Chapter 140
Chapter 140
Episode 140
I spent my time sitting in the cave, manipulating mana above my palm.
I've sown all the seeds now. All I have to do is wait.
"What are you doing?"
"Weren't you not talking to crazy people?"
“……”
Alexios gave me a look that said, 'Are you sulking over something so trivial?'
If he keeps this up, he’s going to irritate me.
"Why?"
"What are you doing right now?"
"Can't you tell? I'm practicing mana manipulation."
I am still weak.
I've gained many means, but my skill in handling them is still a long way off.
“……You certainly live a busy life.”
Alexios said that, but then he got up and struck a pose.
Was he impressed by my efforts even in this situation?
Well, it's good that it's good. There's nothing bad about our allies' strength increasing.
Though I'm still not sure if this guy is truly an ally…
"Oz."
"What now?"
I had been practicing for a long time. Alexios, perhaps bored, spoke to me again.
"Did you kill the goblins?"
"No."
"Right..."
Alexios's question wasn't asking if I was a murderer.
He meant that if I had truly attacked them with intent, I would have killed at least one of them. So, he must be thinking that there might have been some other purpose.
He must be thinking that.
What a funny guy. Just now he called me crazy, but now that he's thought about it, it seems plausible, huh?
"Saying it was 'according to plan' isn't wrong. Because it really was according to plan."
"What part was according to plan?"
"I planted doubts in their minds. The recent events in the Federation. You know about it, right? The forest itself is turning into monsters."
"……What do you know?"
"Yes, I figured out the cause a long time ago. But do you think they'd just believe me if I told them?"
Yes, it was all according to the intended procedure.
They underestimated me. Ever since the trial began, they hadn't been wary of me.
Although some of the suspicion might have cleared when I stood in that courtroom, at the same time, their interest in me lessened when they realized I wasn't the Janus who caused the ruckus in the forest.
That's why I needed to show them how strong I was at least once.
At the very least, they needed to have plausible doubts about what I said.
Only then, when Soyeon arrives, and when she realizes that this incident isn't the work of the [Goblin King], will she request my cooperation.
"Aside from that, how badly did you mess up the goblins?"
"Ha…! Those impudent bastards, all of them except Bihyeong and a few others had their limbs shattered.
I made them pay for underestimating me."
"No, then it's not according to plan after all, you crazy bastard."
I'll admit it was a bit violent.
And the fact that I was escorted to a prison, not the reception room… Yes, I was a bit too much.
Still, it's according to plan. Anyway, it's according to plan.
"Doesn't living like that make you ashamed to face Arietta?"
“……”
This bastard is attacking me with facts again, cowardly…
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
After throwing Oz into prison, Bihyeong returned to the courtroom.
He had to clean up the mess.
Normally, as the leader, he wouldn't need to clean up the courtroom. It would be beneath his dignity.
But there were only a few goblins left who could walk on two feet.
Oz had rampaged quite violently.
"Ah, Chieftain. You've arrived."
"Yes, Jeokmae. How are the kids doing?"
"……Cheongmang was particularly targeted. Did he realize he wasn't a child, after all?"
"He messed him up that badly?"
"Especially his mouth."
"If his mouth caused the trouble, then it's only natural for his mouth to deal with it."
Bihyeong nodded, looking at Cheongmang's swollen mouth.
Cheongmang had been a bit too much.
Still, as an important figure of a nation, he shouldn't have been so insulting.
Of course, that doesn't mean the guy who overturned the entire courtroom was right.
"Is that what those in power are like? Both you, Chieftain, and everyone else seem to have something strange about your personalities."
"What's wrong with me? I'm often called hearty, you know?"
"That's not a compliment; it's a roundabout way of saying you're violent."
"No…!"
Bihyeong shouted at Jeokmae, who was narrowing her eyes.
But since he wasn't entirely without fault, he couldn't offer any further rebuttal.
"……Unfortunately, if we're talking about personality, that guy is even worse than me."
