Chapter 39
Deep within the Great Forest, the ominous feeling intensified the closer they got to the World Tree.
Along with that, the sky grew progressively darker, adding an eerie atmosphere.
Finally, when it became too difficult to see ahead,
Snap—.
Franz snapped his fingers.
A small orb of light floated up, illuminating the surroundings.
"Magic really is convenient. I should have learned magic myself."
Yustia remarked grumpily.
At that, Franz felt a shock, as if struck on the back of the head.
'Come to think of it, that's right.'
In common subculture tropes, didn't Saints in worlds of sword and sorcery solely use Holy Power?
And that was true for Yustia as well.
He had never seen her use any power other than Holy Power until now.
However, that didn't mean Holy Power and mana couldn't be used simultaneously.
Holy Knights, after all, wielded overwhelming strength by using aura and Holy Power together.
In the first place, Holy Power stemmed from their faith, while mana was drawn from a mana core, so naturally, they could be used concurrently.
'A Saint who uses magic and swords while infinitely healing with Holy Power...?'
Frankly, it seemed like she could win even in a one-on-one fight against the Demon King.
Well, assuming the world had decent balance patches, such a thing wouldn't happen.
Anyway,
"You can produce light too, can't you?"
"Me? I can't use magic."
"Didn't you shine brightly with golden light when you performed miracles?"
When using her Saintly power, Yustia glowed with brilliant light.
Not in the sense of being externally beautiful, but literally shining.
Like a living lightbulb, a living lighthouse.
"Well, I do emit light, but... you weren't serious just now, were you?"
"It was a joke. Just because the atmosphere was dark and all."
"Haaa—, really, not even a child... Hyak?!"
Yustia, who had been speaking as if exasperated, suddenly screamed.
He'd had a feeling the atmosphere was unusual, and it seemed something was about to happen.
Franz hurriedly approached Yustia, and Hera followed suit right behind him.
"What's wrong?"
"Yustia, are you alright?"
"S-someone touched my butt...!"
Yustia, with a tearful expression, covered her rear with both hands.
So.
Not stabbed in the butt with a spear, nor suddenly hit by an arrow.
Just simply touched on the butt?
'Something's strange.'
Feeling puzzled, Franz nevertheless scanned the surroundings with mana.
Just in case someone really had touched her butt and run off, as she claimed.
However, no matter how tightly he cast his net, nothing suspicious appeared.
Meaning, there was a very high probability that this was Yustia's misunderstanding.
Given the darkness, it was certainly possible.
Just then, Hera spotted something.
"It seems to be because of this."
Exactly at the height of Yustia's rear, a wide leaf protruded.
It seemed she had brushed past it without seeing and mistaken it.
Well, really, what kind of enemy would just touch someone's butt and run away?
It wasn't like they were subway gropers.
"Someone really did brush against me, I tell you...?"
Yustia said, sounding wronged.
How embarrassing must it be to mistake a leaf for a human hand and cause such a fuss.
Understanding her feelings well enough, he decided to let it slide.
"Okay, I get it. Shall we get going then?"
"It's true...! Why would I possibly have a reason to lie?!"
Yustia's emotion escalated beyond feeling wronged to outright indignation.
'Did something really happen?'
If she were just being stubborn out of embarrassment, she wouldn't react this strongly; even knowing it wasn't true, he couldn't help but doubt again.
It was then.
"Franz, something is strange."
Hera said this, scanning the surroundings with suspicious eyes.
At her reaction, Franz also began to carefully observe the surroundings.
And belatedly, he realized.
Yustia had been mistaken, yet simultaneously, she hadn't been.
'The trees are moving...?'
Literally, the branches, the leaves, and the roots were moving.
What had touched Yustia's butt wasn't a person, but the tree itself.
No wonder nothing showed up on the mana detection.
No one would suspect the trees themselves were moving in the first place.
Whoosh—.
A wind blew through the eerie atmosphere.
The backdrop of the dark night combined with the moving trees felt truly bizarre.
Fear made him swallow hard, *gulp*, automatically.
"H-hey, I'm getting a little scared..."
Yustia approached Franz and gently grabbed his sleeve.
It seemed she was used to bloody battlefields but not this kind of thing.
"Hera, what should we do?"
