The night passed peacefully. Lone was happy to learn that Four-twelve's steamforged devices worked perfectly. Not a single Darkness Spawn had approached his companions as they slept with him watching over them.

Lone was feeling a little bit tired but it wasn't anything new to him so he soldiered on as the group shared breakfast and a few more stories. Not long after they packed up most of their gear and continued their journey, only leaving behind what they would need for the return trip.

Half a day later, they had finally reached their destination.

"This is Urd Vahir?" Lone asked. "It looks a lot worse than I'd first imagined it would."

Everything in the small town had that dwarven charm Lone had come to love about Krieg Moor but the only apt word to properly describe this place was 'desolate', unlike the lively and vibrant city that was their current home.

Buildings had their roofs caved in, the roads were littered with cracks and shattered murals. The odd small skeleton could be seen on street corners or in windows.

Vegetation had sprouted through the ground and covered some of the structures that once were proudly used by the citizens of Urd Vahir.

Four-twelve nodded. "Yeah. This is what happens when a place gets left unattended to for dozens and dozens of years."

He leaned down and rubbed his fingers against a plant growing out of the road at his feet before he said, "You'd think without sunlight that this shit wouldn't grow down here, but life always finds a way."

Lone nodded slowly. "Just like Goldblum said."

"Who?" Four-twelve asked.

Sophie sighed. "Probably someone from one of his stories."

"Haha, something like that," Lone answered a bit awkwardly. "Anyway, where are we going to scatter Olim's ashes, exactly? Is here okay or do you have a specific location of the town in mind?"

"The graveyard," Four-twelve answered curtly and a little bit awkwardly.

Sophie noticed this and grew concerned. 'Why is he like this now? He doesn't seem worried about scattering the ashes... It's more like he's feeling... guilty? Yes, guilty. That describes the impression we are getting from him.'

'Really? I can't tell,' Soph responded. 'I'm really not good at telling what facial expressions mean... I'm used to using mana to tell that kinda stuff.'

'As are we. We just have a feeling...' Sophie replied as she made sure to keep an even closer watch over the dwarf for now.

"Got it. You lead the way and we'll keep a close eye out for any Darkness Spawn," Lone said to their dwarven companion.

"Aye, sounds good," Four-twelve replied.

With cautious steps and attentive eyes, they made their way through the run down Urd. Lone was slowly feeling more and more uneasy at just how successfully they were traversing the long-dead town.

'Sophie, is there nothing here?' he telepathically asked his fully-armoured companion.

Sophie nodded grimly. 'Not a thing. Nothing but the buildings and the plants. Not even rats or other vermin. It is very... unsettling. It feels as if we are being allowed to pass through the place unchallenged.'

'I don't know about you, but that doesn't sound great.' Lone was never much of a distrustful nor paranoid person like Sophie was.

Well, at least he wasn't until what had happened in Milindo. That experience had changed him in too many ways to count. Now he could see the sense in Sophie's words and he too shared her feelings of unease.

'We should be fine...' he thought. 'Even if there's a horde of Darkness Spawn lying in wait outside of Sophie's detection range, we can teleport out in a worst-case scenario.'

Lone was committed to completing the quest. He felt he owed Four-twelve at least that much since he was a sincere man who'd been through a lot, not unlike himself. A short while later, the group of four arrived at the Urd's graveyard.

Four-twelve approached Breena and held out his arms. "I'll take care of Olim now. The sooner I do this, the better."

"Oh, um, s-sure," Breena stuttered as she carefully handed the urn of ashes to the dwarf.

Hints of sadness and grief could be seen on the heavily disfigured man's face as he cradled the urn closely. "Thank you."

He turned away from them and approached a set of headstones Lone assumed were Olim's family. He felt it'd be insensitive to ask given Four-twelve's clearly emotional mood, so he just remained next to Sophie and Breena with his hands clasped and held between his legs respectfully.

'He never did say who Olim was to him. I assume one of his friends he mentioned died. Maybe his ashes were all that remained after the demigod's attack?' Lone theorised as he patiently watched Four-twelve.

