Parasite (2)
The white dragon was silently staring at the transparent barrier under the sea.
'Come to think of it...'
It remembered how it had suddenly appeared back then, saying it would protect them and speaking of a contract.
The glowing tattoo on Grandpa's hand was proof of the contract made at that time.
A thought struck.
'Does it know something about this situation?'
Recalling the lush forest and the giant tree that had appeared when touched by the transparent energy, it seemed certain that the transparent aura was connected to the World Tree.
At first, it had seemed like the World Tree was behind all of this, but that changed after seeing Grandpa-its guardian-get harmed.
Moreover, the energy used by Grandpa, which came from the World Tree, and the transparent energy lodged in Grandma's head were entirely different in nature.
It was clear there was a connection to the World Tree, but since even its guardian was attacked, the relationship was clearly not a friendly one.
'And the white dragon seemed to know a lot about the World Tree.'
Considering it had entrusted its offspring to them, it seemed that the World Tree was essential to the hatching process.
'I need to meet it and ask directly.'
Although I couldn't leave the territory, the white dragon had come right up to the transparent barrier. All I had to do was reach it.
'I'll just open the East Gate.'
The East Gate had a relatively simple function: as long as it was within the territory, it allowed one to open a door and go 'anywhere.'
It wasn't a normal door, but one created in midair to allow instant travel.
It was an evolved form of the Absolute Gate-in fact, it was practically a lesser version of the North Gate.
The North Gate allowed access to any location, even outside the territory, as long as one of the retainers was present.
'Still, I guess it's finally time to use it.'
At the moment, I was in a four-person hospital room located right in front of the main house.
The edge of the territory was 10 kilometers away, so traveling there normally would take a lot of time.
Even with teleportation, my current mental strength only allowed me to cover about 2 kilometers two or three times at most. Besides, to reach the white dragon's current location, I'd have to swim across several kilometers of ocean.
But-
'Open East Gate.'
By using the East Gate, which could generate a door anywhere within the territory, I could talk to the white dragon without any of that hassle.
Ziiing-
A round door formed in midair and gradually expanded its range.
Beyond the door, ocean waves shimmered. From the hospital room, light spilled through the doorway and illuminated the underwater scene.
Thankfully, no seawater flooded into the room. That much, I could control.
The white dragon was staring straight at this place from the other side.
Realizing I didn't need to cross over if we could communicate from here, I spoke to it.
"I have something to ask."
I could feel the dragon's energy grow sharp through the East Gate.
It spoke.
[Why would a being like you aim for the World Tree?]
"...What?"
[Greed invites ruin. No matter how transcendent you are, coveting a divinity beyond your vessel will only lead to destruction.]
Apparently, the white dragon was severely mistaken.
'But I get where it's coming from.'
I figured I needed to clear up the misunderstanding before we could talk.
"You seem to be mistaken. I'm not after the World Tree's power.'
At the same time, I enlarged the East Gate.
As my grandfather's sleeping figure appeared through the portal, the white dragon's intense energy softened noticeably.
"This is my grandfather. He's been like this, asleep, for a week now. Not just him-my entire family is asleep like this. Do you know anything about it?"
The white dragon, watching my family sleep beyond the East Gate, slowly opened its mouth.
[It's the work of the Owl.]
"Owl?"
[A parasite-like creature that lives off the World Tree.]
Fortunately, the white dragon seemed to know the origin of this whole mess.
"What must I do to wake them?"
I asked with hope in my voice.
But what the dragon said next crushed that hope entirely.
[Burn all the infected.]
I paused for a moment, trying to grasp who the 'infected' it mentioned were, then I opened my mouth.
"...What?"
[Once a soul is collected by the Owl, it can never return. Before the Owl's power spreads, you must kill the infected and burn their bodies.]
"If you do that, the World Tree will be safe. The power of the Guardian will also be passed down to you, its blood relative."
When I gave no response, the White Dragon cautiously continued.
"It's unfortunate, but there is no other way."
Suppressing my anger, I opened my mouth to speak to the creature that was speaking so indifferently.
"Explain as thoroughly as possible about this creature called the Owl. What does it have to do with parasitizing the World Tree and falling asleep?"
If it were parasitizing the World Tree, it should be sucking up nutrients by attaching itself to the trunk or roots.
How could latching onto innocent humans nearby be considered parasitizing the World Tree?
Staring at the silent White Dragon, I spoke.
"Answer me. Unless you want to see your eggs at the roots of the World Tree burned alive."
The White Dragon hesitated for a moment, as if conflicted, before spouting something strange.
"To your eyes, the World Tree probably looks like just a big tree."
"What are you talking about?"
"Even a transcendent being can only perceive the world through the eyes of a mortal. But the true body of the World Tree exists in the gap between dimensions. The Owl connects to that dimensional gap-where the World Tree's essence resides-by using human consciousness as a medium, and it feeds off its power."
Even after the detailed explanation, it was difficult to fully grasp what he meant.
Still, I could intuitively understand the gist of what he was trying to say.
"Can you explain it a bit more clearly?"
"Well..."
I tried asking a few more questions, but he only kept repeating the same thing.
"Thank you for your cooperation. Don't worry about your eggs."