"Seeing you make excuses like that, you two are definitely similar."
"I am not!"
Bihyeong protested, hitting his chest as if he was being wronged.
Each time, a percussive sound, like a drum beating, spread around.
As the goblins trembled in fear at his overwhelming strength, Bihyeong spoke with a slightly serious expression.
"If it were me, I would have just flipped everything without thinking."
"Everything here was flipped too, though."
"But even with all this chaos, there were no fatalities, right?"
“……”
Jeokmae was astonished by Bihyeong's words. Bihyeong was right.
If Bihyeong had rampaged to this extent, there would have been fatalities.
But the opponent didn't do that. Even while rampaging this much, he was considering the intensity of his power.
Otherwise, the lack of fatalities wouldn't make sense.
"If that guy had been serious, I would be the only one standing here."
"That person… is he that strong?"
He was certainly strong.
He was someone who fought against the entire [Immaemangnyang] without being pushed back.
Only after Bihyeong intervened was he properly subdued. But I didn't feel that he was overwhelmingly strong.
That's because he was somewhat evenly matched with the opponent.
The balance broke by a hair, and Cheongmang, who was in a rear support role, was defeated.
After that, the formation collapsed spectacularly, but that was only because Cheongmang was defeated.
If he hadn't made a mistake, and if Baekyang, the guardian, had been with him, they could have won. That's what he thought.
In reality, that was Oz's limit, but Bihyeong couldn't think that way.
Bihyeong doesn't doubt his own eyes. He was clearly a strong individual.
"At least on par with me."
Bihyeong is the leader.
The leader of the goblins inherently meant the strongest being capable of protecting the tribe.
And he felt that Oz possessed strength on par with his own.
Considering his age, that would make him an absurd monster.
"Then why on earth…?"
If the opponent's strength is on par with Bihyeong's, and this was also with a reduction in power.
A question naturally follows. A fundamental question. Why did the opponent act that way?
If it was simply an act committed out of anger, it would be easier to understand.
After all, they did play tricks that made them angry.
But if it was 'pretending' to be angry, that's a different story.
That means there's a purpose.
Bihyeong smiled slyly at Jeokmae, whose eyes were wide, and answered confidently.
"That's something you all have to think about from now on."
Unfortunately, he was not good at thinking.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
A day passed.
According to the promise, today was when Bihyeong was supposed to let me out, but I was still imprisoned.
Well, there was no mention of "as soon as dawn breaks," so I understand.
But if they don't let me out by lunchtime, I'm going to smash the entire cave and escape.
Since I opened my eyes, I've been practicing mana manipulation with my back against the wall, when a crucial fact suddenly came to mind.
"Speaking of which, I think I came to let you out."
"……You're just realizing that now?"
"No, well. I had a lot going on, so I could forget."
"Most of it was your doing, though."
"That doesn't mean I had nothing to do, does it? Anyway, I was busy."
I should have mentioned Alexios when I was in the courtroom.
He would be able to clear this sub-story without much trouble.
There's a high probability that he'll resolve it well on his own even if I leave him be, but this time, I'm interested in the spoils.
The anomaly in the forest… but in fact, this isn't an anomaly.
It's just that what was bound to happen, happened.
Inanimate objects don't become monsters.
This is simply a fatal misjudgment stemming from that basic common sense.
The anomaly of the forest itself becoming a monster and attacking passersby.
Approaching it with the idea that the cause is someone's secret machinations is the root of the problem. What needs to be looked at isn't whether someone did something strange to the forest, but the forest itself.
"Have you ever heard the rumor that the World Tree's fruit is a panacea?"
"What sudden nonsense is that? Isn't the World Tree itself just a fairy tale?"
It's a sudden topic, but this guy is surprisingly responsive.
Well, being stuck in a cave like this would make anyone bored.
"Nonsense? You have nothing else to do anyway. Haven't you ever thought it was plausible since the student council president of [Scientia] is an elf?"
