300th Chapter
Ray walked alongside Luna, following the divine elf.
As they quietly trailed behind, Ray felt awkward and finally spoke up.
“Are you a Guardian as well?”
“Not much different.”
Since the elf responded without ignoring him, Ray asked another question.
“There are multiple beings called Guardians, correct? How should I address you?”
“Ramenta.”
“Hmm, Ramenta…”
Just as Ray was pondering whether “Ramenta” was a name or a title of some sort,
his vision suddenly changed once again.
“…!”
Ray turned around in surprise to find the place they had just been standing was now far away.
It was an instantaneous teleportation.
Ray forcibly suppressed a nervous laugh.
He thought it might be nearly impossible to oppose Ramenta within the World Tree’s domain.
Her raw power seemed comparable to that of a Lord, and with the blessing of the World Tree, she was almost magical in existence.
Tock!
Ramenta took a step toward a deep and massive hole located in the middle of the grove.
As Ramenta moved towards the abyss, something resembling tree branches appeared and supported her body.
Ray and Luna also climbed onto the intertwined tree branches following Ramenta.
The branches then began to slowly descend underground.
There existed an elven city beneath the earth.
In fact, the elves primarily resided underground rather than on the surface due to the abundance of blessings near the roots of the World Tree compared to the surface.
“Ah…”
Even as they continued descending underground, sunlight filled the space.
Ray leisurely admired this mysterious scenery before recalling that this place had also burned in the original timeline.
Even if Ulte awakened as the Apostle of the Dark God, he could not have destroyed this place alone.
Ulte merely put the final seal on it; many tragedies and sufferings must have preceded the end of this landscape.
Ray slightly shook his head, feeling a tinge of unease.
“By the way, Ramenta, where exactly are we heading?”
“Servant of El-Lam. You shall glimpse beyond the starlight.”
“That… It would be helpful if you could explain it more in detail.”
Before Ray could reveal his discomfort, the tree branch acting as a platform swelled significantly.
Whish!
The swollen branch closed into a bud-like form, enveloping Ray, Luna, and Ramenta.
With his vision blocked, Ray tilted his head askew and observed the situation.
Then, after a brief moment, the closed branch opened, depositing Ray onto the ground.
Ray looked around.
However, the scenery had completely transformed in that short span.
‘What is this place…?’
Where Ray stood was a small circular space.
At the center of the space, a structure resembling a small fountain was partially submerged in water.
From the center of the fountain, numerous cracks spread out, resembling complex inscriptions.
The cracks originating from the center extended outward and continued climbing up the walls.
As Ray followed the cracks engraved on the wall and looked upward, the wall was so tall that he couldn’t see the ceiling.
It felt as though they were inside a tower soaring straight into the sky.
While Ray was quite intrigued by the wall’s appearance, Ramenta spoke.
“Go stand at the center.”
“If I go there, what happens?”
“Just go.”
“It would be helpful if you explained what you’re trying to do instead of being so abrupt.”
“Go to the center. Beyond the starlight, your mother will greet you.”
“Haa…”
Ray activated his Deciphering Authority and gazed at the countless cracks carved all around.
These cracks were likely a form of magical incantation, and through his authority, he could generally discern their purpose for most spells.
However, upon activating the authority, Ray immediately felt a throbbing headache and tightly shut his eyes.
“Damn… This isn’t working.”
The level of the spell was too advanced; even with the authority, his mind was overloaded before obtaining sufficient information.
The only thing he managed to understand was that these were incantations used to create a barrier-type magic.
After briefly contemplating, Ray clicked his tongue and started walking towards the center.
“After all, with my core activated, I can easily dispel almost any barrier-type magic…”
There was no need to be overly afraid.
Thinking this, as Ray moved, Luna also followed him towards the center of the space.
Ray expected Ramenta to stop Luna, but surprisingly, Ramenta paid no attention to her.
As Ray and Luna stood together at the center, Ray questioned Ramenta.
“Is it alright for both of us to stand here together?”
“Those who are not summoned will naturally be excluded.”
Tsuzuzujik!
Once again, without warning, changes occurred.
Suddenly, Ramenta’s skin split open as if slashed hundreds of times, spilling blood.
Simultaneously, light began emanating from the countless cracks covering the floor and walls.
Immediately after,
Ray felt a strange sensation of floating and noticed his vision growing darker.
“…”
Ray disappeared.
And Ramenta was left alone.
Looking around, the space was disintegrating along the cracks engraved on the floor and walls.
This was a dimensional collapse phenomenon caused by the backlash of the magic.
The Ascension Ritual.
This magic was known by that name.
A magic that allowed communication, even if only for a fleeting moment, with transcendental beings beyond the starlight, it trespassed into a realm mortals should never dare challenge.
Thus, even for someone like Ramenta, it wasn’t an easy magic to handle.
“…”
It took great effort and preparation to cast this magic for a human.
That wasn’t the issue.
However… Now Ramenta was ‘alone’.
Ray’s presence was undetectable to Ramenta. That was natural.
Ray had stepped into the boundary line leading beyond the starlight upon answering the call of his mother.
However,
Luna’s presence was also undetectable to Ramenta.
Originally, Luna, who hadn’t received the call, should have remained in this realm with Ramenta.
But since Luna was also undetectable, it meant she too had stepped into the boundary line.
“…”
Mortals shouldn’t be able to cross that boundary line alone.
Luna had been called. Called by the mother… Together with Ray?
If not… Then…
*
Ray regained consciousness in a space dyed black.
Though clearly unfamiliar, something about it felt familiar.
Ray immediately recalled a bad memory and cursed reflexively.
This space resembled the exact moment when Ray met a transcendent being just before reincarnation.
