Chapter 210 For Worse (2)

Episode 210 For Worse (2)

A cool breeze blew, and the warm and comfortable air enveloped him.

Maybe this was what it felt like to be a baby in its mother's womb.

The absolute sense of security and fulfillment that surrounded him was fatally tempting.

He could probably resist if he just gathered his thoughts and strengthened his resolve, but he didn't feel the need to do so, and…

He succumbed to its allure and sank deep into it.

And as he was drifting through his unconsciousness, oblivious to the flow of time…

“…Harris! Are you okay?”

His mind slowly returned to his body at the repeated external stimuli.

“Are you going through something? I had a feeling, but it seems especially bad lately. Almost dangerous.”

“Ah…”

Harris, who had been lying under the shade of a tree on a hill, as usual, opened his eyes slightly and looked at the one who had called him.

Wavy blue hair and blue eyes like a lake.

It was Shapiron Silvesty, the Elf girl he had become close to after various incidents.

But as he just stared blankly at her even after opening his eyes, she tilted her head and then nodded, as if she understood.

“Hmm, well! It must be difficult to learn the etiquette of a High Elf. Of course, I’ve been receiving education on that since I was young, so it’ll be easy for me!”

And she shrugged, as if boasting.

“Hehehe, you should be nervous, Harris! I’ll surpass you soon after I become a High Elf! I’ve already done several image trainings, so I’m fully prepared.”

“······.”

Of course, her delusions were meaningless if she wasn’t chosen by the World Tree, but Harris didn’t point it out, as he was a mature person.

…Actually, he was too lazy to even open his mouth.

But she seemed to misinterpret his reaction.

She suddenly shut her mouth and subtly gauged his mood, then cautiously spoke, fidgeting with her fingers.

“I-I mean… cheer up… Of course, it’s amazing that you’ve already grown this much after starting from scratch. A-and…”

“Ahaha—.”

He couldn’t help but chuckle at her awkward attempt to comfort him.

He had known since they first met that she had a strong sense of self-importance.

She was just a bit immature, not a bad person.

And it was also refreshing to see her treat him the same way, even after he became a High Elf first, and she might feel a sense of distance.

It was a welcome connection for him, who had almost no close friends here because of his sudden change in status.

And he had developed some know-how in dealing with Shapiron after spending a considerable amount of time with her.

The most effective way to deal with her when she seemed a bit down, like now, was…

Swoosh—

Harris’s hand slowly moved, passing through his subspace magic tool, and then reached out to her.

He was holding a bag that emitted a savory scent.

Sniff, sniff—

“Ah! Is this popcorn? Thank you!”

She immediately took it from him, as if she hadn’t been subtly gauging his mood, sat down next to him, and opened the bag.

‘She just eats it now without saying anything.’

Harris nodded quietly, watching her munching on the popcorn.

She used to react awkwardly when he gave her food, but after countless repetitions, she had reached the level where she naturally accepted it even when he suddenly offered her food.

He felt like he had tamed a stray cat with snacks…

‘It must be my imagination.’

He watched Shapiron for a moment and then slowly sat up, gathering his suppressed will.

“Ugh.”

Every movement was a chore now that he no longer had the control that forced his body to move.

He had to overcome the laziness that came from his assimilation with nature with only his mental power.

But his mental strength itself had increased significantly, so he could still move like he used to if he wanted to.

The problem was that he would become lazy and sluggish like before whenever he had a moment of free time.

‘But… that feeling from earlier…’

Harris, who had sat up, turned his head and looked towards the World Tree.

The massive trunk, like a fortress blocking his view, filled his vision.

‘As expected, that wasn’t my imagination.’

He had definitely felt the World Tree’s will while he was deeply immersed in nature and becoming one with it.

It wasn’t clear for some reason, but he could vaguely grasp its meaning.

‘Ah, this is annoying. But I can’t ignore it either.’

He reluctantly stood up and raised his natural energy, staring at the World Tree.

And at the same time,

Whoosh—!

A gust of wind swirled, and a translucent giant bird appeared.

Pascal, the Advanced Wind Spirit, enveloped in a whirlwind.

Harris’s third spirit.

“Hmm? …Harris?”

Harris looked down at Shapiron, who was blinking her eyes and swallowing the popcorn in her mouth, as he let himself be carried by the wind Pascal was controlling and slowly rose into the air.

“Ah— I suddenly remembered something urgent. I’m sorry, Shapiron, but I have to go.”

“Yes! Please go ahead!”

And so, he briefly greeted her, who was waving with the popcorn bag in her arms, and then flew towards the World Tree.

He was going to talk to the other High Elves first, just in case.

‘Huh? But this is more comfortable than walking. Summoning it is a bit of a hassle, but once it’s maintained…’

Of course, his instinct to seek convenience never left him.

______________

In a space where the boundaries of the world blurred and intertwined— a place filled with the unknown and chaos.

A figure was leisurely walking, as if taking a stroll, seemingly unaffected by the surrounding environment.

“Everything’s going smoothly so far.”

There was no gravity, no ground, no air, and even direction and time were distorted in this space, but…

It was all a trivial matter to him.

‘…Should I have done this sooner?’

The man, the Revolutionary, the founder of Oath of Heaven’s Defiance and apostle of the ‘God of Humans’, looked out through the cracks that were everywhere, observing, and nodded.

