Chapter 165: The Core of the Divine Tree (1)

The path leading into the tree was anything but normal.

Twisted stairs and distorted wooden walls. 

And in between, giant insects tainted with miasma would occasionally leap out.

According to Zahina, these insects were likely once creatures that lived symbiotically with the massive tree. 

They would draw nutrients from the tree and, in return, provide some benefit to it.

But now, the insects blocking our path were nothing more than grotesque monsters spewing miasma.

We continued to descend, dealing with the insects that stood in our way.

The stairs were strangely twisted, but the path itself seemed no different from before.

After a while, we entered a sizable underground space.

In the center of the dome-like empty space, black tendrils rose from the floor and hung down from the ceiling, clumped together like a ball.

Through the gaps in the tendrils, a glowing gem could be seen.

“The core of the Divine Tree. It’s still intact.”

The tree, which had died from the miasma, had been using the power of the Divine Tree to maintain this city, cross the rift, and turn Manhattan into a wasteland. It seemed that the corrupted tree had borrowed its power from this core.

That was why we had gone through so much trouble, but in return, there was now a possibility of restoring the Divine Tree.

“What do we need to do?”

“The core has sealed itself to avoid being tainted by the miasma. If we clear away these tendrils and I make direct contact with the core, it might work.”

Her words were uncharacteristic, and I couldn’t help but look at Zahina.

“Rashid, the first son of the Divine Tree, came here personally to awaken the core. The Divine Tree always responds to the call of its firstborn, but I am in a severed state…”

Her voice grew softer.

“It might be better to call Rashid…”

Finally, she let out a low sigh.

It was a very human-like demeanor, but for the first time, I scolded her.

“So, you’re saying that trusting your words and risking my life to come here was a foolish thing to do?”

At my words, Zahina’s eyes widened.

“What? No, no.”

She seemed to realize the state she had been in just moments ago.

She looked at me with startled eyes, then bit her lip.

“That’s… not foolish. I can do it. Yes, I’ll do it.”

Her final words were as decisive as those of any other elf, but her expression was completely different.

It was an expression that made me nod in agreement.

Wind began to gather around her, and blades of wind shot toward the tendrils surrounding the core.

Swish, swish.

The tendrils were instantly severed, revealing the core of the Divine Tree.

At first glance, it looked like a large gem, but now it seemed more like a relic—no, a sacred artifact.

It wasn’t the same as divine power, but there was a holy energy within the core that humans could not touch.

Looking at the core, I could understand why the elves revered the Divine Tree as a god.

And how the Divine Tree maintained its massive size.

As the tendrils were cut away, Zahina approached the core floating in the air.

As she walked toward the core, she made a request of me.

“It might take some time. Please protect me while I do this.”

It seemed like the first time she had ever asked me for something.

Even if she hadn’t asked, it was something I would have done anyway, but her request added to it.

In that case, my answer could only be one thing.

The knight’s oath.

I lowered the visor of my helmet and replied.

“Knight Yansen Eger, I swear on my honor as a knight to protect Zahina here.”

At my response, Zahina gave a faint smile and placed her hand on the core.

Thump.

As Zahina’s hand touched it, the basketball-sized gem, the core, began to pulsate.

It was as if a sleeping heart was awakening, and the power and light within the core stretched out.

She had said it might not work, but as soon as she touched it, there was a reaction.

It seemed like it wouldn’t take as much time as I had thought.

And the enemy seemed to know that too.

In place of the severed tendrils, new tendrils began to sprout from the ceiling, walls, and floor.

Black tendrils spewing miasma stretched toward us.

I wasn’t a mage, so I couldn’t use a shield to block the tendrils, but a knight had other ways to stop the enemy.

When facing an enemy head-on, a shield would do, but when attacked from all sides, the best way was to strike them down first.

As I filled my sword with mana, it began to lengthen.

Actually, it wasn’t the sword that was lengthening, but the mana within it. Regardless, the result was the same.

The sword, now over ten meters long, swept through the hall.

Front, top, bottom, and the opposite side. As I swung the sword without stopping, the severed tendrils poured down.

With each swing, my mana was drained at an insane rate.

I had only increased the length, not the power, but the mana consumption of the mana-infused sword was no joke.

I had thought I had grown significantly stronger since first summoning a mana sword during the Great War, but it was still difficult to sustain for long.

Back then, Count Sponheim, the Sword Saint, had used mana effortlessly, drawing it out without any trouble.

People who saw my mana sword often compared me to the Sword Saint, but I was still far from his level.

Still, I was determined to hold out until Zahina awakened the core.

If my mana ran out, I would use my sword. If my sword wasn’t enough, I would use my body to block the attacks.

That was the knight’s oath.

After making such an oath, some knights had performed incredible feats and achieved great things, leading some to say that there might be a magical power within the knight’s oath.

But knights knew the truth.

It wasn’t magic. It was the knight’s will, the human will.

But this time, it seemed I wouldn’t need to demonstrate that will.

The core released its seal just as my mana was about to run out.

