By the time all the discussions wrapped up, the sun had long since set.
I climbed the ladder and entered the house Seren had prepared for me. It was a quaint little dwelling built atop a great tree.
The room wasn't extravagant, but it had the bare minimum of furniture and looked comfortable enough. Best of all, there was a balcony—one step outside offered a breathtaking view of the starlit sky.
Yggdrasil had none of the artificial light found in the imperial capital. Nothing obstructed the brilliance of the stars.
I took a deep breath, filling my lungs with the cold, fresh air.
Today had been brutal even along the Divine Tree Circuit, and in the end, I'd been hit with a bombshell of epic proportions—one that could very well lead to the destruction of the world. But gazing up at the canopy of stars like this, I genuinely felt it had been worth coming this far.
Citry, who had followed me here, spoke with eyes sparkling bright.
"I never imagined we'd catch a glimpse of what once caused a civilization's demise right in a place like this… I'd been hoping that a long-lived race might know something about it, so I'm glad we came, Klye! The theory of divine annihilation is starting to sound terrifyingly real!"
"Yeah, yeah, that's right."
Why was she so fired up about this? In a hundred years, the one facing possible extinction was going to be us…
Still, a divine manifestation bringing about ruin, huh? Which was stronger—this, or the Fox God from the [Wandering Lodge]? I kind of wanted to know, and kind of didn't…
In any case, I had secured a promise of cooperation for Luke's dispelling. Fortunately, the spell formula itself apparently wasn't that complicated, and unlike the purification of Marine's Wailing at the Church of the Radiant Spirit, no elaborate preliminary preparations seemed necessary.
The remaining problem was what to do about the powerful Phantoms manifesting at the site, but that was something I'd have to leave to Lucia, Liliz, and the others.
"So Yggdrasil had a secret like that all along, huh… I always thought the village elders were devout in their faith toward it, but—they knew everything and deliberately kept the information hidden. …Elisa, did you already know?"
"…No… What was passed down to us Spiritfolk of the desert was the mission alone. I believe they feared information leaking. It's true that if the truth of the World Tree became known, things would get complicated."
"Hmph… The reason they finally revealed everything now is that there's no longer any need to keep it secret. They chose to fight a battle they couldn't win, and even thought about what came after the destruction—this also serves to pass the information along. Self-serving, to say the least. A hundred years… only a hundred years."
"…In just a hundred years, nothing can be done."
Even after hearing Seren's explanation, Lapis and Elisa remained just as grumpy as ever, talking between themselves. Only a hundred years and nothing can be done? If I spent a hundred years honing my skills, I'd surely get a little stronger.
I hadn't really been conscious of it until now, but the difference in perception between Spiritfolk and humans was staggering. A hundred years—surely you could do anything with that much time.
It was then that Tinno, who had been timidly checking out the house with a thief's discerning eye, cautiously spoke up.
"Still, Mastaa, setting aside brother Luke's dispelling—is it really possible to do something about the Treasure Hall that's already manifested?"
No… I'm pretty sure it's not. Right now, my number one goal was simply to cure Luke. The Treasure Hall was a distant second—or third.
But I couldn't say that in front of the [Star's Holy Thunder]. Well, eventually I'd have to, but now wasn't the time.
…There was still a chance that once Luke was freed from petrification, he could cut down the Treasure Hall and make it vanish.
"I don't know if it'll work out, but I think there are various possibilities. The fate of the world hangs in the balance—let's give it everything we've got."
"Yes, Mastaa! If there's anything I can do, please don't hesitate to ask!"
"…Then go take care of the Treasure Hall."
"!?"
"!? Leader, don't push that onto Tinno!"
It was just a joke, but Tinno's eyes went wide and her whole body began to tremble. Just then, Lucia—who had been standing blankly nearby in her usual way—quickly interjected.
What I could do, best as possible, was obvious: push it all onto Ark. But pushing it without doing anything myself—even if it was the result of divine-level scheming—probably wouldn't convince anyone.
Besides, Yggdrasil was a secret realm within secret realms. You couldn't get back alone. The Guide only pointed the way to Yggdrasil; for the return trip, we'd either have to have Seren fly us out by magic or forcibly fight our way back through the Divine Tree Circuit.
On top of that, the Divine Tree Circuit was apparently in a bad state now—thanks to the influence of Mana Materials, the tame beasts and monsters had grown more violent and multiplied. This was already an emergency serious enough for the Spiritfolk royalty to have been swallowed by a Spirit of Yggdrasil. If someone as unlucky as me set foot in that danger zone, I'd feel sick just thinking about it.
And the fact that even this dangerous Divine Tree Circuit was safer than the Treasure Hall we'd have to visit for Luke's dispelling meant that, at this point, all I could do was pray.
Oblivious to my feelings, Liliz was doing the splits—legs spread a full one hundred and eighty degrees, body pressed flat against the floor for stretching. She lifted her face and said cheerfully, "I wonder what's in there, huh, Klye?"
As always, her body was frighteningly flexible. If someone pushed on my back even a little, I'd scream… Stretching was one of the few attacks (?) that Barrier Rings couldn't counter.
And personally, I wasn't looking forward to anything. There was still some time, and naturally, we'd need to scout out the enemy beforehand.
Even though it was all under the banner of "the Treasure Hall," the number of Phantoms roaming the target location would vary from day to day. The fewer opponents we had to fight, the better. And conveniently, we had a Thief here perfectly suited for this kind of mission.
"Elisa, sorry, but could you scout out the [Origin Temple]? We'll look for the right timing and start with Luke's dispelling."
"…Fine."
"?! Huh!? Why Elisa and not me?! I can do scouting too, you know!"
"Well, Liliz, you tend to snack on the way…"
No one doubted Liliz's skills as a Thief, but she had a tendency to treat first strikes on monsters she found as a thief's prerogative.
Elisa's danger-sensing ability was far superior, and even if it weren't me making the call, I'd have sent Elisa rather than Liliz for reconnaissance.
I walked over to Liliz, who was still stretching with only her face raised in protest, and placed a hand on her head to soothe her.
"I'll have you cut loose later, Liliz… if the opportunity comes up."
"…Okay. You promised, right?"
Liliz pouted her lips in dissatisfaction but pressed her body back to the floor once more.
Throughout our adventures, we had faced danger countless times, but things had rarely been resolved without a fight. I wasn't foolish enough to think this time would go smoothly.
A high fighting spirit was troublesome, but I trusted Liliz and the others' combat ability. Even Phantoms from an unprecedented Treasure Hall should be felled without issue.
Once Luke's dispelling succeeded, I'd come up with some excuse and get us out of the forest.
This wasn't about fleeing, plain and simple. Sometimes, retreating once could make things work out better down the line.
Zebuldia, the great capital, drew all manner of talent—and we might even find a way to deal with the [Origin Temple] there.
Having apparently sensed my intent to push everything onto others, Klyus furrowed their brow and looked at me with suspicion.
"You, weakling, you really do have a way to deal with the Treasure Hall, right?"
"…Unexpected things happen all the time. One hundred percent certainty is impossible."
Come to think of it, speaking of the unexpected—who exactly was that girl who pretended to be a member of the [Star's Holy Thunder] and took my Guide away?