88
088 ― Green-Skinned Warriors
Requesting protection, is this a dangerous situation?
No, before that, it's questionable whether I can even go to provide protection. The entrance to the 3rd floor was blocked by an unknown force, making it impossible to enter. But how?
'Perhaps like when I went to the Spirit Realm......'
Could I enter using the power of the divine artifact within me and the God of Sky's scabbard like I did back then?
[ The God of Moonlit Forest affirms. ]
I thought it might be possible in my heart, and she really says it's doable. If so, I can enter the 3rd floor and see the situation directly.
'Let me ask a few things.'
However, since it's said to be a dangerous place, I needed a bit more information. To begin with, it's questionable why the 3rd floor was closed in the first place.
When I asked about that, this time I heard not just a reaction but also an answer.
[ The Lord is...... ]
Still a faint voice. A frail one that seemed like it would disappear at any moment.
But I definitely knew that it was connected to me.
'You're saying the Lord is the culprit. But for what reason?'
[ That being wants to descend to the Lower Realm. They want to collect all the Lords' divine artifacts scattered throughout the 3rd floor to open a hole. A hole large enough for themselves to pass through. ]
I suddenly remembered Grisella, whom I met not long ago. To be precise, the part of the God of Sky that had descended using her body as a medium.
It means something similar is happening in the 3rd floor as well.
The difference is that while only an extremely small part of the God of Sky descended, this time they're aiming for the main deity to descend as is.
And for that purpose, they're plundering other Lords' divine artifacts.
'If they collect all the divine artifacts, can they commit such an act?'
[ I don't know...... No one has ever tried it before. ]
'Then what is that Lord relying on to do this?'
[ Since the possibility isn't nonexistent, perhaps they're trying it out. ]
It's a kind of experiment, in other words.
From what I've heard, Lords, or rather the spirits of the Spirit Realm itself, cannot descend to the Lower Realm.
They are souls that have already transcended all worldly things and ascended to the heavens. There's no way they could descend to the Lower Realm again through ambiguous means.
That's why that being is also experimenting.
If it works, good; if it doesn't, it's unfortunate. With just that level of consciousness, they blocked the entire 3rd floor and started the divine artifact struggle.
They don't care at all about how much damage the beings of the Lower Realm suffer and die.
'......They're not in their right mind.'
[ Spirits...... When they look at souls of the Lower Realm, they don't really distinguish whether they're alive or dead; there's that aspect to them. ]
'They can't distinguish between the living and the dead?'
[ It's not that they can't, they just don't bother to. In their eyes, they're all the same souls within reincarnation anyway. Clinging to a single life and finding meaning in it is a characteristic unique to the Lower Realm. ]
Come to think of it, the World Tree is a similar existence. The Elf race has souls that circulate around the World Tree.
Their dead souls become nutrients for the World Tree, and with those absorbed nutrients, the World Tree blooms new flowers. Those flowers represent Elves reborn at the end of reincarnation.
If it's the same soul, whether it's dead or alive, it might not matter at all to the World Tree.
'......'
For the first time, the other party beyond this glass orb felt distant.
I didn't realize it when I only saw her crying and laughing at children's anime, cheering at related toys.
Even if she shows childlike behavior, she is a spirit of the Spirit Realm.
[ We must stop it. It doesn't matter if it fails, but if it succeeds...... If the Lord's main body really descends to the Lower Realm as is, there will be no one who can stop it. ]
'I understand it's a big deal. So who is it? The Lord who caused this incident.'
Jin-woo recalled what happened just before he returned from the 3rd floor. There was definitely some unsettling business back then.
Something about the God of Light and Dawn randomly sending down trials and gathering monsters.
They seemed to be gathering troops with some kind of scheme.
Is that guy the culprit?
[ The God of Moonlit Forest denies. ]
But the God of Moonlit Forest indicated it wasn't so. It means it's not the God of Light who blocked the 3rd floor and is plotting to descend to the Lower Realm.
[ The one who caused this is the God of War. ]
Jin-woo recalled Bertus's ambiguous way of speaking and held his head.
***
He wanted to leave immediately, but precisely because of that, Jin-woo took time to manage his condition.
He also checked his items and told Rona about the 3rd floor. Then.
"Me too! Can I go too?"
Words requesting to accompany him came back.
Jin-woo asked the glass orb.
'Is it possible?'
[ If it's an Elf, it's possible. Because they're beings that originated from me. ]
An answer that it's possible because she's an Elf born from the World Tree's flower. Conversely, it means other races like humans or Dwarves who weren't born from the World Tree cannot do it.
'Why can I do it then?'
A natural question arose.
I'm neither an Elf nor a being that originated from the World Tree. But how can I enter the Gate that the World Tree opens?
I was puzzled, but now I was used to it. This isn't the first or second time something like this has happened.
"Are you ready?"
"Yes."
After some time had passed, they finished preparing to leave. Rona was also touching her sword hilt with a determined expression, building up the tension in her body.
I don't know what situation we'll encounter when we go in. If we're unlucky, we might have to fight immediately.
Jin-woo also drew his sword beforehand and prepared. He had to draw it anyway since the God of Sky's scabbard was needed to open the Gate.
"Is that the divine artifact that was in the Sky's Temple?"
"Yeah."
Rona looked at Jin-woo holding the scabbard with fresh eyes. She had heard about it, but to really have a Lord's divine artifact.
She couldn't understand when that weak human who had fled so desperately in the Primeval Forest had become such an existence.
