“Why did you come to my house?”
“Looks like I came to play!”
“Are you here to play with us?”
The cheerful elves approached and started talking. The group responded in various ways upon seeing the small elves coming over to chat.
Those who weren’t particularly familiar with children, like Tiamat and Richard, seemed perplexed.
Tiamat looked bewildered at the elves clinging to her body and glanced at Aslan with a troubled expression. Richard had no choice but to mutter for the playful elves to calm down.
On the other hand, there were also those accustomed to children, like Angie and Lumel.
“What do you want to play?”
“I don’t know!”
“If you don’t know, what shall we do? Shall I let you ride on my back?”
“Yeah!”
Angie carried an elf on each shoulder while walking around, and Lumel, due to his naturally sensitive character, conversed with the elves at their eye level and responded to them.
Since Phey was originally an elf, fewer elves approached her, but it was different for Ereta.
“Why are you frowning?”
An elf approached and spoke, tilting its head as it looked at the girl-shaped mass of divine power. Ereta tried hard to hide her obvious discomfort.
“My stomach hurts a bit.”
“Sore tummy? Should I rub it for you?”
“No, I’m fine. There’s no need to go that far…”
“Really? If it hurts, you must tell me!”
Despite wanting to smile, Ereta suppressed it.
Being vulnerable to the elves’ pure intentions and kindness, Ereta found it difficult to repel such goodwill.
As someone who was starved of such kindness, even now as a half-deity, this hadn’t changed.
Of course, not knowing how to reject such goodwill also played a part.
Aslan observed the woman making an odd face at the clinging elf for quite some time before following the elf leading him towards the deity of Nature and Creation.
Elves were such a race.
They were benevolent towards all life, knew nothing of conflict, and had no concept of boundaries or hostility.
By observing them, one could naturally understand what kind of being their creator, the deity of Nature and Creation, was.
As they approached, the soft yet strong divinity grew more intense. Even though the deity had died, the intensity that remained attached to the physical form was nothing short of a condensation of nature itself.
Even in death, it refused to truly die, covering everything around it forcefully without showing its strength.
This divinity reminded one of the powerful vitality of nature. Aslan was amazed by the ever-present divinity.
Had the deity of Nature and Creation been a deity capable of fighting, it would undoubtedly have been the king of deities.
As they drew closer, the presence became stronger, and the remains of Nature and Creation were immense.
A tree reaching to the sky. Its thickness was comparable to a mountain peak. The softly felt divinity warmly enveloped the surroundings—this was the remains of the deity.
One might say it was a representation of nature itself.
The place where this mighty divinity continuously created a purely benevolent race.
As Aslan approached this place, he thought.
The original purpose of Aslan’s visit to this spot was, after all, for the sake of divinity.
The main quest’s goal still lay in the collection of divinity.
Therefore, the land of Nature and Creation, from which divinity could be obtained, was a region that had to be visited.
Moreover, through the arrangements made by Nature and Creation for purity, Aslan might find a way to resolve or alleviate his broken lifespan. Thus, this visit was inevitable.
Holding onto whatever little life remained, Aslan sought a way to continue fighting, having the duty to exterminate all evil deities.
For this, Aslan thought he could undergo any test.
As he approached the giant tree, Aslan heard the elves chattering and approaching him.
After listening to them, Aslan finally spoke.
“If Nature and Creation has prepared something, could you tell me?”
Suddenly looking up at the towering tree, Aslan spoke these words. The elves blinked their eyes in response.
“Prepared something?”
Repeating the question, they looked at each other. Their innocent gazes intertwined, and soon laughter erupted.
“I’ll give you a hug!”
A reaction that seemed to skip several steps.
At this unexpected response, Aslan tilted his head with a puzzled expression, then saw the elves hugging him and showed a slightly awkward look.
“Not… that…”
But the elves didn’t listen.
They clung to his legs, embraced parts of his torso that weren’t near his chest, rubbed their cheeks against him, or hung onto his back laughing.
While wondering how to ask for the preparation of a test instead of this, Aslan’s vision began to distort as he raised his head in confusion.
“What?”
Faint streams of light flowed from his emerald-green eyes, and things that shouldn’t have been visible started appearing before him.
