episode_0037

Just like when I first arrived in this world, my mind was dominated by a sense of chaos.

I blinked, and only then did the ceiling come into view, allowing me to weakly raise my body.

Was it unconscious?

As usual, I released a small amount of magic from within me into my surroundings.

It was fortunate.

It seemed this room, which had prevented the use of magic, had its function stripped away once the deity exerted power.

However, I couldn’t comfortably leave the word “fortunate” in my mind.

“….!”

Receiving my magic again, I couldn’t help but let out a silent scream.

The laboratory, filled with all sorts of experimental tools.

The laboratory, where remnants of the Demon Cultists remained, was now covered in tree branches.

Were fireflies living within them?

Or were these trees creating torches?

Trees, sparkling and emitting a steady light, swayed in the small breeze blowing in from outside.

The immense ceiling that had originally covered this room was now,

covered in stars adorning the night sky.

This reality alone would be reason enough for me to scream silently, but

what truly surprised me was not such a simple reason.

“Why….here….?”

Staring down at me with wide, blue eyes,

a deity, who had been pinned to the ground by the appearance of the World Tree and the persecution of other gods, reappeared in my magic.

For a while, I couldn’t believe my magic had returned, so I sent it there again several times.

Tree branches processed flat, like a bed.

Sparkling leaves clustered together like a blanket.

And the woman lying on top of them.

[Cetacean….

[The System advises against doing anything.]

[The System states that this intervention will definitely be discovered, so it will not use its power for a while.]

A wave came along the tree branches as if to play with me, but I saw the blue text and stopped the flow of water.

Only then did I remember the System’s message, “Intervening,” which it had sent before I lost consciousness.

Was the slumber of this massive deity before me due to the System’s ability, or had the System made a contract with this deity?

Or perhaps,

“Were you acquainted?”

The blue text trembled as if surprised,

The blue text written in a tone asking if I had already figured it out,

I had wanted something like that, but nothing was written before my eyes.

“Ugh….”

My whole body ached.

Was I arrogant to think that after meeting an ancient species, a queen, and not collapsing, I wouldn’t collapse even when directly sensing a god?

I picked up my rapier, which was stuck in the surrounding tree branches and, miraculously, had not shattered despite being wielded in front of a god. Then, I carefully lifted the furry creature that was still in a deep sleep.

Step by step, I left the laboratory.

What if the deity behind me were to even lift a hand? How should I react?

Such a question arose from the confines of my mind, but I soon realized that this question was unnecessary for me at the moment.

If I deployed my Heart Sword and summoned waves, could it stop that?

Unless I had learned all forms of Cetacean’s final technique.

Exiting the room, which now only had a door remaining and had briefly sealed a god, an unbelievable sight unfolded before my eyes.

Why hadn’t I detected this from inside the room?

A mouse, appearing from who knows where, squeaked.

A bird, whose death date was unknown, flapped its half-remaining feathers, struggling to let out a fresh scream.

A snake, shedding its few remaining scales one by one and making a smooth metallic sound, moved forward, unconcerned with its body scraping against the trees.

A spirit, making pattering footsteps and dragging its body, which was split in half, did not lose its bright smile even in its halved state.

Rotten moths, carrying only bone dust instead of the powder moths typically carry, sat among the trees.

What good could have happened to them?

There was no reason for these dead beings to visit the World Tree’s domain, which should be filled with the natural energy of life.

They cried out, each making their own sound.

I wondered if they truly had vocal cords to wail with, but the ear-splitting sounds forced me to look back at the place they were staring at.

“….”

This was no longer the World Tree’s domain.

Had I ever felt such magic before?

As I walked step by step, trying to leave this area, a single question rose to the surface of my mind.

It’s pure.

It’s an incredibly pure magical power.

Magic that seems like not a speck of dust should touch it, and perhaps shouldn’t.

Don’t you lose yourself when you see a river filled with pure white and purity?

I was no exception.

