One thing you'll never find in the Treasure Hunter profession is certainty.
A Hunter's work is a continuous string of encounters with the unknown. In a low-level Treasure Hall, you can brute-force your way through with raw power, but once you reach a high-level Treasure Hall, the Phantoms' abilities and the gimmicks become impossible to ignore.
The quality most essential in a high-level Hunter—adaptability. When things go south, that's when a Hunter's true worth is put to the test.
In that sense, everyone who had come to Yggdrasil this time was unquestionably top-tier. Even the proposals that bordered on committing the Ten Sins could be reframed as adaptive responses to the extraordinary situation of a God's manifestation.
But now, confronted by an ancient map of Yggdrasil that had been passed down through the ages, every last person—including Princess Seren—wore a troubled expression.
The map depicted the area surrounding Yggdrasil, with the World Tree at its center. Seeing it laid out like this really drove home just how enormous the World Tree was.
Citry's proposed strategy was simple, but there were many hurdles to clear. And precisely because the problem was simple, it was difficult to solve.
"No good. No matter how I divide things up, we don't have enough people."
"There's only one of you, Princess Seren…"
When Citry glanced over at Seren, the princess furrowed her brows in consternation and spoke.
The first preparatory stage—gathering members to survey the ley lines around the World Tree—was short-handed.
Those members needed the strength to fight off the Phantasmal Beasts and Monstrous Beasts inhabiting the area around the World Tree, where Mana Material was excessively accumulated. Beyond that, they also needed the ability to gauge the ley lines and the volume of Mana Material flowing through them.
The first requirement was one thing, but the only person who possessed the second skill was Seren, with her uniquely perceptive eyes as Yggdrasil's royalty.
The Spiritfolk did possess eyes that could peer into magical energy, but Mana Material was a different matter entirely.
Mana Material was said to be the source of magical energy, but it was not magical energy itself. Given enough time, one might be able to trace the flow of power, but there was no luxury of casually taking one's time in a forest crawling with powerful Monstrous Beasts.
"Actually, I was hoping Yggdrasil might have some relevant information, but… it seems Yggdrasil's technology regarding Mana Material is more advanced than ours."
Meeting Citry's bewildered gaze, Seren let out a sigh.
"If it's from five hundred years ago… there are records. However, the area around the World Tree is dense with ley lines, so the flow of power shifts constantly."
"The flow of power shifts… That means we can't afford to spend a long time conducting a survey."
"Hmm… Want me to carry someone on my back and sprint through?"
"!?! D-don't say something insane, Mastaa! If Riez ran at full speed, Seren would be torn to shreds, Mastaa!"
"The vicinity of the World Tree is extremely dangerous. The distances are great, and carrying someone while running is simply not practical."
They had prepared as best they could for the journey to Yggdrasil, but nobody had imagined things would turn out like this.
And naturally, even the famed Alchemist Citry hadn't anticipated this far ahead either.
Citry heaved a deep sigh and said reluctantly.
"It may be impossible to survey all the surrounding ley lines. It would take too long, and we might have to go with a best-guess approach when installing the devices."
"…………What happens if that fails, Mastaa?"
"Well, there are various possibilities—but in the worst case, the rate at which Mana Material accumulates in the World Tree could accelerate?"
The casually delivered words made the others hold their breath. Trying to stop the God's manifestation only to hasten it would be putting the cart before the horse.
Installation based on guesswork was the last resort. One by one, the companions offered their opinions.
"How about verifying from the sky? Well… the Master does have that flying carpet."
"Hmm…"
"Difficult. The surroundings are forest—the trees would be in the way, and you can't see the ground from above."
"…Should we just burn the entire forest down?"
"!?! Lucia, that's a joke, right, Mastaa?"
"B-burning the forest… what kind of thing is that to say…"
The proposal, which hardly qualified as a strategy at all, drew a look from Seren as though she were gazing upon a barbarian. Receiving similar stares from the others, including Klyus, Lucia seemed to realize just how outlandish she'd sounded, and her cheeks flushed with embarrassment.
