"I'm back?"
The first thing I noticed was my clothes.
They were still torn.
The fabric around my chest was split apart, one sleeve was practically destroyed, and there were several deep cuts running across the remains of what had once been my outfit. Yet beneath all of that, there was nothing. No pain. No blood. No missing eye. No missing arm. I touched my face first, almost afraid of what my fingers would find, and then slowly moved my hand down toward my chest. Everything was there. My body was completely intact, as if the battle I had just experienced had never happened. For a few seconds, I simply stood there, staring at myself. My mind refused to accept what my eyes were telling it. I had died. I remembered it clearly. The knight's sword had torn through me. My eye had been destroyed. My arm had been severed. My chest had been opened. I had felt my heart stop. And yet here I was, standing beneath the trees of the fairy realm as if death itself had decided to give me another chance. I looked around. Everything appeared normal. The trees were still there. The air was still fresh. Birds were singing somewhere above me. There was no dungeon. No giant gate. No black-and-white world. No knight. Nothing. It was almost peaceful. Too peaceful.
Then I heard a scream.
My entire body froze.
That voice.
I knew it.
It was the voice of the man who had tried to assassinate me.
"?!!"
I immediately turned toward the direction of the sound and started moving. I didn't waste time wondering whether I should investigate. If that assassin was still alive, I needed answers. I pushed through the trees until I reached the edge of a large branch-like platform. Something dark was hanging from the side of it. A cloak. The assassin's cloak. It was floating strangely in the air, caught between several broken branches, and there was blood scattered across the wood below it. I slowly approached and looked down. The massive tree branch had been broken apart, as if something had fallen through it with tremendous force.
"So… he fell from here?"
I crouched down and examined the broken wood. The damage was fresh. The blood was real. Yet there was no body.
I frowned.
"Hmm…"
Then the pieces started connecting in my mind.
When I entered that strange dimension, the assassin had still been in the middle of his attack. If the entire dungeon existed outside the normal flow of time, then…
"Time stopped here?"
The thought sent a strange chill through me.
That would explain why everything looked almost exactly the same.
But it also created more questions than it answered.
Where was the dungeon?
Who created it?
Why did it exist?
Why did it choose me?
What was that stone?
What exactly had happened to my body?
And most importantly…
What the hell was that black-and-white world?
I stared into the distance for several seconds.
There was no one around who could answer me.
"Fuck it."
I stood up.
"I'll think about it later. Right now, I need to find Gray and Alysa."
I reached down and picked up the assassin's cloak. As I lifted it, something fell from inside.
Clink.
A small object landed on the wooden surface.
I looked down.
A coin.
It was unlike any currency I had seen before. One side carried the face of something that looked like a goat with long horns. On the other side were two crossed swords.
I picked it up and turned it between my fingers.
"A weird-looking coin…"
I stared at it for a moment.
"Is this some kind of currency here? Or was that guy just into weird hobbies?"
I shrugged.
I had more important things to worry about.
I slipped the coin into my pocket and pulled the cloak around myself. My ears were still a problem. If the fairies discovered that I was a creator wandering around alone after disappearing, I had no idea what kind of questions they would ask.
And right now, I didn't trust anyone.
Not until I found Gray.
Not until I found Alysa.
And definitely not until I found Bell.
I moved through the trees carefully.
Eventually, I reached an area where several fairies had gathered. They were standing around some sort of transportation system, each wearing different cloaks and carrying various belongings. I stayed at the edge of the group and listened.
"We're heading toward the Magic Tower, right?"
"Yes. But we'll have to pass through Lural first."
My eyes sharpened.
Lural.
That was where I needed to go.
Perfect.
I quietly joined the line.
One of the fairies looked at me.
"Where are you going?"
I paused.
"Hmm?"
"Your destination."
"I need to reach the Magic Tower. But I have some business in Lural first."
I tried to make my voice sound as ordinary as possible.
The fairy narrowed his eyes.
For a second, I thought I had been discovered.
I remained silent.
Then he simply nodded.
"Okay."
That was it.
I almost sighed in relief.
I stood there for nearly an hour before our transportation finally arrived.
At first, I thought another giant leaf was coming.
I was wrong.
A huge wooden structure emerged from between the trees. It was made from the branches of some enormous tree, shaped almost like a carriage or a bus. It was large enough to carry fifteen, maybe eighteen people.
I stared at it.
"…A wooden bus?"
Apparently, even fairies had public transportation.
