Chapter 226
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 226
Chapter Title: The World Tree's Essence
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"Am I... useful?"
"Even if you couldn't heal, you'd be more useful than anything else. Don't say that."
"Puheuh..."
Luna's laughter, light and pleased, echoed softly.
The external wounds healed in an instant.
Isna had suffered what anyone would call a fatal injury, but it posed no challenge at all for Luna to treat.
Her unique healing power could save anyone who hadn't yet died.
While Leon carried her out of the cave, Luna silently scanned the interior.
"Leon can't know its true nature."
For Leon's safety, it had to remain hidden.
Even hearing its name, acknowledging its existence, or glimpsing its form could trigger severe mental erosion.
This had applied without exception long ago, even to Eden's two gods, Adam and Eve.
She didn't know much about it herself.
Referred to only as an extradimensional god, it was unclear if it was truly divine or some monstrous equivalent.
What she did know was that some of the angels who once served her had instantly shed bloody tears and shattered mentally upon entering its influence.
She didn't even fully know its name, but if this extradimensional god was once again turning its gaze toward this world, this dimension, the only thing she could do now was buy time.
At least until Leon could fully resist it.
How it knew Leon, and how Leon had become entangled with it, remained a mystery to her—but Leon's very power defied everything she knew.
Wuuung...
She summoned a rainbow aura, purifying and incinerating every trace of the extradimensional god left where Isna had been.
Something faint lingered there, attempting to infiltrate her mind.
What she was doing went beyond mere contact—it was dangerously probing its essence.
Yet thanks to the necklace Leon had given her, with its mental stabilization effect, Luna felt her usual calm.
She desperately wanted to tell Leon, but right now, the only way she could protect him was silence.
Until he grew stronger.
"Luna, let's go."
"Got it."
Once every trace of the extradimensional god in the cave was gone, Luna silently folded away the wings of light behind her and walked out with steady steps.
The elves' funeral procession proceeded in a solemn atmosphere.
The city hadn't fully recovered from the aftermath of the great raid, with reconstruction efforts bustling everywhere.
But something far more important demanded attention now.
I silently watched the procession from the terrace of the Trigrad family's mansion.
On every street in the city, countless elves in funeral garb carried the coffins of the fallen toward their rest.
"Elves bury their dead beneath the roots of the World Tree."
They say the bodies merge with the World Tree and live on within it.
It sounded absurd, but it was their tradition—nothing to argue about.
"Won't you join them?"
"My turn comes later. The World Tree selected me as a proxy candidate."
She showed the seal etched on the back of her hand and smiled faintly.
That mark appears when a candidate truly becomes the proxy, bestowed by the World Tree itself.
It was akin to a holy stigmata in the Holy Kingdom.
Triana Bell Trigrad had long been hailed as the high elf closest to proxy status, the most proxy-like of them all—even before the false accusations.
Today, her attire differed from usual.
Far more elegant and beautiful.
"Young Lady, you're not ready yet. Come inside."
"Eek... Then, Young Master, I'll go prepare again."
With that, she lightly stepped back into the room.
As I watched her retreating figure, Luna approached me.
"Why?"
Thud!!
She leaped straight at me, clinging to my waist like a cicada on an old tree trunk, wrapping her legs around me.
Even though she'd grown a bit, her small stature made it feel oddly endearing.
Her dull, pale eyes, shadowed by faint dark circles, fixed entirely on me.
"What is it?"
"Were you just eyeing another girl? Am I some fish you've already hooked and reeled in?"
Her jealousy aside, this sudden body-slam was embarrassingly intimate.
"Gonna stay clinging like that?"
"Can't I cling?"
But Luna made no effort to hide her dissatisfaction, perhaps from our lack of time together lately.
"Leon looks even more handsome today."
"Thanks. You're pretty too."
"Not bad at lip service."
Having someone express affection so purely was quite heartening.
A smirk tugged at my lips unbidden.
Her occasional flirtations felt both endearing and grateful.
A bit awkward, she slowly climbed down, cleared her throat, and looked away.
"How's Lady Isna?"
"Just exhausted. She'll wake after a deep sleep, but it'll take a few days."
At least that was a relief. I had much to ask her, but with her out cold, nothing to be done.
About two hours later, Luna and I followed an elf servant from the Trigrad family to the funeral hall.
Though outsiders, we'd minimized the damage and were recognized benefactors by the World Tree itself—the elves insisted we attend.
No reason to refuse, so I joined the procession and waited amid the crowd for the proxy, Triana, to conduct the rite.
Soon, Triana appeared in her stunning proxy robes, supported by two elves. Every elf bowed their head in silent tribute.
Triana took a short breath, then slowly read her prepared speech.
"Today... we endured great trials. External forces breached Mother Forest's borders and extended their demonic claws to corrupt Mother World Tree."
The elves listened in solemn silence.
It wasn't some grand oration.
Just a clear acknowledgment of the situation.
As Triana finished and raised both hands, a collective moment of silence fell.
It was a wondrous sight.
At her gesture, rays of light from the World Tree's lofty branches drifted down like snowflakes, warmly enveloping everyone in comfort and blessing for the departed.
The joint funeral concluded in dignified reverence before the World Tree's mystery.
Triana met the gazes of the family heads and elders, nodded, and spoke.
"Young Master Leon Cascadia. Would you step forward?"
At her request, I silently walked through the elves.
Despite the crowd, they parted like the sea as I approached, clearing my path.
Plip... plip...
They scattered iridescent, beautiful flowers along my way.
I'd seen scenes like this in my past life's movies, but experiencing it firsthand was new.
The soft rustle of petals accompanied me to the podium, where Triana spoke.
"We must express our gratitude."
Triana continued.
"Though an outsider with no duty to protect this place, you were the first to lend aid in defending Mother Forest. You saved our kin, Mother World Tree, and this city from the invading monsters..."
She paused, then bowed her head to me.
"Our respects."
As she murmured quietly, the high elf family heads bowed first, followed by the elders.
Then, every elf in the plaza paid their respects to me.
I silently took in the scene.
Seeing the elves, regardless of faction or interests, uniformly express their thanks felt a bit awkward.
That was when it happened.
A fierce wind roared, shaking the World Tree's massive branches. Lingering motes of light gathered in one spot.
As if the World Tree itself were speaking to me.
No direct communication, but I sensed its request and drew the claymore from my subspace pocket.
Nakwha, now nicknamed the divine sword among the elves.
Sring...
Even as I drew the blade, no elf panicked.
They simply watched in silence.
I gripped the sword with both hands in perfect form, positioning the guard at my collarbone, blade upright.
And intoned,
"Bloom."
Nakwha's second awakening, manifested through the World Tree's power.
Its form unfolded; the entire blade crumbled into motes of light, forming a massive flower bud in midair.
The bloom unfurled, scattering petals of light across the city.
Infused with the World Tree's power, it blessed the entire forest.
"Ahh... It's the divine sword..."
"Definitely the divine sword..."
Few humans understood spirit swords' structure, so their unique traits defied simple classification as magic swords.
To the elves, this sight seemed profoundly moving.
Vast life force surged; Nakwha's floating petals began drifting down, crumbling one by one.
A small cluster at the flower's core condensed, slowly descending to my hand.
The radiant orb dimmed, revealing its true form.
A softly glowing fruit.
Oh. What’s this? Such a unique structure.
"In the world..."
The elves' eyes widened in shock.
"The Millennium Fruit... To think we'd witness the World Tree's essence."
It appeared to be something extraordinary.
Watching the elves kneel en masse toward the World Tree left me a little uneasy.