Kenzo did not hesitate for even a second. The instant he felt the pressure of the Mist change, the moment the air became heavier, colder, almost suffocating, he understood that standing still would be a fatal mistake. The Mist was no longer merely leaking out. It was pouring into the chamber. Its density rose violently, as though something deep beneath them had finally given way.
— « Lucian, run. »
His voice cracked through the air, sharp and absolute.
Lucian needed no explanation. He immediately turned and ran, already breathing hard, his heart pounding violently. Behind them, the Mist now surged from the cocoon like a living tide, thick and fast, devouring the surrounding space far more quickly than either of them had expected.
They raced through the Palace of Webs at full speed. The walls trembled around them. Sections of silk tore loose under the pressure of the moving air, floating briefly before disappearing into the advancing fog. Kenzo repeatedly glanced behind them, measuring the distance and speed, desperately searching for any margin of safety.
There was none.
They burst out of the palace and onto the slopes of the crater. The treeless region stretched before them, vast and open, but dangerously exposed. Farther ahead stood the forest.
Their only real refuge.
They ran, but it was not enough.
Lucian stumbled, barely catching himself before falling, and Kenzo immediately saw the problem. The slope was too steep. Their speed was dropping.
The Mist was not slowing down.
Lucian made an instinctive decision.
— « Madame! »
The summoning was almost immediate. The air seemed to compress beneath an invisible weight, and a deep rumble passed through the ground before Madame had even fully materialized. The giant spider emerged through an intertwining of muted light and dense matter, each of her legs striking the earth with a heavy, solid thud. Her massive yet perfectly balanced body alternated between bone-white and deep black along her back, the natural patterns in her chitin forming shapes that vaguely resembled frozen faces embedded in her shell.
She had healed.
Every injury from the previous battle was gone. The legs that had been broken or torn away had fully regenerated, leaving no trace of the damage. All of them were back—long, powerful, perfectly articulated, anchoring her to the earth with remarkable stability. Her body remained low, ready to spring forward, and every movement conveyed controlled strength rather than mindless brutality.
Madame was not as large or as sturdy as the Unstable-rank spider the three of them had fought. Her frame was more compact and far less overwhelming, but she gave off an impression of reliability and endurance. The other spider had inspired terror through sheer size and raw power. Madame inspired something different: the quiet certainty that she had been made to carry, protect, and survive.
Her dark eyes swept across the surroundings, assessing the situation without panic before instinctively turning in the direction of their escape. She did not wait for another order. She immediately began moving, her legs striking the earth in a heavy, regular rhythm.
Kenzo and Lucian climbed onto her back without wasting a second. The moment they were secure, Madame began scaling the crater with brute force, her legs digging deep into the loose soil and tearing chunks of earth free with every step.
As they climbed, Kenzo spotted two figures below.
Naty and Ophelia.
They were sprinting at full speed, their expressions tense, eyes fixed ahead. The Mist was already dangerously close behind them. Kenzo felt his stomach tighten.
— « Get on! »
He waved and shouted with all the strength he had.
— « The Mist is coming! »
Neither of them asked questions. Ophelia jumped first, climbing onto Madame with sharp precision, and Naty followed immediately. The instant they were aboard, Madame pushed herself even harder, every muscle straining to its limit.
The crater seemed endless.
As Madame raced up the slope, Kenzo spoke over the wind and pounding footsteps, carefully choosing his words.
— « The Mist appeared after I burned Sir James's body. »
He said nothing more.
Ophelia did not react immediately, keeping her gaze fixed ahead as she watched the terrain. Naty frowned slightly but did not challenge him. The explanation seemed plausible enough. A residue. A delayed reaction from the Fragment. Nothing obviously abnormal.
But inside, Kenzo felt his stomach twist.
That isn't true…
The realization came cold and precise.
I never burned his body.
The images returned despite his efforts to suppress them: the opened chest, the still-warm human heart, the voice, the Assimilation.
The Mist had appeared afterward.
After he ate it.
That's when it started.
Kenzo clenched his teeth and kept his eyes forward. Telling the truth would solve nothing. Ophelia would understand immediately. Naty would ask far too many questions. And Lucian… Lucian did not need to know that Kenzo had used him as an alibi.
If they think it was the fire… then let them.
Behind them, the Mist continued gaining ground, swallowing the treeless region at an unnatural speed. A cold certainty settled deep within Kenzo.
I know why this started.
But this was one secret he would carry alone.
— « Why is it moving so fast…? » Naty murmured.
No one answered.
Hours passed in a continuous escape. The landscape gradually changed and exhaustion steadily set in, yet no one dared ask for a break. Eventually, the forest appeared ahead of them. Above it, the sky was turning gray.
A sickly gray.
An ominous gray.
They all knew what that meant.
Behind them, the sky above the treeless region was changing as well. Where it should have remained clear, it too was becoming gray, as though the Mist's influence extended far beyond its visible mass.
— « That's not normal… » Lucian whispered.
They reached the forest and plunged inside, Madame continuing to race between the trees, smashing through branches and roots in her path. They passed places they had seen before, recognizing familiar clearings and rock formations, but none of it offered any comfort.
The Mist followed them relentlessly.
Then what they feared finally happened.
Madame slowed abruptly.
Ahead of them, between the massive tree trunks, another bank of Mist was slowly spreading.
The Mist of the Sacred Tree.
Kenzo felt his blood run cold.
They had arrived exactly where they did not want to be.
Between two Mists.
Behind them was the one they had triggered.
Ahead was the one they already knew far too well.
The two masses were slowly, inexorably drawing closer, as though space itself were closing around them.
A heavy silence settled over the group.
No one spoke.
They all understood.
There was nowhere left to run.
They would have to go through.