Even Nebida didn't know why I had suddenly changed my attitude, or what kind of stunt I would pull. But Nebida wasn't one to waste her breath worrying about things beyond her control. Thanks to Nebida's power, I reached the top of the Tree of Origins in an instant.
The Tree of Origins had grown slightly since I last saw it. By my estimate, it had grown by about 20 meters. It seemed the World Tree had entered its growth phase as well.
'In two thousand years, the human species has changed as well. Nebida grew the Tree of Origins to bridge the gap between pre-epoch humanity and modern humanity. The King of Humans up there now must be almost the same kind of existence as me.'
The summit of the World Tree was shrouded in clouds. I walked up, using the human fruits as stairs. I was a bit nervous, but since I'd come this far, there was no turning back. I just kept my eyes forward and walked on.
'I can read other thoughts from within the echo. It seems Nebida infused it with spiritual energy. I can sense a half-awakened consciousness. And deep inside that... I catch a glimpse of incredibly ancient memories.'
Every time I took a step, the branches laden with fruits bent slightly. Is this what it feels like to step on people and climb? Still not a fan.
Stairs are supposed to be solid. You can't climb properly on soft, squishy stairs. You have to take each step trembling in fear that it might collapse at any moment.
'The essence is the King of Humans. But because of Nebida's obsession, two Kings of Humans now exist across time. However, the King of Beasts is a conceptual existence, and for a single concept, only one individual can exist.'
Upon reaching the giant flower bud, I looked down at the slightly parted opening and took a deep breath. The King of Humans is inside. Unlike before, from down there, I could feel a presence so overwhelming it压制了my very existence. -> I could feel a presence that overwhelmed existence itself.
Is it really right to go in? Did I just do something pointless?
'One of the two will disappear. A good stage has been set.'
But having come this far, there was no helping it. Taking a short, deep breath, I leapt into the flower bud. The fully ripened bud parted slightly as if to welcome me.
My body fell into the flower bud.
At the same time, my consciousness also fell into the distant depths of time.
***
Nebida was the King's warrior. She had survived for so long that even history had grown hazy, but she had never forgotten for a single moment that she was the King's warrior.
Because of that, the King of Humans of the current era was also worthy of her respect. Nebida bowed her head and saw off the King of Humans entering the flower bud. Strictly as a sign of 'respect'. The only King she truly served was one.
*Flap flutter.* A parrot flew in. Nebida turned her head slowly, like a withered tree.
"Hexia."
"Nebida. *Squawk.* I have something to say."
"I know what it is. It's about the druids."
"*Squawk.* That's right. Those guys, it might look like they just ran away, but they'll never just leave it at that. They'll try to sabotage us somehow."
The Great Witch's parrot was still fluttering about as it spoke.
"We need to prepare in advance. They'll never stand by and watch a human be born from this fruit. Hmph, ridiculous. Acting like they have a right to it when they contributed nothing to bearing the fruit!"
The parrot was still agitated, flying around in the air without landing anywhere. Staring intently at the erratically flying parrot, Nebida suddenly spoke.
"What about you?"
"*Squawk.* Me? What about me?"
"Hexia. You are the one who created the flesh fruits. But you are also the one who tried to burn those flesh fruits. You, too, refused to let a human be born from the flesh fruit, did you not?"
The parrot's flapping momentarily stopped in mid-air. Dropping down for a moment, the parrot collected itself and flew back up.
"I made the flesh fruits! I'm different from those guys. I had the right to do that!"
Her voice was fierce, but her spirit wasn't what it used to be. Nebida sensed this but didn't bother pointing it out. She was one of the few allies, and practically her only disciple. She didn't want to break the spirit of a disciple who had fully inherited her teachings.
"...And, if it weren't for those guys, it would have been fine! The beasts inside the flesh fruits can't live or move anyway. They're no different from corpses. What's wrong with using something no different from a corpse like a corpse?! Why do they talk about the value and dignity of beasts?! My mother's incident was just a trigger. Those guys intended to burn all the flesh fruits from the very beginning!"
