Lilith (1)
The vassals, who had been summoned suddenly, looked around the forest
with bewildered expressions.
I spoke to them.
"Everyone, please gather over here."
Ha Dong-gun turned to me and asked,
"Jaehyun-nim, what's going on?"
"I'll explain everything from now."
I made eye contact with the vassals and continued speaking.
"This place is not Earth."
A wave of shock rippled through the vassals, and Ha Dong-gun asked on their behalf,
"Are we inside a dungeon?"
"No. It's hard to explain clearly where this is."
To be honest, I didn't know where this place was either.
But-
"That's not the important part. You all know that my family has lost consciousness."
The vassals nodded solemnly.
I looked at them with certainty and said,
"I believe the minds of my family members are trapped somewhere in this forest."
Ha Dong-gun, his expression growing serious, asked back,
"Trapped? Are you saying they've been kidnapped?"
"No, not quite. Just a moment."
It was difficult to explain in detail.
My conclusion was based on a mix of intuition and hypothesis.
"Seeing is believing."
Rather than explaining everything to the vassals in detail, it would be better to show them directly if someone emerged from inside.
Just as I was about to use the Eye of the Absolute to find a pod on a tree trunk that contained a person-
Crack.
I saw a new pod forming in real time.
Inside it—
"Hmm?"
A man with a familiar face was curled up.
'Director Lee Seong-min?'
Lee Seong-min, who should've been taking care of my family at the hospital, had appeared here.
'Which means '
Something must've happened outside.
'The infection has spread.'
That light, which had emerged from my grandmother's body and put my family to sleep a week ago, had clearly burst forth again.
Eye of the Absolute.
I immediately checked the situation outside.
Even while inside a different dimension, the skill worked without issue.
As I expected, Director Lee Seong-min and the rest of the medical staff were lying unconscious on the floor.
There was no one to take care of my family right now-but that wasn't the main issue.
The real problem was—
'... Just how far has it spread?'
Last time, the light's effect had only reached as far as one bedroom.
But now, the situation I saw through the Eye of the Absolute was far worse than I imagined.
First, the entire hospital where my family was staying had come to a halt.
People throughout the building were peacefully breathing in their sleep.
Thankfully, no one seemed to be in critical condition, but immediate action was still necessary.
And it wasn't just the hospital-people within hundreds of meters around it were also affected.
[Dabin.]
As soon as I called, I heard Kim Dabin's telepathic response.
[Yes, Jaehyun-nim.]
[Block all movement toward the Nampo-dong area immediately.]
[Understood.]
The reason I didn't ask Kim Dabin to care for the sleeping people was simple:
'If she does that, it could lead to secondary or even tertiary damage.'
If the infection kept spreading, it could create a vicious cycle of more and more victims.
For now, the best course of action was to seal off the area around my family home as tightly as possible.
'As I thought-the best move is to deal with the source of this incident quickly.'
For now, I continued explaining the current situation to the vassals.
Using the Invisible Hand, I carefully removed the pod containing Director Lee Seong-min and brought it to the ground. I tore it open, revealing his body covered in sticky fluid.
"!!"
"A person?"
"Huh? Isn't that...?"
Some of the vassals recognized Director Lee, having seen him during previous monster hunts.
I purchased a suitable gown from the store and covered the director's body, then said,
"Dajeong, could you use a healing spell on the director?"
"Yes."
Kim Dajeong was currently staying with the medical team, including Director Lee Sungmin, to treat her family members who had fallen asleep. The only reason she hadn't fallen asleep herself was purely due to luck.
It must've been right before the light spread that I summoned the vassal.
Vmmm-
Kim Dajeong's heel not only had the ability to heal wounds, but also to improve abnormal statuses.
"Cough! Urgh! Bleeaaugh!"
Director Lee Sungmin woke up, violently vomiting a sticky liquid.
"Director. Are you feeling more clear-headed now?"
Lee Sungmin looked at me with tearful eyes, then bowed his head toward me.
"Thank you, thank you!"
[Citizen Lee Sungmin's trust has greatly increased.]
[Citizen Lee Sungmin's loyalty has greatly increased.]
At the same time—
[Citizen Lee Sungmin's loyalty has reached 100.]
[Citizen Lee Sungmin has been registered as a vassal.]
[The vassal limit has increased.]
With Lee Sungmin's loyalty hitting 100, I had gained another vassal.
Judging by his reaction, he really is the hospital director.
Looking out into the hospital room from the Absolute Eye, I could see Lee Sungmin's unconscious body still breathing in the outside world.
Even if I save them from here, does that mean they can't return to their original world?
That meant that even if I rescued my family this way, they wouldn't be able to return to their original world.
So what would happen if I used Dongdaemun in this state and went back to the original world?
Would his consciousness return to his body right away, or would things go sideways? There was no way to know.
I asked Lee Sungmin, who was still tearfully thanking me:
"What happened out there?"
"Well... there was a flash of light, and then the next thing I knew, I was trapped inside that thing."
"I see. Understood."
I bought him some appropriate clothes and laid them beside him, then continued my explanation.
"As you can see, those trees are a kind of man-eating tree. They drain people's life force through those lumps growing on the trunks."