He had prepared for things to progress this way, but he had still been prepared for things to go wrong because of unexpected variables…

‘This is good. Even the hunting dog has started to hunt its own kind.’

He turned his head and looked at a crack with a strange glow in his eyes.

A dark figure was faintly visible, approaching a massive tree that towered high into the sky.

‘The World Tree is the pillar and root of the Enamel Continent. If it’s shaken, the entire continent will be shaken.’

The tree, practically a part of God that had descended upon the world, was definitely an extraordinary being.

After all, it was the World Tree that had turned a land that was just a large island into the current continent.

But the World Tree had also taken on significant restrictions by taking root in this world through its avatar, and a prime example of that was that it was much more vulnerable to causality than other gods.

That was also the reason why he hadn’t been able to accurately inform his followers of Cecily’s location, who was a High Elf candidate.

And it was something that could be applied to other things.

…Even if it was something that posed a fatal threat to the World Tree.

‘Obaifo is also doing well. Those Hybrid bastards who suddenly appeared are a bit annoying, but they’ve prepared countermeasures, so they won’t be a big threat.’

His gaze shifted to another crack.

Actually, he had some regrets about the vampires.

Unlike the Lycanthropes, who were relatively easy to recruit, they were already well integrated into human society, and their leadership was scattered and divided, weakening their power.

So he had initially tried to approach the Ufersh Clan, the most powerful, but that was when Visque Ufersh had just inherited the Sacred Blood.

And that young vampire was full of arrogance and wouldn’t listen to him.

‘I thought I had them under control… But now they’re working together?’

The Revolutionary clicked his tongue and frowned.

He couldn’t be happy with the current situation, as he believed that all the Lycanthropes and vampires in this world should follow him.

“…Tsk, such ignorant fools who can’t even recognize the Creator’s apostle.”

It was a forgotten fact, even by those involved, but they actually had a different origin from other non-human races.

After all, how could a race that couldn’t reproduce naturally and could only increase their numbers through infection be considered a proper living being?

They were a sub-race created by the God of Humans by mixing humans with seeds brought from the outside world.

They were practically bastards.

And then the God of Humans was banished to the abyss, stripped of all his authority, and all connections to him were erased.

‘…Baltheon is also doing better than I expected. I was a bit worried when I took the madness.’

His gaze swept over the other cracks.

Not only was the Tribal Federation in the south nearing the completion of its regime change, but there was also an unsettling movement within the Empire.

A plot by a hostile faction to assassinate the princess, who had become the first in line to the throne after overtaking the Crown Prince.

If all of this went according to plan…

‘The Church’s dominance will be shaken, and the current trend of cooperation will be broken.’

He suddenly felt nostalgic for the previous plans that had been thwarted before they could even begin, but the current preparations were more than enough to turn each region upside down.

And in this precarious situation, if there were even cracks between them, the aftermath was obvious.

‘It would be perfect if the Immortal King also rampaged. I delivered the message properly, but his reaction is slower than I expected. I thought he would have moved already.’

The Revolutionary sighed, unable to find what he wanted even after looking through all the cracks, and closed his ‘eyes’.

And he focused on his ‘ears’,

Eavesdropping on the sounds of the world through the boundary.

[email protected]%$^&

-&!#$#%^*%

Noises like flowing sand came from all directions.

The thoughts of those who made up the world, the sound of the world itself.

But no matter how much his power was amplified in this space, he couldn’t grasp everything just by eavesdropping like this.

But one thing was certain…

‘Oh, something’s going to happen soon. Should I intervene a bit more?’

He opened his eyes, nodded with a satisfied smile,

And extended a hand to the side—, firmly grasping something that hadn’t been there a moment ago.

Squirm— Squirm—

The Seed of Madness, as if resisting, writhed repeatedly, but…

The Revolutionary ignored it and slowly opened his ‘mouth’, giving it an order.

“———.”

Immediately after,

Rumble—

Something deep within the abyss, stimulated by the energy emanating from the seed, started to rise, one after another,

And the monsters of the continent started to move in unison, affected by the wave that spread through the cracks.

‘This should be enough.’

Madness was one of the lowest-ranking scraps of the abyss, but it was relatively easy to manipulate.

It was a stark contrast to death, which he had to just throw away like a bomb and wait for the results, giving up on controlling it.

The reason he had orchestrated the release of madness in the first place was part of that strategic choice.

“It’s frustrating that I can’t smell anything.”

The Revolutionary muttered softly, slouching after finishing all the follow-up measures.

Things were going well on this side, but there was no progress on the other side, even though he had been waiting for a long time.

‘He’s still alive in this situation? He’s tenacious, despite all that misfortune. If I just knew where he was, I would go myself.’

He thought he would have died in the chaos…

It seemed like he was in a very safe place.

And judging by the fact that he couldn’t find him even after searching through the continent’s high-ranking officials for a long time, he wasn’t in a high position.

Maybe he was in a situation where it would be better for him to die because of his bad luck.

“…I’ll find him eventually, whether he’s revealed in the chaos or dies somewhere.”

That was all he could do for now.

He wished he had ‘olfaction’, but it wasn’t a big problem for now.

The plan was progressing smoothly.

______________

Tarak, a large city in the northwestern part of the continent.

“Achoo~! Ugh.”

A girl, holding a pile of documents, wrinkled her nose and continued walking briskly.

‘Should I buy some fried food on my way home today? Rafi likes it.’

Thinking such carefree thoughts, without a single worry.