I Can Only Cultivate In A Game-Chapter 414: It Stopped?

Victor let out a shaky breath.

"Let’s get the hell out of here before it starts offering us more."

Without wasting another second, they moved fast, arriving back onto the path they had been navigating before.

The labyrinth seemed calm again, no immediate hostility.

They turned corner after corner, putting as much distance as possible between themselves and the Root Child.

For several minutes, nothing happened and finally it seemed as though they had escaped this horror.

However, the moment they turned another corner, they stopped dead.

The Root Child stood there waiting.

Victor’s stomach dropped.

"Fuck..."

This time, it held something smaller.

Several strange glowing seeds rested in its vine-wrapped palm. They glowed faintly, like tiny embers.

The creature extended them outward, offering just like before.

"Maybe this is the last one," she muttered.

Victor grabbed her arm. "Aria, wait—"

But she stepped forward anyway.

"If it’s going to keep following us," she said quietly, "we need to exhaust whatever this is."

She took the seeds and the moment they touched her skin... she felt a hollow emptiness deep within...

Like something had been scooped out from inside her.

Her knees buckled and Victor caught her before she hit the ground.

"Aria!"

She had turned visibly pale very quickly and her lips had lost color.

Victor turned toward the Root Child and his eyes widened once more.

In its hands was a massive orb, the size of a human head and completely transparent.

Within it, swirled thick and dark red liquid.

It was blood...

A lot of blood.

Victor could feel the absence in her body just by holding her. She had turned lightheaded and weak.

The orb pulsed faintly in the Root Child’s grasp.

Aria’s breathing grew shallow.

"I feel..." she whispered. "...cold..."

Victor’s chest burned with anger.

"That’s enough!" he shouted at the creature. "Go!"

The Root Child tilted its head slightly, uncomprehending...

Or simply indifferent.

Victor glared at it.

"You’ve taken enough!"

The creature did not react since it did not understand his language...

Or perhaps it simply did not care.

Aria sagged further against him.

He gritted his teeth.

There was no way for him to regrow blood... what was he supposed to do? Feed her his saliva?

While he supported her trembling body, the Root Child moved again.

It extended another item forward...

Another offering.

Victor’s heart sank.

It wasn’t done.

A small root wrapped finger lay in the Root Child’s palm like a grotesque offering.

It was fresh and still faintly damp with sap. Twisted and knotted like it had been torn from its own body, yet the creature showed no sign of injury. The severed piece twitched slightly in its grasp, as though it were still alive.

Victor’s chest rose and fell heavily.

"No," he muttered under his breath. "No more."

Aria swayed beside him still pale from the blood loss it had already taken.

The orb of her blood was still clutched in the Root Child’s other hand, suspended like a trophy. It watched them with that same hollow, unblinking curiosity—like a child waiting to see if its friends wanted to keep playing.

Victor stepped forward this time.

He wasn’t going to let her accept another one.

"Enough," he said firmly, trying again to speak to it. "We don’t want it. Stop."

The Root Child tilted its head and extended the small root finger closer.

Victor’s eyebrows furrowed as he waved his hands in frustration. "No! We’re done. No more exchange. We don’t want your stuff!"

The creature didn’t react. It didn’t retreat. It didn’t blink.

It just waited.

Victor grabbed Aria under the arm and dragged her forward along the path, forcing his legs to move despite the exhaustion clawing at his body.

"We’re leaving," he said. "Forget it. Let it stand there."

They didn’t even make it ten steps.

The Veilwood Playground shifted like mist folding in on itself and the Root Child was suddenly standing in front of them again, still offering the finger.

Victor’s stomach dropped.

"There must be a way to kill this thing," he growled before stepping in front of Aria.

He clenched his fists. He had no powers right now. No supernatural edge. Just flesh and bone. But rage was starting to override logic.

Aria grabbed his sleeve.

"Don’t."

He didn’t look at her. "We can’t keep letting it carve you apart."

"See what happened when I attacked it earlier?" she said quietly. "We don’t stand a chance without any power. I won’t let you die here."

Victor hesitated while the Root Child waited.

Aria slowly straightened herself despite her trembling.

