Chapter 969: Lost Soul.

My mother, who is not the Master of the Myriad Realms.

At the Old Man’s words that it was her request, I had to turn my thoughts for a moment.

What could it mean? To call it mere wordplay would be difficult, as the Old Man’s expression was serious.

I had to concentrate for a moment to find the meaning of those words.

‘…It was Mother who made the request. But she is not the Master of the Myriad Realms…’

What did this statement imply?

That the Old Man had been a general. And that he had ultimately betrayed them.

If that statement was also true.

‘Was it that he became a general at Mother’s request? Or that he betrayed them at Mother’s request.’

The words were ambiguous, so I couldn’t understand them properly.

Without pondering for long, I quickly came up with an answer.

After all, no matter what, the meaning of those words was one.

“Does that mean the current Master and Mother are different people?”

It meant the Old Man didn’t equate the current Master with my Mother.

As if to prove it, the Old Man nodded slightly at my words.

“As I said last time. The current Mother is not the one you knew.”

“I know.”

Last time, I only heard his words, but now, I could know for sure.

If you meet her directly, you can’t help but know.

She was not the mother I knew. Her appearance, her scent, her voice.

It was all the her I knew.

But she wasn’t Mother.

Then what should I call her?

Right.

‘Master.’

She is the Master.

The Master of a world who rules this land.

I had to see her as the Master, not Mother.

Even if it wasn’t easy. It felt like I had to.

“…”

The image of her taking Yarang, claiming her as her daughter, flashed through my mind.

Damn it. I can’t seem to forget that sight.

Slap-!

“Huh?”

As I swung my hand and slapped my own cheek, the Old Man looked at me strangely.

“…Kid. Did you have that kind of taste too?”

“…I just slapped myself to regain my senses. And. What do you mean ‘did I have’? I don’t have any other tastes.”

My throbbing cheek helped me regain some focus. I had hit myself so hard that blood even trickled from the corner of my mouth.

Wiping it roughly with the back of my hand, I said to the Old Man.

“So… what do you mean by ‘it was her request’?”

“What meaning could there be? It really was your mother’s word.”

“So. The former. Or the latter. Which of the two is it?”

Was it that he became a general?

Or was it that he betrayed them?

To my question, the Old Man looked at me and said gruffly.

“Both.”

“…Both?”

“Yes, both.”

Rustle.

As the Old Man spoke, he got up from his seated position.

Whether he had already finished the skewer he was eating, it was no longer in his hand.

“Just as there’s no way your mother wouldn’t know what’s happening in the Myriad Realms, there’s no way she wouldn’t know I arrived here.”

“…”

Hearing those words, I remembered the brat who called himself ‘Leader’ calling the Old Man an outsider, a stranger.

“Something came up, so I just helped out for a bit.”

“…What happened that you suddenly played the general in someone else’s world? Were you bored?”

“I was bored anyway. This was also somewhat necessary… Wait, look at this guy?”

WHAM-!

“Gasp!“

I was hit on the head.

“Who did I go through all that trouble for? What? Bored? This old geezer worked his bones to the bone for you. Instead of being grateful!”

“…So. What exactly was this ‘trouble’ you went through?”

I asked, rubbing my throbbing head.

What kind of trouble could possibly lead to playing the general here and then running away in the end?

“Hmm.”

At my question, the Old Man looked at me intently.

Was he debating whether to tell me?

His gaze suggested exactly that.

“No, setting the trouble aside.”

So I changed my approach slightly. If I didn’t hear it now, I’d be the only one losing out.

Fine, I could somehow accept him playing the general.

But.

“What about the betrayal?”

Yusa’s words that the Old Man betrayed them and disappeared. I was more curious about that.

At those words, the Old Man scratched his cheek. His reaction wasn’t much different from before, but it was better than a moment ago.

To the statement that he even betrayed them at Mother’s request, the Old Man replied.

“You know that divine tree embedded in the volcano right now?”

Hearing that, I recalled the giant ancient tree existing in the volcano.

It was a divine tree made of plum blossoms.

“Yes. Isn’t that the one the Old Man stole and ran off with?”

It was the very thing the Old Man stole, seeds and all, and fled with in the past.

Why was this story suddenly coming up?

But.

“Bringing that out was your mother’s request.”

At the follow-up words, my brow furrowed involuntarily.

“…Stealing the seeds. That was something my mother requested?”

“Yes.”

“Why…?”

“Why? Because she told me to.”

“…”

I stole it because she told me to steal it.

At the nonsensical answer, I was left stunned for a moment.

Perhaps finding my expression amusing, the Old Man chuckled. What is this guy doing…?

“That was also a necessary act. For your mother’s purpose, for my work, and for you.”

Fortunately, perhaps it was a joke, as the Old Man continued his explanation while looking at me. Hearing it, I could only narrow my eyes further.

“Purpose? What purpose…?”

Mother’s purpose. What purpose could she possibly have to ask the Old Man for something like that? Furthermore.

‘What could be the reason she’s like that now…’

If it was different back then.

I thought there must be a reason she ended up like this now.

As I asked, recalling that, the Old Man looked at me and said calmly.

“Kid.”

“Yes.”

“Do you know how many divine trees there are in total in the Myriad Realms?”

“…I don’t know.”

“According to what’s known, there are four. Which is the same as the number of generals.”

The Old Man pointed his finger at the floor.

“One in Yawol, ruled by that Yusa fellow. And.”

Next, he pointed north.

“In the mountain range where that brute, the Leader, resides, there’s another.”

Next, the west.

“And another where that unlucky crow fellow guards. The last is the volcano.”

“…What about Yarang?”

“As for that child. Since I stole it and ran off, we can consider hers to be the one at the volcano.”

“That…”

Isn’t that wrong?

I tried to ask that, but the Old Man spoke first.

