Chapter 188: Chapter 58. The Sacred Area (3)
After I told her who I was, Kim Youra remained silent until we arrived at our destination. Once in a while, the girl looked at me with mixed feelings, but she did not speak.
I was the savior and dungeon master at the same time.
That was the truth, and I did not want to sugarcoat it.
Kim Youra understood this fact and my intention, too. That was the reason that she did not ask again, even though she wanted to.
“We are here.”
We arrived at where the Dark Elves lived.
In the middle of that area was the Tree of Origin, and I took a step onto the field of grass that the tree was on.
The Tree of Origin was more impressive than any other monster that we had met on the way.
Kim Youra’s eyes widened. The tree was so tall and enormous that it was hard to see how far its branches reached out. Kim Youra had recently transformed into a Holy Woman, and such a transformation made her more sensitive to mana. Not only was the size of the tree astonishing, but the strange presence of the tree also captivated the Holy Woman.
“It is the tree of gods…”
Kim Youra murmured silently.
I snickered at her murmur.
“It’s not that special.”
The girl had a different perspective mine. Some would view the Tree of Origin as the tree of gods, but it was just a bit more special than other trees.
I had met the Demon God in the past, and I had also met Gods of the Earth when I returned to this life. However, they did not look impressive to me at all. Of course, I felt a bit nervous and pressured when I stood in front of them, but that was about it. I did not admire them, nor did I want to look up to them.
“You have come, my Dungeon Master.”
Julium was the first to notice my visit. Following the elf, other Dark Elves in the town appeared.
There were about a thousand of them, and many of them were children. From the demography, I could tell that the population of Dark Elves had increased.
The Dark Elves were the most loyal monsters that I had. It was no surprise that they were so faithful; I had given them many privileges. Kim Youra did not know the story, and the girl found their seemingly unconditional loyalty quite interesting.
“Even the Dark Elves…”
The Dark Elves were known for not obeying any master. If they did obey someone, it would be the master of the dungeon in which they dwelled. Such loyalty was evidence that I was the master of this dungeon. Noticing this, Kim Youra bit her tongue, thinking that there was no room for any other possibilities.
Ignoring the girl, I went straight to the point.
“I handed you a human girl.”
“Yes, you did. She just woke up.”
Julium answered. I nodded.
“I want to see her.”
“You can follow me.”
Julium took the lead and guided us to the girl. Unlike other parts of the dungeon, the area where the Dark Elves lived was filled with various vegetation. We passed by several cute buildings and arrived at Julium’s house.
“He made a big deal out of it,” I thought.
I asked the Dark Elf to hold on to the girl for just a while. However, Julium took my order very seriously and hosted her in his house, which was the house of an Elvish chief, while curing her wounds at the same time. Elves and Dark Elves loathed humans, but Julium took the effort to host the human girl in his house.
When we entered the house, we found Kim Minji lying on the bed, which was made out of leaves. Next to her were several Dark Elves, taking turns to help Minji eat some kind of soup.
“…Minji!”
Kim Youra ran towards Kim Minji. However, the younger sister did not respond.
“Is there a problem?”
When I asked about Kim Minji’s condition, Julium answered.
“She… seems to have lost some of her important functions.”
“What did she lose?”
“One of them is her mind. I don’t know how she lost it, but the girl is nothing more than a doll without a spirit.”
I turned around and looked at Kim Minji. The girl was lying on the bed like a marionette, without any movement.
I thought about the situation.
The girl was hurt physically, but there was nothing wrong with her mind.
I wondered if a problem occurred while she changed.
“Has she become mentally retarded?”
To be honest, I did not know much about the mind. Neither did I know where it was nor did I know how it operated. However, the girl acted very similarly to those who were mentally retarded.
When I asked, Julium answered again, shaking his head.
“She’s not mentally retarded. I have done some tests, and she responded to some of the tests. However, isn’t the girl somehow connected to her sister? I was actually surprised that Kim Minji does not show any response even when her sister, who should be connected to her, is now here.”
Kim Youra was sobbing next to her sister, Kim Minji. However, Kim Minji remained motionless.
“Bring the girl to me later. I will be by the Tree of Origin.”
“As you wish, my Dungeon Master.”
When Julium gave a look to his Dark Elves, two of them started to follow me. Raising my right hand, I refused their company, and I started to walk away alone.
After Lyhee transformed into the Spirit of Origin, she was able to communicate with the Tree of Origin. However, I never tried to communicate with it. Not only was the effort futile, but I also did not try hard enough.
The thoughts of Karmiel and the story of the Sun which engulfed the Moon were disturbing, and I wanted to get some rest. I decided to come to the tree because I could not think of any other place where I could organize my thoughts and relax.
“I have changed,” I thought.
I had always been very cold and logical, but it would not hurt to try to become a bit more emotional once. Leaning against the Tree of Origin, I crossed my arms. Then I dived into my thoughts.
“Karmiel and the Sun that engulfed the Moon…”
Dramatic changes that I had not seen in the previous life had occurred. I realized that such changes happened because of me.
“I am causing change,” I thought.