It was like some great flow.
Perhaps a manifestation of the divinity that had been dwelling within the massive tree.
Something akin to the breath of nature.
What appeared visibly before him was life itself, creation, and nature.
Startled by this strange sight that suddenly emerged, Aslan opened his eyes wide. Angie, who had been watching the unusual phenomenon nearby, frowned.
What she sensed was the grand flow of divinity.
This event had already happened several times.
When Aslan faced his past in the Sanctuary of Sorrow.
When he fought alone against the Dragon King.
When he fell into Olpasbet with Ereta and engaged in a fierce battle with the Artist.
Divinity seeping into Aslan and herself.
Noticing this, Angie crossed her arms and stared at the flow. The massive divinity swirled around Aslan.
It seemed to be waiting for something. Like a swarm of bees waiting for food.
After gazing at the flow for a moment, Aslan realized something and muttered.
“Ah.”
Then, as if entranced, he swept his gaze over Steamfalos’ wings and plucked a feather.
The swirling flow centered on Aslan, and as the elves clung to him, Aslan murmured.
“Purity.”
A will too vast to belong to a single individual, a spirit founded on divinity.
In the moment when the arrangement left behind by the ancient gods after abandoning their struggle shone in his hands, a greatsword appeared in that empty space.
A greatsword blazing with pure white.
A sword blade so transparent that it should reflect what lay beyond, with a crossguard shaped like a scale.
The divinity flowed into the short hilt beyond that.
A hilt close to that of a one-handed sword, incomplete.
Crack, crack!
Something began to grow from within the hilt.
A dark brown wood, glowing as if emitting light, slowly grew longer as Aslan watched it.
Soon, the hilt had extended to the length of a typical shortsword.
Simultaneously, a system window appeared above it.
[Effects of Purity]
[Can sever the connection between a god and its priests.]
[Will not fade as long as the user’s spirit persists.]
[Heart of Sorrow – Can cut through divinity and spirits.]
[Sword of Fire – Can cut anything intended to be cut, and will not break under any circumstances.]
[Scale of Order – Can withstand any attack without breaking.]
[Li (ancient script) – When wielded with proper intent, can sever even the bonds of fate.]
[Strengthens as it resonates with the divinity of the ancient gods.]
A system window seen many times before, explaining the arrangement held by Aslan, left behind by the ancient gods.
The rising errors gradually subsided, much like how growing nature covers the traces left by humans.
[Pillar of Creation – Grants recovery akin to nature as long as your breath continues.]
Thus revealed was a gentle arrangement.
An inclusive regeneration imbued with creativity, expressed subtly and metaphorically unlike the straightforward expressions of sorrow and order, confidence of fire.
Without any trial, Aslan received this arrangement with a perplexed expression.
Until the elves spoke, he had stood there blankly holding the purity.
“Mom said to always hug ‘kind friends’!”
Suddenly hearing this from among the elves,
Aslan finally snapped out of it, looked down at the elves, and then at the purity he held in his hand.
‘…Trials weren’t mandatory.’
He had thought obtaining this arrangement required a trial, but apparently, it wasn’t necessary.
The trial was merely something conducted by the ancient gods when they wished to grant this arrangement.
Or perhaps, it had already been testing him since long ago.
Either way, Aslan could feel the benevolence of Nature and Creation.
Whether tested since ancient times or deemed unnecessary, it was given directly without needing such trials.
And he thought Law and Order was overly strict.
Having completed a brief irreverent thought, Aslan guessed it depended on the personal disposition of the ancient gods and returned the purity to the feather, then back to his cloak.
“Aslan, are you alright?”
“Huh, did something happen? You used purity suddenly, so I thought you did something…”
Unlike Tiamat, who seemed to sense something, Lumel clearly had no idea. Aslan looked around at his companions and shrugged slightly.
“Nothing serious. I’m fine.”
“Is that so? Then it’s fortunate…”
Worried despite himself, Tiamal swept his reptilian golden eyes toward Aslan.
Seeing Tiamal’s concerned gaze, Aslan smiled awkwardly and looked down at the elves still clinging to him.
“Thank you. Since it’s done, you can go play now.”
