Edward rode in silence beside Ater. Usually talkative, the Doctor hadn't spoken a word since he returned healed from that grove. Edward had tried multiple times to ask him about it, unsuccessfully. Now, it was Ater who had a question: "Tell me, Edward, why don't you use a gun? All the members of your crew have one..."

Edward laughed and unsheathed a twisted saber from his belt. The scabbard was gilded and similarly decorated as the handle. "If I can't win with a sword, I don't deserve to win with a gun."

Ater nodded and responded with a devilish smile. He liked that logic.

The sun had passed halfway across the sky when Ater finally stopped. "We will soon arrive at the Chief's place. You deserve to have my plan laid out for you, specifically the part that concerns you."

Edward, Gaga, and Marik dismounted and sat around Ater, who at that moment looked like a teacher explaining something soulfully to preschoolers.

"So... The Great Chief is terribly powerful. The most powerful," Edward nodded. This was common knowledge, "That's why he has no guards. The only one beside the Great Chief will be his apprentice, heir, and son. Or daughter. I forgot what it is," Gaga raised his hand and asked, "Is he the Prince's half-brother?"

"Yes. He, or she, doesn't wield Eldricka, but can be a major obstacle to my mission. I'll try to persuade the Chief to cast another curse on the Prince. If he agrees, I'll draw my version of the Bloody Star and reverse the effect, lifting the curse from the Prince."

Edward scratched his neck. "And if he doesn't want to?" Ater frowned. Without answering, he pulled a water flask from his saddlebags and took a big gulp. "We continue," Arbor snapped as he climbed back on his quillin.

They rode for another half hour until a gigantic tree appeared on the horizon. Even from that distance, Edward could see that something was wrong, but it wasn't until they got within a few dozen meters that he noticed what. Black. The bark, the roots that surfaced in multiple places, the leaves... Everything was perfectly jet black with barely visible texture provided by details drawn in the darkest gray. Edward's mind started working: "The Black Tree... Wait, didn't you say one of your titles is Protector of the Black Tree? Yes, I'm sure you mentioned that..."

Arbor nodded with a smile. "Only ceremonially. Every three years, a grand festival is held at this place. 'Protector of the Black Tree' is the title of the festival's organizer. The Great Chief lives by the Black Tree; there's no better guardian than him." They approached the surreal plant.

In the shadow of the proud tree, two figures were training. The taller figure had an orange, bushy beard braided into two plaits. Above a hooked, eagle-like nose peered green eyes with pronounced smile lines. A mane of reddish hair was tied into a bun. When he noticed Ater approaching, the stranger smiled, revealing sharpened teeth like some wild predator.

The smaller figure was a young girl, between 14 and 16 years old. With a very serious face, she stood on one foot at the top of a stone tower at least three meters high.

"What divine path did you follow to run into me?!" the red-haired giant laughed, spreading his arms in a gesture of embrace. Edward couldn't believe his eyes. The captain sincerely believed he would never meet anyone taller than Ater, but he was gravely mistaken. The Great Chief was comfortably a head closer to the sky than the Doctor and almost four heads taller than the sailor. His muscle definition was incredible, and while standing with his arms spread, Edward could see his full physicality. 'Black skin, red-haired, green eyes, body of a lion...' the sailors marveled at their peculiar host.

"Divine or devilish, I'm not sure!" Ater replied to the Chief, accepting his embrace. "Yes, I don't believe you'd come all this way to bring me good news!!!" Edward was genuinely frightened. Ater planned to kill this man? How?

"Sweetheart, finish your training for now!!! We have guests!!! Bring water, bring fruit!!!" the Chief addressed the girl on the stones. She jumped off the pile and left, still not saying a word.

"Is that your daughter?" Arbor asked. "Indeed!!! My second oldest, future Great Chief!!! She started training quite late due to the whole mess with my older son, so I have to be very strict with her!!! Don't be offended that she doesn't speak, she's taken a vow of silence, excellent willpower training!!!"