"I'm not interested."
"Then how about this? The rumor that the World Tree has a will."
"What…?"
At my words, Alexios's eyes widen, and he starts glaring at me.
Yes, at this point, even a stupid guy like him realizes.
"This time, what became a monster isn't the forest, but the will of the World Tree itself."
"There's a World Tree in the Federation…?"
Near the [Goblin Forest], there is a sapling of the World Tree. On the surface, it looks like nothing more than a large tree, no different from any other.
The World Tree is a sacred tree, almost divine, but the story changes if it's been exposed to demonic energy for a long time.
The World Tree sapling planted in the Federation has begun to turn into a monster over decades, even centuries.
Considering that the World Tree has a will, this isn't an anomaly, but a natural occurrence that was bound to happen someday.
"World Tree saplings are surprisingly scattered in many places."
I don't know where the elves live. They are, quite literally, a mysterious race. It's impossible to know where they came from.
But it has been confirmed by everyone that they occasionally wander the world. Why would such a reclusive group travel outside?
It's simple. To transport World Tree saplings.
Because there's no space for saplings to grow near an already fully grown World Tree.
"So, Alexios. Let me ask you again, aren't you interested in the rumor that the World Tree's fruit is an elixir that can even save a person whose heart has been pierced?"
In the [Goblin Forest] story, the game progresses in waves.
It was a welcoming stage for Bihyeong, who had his skill cooldowns reset when he defeated an opponent, and Soyeon, who possessed wide-area crowd control skills.
By enduring against the endlessly swarming monster-transformed trees, it ends with the World Tree rejecting its monster transformation and self-destructing.
However, if that happens, the goal of obtaining the fruit cannot be achieved.
Therefore, the rampaging World Tree itself must be targeted before that.
The expected difficulty will be high. Nevertheless, I want the fruit of the World Tree.
"What's your ulterior motive this time?"
"There's someone I absolutely want to save."
"You…?"
This world is currently full of threats. The 'beings from outside' are monsters beyond imagination.
However, the responses of each nation are lukewarm.
That's because there's an overwhelming embodiment of power protecting them.
[KP Dragon Emperor]
Tiamat
As long as she, who claims to be the guardian of the world, exists, no one will truly feel the crisis of destruction.
Therefore, her death alone instills deep despair.
Main Story Chapter 12.
A turning point where the atmosphere shifts with Tia's death.
That flow cannot be avoided.
Even if I had 100 people like me, I wouldn't reach Tia's toes right now. The others are the same.
Even if Alexios, Arietta, Lustitia, Discreet, Bihyeong, and countless other SSR-grade practitioners were present, they couldn't stand against Tia alone.
She is literally a deus ex machina.
"If left alone, she'll end up sacrificing herself. She's surprisingly responsible."
But such a woman dies.
She makes a mutual kill with the enemy's top force and exits the stage.
After finally meeting her younger sister, and finally finding new meaning in her solitary life.
She loses everything overnight. Leaving Spina behind, leaving everyone in [Scientia], she departs.
"That's something I absolutely hate."
I don't know if a mere elixir can save Tia. The same goes for [Challenger of the Divine].
There's no guarantee she can be saved.
In the game, even with Arietta and numerous other clerics attached, they couldn't save her.
Tia's health, plummeting by percentages, was too out of proportion.
Her level of existence was too high.
But if there's even a straw to grasp, shouldn't I grab it with all my might?
Even practicing magic with hardly any breaks like this.
Even if it's just a single drop in a vast ocean.
It's an extremely pessimistic and nearly impossible goal, but I have no intention of standing still. I will struggle.
"If you're not interested in that rumor. Could you help me?"
This would probably be the first 'request' I make to Alexios.
If he's the person I think he is, he won't refuse.
I have no choice but to trust him.
"Tsk… This time, I'll consider the cost of the magic tools repaid."
"Yes, thank you."
Saving the lonely absolute being.
That will be the long-term goal I must embrace from now on.