"I never got closer to the tree in the distance."

Malik pointed at the flat field that stretched out behind them.

"That gargantuan tree was obviously the center of this land, and I was trying to leave, not get deeper into it. So I went the opposite direction and never stopped walking. It’s probably why I survived so long out here on my own."

It was a field of nothing but the seasons.

"But, sadly, we cannot leave that way; it’s just an endless path. I walked for what felt like days, and the landscape never changed."

Safira raised a brow at him, her green eyes searching his face for any sign of deception.

"You’re telling me that just when you gave up and finally decided that there was no exit—at least not out there—and returned here after Rukh knows how long, we suddenly appeared?"

Malik shamelessly nodded, agreeing to everything she had said without a moment of hesitation.

Of course, it was a bald-faced lie.

He had arrived here only moments before they had, and he had no idea how long anyone had been trapped in this place.

But he knew that they were better off going deep than going far if they wanted to learn anything about this land.

Sure, there was no way in Hell they would actually reach that gargantuan Tree of Life; it was simply too far, and the dangers were likely too great.

But perhaps there were more notes left along the way by other expeditions that could give them clues and warnings.

Messages that could help them survive, and maybe even find a way out!

After all, if those expeditions had wanted something out here, it would certainly be in the opposite direction of what seemed to be no different than a wasteland.

They had not come all this way for nothing.

Furthermore, the message had advised them to stick close to the trees, and Malik NEEDED to play it safe here.

His life wasn’t the only one on the line anymore.

The trees could just possibly be the only thing standing between them and whatever killed the expeditions.

Huda scoffed, her suspicion not satisfied but apparently willing to let the matter drop for now.

Despite that, she did not care to listen to any more of his explanations, giving him her back.

Safira, on the other hand, nodded as if believing his words or at least willing to believe.

At the same time, her gentle face settled into an expression of determination.

They were going to get out of here!

With that, the three of them faced the Tree of Life that dominated the horizon.

Malik’s golden eyes moved rapidly from left to right, then right to left, and again, plotting out a path that would take them closer to it while using the smaller trees as base points.

Waystations where they could rest from whatever dangers lurked in this realm.

"Should we go to the right tree first?"

Malik pointed at a particular Tree of Life in the distance, its branches heavy with snow.

The two women glanced at him and then nodded, offering no argument.

Perhaps this was them allowing him to lead, trusting his experience in this land—but with Huda, Malik was never entirely sure.

Her suspicion had not disappeared; it had only gone into hiding, waiting for him to make a mistake.

"Let’s go, then!"

Huda already marched forward.

"Do not slow us down!"

’Yeah...’

Malik inwardly chuckled while following behind her.

’And I do not think I ever will.’

Quickly, the trio walked down the little hill, their feet crunching through the strange mixture that covered the ground.

It really could not be stated just how weird it felt to move through this space.

Each step landed on a different surface, texture, and temperature.

One moment, Malik’s foot sank into warm sand, and the next, it skidded across frozen grass.

All of it was made worse by the Rukh being drained from them. The damned Corruption suffocating them, pressing against their Souls, trying to find cracks in their defenses.

If not for their strength and the ladies’ erected Soul protection, they would long have since been devoured by it.

Their minds and bodies consumed by the same black rot that plagued the Trees of Death.

A few minutes later, they eventually reached the next tree, which was much the same as the last one.

A tall olive tree with gnarled branches and leaves that shimmered with an otherworldly light.

They paused in front of its trunk, expecting another message to be etched into the bark.

Sure enough, there was.

"Oh, there really is another one!"

Huda, more than excited, leaned in to read the words.

[Expedition Twelve: Beware... beware of the...]

That was not helpful at all.

Beware of the what?

The sentence cut off just like the first one, leaving only a warning without a subject, a threat without a name.

Why did they all have to be so damned cryptic?!

Could something be easy for onc—

THUMP!

The sound rattled their ears.

A deafening impact that came from the main tree itself or perhaps from somewhere deep beneath it, in the roots that stretched down into this realm’s core.

Either way, it seemed that their question was answered.

The ground rumbled beneath their feet, and before they could even process what was happening, a spark of red light materialized in the unfathomably far distance, momentarily blinding them with its intensity.

What came after was a wave of red.

A wave of crimson... fauna that spread outward from the massive Tree of Life.

Grass sprouted flowers of deep red, their petals unfurling in moments, while trees had done the same.

The once sandy, green, and snowy hills transformed before their eyes, covered in a blanket of red that seemed to pulse with a life of its own.

It was a horrifying but beautiful sight.

The kind of beauty that made them want to look away and lean closer at the same time.

Actually, no. It would have been a beautiful sight if it were not so thoroughly Corrupted.

If the red did not reek of rot beneath its vibrant surface.

A ’surface’ that Malik knew would result in their death if they did not move out of its way.

"Get to the tree!"

Pushing both women forward, he stuck close to the tree’s trunk and pressed their bodies against the bark.

In the same second, the red wave reached them, only to then...

Pass around them?

Yes, the crimson tide had flowed to either side of their shelter.

It washed over the hills and valleys beyond but left the small patch of ground around their tree untouched.

Malik watched it go, his heart pounding in his chest, already understanding how the expeditions had died.

’They were too exhausted to memorize the pattern.’

Their tree wasn’t the only one that was spared the red rot.

In fact, many were.

These trees were safe havens, protected from the waves by some unknown property.

Others were not.

To survive, one had to remember which tree to go to despite continuously losing their Rukh, despite their minds growing foggy and slipping away.

’This is a disaster.’

Malik did not have any other way to describe this torture of attrition.

How many waves would they have to survive?

Did they have to endure wave after wave after wave until they finally reached the massive Tree of Life in the distance?

There were many thousands of trees between them and that distant goal.

That meant there were also many more expeditions, each one leaving its own message.

Its testament to failure.

But why?

Why so many thousands of expeditions?

Did they think that by coming here, they could return the world to its status quo?

That they could stop the sea of Corruption from spreading out of Hell and into their planets?

And did this all begin to happen after Malik had disappeared?

All of these people, in that time frame?

’...incredible.’

Indeed, he was to witness more and more ridiculous things.