“This way,” Lena said, her voice cutting through the silence. She held the shard close, its faint light casting shifting patterns on the ground as she led the way.

Derrick followed a few paces behind her, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword. His scowl hadn’t softened since we’d left the clearing, and I doubted it would anytime soon.

I trailed behind them, my legs still aching from the fight with the Hunters. The Chrono-Dagger felt heavier at my side, a quiet reminder of how much I’d relied on it—and how much it had taken out of me.

The path was uneven, tangled with roots and vines that seemed to grow thicker the further we went.

“Are we getting close?” Derrick asked, his tone laced with irritation.

“Not yet,” Lena said without turning around. “The ruin’s at the heart of this forest. We’ll know we’re close when things start to get… strange.”

Derrick let out a low grunt. “Strange. Fantastic. Because nothing about this place has been strange so far.”

I barely had time to roll my eyes at Derrick’s sarcasm before the forest around us shifted.

At first, it was subtle—a flicker at the edges of my vision, like the trees themselves were swaying in a wind I couldn’t feel. Then it happened again, stronger this time. The ground beneath my feet seemed to ripple, the dirt and leaves warping like water.

“Wait,” I said, stopping in my tracks.

“What now?” Derrick asked, glancing over his shoulder.

“Something’s wrong,” I said, my voice quieter now. “Didn’t we just pass that tree?”

Derrick frowned and turned to look. The tree in question had a distinctive shape—a massive oak with a knot near its base that looked like a closed eye.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

“I don’t—” he started, but then his eyes widened. “Oh, come on. We’ve been here before?”

Lena slowed, turning to face us with a look of annoyance. “It’s a spatial anomaly,” she said simply.

“A what?” Derrick barked.

“A loop,” Lena said, holding up the shard. “The system’s instability creates distortions in space. It’s pulling us in circles.”

Derrick groaned. “And how do we get out of it, oh wise one?”

Lena ignored him, her focus shifting to the shard. The faint light in her hand seemed to pulse more erratically now, its rhythm faster than before.

“We’ll use this,” she said, her tone sharper.

“You’re just going to wave it around and hope for the best?” Derrick asked, his frustration boiling over.

“If you have a better idea, I’m all ears,” Lena snapped back.

I stepped between them, holding up a hand. “Enough. Lena, if you think the shard can disrupt this, then do it.”

Lena’s gaze flicked to me, her irritation softening slightly. She nodded and held the shard up higher.

The light flared, brighter and harsher than before, casting long shadows across the forest floor. I squinted against the glare as the shard pulsed in her hand.

[System Notification: Spatial Anomaly Detected. Loop Disruption in Progress.]

The system’s voice was faint but clear, its tone cold and mechanical. I tensed as the forest around us seemed to ripple again, the distortion growing stronger.

The shard’s light pulsed faster, each flicker accompanied by a low hum that vibrated in my chest. The air grew thick, almost suffocating, as if the forest itself was resisting Lena’s efforts.

“Come on,” she muttered, her brow furrowed in concentration.

A final pulse of light burst from the shard, illuminating the forest in blinding white. I blinked rapidly, my vision swimming as the light faded.

When the world came back into focus, the distortion was gone. The knot-marked tree was nowhere in sight, and the ground beneath us felt solid again.

[System Notification: Loop Disruption Complete. Path Restored.]

Lena exhaled heavily, her shoulders sagging as she lowered the shard. “There,” she said, her voice tinged with exhaustion. “Happy now?”

“Thrilled,” Derrick muttered, though he didn’t look particularly angry anymore.

I glanced at the shard in Lena’s hand, its light dim but steady again. “How did you know it would work?” I asked.

“I didn’t,” she admitted, offering me a small, tired smirk. “But the shard’s tied to the system. If anything could disrupt the loop, it was this.”