To others, it was something that happened hundreds of years ago.
But to the Ancient Tree, it was a distant past of innumerable, uncountable years.
There, the Ancient Tree
still remembered the wails of a young man.
How desperate they had been.
Vomiting blood, clawing at his own eyes.
His tears were red, like the blood of his child.
[How… how could this be…]
The child, whose radiant blonde hair was all dyed with blood,
cried on and on, as if demanding an answer.
[What did we do wrong… What in the world did we do wrong!]
Embracing the corpses of his close friends,
watching the blood flow from the bodies of his family,
on and on.
[Master…]
A scream filled with resentment.
In its final moments, a call that seemed to weep.
The Ancient Tree could offer no answer.
[What in the world are we to do…]
The world burned.
The endlessly blue sea was dyed with blood.
Even now, the lives upon this land were drawing their last breaths one by one.
It was the Blood Calamity.
The Blood Calamity caused by a single being
had grown so vast that it was erasing the world.
[Master…]
Where had the problem begun?
Because it had merely wished for the children to be happy.
Was it because it had not tried to do something, like the other masters?
The Ancient Tree did not know.
It merely…
the sight of its child wailing before its eyes
was so sorrowful
that all it could do was stretch out a branch to wipe his tears.
[Child.]
As if responding to the call, the blonde young man raised his head, but
the eyes within his gaze were utterly hollow.
The world was collapsing, and
the child before its eyes had already collapsed.
[…Please tell me. What wrong have we committed?]
[You are not guilty.]
[Then, how could the world become like this…!]
It had been called the Blood Demon.
The being that tore through the void, as if expressing its very existence,
expanded its domain in an instant.
The Ancient Tree knew.
Every life born upon this land
was like its own child,
sharing consciousness with it.
However, the Ancient Tree did not know of the Blood Demon's existence.
This meant
the Blood Demon was not a being of this world, and
the Ancient Tree vaguely knew the reason this being had appeared in this world.
Twenty or thirty years ago.
Or perhaps even longer.
The change that came upon this world, which it had thought would always remain the same, was likely around that time.
From the rift that had formed in the void,
otherworldly lifeforms that the Ancient Tree did not oversee began to appear.
The Ancient Tree thought that must be the reason.
A connection to another world was
originally something that defied the principles set by the world, and
since such a principle-defying event had occurred in the Ancient Tree's world,
to the Ancient Tree, the master of this world,
it was an act that signified sin.
If an anomaly occurred, that too was the master's fault, and
a connection to another world was the price for that sin.
Who had committed it,
what problem had arisen—none of that mattered.
Since a sin had been born upon this land,
the Ancient Tree had to accept its punishment.
However.
[…Everyone… is dead.]
What the Ancient Tree could not endure was none other than this.
[The children's limbs were severed.]
[The children's parents met their deaths with their necks cut.]
The Ancient Tree thought that everyone upon this land
was its child.
Death was but a flow.
To the Ancient Tree, which lived through endless eons, their deaths were but fleeting moments.
Dying of old age as time passed,
the children fighting each other and meeting death—
these were the principles and the flow of the world.
The Ancient Tree merely swallowed its sorrow and blessed new life.
It believed it could not intervene.
Moreover, if the rift currently forming and
the fact that it must disappear so a new master could be born to rectify the world's principles—
it thought it could accept that as well, but.
[…It is sad.]
Watching a child cry so sorrowfully,
the Ancient Tree felt nothing but indescribable emotions.
Before long,
the being called the Blood Demon would come.
Whether it called itself the Blood Demon,
or the children called it so, it did not know, but
it could feel that being approaching from afar.
Thud, thud, thud.
Outstretched branches wrapped around the young man's body.
It was not for protection.
If forced to give it a name, it was closer to comforting, but
whether the Ancient Tree's touch could reach the young man was unknown.
Even now, without rest in the Ancient Tree's embrace,
the deaths of the children born and raised in this world could be felt.
[How cruel…]
Truly cruel.
That it must erase so many lives to start anew.
That it could do nothing.
That it merely rooted itself in this land
and had to simply watch the children die.
Was this the principle?
To say that the world wished for this—
was it not too mournful and cruel?
And within that,
the fact that it could do nothing—
that was the saddest of all.
In the distance,
a crimson sky could be seen surging forth.
Beneath the blood-dyed sky,
he was approaching.
To erase the Ancient Tree from this land.
To rectify the world's order.
