◈ Chapter 484. If You So Desire
To learn something after seeing it only once?
The tiny forest spirit.
Hiel had never possessed such a talent.
However.
“I will do as you say.” ‘If you so desire.’ Hiel’s pupils sank. Through her lord’s warm consideration, the fury of Phoenix, the Fire Spirit King, appeared slow. The heat, so intense it could be mistaken for pain, also became vivid.
Shamefully. ‘Had I been alone, I might have given up.’
Before only the first trial.
Having long since forgotten the declaration she had made by the bonfire.
Her resolve might have broken.
But her lord must have seen through it. ‘The weakness in me that no one else knew.’
Hiel knew.
That her true self was insignificant compared to the evaluations and expectations poured upon her. Even so, so as not to become a burden to her lord. So as not to betray her lord’s expectations, she had desperately flapped her disheveled wings. ‘That is why I have been troubled.’
She had watched her lord’s path from the closest place. It was truly a succession of unbelievable footsteps. So much so that she wondered whether someone like her, whose appearance alone seemed impressive, was fit to walk alongside him.
Moreover. ‘Whether my existence has become an obstacle to my lord…….’
The blessing of the first World Tree.
Why had the elves been so enraged by the blessing?
It was because her lord and she had monopolized the blessing of the World Tree.
And so Hiel could not help but fall into doubt.
If even the blessing dwelling within me were to dwell in my lord……?
Would my lord not be able to overcome the trials ahead without difficulty? Perhaps he already possessed such power, yet was being held back because of my existence…….
It was the moment the harsh trial had worn down Hiel’s mind.
A voice was heard.
It drove away her useless thoughts.
“It is time to realize the {Wrath of the World Tree}, which rebukes even nature itself.”
Hiel understood his intent. ‘My lord has given me an opportunity.’
Perhaps this, too, was another proof. ‘A place to prove my usefulness.’
Was this also the influence of the blessing?
Knowledge of the {Natural Realm}, which she, once a lower forest spirit, had not known, began to burrow into her mind.
Nature’s wrath.
The strongest strike of the {Natural Realm}, something only the kings of spirits could manifest, becoming one with nature to overwhelm the enemy. Hiel felt Phoenix’s wrath with her entire body.
It was not simply burning.
Even nature itself.
Was wailing under Phoenix’s fierce heat.
Hiel’s lips parted.
“The target of your anger is mistaken.”
Phoenix flinched. ‘……It’s different.’
Had her presence not changed somehow?
Within the hellfire.
The weak figure who had been unable even to resist was nowhere to be found.
Srrk.
Seeing her stretch out a hand and gently stroke the rampaging flames, it was certainly no mistake. Yet for some reason, that touch was tender. And so was her voice.
“Are the children not suffering, Phoenix?”
“……!”
As though a mother.
If the World Tree had spoken to him, would its voice not have been like this?
It was a voice so gentle it made him think so.
Phoenix’s gaze shifted from Hiel to Hoyeol.
“What nonsense are you playing at?”
He had controlled even the flow of time.
Clouding the senses would be no difficult task.
Clearly, his intention was to dull his judgment.
Fwoooosh.
But if he completely burned away the mana particles that served as the foundation for such petty magic, its effects would vanish as well. It was the moment Phoenix burned the hellfire even more fiercely.
Whoooooosh.
Enough to swallow Hoyeol whole.
Enough to incinerate him without a trace.
It was the moment the fierce flames were about to whirl.
“You truly are not listening.”
The voice that followed was no longer merely gentle.
“What is it that you are doing for the spirits?”
He realized it instinctively.
This was a scolding.
Behind Hiel, a hazy form appeared.
It was a single massive tree.
“……Mother?”
Yes.
Just as Claudi had said.
The wrath of the World Tree, transcending even nature, was being realized.
But Phoenix did not yield.
“No. How can that be my mother? The dragons and elves of the Arcana Continent are clearly different from us. We could do nothing but hide in the Natural Realm like mice and watch the continent.”
Because otherwise, it felt too unjust.
“Yet what was returned to us, who obeyed?”
The Fire Spirit King, returned to purity, was asking.
“Nothing, absolutely nothing!”
World Tree, why did you treat us with indifference?
Are we truly your children?
He was sulking like an innocent child.
“It was only utter indifference.”
However.
The World Tree was the mother of all things, one who accepted even such sulking.
The form of the World Tree rising behind Hiel shone ever more brilliantly.
Its leaves scattered.
Through Hiel’s mouth, the World Tree conveyed its will.
“It was not indifference.”
“……A lie.”
“I was merely waiting for the time when you would be needed by the continent.”
“……The time when we would be needed by the continent?”
“For at last, an age has come when the continent needs your purity.”
Permission was granted.
“You may now go forth, my children.”
At that moment, Phoenix’s vision flickered.
“……What in the world?”
Within the radiant light, he saw it.
Not the Natural Realm.
But the scenery of the Arcana Continent, which he had so desperately longed for.
*
His vision flickered.
[The ‘Age of Purity’ has arrived on the Arcana Continent.]
[Natural Realm - The Territory of Flame reveals itself.]
[From now on, fire-attribute spirits in their natural state will appear on the Arcana Continent. The pure actions of the fire-attribute spirits will ignite flames of revival across the Arcana Continent.]
My usual posture.
Neck and back straight as always.
Because of that, I was only rolling my eyes slightly. ‘Hiel……. That is you, right?’
Good grief.
What did I just see?
First, let’s calm my startled heart.
“So this is the scenery of the continent……!”
Fire chicken…….
No, Phoenix.
I’m already troubled enough as it is.
Save your tears of overwhelming emotion for a little later.
First, the reason I answered Hiel’s call?