The dwarf knelt down at the graves and opened the urn in his hands. He reached in and pulled out a handful of ash before he lightly tossed it on the graves.

He continued to do this for several minutes as he mumbled and shook his head incessantly before he was finished.

"I've done it, Olim," he said softly as his voice choked up a bit. "All of them. You were the last. Hodar, Vohir, old Grillgret... Haha... Ha-ah... It's taken so long, even with help it took me so, so long to return you all to where you belong."

Lone felt his emotions rise as he watched a grown dwarf who was likely many dozens or hundreds of years older than himself weeping as he hugged a burial urn. 'I see... Olim was the last of his dead friends like I thought. I guess that explains why he was living in a poorhouse... He's not really from Krieg Moor. He must have been travelling around to bury the remains of his friends.'

Sophie lowered her head shamefully as she said to Lone mentally, '... We apologise. You were right. We... we should not have been so distrusting of him.'

'It's okay. You have nothing to apologise for,' Lone replied. 'He was suspicious. You were right to be wary of him even if it turned out he had his reasons for his condition.'

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Four-twelve placed Olim's urn next to the foremost grave then got up with shaky legs. He returned to Lone, Sophie and Breena and smiled with a tired expression.

"You're good people, you three," Four-twelve said sadly. He put a hand on Lone and Sophie's shoulder - stretching a bit to reach Lone's. "I'm so sorry for dragging you into this."

Lone smiled. "It's fine. It was a good experience and I'm happy we could help you get closure."

Four-twelve shook his head. "Getting their bodies back, even if only as ashes was not possible without help. I had to pay a price. I was stupid for thinkin' I wouldn't care if the price ended up needin' payin'. I'm, so, so sorry for dragging you all into this."

"What do y-"

Lone was cut off when a searing pain came from Four-twelve's hand on his shoulder. Bubbles of purple goop burst out of Four-twelve's hand and immediately corrupted Lone's flesh, making his arm useless.

Sophie wasn't faring much better. Her armour had been chewed through by the bubbles and her flesh was even less resilient than Lone's. She screamed out in pain before jerking back from Four-twelve.

Lone stood still in shock. He still wasn't entirely sure what was happening. It was only when Breena tackled him away from Four-twelve that his brain caught up with the situation. "You... what... You're a Darkness Spawn or something? But- what-"

Tears streamed down Four-twelve's face. "I'm sorry. It's set its eyes on you, Lone. It seemed like a price I'd never have to pay since how could he find someone perfect for his needs? Years and years of travelling through the Farwinds and it never once spoke to me again... Not until I met you. Low and beyond, everything finds a way..."

"I'm not in control anymore... This is all I can do to thank you for helping me and to make amends for doing as it wills." He slowly reached behind him to his quiver as his face contorted in pain, signs of his internal fight against his own body. He grabbed an arrow before quickly shoving it directly into his own skull, killing him instantly.

"That was unexpected," A disembodied voice said with a hint of amusement in its tone.

Sophie was panting and sweating as she struggled to stay conscious through the pain that was spreading out from her arm but she still managed to grab both Lone and Breena. "Teleportation."

The three of them vanished, leaving the voice on its own.

"How spectacular. What a shame the mark was placed. I'll be seeing you soon, Lone. In fact, sooner than you might like," the voice chuckled before it started humming then faded away.

----------------------------------------

Sophie consecutively teleported as far as her MP would allow her. They barely made it back to their camp from the prior night before she collapsed.

Panic and worry spread through Lone as a few notifications came into his view.

The host has developed the passive skill: Darkness Corruption Resistance.

Congratulations! the host's passive skill [Darkness Corruption Resistance] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 2.

Congratulations! the host's passive skill [Darkness Corruption Resistance] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 3.

Congratulations! the host's passive skill [Darkness Corruption Resistance] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 4.

The levels just kept coming so Lone stopped giving the blue screens any further attention.

"Sophie! Can you talk?!" he yelled as he held her in his arms.