The Chief shouted enthusiastically the whole time. Ater had to take a step back from the force of his voice.

"Speaking of my older son, how is he?! Shouldn't you be with him now?! Yes, how's Europe in general?! Surely not as beautiful as our homeland!!! HAHAHAHA!!!"

Ater then dropped his smile and frowned. The Chief sensed the sudden change in atmosphere and also frowned, crossing his arms and asking worriedly, "What happened?" He was no longer shouting.

Ater sat on the grass, and the Chief sat across from him. Edward, Gaga, and Marik were still by their quillins. Arbor had ordered them not to approach until he waved them over. Now they watched Ater nervously gesticulating with his hands while explaining the situation to the Chief. "The Prince betrayed you. He decided to conquer the white people and forced Queen Theresa to become his wife! I protested against it, but Antonus and the others sided with him. Frejo, who decided to stay with the Prince, still helped me escape with the aid of the Catalyst! My like-minded companions who also opposed the Prince escaped with me!" Ater said, pointing at the sailors.

Chief Veteres listened to all this in silence. Not a single muscle on his face moved. The silence lasted for a few minutes.

"THAT DAMN KID!!!" the Chief finally roared. The echo of his shout could be heard for kilometers around. A flock of crows perched on the branches of the black tree flew away in fear. Even Ater did not remain unaffected. The Chief's sheer aura was... unprecedented.

'He lies,' thought the Chief.

'I wouldn't agree,' the Chief contradicted.

'What do you think?' the Chief asked for an opinion.

'He speaks the truth, I feel. But not the whole truth. He is withholding something important,' concluded the Great Chief.

"You're withholding something important!!!" the Chief shouted. "Tell me everything!!!"

Ater smiled inwardly. The Great Chief possessed Eldricka, and Arbor believed that this intuition was a side effect of it. "I did not come to you just to tell you this. I am also here to ask for your help. I want us to curse the Prince again, this time lethally. He has committed high treason by breaking his word to you and to us. The punishment for that is... death. I know he is your son, but please think carefully about this."

The Chief frowned. The flickering shadows of the leaves from the oak branch fell on his face, giving him an even more incredible expression. "A father kills his son... A story as old as time," the Chief said with a wistful smile. He jumped to his feet: "No. We will not curse my son. Not until I talk to him, face to face!!! Tomorrow, you and I will head back to Barak where we will use the Catalyst to go to Europe!!! I will personally knock some sense into him!!!"

Ater's eyes widened. In his nervousness, he began to fidget with his knee. This was the worst possible scenario! "But wouldn't it be better if..." "No!!!" the Chief cut off his complaint, "My decision is final!!! I'm sure you have traveled long, rest today under the Black Tree!!! Tomorrow we leave!!!"

Ater stood up from the mat and waved for the sailors to approach. The Chief went to meet them to introduce himself. Edward was the only sailor brave enough to speak in his presence.

After an hour, Ater and Edward were alone, leaning against the black oak. Gaga and Marik were lounging next to the quillins, and the Chief and his daughter had retreated into the cave where they lived to prepare additional beds for their guests.

Ater recounted his conversation with the Chief to Edward. "So, what do we do now?"

Ater Arbor turned his head towards Edward. 'That devilish smile again, the same as when he fought the bandits,' Edward shuddered. He had already noticed that Ater took special pleasure in fighting much stronger opponents. The Captain would never understand this.

"Simple. I'll just reverse the steps of my plan. Instead of first tricking the Chief into lifting the curse and then having the fight after I acquire Eldricka, I'll first enter into conflict with him, defeat him, force him to lift the curse, absorb Eldricka, and then kill him."

Edward blinked three times. "You are insane."

Arbor began to laugh.

"How do you plan to force the Chief to do anything? There's no way you can defeat him! The question is whether you can beat him even if you had Eldricka, let alone without it!"

