“What? Hyung?”
[Yes. I think you need to co quickly.]
When Luci urgently chirped upon arriving, Taeyang tilted his head in confusion after hearing the ssage.
“That doesn’t make sense.”
[……It’s my fault.]
“Tell . As detailed as you can.”
[Well, I’m not sure. The two trees you faced… their power is difficult to understand.]
Taeyang hurried out of the room and began running with Luci.
Traces of a fierce struggle were scattered across the hallways.
“Even with you there, they managed to strike? Aren’t you a high-ranking spirit?”
[It was an environnt where magic couldn’t be used. I could have used it, but it would’ve been wasteful. I followed my master’s orders.]
“Authority, huh? Geez, be more careful.”
Taeyang’s face, though grumbling, reflected concern.
“It feels like they had this all planned out.”
As Taeyang approached the arena, the golden barrier in the distance began to fade. Ahead, he sensed two presences.
Two trees staggered toward him.
One had yellow hair, matted with blood.
The other had unruly brown hair, looking worse for wear.
“Who the hell are you?”
“……Talk about bad luck.”
Bell clicked his tongue upon seeing Taeyang.
His body was soaked from pouring the highest-grade potion all over himself, but his consciousness had returned.
[It’s those two.]
“Ah, so Hyung ssed them up?”
“…….”
Supporting Bell, Abie smirked slightly.
Taeyang’s brow furrowed.
“Why are you smirking when I should be the one laughing?”
“Well, it’s just that everything fell into place so well. It’s absurd.”
“Even if it’s absurd, I should be the one surprised. Look at you talking back, barely hanging on after getting smacked by my hyung.”
Abie’s disheveled clothes revealed faded mana stones.
He had drained all their magic, leaving only empty husks stuffed in his vest.
Judging by his pockets, he had quite a few.
Of course, Bell’s body also carried a similar quantity of mana stones.
No, in Bell’s case, as a National Tree, he’d taken such a severe beating that only fragnts of the shattered stones remained in his body.
Bell muttered to Abie as he glanced over.
“Are we fighting? I could recover a bit and manage.”
“No.”
Abie shook his head and frowned.
“That guy is dangerous. Apart from the Tree Spirit King, he’s probably the most dangerous. We can’t handle him unprepared.”
This guy, seriously.
Taeyang smirked, taking off his outer garnt.
“Oh, the irony.”
Luci stared at Taeyang with an incredulous expression.
“Where did this guy co from? Sothing’s strange. It’s like all records of him have been erased.”
“…….”
“Oh, crap. Is it that Guseul girl? No, she wouldn’t know either.”
Taeyang’s eyes turned completely white.
The whites of his eyes inverted to black, his pupils becoming ghostly pale, as if blind.
A mocking voice accompanied by laughter erupted from him.
“Not sure about the yellow one, but the brown one… leaving him alive feels like it’ll bite soday. Hey.”
“……Calling nas? Crazy bastard.”
“Oh, yeah. If I were to deal with you, Hyung would have to work harder.”
A man who would do anything for his goals.
And yet, he was brilliant at scheming.
Taeyang had occasionally seen such villains.
He wasn’t sure if Abie was the sa person as soone he once knew.
But one thing was clear—Abie had been lurking behind the scenes for a long ti, especially within the Flower organization.
“Well.”
“…?”
“Still, I doubt Hyung would lose.”
[What?]
Luci was the first to react.
“I may not have authority, but my predictions are pretty accurate. Guys like these are usually all bark and no bite. Once their plans collapse, they fall apart instantly.”
Taeyang moved forward.
“…Phew. Although I might die first. Anyway, that’s just my hunch.”
[What kind of hunch is that?]
“Who knows. It’s always been like this.”
Just as Taeyang’s body began to twist unnaturally.
-Boom!
A fla burst from the side, engulfing his body.
A puffing sound accompanied the explosion as Taeyang waved his arms to clear the smoky dust.
“Knew it.”
Abie had disappeared.
Instead, two or three figures, assud to be National Trees, were approaching from afar, as if welcoming Taeyang.
