Fallen Leaves (Part Complete)
From the black sphere summoned above Black Snake’s grasp, a mass of demonic energy so vast it could not be measured shot straight toward the Life Tree. The prelude to its explosion darkened the world in an instant, as if the color itself had been drained away. The Silent Reaper’s eyes widened in disbelief as she screamed.
"No!"
Along the path of the black beam, the air itself convulsed in a storm of high heat, turning into red molten matter as violent winds roared like a tempest. Edan thrust out one arm and drew upon every scrap of magic power he had left, forcing his spell into existence.
He grimaced under the resistance of a force far greater than he had expected.
Crackle!
Thanks to Edan’s spatial distortion, Black Snake’s beam barely bent to the right. It skimmed past the Life Tree and vanished beyond the horizon. When the beam crossed the western edge of the continent, the ocean’s surface heaved violently, spraying huge plumes of water and scattering white steam into the air along its path. Edan clenched his teeth and kept pouring power into the spell, even as it became clear he was reaching his limit. Watching the beam warp under the distortion, Black Snake sneered.
"Heh. Not bad. But that’s as far as you go. Human magic has its limits. Once it’s fired, not even I can stop it."
And indeed, the beam continued forward with the full momentum of its initial blast. Not far away, the ocean began to boil away from the heat, and a white haze started to gather. Edan tried to hold out by redesigning the efficiency of his mana output on the fly, but the sheer, relentless force kept driving him back. Little by little, as time passed, the beam straightened again. If this continued, it was only a matter of time before Black Snake’s magic destroyed the Life Tree.
Hilde kicked off the ground. In a single step she shot to Black Snake’s side and swung her sword, only to be repelled by his barrier and thrown backward. Having fought the Silent Reaper for so long, she was too drained of holy power to finish him quickly.
"Mighty holy knight. Even if you attack me, the spell won’t stop. Stand there and watch the spectacle of destruction unfold."
Letting the hand that held her sword droop, Hilde thought grimly. If she couldn’t destroy the enormous black sphere, the Life Tree would be erased, and the continent would be swallowed by demonic energy. Countless people would lose their homes and be thrown into chaos. Then, like a spark snapping across her mind, an idea struck her.
Instinctively, she measured the possibility. There was one method worth trying to destroy the sphere, which trembled violently as it continued to discharge its power. No other solution came to mind. Even if she failed, it was no great loss. It was worth a shot.
Hilde closed her eyes and focused every sense inward, on the self within. The only sound she could hear was the steady beat of her own heart. The noise around her fell away until a quiet stillness settled over everything.
I’m going in.
Slowly, Hilde lifted her eyelids. The world, still tinted in gray in preparation for the chaos that had just occurred, was eerily silent compared to moments before. Every time she stopped time, she became languidly aware of her surroundings. She almost felt as though she were losing her humanity. Hilde looked around.
Edan, drenched in sweat, maintaining his spell.
Yu-seong collapsed on the ground, with Eire supporting him while she watched the situation unfold.
Black Snake, smiling crookedly.
And finally, the Silent Reaper, screaming and weeping.
Hahaha! ______. Hello!
Suddenly, Hilde felt something wrong. An inexplicable sense of pity welled up toward the Silent Reaper, as though she were a child Hilde had been watching for years. The humiliation and suffering she had endured all this time pressed against Hilde’s skin, and a flood of emotion rose within her. A shiver ran down her spine at the strange, unbidden information that surfaced on its own. As the unconscious knowledge surged in like a wave, one word flashed the instant she met the Silent Reaper’s eyes.
Eire.
The first daughter of the great Life Tree, and the last elf. The final survivor of a noble race.
Suddenly, pain began pounding through Hilde’s head. Though hardly any time had passed, even breathing became difficult. A tremendous pressure was crushing her entire body. Step by step, she walked toward the sphere, toward the one that had stopped vibrating. What had felt like an unfathomable force that none could defy now seemed like nothing more than a speck, inferior even to a simple stone.
She drew the sword in her right hand hard back toward her left hip.
Hoo.
After a single breath, she gathered all the strength in her body and brought the blade up in a diagonal slash. The black sphere split cleanly in two without resistance and began to crumble.
At the same moment, a voice echoed in Hilde’s mind.
[Welcome. You survived safely.]
It was a voice she had heard in a mountain village when she was young. A stranger’s female voice, one she had never heard before. Since she could not speak in this space, Hilde only listened. The shattered demonic energy was writhing strangely.
[It’s fallen apart in a way that will make it easy for you to absorb. If you don’t take it now, the power will explode and turn everything into a wasteland.]
[Yearn for it. Yearn for your ____, the one you have carried on your shoulders since the moment you created it.]
Who the owner of this voice was did not matter right now. She was on the verge of collapse just from maintaining the space. Hilde translated the word the voice had sent her in the most literal way possible.
Instinctively reaching out for the demonic energy, she watched as it writhed and then drew itself into her body through her mucous membranes, spreading throughout her whole being. For a moment, her chest felt heavy, but that sensation was quickly replaced by a familiar comfort. Once all of the sphere’s demonic energy had been absorbed, the frozen world shattered with a sound like breaking glass and regained its color.