Watching that flooding darkness,
the Ancient Tree thought:
Were such principles truly right?
They must be.
The order and principles set by the world were absolute, and
the position it had been granted was likewise.
Because the world existed, there was a master, and
because there was a master, life could be born.
The meaning of the Ancient Tree's existence lay in the existence of the world.
Recalling them one by one,
the Ancient Tree spoke toward somewhere.
[I acknowledge it.]
That a problem had occurred in the world where it had rooted itself.
That phenomena defying principles appeared because of it.
It acknowledged that everything was its sin and would accept it, but—
[Are the children not without sin?]
Was it speaking to someone?
Perhaps it was an admonition to which no answer would come,
like a soliloquy the Ancient Tree uttered alone.
If there was sin,
perhaps it was the old tree that, despite bearing the name of master,
harbored love for its children.
[…Child.]
The Ancient Tree whispered quietly.
Between the surrounding branches, a sign of presence was felt.
[Child.]
[…Yes…]
Already broken, as if shattered.
The face of one who had abandoned everything was clearly visible through the gaps in the branches.
Seeing that, the Ancient Tree spoke.
[I shall give you a choice.]
[A choice… you say?]
The roots embedded in the ground shook,
and the branches began to tremble.
[To be swept away and disappear like this is your choice. To listen to another story and find an opportunity is also your choice.]
At the Ancient Tree's words,
the man's eyes wavered.
The meaning contained in the word "opportunity" seemed to reach him clearly.
When it saw that, the man's choice
could be known without even having to hear it.
The Ancient Tree slowly stretched out a branch
and stroked the man's head.
It could not say that this choice was right.
It was a choice made to defy the world's principles,
a method chosen while forgetting its own position and the meaning of its existence.
Then the man chose.
To accept the opportunity.
By any means.
If given a chance to escape this calamity, he would do anything.
Even if his soul were shattered,
even if he received a great punishment,
if he could do it, he would.
The man answered thus.
Hearing this, the Ancient Tree
from a branch stretched high
slowly dropped a beautifully blooming, snow-white leaf.
[…Child, this is all I can do for you.]
When the leaves had piled high upon the ground,
something that had been writhing as if guarding the tree
crawled down the trunk and tightly coiled around the man's body.
It resembled the form of a snake.
As the leaves slowly fell,
an anomaly also occurred for the Ancient Tree.
The roots containing vitality began to gradually wither, and
the surrounding area began to distort and crumble.
The world had noticed.
It had noticed what the Ancient Tree was trying to do.
Feeling this, the Ancient Tree spoke.
[I shall bear this as well…]
To turn back someone's time
was to accumulate equivalent karma.
Even if it was merely turning back the time of a single, insignificant human,
to defy principles
was a great sin.
The Ancient Tree felt bitterness toward the punishment it would soon face.
[…Child.]
[Master… this is…]
[May there be a small blessing in the hardships and trials that await you…]
The man looked at the Ancient Tree as if asking what this meant, but
at that moment, the white leaf petals piled high upon the ground
whipped up like a gust of wind and rapidly wrapped around him.
Like a pure white whirlwind.
Rustle… crackle.
While the man was being enveloped by the whirlwind,
the Ancient Tree calmly endured the anomaly occurring to it.
A punishment different from simple death,
poured down because the master had committed an act defying principles.
Feeling that anomaly,
the Ancient Tree slowly held its breath.
At that moment.
Hwa-ahk!
!
..
..
The whirlwind soared up into the sky and flew.
Not long after, upon the land of Sacheon,
one man regressed into the body of a boy.
The boy strained to look around with flustered eyes, but
the giant Ancient Tree that should have been there no longer existed.
Moreover,
as if the world had forgotten the very existence of the Ancient Tree,
or as if it had never existed from the beginning,
the world had become one where the very being called the Ancient Tree had vanished.
I swallowed a hollow breath as soon as I heard this story.
Because it was that kind of story.
"You were the master of the world I was in?"
The World Tree before my eyes
was saying that it was the master that should have been in our world.
[Yes. I was the master of that place.]
"Past tense?"
[…Because now, I have lost the qualification.]
It had lost the qualification.
'It said it received punishment for regressing someone.'
What flashed through my mind was, naturally, the name Yeon Ilcheon.
The heroes I had met until now had spoken of him, and
even the lingering thoughts of that Yeon Ilcheon had said that he had experienced regression.