Perhaps Lucia wasn't as rational as Lapis had thought. Citry exhaled a small breath and spoke.
"Burning the forest would likely draw the attention of the Phantoms in the Treasure Hall, prompting some kind of action on their part… Not the wisest idea, I'm afraid."
"…………Tch."
Opinions kept coming, but from Lapis's perspective, none were decisive. And this was still only the beginning of the planning stage.
The operation was fundamentally difficult to begin with. Normally, merely walking around the [Origin Divine Temple] was dangerous enough. The Phantoms had so far retreated behind the Treasure Hall's barrier, but there was no telling when they might come out.
This was not the kind of problem that could be solved with cleverness alone.
At that point, Tino raised her hand while looking around somewhat nervously.
"Um… what if we wait for the Master to arrive and then discuss it again?"
"Tino… don't say that right now! Besides, trying to follow Klyus's thinking is good practice too!"
"If you keep relying only on Klyus, your brain's going to go dull!!"
"!?! I-I'm sorry, Big Sister…"
Cowering under the scolding from Citry and Riez, Tino shrank into herself.
The man who was supposed to show up and shine in precisely this kind of situation—though he'd said he'd be back shortly—still hadn't returned.
After entrusting the explanation to Citry, he'd gone silent, and as always, no one could tell what he was thinking.
His younger sister Lucia, who probably knew more about the Thousand Transformations than anyone, furrowed her brow and said.
"…………He certainly did bring more Treasure Weapons than usual this time. There might be a way to handle this situation with those."
"……The Weakling has all sorts of weird Treasure Weapons, Mastaa. Even during the escort for the meeting, he was showing off strange Treasure Weapons, Mastaa."
"…………I find it hard to believe this problem could be overcome with Treasure Weapons alone… Hmph. A Treasure Weapon collector, is he… If you combine multiple Treasure Weapons, would that work?"
As far as Lapis knew, Treasure Weapons weren't that convenient, but if there was any possibility of breaking through the current impasse, it would be through that avenue.
Just then, the Thousand Transformations finally returned.
As always, he carried himself with an inexplicable lack of vigor. Every pair of eyes in the room swiveled toward him simultaneously, and the Thousand Transformations gave a slight twitch of his brows.
Citry pressed her palms together and asked.
"Welcome back. What was your errand about?"
In response to Citry's question, the Thousand Transformations let out a deep sigh, shrugged his shoulders, and spoke.
"Well… the toilet. And I, uh, brought a disciple along."
"!?! Huh? A disciple??"
What was this guy even talking about?
Lapis's eyes widened as he tried to process those words, and before him appeared an unexpected figure.
"Well, well. Pardon the intrusion. Looks like you're doing something interesting here."
"!?! Wha—!? Klyus, what is going on!?"
Riez's voice shot up to a piercing pitch.
Striding boldly through the open door came members of the Thousand Demons Night Parade—the very group they had clashed with repeatedly on the way, and whose Phantom army they had faced at the [Origin Divine Temple].
At the front stood Adler Disrad, the leader who commanded a colossal ancient-species centipede and had proclaimed herself a Demon King. Behind her came the man Riez had knocked unconscious, followed by a girl dressed in white robes resembling a Mage's garb.
There had apparently been a great number of Phantasmal Beasts and Monstrous Beasts with them as well, but now only humans remained. Even without the Monsters, they radiated considerable power, though Lapis's group could probably subdue them now.
No bodies had been found, it seemed, but to have survived battle against that Phantom army—they were a terrifying lot indeed.
The members of Star's Holy Thunder rose to their feet and took up wary stances. In the tense, on-edge atmosphere, Seren took one deep breath and fixed her gaze on the Thousand Transformations.
"……Could you explain, please?"
"Sure. I don't really get it myself, but they asked me to take them on as my disciple."