The vassals' expressions darkened rapidly at my words.
"Then... all the trees here...?"
"Ha..."
I spoke to the shocked group.
"Your top priority should be rescuing the people inside those lumps. I'll leave command to Mr. Yoo Hangil."
Yoo Hangil, who had been silently listening, pointed at his own face in surprise.
"Huh? M-Me? Me?"
"Yes. Over half of those lumps are empty husks. To work efficiently, we'll need your abilities, Mr. Yoo."
In this situation, Yoo Hangil's clairvoyance would be more efficient than the Absolute Eye.
The Absolute Eye had a limited range, after all.
"I-I'll do my best!"
"I'm counting on you."
Up until now, I hadn't encountered any other beings in this forest.
Even if monsters did appear, the vassals were strong enough to handle them easily.
After assigning Yoo Hangil to the operation, I called Kim Geon over separately.
"Could you carry me and fly through the sky?"
"...Of course."
I rode on Kim Geon's back and flew toward the center of the forest, where the giant tree was.
Flying through the air got us there in no time.
There it is.
Through the Absolute Eye, I could see it clearly-a swirling mass of transparent energy was forming at the center of the tree.
"Please drop me off over there."
Near the swirl of transparent energy, there was a large hole, almost like it was openly inviting us in.
After landing, I turned to Kim Geon.
"Thank you for the ride. Please join the exploration mission now."
"I'll come with you. Won't you need me when it's time to return?"
I paused, considering.
Will that be okay?
I hadn't brought all the vassals here because this place was that dangerous.
It could even contain a threat on a completely different level than the True Ancestor.
The True Ancestor had manipulated red energy, but the true owner of that power was someone else.
Just like Ha Donggeon could use black energy without being its source.
But the being inside here... is real.
This massive forest was filled with transparent energy.
Which meant there had to be a being with divinity-one who owned that energy-inside.
"It's dangerous."
I turned to Kim Geon.
"Then please wait here."
'...Understood."
Leaving him by the entrance, I stepped into the cave.
Night had already started to fall, so it quickly became pitch-black.
But that wasn't a major issue for me, since I could perfectly grasp the surroundings using the Absolute Eye.
The cave that had opened up in the huge tree was longer than expected.
The deeper I go, the stronger the energy becomes.
Crackle-
The violently flowing transparent energy clashed against the boundary of my domain, sending out fine sparks.
From its current appearance alone, it was hard to imagine it had once been like a parasitic insect leeching off the World Tree's vitality.
Crackle!
Before long, my domain began to shrink.
It was being worn down due to the power struggle with the raging transparent energy at the center.
'This won't do.'
At this rate, I'd exhaust my strength before even facing the owner of that transparent energy.
That was unacceptable.
I paused for a moment and focused all my attention on my domain.
Wooooong-
Then, the domain that had spread wide in all directions began to contract bit by bit.
This time, I wasn't losing ground due to exhaustion.
I was consciously compressing my energy to reduce the size of my domain.
And with the compression, the energy density increased, preventing it from being worn away by the surrounding transparent force.
"Perfect."
Though the range of the Eye of the Absolute was reduced as my domain shrank, it wasn't a problem in terms of navigating the terrain.
Just as I succeeded in consolidating my strength-
Tap-
Someone was approaching from deeper within the cave.
Tap, tap
In response to the approaching presence, marked by the sound of high heels-
Wooooong!
-I activated my defensive aura.
A skill I had inherited from my father.
The blue energy enveloping my whole body pushed back the surrounding darkness, revealing the figure that had approached from within the cave.
There stood a woman, alluring in appearance.
She wore high heels and tight-fitting leather clothes, with a pair of wings folded behind her back.
Her dreamy gaze, as if she were looking off into the distance, slowly shifted as she opened her mouth.
"Hey..."
Her languid voice trickled into my ears.
"What are you?"
I replied.
"I should be the one asking that. Who are you to harm my family?"
"Family...?"
"In the process of stealing the World Tree's life force, you took the minds of my loved ones hostage. That's why I came all the way here."
"Came here...?"
For a moment, a spark flickered in the woman's previously dull eyes.
"You... weren't invited, were you?"
"That's right."
At that moment, the transparent energy around her began to churn violently.
I spoke as calmly as I could.
"Please release my family and my people. If you do that, I'll leave peacefully."
By now, she must have sensed the energy surrounding me.
'There's no need to fight.'
If she realized that a battle would lead to mutual bloodshed, I believed she might choose a peaceful resolution as well.
As long as I could rescue my people, that was enough.
However―
"Why should I...?"
Apparently, the woman had no intention of backing down.
Her crescent-moon-shaped eyes curved into a smile.
Her previously emotionless, bored expression now tinged with a hint of excitement and a flush of red.
"Why should I let go of someone who walked into my domain on his own?"
Her tongue slid across her upper lip.
And at the same time-
"Kyaaaaah!"
"Kaaaargh!"
Shadows from the surroundings rose up and lunged at me.
[T/L: Read extra chapters on my ko-fi page "Pokemon1920" : https://ko-fi.com/pokemon1920 ]