The shouting voice of the parrot gradually turned into babbling.
"If only a human wasn't born from there... If those guys hadn't kept saying it was my fault and driven me into being the only bad guy... I could have just turned a blind eye and been happy."
"You are right. Hexia."
Nebida lived before the first year. The age of barbarism, where common sense and order were not established, and law and morality were ridiculous jokes. What permeated the era was the logic of power. The law of the jungle was the only absolute truth.
"Taboos, morals, laws, order. They are the standards by which a wicked harlot, who drove out the Lord with her schemes, judged the world with her own yardstick."
And Nebida was still living in the age of barbarism. From her perspective, this era too was a product of massive violence. Having witnessed firsthand how the First Saint transformed this world with transcendental power, Nebida, who stood a step removed from the world, understood that even what paraded as civilization was a product of barbarism.
"The only reason you became a problem is this: because they made it a problem. They tried to judge you with power."
They can force the law, expect morality, and demand norms and order only because they are the strong.
"Judge the world with your power. Do what I wish to do. You have the power to do so. There is no need to hesitate."
Nebida turned her head and stared beyond the forest. Her pupils changed into those of a hawk.
In an instant, the jungle moved. The trees filling her field of vision moved aside for her. Even without a breeze blowing, the trees, having realized the will of the Demon God, lowered themselves in fear of daring to block Nebida's gaze.
Through that single, unobstructed line of sight. Nebida discovered Nyenap, who was watching this way, and muttered.
"They, too, will come to judge you and me."
***
Detected, Nyenap immediately shifted her position. There was no room to hesitate. The opponent was a primordial druid. A monster whose authority reached the ends of the sky. Although Nyenap was among the considerably strong of humans, that was precisely why she knew all too well how terrifying a higher sky could be.
"Master is still a monster..."
She had once received teachings under Nebida. Having witnessed that power up close, she also knew what its weakness was. Nebida, who linked herself with the Tree of Origins, lived bearing that massive presence. An existence of that caliber wouldn't react sensitively to the movements of a mere insignificant creature. If she did, her life would become exhausting.
So she watched with the eyes of a hawk... but as if to prove that it wasn't that Nebida couldn't do it, she detected Nyenap. Nyenap immediately pushed through the trees and sprinted to shake off pursuit.
But it wasn't enough. Before she knew it, a giant snake was tailing her. A vine snake with tree bark instead of scales chased Nyenap and opened its maw wide. A Tree of Origins beast, a cursed beast born from Nebida's authority, burned its short lifespan to tear Nyenap apart.
Nyenap took out a seed and breathed a small breath into it. As she squeezed through the gap between giant boulders, she scattered the seeds in all directions. Behind her, the vine snake roared as it pursued Nyenap. The vine snake's body seeped through the gaps between the branches with astonishing flexibility.
At that moment, Nyenap released the authority contained within the seeds.
Druid Arcana, Vine Roots.
The vines grew explosively and bound the vine snake. The vine snake let out a painful scream and twisted its body this way and that. The vine snake's scales scraped against the sharp rocks. The bark-like scales shattered and scattered, and a sap-like blood flowed, but the vine snake seemed to find stopping even more agonizing than crashing into the rocks.
"Master. You are wrong. Just because you have power doesn't mean you can do whatever you want. To wield power, a just cause is necessary, and power that fails to win the empathy of the masses is nothing more than barbaric violence. That will become the original sin that binds humanity."
The vine snake was a beast created by Nebida. It couldn't live long from the start. It devotes its entire short life to fulfilling its given command.
What a sinful beast this is. Nyenap felt a brief pang of sympathy for the Tree of Origins beast. At the same time, her faith grew ever more certain.
"The weak being unilaterally violated by the strong... even if that is reality, it must not be taken for granted."
