CHAPTER 114
114. Either Way**

Silbaern’s laughter boomed, echoing through the area. The already heavy air vibrated violently, to the point that it hurt their skin.
"Tsk, so much for that."
Kalesian didn't look particularly shocked, as if he had expected to be rejected.
Leaving him be, Jinwoo leaped up. His black cloak fluttered as he cut through the trembling, earthquake-like air.
A hand holding a sword emerged from the wind-whipped cloak. Finally reaching the shadow-formed Silbaern, Jinwoo swung his sword and slashed through her form.
Kekekeke!
Even as she was being cut apart, her laughter never ceased. The thickly melted shadow burst with a pang, scattering black liquid all around.
The black liquid melted onto the World Tree, its territory, and Akram's fire, carving all sorts of curses and hatred into them.
—Kekeke…
As the laughter faded into the distance, the sound of a terrible disaster rose from the black liquid in its place.
It was a malevolent noise that would burst the eardrums and cover the body of an ordinary person with disease just from hearing it. It was Kalesian who blocked it.
"Hup!"
The mana he unleashed coated the vicinity, repelling the black liquid.
No matter how powerful a dragon's curse was, it was still just a curse left behind by a mere clone on the verge of death.
Kalesian was also a dragon; repelling such a curse was no trouble at all.
After the storm-like encounter passed, the world brightened once more.
The party had suffered almost no damage. The World Tree was also fine. But what remained was worry.
"She swore on her mana to eat us all… what happens now?"
"Exactly what it sounds like. It means that even if we are lucky enough to escape from here, she will hunt us until we die."
"Haa…"
It was a declaration. A declaration made in her own name.
Even if Jinwoo and Kalesian came up with a brilliant plan to escape the forest, she would follow. If she didn't keep her own oath, she would lose her name and her very existence.
That meant one of them—either her or them—had to meet their end here.

Encountering the dragon changed nothing.
Jinwoo still prioritized nurturing the World Tree and sought to expand its territory.
'Even if we fight, we have to do it in our own territory.'
The forest was entirely her domain. There was nothing more foolish than fighting a dragon on its own land.
The first priority was to fortify their own ground, and the World Tree was providing a sufficient foundation for that.
Chwaak!
Dragon Tooth Soldiers invaded the rapidly expanding territory of the World Tree almost daily.
To intercept them, not only Jinwoo and Kalesian but also the fire spirits were deployed, somehow managing to drive them back.
The spirits lacked the power to face the soldiers alone, but they could handle them if they fought together. With the World Tree’s support, it was even more manageable.
"Haap!"
An arrow shot by Rachel pierced a Dragon Tooth Soldier's chest. It was an arrow carved from a branch dropped by the World Tree.
—Gurgle, gack!
With a creaking sound, the Dragon Tooth Soldier fell, and Rachel’s face brightened with a mixture of pride and accomplishment.
Not just her, but the other spirits also successfully repelled the invading soldiers. After confirming this, Jinwoo briefly returned to where the World Tree stood.
Several spirits were there as well, playing and circling the tree.
He had thought that fire spirits might not get along with a tree, but that wasn't the case. The World Tree loved all spirits equally and bestowed its grace upon them.
Besides, it wasn't a tree that could be burned by the power of small spirits.
—Human!
—It's the human!
As Jinwoo approached, they all scurried away. Hiding in the distant bushes, they peeked out to observe him, still seemingly awkward around his presence.
'Can't be helped.'
They were beings who had lived for hundreds of years, cut off from the outside world, within their own flames.
The only other beings they had encountered were Silbaern’s Dragon Tooth Soldiers, so it was only natural they would be uncomfortable with an outsider.
Knowing their circumstances, Jinwoo didn't try to force his way closer. He didn't have time to relax and play around anyway.
Jinwoo placed his hand on the World Tree.
Information about the territory controlled by the tree flowed into him.
'It's getting faster.'
The speed of expansion was continuously increasing. If it was as slow as a crawling turtle at first, it was now at least as fast as a strolling deer.
The wider and longer the territory grew, the faster its expansion became.
Not only that.
'It's extending intensively in one direction.'
The World Tree's territory was spreading not in a circle, but in a shape closer to an ellipse.
It was clearly pointing in one direction. Jinwoo believed that direction was where Silbaern was located.
'It was circular before this.'
Before the encounter with Silbaern, the territory had expanded in a circle without any particular direction. But now that they were in a life-or-death situation, it began to stretch intensively in one direction.
The World Tree also understood the situation and was making the best possible judgment.
'Anyway, it's easy for now.'
In fact, it was so easy it was strange. The only interference was the same old horde of Dragon Tooth Soldiers.
Their numbers were considerable, but not enough to trouble Jinwoo and Kalesian. The World Tree’s influence was growing, and with the fire spirits joining in, the soldiers alone were no longer enough to stop them.
And yet, the other side took no action. That was what made him uneasy.
"How are things?"
Kalesian, who had just returned from a patrol, landed beside Jinwoo.
"It's going smoothly. Smoother than I thought."
"Hmm. Is she waiting for us?"
"Just sitting still like this?"
"She could be that confident."
Though he said this, Kalesian felt the same way as Jinwoo.
For someone who had declared war, the opponent was too quiet. It would be strange not to feel a sense of unease.
"As a fellow dragon, what do you think?"
"As I just said, it could be out of sheer confidence. The dragon race is, for the most part, arrogant beyond measure. She might even be sleeping."
"What? Sleeping?"
"Dragons live for an incredibly long time, but their ability to grasp the world is excessively fast. Because of that, they quickly lose interest in everything and spend most of their lives asleep."
Jinwoo asked, "I don't think I've seen you sleep much, Kalesian."
"That's because I still have many objects of interest left. I've only just set foot in the Spirit Realm, not to mention Earth."
It meant he hadn't run out of interesting things to the point of needing sleep.
While accepting that explanation, Jinwoo asked again. He couldn't just assume the best-case scenario.
"That would be a relief, but what if that's not it?"
"If not…"
There were two main possibilities. Either she was excessively arrogant, or…
"She could have laid out thorough traps."
…excessively meticulous.
Seeing Kalesian wary of the latter possibility, Jinwoo fiddled with his sword. The Nebula Sword, imbued with the power of Erosion.
He had been holding back its power, worried it might interfere with the World Tree's expansion, but if Kalesian was right and the path was full of traps, he might have to use it.
'I wonder how this power and the newly grown World Tree will react to each other.'
He recalled the roots of the World Tree in Belen Village, which had craved Erosion. He couldn't be certain that the same thing wouldn't happen again.

