To Look Cool in Front of Her
The interior of the World Tree glittered more than I had expected. And yet it was a sight I could not find beautiful in the slightest. The tree was rotting from within; its condition had deteriorated to something approaching the absolute worst.
I couldn't imagine how I was supposed to do anything about this. Even if I resorted to Spirit Integration, replenishing its power would have been impossible. In the worst case, I had been prepared to push myself past every limit I had to save the World Tree somehow—but in this state, pouring my entire life into it would have been the most pointless death imaginable. If there had been even a sliver of a chance, I might have tried. There wasn't even that.
The only remaining option was to form a contract with the Spirit of the World Tree.
I'd heard that ancient spirits could speak.
Spirits born of nature cannot hold a conversation. I could understand them, of course, but it was less a dialogue than a rough sense of, Ah, so that's what they're saying. Even that intuition—the ability to communicate with such spirits at all—was part of one's affinity, which is to say, the talent required to become a Spiritist. Without communication, you couldn't even begin.
I pressed deeper inside, and something like a pit came into view.
"Hmm."
I carefully ran my fingers through the soil there. A rich natural power still lingered in it. There had probably been water here once. It sounded absurd even to think it, but perhaps a lake had existed in this place—a place that was, for all intents and purposes, the inside of the World Tree—and that lake's water had been the World Tree Sap itself.
I couldn't know that for certain. What I did know was that a staggering abundance of natural power had once filled this place, enough to drive a person out of their mind, and that it was gone now.
I looked around. There was nothing to see. A faint green light wavered in the air, but it felt as though it might draw its last breath at any second.
"Spirit of the World Tree! I have come to speak with you! I was sent here at Titania's request! I beg you to grant me an audience!"
I called out in a loud voice, and for a brief moment a hush settled over everything. Then a low whooom rolled through the air, and the green light flared up all at once.
A spirit of living wood, wreathed in green light, took form before my eyes. Its body did not look well in any number of ways, and though it might have been my imagination, even its expression seemed faintly sour. Then again, given the World Tree's present state, it would have been stranger if it hadn't.
"I must ask that you leave."
"What?"
Get out, essentially. Apparently I was not the sort of person it wanted to deal with. I had expected as much, and if we'd had time I would have come back day after day until it changed its mind—but given what was happening outside, I couldn't simply walk away.
"Those who are not elves are not even permitted to enter the World Tree. I had no intention of meeting you in the first place. However, as you claim to have Titania's permission, I have come forth to deliver a single message: leave."
I see. So it had meant to stay silent and never show itself at all—but since I'd come at Titania's request, it had stepped out for Titania's sake, if only to look me in the face and tell me to go.
I was sorry, but I couldn't just leave.
"Are you aware of Elvenheim's current situation? A monster on the level of a Demon King Army Cadre has entered."
"Yes. Two Demon King Army Cadres have invaded, accompanied by a flock of wyverns."
So it was two, after all.
I had figured as much. Livia had vanished from the sky and never reappeared, which meant whatever she was fighting was strong enough to hold its own against her—and at that point, a Demon King Army Cadre was the only thing that came to mind. The meteor that had fallen afterward was not something you could prepare while fighting Livia. That meant two of them at minimum. And one of them, I was certain, was a mage.
"Then we don't have time to stand here talking! What do you want from me? My lifespan? What are the terms of the contract? I'll accept anything!"
Even as we spoke, elves were dying. Lives were going out. Making a spirit understand that, however, was extraordinarily difficult. As I'd said, they were a contrary sort, a race that did not readily take other people into their eyes.
"Hmm."
The Spirit of the World Tree, which had seemed on the verge of departing, turned its head as if my words had caught its interest.
"To a human, whose life is so brief, is not one's lifespan a thing of great importance? You do not even know Elvenheim particularly well. Why would you go so far?"
"People are—!!"
Irritation surged up in me before I could stop it.
"They're dying!!"
I didn't know what price I could pay. But if I could pay it, I wanted it taken. I would give it. The price. I would form the contract. Lives were going out even now, and there were lives that could still be saved if the World Tree were awakened this instant. That was enough. I didn't need a reason beyond that.