Renewing her resolve, Nyenap sprouted the seed in her grasp. Though there was no soil and insufficient sunlight, the seed took root in her faith and drank her resolve as it grew. After repeated transformations, the seed became a sapling with countless leaves and sturdy roots.
The grown leaves emitted light on their own. A dazzlingly white, holy light.
Nyenap was filled with faith, and earned the right to wield that faith as power.
A sword forged with faith, a Holy Sword. Nyenap belatedly realized that she was a Holy Sword Wielder. That unfamiliar power felt as natural as if it had been a part of her from the very beginning.
Holding the Holy Sword, Nyenap approached the vine snake. As Nyenap drew close, the vine snake thrashed about as if it had been waiting. Its eyes were filled only with shallow hostility and rage.
"Using the excuse that you created it, that it will die soon, or some other reason... You cannot make even the sympathy and sorrow for this pitiful life into hypocrisy."
The vine snake snapped its maw open. The inside was covered with twigs and leaves. As mercifully as possible, Nyenap thrust the Holy Sword beneath its jaw.
Light flowed along the vines. The vine snake's eyes widened wide. A beast born with a time limit, a beast that had thrashed about without knowing the sweetness of water or the warmth of sunlight, savored the grace of light for the first time.
The vine snake's expression gradually relaxed. Its body, which had been howling in pain, regained its stability. The Tree of Origins beast, which had been struggling in the face of death, fell asleep embraced in the light it had so desperately sought in its final moment. The vine snake now reverted to a simple vine.
Having gained the power to kill the Tree of Origins beast, Nyenap suddenly muttered.
"It seems you don't even have the time to appear here in person. Are you busy?"
If it were Nebida, it wouldn't be strange for her to appear immediately and slaughter Nyenap. She was not someone who would care even if Nyenap was once her disciple. The reason such a Nebida hadn't appeared yet must be because she had circumstances that prevented her from doing so.
"...The King of Humans. Does Master truly feel unsatisfied unless she creates even her own King with her own hands?"
The Tree of Origins was consuming its spiritual energy at a rapid pace. For the spiritual energy of a World Tree that had monopolized a land for hundreds of years to be consumed this quickly. What kind of existence must it be?
It was terrifying, but Nyenap found a ray of hope within it. With the Tree of Origins consuming its spiritual energy and tying Nebida's feet down, now was... the only chance to sever that sin.
***
"Right and wrong, barbarism and civilization. Order and duty. What is allowed and what isn't."
I walked slowly in the darkness. The inside of the flower bud shouldn't be this wide, but no matter how much I walked, no wall appeared. It was only after walking to the point of utter bewilderment that I realized.
Ah, I'm inside a mindscape.
"What's the point of all that? It's not food. You can't see it. You can't even teach it to me? Then how am I supposed to know?"
If so, the owner of this voice is.
I turned around. There, a girl with disheveled gray hair was wiggling her toes as if throwing a tantrum.
"El says she can't understand because I'm too special. The King says she can't understand that. Because I'm not normal, I will never realize it, and I will live on forever ignoring it. But what can I do? I can't say something that doesn't exist doesn't exist."
Endlessly free and endlessly nonchalant. Filled with bestial optimism. As if completely unaware of how tragic her fate was, the previous King of Humans, who had been betrayed and died torn apart, spoke to me with pure, innocent eyes.
"How is it? Am I normal? You know, right?"
Acting like you know me when we've never even met. I don't know what you are.
"But you know now, right? You're normal. Instead of humanity, you represent the single person right in front of you. You might not be able to encompass everyone, but you can read even the deepest parts of that one person."
What? How did you know?
My mind-reading is close to a side effect. The representativeness that the King of Humans should possess lost its power and twisted in a bizarre direction. And she knows that?
"Nuna knows. That was the promise, after all."
And on top of that, the absurd remarks didn't end. What 'nuna'? That's the most ridiculous thing I've heard lately. Since when do I have an older sister?
Then, the girl puffed out her chest and shouted proudly.
"I was born first. I'm the older sister."
...I can't argue with that.