For the most part the forest seemed unanimated. That did not mean the overgrowth wasn't caused by magic but there was little to change the end result. Rick looked ahead at the dim point of light at the end of the forest tunnel. He turned his gaze back down to the section of vine he had detached. His face was cold, unmoving, a stoic image of focus. It could be mistaken as such if it weren't for the motion of his eyelids blinking at distant intervals.

His first impulse was to burn it all. Set the forest ablaze and deprive the demon it's hiding spot. It already had access to his mind, at this point whatever action he took was undercut with the concern that it wasn't truly taking place. All the more reason to want to set a forest fire in motion before it had the chance to rob him of his reality once more.

He tempered this impulse with caution but it was still an option he hadn't taken off the table. Saving the others, even his guide Edmondo, was secondary to ending the demon for good. Trespassers upon the minds of others, no matter how innocuous, had no place in this world. They threatened his trust in his own mind. If he could not trust that his own thoughts were his then who was to say the devil hadn't already won? It would be as simple as swapping enmity with alliance. He could never be sure if that wasn't the truth. A true descent into madness that train of thought was. Considering it was a very real possibility only made it that many times worse.

Returning to the situation at hand he erred on the side of caution for now. Moving his back into a recess in the thicket he concealed himself amidst the thorns.

"Phantasmal vision.
Let me see past my limits.
Arcanist's Eye."

With a whispered incantation he conjured forth an Arcanist's eye. As he shut his eyes the Arcanist's eye opened, the world viewed through the detached force which moved forth at his will. Looking through this invisible force it moved forward towards the diminutive point of light. It was slow as it was a rather recent incantation he learned, his skill with the spell not yet refined to the point where he could urge it forth at a greater pace. He made sure to check it's surroundings all the while, keen not to miss any details along the way with the point that something fairly obviously set him towards. Better to see the trap from the outside rather than the inside. In this case he was going to see it from the inside while outside it.

Even without the sanctity of his mind preserved he wasn't going to let it choose for him what he does. Not so long as he has any choice in the matter.