The crisp breeze blows refreshingly, and the warm, cozy air wraps around him.
Is this what a baby feels like in its mother’s womb?
The absolute sense of security and fulfillment that enveloped him completely seduced him lethally.
If he could just gather his thoughts and resist, he might have had a chance, but right now, he didn’t feel the need to put forth that effort.
In the end, he was utterly captivated by that charm and sank deeply into it.
As he floated in the sea of consciousness, oblivious to the passage of time···.
“···Sir? Harris! Are you okay?”
The repetitive external stimulus slowly brought his mind back to his body.
“Have you been feeling down lately? I’ve sensed it for a while now, but it seems to have gotten worse recently. It looks a bit dangerous.”
“Ah···.”
Harris, lying under the shade of a tree on the hill as usual, lazily rolled his eyes to look at the person calling him.
With green hair that waved like the sea and blue eyes like a lake.
It was Shafiron Silvesty, the High Elf girl he had grown close to through various encounters.
But as he merely stared at her with bleary eyes after opening them, she cocked her head, then nodded, sending him a look of understanding.
“Hmm, I see! It’s not easy to build up the culture of being a High Elf, right? Of course, I’ve been educated about it since I was a child, so it’s a piece of cake for me!”
As she said this, she shrugged her shoulders proudly.
“Hehe, you better not get too relaxed, Harris! Once I become a High Elf, I’ll catch up to you in no time! I’ve already done several image trainings to prepare!”
“······.”
Of course, her delusions would mean nothing if she wasn’t chosen by the World Tree, but Harris didn’t bother to point this out with his adult-like demeanor.
···Honestly, it was too much effort even to speak right now.
However, sensing her excitement, she seemed to interpret his lack of reaction differently.
Suddenly clamping her mouth shut, she cautiously observed him before fidgeting her fingers, adding in a few hesitant words.
“Um… I meant to say, just hang in there… Of course, it’s amazing that you’ve already grown this much starting from the bottom! And um…”
“Ahaha—.”
A laugh escaped him involuntarily at her clumsy consolation.
He had known from their first meeting that her self-love was quite strong.
She was a bit immature, but not a bad person.
Also, although it would be natural for him to feel some distance now that he was becoming a High Elf, it was refreshing that her attitude toward him hadn’t really changed, especially as she always used honorifics.
Given how quickly his status had changed, having even one familiar face around him was a welcome addition.
Moreover, after spending enough time together, he had developed a sort of know-how when dealing with Shafiron.
The most effective approach when she seemed a bit down like now was···.
Swoosh—
Harris’s hand slowly moved through the Spatial Dimension Magical Equipment, reaching out to her.
In his hand was a bag emitting a savory fragrance.
Sniff sniff—
“Whoa! Is this popcorn? I’ll eat well!”
As soon as Shafiron caught the scent, she grabbed it eagerly, plopping down beside him and opening the bag.
‘Now she accepts food without saying much.’
Watching her busily munching on the popcorn, Harris nodded quietly.
At first, she showed signs of reluctance whenever he offered her food, but after a while, she had naturally come to accept it, even when he unexpectedly presented it.
It felt somewhat like he was training a stray cat with treats···.
‘That’s probably just my imagination.’
He gazed at Shafiron for a moment while lying back before finally mustering the will to raise his upper body slowly.
“Hmm.”
As the compulsion to move his body subsided with the loss of control, every little movement felt like torture.
Now he had to overcome the laziness brought on by the harmony with nature solely through mental strength.
However, his mental stats assigned to his being had significantly increased compared to before, so it wasn’t impossible to move as he usually did if he put his mind to it.
The only problem was that if he gained any leisure, he would immediately fall back into laziness, just like before.
‘But what was that feeling earlier···?’
Sitting up, he turned his head toward the direction of the World Tree.
The massive trunk loomed large, blocking out the view like a fortress against cries.
‘As expected, that wasn’t just my imagination.’
When he was deeply immersed in nature, he faintly sensed something that was definitely the will of the World Tree.
Though it was vague for some reason, he could grasp its intent sufficiently.
‘Ah, how bothersome. But I can’t ignore it.’
As he gazed at the World Tree, he finally decided to get up and draw upon the natural powers within him.
And at the same time.
Hoo—!
In an instant, the wind whipped into a vortex and revealed a translucent, massive bird.
The advanced wind spirit, Pascal, draped in gales.
He was Harris’s third spirit.
“Upnum? ···Harris?”
Harris let the wind controlled by Pascal lift him slowly into the air while looking down at Shafiron, who was swallowing something in her mouth with wide eyes.
“Oh— I just remembered something urgent. Shafiron, I’m sorry, but I need to go ahead.”
“Okay! Be careful!”
With that, Harris waved goodbye to her, who was flapping her arms with the popcorn bag, and soared toward the direction of the World Tree.
Not knowing what lay ahead, he thought he should at least converse with the other High Elves before proceeding.
‘Huh? But it’s actually more comfortable than walking? Summoning can be a bit of a hassle, but once maintained…’
Of course, even in the midst of this, his instinct to seek convenience was unavoidable.
*
The boundaries of the world blurred and mixed— a space filled with the unknown and chaos.
Amid such an environment, a being strolled leisurely as if on a walk, unaffected by anything around him.
“I’ve made smooth progress up to here.”
In this space, there was no gravity, land, or air, and even direction and time were disordered.
Yet, these were mere trivial matters for him.
‘…Perhaps I should have done this earlier.’
The man, founder of the Oath of Reversal and apostle of the human gods, nodded as he observed the outside through the cracks surrounding him.
He had taken measures in advance to ensure things proceeded this way, but he was bracing for the unexpected fallout of unforeseen variables.