Contrary to Aslan’s assumption that they probably thought it wasn’t over yet, the elves blinked their eyes and smiled innocently.
“Hmm? It was warm, so I was hugging! Can I keep hugging?”
“Yeah, it’s warm!”
“Is it already over?”
The chirping young elves. Unconsciously smiling, Aslan stroked each of their heads and gently detached them from his body.
Once all the elves had detached, Aslan turned his head toward Angie.
A woman crossing her arms, supporting her considerably grown bosom. A former girl with crimson hair and golden eyes reminiscent of a beast.
The woman who met his gaze gave a nod. Aslan asked her.
“How about it, do you feel any difference?”
Though Aslan obtained the purity, Angie had also experienced the passage of divinity.
In the game, divinity was merely a qualification with no significant difference, but Aslan still asked the woman just in case.
“…Eh, not really? I feel something, or maybe not…”
Angie gave an ambiguous answer.
An answer close to feeling something but uncertain.
Satisfied with that extent, Aslan sighed and nodded shortly.
It felt like one objective had been accomplished.
Now was the time to address the remaining one.
Aslan shifted his gaze to the elf currently being petted by him.
“Hey.”
“Yeah? What is it?”
“Could I take a seed? One from Nature and Creation… or rather, ‘Mother’s’ legacy.”
The seeds of elfhood.
Also known as Mother’s seeds, they were the rewards for side quests.
It wasn’t a particularly difficult quest.
A simple and peaceful task involving aiding in the management of Nature and Creation.
Given the reward, none cared whether it was a trap.
Aslan belonged to such players and prepared to undertake the floating side quest, but…
“Alright!”
“Uh?”
Surprisingly, the elf readily agreed, took out a seed, and offered it, leaving Aslan momentarily stunned.
Was this a misunderstanding?
The elf held out the seed with both hands and delivered a surprising reply.
“Mom said to give anything to kind friends!”
This sounded like something left behind by Nature and Creation.
A phrase that made Aslan ponder whether it was an insightful arrangement or a mere coincidence.
Regardless, there was no reason not to accept it. Aslan reached out and took the seed.
Upon doing so, a large system window abruptly filled his vision, and he looked up expressionlessly.
[Ongoing Main Quest]
[ ! Hunt the High Priest Kië©”ra and protect the land of the elves.]
[ ! Or escape to a safe distance.]
Unexpected words caught his eyes.
High Priest.
Originally, this was the main quest he was supposed to encounter and thought he had avoided.
He couldn’t grasp the situation. He didn’t notice the anomaly. But Aslan acted swiftly, moving before thinking.
“Prepare for battle!”
At the sudden shout, the elves were startled, widening their eyes and stepping back, and the party instinctively reached for their weapons.
Suddenly, a sound came from above.
-Creak, creak…
A sound like something cracking and splintering. Before they could gauge the sound, the destruction followed.
KAGAGANG!
And shards of a boundary mixed with snow fluttered down from the sky.
Chunks resembling shattered space fell along with snowballs the size of fists, whitening the ground.
The cold wind sweeping across the surface made Aslan feel a chill run down his spine.
The abrupt change in situation. Before anyone could comprehend the shift, something revealed itself from the sky.
It resembled a knight.
To be precise, a flying knight.
Its legs encased in a combination of thigh and shin armor with nozzle-like appendages emitted streams of plasma-like energy.
The thin and sleek upper armor and helmet connected to two arms.
The fully armored arms carried something similar to the plasma flowing from the lower nozzles.
Shaped like spears. These spear-like plasma rings floated above its head, giving it an angelic appearance.
A being with a form that didn’t exist in this world.
Holding its spear, it tilted its head and cried out.
“Aaaah… SLAAANNN…!”
A mechanical voice saturated with hatred and obsession. Hearing this voice, Aslan recalled a certain entity.
The priest of consumption.
The first high priest enemy in the game.
An enemy who appears during the main quest to inevitably burn the elven lands.
The priest whom Aslan precisely pierced through the core and killed.
The nemesis who first made Aslan use equalization.
That entity, calling out Aslan’s name in a significantly altered form, was called:
The High Priest of Consumption, Chimera.
After roaring, Chimera hurled its plasma spear.
[!– Slider main container –]