“Not all National Trees are worth anything. I wouldn’t even bother with such scrubs. If I were to bother, I’d rather have eaten those guys earlier.”
[……Excuse ? Are you serious?]
“Is it true or not?”
[I-I don’t quite understand what you an.]
Taeyang muttered as he enveloped his body in the power of the trees.
“To beco a king, you need to be willing to go that far. Let’s go rescue Hyung quickly before we get smacked for being late.”
The reason why a king’s servant was called a servant.
The eerie sound from his body as his transformation began froze the National Trees in place.
-Crack.
Dust from crushed stones fell next to his head.
He was buried under countless rocks, their weight too massive to estimate.
Moreover, the barrier he had entered had persisted for an unusually long ti, making it difficult to even draw upon his mana.
“…Phew.”
He steadied his breath, adjusting his strength.
Other than the difficulty in moving, his body was in good condition. He could even endure another battle if necessary.
‘I was planning to crush his head if he ca back. But seriously, what kind of authority is that?’
Abie.
The powers of the National Trees had been sowhat researched in Eden, allowing for rough knowledge.
Even the abilities of individuals like Saku or Suyeon, which were not publicly known, were at least vaguely docunted in Eden’s archives.
Among the authorities he knew of, none posed a direct threat to him.
Eden’s intelligence and Abie’s authority had even escaped the notice of the Sage’s Eye.
‘I thought it was a power of deception. Judging by the lack of records, it’s either a force never revealed or… he had two authorities from the start.’
Brainwashing and reflection-based abilities.
Perhaps every witness who encountered Abie’s authority was killed, erasing all records.
“Ugh.”
But that wasn’t the problem.
The real issue was figuring out how to escape.
From the beginning, Abie and Bell seed intent on isolating him and Maronnie from the battlefield, even if temporarily.
-Drip.
A drop of blood from his forehead landed on Maronnie’s cheek.
“…Why?”
It was too dark to discern Maronnie’s expression clearly.
But the faint light seeping through the cracks in the stones illuminated her blue eyes, allowing to see her blurred gaze.
Reflected in her pupils was his bloodied face.
Even if he used authority to heal, the blood he’d already shed wouldn’t return to its place.
“Why did you save … Why…. It hurts, why…. Sob.”
She had taken the blow from the falling stones with her own body.
Had it been Maronnie instead of him under the debris, she would have surely died.
There had been no other way.
“Hic, ugh… Sob, hic.”
Maronnie’s body trembled violently.
Her tightly shut eyes, overwheld with sorrow, continued to shed tears.
‘Her ntal state has shattered.’
This was the most devastating cry he had ever seen from Maronnie.
Trying to hold back tears.
Choking on hiccups.
Struggling against her emotions only to feel more upset, uncomfortable, and sorrowful.
“Hic, waaah….”
Her cries, bottled up for so long, finally burst out like a child’s.
Since the Forester Selection Competition began, she had been assaulted by one man, brainwashed, barely resisted falling under that brainwashing, and struggled with anguish and confusion.
In the end, even the friends she trusted betrayed her.
Her emotions were too deep for to comprehend.
And his hands, already burdened with supporting heavy weights, were too full to console her.
“It’s okay.”
All he could do was repeatedly say the words he clumsily wanted to offer.
“It’s okay.”
Her labored breathing was audible.
Though it was hot and rough, it had a strangely rhythmic quality. Occasionally, it would break into short gasps before resuming as if she were forcing herself to calm down, letting out lonely sighs.
Her sobbing lasted for a long ti.
-Crunch.
Only after Taeyang arrived in response to Luci’s call and cleared away the rubble could we finally make it outside.
“Hyung.”
“Yeah.”
“Did you have a good ti?”
Taeyang asked slyly, and I only glared at him in response.
I couldn’t bla him outright, given my own sorry state. He also looked slightly worse for wear.
“What’s with your clothes?”
“Had a bit of a fight. I think I need so rest now.”
It seed he’d clashed with soone on his way here.
