Sai was advancing from the left, but he was definitely slower than he had been. The impact on his left side was affecting how far he could go with his Nine Shadows Step. Although the technique was still effective, it was not as good at misdirection as it once was.
The Iron Claw Titan stood between them.
With a calm deanour, it bled from the cracked plate on its left shoulder—a dark, sluggish bleed that the Iron Skin Compression was already attempting to close from the inside.
It is healing. Slowly. But healing.
Robert glanced at the cracked plate, then shifted his gaze to the neck part, and finally looked down at the ground beneath the beast. The root. This forest has been thriving for decades without a single interruption.
The roots beneath this section are older than anything in the outer or mid zones.
The Iron Claw Titan has been occupying this territory for such a long ti that its weight has actually pressed down into the ground at certain points. Each ti it settles back into its neutral stance, it stands in the sa place, which ans the roots below those spots have been squished down repeatedly.
That ans they are the weakest roots around here. So, if you strike at the right spot, you do not necessarily have to hurt the beast itself; you just need to hit what it is standing on.
Robert turned to Sai and made a hand gesture: push it back three steps to the north. Sai caught on imdiately and moved—performing a Shadow Cross Slash from the left, the crossing arc forcing the beast to take a defensive step back.
One step north. Two. The beast planted for Seismic Stomp. Robert was already below his guard—inside the claw range, underneath the neck junction angle, his right sword reversed in his grip.
With a fierce thrust, the Twin Dragon Fangs—both swords—drove deep into the tiworn soil at the beast's planted feet. The roots beneath the Iron Claw Titan buckled under its weight, causing the ground to cave in.
The beast's footing went in one direction. Its body went into another. For one second — one complete second — the Iron Claw Titan's neck junction faced directly upward.
There was a three-centiter gap that was wide open. Robert was already on the move. He brought down the left sword in one swift, powerful strike, targeting that gap directly. The noise it made was surprisingly quiet.
But the Iron Claw Titan went completely still. Then it went down.
Slowly.
Think about how sothing huge just starts to give way when the thing that has been propping it up stops doing its job—it is not a dramatic fall, but rather a slow letting go of all the strength that kept it standing tall.
The ground trembled as it touched down. The old trees felt the impact.
Robert stood there, panting heavily, gripping both swords tightly in his hands. His energy reserves were at a level he had not allowed them to reach since the third week of training in the building.
He looked at Sai.
Sai was leaning against a trunk.
The left side pressed against it for support. Still standing. Looking at the Iron Claw Titan on the ground between them.
Neither of them spoke for a mont. Then Sai said quietly.
"One hundred points."
"Yes."
Robert extracted the core.
It was heavier than anything else in the pouch. Denser. A different quality entirely from the Rank Three cores—not just more powerful, but different in kind.
He took a deep breath and held it for a mont before setting it aside.
Day two ca to a close in the sa way as day one — the canopy overhead blocking the light before the open sky had completely darkened, the deep zone transitioning from a gentle dimness to utter darkness in the span of twenty minutes.
They made camp at the sa defensible position between the three ancient trunks.
Robert reviewed the collection storage ring. Three Rank Three cores from day one. One Rank Two. Three Rank Three cores from day two. One Iron Claw Titan core — Rank Four. Total. One hundred and sixty-five points.
He looked at the number.
Harvey Walker's estimated score was one hundred forty going into day two. His second day in the deep zone — if it matched his first — put him at two hundred twenties. Possibly higher.
One hundred sixty-five against two hundred twenties. The gap was still real.
The third day needed to produce another Rank Four.
Or it needed to produce sothing else entirely.
Sai was asleep across from him — genuinely this ti, his left side requiring the recovery that reduced outco could not replace. Robert had made the call without discussion. Sai needed three hours minimum.
Robert sat with his back against the trunk and looked at the dark.
He was still gazing at it when he heard the sound. Twenty ters to the south. Footsteps. They were not trying to hide them. They were not rushing either. There was a certain deliberate quality to the steps, as if the person knew exactly where the Osborn pair had set up camp and had chosen this hour to approach because the ti itself held significance.
Robert did not wake Sai. He got to his feet, both swords drawn. Harvey Walker stepped into the outer edge of the defensible position and paused, locking eyes with Robert.
Sothing in Harvey's expression shifted — barely visible in the deep zone's dark, but present. He had felt the Rank Four core's energy from twenty ters. He knew what it ant. He knew what had changed.
The silence between them was different from the silence of their earlier encounter.
In that silence, two people were caught in a decision about whether to engage in battle. It was a silence that spoke volus, knowing that at the extraction point tomorrow, all the effort they had put into building sothing over the past three days in this forest would culminate in one decisive mont.
Harvey looked at Robert for a long ti. Then he said one thing.
"Tomorrow."
Robert looked back at him.
"Tomorrow."
Harvey turned and stepped back into the shadows of the forest, which seed to swallow him whole. Robert remained in his secure spot, glancing at the space where Harvey had just been, lingering a mont longer than he probably should have.
He could feel the presence of the Rank Four core. He realised the gap had narrowed. He had co here to witness it for himself. This ant that tomorrow, at the extraction point, he would not be walking away.
He put one sword away and held onto the other. Leaning back against the trunk, he braced himself for the third day. Everything that needed to happen was already decided. He closed his eyes.
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