Extra's POV: My Obsessive Villainous Fiancee Is The Game's Final Boss-Chapter 330: Truth For Truth

"Evening." Nero said casually as they stopped before them. "Mind if we join you?"

All three turned slowly.

"Of course you do," Ren said, voice even.

Contessa said nothing, her face unreadable behind her mask. She sat on a nearby log without waiting for permission.

Nero took a seat beside her. "Thought it would be nice to warm up. Camps are lonely, even when shared."

"Especially when shared." Lilith muttered.

Nero smiled at her, amused. "Still upset about the chasm?"

Lilith’s eyes glinted. "Just surprised you didn’t push me off it."

"Now why would I do that?" Nero said. "We’re all friends here."

"That remains to be seen." Ren said.

There was a beat of silence. Then Thorn leaned forward. "Why are you here, really?"

Nero looked at him. "Same reason as you. To reach the Seventh Peak."

"And what do you want there?"

"Answers." Nero said simply.

"To what?"

"To my questions."

Contessa finally spoke. Her voice was soft but firm. "We don’t mean you any harm."

Ren’s eyes stayed on Nero. "Are you sure about that?"

"I know you have no reason to trust me." Nero said. "That is why I am here to propose a deal."

"When we arrive at the Seventh Peak, I will answer all your questions truthfully. And in return, you will answer mine."

Ren blinked slowly. "You’re proposing a trade of truth?"

Nero nodded. "Truth for truth. No riddles. No evasion."

Lilith tensed, her hand moving subtly toward the dagger on her thigh.

Ren studied Nero’s face for a long moment. "And how do we make sure those truths aren’t lies?"

Nero smiled faintly. "The Truth Stone. It exists at the top of the Seventh Peak. When one places their hand on it, they cannot lie. Not by omission. Not by tone. Not by technicality. Only the truth."

Thorn let out a low whistle. "Sounds like a nightmare."

"Sounds like a trap." Lilith muttered.

Ren ignored them both. "And you’d be willing to bind yourself to that?"

"I wouldn’t offer it if I wasn’t." Nero replied. "You want answers. So do I. And truth is the only coin that matters between us."

Ren leaned back, staring into the fire. After a long silence, he nodded once. "Fine. Deal. When we reach the Truth Stone, we shall exchange truths. But you’d better not waste my time."

"I wouldn’t dream of it." Nero said with a small bow of his head.

Then, without another word, he turned and walked back toward the darkness dome with Contessa silently following.

Ren watched them until they disappeared. Then he turned to Thorn and Lilith.

"We can’t waste this opportunity." He said. "If they’re really willing to use the Truth Stone, then we get to dig into who they are, what they want, and what they know about the Three, the Abyss, and the World Tree."

Lilith was silent for a long time. Finally, she muttered, "Fine. But if anything goes sideways, I’m ending it."

Thorn nodded slowly. "Truth or not, I still don’t trust them. But I agree with you. If there’s a chance to learn something important, we take it."

They stayed by the fire a bit longer, quiet and watchful, then drifted off to their tents, taking turns for night watch.

[][][][][]

When Ren opened his eyes the next morning, something felt wrong.

The air was warmer. Too warm. He blinked and sat up, shoving his way out of his tent.

And froze.

They were no longer beside the chasm.

Gone were the jagged rocks and sharp cliffs. In their place stretched a wide, vivid garden filled with glowing flowers, golden grass, and strange twisting trees with sapphire colored bark.

Light streamed from above, though there was no sun. Birds chirped somewhere far away.

Behind them, the cliff face where the chasm had been was simply gone. It was as if the mountain had been rewritten overnight.

Lilith was already out, throwing knives in hands. Thorn stumbled out of his tent behind Ren, rubbing sleep from his eyes.

"What in the frozen hell is this?" Thorn asked.

Dario was standing nearby, his usually carefree face grim. "This is not bad. But it’s not good either."

Ren turned sharply. "What happened? Where are we?"

"We’re in the same place." Dario said. "But the land isn’t. The terrain’s been altered. This... this is the work of Landscapers."

Ren frowned. "Landscapers?"

Dario nodded quickly, eyes scanning the trees. "Monsters. Not the kind that attacks or eats. They reshape terrain. Rewrite landscapes. They don’t move like animals. They move like dreams. You go to sleep on a cliff and wake up in a garden."

Thorn looked around. "So they’re harmless?"

Dario shook his head. "No. They’re unpredictable. Usually they just change the environment. But sometimes... if something disturbs them, they react violently."

"React how?" Lilith asked.

"They erase the problem. Sometimes they tear the fabric of space. Sometimes they drop a mountain on your head. No one’s sure how they do it, but they do."

Ren grimaced. "So what triggers them?"

Dario laughed nervously. "Anything. Loud noise. Quiet. Fighting. Peace. Sometimes... just being in the wrong spot at the wrong time. That’s the problem. No one really knows what sets them off."

The two ex-Chosen emerged from their shelter. Nero stood quietly, surveying the landscape.

Contessa walked ahead of him, pausing to touch one of the glowing flowers. The flower shimmered and turned black at her touch, then returned to gold.

"This place is alive." She said.

"It always is." Dario replied. "That’s the risk."

Ren turned to his group. "Alright. No sudden moves. No shouting. No fighting. We move carefully, we talk quietly, and we don’t touch anything we don’t have to."

Lilith sheathed her knives and Thorn relaxed.

They ate a cold breakfast in silence.

Nero and Contessa kept to themselves as usual.

As they packed up and prepared to move, Dario took the lead again.

"If the landscape holds, the Echo Flats are just ahead. If it doesn’t... well, we’ll know soon enough."

The garden shimmered underfoot as they walked, the golden grass parting in waves like water.

Every step echoed too loudly in Ren’s ears. Every breath felt like it might be the one to bring it all crashing down.

He kept his eyes on Nero.

Truth for truth.

He didn’t know what answers they would find on the Seventh Peak, but one thing was certain.

The truth would be revealed.

And they would either walk away stronger.

Or not walk away at all.

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