“The important thing is, while there are four known divine trees, there’s actually one more.”

“What?”

There’s one more. For a moment, I was surprised by the Old Man’s words.

The Old Man pointed to the sky.

“There’s one more up there. It’s called the Heart of the Myriad Realms.”

At his words, I looked up at the empty air.

The sky was slowly tinged with sunset, but it was still beautifully dyed in a deep crimson.

However, only that was visible. The tree the Old Man spoke of was nowhere to be seen.

“If you try to see it, will you see it? Since you can’t see it, it’s naturally kept a secret.”

“…”

Then why did you point?

I stared at him, dumbfounded, as the Old Man clicked his tongue.

“Anyway. The important thing isn’t about the trees. It’s about your mother’s condition due to the ‘tear’.”

“Distortion?”

“Originally, according to the number of generals. And since even one divine tree that should have been in its designated position is distorted, the current state of the Myriad Realms must be unstable. Because the set numbers have changed, the biggest change is that the concentration of energy in the air has also changed.”

“…!”

Hearing those words, my eyes widened. The concentration of energy in the air. I was surprised to hear that.

‘Was that why?’

There was something I felt as soon as I arrived in this land.

It was that the amount of energy contained in the air was overwhelmingly higher compared to the Central Plains.

Just when I was wondering how it could be so different.

‘…That was the ripple effect of the rules being broken?’

I could hear the answer from the Old Man’s mouth.

An anomaly that occurred when the originally set rules were broken.

The Old Man explained the current situation like that.

‘If something like this could happen just because the divine trees had a problem…’

It means it’s quite a big deal.

Then.

“…Why isn’t Mother. No, the Master, moving?”

The current Master knowing this situation and having almost no movement was strange.

Even if Yarang’s activities were for this purpose, there were many strange aspects.

“She’s not not moving.”

At my words, the Old Man immediately corrected me.

“It would be more accurate to say she cannot move.”

“Cannot move? She was moving just like that a moment ago?”

I had just met her perfectly fine. What did that mean? I asked again, unable to comprehend.

“Do you truly believe that descended?”

“…Then what?”

“Tsk tsk. Considering the immense presence a Master possesses… If she were to commit herself fully, this area would become a wasteland. At best, she could barely create something resembling a body and send her spirit over.”

The Old Man’s gaze scanned the surroundings. The dense crowd was still filling Yawol.

“To begin with.”

Then the Old Man’s eyes narrowed slightly as he glared at me.

“If she had decided to appear in earnest, your shallow tricks wouldn’t have worked at all.”

“…”

“To minimize possible damage, she reduced the sacrificing body and even used a treasure, which is why you barely got away with it. If not for that.”

Poke.

The Old Man’s finger poked my forehead.

“Your head would have flown off long ago.”

“…”

“Realize just how dangerous your actions were.”

I rubbed my forehead and bit my lip.

“Then it makes even less sense. If the divine trees were that important. And if they could be found so easily. Especially so.”

It’s something that could be done, yet it’s not being done. Should I call this ‘inability’?

“If it were just one anomaly, perhaps.”

“What?”

“If it were merely the disappearance of a divine tree, it wouldn’t matter. But what’s happening in the Myriad Realms now is far more than that.”

“…What?”

“I told you last time. If your mother is in charge of the heavens, there’s also someone ruling the very deep underground here.”

At the Old Man’s words, I immediately recalled a certain being in my mind.

Whose name is Kkurung, but it’s someone who can’t actually be called by such a name.

“…Mujeogaeng?”

“That’s right.”

The Master of Mujeogaeng.

The ruler of the deep, deep darkness existing in the Myriad Realms.

‘Was it called the source of monsters?’

The one who contains beings that disappeared without being able to come to the Myriad Realms.

And it was said that the monsters called ‘demonic beasts’ that emerge through the demonic gate were under Mujeogaeng’s management.

“The one who should normally be properly working underground. Have you forgotten where he is now?”

“…In the volcano… isn’t he?”

“Since he came up to the surface and disappeared, the underground of the Myriad Realms must be in chaos now. Your mother must be using all her strength to stop that.”

“So this isn’t the time to look for the divine trees?”

“That’s right.”

The Old Man nodded.

The divine trees disappearing and causing anomalies was a big deal, but.

The problem caused by the disappearance of another Master, who was responsible for one axis, was even greater.

So that’s why she, the Master of the Myriad Realms, is defending against that as well?

“Her main body must be busy dealing with that. If she leaves her post even for a moment, the Myriad Realms will face a major problem.”

“…So it’s difficult for her to move to retrieve the divine trees?”

“Originally, she wouldn’t have even considered Mujeogaeng disappearing in the first place, so dealing with it would also be difficult.”

“However. If it was going to cause this much trouble, why wasn’t there any prevention?”

“Of course. In this Myriad Realms, nothing can move without her permission. Even Mujeogaeng, who is of the same status as a Master, was no different.”

That’s why she didn’t even worry.

To the words the Old Man quietly added, I immediately asked back.

“Then…”

You said nothing can move without permission, but didn’t he eventually move? Just as I was about to say that.

“…Huh?”

I couldn’t finish speaking and reacted blankly.

Even Mujeogaeng cannot move without the Myriad Realms Master’s permission.

But not only did Mujeogaeng move, he’s settled under the volcano’s divine tree.

The volcano’s divine tree was taken and fled with by the Old Man, who received Mother’s request.

And because of that, anomalies occurred.

But even that was Mother’s wish.

What these words pointed to. Could it be?

“…Was Kkurung leaving his post and being there also Mother’s wish?”

Even Mujeogaeng’s actions.

Were intended by Mother.

Reaching that conclusion.

“You’re not slow on the uptake.”

The Old Man grinned as if I had hit the nail on the head.