Chapter 162 – The City of the Dead Divine Tree (2)

The city, shaking like an earthquake, confirmed that the signal sent by Yelena had arrived.

As we stepped outside, my mana senses were overwhelmed by chaotic mana and miasma, and the Divine Tree’s “sprout,” corrupted by miasma and embodying the city itself, writhed as if awakening from sleep.

With Zahina’s help, we floated above the fortress walls and looked at the rift, which was now pulsating with a strange light, unlike before.

The rift, which seemed to be trying to transform into something else, was forced back to its original state by the massive root embedded within it.

“The root is preventing the rift from turning into a gate,” Zahina, now a great mage, immediately grasped the situation.

“So, if we cut it, will that work?” I asked.

She shook her head. “That won’t be enough. There are dozens, if not hundreds, of roots waiting behind it.”

As she said, beyond the fortress walls near the rift, dozens, if not hundreds, of roots were poised, ready to rush in if the root connected to the rift were cut.

“This is troublesome. Even if we’re lucky enough to turn the rift into a gate, there’s a risk that the gate could be destroyed.”

Once the rift turned into a gate, unlike with the rift, we couldn’t cross it freely. If the mage who created the gate blocked passage, neither we nor the roots could head to Earth.

However, if we gave up on going to Earth, we could easily destroy the gate itself.

Ultimately, to protect the gate, we had to stop those roots.

“To stop the roots, we’ll have to fight the corrupted Divine Tree…” I glanced around the city and couldn’t help but make a troubled expression.

Even though it was corrupted by miasma, fighting this massive city itself…

Even with a great mage by my side, it seemed like a bit of a stretch.

“It looks like we’ll have to go with the second plan…”

If turning the rift into a gate became too difficult, the plan was to abandon the rift, move to a safe location, and wait as targets until a new gate could be created.

It was no different from the plan used during the Great War, but this time, Yelena couldn’t do it alone.

Yelena would have to return to Korea and work with other mages in Daejeon to create a new gate.

It would be more troublesome than creating the gate in Daejeon, and it would undoubtedly take much longer.

Not a month, but possibly several months, or in the worst case, the connection could be completely severed, leaving us unable to return.

“I really hoped we wouldn’t have to resort to the second plan…”

But there was no way the two of us could fight this entire city.

Moreover, the bat-like creatures patrolling the sky seemed to have noticed us.

In the end, it seemed we would have to leave the city, but then I sensed an unexpected mana.

Zahina, now a great mage, seemed to have sensed the same thing.

“It’s the children of the Divine Tree. They’re approaching from outside the city, near the main gate.”

Suddenly, the elves appeared. It was quite an unexpected arrival.

But it wasn’t hard to understand.

Several years had passed since the Demon Army was driven out, and now a Divine Tree city had been taken over. It made sense that the elves would come running.

From the mana I sensed approaching, it wasn’t just a scouting party.

It was clearly a force meant to retake the city or exterminate the undead here.

If that was the case, there was still a chance for the first plan.

If things went well, we could succeed without lifting a finger.

“This is good. Let’s meet them.”

At my words, Zahina nodded.

Guided by Zahina’s magic, we crossed the gate.

Outside the gate, after flying for a while to put distance between us and the city, we landed when we saw the elves in the distance.

The bats that had been flying toward us from the sky stopped as soon as we crossed the gate.

As if there was no need to go outside the Divine Tree’s city, the bats landed on the gate and transformed into vampires, watching us.

The approaching elves also stopped.

They seemed confused by our presence here.

But, being rational creatures, they didn’t attack immediately.

Dozens of elves stood still.

Each one had mana comparable to the elves who had crossed over to Earth as part of the vanguard.

And a few of them had exceptional mana.

One was nearly on par with Zahina, now a great mage.

That elf seemed to recognize Zahina, staring at her intently even from a distance.

One of them broke away from the group and approached us.

A middle-aged elf who recognized Zahina.

She glanced at Zahina and then asked me, “How is a human here?”

A straightforward, elven-like question.

As expected, these were not friendly elves.

I also cut to the chase and told them only the important details.

“A rift was created in that city, connecting to a new dimension, Earth. We came here through that rift. Our role is to serve as magical targets to create a gate that will reconnect the blocked land of the Divine Tree.”

I left out the various plans to create a new gate, the hardships we’d endured, and the interference from the Divine Tree’s roots, sticking only to the simple facts.

The middle-aged elf listened with an expressionless face and nodded.