Then…
regressing that Yeon Ilcheon was what that tree had done, and
was it saying it came here as the price for causing the regression?
'It said this was a false world.'
It had said that nothing in this world was true.
The demonic beasts pouring forth everywhere were close to illusions, but
the pain they inflicted was as real as could be.
The corpses of those killed by demonic beasts did not vanish like illusions, either.
If asked why this was a false world,
the World Tree itself had said so, and
after everything ended,
when escaping from here and returning to the original world,
I had seen those who had been transferred together all survive without exception,
so I was inclined to believe that this world was false.
If not, how could that be?
But the truth was…
'Are you saying it's a sealed space?'
That this place is the space the World Tree fell into after committing a sin?
I know there are several demonic realms in the world.
Even just the demonic realms recorded by the Martial Alliance number four,
and they manage the gates through which one can come and go.
However, this place belongs to none of those four.
Such unknown demonic realms—
I knew of a few.
"…Then, does that mean because you are here without disappearing, the lives of our world can continue?"
Though I didn't know if those words were true or not,
my tone changed slightly without me realizing it.
Master or whatever, my mouth just moved on its own regardless,
but the faint emotion felt from the World Tree interfered.
Because it felt similar to that of a mother.
I suppose I should say it was hard to spit out sharp words so easily.
'How many years has it been since I couldn't feel such a thing?'
Am I feeling maternal love now of all times?
At my age, it was simply laughable.
In the midst of that,
the World Tree speaks to me.
[That is not so.]
That even though you haven't disappeared and are here,
according to the principles spoken of earlier, whether life could continue to be born—was the question, but
the World Tree denied this.
[I who have lost qualification have also lost my worth as master.]
"I cannot understand… Then."
How is the world being maintained?
Is the Demonic Realm Gate really the problem?
The Blood Demon… what the World Tree had mentioned.
Was it an agent sent to erase living creatures?
'Then, what about the orb at the front lines?'
The domain of the Guga family on one side of the front lines.
The orb there
made the beast inside me call it a seed.
Tree and seed.
That subtly connected feeling was truly unpleasant.
'Hey.'
Thinking of that, I called out to him, but
since the time when something had briefly happened to Sin Noya, he had shown no reaction.
The same went for Sin Noya.
I raised my hand and brushed back my hair from my forehead.
My head hurt.
I had wanted to know the truth, but
I had not thought that such hidden stories would be so heavily accumulated.
Originally, when wanting to solve or resolve a problem,
one had to find where the problem started.
Only by finding the start
could a tangled thread be unraveled.
But…
'Then in the end, isn't the problem the mess left by the ancestors?'
If the rift was the problem,
then ultimately, the one who opened the Demonic Realm Gate is the problem.
In the distant past,
the ancestor of the Guga family opened the Demonic Realm Gate.
Because of that, in what is called the principles of the world,
a rift formed, and
to fix what had been twisted because of it, a being called the Blood Demon appeared.
The master of the world where the Blood Demon appeared
was this World Tree, and
for some reason, the World Tree regressed Yeon Ilcheon.
Here is the question.
"…Why Yeon Ilcheon of all people?"
Gwoncheolgeumwang was the greatest under heaven of that era.
He was the master of the number one family of that time, and
even hearing Sin Noya's words, I know he was strong.
Even so, it was inevitable that questions arose.
Why was it Yeon Ilcheon?
The reason such doubt arose was none other than this.
The heroes of the past I had met until now—
Yeon Ilcheon,
Hwang Abulyeong,
even Namgung Myong—
all of them had sought Sin Noya.
The doubt ultimately stemmed from the fact that they had all acted as if Sin Noya was their hope.
Though the reason was unknown, if Sin Noya was hope,
wouldn't regressing Sin Noya have been a better method?
To my question containing such meaning,
the World Tree moved a branch and pointed.
As if telling me to sit once more.
[Sado. I know what you are curious about, but I am sorry to say I do not know much.]
"I'm simply curious about the reason Yeon Ilcheon was regressed."
[Yeon Ilcheon… Yes, that was the name.]
It was confirmed by the World Tree's words.
The reason Yeon Ilcheon could regress was because of the World Tree before my eyes.
It was saying it was stuck here because of that punishment.
[Reason… Reason.]
Had there been some special reason?
[It is difficult.]
"Difficult?"
[Yes, how could it not be difficult? Because I must find the reason.]
I tilted my head at the World Tree's words.
What in the world is it saying?
That finding the reason is difficult?