There, in a small glade, the filth penetrated into the soil, into every fallen leaf, branch, grass. Penetrated everything it could get to. Breathing there was about the same as breathing in some forgotten mining town, where the air quality index exceeded 500 points. The atmosphere seemed to be saturated with gases and stench. Sitting Bull came last. The same as before, but his skin had become grayer, and the veins a deeper shade of purple.

"Fuck!" Ona shouted, "The vile Ent was just using us to protect the forest totem."

She pulled out the flamethrower and continued:

"I'm going to burn that fucker to the ground. Let it be a lesson for it."

"Don't," Latludious said. "It'll only add to our enemies."

"Fucking Ents... only care about themselves! What’s the purpose of this living pillar? We saved it. Why hasn't anything changed around us? Why isn't it turning green?"

Everyone fell silent. From the direction of the battlefield came the slurping of Barahu, who was eating the orcs.

"Tina, come here! The last thing we need is you catching something from those things."

The wolfhound came running with a severed hand in its teeth, and then in two smooth moves, it chewed and swallowed it.

"What are we going to do next?"

"Trying to save Sitting Bull before he goes belly up," Ona replied.

Ronnie and Faolandan sat down on the grass and looked at the pulsating heart in the center of the totem. Latludious opened the map and plunged into thought. Sitting Bull leaned against the trunk of a tree and closed his eyes.

"Hey! Nobody got the joke again?"

"Understood, it's just not funny," Latludious replied.

"You're mad at yourself that you can't find out the truth, so take it out on yourself," said Faolandan. "Don't be witty about Ona."

Latludious rubbed his forehead and buried his index finger and thumb in his temples and tensed until the question of the flamethrower brought him out of an angry trance.

"Why did killing the Orcs not change anything?"

The "Bishop" thought about it, but this time only for ten seconds and said:

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

"I think because orcs are the henchmen too. Their death helps the forest, but not us. We need to find the boss."

Ona and Faolandan smiled.

"We'll finally meet a serious opponent. I'll give him hell."

"Just don't burn the forest," Faolandan replied and grinned.

Latludious approached Ronnie and took him away from the others and asked in a low voice:

"Could the one you saw at the top of the mountain be this boss?"

"I don't know."

"If that's the case, then we need to go back."

"You make the decisions here."

"And you apparently make them when it's advantageous for you."

Ronnie rubbed his eyes, and then ran his palm over his nose and chin, grabbed his forehead, shook his head, and said:

"I don't think orcs are boss's henchmen."

"This thought also crept into my head."

"Do you want my advice? If the orcs are an independent unit, then the chances that we'll catch it in this huge forest based on the left mark is less than finding a needle in a haystack. Besides, there is no certainty that his death will save your teammate." Ronnie paused a little and looked at the Top Secret guild team, then looked into the magician's eyes and continued in a whisper." Kill Sitting Bull and replace him at the checkpoint with someone else. While we are looking for the salvation of one, we can lead to the death of another."

Latludious averted his eyes, turned to the rest of the group, and said at the top of his voice:

"Come on. There will be no breaks today. The journey to the checkpoint is postponed indefinitely."

The next stage of the way was fraught with a number of dangers. They encountered a dozen curse traps. Fortunately, for them, everything turned out well. No one got infected. When the dried-up lake was bypassed, the moist soil pulled Faolandan into its quicksand, they had to pull him out. They also met a couple of orcs, but they did not create any problems. The real headache turned out to be a starved Qualinorbs - moon foxes with fluffy white fur and the size of a man. They could merge with darkness and bright light and reveal themselves at the very last moment, exposing their five-strong fangs at the neck of the victim. Sitting Bull sometimes lost control of the body becoming easy prey in their eyes. Latludious used most of his mana to defend him. However, when one of the Qualinorb attacked Barahu, the wolfhound twisted in a somersault, grabbed the fox's neck, and with the next movement, it broke the monster's spine. They did not appear again. Everyone patted Tina and thanked it for their rescue, and Faolandan even rewarded his friend for bravery and handed it a piece of steak that he had stolen on the plane.

"Have you been carrying it all this time?" Ona laughed.

"Yes. For some reason, I thought that before going offline we would make a fire, start cooking, and all that."

Sitting Bull fell face down into the ground and shook. The curse hit the lungs, part of the head, and legs. His left hand turned black. Ona and Faolandan rushed to help their friend as fast as they could. The Indian felt the touch of a gentle female hand holding his head. He sighed with calm. Latludious came next. Ronnie stood to the side.

"The curse begins to block the nervous system. It doesn’t allow him to control the character," Latludious said, scratched the stubble on his face, and used the analysis spell, but it did not bring any results.

"Do something!" Ona shouted in a trembling voice.

Latludious closed his eyes and waved his head from left to right.

"Shit," Faolandan said and spat. "Hang on, buddy, we'll get you out."

While Ona was trying with all her might to resuscitate her friend, Ronnie, and then the rest of the team heard the sounds of battle, about half a mile away from them. Swords rang, falconry was carried by the wind around, angry growls and groans of the dying.

"The Orcs attacked someone. We'll cling to even a ghostly chance."