Chapter 331: The Apostle (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 331: The Apostle (2)
Apostle.
The word echoed in my mind, spoken by the tree.
An instinctive frown creased my brow.
Apostle?
What was it talking about? Was it referring to me?
“What do you mean by that?” I asked.
[ I am glad we got to meet like this. ]
The World Tree’s voice, once filled with a sad emptiness, now held a flicker of hope. It spoke as if my presence brought it joy.
Why does everyone react this way?
But my frown only deepened. This was a familiar pattern. Every single one of these mysterious beings I encountered seemed amused or entertained by me. It felt as though my very existence provided them with some strange delight.
Damn it all.
To me, it felt anything but welcoming. If these enigmatic entities found amusement in me, it could only mean there was something fundamentally unusual about my existence.
Pushing the thought aside, I pressed the tree. “Do you know who I am?”
Given its reaction, I wondered if it was aware of my regression.
The World Tree fell silent for a moment. The air grew still, broken only by the sound of its massive branches slowly stirring.
Craaack-
[ Apostle. ]
“Why do you keep calling me that?” I demanded. “What even is an apostle?”
[ I do not know who you are, but it seems you know who I am. ]
Its response gave me pause. The tree claimed I knew it, yet it had no idea who I was. I understood the first part, but the second was baffling. How could it be unaware of me when I was so familiar with it?
“What do you mean by that?” I asked again, my confusion mounting.
[ It seems like you’ve traversed through time, Apostle. ]
My breath caught in my throat.
How did it know? Was it lying when it said it wouldn’t remember me?
The tree had spoken so casually. A nervous tremor ran through me. Did this tree possess memories of its own?
[ Are you curious as to how I know that? ]
I remained silent, my mind racing.
[ Do not be so shocked. I do not know what kind of life you lived in the past. ]
“Then how do you know about it?” I pressed.
Crack.
A thick root emerged from the ground, uncoiling slowly until it pointed directly at my chest.
[ I sense the trace that I left within you. ]
A trace from my past life. The explanation clicked into place. I absently rubbed my chest, thinking back. The mark the World Tree had left on me.
[ I do not recall giving it to you, but that is undoubtedly my mark. ]
I remembered. I’d had no choice but to accept it to survive. And later, the Heavenly Demon had mentioned it—That’s a strange thing you carry. I had thought he erased it. Had he failed?
[ Even if you try to erase it, you will not be able to remove it completely. It is engraved in your soul. ]
“…Can you read my mind or something?” The sensation was deeply unsettling.
[ Of course not. How could a mere tree like me do such a thing? ]
Despite its words, it felt precisely like it was reading my thoughts. Engraved on my soul. How lovely. It meant that even regression hadn’t fundamentally changed my soul.
“…I came here to ask you something,” I said, pushing the disturbing thoughts aside. There was so much I needed to know. The reason for my journey here was to pose the countless questions weighing on my mind. I wondered if the tree could answer them.
[ A question, you say? What are you curious about? ]
Its voice echoed directly in my perception, the same as when we first met. I still wasn’t used to the feeling. Gritting my teeth against the discomfort, I asked the most pressing question.
“Were you the one who sent me back to the past?”
Traveling through time was a miracle, and miracles didn't happen without a cause. Yeon Il-Cheon had insisted there was a reason for my regression, and the first entity that came to mind was this tree.
“I’m asking… did you bring me back to life and send me into the past.”
Time travel was illogical, impossible. But if any being was capable of such a feat, it would have to be something abnormal. And this tree in front of me was certainly not normal. It was my prime suspect.
[ Apostle, that was not my doing. ]
The tree’s denial was immediate.
[ The process of traversing time places an unimaginable burden upon one’s soul. That is far beyond my strength, for I am merely a tree. ]
“A normal tree can’t talk. Nor can it be as colossal as you,” I retorted.
[ Whatever you may believe, I am telling you that I did not grant you this miracle. ]
I opened my mouth to demand how I could possibly believe it, then shut it again. Arguing was pointless.
“So you aren’t the one… who brought me back, huh.”
[ Unfortunately, no. I no longer possess the strength for such a feat. It is beyond me. ]
Its words suggested it might have once had that power.
[ Apostle. ]
A sudden wind rustled through its leaves.
[ I do not know what happened to you. ]
The profound sadness in its voice grated on me. I disliked how it sounded like it pitied me.
“Why do you keep calling me ‘apostle’? Just what is an apostle?”
[ You carry my mark. This means that the past version of you was chosen by the future version of me. That is what makes you my apostle. ]
“How do you know that I met you in the future?”
[ You came here earlier than you were supposed to, am I correct? ]
I said nothing, which was answer enough.
[ I am happy. I have waited so long, and I have finally met someone who would bear my mark. ]
A long time. It had said the same thing back then, in what was my future.
“What… is your identity?” I asked, changing the subject.
[ Did I not tell you already? ]
It was true; I hadn’t learned much from the tree in my past life. I’d only learned how to return to the normal world and how this false world differed from it. That was about all.
You rotted away and turned to ash after telling me those things, so of course I didn’t get to hear much. The memory was seared into my mind: the colossal tree crumbling into dust, scattered by the wind.
[ I am Muah. ]
“I already know that much.”
