At that moment, taking advantage of the chaos, someone had sneaked into the Tree of Origin.
"Stupid Anubis bastards. Look at them trudging right through the entrance."
In the past, there existed beings called priests in the Myriad Nations.
They weren't particularly grand existences. There were many barbarian tribes in the jungle, and each developed their own primitive faith.
Nature. Spirits. The World Tree, totems. Powerful beasts or the Beast King. Anything with power was an object of faith. Faith led to inquiry, and inquiry became power, allowing the priests to be reborn as existences with unique power even within this jungle.
The Agartha Dynasty of the Myriad Nations tried for a long time to spread the teachings of the Sky God, but it all ended in mere attempts. It wasn't that the people couldn't accept it, but rather they accepted the Sky God's teachings as just one of many faiths. The low propagation of the densely wooded jungle blocked even the Sky God, who ruled the continent.
Thus, the priests' power remained, having established its own independent domain, but an independent domain was always a thorn in the side of a king. They clashed with Muhu at every turn.
There might have been a hatred for humans among the reasons Muhu Agartha decided to become the Beast King.
"We must serve a Human King. If it's a Human King, he will drive out the hybrid beasts birthed by Muhu and make us pure again."
It was fair. The priests probably didn't like Muhu much either.
"The area beneath the World Tree is full of holes. That massive trunk looks tightly packed, but the inside is riddled with countless holes. Some were dug by someone, and some were created out of necessity."
The Tree of Origin even inherited the size of the World Tree. The tree trunk required to withstand that immense volume and mass could not be described simply as 'thick'. It would be better to call it a mountain where steep hills and cliffs arrive early.
Because it grew abundantly both above and below, the land where the World Tree was planted was not very livable. Hundreds of millions of winding roots intertwined like threads, each with its own height and thickness, and beneath them were many crater-like cavities, making it difficult to even recover a corpse once someone fell in.
There was a reason people built their houses on the branches and lived there. In the era of the previous World Tree, the Blessed Ginkgo Tree, residents couldn't even live there. Only a few druids tending the tree lived there.
"If you go beneath it, there are countless water vessels. They are pathways for massive rapids that pull the river water up to the leaves. They might be managing the largest water vessels, but they can't manage all of them."
The priests looked at each other and nodded. The Puppet Priest took out a voodoo doll and moved its arms and legs.
Accordingly, the 'dolls' moved. The corpse dolls controlled by black magic threw themselves into the water devoid of reason. The corpse dolls were swept up along the flow of water created by the World Tree.
"Did you find it?"
"I'm looking for it. Have patience and wait...."
The water vessels were straws the Tree of Origin stuck into the river, and rapids meandering into the sky. As they headed to all parts of the Tree of Origin, they repeatedly split and narrowed at will.
Dozens of corpse dolls slipped into the wrong places and drowned or were crushed to death. The corpses soaked in drugs and magic would block the World Tree's water vessels for quite some time and cause various hygienic problems.
In the meantime, one lucky doll found a proper pathway. The Puppet Priest lifted the still-living voodoo doll and shouted.
"Found it. It's this way."
"Lead the way. We will follow you."
"You better be grateful. If it weren't for me, you would have become fertilizer for the World Tree. Now, wrap my hair around you. It will guide the way."
The priests, having finished their preparations, threw themselves into the water vessel heading toward the summit.
In order to pump such an enormous amount of water upward, considerable pressure had to be applied. It was water pressure that would crush a person, but the priests protected their bodies with various spells and climbed the water vessels.
"How... much... is left...?"
"A lot! Conserve your breath!"
The experience of being pushed up by the river was a rare one for the priests as well. After such a long time, fear arose in the priests' minds that this might never end.
Their bodies were thrown into the air.
"Puhaha!"
"We're here!"
The place they arrived was the dark interior of the Tree of Origin. They couldn't even guess how high they had climbed.
The Beast Priest sniffed, smelling the scent drifting in the air.
"Sniff sniff. Damp, wet wood smell.... It seems this is a space inside the World Tree."
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"I heard the Human King is at the top of the World Tree. Where is the summit?"
"We won't know until we get outside. I'll dig out the wall with my claws."
As the Beast Priest approached the wall with his sharp claws, the Spirit-Pacifying Priest stopped him.
"Stop! If you harm the World Tree recklessly, the Archdruid might notice!"
"Then what are we going to do? It's only a matter of time before the Archdruid notices our presence anyway."
"I'll look for the souls of the dead and hold a spirit-pacification ritual. They will know the way."
"This is the top of the World Tree. Where would there be people who died here?"
"I heard a witch lives here. At least one or two must have died! This place is full of vital energy. It's a good environment for vengeful spirits to linger. If they are witches who split their sanity and planted it in beasts, I can find them quickly!"
The Spirit-Pacifying Priest rummaged through her pocket and took out some fruit and pieces of meat. She laid down the bare minimum of food to hold the ritual and shook her bells to perform the exorcism.
Looking at a corpse, one can tell how it lived. Especially for people who handled magical power or qi, the traces could remain engraved even after death. Strictly speaking, the Spirit-Pacifying Priest was closer to a coroner who read those traces and guessed their actions in life.
