Volume 9, Chapter 13 – Angel

So it puts up a fierce struggle on the outside, but it’s quite docile within.

Using the Moon Key combined with [Aegis of the Firmament] to blaze a trail, Fia ignored the spray of sap and wood chips obscuring her vision, alternating her detection spells to peek at her surroundings. Though the giant banyan’s volume was so massive it rivaled a small continent, causing one to lose their sense of direction, its internal structure was much like any other mana-infused entity. The denser the mana, the closer she was to the core; she only needed to keep diving toward the richest concentrations of energy to find her destination.

The sound of wood being ground to pulp and the continuous flow of green fluid, mixed with a scent of grass so thick it was almost cloying, began to numb her senses.

She started to ponder a question.

The reason she and Claire had returned was to prove that Claire’s curse wouldn’t cause the land to fall. In Fia’s mind, Claire obviously didn’t have such a curse; otherwise, during the years she lived in Aurora City, the city would have shown some reaction. Yet the reality before her eyes was that the moment she and Claire returned to Dragonfall, Dragonfall began to fall. This coincidence was so precise that it began to shake her initial conviction.

She comforted Claire with words, but if Claire truly bore a curse that caused the land to fall, Fia hadn’t seriously considered what to do if that “what if” actually happened. Whether it would happen and whether there was a contingency plan were two different things. Rather than being repeatedly told she wasn’t cursed, a simple and direct solution would be far more reassuring.

Thus, her thoughts returned to the starting point. No one knew where Claire’s curse came from. The only current possibility was what the Corona Holy Son, Davis, had said: because Claire was an outworlder, her presence naturally disrupted the rules governing this world. This disruption manifested as the “curse” of bringing misfortune to those around the Holy Sons. It was the same for those afflicted by the Darkborn disease, and likely the same for Anastasia, who was sent away back then.

“Hm?”

Her progress through the time-blurring tunnel ended as the scenery before her changed abruptly.

She found herself in a spacious, brightly lit area. The ceiling was at least thirty meters high, and the space spanned over a thousand square meters. Had the walls not been composed of sieve tubes flowing with cyan-green sap, Fia would have mistaken this for a place of prayer. Unfortunately, the circulating liquid was unsettling, giving her the sensation of being inside the belly of a massive animal.

Then, Fia’s gaze fell upon a tangled mass of vines in the center of the hall. The vines were intertwined to form a cage-like inverted triangle about twice the height of a person. The exterior was a withered, decaying black. Its excessively twisted shape was unsettling just to look at; the branches reaching outward seemed to be calling for help, emitting a faint, spectral moan.

Like Pandora’s Box, it radiated an ominous aura.

It was highly unusual.

Something is locked inside.

Fia frowned slightly. She alternated between using [See Through] and [Wind of Exploration], but the results showed the vines were not an illusion, and the mana reaction within was almost nonexistent.

If this were an artificial construct like the Holy Tree, she might have accepted such a sight, but for a seemingly normal tree to contain an independent space with a cage of withered vines placed in the center like a sacrificial altar… She was intensely curious about what was inside.

Approaching cautiously until she was less than a meter away, Fia enhanced the Moon Key with [Enchanted Blade]. She first sliced through the surface of a vine to test for a counterattack. Finding it safe, she used [Spatial Hand] to violently unravel the withered growth.

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The sound of snapping fibers filled the air. When her eyes could finally see the object within, Fia’s gaze froze, and her heart skipped a beat.

Hidden within the vines was a transparent crystal. Sealed inside was a silver-haired girl with a graceful figure and a serene expression. Black horns protruded from her head, and a gray tail rested behind her; her lovely features were as elegant as a Moon Dragon’s. The only flaw was a black longsword with blue cracks thrust into her chest. Her bloodless, pale skin and lips told Fia one thing: the girl was dead.

Even the weapon used was identical to Claire’s.

“Tch.”

Hot blood instantly rushed to her brain; her heart raced, and her face flushed red. A massive amount of mana began to gather in her hand. However, reason quickly reclaimed control. Facing the naked Claire sealed in the crystal, Fia slowly released the explosive power in her hand. She took a step back, breathing deeply to calm herself.

Claire’s strength was second only to her own. There was no way she could be sealed in a crystal without making a sound, especially since her companion weapon was currently on Fia’s person. If Claire were in a situation requiring combat, Fia would surely sense it.

This is a fake.