The changes were not bad at all, and I viewed them as positive changes. However, most of them were very abrupt and dramatic.
I was still determined to kill Karmiel the Seraph, but I was not sure if I could grow as strong as the angel before it arrived on Earth. As of now, there was no way that I could defeat the angel.
“I have gotten stronger since I came back from the Underworld. I do not wish to stop growing here, and I will continue to get more powerful… However, that is not enough,” I thought.
Karmiel’s appearance and the Sun which absorbed the Moon was a big change.
And I wanted to keep these variables under my control.
Unfortunately, I had to admit that I had no control over them now.
“Getting stronger is not restricted to me getting more powerful. I can get stronger by conquering more dungeons and having a large number of powerful monsters under me,” I thought.
The thought about ZadKiel, another Seraph, popped up in my mind, and I frowned.
I had seen a Seraph in my previous life, and I still remembered how powerful the angel was. Zadkiel was so powerful that its mere presence terrorized the demons.
The Seraph destroyed hundreds of thousands of demons. No archduke was strong enough to confront the angel alone. Only after half of all the archdukes united and made tremendous sacrifices could they defeat Zadkiel.
“I want to win,” I thought.
Despite the seemingly impossible challenge, I still wanted to defeat the angel alone.
Killing Karmiel together with my monsters would still count as my achievement, but defeating the angel alone would be an even greater one.
In order to realize my dream, I had to get stronger much faster.
“I need to push all of my statistics to their limits,” I thought.
Although the maximum value of my potential was 555, I had not even reached halfway. The current value was not even 440, and there was still room for improvement; I could increase at least another 100.
If I could top off my potential, I believed that I could reach my goal. The grand total of my statistics would be around 650, and such a value was close to those of a god. With the tremendous power, I was sure that I could confront Karmiel.
I anticipated that I could easily increase the value of up to five hundred. However, that was not enough.
“There has got to be a faster way to improve the statistics. Something that no one has ever thought about…” I thought.
I had to increase my statistics much faster than anyone else could. Getting a job done and excelling at one were different stories.
Despite the need for a brilliant idea or way to improve the statistics, I could not think of one.
After pondering for a while, I turned around.
There stood the giant tree with its branches stretching out far.
Then a thought occurred to me: whatever that was pure was also the most original.
Contemplating on this insight, I slowly raised my right hand and placed it on the Tree of Origin.
“I was told that sometimes you give answers to those who seek them. They told me that in the Celestial World, the King of Heaven communicates directly with the Tree of Origin himself. Why don’t you then answer my questions?”
The story of the King of Heaven and the Tree of Origin was a legend. Nobody had seen them nor was the story very convincing. I, too, knew that the tree would not answer me. However, I was as serious as I could get when I was talking to the tree.
I had this strange feeling that the Tree of Origin had an answer. Perhaps it was more than just a feeling. After killing Martin and taking his eyes, I could see the future a bit.
However, that ability was nothing but a fancy trick. I could only foresee a few seconds into the future or predict obvious outcomes. Yet, this feeling or ability – whatever that was – was strongly telling me that the Tree of Origin had answers.
Although I had never tried to communicate with the tree, the situation was different now. I talked to the Tree while I was releasing my mana as the master of this dungeon. The Tree of Origin should be showing some kind of response.
Slash!
The branches of the tree started to move.
Bang!
The ground shook and its roots came out. The roots slowly engulfed me.
After a short while, I opened my eyes and found myself standing in front of the Tree of Origin.
The roots and the branches, which had wrapped themselves around me, were now gone.
“It feels like a dream,” I thought.
I could not remember what happened while I closed my eyes, and I frowned.
“I… must have fought with myself,” I thought.
I tried hard to remember what happened. Then I could vaguely remember that I was fighting with myself. However, that was about it. I could not recall everything else, such as the purpose or the results of the fight.
“Does this mean that I need to fight with myself because there are no enemies?” I thought.
Looking at the Tree of Origin, I clicked my tongue silently. Nevertheless, the fact that I could not remember the fight clearly implied that the result of the fight was not good.
“I will be back.”
I turned away from the tree.
This short journey gave me a part of the answer that I was looking for – getting stronger by fighting with myself. I did not know if this method would work, but it was better than doing nothing.
***
Angels, who had been spread out all over the world, started moving. Spreading their large wings and ignoring enemies, they gathered around one place.
The unstoppable angels were very confident and determined as though they had received some sort of revelation.
The angels gathered in Ukraine, where Martin used to reign.
“For eternal glory.”
Thousands of angels assembled there. Ophanim Alectril stuck her sword on the top floor of the dungeon and declared it as a sacred area.
Whirr!
As soon as the angel made the declaration, a ray of holy light came out from the dungeon and covered the sky.
The dungeon began to change slowly and turned into a giant cradle.
The cradle disseminated the holy power, instead of mana, around it. All of the monsters around the cradle melted without a trace.
Only pious humans were allowed to stay near the cradle. Those who were evil could not withstand the holy power and left the area.
Rays of light in the shape of praying nuns were found in various places in the world simultaneously.
Such rays of light caught the attention of demons, humans, and the remaining angels.
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