‘It’s rather pleasing. The hunting dogs have begun their mixed hunting.’
He turned his gaze to a crack where a grotesque glow was emanating from a set of eyes.
There, a shadowy horde approached the towering tree in the distance.
‘The World Tree is the pillar and root of the Enamel Continent. If it trembles, the continent itself will shake.’
That tree, being nothing less than a part of a god manifested in reality, certainly was a formidable existence.
After all, it was the World Tree that had transformed a mere large island into the current continent.
However, by rooting into this world through the avatar, the World Tree also carried significant limitations, with one of the primary examples being its vulnerability to causality compared to other gods.
Not being able to notify its minions precisely of Cecily’s position, who was a High Elf candidate, stemmed from this issue.
And this applied to other matters as well.
…Even if they constituted a fatal threat to the World Tree.
‘Obaifo isn’t doing too poorly either. The sudden appearance of hybrids is a bit of a nuisance, but they should pose no major threat as we are prepared.’
His gaze shifted to another crack.
In fact, he was rather disappointed in the vampires.
Unlike the lycanthropes, who were relatively easy to draw in, they were already well-integrated into human society, and their leadership was scattered and at odds, which diluted their strength.
So at first, he tried to approach the strongest faction, Yufershi, but coincidentally, it was just shortly after Bisk Yufershi had succeeded to the Pureblood status, and that young vampire was utterly brimming with excessive confidence, making negotiation impossible.
‘Still, I thought I had tied them together by mutual cooperation recently. Now they’re feasting on each other, huh?’
The revolutionary frowned, clicking his tongue.
That type of creature, thinking all the lycanthropes and vampires in this world should follow him, could only feel displeasure from the current situation.
“…Tsk, foolish beings who cannot even recognize an apostle of the creator.”
Though it had long been forgotten by all parties, they had origins that were entirely different from other species.
After all, a being incapable of reproducing on its own and increasing its numbers solely through infection could hardly be considered a proper life form, right?
They were a hybrid created by mixing seeds brought from the outside world with humans by the god of humans.
One might say they were a type of illegitimate child.
This was after the god was cast into the Abyss and stripped of all authority, along with any connections.
‘…Balteon is doing surprisingly well too. I was worried with the madness he was bringing.’
He then scanned the other cracks one by one.
The southern tribal federation nearing its power takeover and the unusual movements occurring within the empire were noteworthy.
The hostile faction attempting to assassinate the first heir after displacing the crown prince.
If all that was taking place right now could succeed↗̗…
‘The order led by the church will tremble, and the current trend of everyone cooperating will shatter.’
Observing this way, he lamented the plans that had yet to commence but were now gathering dust, but considering the events currently prepared, they were more than sufficient to bring chaos to each region.
Let alone, if fissures occurred among them in such a precarious situation, the aftermath was guaranteed to be a clear disaster.
‘If the Undead King also rampages here, it’ll be the icing on the cake. The message was transmitted properly, but the reaction is slower than expected. I thought they’d move sooner.’
As the revolutionary scanned the rows of cracks, failing to find what he sought, he sighed and closed his two “eyes.”
Then he focused his “ears,” tuning in to eavesdrop on the sounds of the world through the boundary.
email@protected%$^&
-&!#$#%^%*
A noise like sand slipping through fingers echoed from all directions.
The thoughts of those comprising the world, the very sounds emanating from the world itself.
However, no matter how much his powers were amplified in this space, simply eavesdropping could never allow him to comprehend everything about the world.
Yet, even so, one thing was crystal clear…
‘Ho, something will happen soon after all. Should I exert a little more influence here?’
As he opened his eyes again, a satisfied smile overtook his face as he nodded.
He then stretched out one hand to the side— grasping tightly onto something that had not been there just moments ago.
Wriggle— wriggle—
That which squirmed, seemingly resisting, the Seed of Madness twisted around him repeatedly.
The revolutionary disregarded it and slowly opened his “mouth,” issuing a command.
“———.”
At that moment.
Gugugugugu—
Something deep within the Abyss was stirred by the energy originating from the seed and began to rise in succession.
Like a well-coordinated army, the monsters of the continent began to move in unison through the cracks that had opened.
‘This should be sufficient.’
Though madness was regarded as one of the lesser remnants from the Abyss, its nature made it rather easy to manipulate.
This was in sharp contrast to having to either give up control or wait like a bomb until wished for it to explode.
Moreover, the reason for actively drawing forth madness was part of that strategic choice.
“By the way, it’s frustrating not being able to smell anything.”
Having concluded all follow-up measures, the revolutionary slumped his body and mumbled lowly.
While all this was playing out splendidly, on the other hand, he had been waiting for quite a while with no progress on the other front.
‘This situation makes me wonder if they’re still clinging to life somehow. With such bad luck, they’re resilient. If I knew where they were, I would have moved myself.’
After causing such a disturbance in the continent, he had expected them to soon die out in the chaos.
The absence of news suggested they might be in a rather safe spot.
Given that he had swept through the higher echelons of the continent for so long without locating them, they surely weren’t that high up either.
Perhaps their misfortune was so great that death might actually be the better option.
“…If I keep turning the continent upside down, I’ll either find them or they’ll die out somewhere.”
That was all he could do.
Though it would have been nice to have “scent,” the absence of it wasn’t a significant issue since the plan was progressing smoothly.
*
In the Great City of Tarak, located in the northwest of the continent.
ACHOO~! Khreng.
Suddenly interrupted by a sneeze, a girl holding a pile of documents scrunched her nose and hurried her steps.
‘Maybe I’ll buy some fried food on my way back today? Rafi loves it.’
Without a worry in the world, she thought cheerfully.
