Weakness is sin—power alone is my teaching. There are no deals to be made with the defeated, or so he says.
By that logic, I'd be the most worthless person to this god of all… For a deity, doesn't he have terrible judgment?
I furrow my brow for an instant, then remember this is a dream and reconsider.
No matter how vivid it may be, a dream is a dream. There's nothing more absurd than picking a fight with its content.
It's been quite a while since I came to Yggdrasil… Maybe my subconscious has been worrying about the god's phantom all along. Look at me, go.
Then again, my imagination isn't half bad either. Sure, picturing Keller as a small humanoid figure feels a bit lazy, and you'd think he could look a bit more imposing, but the abilities that were transmitted to my mind were powers I'd never even conceived of before.
As I nod to myself, a voice reverberates through my head once more.
*'Loyalty, or death. Answer, hero.'* …What a pain. I don't want to be thinking about gods even in my dreams.
"…Hypothetically speaking, but if I swear loyalty, is there anything in it for me?"
I let out a sigh and ask for confirmation. There's probably some kind of reward, right? A Treasure Weapon?
Keller was silent for a moment, then: *'Indeed… I have heard from that little fox what your purpose is. If you swear loyalty, I shall lift the curse placed upon your companions.'* I see, so that's how he plays it… Quite the well-crafted dream.
With the power of a god, he might truly be able to break curses. My imagination really isn't something to scoff at.
Well, even if I thought of this in the real world, actually pulling it off would be difficult… Borrowing the power of a god's phantom is just too unrealistic. I'd only just laughed at Adler for trying to enslave a god. If it were Sister Fox, I might have stood a chance.
The Origin Temple, which had been devouring the World Tree, had already been weakened by Citry's strategy. All that remained was to bring Luke Saikol's stone statue near the World Tree and have Selen remove the curse—problem solved.
But if asking Selen tomorrow doesn't work out, maybe I should try contacting Sister Fox… I need to make sure I don't forget. I'm terrible at remembering dream content.
*'Well? What is your answer?'* Keller's irritated voice booms inside my skull. So noisy—if someone keeps interrupting from the side, I'm going to forget about contacting Sister Fox.
I shrugged and answered.
"Then I'll swear my loyalty, so please take care of it."
*'!! …It seems the heroes of this age are surprisingly wise. Very well. Your wish has been duly received. A contract with a god is guaranteed to be fulfilled. Let us meet again in the waking world."* "A pleasure doing business."
A fierce wind blew, and Keller's form vanished. What an over-the-top dream.
I yawned broadly, then lay down, closing my eyes while muttering to myself so I wouldn't forget—contact Sister Fox, contact Sister Fox.
§ Consciousness returns. In a bedroom flooded with sunlight, I sit up in bed and stretch luxuriously.
It was a refreshing wake-up. The depth of sleep is one of my few strengths. With everything that's happened lately, my body had probably been craving rest.
Today is finally the day of destiny—the day we attempt to unseal Luke Saikol.
This would be the third time asking Selen to try removing the curse. The first time was in Yggdrasil, and it failed. The second time we made it near the World Tree, but so many Phantoms appeared that we couldn't even attempt it. This is the third. I want to believe in the charm of third time's the wish.
—And that's when I furrow my brow.
I feel like I'm forgetting something. What was it… Right. The dream.
I think I had a strange dream. I furrow my brow and rummage through my memories, but despite having just woken up, I can't recall a thing.
I'm a good sleeper. Once I hit the pillow, my consciousness drops like a stone, and I rarely dream. And even when I do—what I remember is even less.
But… right. I was planning to do something—oh, that's right!!
I was going to contact Sister Fox.
I immediately grab my phone and tap the call button. The call connects as if she'd been waiting by the phone.
"…"
"Hey, hey, it's me. Actually, I'm calling because there's something important I need to—"
"………"
But just as I got that far, I realized something terrible.
—I had absolutely no memory of why I wanted to contact her.
There was definitely something. I'd been planning to contact Sister Fox, in that dream.
But I can't think of a single clue. I fold my arms and tilt my head, but no answer comes. This is a problem.
While I'm mulling it over, Sister Fox maintained complete silence. The call should have connected, but maybe she hadn't even realized it had started—maybe she'd accidentally pressed the button?
If so, that was a stroke of luck. Even as her pen pal, I really didn't want to be calling someone with no business to speak of against a Level 10 Treasure Hall Phantom.
I waited a bit longer, but Sister Fox didn't respond at all. It seemed she truly hadn't noticed. Good.
I let out a breath of relief, then tried asking one last thing before hanging up.
"…And now, here's a question. What was my important business?"
"…!!"
Oh… She hung up. What was that about?
I stared at my phone for a while, trying to remember why I'd wanted to contact Sister Fox, but drew a complete blank.
Oh well—if I can't remember, it probably wasn't that important. I can always contact her again once it comes back to me.
What I should prioritize right now is Luke's unsealing. I pull myself together and stand up.
Selen must be fully prepared and waiting by now.
Nearly all the problems Yggdrasil had been facing were resolved. Now it was time for Selen to step up and really shine as Yggdrasil's princess.
