Victor let out a shaky breath.
"Let's get the hell out of here before it starts offering us more."
Without wasting another second, they moved fast, arriving back onto the path they had been navigating before.
The labyrinth seemed calm again, no immediate hostility.
They turned corner after corner, putting as much distance as possible between themselves and the Root Child.
For several minutes, nothing happened and finally it seemed as though they had escaped this horror.
However, the moment they turned another corner, they stopped dead.
The Root Child stood there waiting.
Victor's stomach dropped.
"Fuck…"
This time, it held something smaller.
Several strange glowing seeds rested in its vine-wrapped palm. They glowed faintly, like tiny embers.
The creature extended them outward, offering just like before.
"Maybe this is the last one," she muttered.
Victor grabbed her arm. "Aria, wait—"
But she stepped forward anyway.
