Chapter 107

“I see you. It’s been a long time since we faced each other like this.”

“Do you know me?”

“Isn’t it strange that you don’t? It’s been a long time since you last saw me.”

“Did you notice me?”

“Well, it was quite a distance, after all.”

He recalled the long memory of falling asleep several times, unable to endure the weight of his boring and tedious life.

Memories of being drawn to a similar existence came back to him.

The Gal Dragon stood before him, gazing at the World Tree, a massive tree that radiated a majestic charm beyond what ordinary life could perceive.

Neither his true form nor the Terato, which was significantly larger than himself, could measure up to even a fraction of this enormous World Tree.

“Honestly, I didn’t expect you to come to this place, this forest. My daughter has relied on you, hasn’t she?”

In that moment, the Gal Dragon felt as if the entire forest was hostile toward him.

‘…If I were to fight in this domain, it would be quite a hassle.’

For the Gal Dragon, who only had experience with unconditionally supported mana spread across the world, it was a novel sensation to find all the mana and flow of space around him turning hostile.

The Gal Dragon glanced at the creeping green and brown tree trunks around him.

“I did not come to fight.”

“Could I, as a mother, stand idly by when the one who wronged my daughter stands right before me?”

“It’s hard to understand your obsession with just a fragment that fell from your body. Is that what maternal love is?”

His own voice sounded bland, even to him.

It was an emotion the Gal Dragon could not comprehend.

He had never been angry except when Terato crossed certain lines.

He only grew furious when his territory was invaded.

He had never been angry for the sake of another being.

No, since he considered himself a perfect being, he had not even felt the need to interact with other creatures.

“…Being complete alone is a pitiful and lonely matter.”

As if reading something from the Gal Dragon’s expression, the World Tree El Prigion quietly withdrew its branches.

“I am not a lonely or pitiful being.”

“Being perfect means eternal completion, which implies that nothing is needed other than oneself, and that there is nothing more to pursue. When others advance, one remains alone and thus is paradoxically imperfect.”

“…That is nonsense.”

“Long ago, my brother who was with me in the same chaos. Then why are you here now? Is this not a world that, in your eyes, is imperfect and merely weak? Like before, you could have crumbled while waiting for the end to come someday in a corner of the world.”

“……”

“You may have deceived yourself, but you were surely lonely. Just as all life in the world mingles as male and female, you too needed someone to interact with as an equal. I don’t know what happened in places my branches cannot reach, but it seems my daughter has already found deep roots within you.”

“I just… want to possess Araya.”

“No one can possess that child. Not even I, her mother.”

A solemn atmosphere flowed between them.

“You are unable to think flexibly because you have endured long years without change. You have been noble alone for so long that having an equal by your side feels strange. But a proper relationship cannot begin without seeing the counterpart before your eyes as an equal.”

The Gal Dragon’s face showed a complex expression at El Prigion’s words.

Recently, the Gal Dragon had felt that he was becoming somewhat strange.

He was born in this realm more nobly than any other existence, soaring through the skies and existing with dignity.

He had regarded the World Tree El Prigion itself, and even Babel Terato, as mere great monkeys.

So noble alone in the world, he had neither hopes nor obsessions with trivial things.

If he loved anything, it was himself.

Only that perfect being, himself.

The only thing that had captured his attention was the gold that matched the color of his own body, which remained unchanged over the years.

Yet even that had lost its charm before he knew it, merely being collected out of habit, rolling around as useless clutter in one corner of his nest.

However, everything changed when he met Araya.

Did his true form even have one-hundredth of her mass?

With her small body, just holding onto a sword-like stick, the young elf had blocked his strike.

In her very presence, every movement exuded nearly perfect logic.

She was beautiful.

For the first time, he thought about something other than himself.

The emotions he had not felt even when seeing Terato or Prigion, who might be equal to him in rank, stirred within him when witnessing this inferior creature.

He even found himself liking her hair, resembling the scales of his own body.

Her form seemed flawlessly constructed, showing no hint of unnecessary flaws.

Above all, she dealt him a shock that shattered his world.

This mere creature had, for a brief moment, transcended the ranks to reach a sublime realm similar to his own.

He had thought it impossible.

It felt as if the long, solidified world of the Gal Dragon was crumbling away.

And for the first time, the Gal Dragon set aside his pride and retracted the words he had spoken.

Araya began to move the time that had stood still under the name of perfection.

Everything he did with Araya felt new.

The Gal Dragon wondered.

Was what he thought to be perfection merely an illusion?

With this elf, could he leap into a realm he had not known?

No matter how humiliatingly he had been defeated by Terato, torn and battered, following the words of this trivial creature now seemed strange in retrospect.

But somehow, from a certain moment onward, he found it hard to refuse Araya’s requests.

It was clear that he was the master here.

“Chuckle, chuckle.”

“What do you find amusing?”

“To be honest, when I first saw you, I thought you were so absurd that I intended to scold you a little… But seeing you confused by just a few words reduces that thought.”

“What do you mean?”

“Even if I tell you now, you wouldn’t understand or accept it. But you indeed have a great burden. You should have taken the first meeting seriously. After all, you are so insensitive to relationships with others that you worry your mother. It seems a hard road lies ahead.”

El Prigion’s confusing words drew an unpleasant expression from him.

But disregarding that hostility, El Prigion unveiled a deep thought he himself was still unsure about.

“If one wishes to see that child grow, it is truly astonishing. That’s why you’ve been captivated, isn’t it? The thought that she might change you, who have been stagnant for a long time.”

The Gal Dragon forgot his anger about that comment and neither confirmed nor denied it.

After the meaningless and foolish battles between humans and trivial beings, he had not merely attained a fine realm again as before; he had truly reached a domain equal to his own.

And the Gal Dragon believed that growth had not stopped and continued to unfold.

“Honestly, I was also surprised when I felt the energy of that child who entered this forest. To achieve that much in just under twenty years… Beings like you or me are indeed close to extraordinary in this world, but Araya, that child is truly special.”

There was a hint of pride in those words.

“Thud! Thud! Thud!”

“…What are you doing?”

The Gal Dragon remarked as he watched the fruit, still seemingly unripe, fall from El Prigion’s branches onto his head.

“Since my child has that much power, I understand that your relationship is not bad now, even if it was uncertain at first. However, as a mother, I cannot remain silent regarding my beloved child being cut off for half a year by a dreadful incident. Let’s appropriately settle this.”

“…So this childish behavior is what you’re doing?”

“Of course. Beings like you and I cannot sincerely engage in a brawl. The repercussions would be considerable. It would be absurd if the World Tree, which promises prosperity, were to encourage destruction instead.”

“…A brawl, you say.”

“Are you worried about that giant called Terato?”

“Did you know?”

“I heard you explaining many things alongside my daughters to that cute child from the east. My avatar was there. Initially, it was to frequently see the face of my mischievous youngest daughter.”

“…That feels more sinister than I expected.”

“This world is quite perilous. As a mother, I cannot overlook even a single extended branch when it comes to worrying about my children.”

“If that’s the case, the story may be a bit short.”

“Why not discuss that later?”

“…?”

“Do you not sense anything? I’m glad to see that your power is indeed restricted within my domain.”

At El Prigion’s words, just as he was about to express his doubt,

Rustle.

Turning his gaze to the sound, he found Araya looking at him with a questioning expression.

“It would be better to discuss this important matter when we are all together, right? It might be good to touch upon a few other things too.”

El Prigion’s intent was filled with mischief.