Arbor continued to laugh. He was enjoying this.

"Don't worry, Captain! I have everything under control! I suggest you lie down and sleep now, you won't get the chance tonight..."

The Chief returned to the group under the Black Tree and invited them to join him for lunch in the cave. Ater kicked the Captain in the ribs to wake him up. With much grumbling, Edward got up. He saw that Gaga and Marik were also asleep. He approached them and kicked both in the ribs to wake them.

The cave where the Chief lived was only a few minutes' walk away. On a rise, it had a beautiful view of the Black Tree. The Chief's daughter silently brought everyone a bowl of fruit and a bowl of water. The most classic Mund meal. On the way, Ater had hunted game meat which he shared with the whites. He placed the fruit beside him and drank the water from the bowl. He had no appetite; he was ecstatic about what was to come.

Edward had somewhat freed himself from his fear and spent the whole lunch talking with the Chief about various topics, mostly related to other tribes. The Great Chief was a figure without much political power. Chiefs for generations had not involved themselves in the events within the tribes. They were there only to care for the peace between tribal communities, not to worry about individual tribes. After lunch, Ater approached the Chief.

"Do you remember my teacher, Set? The last Blood Master."

The Chief nodded, "The old fox always stuck his nose where it didn't belong. But he was a good man, and his heart was in the right place."

"In his books about Eldricka, he wrote that the Great Chiefs have access to the memories of their predecessors. Is that true?"

Edward watched the conversation between the Doctor and the Chief. Only then did he notice that the Chief never looked anyone in the eye. His gaze was always directed elsewhere, which made the interlocutor... uncomfortable.

"Eldricka is a magic that has its own consciousness, its own intellect. The Eldricka in me is the same Eldricka that lived in the previous chiefs. I don't have access to their memories, but Eldricka can tell me about them."

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Ater scratched his chin. If it has intellect, then it can lie. This casts a shadow of doubt on Master Set's research. 'I will experience it myself soon enough,' Ater shrugged and pretended to go to sleep. He lay down on his bed (a pile of leather on the floor) and closed his eyes. His heart pounded in his throat with excitement.

Three hours passed. Arbor was sure that the chief was sound asleep before making his move. He woke up Edward and two sailors.

From his belt, the Doctor pulled out a short dagger. His smile reflected on the metal blade. As quietly as he could, he tiptoed to the other end of the cave where the chief's daughter was sleeping. He woke her with the touch of the cold blade on her neck. She opened her eyes and looked indifferently at Arbor, who was about to put his hand over her mouth but stopped. Even in this situation, she did not try to break her vow of silence. Ater grabbed her under the armpit and stood her up. All the while, with the knife at her throat, he led her to Edward.

"Take her somewhere far away. Oh, and yes, don't harm her. If I don't return in two days, release her and you go back to Europe and inform the Prince of my death."

The Captain and the Doctor shook hands and parted. Gaga extended his hand to say goodbye to the Doctor, but accidentally hit the wall with a loud THUD!

'What's that?' asked Veteres.

'Nothing important. Go back to sleep... Nothing. Important,' Veteres replied.

The Mund and the sailors parted. Ater watched them until they were out of sight. Then he stretched and sat on a wooden table. Now he just had to wait for the brute to wake up.

The next morning, the Chief groggily woke from sleep. He approached the bucket of water that lay beside the bed and washed his face before stepping into the main part of the cave. The main part of the cave, which was almost empty.

"Ater?!" called out the Great Chief Veteres in his characteristic shout at the figure sitting in a meditation pose in the center of the room. In front of Ater was the Blood Star and several containers with his blood.

"You will channel the magic through this," Ater said.

'You will channel the magic through this,' thought Veteres, perfectly echoing the Doctor's voice.

"No!!! What have you drawn in that circle?!!" the Chief shouted even louder than usual, drowning out both Ater and the voice in his head.