Despite making this judgment, Fia couldn’t help but use the Moon Key to shatter the crystal and liberate the figure. The “Claire” sealed inside immediately slid out amidst the tinkling of broken shards, colliding with Fia with a soft thud . However, in that very instant, the body—which had been as smooth as white jade—turned to dust and scattered, like a piece of wood that had long ago rotted away.

It was indeed an imitation.

Fia clicked her tongue heavily. Although she had seen through the fake instantly, the very act of forging Claire’s death was enough to make her furious.

“To maintain your composure even after such a display… such terrifying self-control.”

Suddenly, an ethereal, airy voice echoed through the hall. Fia immediately looked up, her sharp gaze pointing directly at the ceiling.

It was a transparent, ghost-like woman radiating an emerald glow. She appeared to be less than twenty years old, yet the aura surrounding her body was like that of a being standing at the apex of all life. She seemed to be a god who controlled everything, one whose mere shift in mood could change the weather.

Fia narrowed her eyes.

Neither [Wind of Exploration] nor [See Through] worked on the transparent woman thirty meters away. Before the spells could reach her body, the elements simply dissipated. It sounded like she was facing a powerful foe, yet Fia felt no sense of danger from the girl.

“Are you the master of this tree? A dryad? Or a god?”

“Hehe…”

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The lovely girl covered her mouth with the back of her hand and giggled. She descended slowly toward Fia without hostility. In that moment, she completed the transformation from an indifferent god to a human; she became more vibrant and playful. Furthermore, the elements in the hall cheered at the girl’s movements, rushing toward her as if meeting their mother, forming a hazy, verdant mist in the air. Just looking at it made one feel a dense aura of nature.

“You don’t recognize me? I did bestow a blessing upon you.”

The incorporeal girl came before Fia. She smiled and extended her right hand, making a gesture as if holding something. Immediately, a verdant banyan tree only a foot high grew from her palm, as if cast from emerald. The gnarled roots and swaying branches were lifelike, and emerald light flowed around the leaves. The translucent color was exceptionally alluring.

Fia had felt a similar atmosphere in Aurora City.

Back when she was on a date with Claire, a thing called a “Branch of the World Tree” had appeared on the street. That emerald ancient tree had responded to her wish to be intimate with Claire. This girl’s aura was identical to that branch, but purer. Both the banyan in her palm and the giant one outside were similar to the branch Fia had seen before.

…A Goddess of the World Tree?

Despite her suspicion, Fia offered no friendly face to this girl wreathed in ethereal nature because of the “dead Claire” trick.

“I don’t know you.”

“How cold. I’m the one who granted you two your mutual love, yet you turn your back on me now that you’re together? Aren’t you afraid I’ll use my divine power to tear you apart?”

“Shouldn’t you introduce yourself before saying hello?”

“Tch, how unromantic. I thought you’d be more interesting.”

The girl pouted and stepped back. A pair of dragonfly-like transparent wings grew from her waist. She lifted the ends of her emerald dress with both hands and performed a noblewoman’s curtsy for Fia.

“A pleasure to meet you. I am the Proxy of the World Tree Goddess, responsible for exercising divine authority while the Goddess slumbers. You can think of me as an Angel. I apologize for earlier; I simply wanted to test your strength and character. I didn’t expect you to be this exceptional. You are so powerful that perhaps even the Goddess herself would be helpless against you. It seems the plan the Goddess entrusted to me will have to be scrapped—you won.”

What is she talking about?

As if reading Fia’s confusion, the girl unhesitatingly turned her back to Fia, strolling through the tree trunk as she explained.

“You likely don’t understand what ‘plan’ I mean. This requires an explanation starting from a long time ago. You can use a recording crystal to capture this; since I’m willing to see you, I’m not afraid of others knowing—assuming a crystal can even record me. By the way, how much do you know about that child at your side? If you tell me, I can save some time on redundant explanations.”

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“You mean Claire?”

“Yes, the girl with horns on her head and a tail behind her.”

“Why should I believe you?”

“Eh.”

The emerald girl calling herself an Angel turned her head. She glanced at Fia in surprise and shrugged helplessly.

“I’m not as omnipotent as the Goddess; I cannot know everything that happens on the World Tree Continent at any time. If you don’t trust me, it’s hard for me to help you. You carry the world’s curse; if you don’t seek help from me, disaster is only a matter of time. You’re troubled too, aren’t you? Destined to be forgotten and feared by outsiders… haven’t you thought about breaking this curse?”

