Like how the moon rose when the sun set and the flowers wilted once they bloomed, there were natural laws of the universe that never changed. Even trees couldn’t escape from these laws, yet there was an exemption to every rule. Very rarely, there were occasions that made people doubt these rules, and such an example was the Methuselah. It was the oldest tree on earth. 4,853 years old, to be exact—an existence that had witnessed almost 5,000 years of history. Be it animals or plants, existing for a long time was enough to make something special.

There was an existence like that also in the Hala Forest; a tree that grew even before the forest formed in this land. No one knew the exact date on which the tree was born or its name. The only definite thing was that it had spent an immeasurable period of time quietly watching everything happening around it. For millennia, perhaps. Then, one day, the old tree received a call from somebody. Following it, the tree’s eyes soon opened, and she realized her existence inside the world in a different sense from before. The identity of the one who called her had been a mystery to her, and it still was, yet she slowly moved her feet according to her instincts.

***

Chi-Woo was stunned seeing the figure in front of him offer a handshake. Not only was she—no, he didn’t even know if he should describe the figure as ‘she’—but her action was unexpected. She looked like a woman with tangled vines hanging from her head like a reggae hairstyle. Her limbs and torso appeared human, and thin green stems extended from her fingertips like veins.

Her torso was covered with stems and tree leaves, while her lower body was wrapped with large and broad leaves like a skirt. And then there was a small laurel wreath on the top of her head. Up to this point, she appeared like a fairy queen sometimes seen in a forest, but her aura made it impossible to consider her as one.

She was slightly different from the Sun King in that she wasn’t arrogant or haughty. Instead, she radiated untainted purity like a baby who didn’t know anything. She was infinitely noble, divine, and holy. Chi-Woo felt as if he was seeing a newborn destined to save the world and should immediately get on his knees to worship her. He didn’t feel any sense of foreignness from her. He felt as if she was truly born to be king, and in light of this, he saw a silver light coming from her back…

Chi-Woo finally recollected himself and focused on the current situation.

“Hm… Is this not right? I thought you greeted others like this when meeting people for the first time.” The mysterious figure withdrew her hand. Hawa then finally recovered from her daze as well and quickly stood next to Chi-Woo.

“I don’t see Lady Evelyn,” Hawa whispered. She seemed to have grasped the number of people in the area in that short period. Evelyn was missing, but they didn’t need to worry much about it since she was the only one Hurodvitniru felt familiar enough to allow her approach. Furthermore, Evelyn had already told them that she was going to keep checking on Hurodvitniru’s condition from time to time to replenish her stamina with holy energy. Thus, she was probably with Hurodvitniru in the cave.

Chi-Woo gave Hawa a pointed glance and only shifted his gaze back to the front after she quietly backed away.

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“…” He couldn’t get used to it no matter how many times he saw her. It felt as if he was seeing a scene from a movie just by meeting her eyes.

“Who…” Chi-Woo forcefully calmed his thumping heart and said, “are you…?” Truthfully, he could already sense who she was: she was one of the king candidates. The one who rivaled the Sun King, to be exact, who was said to be the strongest.

‘No. She isn’t,’ Chi-Woo thought again. She wasn’t just the Sun King’s equal, but his superior. The Sun King would be laughable compared to her. Though he hadn’t seen them fight each other, he was sure of this. That was the reason why Philip had exclaimed so loudly the moment he saw her.

“…Me?” she answered belatedly. “Hm…” She looked a bit at a loss for words and lowered her chin slightly. “Who am…I…?” Her eyes looked pitiful as they stared up at the night sky. Chi-Woo’s focus was stolen by the mystical and fantastical scene again. Even though he had been preparing himself mentally, his mind and soul seemed to become instantly drawn to her. Rather than abilities like charisma, she appeared to have something akin to his halo ability, which was within the religious category. He hadn’t been investing in that ability thinking it was useless, but after witnessing her power in person, he realized how amazing and great the ability was. He simply hadn’t witnessed the benefits of it because his ranks were low, but he was sure that the figure in front of him had at least a S-rank in the particular ability.