Whoosh.
The beam that had continued pouring out until the very last instant before the sphere vanished brushed past the Life Tree’s trunk and flew out over the sea beyond the horizon. Black Snake, who had been so full of himself a moment ago, looked shocked. But he quickly recovered. Dwelling on what had already happened was the act of a fool.
He began, in that brief instant, to compare countless cases and determine why the sphere that had swallowed the Makyeong region had suddenly vanished. Unstable spell design. The will of the Life Tree. A mage’s dispel. The intervention of a great being. His eyes moved farther, until they landed on the woman standing where the sphere had once been.
Black Snake’s eyes widened. Even his gaze held a trace of longing.
There was only one being in this world capable of so cleanly erasing such a massive phenomenon. Black Snake soon frowned and ground his teeth as he looked at Hilde.
"……."
The being who had reappeared through a human body. After twenty thousand years, she had descended once more.
It’s already over. Why did you come so late…?
There was nothing more he could do. Casting aside his unsettled emotions, Black Snake immediately opened a gate to the demon realm and stepped through. In truth, even the so-called demon realm was nothing more than a self-appointed name, a bit of wordplay invented for convenience.
In her current state, Hilde had no strength left to stop Black Snake from fleeing. She tilted her head back and dragged in a breath, her skull throbbing with a headache so fierce it felt ready to split open. All she wanted now was to rest.
"Hhh…! Hah…!"
But even though the battle was over, there was still one thing left to do.
Hilde began to walk slowly toward the Silent Reaper.
Clack. Clack.
"Hilde…."
The saint, her body weary and sorrowful, sent what little healing she could to Hilde as she walked. The weight pressing on Hilde’s body eased, if only slightly.
Seeing Hilde approaching at her feet, the Silent Reaper—still on her knees—lowered her head. She did not fully understand what had happened, but this woman had protected the soul of her mother-like Life Tree and the souls of her kin. She had tried to take her life more than once, and yet, in the end, she had received her grace.
Perhaps, one day, these people would protect the Life Tree and fulfill her wish.
Even Black Snake had never intended to truly carry out her request from the beginning. In the end, the holy knight standing before her, whatever her motives, had helped her. One of the human race—the very race that had destroyed everything she had ever known—yet somehow, the woman before her did not inspire hatred.
With a small but distinct voice, she said,
"Human."
The Silent Reaper lifted her head and smiled for the first time in twenty thousand years.
"Kill me. I have no more regrets about this life."
After all, it was better to be killed by the first human she had ever found herself liking than to be consumed by demonic energy and lose her reason before dying.
Yet Hilde let go of the sword in her hand. To meet the Silent Reaper’s eyes, she sank to one knee. Then she looked at the demon whose breath seemed on the verge of stopping as demonic energy raged through her body.
No. She was not a demon in the first place. Her true name was—
"Eire."
Eire’s previously dim eyes flew wide open, her pupils trembling.
"How does a human know my name…?"
Watching the shaken Eire, Hilde reached out and placed a hand against the cheek where demonic energy had begun to take hold. The shattered, unseen darkness had taken on the same form it had before being absorbed into the black sphere. That demonic energy was the crystallization of the countless karmic burdens Eire had carried and suffered under.
Swish—
All the demonic energy that had been eroding the Silent Reaper began to gather through the hand that Hilde had laid on her. Eire closed her eyes at the warmth she had never felt before and let all her doubts and thoughts drift away. The karma accumulated over tens of thousands of years was swept away in an instant, and the Silent Reaper began to regain her original form.
The dark skin split and marred by demonic corruption was purified until it became as white as jade. Hair that had been thick black slowly brightened, turning into glowing gold. Tiny scars disappeared, and color returned to her pale cheeks, as though blood were flowing back into them.
But the change did not stop there.
The branches of the Life Tree began to shake violently, as though whipped by the wind. Moisture returned to the dried and withered trunk, filling it with renewed life. As it purified the surrounding demonic energy, leaves began to grow at a visible pace. The will of the Life Tree, long crushed beneath karma, recovered consciousness once more.
Before long, the Life Tree, restored to its original form, began scattering its leaves with divine brilliance.
When the Life Tree’s leaves touched the barren earth of Makyeong, an astonishing phenomenon occurred. Some vast will seemed to gather in the shape of the Life Tree and dominate the entire region. As the leaves shimmered green and sank into the desolate land, all manner of plants sprouted up, and the area around the Life Tree transformed into lush, verdant ground.
"Wow…! Makyeong is being purified!"
The saint cried out in delight. Lightning flashed intermittently overhead, and the once-dreary, dark sky of Makyeong was clearing at last. The place that had always been crushed beneath demonic energy, never once receiving proper sunlight, had become a landscape of unprecedented beauty.
Ah... Ah! This power is…
With tears in her eyes, Eire slowly opened them. Her mismatched eyes had returned to normal, now a pale blue-green shimmer filled with moisture. She could not bear even the small amount of karma that had been placed upon the goddess. Purified from the dense demonic energy and restored to her ancient form, she covered Hilde’s hand with both of hers. Through the mist of long-buried memory, the beautiful face of that person she had once known began to overlap with Hilde’s.
