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“Woo-wooong—!”

The moment the space opened and the seed of the World Tree was planted in the center of the Eternal Tree, the previously crazily growing Eternal Tree came to a halt.

“Uh?”

“Why did it suddenly stop?”

“Is there a problem?”

People couldn’t hide their confusion as they stared at the Eternal Tree. It was different from when it had paused to absorb fertilizer; back then, it ignored humans who were tearing themselves apart and burning to absorb the fertilizer, but now it stood still like a prey frozen in front of a predator.

Like a frog stiffening in the presence of a snake or an average person being mentally intimidated in front of a 2.5-meter muscular giant—it was being naturally subdued by the pressure of a superior species.

Yet, this moment of stillness was short-lived.

“Woo-wooong—!”

“Ugh—!?”

“What, what is that!?”

“It’s going berserk!”

The Eternal Tree began thrashing about wildly, trying to shake off the seed of the World Tree lodged inside it. Of course, just as one can’t remove a parasite hiding in their body without surgery, thrashing alone wouldn’t shake off the seed embedded in its heart.

The current struggle was merely its last desperate act. It was like someone who realizes they are dying thrashing about in fear of death, only to hasten that very death further…

The ripples from this struggle reached the Flower hidden inside the Eternal Tree.

“Kyahhhh—!?”

Flower, rolling around in her created chamber and bumping into everything, gently touched the areas she had collided with and used her abilities. However, surprisingly, the Eternal Tree was rampaging regardless of her powers.

This was somewhat to be expected. The Flower’s ability was not to control nature but to be loved by it.

While she could risk death for someone she adored, telling her not to thrash about while a knife is plunged into her heart would be unreasonable. Even the most ardent lover couldn’t do that.

“Wh-wh-what is this…?”

Just as Flower felt puzzled, a faint light began to seep through the gradually collapsing wooden pillars. The beam was weak but bright enough to illuminate the dark interior of the chamber.

Thus, a sufficient light source emerged to reveal the location of the prey that had been hiding in the dark.

—Kruuaang—!

“Hii-eeek—!”

A monster, born from the shadows, lunged at the Flower. It was something that didn’t exist, yet it was real. An illusion, yet not an illusion. Something created by a mix of origins, chance, and chaos violently tore at the Flower’s soul.

It was truly a pain and fear that could not be put into words. The anguish felt as if her flesh was being torn apart under her skin, yet there was the horror of realizing that no actual damage was being done…

Amidst the prolonged agony and fright, the Flower rolled her eyes back and collapsed. Overwhelmed by the extreme pain, she fainted.

The self is a protective barrier for the mind. The moment that barrier was stripped away, the beast lurking in the gaps took control of the Flower’s body.

“—Grrr.”

Letting out the sound of a beast from her mouth, the Flower cautiously assessed what she could do. From within the crumbling Eternal Tree, she lifted her head and looked at the World Tree, explosively growing as it engulfed the same tree.

The bright sun sparkled dazzlingly, blurring her vision while scrumptious prey flashed in her retinas.

*

“—We did it!”

As the Eternal Tree began to collapse on its own and from its center, a new tree grew piercing through the clouds, Aushilion and I exclaimed in delight. The success of a plan is always a joyous occasion.

Aside from the satisfaction of achieving a successful outcome on the first try, there was also a sense of superiority that one’s computations and fantasies, which only existed in their mind, had functioned properly in reality.

Without realizing it, I reached out my hand. Aushilion, seemingly waiting for this, also extended her hand and clapped. She seemed taken aback by her own joy, her expression awkward.

“I can’t believe we’re seeing the World Tree again in this world…”

“Now we just need to see the roots properly settle down, right?”

“Ah, of course—.”

“—What nonsense are you two spouting?”

As we exchanged our congratulations over this monumental success, a voice cut in abruptly, and I turned my head to find the bandaged thug glaring at us with a displeased expression.