"I kidnapped your daughter. If I don't give the signal within exactly two hours, my associates will kill her," Ater calmly bluffed, still not getting up from the floor, "and I will give the signal only if you listen to my conditions."

'...listen to his conditions...' echoed the voice in the Chief's head. The Chief began to massage his temples. "You are surprisingly talkative at the moment!!!" he shouted.

"What?" Ater asked, confused.

"Not you!!!"

"Aha..."

The Chief sat in a similar pose opposite Ater. The Blood Star was between them. "And what if I kill you now and find your associates in less than two hours?"

Ater laughed. "You can try. That's a big risk."

'...a big risk...' echoed in the Great Chief's head.

"Who are you cursing? The Prince?" Ater only nodded in response.

"What is the curse?" Ater remained silent.

"Is it lethal?" the Chief asked, nervously biting his finger.

"No," Ater said briefly.

'...no...'

"What... What guarantee do I have that you'll release my daughter after this?! What if you continue to blackmail me?!"

Ater stood up and looked down at the Chief. "After you curse your son now, I will kill you. Your daughter will be released in the city of Baraka, and I will return to Europe. You have my word."

'...you have his word...'

The Chief raised a confused eyebrow. "Do you really think you can kill me?"

"Yes."

'...yes...'

"Alright then. But I hope you realize I won't go down without a fight!"

Ater rewarded this statement with a broad smile. "I hope so."

'...hope so...' The Chief had a terrible headache. He couldn't understand why Eldricka was so agitated at the moment. Agitated? Or excited? It was repeating every word Ater said.

The Chief stretched both hands toward the Blood Star. He began to speak in a language even Ater did not understand. The Blood Star shone for a moment and then completely disappeared.

Ater Arbor began to laugh out loud. He had really succeeded... But now, one more thing. "Let's go outside. I don't think the fight will be good inside this cave."

Silently, the duo exited the cave and walked to the Black Tree. Arbor and the Chief stopped there.

Great Chief Veteres began to warm up, stretching his arms and legs. Ater pulled twenty vials of blood from his coat and placed them in the grass in front of him. Both nodded to signal they were ready. Ater smiled wickedly.

An icicle with a diameter of two meters fell between the two fighters who were ready to jump at each other's throats. Both turned and saw the Chief's daughter casually walking toward them, leading Edward's quilin by the reins. Tied and folded on the quilin lay the Captain, Gaga, and Marik. The Chief began to laugh out loud. "That's my daughter!" The Chief's pupil stood beside her father.

"Sorry, boss! Be careful, she's not one to be trifled with!" Edward shouted from the quilin.

Ater took a cautious step back. Two against one. Like a panther preparing to pounce, Arbor lowered his head slightly to the ground. "Your slim chances of winning are now even slimmer! Surrender now, and I will forgive you for this whole mess!" the Chief shouted.

Arbor took another step back and bumped into the Black Tree with his back. "You know I only love such fights!" Ater replied. However, he knew he couldn't defeat this trained duo. He placed his hand on the bark of the Black Tree and threw another devilish smile at the Chief. "INMEO!" Ater shouted. From the top of its leaves, the tree began to regain its natural green color. The blackness retreated into Ater.

Arbor blinked.

And then he blinked again.

White.

The tree, the Chief, the ground, the sky, the river, the path... Everything disappeared, replaced by white emptiness. Beside Ater in that whiteness lay Edward, still tied up. Confused, the doctor approached and untied his companion. "Ater, what the fuck is this..."

"WHAT DO YOU TWO THINK YOU'RE DOING?" a commanding female voice startled them both from behind. They turned and saw a beautiful woman of advanced years.

The woman had pleasant, barely visible wrinkles around deep blue eyes. Below a small nose were rosy red lips. Brown hair fell loose behind her shoulders. Pointed ears peeked through her hair. Her body had a perfect hourglass shape. Her ample bosom, along with most of her body, was covered by broad leaves. The woman crossed her arms, tapping her index finger on her elbow nervously.

