Turns Out She Was My Disciple's Close Older Sister?
Sera had never been particular about her methods when it came to saving the world. She had considered every possibility she could imagine and tried every approach within her reach.
One of those approaches had been the World Tree.
A being that bordered on divinity.
If anyone could do something, it would be her. That was what Sera had believed.
But that belief had been a profound misunderstanding — a complete delusion.
The World Tree was close to a god, yes. But only close. As a result, of the twin attributes of omniscience and omnipotence, she fell short of the latter. True to her near-divine nature, she possessed the power of omniscience — yet she lacked the single most critical ability of all: omnipotence. In the end, she was nothing more than an omniscient being.
There had been a time when Sera believed that even without omnipotence, omniscience alone would still be a formidable power. She learned soon enough how badly she had misjudged.
To be omniscient was, ultimately, to be capable of nothing.
The World Tree could see everything — past, present, and future. Because of that, both the present and the future were, to her, nothing more than fixed certainties. She knew better than anyone that what she foresaw would simply unfold as she had seen it, arriving at the conclusion she already knew. If she foresaw the world's destruction, she merely knew of it — nothing more, nothing less. If she foresaw a future in which the Demon King brought ruin, that was where it ended for her. She did not consider how to deal with the Demon King, how to fight him, or how to win. The moment she foresaw it, the story was already over.
In the end, Sera had no choice but to abandon any hope of the World Tree's cooperation. It had not been an easy decision. Even if the World Tree could offer her no real help, she had been the only one who could truly understand Sera. No matter how powerless she was, the sole being in this world who knew Sera's truth, who could share conversation and mutual understanding with her — that kind of presence could not help but hold a powerful allure. But an omniscient being was only ever omniscient. She never stepped beyond that. She always simply held her place and met her end.
And so —
Sera could not understand this.
"The World Tree's barrier…"
"My Lady, could you not do something with Anti-Aura?"
She had had no intention of returning to her sanctuary until she had fully matured into a woman. But the moment she received William's urgent report — delivered via emergency teleportation magic — she had come running. And just as William had reported, the World Tree's barrier was holding Jade captive.
"This can't be…"
If the World Tree had been Sera's only true confidant, then the reverse was also true — Sera had been the World Tree's only confidant as well.
Omniscient, and therefore powerless to act.
Trapped in regression, and therefore capable of nothing but despair.
Both of them possessed qualities that others would have called strengths or advantages — and both of them, because of those very qualities, had despaired and come to feel them as curses. That shared affliction had forged a powerful sense of kinship between them, a resemblance so exact it bordered on identity.
Which was precisely why this made no sense.
At this point in time, the World Tree should have been drowning in despair — having foreseen the Demon King and concluded there was nothing she could do.
And yet here she was, standing before Master like this…
I don't think the World Tree would do this out of malice…
Even so — what kind of twisted impulse would make her lock someone else's master away like this?
Sera finally drew her sword, intending to cut through the barrier with Anti-Aura. Even the World Tree would not be able to withstand a power that severed and annihilated all things. She possessed no omnipotence — which made it possible.
"Oh dear, oh dear. Still as impatient as ever, Sera."
In that instant, something appeared — a form as faint and translucent as a soul. It was a presence familiar to both Sera and Riel, and Riel cried out in alarm.
"M-Mother! What on earth is going on?!"
"Ah, Riel. Forgive me. I must have startled you, appearing so suddenly. I found I needed to have a conversation before bestowing the blessing."
Sera, who had been glaring at the World Tree, cut in.
"Give Master back."
"My, my. Won't you call me unnie?"
"Give Master back while I'm still asking nicely."
"Haa. How did my little sister end up so far off the rails? When I first met her, she was such a sweet child — always going, 'World Tree-nim! Please, lend me your strength!'"
"I'd prefer you stop talking as if you lived through it yourself when you didn't. It makes me sick."
That was the truth of it.
The World Tree was omniscient. She knew everything that had transpired between her and Sera across the endless loops of regression. But knowing was all it was.
She had not lived it. She had not felt it. She had not truly empathized. She simply knew that those events had occurred — she did not carry the raw, vivid memory of the emotions within them. That was the real reason Sera had ultimately put distance between herself and the World Tree. There were wounds that cut deeper precisely because they came from something half-complete — and for Sera, that was exactly what the World Tree's powerless omniscience had been.
"…Yes. I suppose the way I speak must feel like a wound to you. But know that it was never done out of malice. To you, I must seem like a slightly different being each time — but to me, every version of myself is still me."
"I don't want to hear it. Give Master back. Now."