There were no corpses here, but it was enough if there were similar traces. The Spirit-Pacifying Priest searched for traces of the dead through the ritual.
Strongly scented food, noisy ringing of bells. Signals stimulating the five senses filled the space. She found a human reaction mixed within the vital energy filling the surroundings. It wasn't long before the Spirit-Pacifying Priest found traces of death....
"Urp!"
...Too many, as many as those lush leaves, traces of death.
"Uweeck! Urp. K-kuargh!"
It was as if someone had grabbed the Spirit-Pacifying Priest and turned her inside out. Throwing up everything in her stomach, the Spirit-Pacifying Priest plunged her face into her own vomit and fainted.
Startled, the Beast Priest dragged the Spirit-Pacifying Priest out. With her eyes rolled back, she showed no signs of waking up.
"Hey! Shaman! Wh-what happened!"
"...Hey. Look here."
The Puppet Priest, with a serious expression, pointed somewhere with his finger. Over there, there were petals growing densely along the wall. On the branches that grew orderly as if touched by someone's hand, large fruits hung.
Inside the translucent fruit full of unknown juice, the silhouette of a curled-up human, like a baby, was visible.
"...What is this?"
The Puppet Priest roughly counted the numbers. At least a hundred. If there were more of these, it would increase by multiples. The Puppet Priest folded his fingers and muttered.
"...It seems. Someone has used black magic on the World Tree."
It was then. A clicking sound echoed from beyond the darkness. A faint lantern light flowed in from the dark corridor beyond.
Footsteps revealing a presence. The Beast Priest bristled his fur and focused all his mind on the owner of the footsteps. And he was dismayed.
'...What? I can't feel anything...!'
"Sigh. Why are you here?"
Black bats flew up all at once. Right after the silent wingbeats swirled to the fullest, a witch wearing a pitch-black dress and a pointed hat appeared like a phantom in front of them.
Walpurgis. The Night Witch.
The sole vassal of the Grand Witch, and the witch who managed the Witch's Layer alone.
And once, the nightmare that plunged this jungle into a deep, dark night.
Facing her, the priests stepped back in instinctive fear. Even so, the Puppet Priest stepped forward calmly.
"Hehe. Great and fearsome Night Witch. We have something urgent to discuss."
"Even so, infiltrating the lair through the water vessels? Do you sneak into someone else's warehouse just to have a conversation?"
"If necessary, we might. How were we supposed to know where the water vessels led?"
"...I'll listen to what you have to say for now. Just know that I'm being very considerate."
Walpurgis crossed her arms. She reeked of an atmosphere that had no intention of listening properly.
"I heard the Human King has appeared."
However, when the Puppet Priest brought up the main point, Walpurgis pushed her witch's hat down deeply with a dismayed expression.
"You know as well? There's no one in the entire jungle who doesn't know."
"Those sensitive to news would all know. Since he's making such a grand fuss."
"This is a problem caused by something that isn't my responsibility, but cleaning up the mess falls to me in the end. Everyone is so irresponsible."
The Puppet Priest, waiting until she grumbled enough, pointed at the meat fruit and asked.
"This fruit. Is it an ingredient to resurrect the Human King?"
"You could say that."
"Is the Human King also a being you created with this?"
"No. The Human King's flesh already existed. He had no consciousness, but we were respectfully serving and taking care of him."
"Then why did you make these humans?"
There was no need to hide it any longer. Walpurgis sighed and continued.
"The Archdruid sought out a witch. A witch's potion is both a medicine that can save a person right before death, and a poison that can kill a healthy person in a single day. He thought that if he used a witch's potion, he might be able to revive the Human King."
The priests had some doubts.
There were quite a few people looking for a witch, but they were all people who had hit rock bottom. A witch's potion was an unknown thing whose efficacy and intent were unproven. A witch's potion was something a person who had nothing left to lose threw all their chips on as a last resort, wasn't it?
"Of course, he didn't trust the witch's potion either. He doubted its effects and questioned me persistently. But how can you know what effect it has before drinking it? Someone has to try it."
And the priests recalled another past.
Long, long ago. When the jungle was locked in a deep, dark night.
Walpurgis sold illusions.
Those who drank her potion fell asleep in happy, joyful dreams. It was said that when they woke up, they all shed tears. Asking to return their illusions. Asking to let them go back to that world.
Those who woke up yearned for the night again and visited Walpurgis, and Walpurgis gave them a new potion every time. The customers who drank the potion fell asleep with happy faces, and most of them never woke up.
That dark time when the jungle fell into a silent night without pain or screams remained a terror for everyone. Parents who never returned, missing children, people waiting for lovers who abandoned their love and left—all sought out the Grand Witch with a thread of hope in the dark night.
The Grand Witch moved for those who were once her people, and only after the Grand Witch took in the Night Witch did morning come to the jungle.
The people couldn't even cheer. They were just grateful that the night had passed safely, and only searched for those who had disappeared during the night.
A few of them wondered how the Grand Witch took in the Night Witch, but in the face of survival, curiosity was always a secondary priority. No one sought the reason....