With those parting words, I closed the East Gate and turned to Director Lee Sungmin, who had been waiting nearby.
"I'll need to step out for a bit."
"Go ahead. No need to worry."
"Thank you.'
""
Immediately, I teleported to the hospital rooftop and looked toward the World Tree.
It now stood taller than most apartment buildings.
'First, I need to figure out that thing.'
And that's when it happened.
[Unauthorized entity attempting to enter.]
[Unauthorized entity attempting to enter.]
From the distant sea, I saw the White Dragon attacking the transparent barrier.
A wave of pure white frost burst from its mouth, freezing the ocean and battering the transparent barrier-but the barrier withstood all the impact without a single crack.
The attacks looked quite fierce, but they accomplished nothing.
'He's trying hard.'
I had been slightly worried since it had a higher level than the True Ancestor, but it seemed I had nothing to fear.
'I don't sense the same kind of power from it that I do from my sword's black aura.'
That confirmed it.
Unless I allowed it, the White Dragon would never be able to enter the domain.
I turned my attention away from him and teleported to the top of the World Tree.
Crack, crack-
The White Dragon, still watching the sea frozen by its breath, was visibly shaken.
'Why?'
His attack had been completely blocked by a barrier created by what he considered a mere mortal.
He had intended to break through the barrier by force and directly erase the beings tainted by the Owl. After all, he sensed that the young human he had just met valued his kin more than the World Tree.
Even if it meant being hated by the next generation's Guardian... Even if it meant his own offspring might be burned before they ever saw the light of the world... He had resolved himself to accept it all.
But he had been stopped right from the start.
'Impossible...'
From the frozen ocean left in the wake of his breath and the way the barrier shook slightly after the attack, he could roughly estimate the barrier's size.
The transparent barrier before him was unbelievably vast.
In both width and height, its scale exceeded imagination. And for a structure of that magnitude to withstand his breath without even the slightest scratch, how much energy must it hold?
Even more shocking was the fact that this solid, massive barrier emitted no discernible energy.
'Unbelievable.'
There was only one possible explanation for this kind of feat.
'That small human possesses divinity?'
If the barrier before him was built from a higher-dimensional power, then it made sense.
Only a power of equal divinity could breach divine territory.
But that made no sense either.
'A being with divinity shouldn't be able to exist in the physical world.'
That was common knowledge.
'Even if that human were an avatar, there's no way he could manifest this level of power.'
If such a world were possible, the entire world would have been thrown into chaos by divine power.
Only one possibility remained.
"Is a new god being born?"
Only the birth of a myth could make such an irrational event possible.
"If that's the case..."
If a myth was truly beginning here and now, a miracle might just occur.
The size of the World Tree was truly enormous.
Unlike in the early days when it was only a few dozen meters tall, it now towered over even the tallest apartment buildings, which stretched hundreds of meters into the sky.
If it grew just a bit more, it might even overlook Cheonmasan Mountain nearby.
"Incredible. And this isn't even its true form?"
The White Dragon had claimed that no mortal eye could ever behold the true form of the World Tree.
Then, what about eyes imbued with the authority of an absolute being-not those of an ordinary human?
I closed my eyes, seated on one of the World Tree's branches.
"Eyes of the Absolute."
It was all to get closer, even if just slightly, to the true essence of the World Tree.
I turned off all other perspectives-those that checked in on other vassals or patrolled the domain-and focused solely on the World Tree.
The top where I sat, the trunk, the roots.
A total of twelve perspectives scanned the entire tree.
Yet for a while, nothing changed.
All I saw was the image of a gigantic tree.
"I can't give up."
My family's lives were on the line in this endeavor.
Hours passed as I swept the world with the Absolute Eye, but still, no changes appeared.
"This won't do."
A drastic change was needed.
"They said the true form of the World Tree exists in the dimensional rift, didn't they?"
So how was I supposed to peer into that place?
I tried overlaying the Absolute Eye with different views, focused all attention on one view, but nothing worked.
Then it happened.
Wooooom.
From the branch of the World Tree where I sat, a familiar energy began to flow.
"This is...?"
That green glow was the life force of the World Tree, the same one my grandfather had used.
As the energy slowly enveloped my body, it stirred something within me-something that led to a revelation.
The black energy.
The power I had recently started wielding-it was the source of all my skills.
The electricity, gas, and water produced by my grace-maintaining skills, the portals that connected space, and the invisible hands that extended from my body-all of them stemmed from that black energy.
And so did the Absolute Eye I was using now.
Therefore―
Fwoosh.
Black energy began to swirl in the air.
In the space where I was using the Absolute Eye, the black energy ignited and solidified into a single form.
A black eye.
And when that eye slowly opened its eyelid―
"Ah!"
A new world unfolded before me.
From the branch of the World Tree I was sitting on, a green energy surged forth.
As the black eye moved, my vision expanded.
I could now see the entire form of the World Tree, along with the green energy flowing outward in all directions from its center.
At first, I thought it was just life force spreading through the land.
But soon, I realized I was wrong.
"I can see it."
The green energy filling the sky and earth formed the shape of a truly colossal tree.
The real form of the World Tree existed there.
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