I shrugged my shoulders as if to say, “What’s wrong?” The bandaged thug, as if it were obvious, yelled back.

“You need to save the Flower! She’s still in there!”

“Ah, right.”

“Huh? Huh—? It seems you had no intention of saving her from the beginning, did you?”

“I just forgot. Don’t be so pushy. You’re the villain here.”

“…I’m not a villain.”

Ignoring his grumbling as a registered villain with the Hero Association, I calmly manipulated the satellite. All the nearby cameras were either broken or had long ceased functioning because of the Flower’s ability.

As I began to rotate the satellite to find a place where the Flower might be, it didn’t take long for the AI to analyze faces captured by the satellite camera and pinpoint her location.

Fortunately, she wasn’t hiding inside any building or stuck in the Eternal Tree; instead, she was confidently walking under the sun, completely unconcerned about being a wanted villain.

After all, she acted like a true villain who was unfazed after committing a crime.

“There she is. Go save her.”

“…Open it.”

“Ah, but this is expensive….”

Why does he have so many requests? I opened a gate towards the Flower at the bandaged thug’s insistence.

In an instant, the bandaged thug leaped through the space and approached the Flower, only to suddenly halt upon seeing her turned back.

“—Flower. Stop it now. Let’s go back. If you want, I’ll help you escape….”

“Grrr—.”

“…Flower?”

And then, the next moment. The bandaged thug was sent flying back through the gate after being hit by the Flower’s beast-like swinging arm.

I quickly shut the gate and looked at the bandaged thug, who was now slumped in the corner of the laboratory. The research equipment and the lab itself were a total mess, but I couldn’t afford to worry about that.

‘What was that just now?’

What if the Flower had unleashed her abilities and obliterated the bandaged thug in an instant? I would have accepted that. I would have thought that she was finally putting her abilities to crazy and wild use.

But the Flower sent the bandaged thug flying with just her flimsy arm. Considering that the bandaged thug had physical abilities that could match up to Levitan for a moment, it was unbelievable that the Flower, whose strength was only on par with mine, managed to pull that off.

‘Her abilities changed? No way. There’s no way she could change her abilities like that…’

Even if the Flower had the power to manipulate her body freely, it didn’t matter. Abilities are determined by a limited number of genetic structures; controlling those and freely changing her powers is more complex than a doctor performing surgery on their own face.

It was simply impossible. Even a barber cannot cut their own hair properly sometimes, let alone…

“Cough—!”

The bandaged thug, who had just spat some blood, slowly raised his body and looked at me. Then he opened his mouth.

“…Again.”

“—That didn’t seem like the Flower just now.”

“It was the Flower. She’s incredibly strong. I never imagined she had such strength hidden away….”

“No, that’s clearly not her….”

“I know. That was the Flower.”

The bandaged thug stared intensely as he spoke.

“She was trembling in fear… I don’t know what scared her so much.”

“…She was trembling? What do you mean?”

“Yeah. You wouldn’t understand, would you? Someone who doesn’t know what love is. But I— we know.”

Ignoring the bandaged thug, who continued to prattle on with some corny love story, I focused on something he said.

Trembling in fear. The Flower, who possesses the superpower to be loved by nature while excluding the artificial? What could possibly make her tremble in fear with such power?

If such a being exists, it must be something that is neither natural nor artificial. Just like something I created by shooting someone not long ago…

‘…Wait, could it be?’

I looked back through the satellite at the Flower approaching the World Tree again. She casually glanced at the satellite camera lens that was floating in planetary orbit.

For a distance so far human eyesight couldn’t even register its existence, she stared without a care, and the mysterious strength she used to send the bandaged thug flying with one hit.

Everything hinted at something inside her that wasn’t herself.

‘Could it be my doing?’

And it didn’t take long to realize what that something was. In this situation, it was the only thing that could have caused her transformation that was obvious to anyone. It was that which I had created without even recognizing it and had naturally released like throwing trash into a sewer…