"Would you throw away your own life to save others?"
"I'm not throwing it away. I'm betting it."
"And if I were to name your life as the condition, here and now—what then?"
"A contract only means something if you live through it. Your premise is wrong from the start. I'm doing this to live, not to die."
The Spirit of the World Tree said nothing.
"Some people risk their lives to protect their country. Some do it for their families. Some for honor. The reasons differ, but every last one of them is fighting to live. No—you have to fight to live."
Fighting with the resolve to die—that, I could accept. There had been any number of situations where you had no choice but to steel yourself for death. But you must never take dying as a given. There is a world of difference between knowing the worst case might come and treating death as the baseline. No matter how hopeless the situation looks, a person has to claw for life.
"So that condition, I cannot accept. I'm going to live."
"…In principle, a contract with one who is not an elf is impossible."
"…"
"The present situation, however, is exceptional. A sudden collapse. I can no longer endure it. In a matter of days, the World Tree will die completely. And I shall die with it."
"So? You're not the sort of race that would contract with me just because you value your own life, are you? If you can't tell whether I suit you, you'd refuse the contract even if it killed you."
"You know a great deal about spirits. Yes. We are a race for whom the concept of 'others' is faint."
The Spirit of the World Tree, at least, was capable of actual conversation, which meant it regarded others more than most. The majority of spirits paid no mind to anyone else at all, and even when they did, they responded only through sensation and feeling. That could be troublesome in its own way—but it also meant that once you won their favor, they would help you unconditionally.
"And yet you're still here, standing in that place, to protect the World Tree."
"Yes. That is so."
"I'm telling you I'll help."
The Spirit of the World Tree closed its eyes for a moment.
"The contractor of the World Tree must be an elf. The reason is that compatibility with a Spiritist who is not an elf is so extremely poor as to be dangerous."
"…I'm half a spirit myself. My affinity is overwhelmingly higher than any ordinary human's."
That was why contracting with spirits had never been particularly difficult for me. I had literally just reached out a hand and found myself contracted. The first time, I hadn't even known what a contract was—I'd touched a spirit and bound myself to it by accident.
"No. It is not a matter of aptitude… In any case, if you desire it so strongly, there is a method. It will, however, be considerably dangerous."
"What do I have to do?"
"A contract between a spirit and a Spiritist is a contract of souls. Our bodies are ill-matched, and so—whether we will it or not—the difficulty of such a contract is exceedingly high. To speak plainly, it is impossible."
I understood the gist.
"Then there's a way to lower that difficulty, right?"
"There is a method by which a momentary contract may be made possible."
"Good. Can that moment save this World Tree?"
"The explosive burst of mana in that instant should yield enough power to purify the World Tree."
"Purify?"
Something about the word snagged at me. But this was no time to dwell on it. In a situation where every second counted, I couldn't stand here trading questions. I had all the information I needed. Only one thing remained.
"I'll ask one more time. What do I have to do?"
"Though our bodies do not match, a spirit can, in principle, form a contract with any race—by joining the essence of their souls. I, however, am a somewhat special spirit, and the physical link aligns well only with elves."
"In other words, you're saying we connect soul to soul?"
"You follow rather quickly. Are you aware that a person grows stronger on the brink of death, or in a moment of mortal peril?"
"Huh?"
The shift was abrupt. But I had heard such stories. In the instant before death, or in a crisis that threatened it, a person's soul thrashed to survive, and manifested outside the body in a way it otherwise never could.
"If you are brought to the brink of death, your soul will emerge. Then a contract should be possible."
"W-wait a second…"
"The same is true of me, for reference. We must drive each other to the brink of death with our mana, so that our souls respond to that mana and may be joined."
"…"
"You asked a contract of me—I, who was made to contract only with elves. Have you not even that much nerve?"
I was silent for a moment, then spoke.
"Can't we just injure ourselves? That seems like it'd be more precise."
"No."
"Why not?"
"I believe you already know the answer."