“I came because I had a request. Hm—perhaps I should call it a deal rather than a request,” she said and got to her point, “You are trying to protect Hurodvitniru, right? Can I ask something of you?”

Surprised, Chi-Woo frowned, which prompted her to explain in more detail. “I am planning to leave this area soon. I hope that you will protect her until I return.”

“…Can I ask for your reason?”

“Hurodvitniru is in a very weakened state, and I plan to go find the last king candidate now,” she explained. “I have to go since they have no desire to come to me first. And in the meantime, they could aim for Hurodvitniru in her weakened state.”

Chi-Woo had been listening quietly, but he heard something he couldn’t just pass over. “There’s one more…king candidate left?”

“Sorry, I said it from my point of view. There are two, including me.”

That was still strange. It was only this afternoon that he heard there were three of them left. Chi-Woo then thought of one possibility and recalled the great commotion he heard from inside the cave. His eyes gradually widened.

“Did you perhaps defeat the Sun King…?”

She nodded like it was nothing, and Chi-Woo thought she must have taken advantage of the Sun King’s injury; he didn’t know that she had shown mercy to the Sun King and fought him on equal grounds.

“Do you understand it now? Then—”

“There’s one more thing I’m curious about,” Chi-Woo quickly added as she tried to pass over the topic. “Why are you trying to protect Hurodvitniru?”

She blinked hard and tilted her head.

“The Sun King was after Hurodvitniru. Aren’t you in the same position as him?” Chi-Woo asked again.

“No,” she immediately shook her head. “Why would I be after Hurodvitniru? She would die when she accomplishes her mission anyways. I should protect her instead.”

Chi-Woo thought he heard wrong at first. Did she say Hurodvitniru was destined to die?

“The one the king candidates want isn’t Hurodvitniru, but…”

Owoooo—! It was then they heard a wolf howling through the wind. She glanced at the cliff where the cave was and continued, “It’s the one she’s going to soon give birth to.”

At that moment, Chi-Woo felt as if something strong had struck his head. That must be why the king candidates were circling the Hala Forest, especially its center. He had thought it was strange when he first entered the forest. Since the king candidates were competing with each other, the one who evolved the most would be at an advantage. Thus, it would make more sense if the king candidates lingered around the outer rim of the forest rather than its center, as they would have their first pick of the nutritious meals coming from the outside.

However, their true goal wasn’t to become the last one standing among the king candidates. That was simply one of the means to their goal, and they were actually going to capture the one Hurodvitniru would give birth to, the one who would soon be fenrirs’ new god. Thinking this, Chi-Woo recalled what Ismile told him. The king candidates inside the Hala Forest were like godeok. They stayed in a confined area and ate each other until only one remained. And the last one standing would get to eat the newly born holy fenrir’s god. It was probably the Sernitas’ intention to make a perfect being even more perfect.

Chi-Woo wondered what kind of creature would form at the end of this process. He couldn’t even imagine it. Just thinking about it gave him the chills, and he finally realized why his brother had been so intent on conquering this place.

“You are…planning to be a god.” Chi-Woo’s voice shook slightly.

“Is that so…?” Her response was surprisingly calm. “I don’t know.” She sighed with a slightly bitter expression. “But I feel like I would have to. No, I have to.”

With the way she responded just now, it appeared that the Sernitas must have played some tricks. There was no way these king candidates would just come into existence. It was likely they were programmed in some way, and the moment they achieved their goals, they would get a new mission and act according to it—forever a puppet for the Sernitas…

After a momentary silence, her complexion recovered, and she asked, “Can I get your answer now?”

The answer was already decided. “I won’t accept it,” Chi-Woo firmly refused.

She didn’t show any particular response, but it seemed she was curious about Chi-Woo’s decision. “Why?”

“We have to protect Hurodvitniru.”

“That’s the same for me—”

“And the baby she will give birth to.”

She seemed to have swallowed what she was going to say. “…I see. Then we will have no choice but to fight.” She nodded and asked, “But can we fight after I take care of the remaining one? I think that would benefit both of us.”