Of course I have.

Fia affirmed in her mind.

She had always wanted to break Claire’s curse, but she could never find a god.

Should I trust her and lay everything out?

The question swirled in Fia’s mind. [Wind of Exploration] and [See Through] failed against the girl, proving she possessed a dense divinity. Combined with the aura identical to the Branch of the World Tree, her knowledge of Fia’s past wish, and the troubles bothering her and Claire, everything pointed to her possessing a wealth of information. Her claim to be an Angel was likely the truth.

But to spill all her secrets… if gods were as cunning as the elf god, coming clean would be equivalent to putting herself in grave danger.

“I’ll speak plainly: that demon-like girl was summoned here by the Goddess. This world is in peril; Chaos could swallow the World Tree Continent at any moment. To deal with Chaos—or rather, to delay the arrival of the apocalypse—the Goddess summoned her. She is the savior of this world.”

Without waiting for Fia to answer, the self-proclaimed Angel began explaining on her own.

“The reason I said you won is because your strength is far beyond mine; I can no longer carry out the Goddess’s arrangements. Ten thousand years ago, the Gods and the Darkborn were so preoccupied with their internal strife that they failed to notice Chaos developing into a calamity. They were forced to take refuge on this small patch of land called the World Tree Continent. Yet even so, Chaos would not let the Gods go. They would climb up the edges of the continent and continue to devour everything in their path until the world was turned into a dead land.”

“Thus, how to preserve themselves became a problem facing all the gods. At that time, the Goddess who originally belonged to the World Tree Continent stepped forward with an idea: ‘We can build a wall that allows exit but no entry, trapping Chaos beneath the continent until the time is right for a counterattack.’ This idea received the unanimous support of all the gods. Led by the Goddess of the World Tree—the strongest at the time—the gods constructed the barrier.”

“However, those gods were far too naive. When they partitioned the Origin Continent, they didn’t respect the World Tree Goddess, even mocking her as a weak deity. Now that they were in trouble, they suddenly remembered her. There’s no such thing as a free lunch. The World Tree Goddess left a few ‘surprises’ when building the barrier. The barrier’s strength is immense, but it requires a massive amount of mana to maintain. Who had the excess mana back then? Gods do not recover mana as quickly as Darkborn; for them, it’s a finite resource. Given their selfishness, no one was willing to sacrifice themselves. Fortunately, the Goddess of the World Tree had anticipated this and prepared a plan in advance.”

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The girl stopped abruptly. She turned around with a beaming smile, looking as if she expected Fia to answer.

“Can you guess why only one god remains now?”

“I don’t know.”

“We are burning the gods.”

The Angel answered bluntly, her smile devoid of warmth. She sighed and waved her hand, her tone sounding as if she were speaking of something mundane.

“Since the selfish gods wouldn’t take turns contributing, the World Tree Goddess simply forced them to. Before those gods could fully recover, she used the resonance between deities to find them, defeat them, and imprison them within the barrier to act as its power source. Thus, the World Tree Continent has survived for ten thousand years until today. Thanks to that, the mana and elements on the continent are far more abundant than they were ten thousand years ago. For you to be able to be so intimate with that summoned girl today, you really must say thank you to the Goddess.”

“Hoh.”

The gods didn’t leave for another world; they killed each other. An interesting claim.

It also matched what the first Venex had said—that the mana on the World Tree Continent was more abundant than in the past.

That said, she couldn’t believe the girl based on words alone. She hadn’t mentioned the purpose of summoning Claire, and Fia hadn’t seen this “barrier that burns gods.” One couldn’t easily trust someone without seeing the proof; even a child knew that.

Fia asked with feigned casualness.

“So, what was the Goddess’s purpose in summoning Claire?”

“I’ve said this much; can your brilliance still not grasp it? There is only one god left in this world, the Goddess. There is nothing left to burn. In such a situation, shouldn’t she summon outworld gods to use as fuel to maintain the World Tree Continent? Humans will do anything to preserve themselves, and gods are no exception; we are all beings struggling to survive. There is no shame in saying these things; only failure is shameful. And looking at you, I admit: the mission the Goddess gave me has failed. Of course, I feel no shame in losing to you.”

At this, the emerald Angel raised her hands. She gave a wry smile and made a gesture of surrender.

“So, Your Excellency, will you burn yourself to save everyone?”