He noticed that whatever had been done to him was slowly being undone by his Basic Regeneration but Sophie was still being affected by it.

Lone wasted no time and directly stored all of Sophie's armour into his Dimensional Storage, leaving her in just a simple shirt and pair of tight-fitting trousers. He stored both of these too.

With her now only in her underwear, the full extent of the damage could be seen. Purple bulges of corruption covered her entire right arm and it was ever so slowly spreading through her body. It was still only at her shoulder but the progress could be seen with the naked eye, which was not good.

Lone wracked his brain, thinking of a solution. 'Maybe I can store the corruption?'

He kept that thought in mind as he tried to use his Dimensional Storage again but, sadly, it failed. "This thing counts as being alive? Or maybe it's just not tangible... Fuck."

"S-She needs an expert, M-Master." Breena was obviously just as panicked as he was if she was openly calling him 'Master' like that.

Unfortunately though, Lone agreed. He did have another idea though. 'It's a waste if it doesn't work but I need to do it! I can't risk losing her!'

Lone pulled out the mana orb from within his Dimensional Storage and grit his teeth. He was going to be punished for this, but he needed to at least try. "Root of Life!" Lone chanted, using the skill he'd learned after having his life saved by Gilbert so many months ago.

Energy flooded out of the Mana Orb and brought Lone's mana organs to life, temporarily lifting the seal on them.

As he drained MP from the orb, his organs immediately consumed that MP to fuel his skill usage.

Tree roots burst forth from the tiled ground of the campsite. They surrounded Sophie like a cocoon as rays of green light emanated out, lighting up the entire chamber.

About 20-seconds of silence passed before a new set of notifications covered Lone's vision.

Congratulations! the host's active nature magic skill [Root of Life] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 2.

Congratulations! the host's active nature magic skill [Root of Life] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 3.

Congratulations! the host's active nature magic skill [Root of Life] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 4.

Warning! The host has used a skill with a time-restriction. [Root of life] cannot be used again for another 12-months.

Lone looked at the orb in his hand and saw that it was entirely devoid of its usual dark blue colour. It was now mostly white with only the slightest hint of aqua at its core. It also had a big long crack running down it.

Sophie, on the other hand, was still in the root cocoon. Unlike Lone who recovered within seconds when Gilbert had used the skill on him, Sophie was a far more of a normal person. According to the skill's description, it would take her from 4 to 8-weeks to recover.

"That fucking bastard..." Lone said through gritted teeth. "I trusted him but he was luring us into a trap..."

"H-He didn't want to do... it... I think he was being controlled b-by that voice... He s-stopped himself in the end..." Breena's voice grew weaker and weaker the more she spoke.

The look Lone was giving her scared her deeply and it made her want to curl up into nothingness.

Ignoring the now quiet foxkin, Lone carefully picked up the still-unconscious and root-wrapped Sophie, wincing as he did. 'My arm hurts like a bitch...'

The roots disconnected from the floor and immediately searched for a new anchor to latch onto. They seemingly saw Lone's body as the perfect fit, so they all connected onto him and he felt a suction force as his strength started to leave him a bit.

"This skill takes energy?" Lone asked himself. "I thought the MP was enough on its own... Fuck. I can't return her to The Summoning Room now. It could drain Kyuubi until she's nothing more than dried out fur and bones..."

He glanced at Breena and said, "I want to return to the Krieg as soon as possible. There's no telling if my skill is even effective at all. Keep up with me, okay?"

Breena didn't protest. In fact, she didn't say anything. She just nodded as she averted her eyes from Lone's.

'Perfect. I'm barely containing my own corruption with Basic Regeneration, my own skill - Root of Life - is trying to suck me dry, I don't even know if it's working to fight off Sophie's corruption and now I've only gone and scared the piss out of a child,' Lone berated himself.

Today had gone from a fun, exciting and heartfelt adventure to a real shitshow real fast, Lone felt. Still, nothing could be done right now. Ensuring Sophie's wellbeing was all that mattered to him.

Other matters would need to wait for another day to be tended to.