As someone who similarly pursued the sword, she could have felt jealous, but instead, Rona was happy.
She had known Jin-woo's talent from long ago. She had even taught him swordsmanship at one time.
Because of that, rather than jealousy, she was happy that her touch had entered into the existence called Kang Jin-woo to some extent.
If possible, a little more. Such thoughts naturally arose.
"Jin-woo. Take this spirit with you."
"Spirit?"
Rona handed Jin-woo a white light. It was her spirit that he had seen before.
"It doesn't have the power to protect Jin-woo...... But still, you'll be able to feel the connection with me wherever you are."
"Right, we might get separated by chance, so let's prepare in advance."
That's one meaning.
She smiled brightly and attached the spirit to Jin-woo, and Jin-woo accepted it without refusing.
Since he had the Ego Sword that handled wind spirits and the glass orb that was part of the World Tree's divine artifact, Rona's spirit didn't reject Jin-woo or anything.
"Let's depart."
"Yes."
Eventually, a Gate opened using the glass orb and the God of Sky's scabbard, and Jin-woo and Rona stepped inside.
They don't know if it will function well, but both had the Feather of Fate with them.
[ 3rd floor : Pandemonium ]
Fortunately, they safely arrived at the 3rd floor. They didn't get separated from each other either. The two were able to fall in the same place together.
It wouldn't be a coincidence, so the Feather of Fate must have been effective. Looking at this, not all elements of the Gate were blocked.......
"Um, Jin-woo. Was the 3rd floor originally like this?"
"No. It was a city."
The two people familiar with Gates immediately surveyed their surroundings while being on guard as soon as they entered.
Not only Jin-woo but Rona also knew well about the 3rd floor. Isn't it a place with a large city where various different races stay?
But the scene spread before them was completely different.
"Is this a desert?"
The heat of the scorching sun hot enough to make the sky shimmer. An endlessly spread sandy beach and sparse dried plants.
And rusted swords and spears stuck in the ground, armor pieces, and various forms of white bones rolling around on the floor.
"The sun is too hot, would you like to wrap some cloth around yourself?"
Jin-woo gratefully received the cloth Rona offered and wrapped his head and face. It seemed like they should first find the Temple of Moonlit Forest.
***
Broken swords and spears were stuck here and there in the sand dunes. And below them, white bones in armor were abundant.
Corpses from who knows how long ago they died. The blood had long dried up, flesh and organs had been eaten by rats and insects, decomposed by microorganisms, leaving only rusted armor and yellowed white bones.
A space as if an old battlefield had been moved here as is.
"It's not just humans."
"This small one seems to be a Dwarf. Could that large, thick bone be an Orc's?"
Looking around with Rona, there weren't only human bones.
Traces of a battlefield where various different races mixed together and fought, dying without distinction of who was first. Regardless of race, all that was visible was a tragic scene.
Even such a terrible imagination came to mind that perhaps even this sand wasn't real sand but something else.
'It feels similar to the God of Sky's barrier.'
From what Jin-woo felt, this barrier covering the 3rd floor had a similar feeling to what the God of Sky had deployed.
Of course, it's not exactly the same. But the foundation was the same in that it covered the surroundings based on the energy of Erosion.
Thanks to that, Jin-woo could grasp the structure of the barrier, but.......
'It's so wide, jeez.'
The God of Sky's barrier was a barrier to hide something by deploying illusions. Whether hiding divine artifacts or hiding Grisella.
That was an illusion that greatly inflated a small space, so it crumbled before Jin-woo, who could see through Erosion.
But this barrier is different. It's not an illusion but real. Since it really covers the vast land of the entire 3rd floor, there was nothing he could do, even after grasping the structure a little.
'If I find the core like with Erosion, and destroy it, it will disappear though.'
Any barrier has a core vital point. If that place is struck, it will collapse like a building that lost its pillar, that's obvious.
The problem is that since this vast land is all real and not an illusion, I couldn't tell where the core is and which pillar supports the barrier. There's no guarantee there's only one pillar to begin with.
For now, rather than thinking about destroying the barrier.
"Shall we look for the temple?"
"Yes. Let's go quickly."
Finding the Temple of Moonlit Forest came first.
Probably most of the safe Elves would be gathered there. April would be there too, and maybe even Poldere, the wyvern knight.
'What are Kalesian and Mahiri doing? Is Kurenai Masato also trapped in the 3rd floor?'
I don't think I heard that they returned to Earth.
They might have secretly returned, but there's also a strong possibility they're still in the 3rd floor.
If I could join up with them too, it would be reassuring.......
Jin-woo and Rona wandered around looking for Moonlit Forest against the sandstorm. Covering their heads and faces with the cloth Rona provided and keeping their clothing gaps well closed, they passed through the sand.
Even though they prepared like that, the sand grains somehow burrowed in and were extremely bothersome. They entered through shoe gaps, making feet feel gritty, and even burrowed into the cloth covering the mouth, making lips feel gritty.
"Rona!"
"What!"
The sandstorm grew increasingly fierce. It wasn't yet a strong wind that could be called a typhoon, but it was enough to obscure vision like thick fog.
Even though they were walking at close distance, they had to raise their voices just to communicate.
"Enemies ten steps ahead!"
"What?"
At the sudden words, Rona's eyes widened, and the enemies hiding in the sand dunes threw off their camouflage and charged.
"Kill them!"
"Fight! Take it!"
They who charged after their ambush failed were green-skinned warriors. They were Orcs.