"…"
Spirits. A spirit will never form a contract with someone it deems beneath its caliber. Lower Spirits often contracted based on the other party's qualities alone, but the higher the rank, the more conditions piled up—starting with the contractor's words and conduct, and branching into every sort of requirement. Even a Greater Spirit would rather die than form a contract with someone who had not met its terms. They would choose death.
"I am a spirit, you see. I must confirm whether you possess the caliber to contract with me."
"Do we really have to do that now? It's only a momentary contract anyway."
"Even so, a contract is a contract. And you are already aware, are you not?"
"That spirits have difficult personalities."
"Just so."
"…"
Flame flickered to life at my fingertips.
"The only reason you lot aren't classified as monsters is because you don't harm humanity. Seriously."
"This life was bestowed upon me by the Goddess. How could I possibly slay the humanity She created?"
The Goddess had made humanity. The Evil God had made monsters. It was a famous creation myth.
"Testing my caliber is fine. But we don't have time."
"I see."
"We settle this in one blow."
"Very well."
There was only one thing to do. Pour everything I had into it. The Spirit of the World Tree was an ancient spirit, ranked above even a Greater Spirit—a being I could not be sure of defeating even at my full strength. Which meant—
Putting every last drop of my mana into this one strike is the best I can do right now.
Spirit Integration
My body transformed into flame, and in an instant my mana surged explosively. At the sight of it, the Spirit of the World Tree frowned.
"I thought your body peculiar, but to think it went this far… You have been exposed to malice beyond imagining. How pitiful."
"You don't need to look at me like that. I know I've had my share of misfortune, but I have no intention of letting that misfortune eat me alive and waste the rest of my life. I'm too busy trying to be happy. Spending my days staring at my own unhappiness would be such a waste, don't you think?"
"I see."
The Spirit of the World Tree smiled and extended a hand. Green light shimmered upon its palm. I reached out in the same way, and the roaring flames shifted in nature, turning to water.
"Fire would be stronger in terms of raw power, would it not?"
"Looking at its current state, a spirit's flames might just burn the World Tree down."
The Spirit of the World Tree laughed.
"Then I shall begin."
"Yeah."
Mana whirled, and in an instant both of us unleashed our power. My water vibrated with a keen, cutting edge, carrying enough force to shear through any ordinary blade, and it collided head-on with the green light the Spirit of the World Tree poured forth.
Mana crashed against mana with a sound that defied all reason. The green light punched through my power and carved wounds into my body. It didn't feel like two forces colliding so much as something driving itself into my flesh, and the sensation was thoroughly unpleasant, producing a bleed I couldn't believe belonged to such small cuts.
"Ghk—! Nngh…!!"
"Hnh."
The mana drove in and burst. Blood poured heavily from my body and spattered across the floor. The two forces slammed together harder and harder, whipping into a vortex.
"You would go that far to save people?"
At the Spirit's words I went blank for a moment, then smiled. Well. I wondered. That was certainly part of it. I had always helped people in the belief that human goodwill ought to go around and come around. There had been times I'd been betrayed, times things hadn't ended the way they should have. I hadn't wanted to despair at that malice. I had smiled, looking toward endings that turned out right. I had believed that goodwill carried a hopeful light.
But standing here now, it felt like something else entirely.
"…Ha."
In that instant, I laughed. Titania's words had suddenly come back to me.
Bleeding, I spoke.
"I guess you could call me a simple guy. At the end of the day, I'm a man."
"Hmm."
"…Is that so. Not a bad answer."
The entire World Tree shuddered.
"Hraaaaaah!!"
This time I shoved forward, and the Spirit of the World Tree detonated its mana in answer, refusing to yield. Then a sharp crack rang out. Mana burst through both our bodies, punching a hole through the Spirit of the World Tree's abdomen. The spirit, aware of the hole that had opened in its own form, smiled.
"Hah… hah…"
"Magnificent."
I lifted my head and shouted.
I was so short of breath, so close to dying, that I could barely get the words out.
Hurry!
We really don't have time!!