Chapter 9: Successful! if it fails, it’s not a concubine!

The Oracle, Ardel, sat alone in the shrine.

A fresh breeze blew, scattering her pink hair.

The fragrant scent of flowers was carried on the gentle wind.

Ardel smiled softly and tucked her hair behind her ear.

It was a gesture so beautiful that anyone who saw it might mistake her for a celestial maiden descending from the heavens.

A shrine adorned with cherry blossoms, found only in the East.

Gazing at the sight, Ardel gently closed her eyes.

She imagined that moment.

When the Oracle’s avatar had invaded her mind, she had heard Ain’s desperate cry.

–Ardel! Ardel! Snap out of it!

The hero who had braved any danger to save her…

While “Prince Charming on a white horse” was a rather cheesy trope, it suited Ain well.

How she yearned to hear that voice again.

In the sensation of falling into an endless abyss, Ain’s voice had been her salvation.

When the Hero, the Saintess, and even the Grand Thief were at a loss, only the Archmage… only Ain had come to save her.

In the flames that consumed the avatar’s World Tree, Ain had stayed by her side until the very end, which was why she was here now.

Ardel felt the passing breeze and opened her eyes.

This time, the scent of blood carried on the wind tickled her nose.

It was a thick, metallic smell, almost sticky.

A normal person would have grimaced, but Ardel hummed a cheerful tune as she rose from her seat.

Her eyes were open.

Beneath her thick eyelashes, pale pink eyes, holding a cold light, swept across her surroundings.

Ardel made a gesture as if grasping a staff.

From the empty space, a branch of a cherry blossom tree materialized.

A branch of the World Tree.

A cherry tree branch, among them.

The object, imbued with vital energy, rested in her hand.

Ardel hummed a cheerful tune as she headed towards the front of the shrine.

It was traditional Eastern music.

The cherry blossom trees along her path scattered their petals as if in fear.

It was as if white snowflakes were fluttering down.

Ardel flung the shrine doors wide open.

With a thud! the massive main gate swung open.

And before it—

Fallen corpses lay scattered.

Ardel smiled brightly as usual, gazing at the corpses.

However, her pink eyes held a cold light.

A gaze of destruction and revulsion.

“Heehee, it seems the cleanup isn’t quite finished yet.”

The cherry blossom trees in front of the shrine, terrified, dropped their petals.

But the petals melted away before they could even touch Ardel’s body.

Ardel continued to hum her tune.

This time, it was a more lively song.

As she descended the sloping path, the people who served the World Tree, the ‘Hwain’, came out to greet her.

They were all dressed in Hanbok-like clothes, and their appearance was exceedingly elegant.

The leader of the Hwain bowed to Ardel, ‘Cheonmyeong, Lee Seoyeon’.

“The scent of flowers has been tainted by a bloody stench… We are truly sorry.”

The Hwain leader was an elderly grandmother.

The Hwain were inherently like trees; the older they grew, the tougher and stronger they became.

Like an ancient tree with deep roots that would not fall, she was a rare individual among the Hwain who had lived for over two centuries.

Lee Seoyeon patted the leader’s shoulder as if to say it was alright, smiling softly.

Seeing that benevolent smile, the leader could only grow more tense.

For one could never know what lay beneath that mask of a smile.

The true intentions of the World Tree, which had lived for thousands of years, were unknowable.

“It’s alright. It seems they are those who came without knowing who the master of this shrine is. Let’s give them a warm welcome.”

“Yes, yes…”

The leader bowed her head apologetically and moved aside.

The other Hwain also similarly avoided Lee Seoyeon.

This created a long path.

Lee Seoyeon noticed that a few of them had disappeared.

It seemed someone had broken the Hwain’s trees.

The Hwain’s trees, Hwamok, were deeply imbued with vital energy and often sold for high prices.

It seemed they were people blinded by money.

Lee Seoyeon smiled brightly as she counted the missing.

Three Hwain were gone.

Her eyes sank even deeper.

Lee Seoyeon swung the cherry blossom branch she held.

“The scent of the cherry trees has grown faint—!”

Thereupon, all the Hwain bowed their heads and shouted.

“The sturdy trees have met their end, so their meaning is death!”

Lee Seoyeon swung the cherry blossom branch again.

“Though the northern evil has been vanquished, wickedness still festers in the world!”

All the Hwain shouted loudly.

“Those who harm the Hwain! Be evil!”

Boom! Boom! Boom! The cherry blossom trees scattered across the mountain shook their branches as if in response.

At first glance, it seemed they were just swaying in the wind, but since all the cherry trees did so, it created a magnificent spectacle.

