Chapter 176: The Secret of the World
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 176: The Secret of the World
The number of Parasitic Woods was truly countless. They blotted out the sky, and the corpses that fell formed mountains, their spilled blood creating rivers.
However, there weren't enough of them to stop the enraged witches. Watching the Parasitic Woods die like mayflies zapped by an electric fly swatter, Yohan felt a deep sense of satisfaction.
‘Those damned bugs… Serves them right.’
There had been enough Parasitic Woods to fill the entire World Tree, but the witches here were monsters capable of erasing that World Tree completely.
They were beings so powerful that a single misstep could shatter the world itself.
Yohan thought it was a miracle that such witches were behaving themselves simply because they wanted to be with him. He felt that if he had slipped up even a little, this world would have probably been destroyed.
‘No, it probably would have been.’
He glanced at Agapeite. During their pillow talk, she, a woman from the future, had whispered to him stories about the future she came from.
Stories of a future that had met a fate too terrible for words.
The only difference between that world and this one was his presence or absence—whether he had taken proper care of the witches or not.
"Yohan, is this the right way?"
"Ah, yes."
The witches tilted their heads in confusion at the Parasitic Woods blocking their path. They looked as if they had no idea where so many monsters were coming from.
But it didn't take long for them to get a good idea of the source.
A single tree, soaring so high it seemed to pierce the heavens, greeted them.
"That's…"
"The World Tree… but it's gotten bigger than before."
It was the World Tree.
Upon seeing it, Evangeline immediately stretched out her hand and unleashed her magic. Sensing this, Yohan shouted to stop her, but he was a step too late.
"Wait, Teach—!"
KABOOOM—! Evangeline, having fired her magic, smirked as she watched the World Tree disintegrate under the blast. Then, her expression changed in an instant, and she looked at Yohan with a face of pure innocence.
"Oh my, a mistake."
"That was no mistake!"
"No, I was just so surprised to see something so big."
As Yohan stared dumbfoundedly at Evangeline, who was trying to get away with it by sticking her tongue out with a cute 'eheh~', the shattered World Tree began to regenerate at an insane speed.
The regenerated World Tree was now much larger than it had been before Evangeline's attack had obliterated it. The witches immediately understood why.
"…Heeh, so it grows by eating magic."
They had encountered and dealt with countless monsters like this. The witches knew very well how to counter them.
Whirrrrr— A sound like a spinning drill pierced the air, and soon, plasma formed, heating the air around it.
The super-heated plasma, capable of melting anything on contact, shot straight toward the World Tree. The tree swung its branches at the approaching plasma.
Tssssssss— The cooked tree branches melted away instantly. The plasma not only burned through the branches but also scorched the World Tree's trunk before dissipating.
[…Surrender.]
Just then, a humanoid tree began to slowly crawl out from within the World Tree. The witches glanced back and forth between the World Tree and Yohan.
"Can we kill it?"
"…No."
Yohan drained the witches of their magic so they couldn't use it, then walked toward the World Tree. The World Tree, nearly half its body melted away, stared at Yohan with an expression that said, What in the world is this?
"You have to keep your promise, right?"
Seeing Yohan's smirk, the World Tree realized its mistake. It shouldn't have shared its life force with a man like this. It might have been better to just let the Parasitic Woods keep feeding on it…
[…Come in.]
The World Tree invited Yohan and the witches inside.
In truth, it wasn't much different from being robbed.
Inside the World Tree.
Yohan tilted his head, looking at the interior of the World Tree, which had changed immensely compared to his visit just a few hours ago.
"…What's this? Why are your insides so white?"
[It is thanks to you.]
"Thanks to me?"
[Because you took all the Parasitic Woods with you, I was able to use the energy they were siphoning elsewhere.]
"Did you use that energy to change your way of speaking?"
The energy one Parasitic Wood siphoned wasn't that much.
Even ten of them didn't take much.
