The brutal section of the forest was exactly what it looked like from the outside.
Worse.
The trees had collapsed into each other in ways that left no clean paths through. Heat gathered in pockets and stayed there, building instead of dispersing. The creatures didn't wander anymore—they moved in packs, tighter, faster, the glow in their cores brighter, the heat coming off them less like a side effect and more like something intentional.
Arie and Baro fought through the first group without saying a word.
There wasn't space for it, not here at least.
Baro was better in this kind of terrain. The tighter it got, the more his aggression worked for him. Less room for the creatures to move, less room for things to go wrong all at once.
They cleared it and kept going.
The second engagement was worse.
It was six this time.
A large group came out of a collapsed cluster of trunks all at once, like something had pushed them forward together.
Arie felt it immediately—his power not responding the way it should have. The ground here was different. It was packed, warped and saturated with heat in a way that resisted him.
He adjusted though. He had to after all.
Worked around it instead of through it.
Kept Baro covered without making it obvious.
They cleared that one too.
Baro leaned back against a trunk, breathing heavier than before, checking his arm where one of the creatures had gotten close.
It wasn't too deep.
He'd be fine.
For now.
"How much further do you think?" Baro asked.
"Hard to say."
"Great." He flexed his arm once, nodded to himself. "You alright?"
"Mm."
Baro huffed quietly. "You're always fine."
They moved again.
Arie picked the place long before they reached it.
He'd passed it already. Twice, maybe three times.
Each time noting something small. The spacing, the ground and the way the ash sat undisturbed.
Nothing obvious.
That was the point.
It looked like a natural clearing.
It was wide enough and open enough.
No immediate movement.
The kind of place where a fight could happen and not look out of place after.
They stepped into it because Arie angled them there without making it feel like a choice.
He stopped.
Baro stopped too, eyes already scanning the edges.
"Quiet."
"Yeah."
Something in the silence lingered a second too long.
Baro turned slightly.
Arie was already looking at him.
"I need to tell you something."
Baro didn't react immediately. Just watched him.
"Okay."
"There are five of us," Arie said.
Same tone as always.
Nothing different in it.
"When we move on, I need a spot."
A pause.
Baro frowned slightly.
"I don't—what are you—"
"You were there," Arie said. "At the end."
Baro blinked.
"Where?"
"Babilon. Not that it matters."
Another pause.
Longer this time.
"…we haven't even cleared this place yet."
"Not in this life."
That landed.
Just… sat there.
Baro stared at him.
Searching.
Waiting for something that would make it make sense.
"You're not serious."
Arie just looked at him in silence.
Baro shook his head once.
"I don't even—" He stopped, tried again. "Whatever you're talking about—that's not me."
His voice tightened.
"I haven't done anything to you. Not to anyone."
Arie said nothing.
"We've been fighting together for months," Baro went on. "You—"
He stopped.
Swallowed.
"I told you I owed you my life."
A beat.
"I meant it."
Arie looked at him.
Really looked.
He means it.
Every word.
"You're not the same person," Baro said. Quieter now. "Whatever happened… that's not me."
Another step closer.
"We're friends, man."
That word hung there.
Arie reached for it.
Found nothing.
"It's not personal," he said.
Baro let out a breath that almost broke halfway through.
"That's worse."
"I know."
Arie drew Genshi.
Baro moved.
There was no hesitation now.No more talking.
He came in fast.
Faster than most.
Desperation did that.
It didn't matter.
Arie stepped through it.
Everything already mapped. Every angle already known.
The ground shifted where it needed to. The space closed where it had to.
Baro fought hard. Harder than before.
Harder than he ever had.
It still wasn't enough.
When it ended, it ended quickly.
Baro was on the ground.
The clearing was quiet again.
He looked up.
Breathing uneven.
Eyes still trying to hold onto something.
"Was any of it real?"
Arie stood over him.
Considered the question.
"You were good in a fight."
Baro closed his eyes.
Genshi moved once.
Silence returned.
Arie stood there for a moment.
He watched the space and checked the details.
The marks lined up. Arie ripped the arm apart from the dead Baro. Now the damage made sense.
Nothing out of place.He felt nothing about that.
He adjusted two small things and checked again.
Then turned.
Northeast.
The palace was waiting.
He took a step.
"—well done."
Arie stopped. It was an ethereal whisper. Arie was momentarily confused. Just one moment.
He turned slowly.
Just ash drifting.
Trees standing still.
No movement.Nothing there.
He waited a second longer than he should have.
Then turned back and kept walking.
Behind him, the clearing stayed quiet.