The ones who didn't get it were Lapis and the others. It had been barely twenty minutes since the Thousand Transformations left the room.
How had he, in a mere twenty minutes, run into the missing and formerly hostile members of the Thousand Demons Night Parade and somehow turned them into his disciples?
"!?! Brother!? They asked you to take them as your disciple and you actually did!?"
"Well… we bumped into each other at the entrance, and they came right up and said they wanted to be my disciple, so what was I supposed to do? ……They're scary, you know."
"I don't… really understand, Mastaa…"
This went beyond the pale of simply being magnanimous. The Thousand Demons Night Parade were bandits. Taking a bandit as your disciple was dangerous beyond question.
And scary? Scary? A Hunter who had faced down the Phantom army at Level 8 without flinching was calling them scary?
Adler flashed a fierce, predatory grin and, with movements leisurely enough to seem unaware that she was surrounded by enemies, walked up to the table.
Her carrying voice definitely held a certain kind of charisma.
"I heard you're planning to take on the God's Phantom. Count us in on that operation."
"……What is your objective?"
It made no sense. Anyone who had ever fought Phantoms knew the terrifying strength of a God's Phantom. They also knew how reckless it would be to challenge one.
The Thousand Transformations was Level 8, but even at Level 8, taking down a God head-on was beyond one's capacity. Adler's army had indeed been formidable in both numbers and quality, but even that probably wasn't enough.
Yet there was no trace of fear in Adler's expression.
Was it recklessness, or did she perhaps have some edge—Seren's question prompted Adler to lick her lips and reply.
"I'd love to say I'll be taking the God's Phantom for myself… but this time, I'll defer to the Thousand Transformations. All we need is for you to show us how."
"……Weakling, stop getting involved with weirdos, Mastaa."
"It's not that I get involved—they come to me… Wait, have there been other weirdos?"
"There's Kecha, for one, Mastaa."
"Ah… and Kurahi too, Klyus."
"……Can't argue with that. Still, if they're offering to cooperate, there's no reason to refuse, right?"
"…………"
Silence descended over the room. Right now, everyone's thoughts were probably united in the sentiment: 'No, no, there are plenty of reasons to refuse.' The other party were extremely dangerous bandits.
What kind of negotiation could possibly result in bringing someone you'd already duped into your ranks?
Everyone was speechless for a while, but Astol—the one with the most reason to feel guilty—spoke in a voice that sounded like he was suppressing his emotions, defending the Thousand Transformations.
"B-but, surely… if we have the force that stood up to the Phantom army, the issue of combat power would be solved?"
"Hmm… Unfortunately, the army was almost entirely wiped out. Yuden—the Star-Eating Centipede—will need time to recover. Even if we were to replace the losses, assembling an army of that scale again would be a tremendous undertaking."
"!?! I-see…"
Was the reduced fighting strength of the bandits something to be glad about…? No, more importantly, what could Adler and her people do without their Monster army?
The girl who had come along with them wore a strained expression, matching the room's atmosphere. It seemed the leader was the only one who was off.
Adler completely ignored the frigid mood and let her gaze fall to the map spread across the table, nodding with interest.
"So this at the center is the World Tree—the source of the power that was flowing into what Uo called the 'Divine Tree Circulation Path.' To think I'd live to see the day I laid eyes on this legend—"
But how on earth had this person obtained information about the Divine Tree Circulation Path?
She had been shouting about it back when she appeared at the Treasure Hall, but that term itself shouldn't have been known to anyone outside the Spiritfolk.
And even knowing it, one couldn't enter the path without a guide—no, wait. There had been one guide whose whereabouts had been unknown…
Had she deliberately been lured to Yggdrasil? But for what purpose?
Lapis furrowed his brow at the incomprehensible situation, and in front of him, Adler produced what looked like a hand mirror and declared in a booming voice: "Let's take a look, shall we? 'Mirror of Manifestation'—reflect the form of the God dwelling in the deepest reaches of the World Tree!"