So the World Tree ignored one, then ten, then a hundred, a thousand, and finally turned a blind eye even when their numbers surpassed ten thousand.
By the time the World Tree sensed something was wrong and came to its senses, it was far too late. It was well past the point where it could solve the problem on its own.
Ultimately, it needed someone's help, and that someone was Yohan.
"Why me, of all people?"
[Because you are the only member of another species to have survived contact with me.]
"A simple reason."
It made sense. There couldn't be many creatures capable of breaking through that many Parasitic Woods. Even monsters like Arachne or the Malyong he had fought before would likely avoid them.
Those monsters had no reason to fight through the parasites to save the World Tree. The World Tree was fundamentally a gentle being, different from monsters that instinctively sought to destroy everything.
[Now, human. What is it you wish to hear from me?]
"…The reason I came here. How I was summoned, and how I can return. Tell me."
"Yohan!?"
Hearing Yohan's words, the witches looked at him in shock. To them, his words sounded no different from, 'I want to go back right now, so tell me how.'
But only the witches would be troubled if he found out. The World Tree, having no stake in the matter, began to explain what it knew.
[Where should I begin…?]
"It can be long. We have plenty of time."
[Very well. In that case—13.8 billion years ago.]
"Hey, I didn't mean for you to start that far back…"
[…You said it could be long, did you not?]
The World Tree huffed as if annoyed, then began to shorten its story.
[Then let us begin like this. —What is a witch?]
And that was the secret the group was most curious about.
A story no one in the world knew, a story perhaps only the primordial god would know.
Seeing that not only Yohan but also the witches were listening intently, the World Tree opened its mouth.
What is a witch?
A person who wields magic?
A person born with magic?
Neither is correct.
A witch is a being that pre-emptively embodies the errors of this world.
Beings created in advance to represent the problems that might arise in the distant future. That was the reason witches did not die naturally.
"Lies…"
[I have no intention of debating whether it is true or not. If you think it is a lie, you are free not to believe it. That is all there is to it.]
The World Tree ignored the shouting witches and continued its story.
If witches were created to prevent errors, then there must be a being who created the witches.
That being was the one called God.
And that God was the one who summoned Yohan.
[You. Magic does not work on you, does it? Why do you think that is?]
"Well, I don't know the details, but probably…"
[Correct. It is because you are not of this world. You, who came from another world, follow different laws. That is why magic, which can be called an error of this world, does not affect you.]
"I figured it was something like that."
Yohan couldn't hide his excitement as the story progressed. It seemed that if this continued, he might finally learn the reason and purpose for being dragged into this other world.
He had been dropped into this world, but he hadn't been required to do anything. The one who summoned him demanded nothing of him, and he had to do nothing.
His meeting the witches was a coincidence, and sleeping with them was also a coincidence.
[So the witches were created, and then, naturally, monsters were born from the magic the witches possessed…]
"And?"
[Humans were not created by God, so they could not accept magic. But that damn god, being a philanthropist, granted his power even to those who were not his children, which ultimately led to him watching his own creations be destroyed…]
"Ooh. And?"
[And then—.]
As he listened to the World Tree's seemingly endless story, Yohan realized something was strange.
This thing was acting like it knew something incredible, but it had no substance.
Yes, to be precise—it wasn't telling him what he wanted to know.
"…Hey."
[Blah, blah, blah.]
"Hey, you."
[…What is it? Can you not see I am in the middle of a story?]
"So—why did I come here? And what's the way back?"
[—How would I know something like that?]
"What?"
The World Tree shrugged and answered confidently.
[I am not a god. I asked how I would know such a thing.]
"…Haha, right."
Yohan smiled back at the World Tree, then turned to look at his teacher and pointed at the tree.
"Teacher, you can take care of it."
"—Okay. Got it."
[W-Wait!]
Listening to the sounds of his teacher tormenting the World Tree with magic, Yohan let out a deep sigh. In the end, he hadn't found a way to return.
Perhaps, no such method even existed.