WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 568: Surviving the World Tree

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Capturing a powerful person is far more difficult than killing one. A master of ki arts can ruin ropes or handcuffs by channeling minute amounts of ki into them. If necessary, they can dislocate their own joints at will or compress their bodies to escape.

That was why handling prisoners had always been such a difficult problem. Unless someone equally strong kept watch over them, there was little difference between holding them captive and leaving them at a cheap inn. Even if breaking both their arms seemed preferable, a master who had reached the level of Water Qi Art could control their body with ki and even heal themselves. Even that was not enough.

But what if their arms were removed entirely? No matter how formidable they were, they could not resist without arms. In a way, it was reasonable...

Still, how was removing both arms from a martial artist any different from killing them?

The regressor's condition was miserable, since her arms had been torn off by brute force. Even the peerless ki art called Heaven-Reversing Boundary could not handle that much blood loss.

I barely managed to retrieve the regressor's two arms, which wriggled after losing their owner. I used the Demon God's power to keep blood circulating through the severed arms so they would not rot.

As long as the arms remained, they could be reattached. They would not be exactly the same as before, but a master of ki arts could still recover with sufficient rest and proper treatment.

"We will arrive shortly, Your Majesty. I came without sending word myself, so I may not have been able to prepare a proper welcome. I beg your understanding."

...Though I didn't know whether Nevida would give us that time.

A flower bud blooming from the ground enveloped the regressor and me. Nevida had departed without warning. I nearly dropped the arms, but somehow steadied the regressor and regained my balance.

Using druidic power to create a passage called a "flower tunnel" and traveling through it was an unbelievably fast way to move. It felt as though we were swimming through this dense sea of trees.

Even then, the regressor's life hung in the balance. I suppressed my impatience and kept blood circulating through her arms for several hours.

Then my body suddenly swayed from side to side. The flower bud tightened around us and began forcing its way upward through a narrow gap. While I barely kept my balance by gripping the wall, the bud, which had been rushing somewhere at terrifying speed, bloomed without warning.

My ears felt blocked. My body sensed the change in altitude first. Squinting at the light seeping in, I stepped outside.

We were inside a huge knothole in a tree. The interior had been hollowed out of the tree's flesh. Leaves, vines, and stairs made of raw wood filled the space. This was probably what the world looked like from the perspective of fairies who made homes inside trees.

I turned and looked out through the knothole.

"This is the World Tree, a tree this insignificant servant presumptuously grafted from a sapling of the World Tree."

Before me stretched an endless sea of leaves. An enormous branch began beyond the limits of my vision and extended inward.

It was so vast that it distorted my sense of distance. Stairs ran along the thick branch, and I could see people walking across it. The limb was far larger than most roads or buildings. It soon split into dozens of branches, each bearing different leaves as they stretched outward.

There were thousands of branches in sight alone. There were surely even more below, beyond what I could see. Though it was not an animal, I could feel vigorous life pulsing from it.

"Welcome to the World Tree, Lord of All Creation."

This was the World Tree, the Tree of Origin. Specifically, its highest level, where Nevida resided.

The Domain of the Lords.

Despite its name, the Domain of the Lords did not appear to be a living space for humans. There were not many thoughts to hear. As usual, I swiftly read them. There were around twenty people, all engrossed in something.

At that moment, I heard an unfamiliar reverberation. As I tried to use my mind-reading, dizziness suddenly struck me and I staggered.

"Huh? What's this?"

Wait. Something was strange.

My mind-reading had been absolute until now. It had its limits, but the ability itself honestly and accurately revealed the human mind. That had never changed.

'Is this Nevida's wish? Nevida has already achieved nearly all of it with her own hands. Yet it's ironic that I'm the final piece. It feels like I'm taking credit for someone else's work.'

Still, this resonance felt different. It was not like reading a person's thoughts. A hollow voice echoed through empty consciousness. The thoughts I heard now were alien.

'Still, Nevida's method is the right answer. There's no problem with me filling in that final piece. It's entirely Nevida's achievement. Then that isn't what matters. First, the arms...'

"Wait. What is this?"

Seeing my confusion, Nevida looked satisfied, as though things had gone exactly as expected.

"Your Majesty. I beg forgiveness for this servant's rudeness in speaking so..."

"You've been as rude as you pleased so far, so what are you talking about? It's not like you'd refrain from saying it just because it's rude! Hurry up and tell me. What is this?"

"As Your Majesty sensed, this servant serves Your Majesty. Not the sovereign standing before me, but the sovereign who was betrayed and wounded in the past."

People called humanity the Lords of All Creation. The summit of the Tree of Origin was the Domain of the Lords. Yet this place was not for humans...

It was for the King of Humanity.

At the top of the Tree of Corruption lay the remains of the King of Humanity whom Nevida had served in the past. The corpse of that girl I had seen in the Offering God's memories.