§ § § In barely a month, the situation had changed beyond recognition. One night since the feast—looking at the warriors of Yggdrasil assembled in the manor, Selen let out an exclamation of wonder.
Last night's feast had truly been the first in a long time.
Ever since the Yggdrasil warriors had gone missing, there had been no bright topics in Yggdrasil for ages. After evacuating many of those who couldn't fight outside the city, the streets had fallen silent—but now Yggdrasil overflowed with the light of hope.
Hope had returned partly because they'd succeeded in weakening the Treasure Hall, but the biggest factor was surely that the missing warriors had returned alive. Those members who had endured grueling training to stop the World Tree's rampage were Yggdrasil's pride and the embodiment of hope itself.
Though exhausted upon their immediate return, the warriors had regained their fighting spirit after reuniting with their families. Not a single one refused to face the next battle.
One could say the objective had already been achieved. They'd managed to weaken the Treasure Hall before the god could fully manifest. The missing members had returned as well.
If they refined the Mana Material disruption device Citry had created here in Yggdrasil, they might be able to erase the Treasure Hall entirely—and perhaps even halt the World Tree's further growth.
The Mourning Specter had been an even more extraordinary group of Hunters than Selen had imagined. Up to this point, Selen and her people had done nothing but receive help. Now it was their turn to repay that kindness.
They would head to the World Tree—to the Origin Temple, and this time, they would succeed in unsealing Luke Saikol.
Selen gazed at the stone statue placed at the center of the room—the statue of Luke Saikol, brimming with such vitality it seemed ready to spring to life at any moment.
The curse Shero had placed on Luke was powerful.
In theory, there was no reason Selen shouldn't have been able to break it. Shero was a high-ranking Spiritfolk of noble descent who traced her bloodline to Yggdrasil's royal family—but in terms of pure blood, Selen's was superior. And as for skill as a curse user, it was unlikely Shero surpassed Selen.
The reason they'd first attempted the unsealing without borrowing the World Tree's power was that it should have been possible without it. But in practice, they had failed.
The only option left was to try again with the World Tree's power. But if even that didn't work—.
Selen shook her head, dispelling the anxiety that surfaced in her mind. It would be fine. It would definitely succeed.
Besides, Selen wasn't alone anymore. Ruin was there. The returning Yggdrasil warriors were there. Outstanding Mages were there.
Thousand Transformations had taught them the importance of working together.
If everyone combined their strength, there was nothing to fear—nothing they couldn't accomplish.
Fortunately, the curse afflicting Luke hadn't yet completely devoured his soul. A curse this powerful should have corroded the soul to an irreversible state almost immediately, but Luke's soul must have been exceptionally resilient.
"Once Thousand Transformations is ready, we'll depart. Even though we've weakened it, the Origin Temple is still operational. We won't be venturing deep inside, but anything could happen. Stay on your guard—"
"I am already dead once. I will not hesitate to use this life for the sake of my new friends. I've incurred more debts than I can ever repay, but let me at least repay a little here. Human lifespans are short, after all."
Ruin answered Selen's words with a faint smile. That alone eased some of the tension.
That's right. The debt they could repay through unsealing was for finding Shero. The debt for stopping the World Tree's rampage had to be repaid another way. They couldn't just stand here and do nothing.
Just as Selen took a deep breath, her companions burst into the room in a panic.
It was the team that had been monitoring the Treasure Hall. They delivered their report with ashen faces.
"Selen, something terrible. The Origin Temple—there are signs of it collapsing."
"…What?"
An unbelievable report. Selen stared at her compatriot in disbelief.
The supply of Mana Material had indeed been choked off using the black World Tree's power. But they'd only managed to restrict the inflow from the south side, and besides, Treasure Halls weren't the type of structure to crumble quickly.
Even Citry's strategy had aimed to weaken the Treasure Hall, not to destroy it entirely.
When the supply of Mana Material dropped, the Treasure Hall would convert its Phantoms and Treasure Weapons back into raw power to sustain itself. Even if the supply were cut to zero entirely, the Treasure Hall wouldn't disappear for some time.
The collapse of the Origin Temple was unmistakably welcome news. But they couldn't simply celebrate.
Yggdrasil had never been able to respond this effectively to the World Tree's rampage before. There was no telling what might happen from here on.
"…I'm heading to the Origin Temple to see what's going on. Someone, contact Thousand Transformations—"
She was in the middle of issuing that order when it happened.
A feeling like her heart had frozen over. She forgot to breathe. She questioned her own sanity.
Yggdrasil was the city Selen's ancestors had created. Full authority over the city belonged to Selen, and that included the barrier formulas designed to protect it.
—And now, that barrier, which had never once been breached by an enemy since its construction, was being torn open.
Something was coming. Something hostile to Selen, hostile to the people of Yggdrasil.
It wasn't exploiting a gap in the formula. It wasn't attempting to dispel it. It wasn't slipping through like Ruin had done.
It was brute-forcing its way through a barrier powered by the Ley Lines, and it was head-on withstanding the countless counter-assault formulas that triggered in a chain reaction—.
What existed there was an overwhelming power capable of destroying even the world.
There was only one possibility. Her throat had gone completely dry. But she couldn't turn away from reality.
"…Impossible. The Treasure Hall is collapsing, yet the god is still—still alive—"