“Really, damn it…”
Remembering the foolish guy who dragged him here instead of the intended target, curses flowed endlessly.
However, while cursing, Ray wasn’t sure if he was actually speaking them aloud.
An endless sense of floating was invading both his body and mind.
Darkness accompanied the fear that his very existence would scatter piece by piece if he lost focus even for a moment.
“…”
Ray considered using his Deciphering Authority but instinctively realized it wouldn’t be wise and abandoned the idea.
“Pull yourself together.”
Suppressing the growing fear, Ray steadied his mind.
Despite time distortion causing constant fluctuations, Ray didn’t falter.
Clutching his fists, he stood up.
When Ray imagined such movements strongly and sharpened his will,
Finally, Ray could manifest his form in the darkness.
“Phew…”
Having taken form, Ray stood firmly.
At that moment, a small orb of light fell towards him from the darkness.
“Huh?”
Frowning but not dodging, Ray extended his hand.
Upon grasping the falling orb,
A lump of unrefined information, akin to a roughly kneaded dough, flowed into Ray’s mind.
“…!!”
Information not refined for human comprehension is toxic.
His thoughts quickly became chaotic, and his consciousness started fragmenting.
However, this wasn’t Ray’s first experience with such a phenomenon.
He had undergone something similar when the transcendent being forcefully implanted information into him just before reincarnation.
Therefore, Ray calmly endured the headache while striving to sequentially extract information from the chaotic lump in his mind.
As time passed, the chaotic lump in his mind transformed into the shape of a book, and Ray flipped open its first page.
Instantly, a red land unfolded before Ray’s eyes.
“…!”
In the beginning.
A magnificent being arrived over a land flowing with lava.
This great being offered itself as nourishment, creating a foundation for life to emerge on the red land flowing with lava.
The great being carved pieces of itself and scattered them across the land, and eventually, those pieces grew into the form of a colossal tree, spreading its influence.
Amidst the land turning green, countless lives were newly born.
After mostly transforming the land into lush greenery,
The great being sought to create the most perfect creature that could act as its representative on this land.
“Elves…”
Beautiful appearance. Long lifespan. Strong physique. Noble spirit.
All these qualities were possessed by the primordial elves… born from the World Tree.
“So, that’s why humans are referred to as byproducts.”
The diversification of numerous humanoid subspecies culminated in the essence that resulted in the elves.
Born from the World Tree, the elves created their own duplicates.
Subsequently, these duplicates increased their numbers through normal reproduction.
Elves were originally the only race permitted to contain mana within their bodies.
Yet, even elves couldn’t possess the monstrous strength to crumple thick steel with bare hands.
The great being loved harmony and balance, thus enforcing an environment where no single entity could wield excessive power.
Thus, many races formed their own civilizations and engaged in emotional exchanges.
The song of life overflowed day by day, and ultimately its resonance reached…
Beyond the starlight.
From beyond the starlight where the great being originated.
More powerful beings than the great one turned their gaze.
As they began influencing this world, everything became corrupted.
“Hah…!”
Ray chuckled.
Before the world became corrupted, there was only one great being.
Hence, the being revered as El-Lam by humans was, from the World Tree’s perspective, also an invader.
Nevertheless, the World Tree had to allow El-Lam’s influence to grow vast.
Had it not done so, the world would have already met its end.
“Wow, now I see. Our big tree was getting thoroughly looted by those bully kids and has been sulking here at the edge of the world.”
There was no greater act of thievery.
“Surely, the garden painstakingly cultivated is being used as someone else’s playground, which must be very painful.”
It surely must hurt a lot.
But that was, after all, the World Tree’s predicament.
Ray didn’t particularly feel the need to sympathize or empathize with the circumstances of an entity capable of terraforming an entire planet.
“So…”
Frowning, Ray looked ahead.
The space previously dyed entirely black began to be painted with new colors.
Ray knew that beyond the painted scenery lay something non-empty, yet he couldn’t precisely perceive the existence beyond it.
Such was the result of the immense disparity in their levels of existence.
Struggling against the swirling vision, Ray pressed his eyelids and asked,
“I don’t think I was brought here just to grumble. Why exactly did you summon me here?”
*
Luna stood in a space dyed black.
The magic of Ramenta blurred the boundaries between the exceedingly high upper realms that mortal perception couldn’t even reach.
For a moment, Luna lost her composure due to the intense shock.
The scope of the ‘universe’ she recognized and defined was rapidly expanding right at this moment.
Not only had the mere human ventured into a forbidden realm beyond mortal limits,
but she was beginning to comprehend this domain purely through innate intuition.
This single experience might have shortened decades of wandering Luna would have otherwise faced.
“…”
Even amidst furiously processing thoughts, Luna felt a sense of fear.
Beyond the blurred boundaries, truly transcendental entities existed, ones whose projection couldn’t be fully manifested within the physical dimension.
Even a fleeting, indirect exchange with those entities beyond was enough to shake a human’s mind.
Luna maintained absolute calmness, preparing for any possible scenario.
“…”
Time.
“…”
Passed.
The grand miracle achieved by Ramenta had reached its end.
Until the very last moment, the entity that brought Luna to this boundary line did not reveal itself.
The space dyed black began to crack slightly, allowing light to seep through from beyond.
Now, it was time to leave this place.
As Luna took a step toward the exit, she momentarily turned back.
The region beyond the boundary remained dark and tranquil, like a boundless sea under a moonless night.
Without ever letting her guard down, Luna completed her remaining steps.
And,
From the dark starlight beyond,
a woman watched the retreating figure of the girl returning to where she belonged.
With her azure hair loose and a pair of silver eyes watching the girl,
she soon faded into the darkness alongside the starlight.
Resentment (1)
