The Smiling Death-Chapter 289: Finally Out!

"Hah... This is very long. So high," Amon muttered.

He walked along the path made of roots and wood, attached to the inner side of the tree. It was in upward direction in circular ascent. Like spiral around the inside of Celestial tree.

Stomp! Stomp!

His steps were calm and steady. He was not in a hurry. But now, an hour had passed. He had already traveled a long distance, yet there was still no end in sight.

At times, the path narrowed so much that Amon had to slow down and move with extreme caution. One wrong step, and he would fall straight into the darkness below.

As he continued forward, the road became increasingly uneven. In several places, the path was broken in the middle, forcing Amon to jump across the gaps.

Each leap required careful timing and balance, the abyss yawning beneath him as a constant reminder of the danger.

Sometimes, after clearing a difficult section, Amon would sit down against the rough wooden surface to rest.

He regulated his breathing, letting his legs recover before standing up again. There was no wind, no sound. Only the faint echo of his own movements and the oppressive silence of the Celestial Tree’s interior.

Sometimes he ran along the road for ten to fifteen minutes nonstop.

Then he would start walking again. Step by step, jump after jump, rest after rest, he kept going.

Time slowly passed. Three hours went by like that. The road was still far ahead of him.

Amon continued walking along the endless path, climbing higher and higher, enduring the exhaustion and the silence, determined to reach the end no matter how long it took.

---

After walking and running for more than ten hours.

Finally, Amon came to the same place where he had fallen into the hole.

"Hahah! Yes, I reached this place." Amon finally started to laugh. His heavy, tired eyes turned excited and bright.

Finally, he could get out. He could see the light again.

Well, not clear light, since the sky always remained dark grey above.

"Haha, let’s get out of here before I see those two again."

Amon didn’t know where those two might have gone. In truth, they were dead.

Amon silently and cautiously went toward the tunnel that led outside. He could see the exploded part of the surface made by him.

Before going outside, he looked inside one last time. This time, when he looked down, he didn’t feel anything. It was just like a normal hole. The presence, the pressure he had felt before, had vanished.

"Weird..."

Thump...

Thump...

But the faint beating sound still came from above. Amon gazed up. The empty space above still gave him chills. It was also Revulsion.

He really didn’t want to think about anything else right now. But still, those questions and doubts kept coming into his mind.

After gazing up for a while, Amon turned and left the place silently. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

’Maybe... in the future... I will come back here again.’ Thinking like that, Amon entered the tunnel, leaving behind the hollow inside the Celestial Tree.

---

The grey light hit his face.

Amon blinked for a while to get accustomed to the outside. He had been inside a place with no light for so long, so it was hard to get used to a brighter place.

Amon climbed above the huge black root.

"It’s still day. It seems I was walking since late night."

He saw the long roots of the Celestial Tree spread wide. The same familiar sight.

Growl~

"Ah... my stomach." Amon rubbed his belly. He was actually hungry now.

He had been unconscious for a long time. Even he didn’t know how long.

Also, after waking up, the only thing he had was water. He had collected it in his bottle.

"I am hungry. Let’s try to find some monster. I feel stronger now."

He did some stretches and then lunged forward.

Amon ran through the massive roots of the Celestial Tree, his movements light and fluid. He jumped over tangled roots and broken bark with ease, his body responding faster than before.

There was no heaviness in his steps, no hesitation. Everything felt... smoother.

Before long, the towering roots began to thin out. Ahead of him, darkness deepened. Amon was going to enter this place again.

Oddly, he didn’t feel fear. The black forest began.

Tall, twisted trees rose from the ground, their trunks dark as charcoal and their branches clawing at the grey sky above. No sunlight reached the forest floor. Shadows overlapped endlessly, and the air felt thick and heavy.

Amon slowed down. His expression turned serious. He reached into his storage ring, and with a faint flash, his sword appeared in his hand.

The blade was dark, almost black, faint shadows clinging to its surface. Amon gripped it tightly and lowered his posture. From this point on, recklessness could get him killed.

Amon had only seen rank one or two monsters till now, or sometimes rank three.

But the reason for that was those dark black beings. It was their area, so no strong monsters were there.

While this place was away from the human camp, that’s what he considered. How did he come here? He didn’t know. But he knew it was far away. So there was a very low chance this was the dark ghosts’ territory.

He entered the forest silently.

Each step was careful. Each breath controlled. His eyes scanned his surroundings, alert to even the smallest movement.

The forest was quiet. Too quiet. Only the faint rustling of leaves and distant, unknown sounds echoed through the trees.

Minutes passed. Then half an hour. Then nearly an hour. Then time continued to pass. It seemed he really had to work hard to find food.

Just as Amon began to think his luck was bad. He stopped. Ahead of him, between the trees, shadows moved.

Amon narrowed his eyes and crouched behind a thick trunk, peering forward.

A group of monsters.

They looked like black monkeys, but their bodies were twisted and unnatural.

Their fur was pitch black, blending perfectly with the forest. Long arms dragged against the ground, claws scraping softly. Their eyes glowed faintly red, filled with hunger and malice.

Five of them. They moved together, chattering softly in a weird language that only monsters could understand, sniffing the air.

Amon frowned.

"...Great," he muttered quietly. "I really have to eat monsters again."