Taeyang, still showing traces of adrenaline, awkwardly smiled.
“Those two guys, they were in rough shape.”
“Were they now?”
“I couldn’t catch them, though. And please don’t hit —I an, how could I have caught them?”
Taeyang nudged my shoulder with a grin.
It was almost funny, but the situation was far too grim for that.
“…….”
Maronnie, her face flushed to her ears, couldn’t bring herself to look in my direction.
“Hyung. Hey, Hyung.”
Taeyang sidled closer and whispered into my ear.
“Don’t tell you couldn’t wait and went hunting already? Oh my, our king is so coo—ack!”
A tap on his nose with my knuckles sent him sprawling backward.
He exaggerated his reaction, but he probably was just tired.
“Blanche.”
“…Y-yeah.”
“Are you still up for it?”
I was asking about her ntal state.
In terms of mana and physical condition, she was in far better shape than either Taeyang or .
Blanche didn’t answer imdiately.
She wiped her tear-streaked face with a dust-covered arm, wincing slightly from the irritation, then forced a smile as she replied.
“I’ll do it.”
“Good.”
I gave a short reply.
The situation was still urgent.
“Summarize the state of the frontline.”
“Everything except one area is cleared. Civilian rescue will be done in 30 minutes.”
“What about that one area?”
“The hotel entrance. That’s where Saku and Suyeon are. Looks like Maehwa joined in too.”
I’d been trapped in the rubble for about 20 minutes.
What they’d tried to accomplish in that ti, I wasn’t sure.
However, Saku and Suyeon were both high-priority individuals among the National Trees.
“Banya. Bell. Abie. Maehwa. Guseul.”
“What about them?”
“They’re the most troubleso among the traitors.”
The other National Trees had weaker authority and thinner World Tree bloodlines.
Their raw strength wasn’t particularly impressive either.
“Ah, I see.”
On our side, there was Saku, Suyeon, Sansuyu, Bao, and Maronnie.
Taeyang and Aori were comparable as well.
‘The only wild card is if another National Tree is hiding sothing like Abie did.’
The numbers of those who withdrew from the battlefield were equal.
The talents we’d secured outnumbered theirs.
Even though so dungeon monsters and Flower units were on their way, we also had support from other National Trees and cadets.
The main concern was just one thing.
‘Maehwa.’
At least I had soone in mind to block Maehwa’s presence, within expectations.
I’d told him not to reveal himself until absolutely necessary.
“Are you heading over there?”
“No.”
One individual remained unaccounted for.
The variable of the shaman Banya wasn’t as negligible as Abie’s.
“Sigh.”
I took a deep breath and checked the mana inside .
There was not just enough; it was overflowing.
‘This is definitely strange.’
The healing authority.
Taking a direct hit from Barae’s Reflection should have left with injuries requiring days to recover.
Perhaps the unintended experience of healing Sansuyu had turned into an intense grind for growth.
Now, within ten minutes, I was completely fine.
I turned to Blanche and spoke.
“Maronnie.”
“…W-what!?”
“Get on my back.”
The still-unseen presence of Banya lingered.
Unlike Abie, however, I knew enough about Banya’s authority and strength.
Eden’s deep knowledge suggested Maronnie was the right fit to neutralize Banya.
“Wait, get on your back?”
“Hurry.”
Blanche hesitated for a mont before steeling herself.
She wedged her staff under one arm and climbed onto my back, slipping her legs between my arms.
“Hold on tight.”
We planned to quickly circle the hotel vicinity.
“What about , Hyung?”
“You can walk.”
“…Tch.”
One step, then another.
I stomped hard, launching into the air.
Fierce mana enveloped my entire body, lifting into the sky.
-Whoooosh!
The wind blew past.
My expanded view revealed the ground below in startling detail.
Though I hadn’t reached the hotel yet, I’d be there soon.
Maronnie gripped my shoulders tightly, her small hands sweaty with effort.
We rode the wind.
The north wind swept past pleasantly, untying Maronnie’s ribbon. Her long hair stread behind her like a banner in the sky.
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