Chapter 20: Underground Dungeon
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 20: Underground Dungeon
The ruins that appeared with the sudden earthquake resembled an ancient Greek temple.
Despite having been abandoned beneath the lake for what must have been a very long time, its exterior was so pristine you could believe it had been built only recently.
Iris and I carefully stepped across the stone platforms, making our way toward the structure.
When we arrived, the ruins, just as they had from a distance, were so perfectly preserved that they gave off an eerie vibe.
“The World Tree’s temple…” Iris murmured in a small voice as she gazed at the sight.
“The World Tree?”
“Yes. I’ve only seen it in ancient murals, but everything from the architectural style to the golden trees symbolizing the World Tree carved into the outer walls and pillars… I’m certain. This is a temple built thousands of years ago to serve the World Tree.”
Stroking the temple’s outer wall, Iris looked around, her eyes filled with the curiosity of a scholar, just as I’d expected.
Should I crank up the output?
Light, a basic spell learned by most mages, simply illuminates the surroundings.
It’s about as strong as a small flashlight.
But if I were to slightly tweak the part of the magic circle that controls the intensity of the light source…
Fwaaa—
I could light up the entire temple.
It wouldn't last long—an hour at most? But aside from the fact that modifying the magic circle had drastically reduced its efficiency, it was a success.
“Wow! Hyun-woo, is that the modified magic I told you about the other day?”
“It’s the most basic of basics.”
I patted Iris’s head, who was delighted by her student’s growth, and then we cautiously stepped inside the temple.
Thanks to the enhanced Light spell, the interior was incredibly bright.
Next time I come here, I should bring a high-performance magic generator and some lights.
I had to live like a human being until I could escape, right?
The inside of the temple was far more desolate than I had expected.
“Hyun-woo, there’s something over there.”
Iris pointed toward a small altar with a withered tree behind it.
The altar was covered in a thin layer of dust, but there were no offerings to be seen.
“Oh, no…”
I heard Iris’s worried voice.
She was stroking the tree behind the altar, wiping away tears.
Was it because she was an elf, or was Iris just that kind-hearted?
“This is pretty bad.”
The tree looked so lifeless that one from a forest fire would have seemed healthier. It was practically dead.
“If only I could summon a dryad…”
I comforted the downcast Iris and examined the tree more closely.
It was slightly larger than the landscaping trees you’d find in an apartment complex or a parking lot. Other than that, there was nothing particularly special about it.
…Something’s off.
A sense of unease.
Ever since entering the temple, a sharp feeling of wrongness had been pricking at my entire body, and my instincts told me this tree was the source.
But when I carefully channeled my magic into it, the tree showed no reaction.
Could it be?
Just in case, I turned my head.
“Iris, could you try injecting your magic into this tree?”
“What? My magic…?”
“You never know, right? It’s a tree in the temple of the World Tree, the god of the elves. Maybe it’ll get better if it receives magic from the elven queen.”
“Hmm…”
It was just a wild guess, but it didn’t seem like it would cause any problems.
After a moment of thought, Iris placed her hand on the tree.
Her unique green magic began to glow, and its energy flowed directly into the wood.
The tree seemed to shine for a moment, then fell silent as if nothing had happened.
…That’s not it?
Honestly, I had hoped this suddenly-appeared temple would be the key to our escape.
Do I need to offer something on the altar?
Since it’s the World Tree, should I bring some fertilizer or tree nutrients from Earth?
“H-Hyun-woo!”
“?”
I turned at her urgent call to see a change coming over the withered tree.
Life was surging through the wood that had been on the verge of death. No, it was more than surging—the tree, now covered in fresh sprouts, was glowing with a golden light.
It was the second coming of the golden tree.
“Damn, that’s effective.”
But the changes didn’t stop there.
The tree, which had regained its vitality in an instant, stretched its branches throughout the temple. A golden light, brighter than my Light spell, filled the interior.
The tree was now easily three times larger than when I first saw it.
“Iris, you could get a job as a gardener.”
“What? N-No! My magic doesn’t have the ability to make trees grow!”
“Then what’s that?”
“I have no idea…?”
As the tree continued to grow, turning the temple into something of a botanical garden, I started to wonder if I had messed something up.
But then.
[My child.]
“?!”
“Gah?!”
The voice, which seemed to bypass my eardrums and pound directly into my mind, instantly erased all such worries.
I reflexively whipped my head around, but there was no one here but Iris and me.
“No way.”
“W-World Tree…??”
As if in answer, the golden tree pulsed with light once more.
[My child.]
“Ah, ah… Mother…”
Tears streamed down Iris’s face as she moved toward the golden tree as if entranced.
Seeing this, I grabbed her.
“Hyun-woo…?”
“Wait.”
I drew magic from my circle.
If that tree really was the World Tree, there was something I had to ask.
“If you really are the World Tree, there’s something I need to ask you.”
Unfiltered rage rose in my throat and spilled out as words.
“Why did you imprison her? Why was she dethroned? You appointed her, so is it your right to just drag her down whenever you feel like it?”
Two hundred years.
I would have to live my entire life ten times over to reach 200 years.
For all that time, Iris had been alone in this dark, damp cavern with no one else around.
“Explain yourself before I burn you to the ground.”
Despite everything, Iris showed no sign of resenting the World Tree.
Why?
Because that’s what religion is. That’s the mindset of a believer toward the god they follow.
Of course, if Iris could find happiness in meeting the World Tree, I’d be fine with it.
But I knew her.
I knew that, given her personality, no matter what complaints she might have, she would never be able to utter a single harsh word to the World Tree and would keep it all bottled up inside. That’s why I had to step in.
Why had she been abandoned? How badly must Iris have wanted to ask that question over the past 200 years?
