Daru was about to explode into action the next moment, but before he could, Harlowe indifferently turned away with the same eerie slowness and walked closer to the edge of the ridge, looking down…and watching.

Despite his eyes sewn shut, the demonic jester watched the depressed Rocante descend the ridge.

And laughed.

His unholy cackle, or chuckle, was faint yet extremely unnerving, sending chills down Daru's spine.

Daru wasn't frozen in fear, though, unlike that time with La Filosa.

In fact, he was already thinking of how to slip away.

There were unbelievably two of The Five within thirty diameters from his root hollow.

Daru was already unsure whether he could contend with one, much less two.

It would already be a win if he could escape his sudden, precarious situation unscathed.

'Calm down…' he took a deep breath.

The only one who knew that he was in the root hollow was Harlowe, and it didn't seem like the demonic jester was too interested in attacking him…yet.

The situation could quickly deteriorate, so he must quickly decide what to do.

He could've taken a risk and slipped away…had it not been for Saphoros, who suddenly stopped sniffing his little flower and was also now watching Rocante.

The Eye…The Eye would only gaze until it was too late for his beloved.

Daru decided to bet on the contents of The Eye's page in the Book of The Five.

If he moved now, there was a chance that the nightmarish ghoul wouldn't let him go so easily, but if he didn't, then he risked being attacked by Harlowe in such an unfavorable position.

However, that risk is much lower.

After all, compared to The Ivy, whose actions were unpredictable and muddled by its love for the sinful blossom, The Eye would only watch until it was too late for his beloved.

There was a chance he wouldn't be attacked, unless the hints in the darned book are that unreliable.

Daru took another deep breath.

Panicking would only get him killed, much like how it would poison him to lose a battle. It was better to be decisive and take a more calculated risk.

Daru's heart pounded rather vigorously as he settled on a plan of inaction.

Nonetheless, he was still relatively calmer than the majority would be.

Doing nothing was the most difficult thing to do in a precarious situation, after all, as it would be easy to feel that one was simply waiting for one's death and was being foolish.

But that was what Daru did.

He waited and waited…every excruciating second.

There were times he felt a sudden urge to bolt away, but he resisted every time, reminding himself to follow the plan.

Finally, as Rocante's footsteps, seemingly a countdown to his demise, fully faded, something changed.

Harlowe kept on watching.

However, the subject of his gaze shifted from Rocante to Saphoros.

The nightmarish ghoul was seemingly in a hurry, leaving the sinful blossom and crawling down the ridge for probably some depravity-driven reason.

Daru was not in a position to uncover that reason, though, as he must first keep his life.

'Now!'

He wasn't exactly doing nothing earlier.

No.

Daru was waiting for a chance, and now that the chance presented itself, he would be dumb not to improve his situation.

He quickly bolted to the ascending path of the ridge, turned, and assumed his fighting stance.

At least now, he would be able to defend himself properly should Harlowe attack.

Only…the demonic jester didn't.

Harlowe merely turned his head, gazed at Daru for no more than two seconds, then shifted his attention back to the dead tree, climbing it at a lazy rate.

Daru's brows gradually eased as he observed the horror's actions.

Soon, Harlowe reached the high branches, sitting on one as though it was his lonely throne…then he continued watching whatever it was that he was watching, paying the Visitor no attention.

Meanwhile, Daru shuddered at a realization.

How could he have been so defenseless?!

As it turned out, the demonic jester had been there from the beginning, observing everything from the moment he passed during his initial ascent.

Harlowe was just so unmoving that Daru didn't notice him there, blending perfectly in the hues of the dead tree like a chameleon.

The mere thought of him relaxing in front of the horror and appreciating the view was so unnerving that Daru broke out into a cold sweat.

He could've been killed just like that…no battle, no fun to be had, merely instant death.

His expression turned grim as the realization that such deaths weren't even rare in the Myriad Sword Realm sank in.

Battles weren't always fought in a straightforward manner.

As much as he despised acknowledging that fact, he couldn't keep denying it.

Not when he had just been taught a lesson about ambush.

His Perception had been enough when Ae'shkar made an attempt on his life, plus he would merely be sent back to his continent even if it didn't.

But now, against the demonic jester's stealth, it wasn't, and the repercussions would've been much worse.

Daru was disappointed in himself, but what else could he do except acknowledge that he was still severely lacking, and it would be for the best if he also kept in mind that battles would probably rarely be fought head-on in the future.

There would be a lot of schemers, no doubt.

The thoughts crashed on him heavily as he kept on observing the unmoving horror.

He was now more or less sure that Harlowe was harmless and would remain that way, probably until it was too late for his beloved.

The question was: who was his beloved?

According to the page of The Eye, the demonic jester gazed, and gazed at his beloved, and it appeared that he was doing just that.

All Daru needed to do was see the world from Harlowe's point of view, though he couldn't help but wonder how the horror's vision was working when his eyes were sewn shut.

Solving such a mystery should be irrelevant to his mission, though, so Daru focused on what mattered.

He boldly approached the demonic jester's tree…and began climbing it.

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