CHAPTER 73
073 - The Tree of Souls

—Uh, can I just speak into this?
It seemed Ma Doo-sik had put the smartphone to Grisella's ear. Her voice came through, sounding slightly distant.
"Can you hear me?"
—Oh, I can hear you clearly. How fascinating. Is this the magical tool of this world?
"Something like that."
A smartphone was indeed a magical tool of sorts.
—Anyway, I heard! You've already defeated Elvanov?
"Was he someone impressive?"
—Of course! He was a manager-level minion that a low-ranking one like me couldn't even look at. One of the few who could hold the whip, so to speak…
From her description, he didn't sound like he held that high of a position. Wasn't that just a mid-level manager at best?
"So he wasn't one of the Lord's direct subordinates, I take it?"
—Ahaha, people like that can't easily cross over to other worlds. Unless it's through a Gate, perhaps.
Grisella laughed as if she'd heard an amusing joke. From her reaction, he could glean a few facts.
The minions crossing over to Earth were all weak, mid-level managers or lower. Well, if they could send strong ones at will, they would have done so long ago.
'If that were possible, the Lord could just descend himself.'
It seemed that beings that were too powerful couldn't cross over easily. Come to think of it, the Lords themselves were beings who couldn't leave the Spirit Realm.
Wasn't that why they sent down divine objects to the 3rd Floor and built altars on the 2nd Floor to interfere with the lower realms?
Conversely, it meant that the Sky God, having lost his divine object, was now isolated in the Spirit Realm with even that interference cut off.
"Alright, we can hear the story about Elva-whatever-his-name-is later. Do you know the location where another minion crossed over?"
—The next closest one is, umm… you have to cross the sea.
"Across the sea?"
Did she mean the archipelago beyond the East Sea or the continent in the direction of the West Sea?
—Here, it's around here.
—Hunter Kang Jinwoo, this is Ma Doo-sik. I'm showing her a map right now.
"Where is it?"
—Jeju Island.
…It wasn't in the direction of Tokyo or Hong Kong, but it was still quite far. At the very least, it wasn't a place he could get to with the SUV or motorcycle he had just bought.
"She says the next target is Jeju Island."
"Jeju Island?"
Chartia looked slightly surprised and fell into thought. In her mind, a scale had appeared, and she was weighing two options.
On one side was the thought that such a long trip was problematic due to her upcoming schedule. On the other was a feeling of joy that the trip had been extended.
…Still, canceling all those appointments would be a bit much, right? I already pushed them back just to free up these two weeks.
"Chartia. I think Jeju Island is too far. Let's report it to the Bureau, have them send a reconnaissance team, and we'll head back to the city for now."
Just then, Jinwoo suggested they end the trip. Though it had only been about a week, they had made significant gains. He added that they needed to go back and regroup.
"Alright."
Chartia nodded with a slightly disappointed expression. She had been thinking of saying the same thing, but now that it was decided, she felt a pang of regret. She wished they could have traveled for just one more week.
But Jinwoo seemed set on returning to the city. A week was likely too short to handle the matter on Jeju Island and return, and he had no intention of poking around Gangwon Province any further.
'It's a waste to wander around empty land with no minions.'
There were Cores of Erosion, but it felt wasteful to wander aimlessly just for those, especially now that Grisella—who claimed to have been a subordinate of the Sky God before escaping—had appeared.
It would be more useful to get even one more piece of information out of Grisella than to just go around cutting down simple Cores that weren't minions.
"Let's go."
"I'll drive on the way back."
Jinwoo had driven on the way to Gangwon Province. It was his car, and for dealing with the monsters chasing them, Chartia's plants were more efficient than Jinwoo's sword.
On the way back, there would be no more monster ambushes, so it didn't matter if Chartia took the wheel.
As he fastened his seatbelt in the passenger seat, the car started smoothly. It was the same car, yet it seemed to start more smoothly than when he drove. Perhaps it was the difference in driving experience.
'So there are only two minions on the Korean peninsula… no, three if you include Grisella.'
The Korean peninsula was a very small place. On a world map, it was no bigger than a fingernail.
For three minions to have appeared in such a small land… Just how many minions were roaming the larger continents of Asia, America, or Africa?
'Or maybe they tend to appear near cities.'
That was also a possibility. Considering the Lich Elvanov's final actions, their immediate objective was clear.
To retrieve the divine object he possessed.
If they were sending minions according to that objective, it made sense to send them mainly near cities with large populations.
'…Would it be better to just stay on the 3rd Floor?'
If the Sky God was aiming to retrieve the divine object, it was best to be in a place his reach couldn't extend to.
The only place that came to mind that fit that criteria and where he could stay for a long time was the 3rd Floor.
The Lord's minions were coming to Earth, and the Elf world wasn't safe either. The Spirit Realm was, needless to say, dangerous.
"If it weren't for that Elf's information, we'd still be wandering aimlessly."
Chartia said, staring straight ahead as she held the steering wheel. Jinwoo nodded in agreement.
"We were heading south, towards Chungcheong or Jeolla province, so we would have had a hard time finding the Lich in Gangwon Province. And even if we had gone south, we wouldn't have gone all the way to Jeju Island, so we would have never known about the Erosion there either."
Without Grisella, they really would have returned after only cutting down a bunch of Cores. He couldn't call it a wasted trip… but it clearly would have been very unsatisfying.
In that sense, the information she provided was helpful, but…
"We can't let our guard down. I was told not to trust her at all."
"Of course. I also naturally… Huh? You were told not to trust her?"
By whom? Chartia asked with a puzzled expression. Jinwoo just gave a wry, silent smile. He wondered how she, a reincarnation of an Elf, would react if he told her that the World Tree had said such a thing.