Lee Seoyeon pointed the cherry blossom branch high into the sky.

“Humans who entered the Cherry Blossom Shrine!”

The Hwain, sensing it was the last call, shouted at the top of their lungs.

“Know your demise!”

Lee Seoyeon lowered the branch, clasped her hands behind her back, and walked down the path.

The Hwain along her path bowed their heads in reverence.

It was as if a monarch were making an appearance.

The flower-scented breeze swept past.

The path was full of cherry trees.

All of them were Hwamok.

The further down she went, the stronger the smell of blood became.

Fluttering petals dyed the roadside pink, and she walked over that carpet.

And when she reached the very bottom, she saw three broken cherry trees.

Lee Seoyeon’s face hardened coldly.

“Yes… the punishment for touching this body…”

It was then.

A black crow came to Lee Seoyeon’s side.

It was the Grand Thief Ariina’s messenger raven, ‘Big Crow’.

Lee Seoyeon looked at the crow with puzzled eyes.

Why had a messenger raven, having received its orders from Ariina, suddenly come to her?

Caw! Caw! The crow flapped its wings and landed on Lee Seoyeon’s shoulder.

Lee Seoyeon watched the black feathers flutter down with a bewildered expression.

It’s easy to think of the crow as the Grand Thief’s familiar.

This must be why assassin guilds and thief guilds favor messenger crows.

The crow tilted its head, then clacked its beak.

“Ariina. What’s the matter?”

The crow sharply turned its head and looked at the Oracle, Lee Seoyeon.

Its black eyes swept across her face, then it opened its beak.

“……Hey, Oracle Ardel, you b*tch.”

It was Ariina’s voice.

Lee Seoyeon heard it and momentarily doubted her ears.

What was this crow saying to the World Tree’s avatar?

Anyway, if it was a familiar sent by Ariina, there must be a message to deliver.

“You suddenly came… what is this cursing?”

Lee Seoyeon had only recently managed to drop formalities with everyone in the Hero’s party.

However, for her, who had been revered her entire life, profanity was unacceptable.

Lee Seoyeon asked, revealing her anger plainly.

It was the wrath of the World Tree, enough to strike fear into anyone, but the crow merely tilted its head.

The crow paused, looked at the Oracle, Ardel, then mimicked her, scrunching up its face.

“Caw! Ardel! Son of a b*tch! Ain! Mine!”

“What in the…!”

Just as Lee Seoyeon, enraged, was about to return this familiar to the soil—to put it crudely, kill it—another voice, not Ariina’s, was heard.

A truly vulgar sound of lips exploring each other.

Startled by the sudden lewd sounds, Lee Seoyeon’s face flushed.

She could only helplessly dart her eyes around.

She had lived for thousands of years, but she had no immunity to such things.

“Phew— Ain, understand? Don’t even think about other girls.”

“Ariina…”

That was the end of it.

The crow flapped its wings and flew into the sky, as if staying longer would be dangerous.

Lee Seoyeon stared blankly at the flying crow.

It had already flown away too fast and too far to be caught.

The last voice was, undoubtedly, Ain’s.

And the vulgar sounds, too, were Ain’s.

Ain had kissed Ariina.

“Ah.”

Lee Seoyeon sighed with a blank expression.

Finally, she understood the whole truth of the situation.

Her face slowly twisted.

Rage.

Only that could be felt.

The surrounding cherry blossom trees trembled in unison as if terrified.

The Hwain had sensed her wrath.

“Have you dared to insult my beloved—! The Oracle Ardel, this Cheonmyeong, Lee Seoyeon—!”

Crrrrrack! Crrrrack! The World Tree responded to her fury, moving its roots.

It should have been punishing those who killed the Hwain, but it seemed poised to destroy the entire shrine.

“Aaaargh!”

A scream was heard from somewhere.

It was clearly an intruder who had trespassed into the Cherry Blossom Shrine.

Lee Seoyeon swung the cherry blossom branch widely.

To use the utterly loathsome human before her as an outlet for her rage, Lee Seoyeon, the avatar of the World Tree herself, made her advance.

“Hwaa—! Hwaaaaaaa—!”

The screams echoed for a while.

In the World Tree’s wrath, all the Hwamok and Hwain merely trembled, waiting for it to end.

A fury that might occur only once in a millennium.

The movement of the World Tree, imbued with the vital energy of the earth, was a disaster in itself.

Only after the smell of blood from the shrine grew much stronger, did the Oracle Ardel shout to the heavens.

“I’ll tear you to death—!”