I stepped inside.
Unfortunately, several more fairies entered behind me, pushing everyone forward until I was forced toward the very back.
My face was pressed against the wooden wall.
"This is worse than human transportation."
The wooden vehicle suddenly began to float.
Magical energy spread beneath it, lifting the entire thing from the ground.
I secretly watched the mechanism.
How did they control the movement?
Was it wind magic?
A magical core?
Some kind of transportation artifact?
I wanted to know.
But asking questions would probably make me stand out.
So I stayed quiet.
For the next three or four hours, I remained trapped in that corner while the wooden vehicle traveled through the massive forest.
Eventually, it stopped.
The moment the door opened, I rushed outside.
Fresh air.
Finally.
I took a deep breath.
Then I looked up.
A giant fairy was standing in front of the exit.
He was enormous compared to the others.
His ears immediately gave away his race, but his body was even larger than Master Ben's.
His fierce eyes moved over the passengers.
"Where is the sacrifice?"
I froze.
"…What?"
He stared at me.
Then his eyes moved toward my pocket.
I followed his gaze.
"Oh."
The coin.
Of course.
I had completely forgotten about it.
"Is he asking for money?"
I reached into my pocket and pulled out the strange coin.
"Here."
I held it toward him.
"Look."
The giant fairy stared at the coin.
Then at me.
Then back at the coin.
For some reason, he stepped aside.
I blinked.
"…That's it?"
He didn't answer.
I slowly walked past him.
"Okay…"
Something about that interaction felt extremely strange.
But at least I was out.
Or so I thought.
The moment I stepped through the passage, I found myself inside a cave.
I stopped.
"…Huh?"
The other fairies continued walking.
They all wore similar dark cloaks now.
I looked around.
"This isn't Lural."
I quickly pulled my cloak tighter and followed them.
If I stood out now, I was finished.
As we walked deeper into the cave, something changed.
The fairies who had been casually talking during the journey became quieter.
Then angrier.
Some started cursing.
Others talked about people who had insulted them.
Their expressions became darker with every step.
Something was wrong.
Very wrong.
Eventually, we entered a massive underground chamber.
There were dozens of fairies already gathered there.
Some wore masks.
Others carried weapons.
Some looked like ordinary civilians.
Others looked like soldiers.
I stood among them, completely confused.
"What is this?"
Was this some kind of gathering?
A secret meeting?
A political group?
Then a platform in the center of the chamber lit up.
A man walked onto it.
His clothes were expensive.
His expression was confident.
He raised his arms.
"Say it with me!"
The crowd became silent.
Then he shouted.
"Death Givers will prevail!"
The entire chamber erupted.
"Death Givers will prevail!"
My eyes widened.
Oh.
Oh, no.
I slowly looked toward the exit.
"I'm in another pile of shit."
I began walking away.
I didn't care about their speech.
I didn't care about their beliefs.
I only needed to leave.
Then the man on the stage continued.
"We were given one mission."
My footsteps stopped.
"To eliminate the Creator known as Zaraf."
My blood ran cold.
The chamber suddenly felt much smaller.
"But we failed."
The man clenched his fist.
"And because of that failure, our faction has fallen behind the others. We have brought shame upon ourselves."
I slowly turned around.
My eyes locked onto him.
Then he smiled.
"But another order has been given."
The crowd became silent.
"This one is even more important."
My hands tightened beneath the cloak.
"We will enter the EXIL TREE tournament."
My heart sank.
"And we will eliminate the participating Creators."
A pause.
"Not openly."
He smiled.
"We will make their deaths look like accidents."
For a moment, I couldn't hear anything else.
Gray.
Alysa.
They were participating.
My friends were walking directly into a battlefield where these people had already decided to kill them.
My blood began boiling.
I wanted to draw my sword.
I wanted to walk onto that stage.
I wanted to cut that bastard down.
But I didn't.
I looked around.
There were too many.
Fifty?
Sixty?
Maybe more.
I couldn't defeat all of them at once.
Not here.
Not alone.
So I forced myself to remain silent.
Then another fairy spoke.
"What about Princess Nashira?"
The man sighed.
"Yes. She has interfered with us several times."
His expression darkened.
"We'll deal with her as well."
More words followed.
Words I didn't understand.
Names.
Factions.
Political matters.
Plans.
The deeper I listened, the more I realized how large this organization actually was.
This wasn't some random group of extremists.
They had structure.
Ranks.
Orders.
Enemies.
Allies.