Franz's gaze turned to Hera.
Truthfully, the reason they had walked instead of teleporting to the World Tree was that Hera had wanted to check the condition of the Great Forest along the way.
But with the situation like this, further checks would be meaningless.
"I see. It seems best to head straight for the World Tree."
Hera nodded with grim eyes.
For the Elves who protected the World Tree and the Great Forest, this situation was nothing short of a disaster.
Soon, Franz snapped his fingers, and simultaneously, light flashed as the three figures vanished.
Only the eerie atmosphere lingered where they had stood, the light gone.
Whoosh—.
The wind blew, and a sound like a scream echoed through the Great Forest.
* * * * *
The place where the vanished trio reappeared was right in front of the World Tree, the Elven settlement.
As light flashed and they appeared, the nearby Elves immediately raised their weapons.
"Wh-who goes there!"
"Ludwin, it is I."
"L-Lady Hera...!"
When Hera pushed back her hood and revealed her face, relief and gladness spread among the wary Elves. Simultaneously, the raised weapons returned to their places, and the tense atmosphere eased.
"It seems something happened while I was away."
"Well, about that...!"
While Hera conversed with the Elves, Franz looked around.
'It's even worse here.'
Perhaps because it was closer to the World Tree, the condition was definitely more severe than on the outskirts of the Great Forest.
The trees were beyond withered; all their leaves had fallen, leaving them gaunt, and some had even already broken and fallen to the ground.
'If you saw the Great Forest from the sky, it would probably look like male pattern baldness.'
Since the central area around the World Tree was completely empty.
"Franz, is this where the Elves live...?"
Yustia whispered quietly, perhaps worried the Elves might hear.
"That's right?"
"It wasn't originally like this, was it...?"
"No, it used to be a bit prettier. But looking at it now, it seems the problem is quite serious."
Franz's gaze slowly shifted towards the World Tree.
The World Tree had changed drastically.
Its branches were twisted and grotesque, and a dark red liquid, like blood, trickled down its thick trunk.
If the last time he saw it, it felt truly magnificent, holding the mysteries of antiquity, now it seemed like a symbol of utter ominousness.
And most importantly, the sticky and unpleasant demonic energy he felt confirmed that this was definitely the work of the cult.
In that case, there were probably two possible options to consider in the current situation.
One was that cultists who infiltrated from the outside did something to the World Tree.
And the other, though he preferred not to think about it, was the possibility that there was an enemy within, which couldn't be ruled out.
'Please don't let it be the latter.'
If there was a cultist among the Elves, and that fellow caused this?
The result was obvious even without seeing it.
Hera would suffer immense shock and come to distrust not only humans but Elves as well.
Then, naturally, the world would take one step closer to ruin.
Imagining the translucent display popping up before his eyes already made his head throb.
Just as Franz was pondering this.
"Floppy-eared older brother—!"
Someone suddenly hugged Franz's leg tightly.
Franz's gaze naturally lowered, and there was a familiar face.
It was the young Elf he had rescued from the bald pig's mansion with Hera not long ago.
"Yeah, long time no see."
"Yep, long time no see! Did you come to kidnap me?! Nana becoming a slave again... Mmph?"
The Elf, introducing herself as Nana, once again spoke without a filter and was promptly silenced by someone's hand.
The Elf who stopped Nana's transgression bowed her head deeply and apologized.
"S-sorry... My younger sister is still young and thoughtless..."
"Well, it's okay."
'She's young, so it happens.'
...Though her words were a bit harsh, even for that.
Eventually, Nana was dragged away somewhere by the Elf, and in the meantime, Hera, having finished her conversation with the Elves, approached.
But why?
The expression on Hera's face, as seen by Franz, was incredibly dark.
As if she might collapse at any moment.
"I have heard the detailed story from my kin..."
Hera's voice was utterly subdued.
'This is unsettling.'
'Somehow, I feel like another <Bad Ending> turning point is about to occur.'
And just as expected.
Ominous premonitions never seemed to be wrong.
<Warning!>
<You are on the verge of a <Bad Ending>! Your choices will greatly affect the fate of the world!>
"I am truly sorry... This is the work of our own kin..."
Hera bowed her head in apology.
So, there really was an enemy within.
Franz's hand slowly rose to cover his forehead.