Chapter 64: The literal... Lady of the Lake?

"We've arrived," Sapphire said, glancing around as if searching for something. They had reached the edge of the forest, a place that barely made sense to Vergil.

"W-What? We walked for hours just to train here?!" he exclaimed, staring at the massive tree trunk ahead of him.

"Let's see..." Sapphire murmured, as though trying to recall something from her memory.

"Aha! This!" she suddenly shouted and grabbed Vergil's arm mercilessly. "Hold on tight!" she said excitedly.

Without a second thought, she hurled him toward the tree trunk with inhuman strength.

Just before Vergil's face collided with the trunk, he began to pass through it as though it were made of jelly. Whatever it was, it started to swallow him, and soon...

"Whaaa-aatttt thhhhheee!!" Vergil felt his body twisting and distorting as he passed through some kind of... what the hell was this?