[It's a subspace constructed by Dark Ruin.]

Aeron found himself in a room with a table, bed, and wooden furniture like a cupboard vase, and such.

*Tick.*

The clock Aeron noticed at first started moving.

'It wasn't working until now,' Aeron narrowed his eyes.

[I think those guys at Star Horn guild picked up this tricky Dark Ruin among C-rank ones purposefully. First that pond with a 100% death chance, and then that hand that passed through the barrier.]

Lapis frowned. [Be careful.]

'Why did that hand pass through my Vitalis Aegis?' Aeron asked as he walked towards the table. It had a book on top of it.

The book's title was interesting—{ The Generous Druid and his companion. }

[That hand had a heavy curse on it, but I understood its mechanism. By removing any notion of harm from it, it allows that hand to pass through any obstacles to grab its target and bring it here.]

[So you are not harmed at all and the barrier is intact. Anyway, that book seems to be the crux here.]

'Yeah, it also matches the name of the Dark Ruin that Phantom Spark gave us,' Aeron nodded.

[Let's read the story.]

Aeron opened the book and started reading it. The writing was spacious, with only a single paragraph on the first page.

| Once upon a time, there was a generous druid well-versed in healing, herbs, and animal handling. He roamed from one place to another in a never ending journey, helping people and animals in need. |

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

Aeron flipped the page.

| The druid met an injured and cursed witch in the forest. He stopped his nomadic journey to take care of her for half a year, recovering completely with daily efforts.|

| The witch fell in love with the druid and started following him. Both of them journeyed together, leaving the forest and arriving in a village plagued by disease. |

| Unbeknownst to the druid and the witch, the druid had received a curse after healing the witch. The curse was that…whoever he healed and helped would die after a month. |

| The druid and the witch earnestly helped the whole village and got rid of the disease, saving everyone. They left after half a month and continued their journey. |

| They healed various animals, and people in villages, in towns, and roamed for a year happily. Both were in love and liked their life. |

| But everyone they healed died after a month without certainty, leaving behind corpses wherever they helped people and animals. |

| They arrived at a kingdom and healed the princess who was gravely ill. The king rewarded the druid with land and riches, telling him to settle down in the kingdom as that would be the royal family's honor. |

| The druid opened a clinic with the witch and healed a lot of troubled people and animals for the next month. Abruptly, the princess died. |

| Day by day, every person the druid had healed during the past month succumbed to death. Anxious at first, troubled, guilty, and confused later. The druid soon received outrage from the public and the king. |

| The kind found out that wherever the druid passed by and healed people, they all died a month later. Furious, the king condemned the druid for practicing dark art and the witch for helping him. |

| The druid and the witch were imprisoned, with their public execution's date set within merely five days. The witch cried in anguish as she realized that the druid was counter-cursed when he healed her. |

| The druid didn't blame the witch. He loving tells the witch he did not regret helping her. The druid took all the blame on himself as he felt he had to pay for the lives he took and requested the king to spare the witch. |

| The witch could only watch as the druid was beheaded in front of everyone. It was not his fault, the witch screamed and cried tears of blood. The druid who only bore kindness in his heart should not die like this. Unwilling to part with her life partner even after his death, the witch made an altar of resurrection to revive him. |

Aeron finally reached the last page, which had two paragraphs.

| Altar of resurrection could revive the druid if someone willingly gave away their life. |

| Would you be kind enough to give your life for my generous and kind druid please?|

Aeron read the last line, and a sudden chill suffused his body as he felt the cold wind behind him...that soon whispered into his ears.

"Please give me your life..."