The World Tree's Nightmare
Ferda recalled the way Erika had looked at them with hatred.
Why had she shown such hostility toward the elves? Why had she subtly engaged in a battle of wills with the Great Chieftain during their conversation?
They had once been close.
Close enough to have been engaged.
"It seems that High Elf coveted Iorga's magic. Looking at someone like you, I can't say I'm surprised."
"You fool! It was the other way around!"
Cypress shouted venomously.
"Do you know what atrocities that water of knowledge and reason committed? She lured her own fiancé into a trap and killed him! Even though he… gave her everything! Iorga treated him as though he were no more than a mere mortal!"
Cypress was an enemy.
Nothing was more foolish than blindly believing the words of an enemy.
Yet because the man hated Ferda so deeply, the truth in his voice was all the clearer.
He was speaking nothing but the truth.
Ferda remained silent, and Cypress gave him a twisted smile.
"Do you think your woman will be any different? In the end, she will discard you like an old shoe. On a whim, she will begin to doubt you and wander about searching for an excuse to cut off your head!"
The moment Ferda heard those words, something engulfed him.
It slipped through a crack in his heart like a demon drawing near.
The only difference was that this demon had already made its home inside Ferda.
—He is mocking your fiancée. Are you going to let him?
Ferda answered by raising his hand.
The elder could no longer chant magic. All that remained to him was his frail body.
If Ferda drove a Mana Bolt between his brows, Cypress would become nothing more than a lump of meat.
That was all he had to do.
"Mr. Ferda!"
Ferda's breath stopped.
That was a voice he should not have been hearing.
And it belonged to someone who must never see him like this.
Coming back to his senses, he turned toward the source of the voice.
He faintly saw crimson hair.
Two pairs of horns and golden eyes.
Valdrova.
But after a single blink, the image faded like a mirage.
Standing where Valdrova had been was the High Elf Lize.
"Princeps Regent Ferda…"
She warned him anxiously.
"If you kill the elder, there truly will be no turning back."
They had already crossed a line when Ferda blew off one of his arms, so what difference would killing him make?
Even so, there was an undeniable difference between injury and death.
'If I kill him, will I really be able to leave feeling satisfied?'
His body answered the question he asked himself.
The Shadow Circle continued to revolve.
One thing was certain.
Had he gone through with it, he would have regretted it.
Ferda lowered his hand.
"Pull yourself together, Elder. One wrong move on your part could get everyone killed."
"You damned short-lived wretch…!"
Ferda walked past him.
Lize timidly followed.
"If you pass behind me… abandon any thought of ever returning here."
Lize faltered.
No one here had ever truly cared for her, yet this was still the home where she had lived her entire life.
Leaving it could not possibly be easy.
Lize squeezed her eyes shut.
Then she threw herself past the elder's shoulder.
A moment later, a surge of magical power was followed by the roar of a violent waterfall.
Soon afterward, the figure of a woman Cypress knew appeared before him.
"Oh my?"
Erika covered her mouth with one hand.
In contrast to the gesture, her eyes curved into delighted crescents.
"It seems the elder was defeated by a foolish short-lived race."
Without giving him time to make a single excuse, Erika left those words behind and leisurely disappeared.
Cypress struggled to suppress the rage that threatened to consume him.
The elven soldiers entered after her.
"Elder!"
They abandoned the pursuit and examined Cypress's condition.
Upon discovering the frenzy spell affecting his mind, they hurriedly drew a Rune of Dispel.
As it was only a low-tier spell, it was easily removed.
"We need to restore your body. Please remain calm—"
"Move!"
Cypress armed himself with numerous protective runes and shouted, his face flushed bright red.
"Do not allow the intruders to leave this place under any circumstances! If they attempt to escape, you have permission to kill them!"
The elder ran after them alongside the elven soldiers.
Yet the troops who had gone ahead in pursuit were still lingering instead of advancing.
"What are you doing?! Why are you standing around like fools?!"
Cypress shouted, unable to contain himself.
"W-Well…"
The elite pursuit unit answered in dazed voices, like fresh recruits on their first day.
The moment Cypress saw what they were staring at, he understood why.
Three spirit bodies stood in their path.
—No one passes beyond here!
—You'll have to get past us first!
—Yeah, yeah!
They were tiny, and their voices still carried the softness of children.
Their childish behavior should have seemed laughable.
But to the elves, it was anything but.