"My, my. Is that any way to speak to me? What if I decide to scrap the wonderful blessing I was about to give and settle for something halfhearted instead?"
"Why are you even doing this in the first place? At this point in the timeline, shouldn't you have foreseen the Demon King, fallen into despair, and shut yourself away?"
"You're right. At this point, I always foresaw the same thing, always saw the same ending, and always despaired in the same way. This time was no different — I foresaw the same thing and saw the same ending."
"Then why are you acting like this?"
"Hmm. Because I'm worried about my little sister's taste in men?"
"…Want me to burn you down to the roots?"
"Come now, it was a joke. A joke. Don't be like that. Everything I'm doing is for Jade's benefit."
"…Tch."
"Hm?"
"Call him Mr. Jade. Don't use his name like you're close."
"……"
Why was she here?
For the World Tree, it was a difficult question to answer.
Was it because she had watched a Hero who had once sunk into despair reclaim her hope and strive to save the world? That was certainly part of it. Through her omniscience, the World Tree knew full well how deep a mire of despair the Hero had fallen into. And so, when she saw that same Hero climb free of that mire and take up her sword once more, the World Tree could not help but be astonished. That swamp of despair was one even she herself had never escaped.
But the greatest reason of all…
…was the birth of a being who had transcended her omniscience.
Jade.
A master's noble choice, made so that his disciple might live.
That choice was extraordinary in its own right — but what made it utterly extraordinary to the World Tree was that it was a result her omniscience had failed to foresee. She had known, through omniscience, what the Hero desired. But that same omniscience had told her: The Hero will never obtain a second Aura Heart. And so she had been able to offer no help at all.
Yes. According to her omniscience, the Hero should never have been able to obtain a second Aura Heart. Sera's countless failures had proven it. Across all those loops of regression, Sera had never once acquired a second Aura Heart. She should never have been able to acquire one in the future, either. Her omniscience should have completed itself once more, without fail.
Jade had shattered that certainty.
She had sought contact with him to learn how such a thing was possible — and in the end, the World Tree understood.
The moment she beheld the radiant light of his soul, she could not help but realize.
That remarkable human man had, however briefly, touched the power of omnipotence. And through that, he had broken free of her omniscience.
Omniscience was merely omniscience — but omnipotence was omnipotence. No matter how thoroughly one foresaw, the moment omnipotence intervened, a gap opened, and from that gap emerged a result beyond the reach of foresight. Omniscience, after all, existed to support omnipotence. That omniscience would crumble before omnipotence was the natural order of things.
Among all human emotions, love is truly something special. I had always thought so… but to think that a master's affection for his disciple — a master's desperate wish to help her no matter the cost — could actually give rise to omnipotence. …This is an extraordinary exception. Something only Jade could have done.
Born bearing such a brilliant light of soul, the world would have subjected him to every trial imaginable in an effort to corrupt that soul. He would have been crushed countless times, despaired countless times, raged and wept and cursed the gods countless times. And yet the man had not fallen. Falling would have been easy… and he had not. Letting go of everything in despair would have brought him peace… and he had not. In the end, for the sake of his disciple, he had given up the most precious thing he possessed, pouring every ounce of his desperate will into her survival.
At this point, it might be more accurate to say that omnipotence answered him — rather than that he merely touched it.
Perhaps the saying so often repeated among humans — that if you pray earnestly enough, the gods will answer — was not merely a hollow wish, but something real. Even knowing, through her omniscience, how absurd such a notion was, the World Tree found herself entertaining the thought. For an all-knowing being to be made to believe the unbelievable — that alone spoke to the sheer magnitude of what Jade had accomplished. It was nothing less than a miracle, and no other word would do.
The countless miracles humans spoke of were, to the World Tree's omniscient eye, nothing more than products of chance. But what Jade had done — she could find no word for it but miracle.
…I mustn't tell Sera about this. No — no one must ever know.
Her omniscience had already been broken.
But no one else could know that.
Not even the Demon King. He was closer to a god than anyone — yet he possessed no omniscience of his own. That meant the only being in this world who knew her foresight had been shattered… was herself. And that knowledge would become the poison that closed around the Demon King's throat. He would see her looking frightened and grow complacent.
Omniscience itself would seem to acknowledge his victory. He would believe he was on the verge of becoming a god. And into the throat of that arrogant Demon King, the Hero's blade would sink…
Even without using her omniscience, the image painted itself vividly in the World Tree's mind.
The World Tree smiled — a smile of genuine, profound happiness.
Just as the World Tree was a mother to the elves, the elves were her children.
If her death could open a path to save those children —
Then for her, it was not suffering. It was a blessing.