“Wait here. I will relay this information.”

She left us with what sounded like an order and returned to the group.

I didn’t like her tone, but I waited patiently for her to deliver the message.

As Zahina and I stood there, now as expressionless as the other elves, the group seemed to reach a conclusion and approached us.

Dozens of elves, led by a young man, approached us with spears, swords, arrows, and magic staffs.

The one who spoke was the young man in the center, an elf with mana nearly equal to Zahina’s.

“Fortunately, among us is a brother who has heard of the human knight who travels with one of our own who has become an outsider.

Pleased to meet you. I am the first son of the Divine Tree ‘High Heaven.’”

The first son of the Divine Tree.

Since Zahina was the first daughter of the Divine Tree, his powerful mana suggested he was like a prince of a city or a nation.

In any case, since he knew I traveled with Zahina, it made the conversation easier.

Though he seemed to completely ignore Zahina.

“We saw you come out of the city. You’re lucky. Did you see anything unusual inside?”

Listening to his question, it seemed he wasn’t just ignoring Zahina.

As expected, it didn’t sit well with me.

Still, I held back my annoyance and answered his question.

“Because of the root connected to the rift, the corrupted Divine Tree has started to move again. And among the undead, there are vampires that can transform into flying bats.”

At my words, the man nodded with an indifferent expression.

“Understood. We are here to purify the city. Wait outside the city until we finish our task. Once we’re done, we’ll allow you to create your gate.”

His answer was more satisfactory than I had expected.

What he said meant that Zahina and I wouldn’t have to do anything; we just had to wait.

However, despite his words, his tone and demeanor completely disregarded us.

As always, the elves’ words left a bad taste in my mouth.

With that, he and his group passed us by.

I watched them go, feeling bewildered, and took off my helmet to let out a sigh.

“Annoying, right?”

At the same time, I heard the exact words I was thinking from beside me.

It was Zahina.

When I looked at her, she was making an unexpected expression.

Instead of her usual blank face, she looked somewhat sad.

It was an expression I had never seen from her before.

“But it’s a helpful offer for us. From what I can see, the chances of failure are high, but at least we can just watch from the sidelines.”

Zahina’s expression didn’t match her rational words.

As she watched her kin head toward the city, her face was filled with concern.

Seeing her expression, I couldn’t help but smile wryly.

It seemed the elves were right.

When it comes to work, emotions only cause harm.

Zahina’s words were rational and correct, but her expression was emotional and would only cause harm.

“You want to help them, don’t you?”

“Huh? I didn’t say that.”

I pointed at her face.

Zahina looked at my hand and then touched her own face.

She ran her fingers from her forehead, over her eyes, cheeks, and mouth, and when she realized her expression, her eyes widened.

She hadn’t known she was making that face.

Her expression became complicated, and she seemed unsure of what to do.

As I watched Zahina show emotions I had never seen before, I stretched slightly.

Indeed, Zahina had become more human.

She hadn’t forgotten her rationality, but she felt pity for her kin heading into danger,

and she was confused by her own emotions, showing a truly human side.

And for the first time, I couldn’t ignore her human side.

But I didn’t want to help those annoying elves just because of her.

Fortunately, there was a way to handle this situation.

“Even if we offer to help, they won’t want our assistance, right?”

“Yes. They won’t. The children of the Divine Tree don’t want help from other races. They say it’s rational, but it’s just racial discrimination.”

Zahina answered my question with a bitter expression.

She had heard my question and assumed I had no intention of helping.

“Then let’s act separately. While they attack head-on, the two of us will take advantage of the chaos and launch a surprise attack. How about it? Not a bad plan, right?”

“Ah… Yes. But are you sure you’re okay with this?”

“It’s the first thing Zahina has ever wanted. Let’s do what we can.”

At my words, Zahina stared at me intently and then bowed her head deeply.

“Thank you, truly.”

This was probably the best way she knew how to express gratitude.

Seeing the beautiful woman’s sincere thanks, I felt a little regret.

If her first destination had been America instead of Korea, she might have expressed her gratitude in a different way.

A hug, or a kiss.

Instead of those better greetings, she gave a formal bow.

When we get back, I’ll have to show Zahina a lot of American movies.

And so, we turned our steps back toward the Divine Tree’s city to carry out a pincer attack with the elves.

Though Zahina kept it a secret, the pincer attack we were about to carry out with the elves was, in other words, a “bait” operation.