ghh…" he grunted, teeth clenched.

He didn't stop.

Once atop the root, he paused, breathing heavily, then carefully climbed down the other side. This repeated again and again. Climb, descend, walk, stumble, recover.

The tree felt closer with every step, yet somehow also farther.

The air here was different. Heavier. Colder. It pressed against his skin, against his lungs. The light dimmed further as the canopy of black branches far above blocked what little gray daylight existed.

Amon's eyes constantly moved. He observed everything.

The ground near the roots was cracked and warped, as if something massive had once shifted beneath it. There were no signs of monsters. Not even insects. No birds. Absolute silence ruled this place.

Even the wind seemed hesitant to pass through.

Occasionally, he felt it again. That strange sensation. Like something watching him. Not hostile. Not friendly. Just… aware.

Amon tightened his grip on his sword.

After what felt like an eternity. Though it couldn't have been less than twenty minutes. He finally reached the base of the tree.

He stopped and stared at it.

Up close, the tree was even more overwhelming. Standing near its base felt like standing before a cliff with no end.

The trunk rose straight upward, its surface carved with ancient scars and grooves, each one massive enough to be mistaken for a canyon wall.

The bark radiated a strange coldness. Not the cold of ice, but the cold of something long dead.

The roots here were thicker than towers, overlapping and merging into one another, forming natural ramps, walls, and hollow spaces beneath them.

Some roots were cracked open, revealing darkness inside. Deep, endless darkness. Amon felt small. Terrifyingly small. Uneasiness crept inside him.

He tilted his head back, trying to see how far the trunk went, but his eyes lost it within the clouds.

"So this is the base…" he murmured.

His heartbeat quickened. Not from fear alone, but anticipation.

Whatever this place was, whatever secrets the Grave of the Celestial Tree held, he had reached it. And there was no turning back now.

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