The one who had created a human resembling herself and was envied by the rest of her creations. The one whose foolish creations could not bear the weight she had carried once she vanished from the world.
"At last…."
Eire’s voice trembled. Hilde was not just some young woman of the human race. She was the great Creator, the one who had smiled kindly and given her the divine palace, Rebeche.
"You have returned."
Eire pressed her face against Hilde’s hand, savoring the touch. Alarmed by the unsettling intensity of her reaction, Hilde withdrew her hand and stood. It seemed she had mistaken her for someone else.
"What are you talking about? I’ve only just come here…."
Eire rose after her, struggling to hold back the flood of emotion.
"That can’t be. The only one who could purify this much demonic energy and the Life Tree is Her."
Confused, Hilde scratched her cheek. This was the first time she had ever left the kingdom of Marinella. Even the purification of the demonic energy had not been a conscious act she had planned in advance, but rather something that had emerged from instinctive mental reflex.
Eire’s eyes sparkled as she moved closer to Hilde. The saint, who had been looking on from the side, suddenly stepped between them.
"Hey. You know you’re the one we were sent here to subjugate, right?"
Eire felt a brief flicker of irritation at the saint who was obstructing the reunion she had waited so long for. But the memory of the countless lives she had destroyed pressed down on her heart, and her feelings grew heavy. From a human point of view, she was someone who deserved to die a hundred times over. Yet she was not sorry in the way humans expected. The only being who had the right to judge her was one and only one.
Eire looked at Hilde.
"If you tell me to die now, I will do so. The Mother Life Tree has regained her form, and with the birth of my kin only a matter of time, I have no more regrets."
The Life Tree’s branches were bearing large fruit. The Life Tree, which had been buried in darkness and had barely managed to protect the elf souls before they could fall into corruption, was finally preparing to release its kin back into the world.
"I alone was the fallen one. Even if I disappear from this world, my wish will be fulfilled by your will. I beg your care."
Eire spoke as one prepared for death. In the flood of information that had washed over her while time stood still, Hilde seized on one thing. The image of the fallen elf, left alone in a peaceful world and struggling by herself, replayed automatically in her mind.
The cleanest thing is the dirtiest thing. And among the elves, the one who stood as the sole representative and bared all the blood was the filthiest of them all.
The dirtiest thing is the purest thing. Born first from a leaf of the Life Tree, Eire became the fallen leaf for the sake of her kin. Even if her end was ruin.
It was purely instinct when Hilde reached out and stroked the top of Eire’s head. Eire flinched at the touch.
"I hereby absolve your sins."
Eire’s heart surged with joy. Her life had been saved by merciful grace. She was grateful for the chance to live on and see her kin again.
Eirein and Edan, watching from the side, let out quiet sighs. They didn’t know the full circumstances, but with Eire’s personality and appearance changed so completely, and with the surrounding environment altered as it was, they had no idea what would happen if they took the life of the person who now seemed to be the most important factor. Besides, that vicious and wicked Silent Reaper had turned into a tame dog in front of Hilde. They decided to hear the details later and, for now, trust Hilde’s judgment entirely.
"Then I suppose I’ll report that the subjugation was a success."
Edan felt dazed by the mission of the first hero party, which seemed to have been twisted by manipulation from the very start. The only small relief was that there was no similarity whatsoever between the Silent Reaper and Eire.
— — —
Fwoosh!
Black Snake’s finishing move, the demonic-energy beam, had crossed the western continent and the sea without losing any of its force, racing at breakneck speed toward some coastline on the eastern continent. A girl lying on a rock with her hands behind her head, enjoying the sunlight, frowned as the beam approached, leaving a trail of white steam in its wake.
With her black hair tied in a ponytail whipping behind her, the girl in her late teens sprang down from the rock and looked up at the incoming mass of black energy. A long sword formed in the air before her. She seized it in one fluid motion, brought the scabbarded blade to her waist, and took a formal stance. Her eyes were mismatched—left blue, right yellow.
The wind surged, making her tied hair and the dark training uniform that revealed the lines of her body flutter sharply.
After a brief moment of focus, the girl swung at the beam with blinding speed. In that instant, space folded in half, and the exploding beam was absorbed into the split void.
Crack—!
Just as the spatial slash, adapted from an Ancient Dragon technique, began to shake and threaten collapse, the girl broke into a cold sweat. For a moment, doubt crept into the life she had spent training her whole existence to perfect what she had believed was an invincible technique. But before long, the beam vanished.
If it had been overloaded even a little longer, the entire area would have become a wasteland.
What the hell was that? Whoever did this, you’re dead if I find you.
Her fists trembling and her white teeth grinding, a voice echoed inside her mind from the being who had been watching this scene.
[Trixie. You’ve grown up, haven’t you.]
The Ancient Dragon, devoid of emotional fluctuation. Somehow, warmth was hidden inside the resonance sent by Trixie’s father.