"I didn't expect to be worthy of a visit from a goddess," Ater smiled seductively at her. He knew who he was talking to.

"And you aren't! You fool! What do you think you're doing with my tree?" the goddess Bereginiy yelled at the Doctor.

"Relieving it of its long-standing duty. If it could talk, I'm sure it would thank me," Ater smiled mischievously. The goddess smiled back and coquettishly took his hand in hers. "Oh..." she touched his fingers with a smile. Until, with a lightning-fast move, she ripped the index finger out of Ater's hand.

"YOU FUCKING IDIOT!", she shouted.

Ater jerked his hand from the goddess's grasp. Instinctively, he stopped the bleeding with his magic, which did not escape Bereginiy's notice. "Humans have learned to use blood magic?!" she asked, astonished. Ater extended his other hand towards her, demanding his finger back.

Edward stood still as a statue. 'What the hell is happening here...' He was still trying to process all this.

"OLORO!" the goddess shouted. Another unknown female figure appeared beside her instantly.

While Bereginiy had the beauty of a mature woman, Oloro had the beauty of a young girl. Similarly dressed as her mother, leaves were adhered to her slender body. With piercing blue eyes, she didn't take her gaze off Ater, who was still standing with his hand extended.

"Yes, mother?"

"Since when have mortals learned Liber's blood magic?"

"Oh... About two or three centuries ago."

"And when were you planning to tell me?"

"Well, you know... I didn't think it was that important. I would have mentioned it eventually, I'm sure."

Bereginiy waved her hand angrily, and Oloro disappeared as quickly as she had appeared.

"Listen, you! I don't know how, but you've broken the bond between my grandson's blood and Eldricka. Why on Earth are you trying to absorb all the Eldricka in the Black Tree?"

"I need to do something. It's important. Important to me at least."

"Tell me what. I will grant you your wish if it will discourage you from absorbing Eldricka."

"Sorry, immortal, but what I want even you can't provide."

Bereginiy nodded, somewhat sadly. 'This mortal is trying to bring someone back to life,' the wise goddess realized. That was indeed one of the few things she couldn't do.

"I won't let you leave here," Bereginiy said shortly.

"Excuse me?" Edward spoke for the first time.

"I won't let this fool do something the whole world will regret later. You two will stay here, in the palace of my mind, forever."

"Why don't you just kill us?" Ater asked.

"After Liber, it was decided that the gods would not descend to Earth. You are not physically here. Neither am I. I have merely transferred our consciousnesses to the same place."

Ater still didn't fully understand. Surprisingly, Edward did. "If this is the palace of your mind, and what I see is your consciousness..." Bereginiy lay on the floor, nodding as she listened to the captain, "does that mean if we kill your consciousness, this palace of the mind will collapse as well?"

The goddess nodded briefly. "Of course. I mean, you can try... I suppose... I don't have anything better to do anyway."

Ater and Edward stood shoulder to shoulder. The captain couldn't help but notice Ater's smile. 'First he thought he was fighting the Chief, then he thought he was fighting both the Chief and his daughter, and now we're fighting a goddess! This might be the best day of Ater's life,' Edward thought.

The goddess stood in place, tossing Ater's finger into the air and catching it again. She clearly had no intention of attacking first.

Blood from Ater's severed finger sprayed onto the goddess's face. With a small wave of her hand, Bereginiy blew all the blood off her, remaining unharmed. "You can't defeat me with borrowed power. I taught you humans to use magic, and you weren't smart enough to learn more than one. Nature magic will never be stronger than nature itself."

'Stronger than nature...' Edward thought. Ater engaged in all-out combat with the goddess. They threw each other around, hitting, blocking, and dodging each other's magical attacks. Edward stood aside. He couldn't think and fight simultaneously, and an exceptional idea was creeping at the edge of his consciousness.