"Maybe this is the last time," she whispered. "Maybe it ends after this."

Victor shook his head violently. "You don’t know that."

She gave him a faint smile. "Neither do you."

And before he could stop her, she stepped forward and accepted the small root wrapped finger.

For a single heartbeat, nothing happened.

Then Aria’s expression twisted as her balance shifted violently.

Victor saw it before she did.

From the knee down... her entire left leg was gone.

Aria tipped sideways as a strangled scream tore from her throat as she hit the ground.

"My leg—!"

Victor lunged forward and caught her before she fully collapsed.

The Root Child stood there, delighted.

In its grasp now, was her leg.

It examined it curiously, as if comparing craftsmanship.

Victor’s vision blurred red.

"How the hell is that equivalent exchange?!" he roared. "You take her entire leg for one of your fingers?!"

The Root Child swayed happily.

It thought this was fun.

It thought they were having fun.

Aria clutched at Victor’s shirt, digging into his chest with her nails. "Don’t—don’t attack it—"

"I’m done holding back," he hissed.

But she shook her head violently. "It’s strong. We don’t know what it is. If you die here because of pride—"

Her words struck him harder than any physical blow.

Meanwhile—

Far from the Veilwood Playground, beyond layers of magical distortion, the Sylrith watched.

They lounged in an arc of luminous seats with their elongated forms illuminated by floating screens of condensed mana. On each screen, Victor and Aria’s struggle played in perfect clarity.

Laughter rippled through them.

"They still believe it will stop," one Sylrith sneered.

"The Root Child thinks they enjoy the game," another chimed. "It will keep giving and taking until there is nothing left for it to take."

"They will offer themselves piece by piece."

Their eyes gleamed.

"How delightful."

Back at the Veilwood Playground, the Root Child approached once more.

This time, in its hands, it carried something different.

A small sculpted piece of wood... it was intricately carved and artistic.

It resembled a miniature tree twisted into elegant spirals.

It stretched the carving toward them and Victor and Aria immediately understood.

Another exchange...

Victor’s breathing changed.

Something snapped inside of him as he carefully lowered Aria to sit against a large root behind them.

He stood up slowly.

The Root Child stepped closer, holding the sculpture forward.

Victor’s vision tunneled.

"I’m tired," he voiced with an incensed tone. "I’m tired of your silly games."

The creature tilted its head.

"Enough."

Victor suddenly pressed forward and slapped the item out of its hands.

The carved wooden sculpture flew from its grasp and clattered across the forest floor.

The sound echoed sharply.

"I said enough!"

The Root Child froze as its hollow eyes widened slightly.

Victor stood there with his chest heaving and his fists clenched.

The root-like features suddenly sagged as it lowered its arms slowly and then a high pitched wail pierced the forest.

It was painfully loud and shrill.

Victor recoiled. "Is it—crying?!"

The sound stabbed into their ears like needles. Aria winced, covering her head.

"Just—just pet it or something!" she shouted over the noise.

Victor stared at the creature in disbelief.

"You want me to what?!"

The wailing intensified.

Victor grimaced and cautiously stepped forward.

He slowly placed his hand on the Root Child’s head and patted it awkwardly.

"There... there..."

The wailing hiccupped as he kept patting.

"We just want to leave," he said firmly but not angrily. "We don’t want to play anymore. We’re not having fun. We’re not enjoying this."

The Root Child sniffled.

"We just want to get out of here without dying," Victor continued. "So please... enough. Okay?"

There was a very long pause...

The Root Child suddenly gave a small nod, twice and the wailing stopped completely.

Victor blinked.

"You... understand?"

The creature stepped aside.

Ahead of them, the tangled roots and warped trees shifted, opening an unobstructed path

Victor stared in disbelief.

Behind him, Aria exhaled shakily.

"It stopped..."

Victor looked down at the Root Child.

"Huh... thanks?"

It simply watched them without making a sound or changing its expression.

Victor moved back to Aria and carefully lifted her into his arms.

She was lighter than she should have been... because too much had been taken.

They began moving forward, jogging awkwardly with Victor supporting her weight.

He didn’t look back...

He didn’t want to see if it would change its mind.