The three were far too small to fill the long corridor, yet not one soldier dared take a step forward.
Even a High Elf elder could not treat them carelessly.
"You would do well to move aside, spirits."
—We're not moving!
—Don't bully Lize.
—What did Lize ever do to you?
"She is attempting to help an enemy of the World Tree escape."
—Are you saying Lize is a bad elf?
"That is correct."
The three spirit bodies looked at one another.
Then they burst into laughter, clutching their stomachs.
—No way.
—Nope!
—Lize is nice.
—She greets us every day.
—You're the bad elves.
"You claim that we are evil?"
—That's right, that's right!
—You left Lize out.
—She always endured it even when she hated it.
—But no one ever became her friend.
—Every single day, she had no friends!
—So!
The three spirit bodies intertwined.
At that moment, something astonishing happened.
A gale erupted, and pieces of the World Tree's outer bark began gathering at the center of the storm.
Their combined body swelled larger and larger until it became the shape of a colossal giant.
Its body glowed green, and two menacing eyes shone from its face.
The elite elven soldiers did not merely stop.
They stepped backward.
Even warriors trained to suppress their survival instincts and march toward death could not resist the overwhelming pressure.
There was a reason for that.
The figure before them was the nightmare of the elves.
The spirits' adorable voices vanished.
In their place, a damp voice like that of a monster dwelling in the abyss spoke.
—Lize is going to make new friends.
Lize and Ferda climbed aboard, and the sky carriage began to move.
It rose smoothly into the sky, but Erika continued looking down at the World Tree without lowering her guard.
"They're letting us go rather easily, considering how fiercely they resisted."
"They have no choice."
Erika turned toward Lize.
"How can you be so certain?"
"Because the spirits are stopping them."
"The spirits?"
"Yes. They're like friends of mine who live inside the World Tree."
Very few living creatures were capable of entering the World Tree.
Even spirits that could cross between dimensions were no exception.
Elves naturally possessed a strong affinity with spirits, so many of them lingered around the World Tree, but its interior was a different matter.
"Don't tell me…?"
—Lize! Lize!
Three spirit bodies passed straight through the walls of the sky carriage.
"You three…!"
Lize stared at them in surprise.
"Why are you here?"
—Because Lize left!
—That's right, that's right!
—And you forgot something!
"I forgot something?"
One of the tiny spirits opened a small dimensional gate and pulled something out.
It was a beautifully arranged bouquet of flowers.
"Ah!"
Lize had once asked the spirits to make her a bouquet.
They had come all this way to keep that promise.
Lize smiled softly.
"You can go back now."
—We're not going back.
"Huh? Why not?"
The spirits nestled into Lize's arms.
—It'll be boring without Lize!
—And we're friends!
—Lize's friends!
—Friends of friendless Lize!
Their innocent cries made her face turn red again.
The purity radiating from their tiny bodies would have made most people smile.
Erika's reaction, however, was entirely different.
"Um… Scribe Lize?"
"Those spirits surrounding you… Aren't they the ones known as the World Tree's Nightmare?"
The World Tree's Nightmare.
They were spirits that dwelled within the World Tree and carried its mana within themselves.
The elves had attempted to subjugate them numerous times, but had never succeeded in removing them.
They had grown by feeding on the World Tree, becoming so immense and powerful that they could no longer be separated from it.
"They do have that nickname. They can be a little mischievous, but they aren't bad children."
"…Mischievous?"
They tormented the elves endlessly at night, and if anyone harmed them, they returned the pain dozens of times over.
Yet Lize described those little monsters as merely mischievous.
Even the High Elves, who rigidly rejected all outside influences in the name of preserving purity, had been forced to declare that coexistence with them was unavoidable.
They were among the very few troublesome beings the High Elves could do nothing about.
—We never bullied them first.
—The elves were the ones who always told us to leave and hurt us!
—Their home is suuuuper huge, but they said all of it belonged to them!
—And they never spoke kindly to us like Lize does.
—Maybe that's why Lize didn't have any friends!
"Ugh, that has nothing to do with this, so please…"
Lize's face turned bright red, and the spirits burst into laughter.
Compared to their fearsome reputation, they were doing nothing but behaving adorably.
Lize lightly patted her cheeks, then handed the bouquet to Ferda.
"A-Anyway, this is the bouquet I wanted to give you, Lord Ferda!"
Plants normally began to die once they were cut, yet the fresh flowers still appeared to be alive and breathing.