They were in someone else's palace of the mind. Everything in it was a personification of the host's will. The host in this case was the goddess of nature. Edward drew his sword and began to stare at it. 'A sword. Made with the help of a blacksmith and fire. Cooperation between humans and nature. It won't work on the goddess,' he threw the sword on the floor.

Ater stepped on his own coat and fell to the floor. Bereginiy threw an icicle aimed at his head. At the last moment, the Doctor rolled to the side, avoiding the attack. Edward still stood in place, feeling through numerous pockets.

'Lighter. A human shortcut to the power of nature. It's also useless against the goddess.' Edward threw the lighter next to the sword.

The goddess used lightning to sever Ater's left arm. The arm flew behind him but remained connected to Ater by a thin floating stream of blood. The arm flew back to Ater and reattached to his body.

'Notebook. Ground-up wood used for writing. Also useless,' the notebook was thrown next to the lighter and the sword. Finally, Edward raised his fists in front of his face.

'Fists...' Edward suddenly realized.

"FISTS!" he shouted and charged at the goddess. Bereginiy was too distracted by Ater to notice the Captain, whom she didn't even consider a threat, suddenly approaching her. Edward lunged at the goddess with a powerful uppercut. The goddess flew and fell to the floor. She touched her lip, confused. She was bleeding.

Ater watched.

"Wha...?" the goddess asked. THUMP! Edward struck the goddess with another powerful punch. The goddess spat out a tooth and began to retreat. Her eyes widened in fear. She hadn't felt fear in millennia. "How..."

"How can I hurt you? Have you been living under a rock? Mundis may not have defeated nature, but we Europeans... Oh ho ho!"

THUMP! With human strength that could shatter mountains, a punch with the force of a steam locomotive, a will that could cut diamonds, the Captain struck the goddess in the stomach.

Bereginiy fell to the floor and began to vomit. Edward approached without a word, grabbed her by the neck, and pinned her to the ground. THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!

Ater did not try to stop him.

THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! The sound of his fist hitting her face echoed.

THUMP! THUMP! Edward raised his fist for another blow, but suddenly the whiteness around them melted away, and the two found themselves back by the Black Tree, as if nothing had happened. The Chief hadn't noticed anything. He was still shouting at Ater to surrender.

'The goddess is dead?' a voice echoed in Ater's mind.

'The goddess is dead?' a voice echoed in the Chief's mind.

'You are Eldricka, I presume,' Ater wondered.

'No. I am you,' Ater answered himself.

'No. I am you,' the Chief answered himself.

The Chief watched in disbelief as the Black Tree lost its blackness. Instinctively, he jumped at Ater and swung his fist to strike him.

"Kneel," Ater said.

'Kneel,' Ater thought.

'Kneel,' the Chief's thoughts commanded.

Great Chief Veteres was stopped mid-swing. He collapsed to his knees before Ater.

"No!!! You tricked me!!! You didn't curse the Prince!!! You lifted the curse from our blood!!! Eldricka can now enter anyone!!! You have... You have... YOU HAVE DOOMED US ALL!!!" the Chief shouted, writhing at Ater's feet. Arbor waved his hand, and numerous tendrils passed through the Chief's body, killing him instantly. "FATHER!" the Chief's daughter screamed, breaking her vow of silence. She began to throw icicles at Ater with tears in her eyes. Ater took a step toward her, appearing behind her in the blink of an eye. He grabbed her by the neck and smoothly knocked her unconscious. 'I still have a promise to fulfill regarding you...' Arbor thought.

'You owe the Chief nothing. Why would you save his daughter?' Ater thought.

'You can't understand,' Ater thought. Edward tied the unconscious girl's hands behind her back. Ater approached the corpse of Great Chief Veteres. He placed his hand over his face.

'Finally, I am whole again,' Eldricka thought inside Ater's head.

The Dark Doctor now possessed the complete, unified Eldricka. His plan was nearly complete.