Chapter 141:The View from Above

At first, it was a small tremor.

So subtle that even the Elves, renowned for their sensitivity to such signs, didn’t notice.

Only a few Elves with particularly keen senses felt a strange sense of unease.

But soon, all the Elves began to notice something was wrong.

No, frankly, it wasn’t just because they were Elves that they noticed.

The tremor, which had started as a subtle vibration, was now shaking the entire Great Forest.

An unprecedented situation: a fire followed by an earthquake.

Moreover, the aftereffects were occurring simultaneously throughout the Great Forest, so it would have been normal for the Elves to be thrown into chaos.

Disaster upon disaster.

However, the Elves didn’t panic or become distraught.

Instead, the mouths of the Elves, which had been open just moments before, closed instantly, and they all began to look in the same direction.

That place was where the remains of the burned World Tree were.

“…Could it be?”

One of the Elves, who had been silently staring at the spot as if frozen in place, opened their mouth.

“…Is it true?”

“You feel it too?”

“I, I feel it too…!”

Then, as if a stone had been thrown into a still lake, a ripple spread through the crowd, and one by one, they began to speak. Bewilderment, disbelief.But all these Elves were feeling it at the same time.

The Magical Power of the vanished World Tree was beginning to emanate from that place.

The tremor grew even stronger, causing some Elves to stagger and collapse.

But even so, the Elves steadfastly held their ground and gazed at the spot.

How much time had passed?

The powerful tremor that had threatened to overturn the entire Great Forest suddenly stopped.

Followed by a heavy silence.

If it had been an ordinary person, they might have thought it was over.

But the Elves’ pupils widened, and tears began to well up in their eyes.

As if the heart of a patient in cardiac arrest had begun to beat again, the Magical Power wave of the World Tree began to engulf the entire Great Forest.

And then.

Kugwagwagwagwang—!!!

With a tremendous roar, a tree suddenly sprouted from the pile of dirt in the barren land where only burned traces had remained. Starting from a small branch, the tree quickly began to grow, becoming larger and thicker than all the surrounding trees.

An incredible growth rate that made the growth rate of bamboo seem trivial.

Then, suddenly, the tree stopped growing.

Its size was the same as the World Tree that had stood firmly in that spot just a day before.

Then, branches began to spread out, followed by lush green leaves filling the bare branches of the tree.

Finally, the tree completed its growth.

The tree…no, the World Tree stood proudly in its place as if it had never disappeared.

“Ah…ah…!!”

“World Tree…nim…!”

“This is a miracle!!”

“The World Tree has returned!!!”

The Elves, who had been watching the whole scene, began to shout with cheers that echoed throughout the Great Forest.

The World Tree, which had disappeared after being unable to protect itself from the human attack, had returned, so it was nothing short of a miracle for the Elves.

“But, how did the World Tree…?”

“Even if we poured the Elves’ Magical Power into the roots of the World Tree every day, it would have taken hundreds of years…?”

However, there were those who questioned it.

The World Tree, whose trunk had been completely burned and turned to ashes, had only its roots left.

How could such a World Tree suddenly be revived?

However, the answer to that question didn’t take long to arrive.

“…Heeeelp…”

“Huh?”

“What is it?”

Then, a voice shouting from far away in the sky was heard, and the Elves raised their heads and looked in that direction.

“Run awaaaaay!!!!”

There, Tene, falling from the sky, was waving her arms and legs and shouting.

Kwaaang-!

Tene, who had crashed into the ground at a very high speed, fell straight to the ground, and a pit was dug with a tremendous sound.

“Ouch…that was a surprise…”

Anyone could see that a terrible sight would have unfolded inside that pit, but Tene, the one who had dug the pit, simply staggered out of the pit without a single scratch and swayed.

The appearance of a cute and innocent girl falling from the stratosphere and coming out unscathed despite making a deep pit in the ground was incongruous, but it was only natural compared to the energy she exuded.

She was clearly sharing her power with the World Tree, but when she came to her senses, she had opened her eyes in the air.

Tene had been swept up into the air by the World Tree’s tremendous growth.

“…Ah! It really came back!”

Tene, who hadn’t been hurt but had been sitting down because her vision had changed so quickly, smiled as she belatedly looked at the World Tree that had returned.

“Th-The great Tenebrix Nox…?”

“Huh? Yes?”

“Th-That, you just said it really came back…so perhaps, did Tenebrix Nox-nim revive the World Tree-nim?”

The miracle of the completely burned World Tree regaining its form, the Black Flame Dragon suddenly flying from the sky.

The sound of the Black Flame Dragon muttering that it really came back while looking at the World Tree that had returned.

Combining all those things, the answer came out.