[…]
“You call yourself a god, you son of a bitch? You don’t even apologize. You just try to smooth things over by playing on your believer’s emotions?”
“H-Hyun-woo…!”
A massive fireball erupted in my palm.
“If you’re a real god, then you owe your believer—who had to endure 200 years alone in this fucking place because of you—the most sincere apology and a proper explanation you can possibly give.”
Otherwise, I’ll burn you down to the last root.
Iris was speechless, seeing this side of Kang Hyun-woo for the first time.
It wasn’t that she couldn’t understand his feelings, but for Iris, who held infinite affection for her god, his words were far too harsh.
Even so, Iris didn’t resent or feel disappointed in him.
Because even the fragments of his intense anger were for her sake.
[My child.]
The World Tree broke the heavy silence and spoke.
[He is right. I must apologize to you.]
“M-Mother… You don’t have to say that…”
[Even if there were circumstances, the pain you suffered does not disappear. I have no way to make up for the 200 years of suffering you endured, but I swear that I will one day repay you.]
A branch reached out toward Iris like a human arm and gently pulled her into a tight embrace.
[I am sorry. And I love you.]
At those few words, Iris, held in the World Tree’s embrace, said nothing and quietly wiped away her tears.
*
In the holy land of Peledeia, the kingdom of the elves, rests the symbolic entity of the World Tree.
A symbolic entity is a creature or object that, after being an object of faith for a very long time, has transformed to symbolize the god itself.
And the symbol of the World Tree was a giant tree that had lived for ten thousand years in the great forest enshrined in the holy land.
[Two hundred years ago, my connection path to the symbolic entity was stolen.]
“Stolen?”
[Unfortunately, I do not know the details myself. For the past 200 years, my connection to the surface world has been severed, and I have simply passed the time in vain.]
The World Tree’s explanation made both Iris and me think of the same thing.
“Does that mean… you had nothing to do with Iris being dethroned?”
[Of course not. In all of Peledeia, there is no child more suited for the throne than this one. I suspect it is the work of those who tampered with the connection path between myself and my symbolic entity.]
…What a relief.
I had half-expected this from the moment the World Tree spoke to us, but there’s a big difference between hearing it from the source and not.
With this, Iris could finally be certain that she hadn’t been abandoned by the god she loved most, her mother.
“Sob, sniffle…”
Seeing Iris quietly wiping her tears, my anger toward the culprits began to build.
Revenge was Iris’s to take, but if she chose to forgive them…
That’s when I would intervene.
“By the way, is it even possible to sever the connection between a god and their symbolic entity?”
It didn’t feel right to keep speaking informally now that I knew the World Tree wasn’t involved in Iris’s dethronement and imprisonment.
In any case, just breaking the barrier of this cavern, which was maintained by the World Tree’s magic, required a holy relic.
How could a mere elf do something even greater to a god’s symbolic entity?
Of course, this wasn’t a speciesist remark. Iris was an elf, too.
But it felt like the scale of this incident was too large for a mere chancellor of a kingdom to pull off.
[It is true that this is unprecedented, but I cannot declare it impossible. There was likely interference from another divinity.]
“Do you happen to know which divinity interfered?”
So I can hunt them down and kill them later.
I don’t know if it’s possible to kill a god, but if I destroy every single one of their temples in this world and kill all their followers, wouldn’t that do it?
There’s a reason they say a forgotten god is a dead god.
[…Unfortunately, I do not know at present.]
Was it my imagination, or could I feel a hint of frustration in the World Tree’s previously calm voice?
[Children other than those of the royal family cannot hear my voice, so it was impossible to investigate the incident. Furthermore, this cavern is the only place within the great forest where my voice cannot reach a child of royal blood.]
“Wait a minute…? Then did Resilia know that and imprison Iris here?”
[Circumstantially, it is reasonable to assume so.]
The outline of the incident was gradually coming into focus.
Elves, who worship the World Tree as their one true god, joined hands with another divinity to not only usurp the throne but also commit some kind of atrocity against their own god’s symbolic entity, severing the connection.
And they knew about the unique properties of this cavern, something even the royal Iris was unaware of?
…At this rate, will the country of Peledeia even exist by the time we get out?
[You need not worry about that.]
? It read my thoughts… Ah, right.
Why wouldn’t a god be able to do that much?
It made sense immediately.
[A god and their believers are always connected. The prayers offered by believers are a two-way street. Seeing as the emotional state of the elves has not changed much from before, it seems the affairs of the state are not in chaos.]
That was a silver lining.
It would be a bit awkward to get out of here only to find a wasteland.
[My child, I am sorry for being so late.]
“It’s alright… It wasn’t what you wanted either, Mother. Just knowing that makes me so happy…”
After that, Iris spoke with the World Tree for a long time, acting like a child seeking affection from a parent.
Watching them, I entered a state of meditation to better understand the 2nd Circle I had recently reached.
I’m not sure how much time passed.
[Kang Hyun-woo.]
I opened my eyes at the World Tree’s call.
[It seems you wish to help this child escape from this place.]
“Yes. Since we’re on the topic, could you let us out of here?”
[That will be difficult. In my current state, I cannot interfere with the surface world. The existence of this temple and this fragment of myself allows us to converse, but I cannot do anything more.]
Just when I thought things were going smoothly. Of course, my luck would never be that good.
To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much.
For some reason, I had a feeling it would be like this.
[However, there is a way to leave this place.]
The World Tree’s branch pointed to the altar. With a rumbling sound, the altar began to move to the side.
[Deep beneath this cavern, there is a dungeon.]
Where the altar had been, a spiral staircase leading underground appeared.
[Bring me my holy relic, which is sealed on the lowest floor of the dungeon. With it, you will not only be able to escape this place, but it will also aid you in the trials to come.]