Embraced by the World Tree

By custom, the head of the Palga was laid to rest only after receiving the World Tree's blessing. Only then, they believed, could a soul find true peace and be gathered wholly into the arms of the divine.

But because Dantalian had forced open the gates to take Raiga as his disciple — and sealed the Palga in the process — the previous head had been stripped of the right to that blessing.

He was never supposed to return here. Not ever.

…He would never have returned.

If not for Raiga.

If not for Hyun…

It would have been impossible. He never would have broken the stubborn will of the Great Elder and the other elders. Far from any enlightenment, he might well have been dead by now. He certainly never would have been recognized as head of the house.

That was why he had raced without rest between the Empire and the Sanctuary. A journey that should have taken twenty days even at full speed, he had crossed in five. He had wanted to bring his master's remains here a day sooner, a minute sooner, a second sooner.

Perhaps that was why the shoulders that had always felt so heavy felt strangely light today. They trembled in fine shivers, and the world spun before his eyes.

No. That was not it.

Raiga soon realized the feeling was no illusion.

"Ah…"

The drop that fell was not rain. Before he knew it, Raiga was weeping. Crying like a child. He could not even remember the last time he had cried — or whether he ever had.

His master, Dantalian, who had sacrificed everything for him. The knowledge that the man was finally being gathered into the World Tree's embrace made his chest ache so fiercely he could hardly breathe.

The feelings were tangled. But if it had been only grief, Raiga never would have shed a tear. This swelling in his chest was happiness. Without question. The first true liberation he had ever known in his life.

"…"

Raiga carefully lifted his master's body from the coffin.

Dantalian. Decades had passed, yet the flesh looked no different from the living man. Even the face, locked rigid as if still clinging to some unfinished regret.

But Raiga knew what that regret had been. Dantalian had been born and raised in the Sanctuary. He must have dreamed every day of returning here, of being gathered into the World Tree's arms. And Raiga knew better than anyone how deep the despair must have been when that became impossible.

"Rest in peace, Master."

Raiga bowed his head in reverence.

And then…

…a miracle occurred.

A single shaft of light fell from the sky. A hole opened in the dark, cloud-choked heavens, and a fierce beam of sunlight pierced straight through the body of the previous head.

At the same moment—

"Ah!"

"Th-the World Tree…!"

Those watching — Great Elder Albino above all — stared in stunned disbelief.

Roots of the World Tree had risen from the earth and wrapped themselves around the body of Dantalian, the previous head of the Palga.

Albino had witnessed the blessing of countless Palga heads, but never anything like this. He had never seen the World Tree itself take someone into its embrace. Even when a druid died, the roots of the World Tree did not move.

And the miracle did not end there.

His expression…?

The rigid face of Raiga's master, the previous head of the Palga, had shifted. The corner of Dantalian's mouth had twitched upward.

Perhaps it was only imagination. Perhaps only a trick of the roots. But—

"Master. Please… find peace there."

Raiga smiled as well.

There could be no greater blessing than this. Not for him, and not for Dantalian. A salvation this vast would never come again.

Ssssshhh…

Soon Dantalian's body crumbled into earth and dust and scattered upon the wind. He had cast off every last regret and at last begun his long journey.

But he left something behind for the disciple who remained.

When Raiga saw it, he was so dumbfounded he laughed even harder.

"Yes. I'll deliver it well."

He thought he understood what it meant.

But while Raiga laughed freely, the elders could only stare in shock.

"…!!!"

"Th-that is…!"

"I am not seeing things, am I?"

"Heavens!"

What the previous head, Dantalian, had left behind was—

Gulp.

Great Elder Albino swallowed hard.

I stood quietly, watching Raiga before me.

Having received the World Tree's blessing, he was unmistakably different. Not in appearance. In presence. In atmosphere, perhaps. There was ease in him now — as if a crushing weight had finally been lifted from his shoulders.

"Take it. This is yours."

Raiga held out his hand. Something rested on his palm.

"I cannot accept it."

I shook my head. This was what the previous head of the Palga had left for Raiga. It was not mine to claim.

"If you will not take it, I will burn it. I have no use for it either way."

"…Understood."