It was only natural. [Blessing of the First World Tree]
had a fixed total amount. What was the reason I had been able to enjoy the fraudulent effects of the First World Tree’s Blessing all this time? ‘Favoritism severe enough to make the elves tremble.’
It was because the blessing of the World Tree, which had been shared among hundreds of elves, had been monopolized by Hiel and me, just the two of us. So I absolutely had to be present at the place where the World Tree’s Blessing was to be proven. ‘Because Hiel might not be enough on her own.’
At first, I thought it had been the right judgment.
[※Warning: The current field is hostile toward you.]
A field hostile to the player. A sight that would have horrified even the AAU was spread out before my eyes. To put it figuratively, it was as if I had been trapped in an extremely malicious dungeon or labyrinth.
In short, every element I stepped on, saw, and felt was hostile toward Hiel. As expected, it was worthy of being called the authority of a spirit, one known as nature itself. ‘So I put my head to work.’
An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.
I had no choice but to be lacking in knowledge regarding the spirits’ {Nature} abilities.
So I gave Hiel, a spirit like Phoenix, a task that was not quite a task. ‘But this isn’t just beyond expectations…….’
It’s such rapid growth that it feels unfamiliar, Hiel.
So, to put it figuratively.
This was not merely breaking through a wall.
It was to the point where one would say a butterfly had emerged from its chrysalis! ‘And through an incredibly thick chrysalis, at that.’
After all, was Hiel not the one who, thanks to being someone’s mirror and alter ego, had been treated even more nobly than a Spirit King? But through this proof, Hiel seemed to have molted into a form that surpassed even such treatment.
The proof unfolded before my eyes.
“……This is.”
The Fire Spirit King, who had at some point returned to human form.
Phoenix gathered his wits.
Then he turned toward Hiel.
“I, Phoenix, the Fire Spirit King, ask for your forgiveness.”
He knelt on one knee and bowed his head.
And it was not only Phoenix.
According to the system messages, which never lied. ‘That’s not something only I can see, right……?’
Countless lower, middle, and upper spirits.
All fire spirits beneath Phoenix, the Fire Spirit King.
Were bowing their heads before Hiel. ‘As expected, you’re better than me, Hiel.’
So did the {Wrath of the World Tree} actually exist?
Of course not.
Everything had been blurted out on its own by my mouth, which refused to lose even in words. Yet even if it did not exist, Hiel had resolved the situation magnificently. ‘Then all that remains is for me to escape my own chrysalis.’
Of course, my chrysalis had even been reinforced with brazen shamelessness, so it was bound to be absurdly harder than Hiel’s. It felt like escaping on my own was still far, very far away……. ‘Anyway, that’s a relief.’
Proof, my ass. Still, at least we avoided getting burned to death.
It was the moment I let out a sigh of relief.
Hiel answered Phoenix, who was asking for forgiveness.
“The one you should ask forgiveness from is not me.”
……But what is this ominous feeling?
Srrk.
Hiel’s gaze, filled with infinite loyalty, turned toward me.
“It should be directed toward my lord, who shared his blessing with me.”
No, Hiel, you know, don’t you?
I’m not the kind of bad guy who steals other people’s achievements?!
And with that fiery temper of his, there’s no way Phoenix would bow his head to me, a human…….
“To share the blessing……. So that was the reason for the incompleteness.”
……Huh?
“Forgive my poor discernment for failing to realize it even after witnessing the World Tree’s Blessing, Claudi.”
Hey, don’t just accept it because it sounds plausible. ‘Seriously, nothing good will come of this.’
A lesson I had gained from experiencing countless situations like this.
As long as Grandfell’s temperament was with me.
Whenever I became entangled with someone, hardship was certain to follow.
Furthermore. ‘This is a dysfunctional family, isn’t it?’
The World Tree’s genealogy was already crumbling into dust as it was.
I had not even dealt with the evil dragons that had devoured the evil fruit yet.
If I became entangled with the spirits as well……. ‘Above all, I don’t know what Paimon will do.’
A way of thinking I could not predict in the slightest.
Paimon had protected Antonium from Ryuo Junchun so that my entry into the Demon World would not be delayed. For the same reason, it would not be strange for him to trample the spirits that appeared on the Arcana Continent. ‘So please, let’s not run our mouth.’
It was the moment I prayed earnestly.
……
Flash.
Once again, my vision began to flicker.
[You have succeeded in the quest.]
[You have succeeded in the quest.]
[You have succeeded in the quest.]
……I see.
So everyone had been quietly watching our proof process.
It was not only [Hidden Quest: Proof of Flame].
Thanks to witnessing Hiel’s manner toward Phoenix.
Further proof must have become meaningless.
However…….
One.
This time, in a different sense, one.
One was missing.
[Hidden Quest: Proof of Earth]
Oried, the Earth Spirit King.
Oried wishes to verify the World Tree’s Blessing.
Overcome the trial of earth and prove the existence of the World Tree.
-Enter the Natural Realm: Territory of Earth. (Failed)
Oried, the Earth Spirit King.
One Spirit King still denied Hiel.
That is, the blessing of the World Tree.
I did not know the reason, but I did not particularly feel like saying anything about it. ‘This wasn’t my purpose to begin with.’
The reason I had gathered the Spirit Kings through Hiel was simple. It was to find those whose whereabouts had become unknown after being caught in the prototype rift, through the spirits who knew the news of the Arcana Continent better than anyone.
That was why I could not overlook it.
Quest failed.
And beneath it, the newly updated quest objective.
-Defeat the Fusion Intelligence: Yugweed Lufeng. (In Progress)
I recited coldly.
“Now it is your time to prove yourself.”
Fusion Intelligence.
Yugweed Lufeng.
Why had such a quest objective appeared?
Uncontrollable mana surged from my body.
“Convince me without leaving even a single doubt, Oried.”