“Oh…yes. Suddenly, I heard the World Tree’s voice…asking me to help it—”

“Thank you so much!!!!”

Thump-

“Eep!?”

And when definite evidence came from Tene’s mouth, the Elf who had been cautiously asking the question suddenly grabbed Tene’s hand, knelt down, and shouted.

“Tenebrix Nox-nim has returned the World Tree-nim to us!!”

“Long live the great Black Flame Dragon!!!”

“Long live Tenebrix Nox-nim!!”

“Long live the World Tree-nim!!!”

“Huh? Everyone?”

At the same time, the Elves who had gathered around also knelt down in front of Tene and began to praise Tene.

A miracle.

It was a miracle.

Their creator, their mother, and the Elves’ god.

The Elves had lost such a World Tree in an instant and had fallen into despair and grief.

But in that situation, Tene had returned the World Tree in an instant.

Despair had disappeared without a trace from their hearts.

Instead, their hearts were filled with respect, gratitude, and joy for Tene, and everyone was smiling and shouting.

“…Ha, haha…!”

And Tene, who had been flustered by the sudden bowing and gratitude from so many people, eventually smiled.

“What, I could do it too.”

She had been depressed, and her self-esteem had hit rock bottom.

The apex of the food chain, the strongest existence.

The time she had spent relying on others without being able to help, despite being such an existence.

Even amidst the respect she received as an evil dragon, the gazes mixed with fear were burdensome and difficult to bear, though she couldn’t say it.

But, look.

At the World Tree, which had grown firmly enough to pierce the sky and cover the Great Forest.

And look straight ahead.

At the sincere gazes filled with pure respect and gratitude, not fear and disgust.

I could do it too.

I could be helpful to people.

That fact made Tene smile.

“…Behold!! Me!”

Then, Tene couldn’t control the feelings that kept overflowing from her heart and began to shout to the Elves.

“Eternal darkness, immortal existence, the ruler who lives in the shadows!”

Each time she shouted powerfully, the Elves’ eyes sparkled and looked at her with gazes befitting a great being.

“I, Tenebrix Nox! To keep the Elves’ promise!”

Her hair was disheveled, and her whole body was covered in dirt.

“Reached out to the World Tree! And revived the World Tree!”

Her eyes were slightly red as if she was overwhelmed with emotion, and the tip of her nose was twitching.

“So behold, and feel!”

“Who I am! The miracle I created!”

“Me, the one who revived something for you, the one who is referred to as eternal darkness!”

“I am! Tenebrix Nox!!!!!!”

Then, dark black smoke that seemed to cover everything began to leak out of the girl’s body.

Tene was instantly swallowed by the smoke, and the black smoke, which had grown as large as a house, was everywhere.

Hooong—

And, the wind blew.

The bodies of the Elves nearby staggered, and the hair of the gathered crowds fluttered.

Then, the wind stopped, and in the place where the smoke had spread, an existence proudly revealed itself.

Black scales as dark as the night sky.

Sharp, slit vertical pupils, and claws honed to cut through anything.

Huge wings fluttering as if to announce that it was the ruler of this sky.

Tenebrix Nox revealed its form.

The true power of her, hidden by Polymorph, covered the Elves.

In the past, the mere feeling of that power had made them give up on life and wait only for eternal rest, an overwhelming presence.

Who could dare to stand proudly before this power?

[Behold! I am Tenebrix Nox!!!]

At the same time, a huge mouth that seemed to swallow anything at once opened, and a loud voice that echoed throughout the open space spread out.

An overwhelming fear that made the hair on their bodies stand on end and their bodies freeze just by hearing it.

[……………………..]

‘Ah, I got too carried away…’

After shouting so loudly, Tene’s mind, while maintaining a solemn expression, was trivial.

She had revealed her true form because she felt good from being constantly praised.

Remembering that almost half of the Elves who had seen her when she first appeared had fainted from being drenched in fear, Tene closed her eyes without realizing it, worrying about the disaster that would happen afterward.

Soon, screams would erupt, and people would run away in panic. Tene was thinking the same thing.

[…?]

But, no matter how much time passed with her eyes closed, the screams of fear did not come.

So, feeling strange, Tene carefully opened her eyes.

Then.

[……………..]

A scene she had never seen before unfolded before Tene’s eyes.

The Elves were not trembling with fear, nor had they fainted.

They were simply bowing their heads silently, as if with respect and faith in seeing a great being.

The Elves’ actions were not an act to avoid the situation, but were sincere.

[…Hee, hee…]

At that sight, Tene unknowingly smiled foolishly, even in her dragon form.

Because this was the scene she had wanted to see.

Tene had no dragon’s dignity, but she smiled foolishly, feeling truly happy.