They carried a faint floral fragrance and the mana of the spirits. Simply holding them filled Ferda with a refreshing sensation.
Lize then began rummaging through her bag.
"And these are from Father… Just a moment. I'm not supposed to give you all of them…"
She had sorted the pages using folded corners and handed four sheets of paper to Ferda.
"He told me to show these to you first, Princeps Regent Ferda."
"To me?"
"Yes. He said he wanted you to hear the things he had been unable to tell you."
Erika glanced toward the pile of papers.
"Lord Ferda can read those. I should receive the ones meant for me."
"W-Well…"
"What is it? Did he tell you to let me see them only after he reads those?"
"…Yes."
Erika glared at Lize.
After watching her sweep away the elves with water only moments ago, the pressure radiating from the dragon spawn felt entirely different from before.
—Don't glare at Lize!
—Bad dragon!
The spirits stood protectively in front of Lize.
Erika could not treat them carelessly when Lize had such formidable allies.
In the end, she threw herself back against her seat while Ferda slowly began reading the letter.
—To Princeps Regent Ferda.
First, allow me to apologize in advance for what is about to happen.
The elves will undoubtedly pursue you, and incidents will occur that damage our relationship.
None of this is your fault, Princeps Regent Ferda. It has happened solely because of me.
However, I ask that you understand why I cannot explain the truth.
It was something that had to be done for the continent of Cerdes and for us elves.
—We High Elves possess a long-cherished aspiration.
We call it the "Seed of the Mother."
The phrase may be different in human language, but I believe you already understand what it means.
The Seed of the Mother.
Ferda had heard the term for the first time today, yet he could infer what it referred to.
Magic differed only in form and name.
The higher its tier became, the closer it drew to the origin of all things.
The Seed of the Mother was that origin itself.
The ninth-tier magic known as Wish.
'The Great Chieftain knows that I reached Wish.'
Was that why he had been so shocked?
Ferda turned to the next page.
—For centuries, we elves cultivated joy in pursuit of that seed.
Joy enriches the land and allows us to advance toward becoming greater beings.
However, over the past several centuries, our progress toward the Seed of the Mother has slowed.
That was only natural.
We were attempting to reach the domain of a god higher than the Mother herself.
Yet we refused to accept that our stagnation was inevitable.
That was why I coveted the path you had walked and the knowledge you possessed, Princeps Regent Ferda.
What they had been unable to relinquish was ultimately greed.
Greed was an original sin that even long-lived elves could not cast aside.
—Although it began with my own foolishness, I do not regret it, for I was able to witness the end.
Princeps Regent Ferda, you already know where that end leads.
The end of Ferda's life, which had been driven solely by rage and hatred, had led to emptiness.
—Although the force driving us was different, its nature was the same. By an unfortunate coincidence, I discovered that the path we were walking was identical to yours.
We forgot why patience was necessary and why death had to be mourned.
We focused only on joy.
Our impatience clouded even the truths we had once understood clearly, while the pleasure brought by our misguided methods slowly consumed us.
Only then did I realize it.
The interior of the World Tree had already been seized by someone's scheme.
"The World Tree has been… seized by someone?"
"Seized? What does that mean?"
"I don't know. The letter only says that someone has already taken control of it."
"But no one should be capable of looking into the Heart of the Mother without the Great Chieftain's authority…"
Erika and Lize reacted in the same way.
Ferda continued reading.
—Someone is attempting to claim everything belonging to the land and the Mother without permission.
Although I have realized the truth, this old body is already in poor condition. I cannot deceive them for long.
Had I informed the two of you beforehand, escaping this place would have become far more difficult.
Your safety took priority.
If forced to flee without knowing the reason, the Tower Master would undoubtedly protest fiercely. I ask that you apologize to her on my behalf.
"As though I would…"
"He asks me to tell you that he is sorry he could not inform you in advance."
"That old man… Had he told me earlier, I might have been able to help him more…"
Erika sounded deeply hurt.
Was this what people called a love-hate relationship?
Ferda turned to the next page.
—I have rambled for too long.
From this point onward, I shall offer advice that may serve as a signpost on the path you must take, Princeps Regent Ferda.
At last, the letter mentioned the cause of the entire incident.
What followed was this:
—To state the conclusion first, the answer you seek lies in the east.
In the place now known as the Demonic Land.
There, you will find the answer that the Demon King could never obtain.
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