Every time the magic I released touched the floating, unidirectional magic in the air, it was swayed back and forth like a reed helplessly swaying in the wind.

[…..Unpleasant feeling…]

For a moment, I thought Brownie had woken up and looked at the hand I had wrapped around him, but soon realized it was his own muttering. I then deliberately pushed away the pure magic with my hand and returned to where Ellicia was.

***

She simply stared blankly at the fireflies fluttering wildly and making a fuss in front of her.

Had they ever moved so intensely?

“Is this because of that magic from earlier today…?”

She lifted her head, recalling what had happened during the day.

The children of the World Tree, whose magical flow had now become abnormal.

And fellow elves who blamed humans even in this situation.

Lastly, the movement of immense magical power.

It must have been less than a second.

However, she, who was particularly sensitive to such magic among the elves, could tell.

That something had awakened.

After that, no other strange magic was detected by her.

Only a massive clump of pure magic was strongly detected from the east.

“Ha… where did this human go now… surely they didn’t run away…”

She felt a slight pang of guilt, remembering how harshly she had treated the human earlier,

but she suppressed that guilt with the thought that if he were the kind of human to run away from this, even her mother wouldn’t have been able to heal him.

Rustle, rustle.

“Something… came out of that mass…?”

As a small mass poked out from the large mass detected in the east, she picked up the bow and arrow resting on the ground.

As the rustling sound grew louder, Ellicia realized this mass of magic was coming towards her, and she immediately aimed her arrow at the source of the magic.

“……..”

What were the fireflies so afraid of that they fled like this?

As the pure mass of magic approached, the fireflies scattered in utter panic, leaving not even a few behind.

By this point, she began to wonder if her own senses, which perceived this magic as pure, were flawed. Just then, the mass of magic finally revealed itself.

“Ah, it’s me.”

However, she did not release her bowstring.

What if this pure magic knew what it was and was merely interfering with memories to imitate a nearby person?

“It’s me, I tell you.”

“What are you doing here?”

“I came to heal the World Tree, that is, your mother.”

“My name?”

“Ellicia.”

She was about to ask something more, but realized she hadn’t really conversed with him before, so she awkwardly lowered her bowstring to the ground.

“Ah, thank you. I was just looking around and saw an injured animal.”

‘Hmm….?’

Was it her imagination?

Just moments ago, before he appeared in her sight, she had sensed a being cloaked in pure magic, but now she only felt his sharp, calm magic.

But what was this sight?

There wasn’t a single spot without accumulated dust, and his head was covered in strange ashes.

Moreover, there wasn’t a single exposed patch of skin, like on his arms, that wasn’t scratched, to the point where he could be described as utterly battered.

“This is….”

In his hand, he held a tiny, puppy-like animal.

Perhaps it was due to that enormous mass of magic, but the creature was disoriented, squirming in his hand.

To rescue a single creature, one of the World Tree’s children, to the point of becoming so battered himself.

Only then did she realize that the sincerity she had sensed in his words about healing the World Tree wasn’t entirely false.

Otherwise, why would he need to injure himself to save a creature from this place?

He placed the puppy from his arms onto the ground.

Was it because it was unconscious?

Not even a tiny bit of magic seemed to leak out.

“Such a small creature was here too. It’s also a child of the World Tree I’ve never seen before.”

She answered naturally, as it was impossible to know all the children of the World Tree, but for some reason, he turned his head at her words.

“Haha, I haven’t even seen this in a dictionary…”

“Of course not… Surely you’re not relying on dictionaries made by humans, are you?”

She replied to his question with an incredulous expression.

He replied to her words with a faint smile, then, perhaps finding the silence awkward, looked up at the sky and asked,

“Ah, now that you mention it, the moon is very bright. It looks like it’ll be a full moon soon, but when do you think that will be?”

“Well, maybe in about two days?”

“Hmm… is that so…”

Before she knew it, the faint smile had vanished from his lips, but Ellicia’s gaze was fixed on the small furball the man had brought, so she didn’t notice his change.