[ I am the Fifth World Tree, and the ruler of this world. ]
“Ruler, huh…” I glanced around at the ruined, decayed landscape. “Are you the God of this world?”
[ Well, in the past, some did indeed call me that. Judging by your question, it seems I did not tell you much before. ]
“You didn’t even have the time. You disappeared right away.”
[ …Disappeared, you say… I see. ]
A palpable gloom seemed to emanate from the World Tree. Its voice took on a chilling quality, as if ice were spreading through my veins.
[ It seems I do not have much time left. ]
“…It’s not that short, considering how time flows here.” If a few years in the outside world was only a day here, and I had been around twenty when I first fell into this place in my past life, then the tree still had a very long time indeed.
However, the tree disagreed.
[ For me, human time passes in an instant. What feels long to you is nothing to me. ] It did not sound happy about this fact. [ That is why I am grateful. My apostle sought me out. ]
“Your damned ‘apostle’ this and ‘apostle’ that. It’s annoying. I asked you why I’m your apostle.”
I didn’t believe in God. It had been far too long for me to put faith in such concepts.
“You once told me something,” I continued, steering the conversation back to my purpose. I wanted to burn away the world’s burdens. I didn't understand this world, but I knew the one I came from was filled with twisted, tangled truths. “I don’t know much.”
It was embarrassing. Even after regression, the things I didn’t understand far outnumbered those I did. The thought of pretending ignorance and sleeping through it all was tempting, but it disgusted me. I felt involved, tangled in these damned affairs. Even if I wasn't at the center, innocent people were, and that left me deeply uneasy.
“So tell me where I need to start first. What is it that you know?”
[ … ]
The World Tree fell into an uncomfortable silence. The pause stretched on for a long time.
Then, Craaack-
A thick root rose from the ground behind me, curling into a shape that resembled a seat.
[ Sit. ]
Hesitantly, I sat down on the offered root.
[ Apostle. Do you know about the existence of a ruler? ]
“A ruler?” It had already called itself the ruler of this world.
[ Yes, a ruler. A ruler is both the essence of a world and the world itself. ]
“Make it easier to understand.”
[ It is exactly as it sounds. A ruler exists because the world exists, and the world exists because the ruler exists. ]
“What…”
[ However, there is one key difference: if a world disappears, its ruler vanishes with it. But if a ruler disappears, the world does not immediately collapse. ]
I struggled to grasp the concept. Not only was the meaning elusive, but I couldn't see why the tree was telling me this.
“…And why are you telling me this?” My regression, the Blood and Heavenly Demons, the calamity Yeon Il-Cheon mentioned, the red marble called a seed in the Gu Clan's territory… I had countless urgent questions, and the tree was rambling about abstract philosophy.
[ The ruler of this world is not a ruler in the truest sense. ]
“Is there more to it than that?”
[ More precisely, it is the ruler of life. ]
“Life?”
[ That is correct. All life in this land, combined, constitutes the ruler of this world. A world exists, life exists within it, and thus the world is maintained. ]
“And what does that have to do with what I’m asking?” My impatience was growing.
[ What do you think would happen if the ruler of a world disappears? ]
The question sparked a sudden, chilling realization within me.
[ When a ruler disappears, it means the death of all life in the world. ]
“What…?” I was stunned. “What do you mean, all life disappears?”
The world, the ruler, fate—none of it made sense. The World Tree before me had vanished in my past life after leaving its mark on me. And yet, after it was gone, the demons in this world remained. If the tree spoke the truth, all life should have perished with it.
Moreover… …There isn’t a ruler in my world to begin wi-!
A thought struck me mid-protest.
The World Tree seemed to respond to my shocked expression.
[ Life does not vanish immediately when a ruler is lost. But without a ruler, no new life can be born, and eventually, all existing life will fade into extinction. ]
“No new lives can be born?”
[ That would be the case, normally. ]
A ruler. A world’s ruler. The concept was strange. If a ruler was necessary for new life…
“…There is no ruler in the world I live in,” I stated flatly. “How can you explain that?”
I had never heard of any ruler in my world. According to the tree's logic, without one, no new life should be possible. And yet, my world seemed to be functioning normally. Was there a hidden ruler I didn't know about?
As that thought formed, the tree spoke again.
[ We call that a crack. ]
“A crack?”
[ Your world has broken away from its own principles. It is drawing power from that crack. ]
A world without a ruler was somehow sustaining life. Did that mean my world had broken the fundamental rules of existence?
“Does that become a problem?”
[ A world without a ruler defies the principles of existence. A new ruler must be created. ]
“Create a ruler?”
[ That is also why I am called the Fifth World Tree of this world. ]
So, this tree was the fifth ruler. That explained the title.
“…So, as long as a new ruler is established, there’s no problem, right?” Wouldn't it be fine if a new ruler eventually appeared?
When I asked this, the tree's response was different.
[ Apostle, as I mentioned, all life born in a world belongs to its ruler. ]
“And?”
[ With life existing in a world without a ruler, do you know what must be done to restore the natural cycle? ]
“What must be done… to bring a new ruler into the world?”
As I frowned in confusion, the tree delivered its answer.
[ The answer is— ]
Its voice was calm, final.
[ All existing life must be erased. Only then can a new ruler emerge. ]
It was a sickening, horrifying answer.