And most importantly…
A goal.
I lowered my head.
"So this is the Death Givers…"
The organization responsible for the assassin.
The organization planning to infiltrate the EXIL TREE tournament.
The organization targeting Creators.
And now…
They were targeting my friends.
One question remained.
"Are they also connected to that dungeon?"
I couldn't tell.
The dungeon felt completely different from these people.
But something told me I would eventually find the answer.
The meeting finally ended.
The man raised his fist one last time.
"Death Givers will prevail!"
The crowd responded.
"Death Givers will prevail!"
I waited until everyone began leaving.
Then I slipped outside.
Several wooden vehicles were waiting.
Different destinations were being shouted.
"Magic Tower!"
"Western district!"
"Lural!"
My eyes immediately moved toward the last one.
There was no point hesitating.
I climbed aboard.
This time, I found a seat beside a window.
Much better.
The vehicle began moving.
The darkness of the cave slowly disappeared.
Then sunlight entered through the window.
I looked outside.
The sight immediately caught my attention.
Massive trees stretched into the distance.
But among them stood something even larger.
A structure.
Armed.
Fortified.
Massive enough to dominate the entire landscape.
Someone sitting beside me stared at it with admiration.
"Wow…"
He pointed.
"That's the palace."
My eyes followed his finger.
So that's the fairy king's palace.
I stared at it silently.
Maybe this journey wasn't completely terrible after all.
I had found Lural.
I had discovered the Death Givers.
And now I knew where I needed to go.
Hopefully Gray and Alysa weren't too worried about me.
Hopefully Bell was there.
And hopefully…
She would still remember me.
Somewhere else…
Inside the palace, a young fairy slept peacefully over an open book.
The room was quiet.
Books were scattered across the desk.
Sunlight slipped through the enormous windows.
Then—
Bang!
The door opened.
A maid rushed inside.
"Princess!"
The girl barely moved.
"Mmm…"
The maid hurried toward her.
"Princess Bell!"
Bell slowly raised her head.
Her hair was slightly messy from sleeping.
"What is it, Rika?"
The maid was breathing heavily.
"I received news!"
Bell rubbed her eyes.
"What news?"
"Three Creators are coming to participate in the EXIL TREE tournament."
Bell's sleepy expression disappeared.
Three Creators.
Her mind immediately began running through the possibilities.
Is he one of them?
She quickly rejected the thought.
No.
He hadn't returned from his home.
At least, that's what she believed.
Maybe it was one of the new Creators.
Maybe Gray.
Maybe that strange Creator who had been allowed into the tournament.
But there was still a tiny part of her that refused to let go of the possibility.
Maybe…
Maybe he came back.
Bell looked toward Rika.
"Who are they?"
Rika shook her head.
"We don't know yet."
Bell's eyes lowered.
For a brief moment, disappointment crossed her face.
Then she smiled faintly.
"Maybe…"
She didn't finish the sentence.
Rika already understood.
"No."
Bell blinked.
"What?"
"You are not going anywhere."
Bell frowned.
"I didn't say anything."
"You were about to."
"I wasn't."
"You absolutely were."
Bell crossed her arms.
"I can go out whenever I want."
Rika stared at her.
"Princess…"
She took a deep breath.
"You have been grounded."
Bell looked away.
"I know."
"And you have already escaped eleven times."
Bell smiled awkwardly.
"That sounds like an exaggeration."
"It is not."
Rika's expression became exhausted.
"I couldn't bear seeing you locked inside and sad, so I didn't report everything. But this time is different. The tournament will bring Creators, political factions, warriors, nobles, and people who would love nothing more than to use you against the king."
Bell's expression became serious.
"So?"
"So you stay here."
Bell sighed.
"Fine."
Rika released a breath of relief.
Bell looked toward the window.
"The banquet is still happening, right?"
"Yes."
"Then I'll meet them there."
Rika nodded.
"Exactly."
Bell smiled.
Then, after a few seconds, she casually asked—
"But…"
Rika's eyes narrowed.
"Princess."
"Could I perhaps meet them before the banquet?"
Rika's face went completely blank.
"Not again…"
Bell smiled innocently.
"I didn't say I was going anywhere."
"You're planning something."
"Maybe."
"Princess Bell!"
Bell laughed quietly.
For the first time in a long while, something inside her chest felt strangely warm.
Three Creators were coming.
And one tiny possibility refused to disappear.
Maybe…
Just maybe…
He had finally come back.