Deep within the forest, there was a damp place where not a single ray of sunlight penetrated.
Sap and ooze dripped from the dense jungle, and the ground was slick with moss. This place, which reeked of musty water and mold, was where Silbaern lay curled up in slumber.
The Lair of the Forest Sea Dragon, the mother of all forests.
Grrr.
With a low growl, she slowly opened her eyes.
The insolent being that had invaded her land was annoying, but the territory they had encroached upon was still just a tiny fraction of the whole.
It wasn't an incident worth waking up for, but the reason she awoke was because of another guest.
[The Dragon of the Great Forest has become a laughingstock. To think you can't even swallow a few small fries with ease.]
—Rondar.
The one who had come to visit her was the warrior who had once nearly taken her head: Rondar.
In the past, they had fought day and night for seven days, aiming for each other's necks, but they had parted without a decisive conclusion.
They had too many other scores to settle to continue fighting, but that didn't mean their enmity had disappeared.
In fact, the look in Silbaern's eyes as she gazed upon him was still filled with vivid killing intent.
If the real Rondar had appeared, she would have torn him to shreds on the spot.
—What brings you here? From the looks of it, you haven't come for another fight.
Rondar's form was hazy and indistinct. It meant his true body was far away, and he was only sending his thoughts.
Even so, for a mere thought-form to penetrate Silbaern's forest and reach her lair was a testament to its intensity.
[It seemed an old rival of mine was having some fun, so I came to watch.]
—You hear things quickly. I know you are far from here, so how did you learn of this so fast?
The hazy figure didn't answer. Only a sound like a faint chuckle escaped.
[You'd best wake up soon. He is not an opponent you can face in such a state.]
Silbaern's eyelids twitched, and she pushed herself up a little more. She then glared fiercely at Rondar.
—Did you come here to mock my pride? Do you think I'd believe that dwarf dragon is that powerful?
[Not the dwarf dragon. The human with the sword.]

Silbaern understood why Rondar had sent his thought-form all this way. He had sent it to awaken her from her slumber.
But even if she understood the purpose, she didn't know the reason.
—I do not understand. Did you truly come all this way just to say that?
[I would prefer it if you put on a more spectacular show.]
The master of the Great Forest. The ruler of the largest forest in the Spirit Realm.
A fully awakened master of the forest would fight a more frenzied battle, and the blood spilled at the end of that battle would spread far wider.
The end of a slumbering dragon would not resonate through the Spirit Realm at all. But the subjugation of a mad dragon on a rampage would strike the entire realm with equal intensity.
However, all of this was based on the assumption that a fully awakened Silbaern would be defeated.
—Foolish!
Silbaern sneered. Such a thing was impossible.
A half-baked dragon and a human wielding a toothpick-like sword could never take her head!
—If even you could not best me, what makes you think a worthless human can!
[…]
Rondar remained silent at Silbaern’s roar.
Although he had awakened her to make her fight with all her strength, he wasn't convinced of Jinwoo's victory.
It was simply that either outcome was fine with him.
It would be good if Jinwoo took Silbaern's head, making his valor and his sword known throughout the Spirit Realm. And if Jinwoo was defeated, that was fine too.
[I will simply have to wait again.]
After a long wait, he had finally arrived. If his accomplishment turned out to be less than expected and he died, all Rondar had to do was wait again.
For the cyclical river of reincarnation would one day bring him back to the Spirit Realm.