"Your Majesty. At present, Your Majesty's power has been torn from your flesh. The Five Lords, minions of that wicked harlot, stole Your Majesty's 'power' and dared claim the title of king. Their rebellion was irreverent, but that harlot made kings commonplace and ultimately defiled Your Majesty."

Nevida looked higher still, recalling the one enshrined at the peak of the World Tree, where no one could dare look down upon her.

"This servant could not bear to watch that as your subject. For the sovereign who will return someday, this servant has guarded Your Majesty's sacred body."

That was why the regressor was hostile toward Nevida, and why the King of Sin who had appeared in the past had taken the form of a woman. Nevida possessed the King of Humanity's corpse, so she was practically a priest capable of summoning the King of Sin.

And that was probably why Nevida had brought me here.

"Then the reason you brought me must lie above this place."

"I believed Your Majesty would also be interested in it."

"Yes, I am. But first."

I pointed at the regressor, who was barely clinging to consciousness, then at her two arms lying apart from her.

"Could you treat Shei? He'll die at this rate."

Nevida had said she would spare her. She should at least treat her wounds. Nevida did not seem interested in whether the regressor lived or died, but she recalled saying that Shei would be kept alive and raised a hand.

The Tree of Origin changed its structure in accordance with the Demon God's will. The wooden wall rolled itself up, and stairs grew along both sides of it. Someone walked down the hastily made stairs. It was a middle-aged woman in loose clothes, holding a wide broom and wearing a pointed hat folded in half.

The woman did not feel fear or dread even when she saw Nevida. It was not simply because she was used to her.

She too had touched the mysteries of this land.

She was a witch.

"Great Druid. Did you call for me?"

"Walpurgis. Treat the patient. Keep him alive."

Walpurgis, the witch, only found the torn-off arms slightly troublesome. That was only what she thought, of course. It did not show on her face or in her movements. Walpurgis moved her broom indifferently. As though alive, the broom slipped beneath the regressor and lifted her.

Walpurgis looked at the severed arms and asked.

"Shall I reattach the arms as well?"

Oh. So they had techniques for reattaching arms here too. As expected of a witch. I quickly nodded.

"Yes, if you can..."

"It would be better for him to remain without arms."

"No, that's harsh. You can remove them again anytime, so why not put them back on? If too much time passes, they won't be able to be reattached!"

"It will be easier to handle him without arms, Your Majesty. Please do not concern yourself."

It annoyed me that Nevida spoke so respectfully while having no intention of listening. Was she kidding me?

'The clients disagree. Even if I don't reattach them, I should take the arms with me.'

The witch considered whether to listen to me or Nevida, then decided to take both opinions into account. A wise choice.

The witch gave a slight bend of her knees in greeting, then took the regressor's arms as well. Nevida did not even look in that direction and flicked a small branch.

"Then I shall guide Your Majesty to your bedchamber."

"By Your Majesty, do you mean where I'll sleep, or where someone else will?"

"...It is the bedchamber of the sovereign this servant once served."

A large dracaena with broad leaves rose from the ground. Carrying Nevida and me on its leaves, it gradually grew upward.

Even the enormous World Tree had a summit. The trunks, once as large as buildings, gradually narrowed, until beyond a certain point only the blue sky remained as the backdrop.

Between the sky and the World Tree was a single flower bud. Nevida grew the dracaena to the top of that bud. The closer we came, the more unknown noise I heard through my mind-reading.

'The King of Humanity meeting the King of Humanity. When a wish reaches its peak, even this sort of irony occurs. That is why wishes are necessary, whatever kind they may be.'

The lotus-like flower bud was large enough for a person to enter. I lightly placed my hand against a lotus petal. The overlapping petals were dense and firm, so they did not seem like something I could peel away by force.

"Stand back."

Nevida raised a hand and made a circular motion. The tightly closed lotus petals swayed gently and obeyed Nevida's will. The wall of petals peeled away layer by layer, gradually unfolding to reveal the precious thing it had protected within.

Nevida knelt toward the inside and bowed deeply.

"This servant, Nevida, will enter for a moment."

Inside the flower was the form of a "girl," slightly more mature than when I had seen her in the Offering God's dream. Curled up like a child, she had vines like umbilical cords hanging from her mouth and nose, receiving nourishment through them. Her heart did not beat, and she did not breathe. If someone asked whether she was alive or dead, I would be certain that she was closer to dead.

Yet thanks to Nevida's devoted service, the King of Humanity had continued to exist beyond an incomprehensible span of time.

'The King of Humanity Nevida cherishes, the one she served in the distant past. Nevida is obsessed with that King of Humanity rather than me, whose appearance and memories are unfamiliar. Nevida's true wish is probably not me...'

The voice I heard through my mind-reading gradually grew louder. The thoughts I was reading now really were alien. My head throbbed as though I were listening to a song composed of discord.

Without realizing it, I followed that instinctive pull.

Footnotes:

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