Jinwoo opened the passenger-side window and took in the outside air. The car wasn't going that fast, so the wind on his face wasn't unpleasant, but rather refreshing.
A single vehicle driving through a ruined world covered in black earth. The one small comfort was that the air itself had not been stained black.

There was an abandoned factory outside the city. A desolate place where broken rebar, cement fragments, and dust drifted about.
That place, which should have been empty, was now guarded by military police. And not just one or two, but enough to surround the entire premises, warily watching the surroundings.
With military vehicles and temporary barbed wire fences visible, it resembled a prison more than a factory.
Grisella had been transported there.
"Ugh… I ran away because I hated living like this, and yet it ends up like this anyway…"
While Grisella accepted her treatment, she couldn't hide her dissatisfaction.
She said she ran away because she didn't want to live as a slave, but now she was locked up in another dilapidated building, making her wonder if this was right.
Still, she understood that this response was rational, so she had more or less come to terms with it.
"Did you live in a room like this when you were under the Sky God, the Lord of the Ceiling?"
Jinwoo had asked Ma Doo-sik for permission to speak with her alone. There were many things he wanted to hear and ask.
"It wasn't that different, but this place is much bigger. The only downside is that there are no plants anywhere to put my mind at ease…"
"Speaking of which, Chartia told me to give you this."
Jinwoo handed a potted plant to Grisella. It was a stalky plant with a small flower blooming, something Chartia had given him, saying she would need it.
"Wow! Thank you!"
As expected, Grisella beamed and accepted the pot. Then, as if hugging a teddy bear, she placed the pot on her lap and didn't let go.
"That person, Chartia, seems to know a lot about Elves, doesn't she?"
"She's an expert."
She herself is the reincarnation of an Elf, after all.
Thanks to the single potted plant, the atmosphere had softened considerably. In a much more comfortable environment for conversation, Jinwoo leaned his back against the wall and asked his questions. Of course, his hand was fiddling with the hilt of his White Jewel Sword.
"You said you escaped from the Lord. Does that mean you are now completely free of the Lord's shackles?"
"…The Lord uses the chains of Erosion to command his subordinates. He allows those he cherishes and trusts to retain some of their ego, but low-ranking ones like me have our ego and all our freedom stolen by Erosion."
"Then how did you escape?"
"I guess I got used to it after being like that for so long."
"Got used to it?"
Grisella gave a bitter smile and held out her hand. From her palm, the energy of Erosion rose up and drew some unknown symbol.
Jinwoo couldn't recognize it, but it seemed to hold some meaning for her. She gazed at it sadly before dispersing the energy of Erosion.
"You mean you became accustomed to Erosion."
"Yes."
Grisella was able to use the Erosion that had taken root in her to some extent. Now he understood how she had been unharmed by the attacks of the Cheonok Guild Hunters.
If she could use the power of Erosion like this, blocking attacks of that level wouldn't have been difficult.
However.
'I just can't believe it.'
Even without what he had heard from the God of the Moonlight Forest, the World Tree, Jinwoo couldn't bring himself to trust her.
Did she really escape? Or is she just saying that while still being a minion of the Lord?
The only reason he didn't draw his sword right away, despite his distrust, was that he wanted to hear anything he could about the Lords from her. Whether it was lies or the truth, information about the Lords itself was precious.
'I'd prefer the truth, if possible.'
Of course, if he was going to get information, the truth was better than lies. The problem was that he had no way of knowing what parts of her story to believe.
It was a situation with no right answer, one he had to navigate with only intuition and improvisation, and it was giving Jinwoo quite a headache.
Just then.
[The God of the Moonlight Forest says to leave it to her.]
'Huh? Leave it to you?'
He wasn't sure what she was planning, but that's what the God of the Moonlight Forest said.
Although she had only shown her childlike side lately, she was still a god. The one and only god that the Elves staked their entire race's destiny on to serve.
She must have some idea. Trusting her, he let her.
The glass bead inside Jinwoo began to glow. Unlike the light that only Jinwoo had been able to feel until now, this one was visible to the outside.
Grisella saw the light, and her eyes widened.
The light wrapped around Jinwoo's body, forming the shape of a towering tree, which then illuminated him, creating a halo.
Countless souls swirled around him. The Tree of Souls, which embraced all souls and brought forth new life.
Grisella, unlike her usual boisterous self, wore an incredibly reverent expression. At the same time, she looked as if she were holding back tears.
"Mother World Tree. Your child, due to her immaturity, has been tainted by something profane. I cannot even count the number of my kin, your other children, that I have cut down with my own hands."
[It's alright… It's not your fault.]
Unlike the light, only Jinwoo could hear those words. He wondered how to convey this message and then spoke.
"She says it's alright. For it is not your fault, but the fault of the evil one."
"Oh, ohh!"
The atmosphere was strangely surreal. It felt like a hymn should be playing in this abandoned factory.
In the midst of it all, only Jinwoo stood one step removed, observing the scene. A peculiar feeling of being detached despite being at the center of it.
Jinwoo took advantage of this atmosphere to ask what he really wanted to know.
"The Mother World Tree bids me to relay these words. Have you truly, completely escaped the clutches of the evil one?"
In truth, the World Tree hadn't said anything. Jinwoo was just using her name to ask his own question.
But the fact that she had created this situation was tantamount to lending him her name, so he felt no hesitation. As proof, the World Tree didn't stop him and was watching quietly.
Grisella answered with a tone a hundred times more sincere than before.
"It is true. Having been steeped in that profane power for so long, I unwillingly awakened a part of it and was able to break the evil one's shackles and escape."
Jinwoo was shocked. He didn't show it on his face, but inwardly, he truly was.
'She's not a spy?'
He had naturally assumed she was trying to infiltrate a human city to find the whereabouts of the divine object, but it turned out her story of escaping was all true.