The gem-like core began to emit a brilliant light over the tendrils covering the floor.

Zahina, with her hand on the core, looked like a saint with a divine halo.

The tendrils on the floor turned to ash and disappeared one by one.

The core’s seal was released, and everything seemed to be going well, but I didn’t let my guard down until the very end.

Crash!

Thanks to that, I was able to cut through the ceiling that was falling from above.

The wooden ceiling, split in half, crashed down on either side of the core.

In the space where the ceiling had fallen, a large hole appeared.

A waterfall of black miasma poured down from the hole.

Inside the hole, the broken frame of a gate floated.

The shape was different, but I immediately recognized what that broken gate frame was.

It was a gate. The gate connected to Ea, which was said to exist in this city.

The gate, now broken, revealed itself, pouring down miasma like a waterfall.

“I knew this would happen.”

It had become almost routine for plans to go awry and new crises to emerge.

The only problem was that my mana was completely drained.

“Maybe there really is some kind of magic in the knight’s oath.”

Not magic that creates great achievements, but magic that creates situations where such achievements can be made.

‘If that’s the case, it might be more of a curse than magic…’

Moreover, it seemed Zahina wouldn’t be able to help me either.

The core, which had released its seal and was pouring out power, was now trying to close the gate again.

The power that had been surging began to diminish, and the brightly shining core started to flicker.

Zahina, with her hand on the core, was sweating profusely, clearly struggling to maintain control, which seemed to be the only reason the core hadn’t resealed itself yet. But because of that, she couldn’t remove her hand from the core.

The Divine Tree’s core was trying to close the gate again, likely because of the broken gate that had just appeared. In the end, I would have to destroy that gate.

‘Was it waiting for the seal to be released?’

It seemed like another trap left by the Demon King, so I couldn’t help but think that.

If so, then I had fallen into the trap, but my task remained the same.

To protect my comrades and defeat the enemy, no matter the situation.

That was the virtue of a knight I had learned in this new life.

I hadn’t had many comrades to protect, so I hadn’t been able to practice this virtue often…

I turned to look at Zahina, who was still holding the core.

The long-eared woman, biting her lip as she desperately tried to control the core.

And Yerim, Hoffman, and Yelena.

It seemed like I finally had comrades, a party, worth protecting.

Even though I was running low on mana, I still had my body and my sword.

And the mana circuits I had honed over a long time.

I scraped together every last bit of my dried-up mana and began to circulate it through my mana circuits.

Thud, thud, thud.

The mana circuits, spread throughout my body like blood vessels—no, like nerves—began to flow with a thin stream of mana.

‘Ugh, this really hurts.’

Forcing the mana circuits to work when they weren’t in good condition was bound to be painful.

Everywhere the circuits passed, I felt pain.

This level of pain would normally require immediate treatment from a priest or a dose of holy water.

But there were no priests here, nor any holy water left.

I knew that, but I endured the pain and pushed mana into my sword.

The sword glowed faintly, like a firefly.

It was weaker than usual, but at least there was mana in the sword.

I gritted my teeth and leaped upward.

A torrent of miasma poured down toward my rising body.

The miasma had taken on a tangible form, like a black fog, so dense that even ordinary people would see it as a deadly mist.

If a normal person were here, they would die instantly and turn into an undead.

Even an awakened individual would struggle to withstand the wave of miasma.

I pushed through the wave and jumped into the hole in the ceiling.

My clothes began to rot, and my skin burned from the miasma, but the pain inside my body made the external pain easier to bear.

No, at this point, I couldn’t even distinguish between the two.

In a near-trance state, I continued to kick off the walls of the hole, climbing higher and higher.

When I finally reached the broken gate, the world changed.

‘Wasn’t it broken?’

I found myself standing in a beautiful garden.

I looked around.

Behind me was a magnificent castle, and beyond the garden was a picturesque village with vast farmland stretching out behind it.

It was the splendid territory I had always dreamed of.

I was no longer wearing armor but was dressed in elegant noble attire.

I was the lord of this territory.

Through the wide-open doors of the castle, I could see a beautiful lobby.

In that lobby, a beautiful wife and lovely children would be waiting for me.

If I just walked into the castle now, everything would fall into place.

Haha.

The thought made me chuckle.

It was an excellent illusion.

Even I, who had overcome countless illusions from monsters, could have believed it was real.

But unfortunately, this illusion had expired.

My dream of owning a manor, a territory, had already been fulfilled.

Perhaps because I had achieved my goal?

Even as I looked at this grand illusion, I didn’t feel much satisfaction.

That’s how I realized.

Where I was now, and what I had come here to do.

I looked down at my hands.

Instead of gauntlets, I was wearing white gloves, empty-handed.

But I knew what I was holding in my hands right now.

I clenched my empty hand.

It didn’t feel like a tight grip.

I swung my hand with all my might.

Crack.

The space in front of me, where my hand couldn’t reach, began to shatter.

At the same time, an overwhelming pain swept through my entire body.

Pain that felt like death.

But I could smile.

Because I saw the gate in front of me shatter into pieces.