"However, the newly grown World Tree grows all ingredients. Roots resembling humans, mushrooms growing beneath the oak tree, the pistils of irises. They were all precious, but test subjects to test the precious potion made from them were more precious than anything."
Walpurgis revealed the reason here.
"These meat fruits are test subjects to test the potion intended for the Human King. There are plenty of samples, few variables, and I can freely adjust the experimental group."
"Kueugh! Cough, cough!"
The Spirit-Pacifying Priest, having regained her senses, coughed and raised her body. Piteously trembling her legs, she screamed without even thinking of wiping the vomit off her face.
"H-How many people did you kill here...! How many deaths did you go through for countless deaths to fill this space!"
"I haven't particularly counted. Is there a problem? Using the meat fruits as test subjects shouldn't have any connection to you."
Walpurgis, submerged in the darkness, slightly lifted her hat brim and expressed doubt.
"The night's illusion potion was made to relieve pain and forget suffering. They sought out the night's illusion potion themselves. Drank it heavily, fell asleep intoxicated by the illusion. And then reported me to the Grand Witch."
Witches make potions. No one can guarantee the efficacy of that potion. Not even the witch herself.
That was why she had to find someone to drink it. Walpurgis used the night's illusions as bait to test countless potions.
Until the Grand Witch, who heard the rumors, came looking for her.
"The Grand Witch said the problem was that the night continued forever, severing the ties of the day. As a consideration to let me use this place instead of finding test subjects in the jungle. On the condition that I make the potion commissioned by the Archdruid."
The Spirit-Pacifying Priest looked at Walpurgis wrapped in fear and terror. However, one person, the Puppet Priest, laughed while wrapped in a shudder.
"Keukeukeu. You should have told me if there was something this good. I became a fool for digging through the jungle to find usable dolls. It was a good thing we came up here."
Walpurgis asked nonchalantly.
"Any other business?"
"A Human King alongside fruits that grow humans. Is it right to hide and monopolize something so important to all humans? Let's share it."
"Do you have no intention of going back like this?"
"Why should we? If we go back like this, we won't get anything."
"No."
Walpurgis grabbed her hat brim, lifted it slightly, and whispered.
"You'd want to preserve those worthless lives of yours."
At the same time, bats flew in from all directions. Screams inaudible to human ears filled the space.
The Beast Priest leaped recklessly and tore Walpurgis's body apart. Walpurgis's form scattered like a mirage, and pitch-black smoke enveloped the Beast Priest.
Flickering for a moment, Walpurgis swung her hand nonchalantly a few meters away from him.
"Go to sleep in the night."
Bats scattering in all directions, shining powder fluttering within them. It was a dreamy and fantastical sight, as if the stars of the night had been crushed into powder.
"H-Hold your breath! You must not inhale..."
The Spirit-Pacifying Priest couldn't finish her words. The intoxicated priests collapsed one by one. Standing fine amidst the silent wingbeats of the bats was only the Puppet Priest.
"You don't fall asleep. Well, puppets don't need sleep, I suppose."
"Keuheuheu. Did you notice?"
The Puppet Priest took out a pre-prepared voodoo doll. As he infused magical power into the voodoo doll wrapped with someone's hair, the sleeping priests staggered to their feet.
Their unconscious bodies became dolls and moved according to the Puppet Priest's will. The dolls that did not sleep surrounded Walpurgis.
"Thanks to you, I've gained precious dolls! Night Witch, thank you! And I'll make you into a doll too!"
The Beast Priest lunged, and the Spirit-Pacifying Priest swung her knife and bells. It was a combination where they didn't care at all whether they hurt each other or not. Walpurgis grabbed her hat brim and muttered.
"However, the world doesn't only have sleeping potions."
Walpurgis suddenly moved forward and embraced the Puppet Priest. Taken aback by the unexpected action, the Puppet Priest stepped back, but Walpurgis's form vanished as if seeping into him.
"What! What did you do...!"
"Enjoy. Endless hallucinations and pleasures. The night that will never return."
And at the voice ringing in his ears, the Puppet Priest stiffened his back.
His body didn't listen to him. A shudder ran down his ears. It was as if someone was playing with his body as a toy. Just before the rapture filled his head, the Puppet Priest felt an unknown fear.
'It's dangerous...! I have to cut the connection with the doll quickly!'
Dolls usually use human bodies. That way, the sensations could be transmitted fully without being disrupted.
But this time, that advantage became poison.
A witch is both a potion and a poison. While he hesitated for a moment in the endless ecstasy he felt, his body and mind no longer refused orders. He abandoned his body to this endless pleasure and debauchery.
Not to the doll, but to the controller of the doll—him.
"Ah! Heok, heok! Heuuuaaah!"
The Puppet Priest panted in pleasure.
The overflowing sensations dizzy his mind. Trembling by himself, twisting his body, scratching himself frantically to relieve the itch. The Puppet Priest forgot how to distinguish the doll from himself.
Both he and the doll. Were dolls of pleasure gifted by the Night Witch. The moment he realized that, the priest's mind snapped.
"-May you sleep peacefully."
The Night Witch whispered quietly among the falling dolls.