Though it was a reasonable offer, Chi-Woo shook his head without a second thought.

“Why are you against that now?”

“Because you’ll come back stronger than before—so strong that it would be even more difficult for us to do anything.”

They had missed the golden time. They should’ve finished things when they met the Sun King; then the opponent currently in front of them wouldn’t be as strong as she was now, and things would’ve been different. Still, she would only become a true godeok once she consumed the final king candidate; and if such a thing happened, things would reach such a big scale that his brother or the Last Dragon would have to make a move.

Truthfully, Chi-Woo thought it was almost an impossibility now, but this was the last opportunity to fix things before the mess got bigger. It seemed his opponent read his strong intent to not back down, and she looked a bit at a loss for words.

“…There’s nothing I can say,” she said with the edges of her lips slightly raised. “I see. I guess this is what it means to be logical.” She smiled softly. “You are very good at talking.”

Hearing this, Chi-Woo realized that he was still hesitating. She was different from the Sun King, and he had thought that perhaps he could convince her. Maybe he could tell her the truth and ask for help and reach a different result. He felt hopeful, but in his heart, he knew it would be pointless. She was neither kind nor good, and the fact that she would act according to her goal would never change, as long as the Sernitas willed it.

“Hm. For some reason, I no longer want to fight you. Can’t you back away?” Any more conversation besides this was useless since there was no other choice but for them to clash. And seeing Chi-Woo raise his exorcism mana instead of replying, she let out a long sigh. From then on, Chi-Woo heard several presences behind him move. It seemed Hawa had notified them.

“Everyone,” Chi-Woo said, “Prepare for battle.” Though they had all looked in a daze when they first saw her, their gazes immediately changed upon hearing Chi-Woo’s words.

***

While pouring holy energy into Hurodvitniru, Evelyn quickly turned around when she heard noises coming from the outside. It appeared something had happened in her short absence. She quickly ran back up and went outside the cave.

“Kuaaaaaah!” She saw Emmanuel rolling on the ground until he was lying prone at her feet.

“Kuh! Damn it…!” He got back up immediately after heaving, while the rest of the expedition team was flying across the air. It was the same for Ru Amuh, Hawa, and Yeriel. On the other hand, the figure standing in the center didn’t move the slightest bit. She simply swept away her enemies with the tentacle-like branches spread out from behind her back like wings. In contrast to her surroundings, she appeared incredibly calm. One could tell how unbelievably strong she was. And among the group, Evelyn turned to one person: Chi-Woo. Only he was putting up a proper resistance against the queen. He wasn’t one-sidedly getting pushed back and was fighting back to get closer. Evelyn felt a slight glimmer of hope seeing this and was about to quickly participate in the battle when–

—Mademoiselle.

She suddenly heard a slightly subdued voice.

—Please escape.

Evelyn’s eyes turned wide. When she turned around, she saw some kind of white figure. It was the perverted ghost who followed Chi-Woo everywhere: Salem Philip. But besides that, Evelyn didn’t understand what he was saying.

“What are you saying…they are in the middle of a fight.”

—They aren’t fighting, but enduring. Their opponent isn’t showing her full powers and…

Evelyn closed her lips because Philip appeared so serious, unlike his usual self.

—I knew she was extraordinary, but…I didn’t expect her to be at this level…

Philip appeared almost scared and stunned, like he couldn’t believe what he was witnessing. But despite his petrified expression, Evelyn pulled herself together. She believed in Chi-Woo. She had kept her eyes on him since their first meeting, and Chi-Woo was someone who had always turned the impossible possible. She believed he would do it again. Philip could empathize with her somewhat, but he knew things were different this time. Because…

—How… He has lifted his seal… How could he still lag behind so much…?

Chi-Woo had already removed his restrictions.

***

Meanwhile—in this late hour, Byeok was looking at the sky while sitting at the edge of the porch. In the sparkling night sky, a light shone brighter than the others. It was a star with an especially strong brilliance that made its presence known among the others. When Byeok witnessed this scene, her eyes narrowed.

“He finally opened it,” she said, “…Well, it is just one still.”