The will behind the words was absolute. In the end, I had no choice but to accept it.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

I examined what he had given me. Resting on my palm was a small seed — the very thing Dantalian, previous head of the Palga, had left behind as he turned to dust. A seed wreathed in radiant light, now placed in my hands.

I held it and studied it carefully.

Related information surfaced. I was considerably surprised.

…A World Tree Seed.

But there was little else. Question marks?

More precisely, there was almost nothing I could actually read. Several lines appeared only as question marks — meaning the information either did not exist, or could not be interpreted.

Things like this appeared from time to time: data locked behind the level or grade of one's Observation skill. But with my Observation pushed to its absolute peak, and with my Hidden Traits, there was virtually nothing I could not see.

And if even I could not read it—

Then it depends on what I do with it.

Besides, something about it felt familiar. Holy Lineage. I had seen those words before, while preparing to clear the Abyss Labyrinth. I had consumed a golden fruit granted as a reward by a radiant Hero's Constellation, only to learn it was a World Tree Fruit — and through it I had successfully absorbed the Holy Lineage.

That was the moment my Hidden Trait, Druid's Affinity with Nature, had evolved into High Druid's Great Nature.

But this was not a fruit. It was a seed. Ordinarily, it would need to be planted in the earth.

"May I use this seed however I wish?"

"Yes. It is yours now. Do with it as you please."

This seed was as good as his master's dying will — and he was telling me to use it freely. He had even threatened to burn it if I refused. He was not lying.

"Understood."

I nodded.

And then—

Gulp.

…I swallowed the World Tree Seed whole.

"Ghk—!"

"Wh-what are you—!!"

The elders watching me clutched the backs of their necks. To eat something that should have been planted in the ground—!

In that instant—

Thrum.

Energy surged from my throat and flooded through my entire body.

Whoooosh—!

Brilliant golden threads of light burst from my flesh and drifted, swaying, through the air around me.

The Golden Rule.

I dropped quickly to the ground and began gathering the energy. At the same time—

The absorption was sluggish. The energy was far more intense than the fruit I had absorbed before. Taking it all in would not be easy.

Then someone laid a hand on my back.

Raiga.

He was lending me his own energy to help the absorption. It was an extremely dangerous act. One wrong move and his own meridians could twist and run wild. He paid it no mind. With everything he had, he poured his full strength into ensuring every last drop of the seed's power was absorbed.

The stalled absorption rate began climbing rapidly.

A full-body shudder ran through me.

The Holy Lineage. It meant a bloodline through which the master of a World Tree could become master of the world itself. Where before I had only been able to conceive and nurture nature, I could now command a World Tree and delve into its very source.

So the Golden Rule originated from the World Tree.

I finally understood the true nature of the Golden Rule as well — that the Broken Fragments of the Golden Rule had been extracted from World Trees to begin with. It all made sense now. The power that connected worlds. The driving force that allowed passage into other dimensions. It had been the World Tree all along.

Which was why there were limits. The amount of Golden Rule a single World Tree could produce was fixed.

The World Tree here in the Sanctuary and the one in the Forest of Beginning withering away… that must have been the same principle.

The reason was simple. Excessive discharge of the Golden Rule. They had been endlessly producing Broken Fragments of the Golden Rule — of course they were dying. Even if they recovered, they would wither again under the same strain.

What I needed to do was clear.

Save the dying World Trees. Revive the dead ones. Or plant new ones. By any means necessary, increase the number of healthy World Tree specimens.

Of course, it was not solely for the sake of producing more Broken Fragments of the Golden Rule.

…The Complete Golden Rule.

Only then could I obtain more of the Complete Golden Rule as well.

I almost laughed out loud. The Complete Golden Rule — and I could acquire it just by existing? One every thousand hours, but that was more than enough. The Complete Golden Rule was something you earned only by achieving monumental feats, and I had always been starved for it. Especially now, with my stock at zero after using every last one to summon Wilhelm. This was rain after a long drought.

…And the good news did not end there.

You lot… are you there?

I could feel them. Deep in the heart of the World Tree, within the Forgotten Dungeon of Honor that had formed there — a presence so familiar it was unmistakable.

But that was impossible. There was no way they could be ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠in a place like that.

I forced myself to shake my head and slowly opened my eyes.

"…Congratulations."

Raiga was the first to speak.