Chapter 63

As soon as he entered the World Tree, a notification window appeared as if it had been waiting.

[You are the first player to enter the World Tree.]

[As a reward, you are granted the title 'Blessing of the World Tree'.]

[Blessing of the World Tree]

-HP +2, MP +2

-HP and MP recovery speed increased by 20%.

"Huh?"

-Now that I think about it, I had this. This is quite interesting.

Originally, the elves were supposed to appear a year from now, so this title had been tucked away in a corner of his memory.

"Phew. I'm glad I came in. To receive such a gift."

Indeed, the one who moves on their own is the one who achieves.

"But I don't see anything special inside the World Tree. I was kind of looking forward to it."

The inside of the World Tree wasn't much different from the dungeons he had encountered so far.

If he had to point out a difference, it was that unlike the typically damp dungeons, it gave a warm and cozy feeling.

-What does it matter what the internal structure is? We didn't come here to explore a maze. Simplicity is good.

"Well, that's true..."

Disappointment was evident in Carpe's voice.

The World Tree of the elves was a mystery in itself, often considered a romantic element in the fantasy world.

But for it to be so plain...

"It's like finding a famous restaurant and discovering the food is bland. That's exactly how I feel right now."

-Yeah. You seem to be in good condition, starting off with such a sharp remark. Excellent.

"Anyway, I don't see Altear."

She had entered the World Tree almost immediately after him, but there was no sign of Altear.

-Did she go that way?

There were three paths ahead, pointed out by the Demon Horse.

The path they had entered from was the only other route.

"Do I have to choose one of these three?"

But Carpe's worry disappeared as soon as he approached the paths.

Only the path in the middle had faint footprints.

The other two paths showed no signs of human activity.

"Strange, it feels like I'm playing a stealth action game, and it's a bit thrilling."

-It's not like the inside of the World Tree is a restricted area, right?

"Still..."

It felt like he was a spy. Carpe cautiously moved towards the middle path.

How long had it been?

"Huh?"

As he walked along the path, the air suddenly turned chilly.

No, it was more than chilly; it was cold enough to make his body shiver.

"…This. It's the same as that."

The intense cold he had felt when he encountered the fragment of Zebeth in the sap worm cave.

Although there was no fog like in the sap worm cave, the cold was very similar.

"…"

Carpe had completed numerous quests in the elf village.

There were many small quests that could be cleared easily within the village, but there were also a fair number of collection and extermination quests that required him to venture outside.

And when he ventured outside… he had revisited the sap worm cave.

Naturally, it was to investigate the situation of the Zebeth fragment.

"But it wasn't there."

-Yeah, it wasn't.

The sap worm cave he revisited was quite different from before.

Due to the release of mental control, the boss room he reached after catching the continuously attacking beetles was empty.

There was no cold, no fog, and no Zebeth fragment.

After that, he searched the forest whenever he had the chance but found no trace of it.

"It's in the place where it shouldn't be. What's going on…?"

Carpe furrowed his brow. It was really hard to grasp what was happening.

"Could it be that the fragment has hidden itself in the elf village?"

-We'll have to check that out. Let's hurry. It doesn't seem like it will end just by finding the queen.

With the Demon Horse's words, Carpe nodded and moved forward.

After walking for about 10 minutes, braving the cold.

Fortunately, the target, Altear, was easily found.

A large hollow inside the World Tree.

She was lying quietly on a large stone coffin in the center of the hollow.

Carpe watched the situation from a distance instead of approaching her.

"That stone coffin. It looks familiar…"

-The same as the one Tina was in. The second relic is probably inside.

"But what is Altear doing lying there?"

She wouldn't be taking a nap here when she has a perfectly good house, so it must be some special elf ritual, he guessed.

"First, there's no sign of the fragment… but the cold must be coming from there."

Surprisingly, the source of the cold was the stone coffin where Altear was lying.

A slightly weaker cold than what he had felt in the sap worm cave was emanating from the stone coffin.

"Phew. That's a relief."

At first, he thought the Zebeth fragment had infiltrated the World Tree, but it seemed to be a false alarm.

-Yeah, it doesn't look dangerous. What do you plan to do now?

"Hmm. Let's just watch the situation."

Carpe decided to wait until the mysterious ritual ended.

Surely, she wouldn't stay like that all day.

* * *

"…"

-Hmm. This is boring. Should I go decorate a room like Hwang or Tina? That seems more productive, doesn't it?

"…Let's wait a bit longer."

Contrary to expectations, she didn't get up even after a considerable amount of time.

"It's been an hour, I think."

She was so still, it was as if she had turned to ice on the cold stone coffin. Of course, that was impossible.

"Hey, bro, look at that."

At that moment.

Carpe, who was considering waking her up, saw a change.

Wooom.

A blue light began to envelop Altear's body, and a faint magic circle appeared below the stone coffin.

Then, the blue light that had surrounded her swept over the stone coffin and seeped into the magic circle.

Wooom!

The magic circle disappeared after that.

"…Is it over?"

Just as Carpe was about to approach her.

A truly shocking change began.

The Altear lying on the stone coffin started to melt.

As if an ice statue was melting.

"…What?"

-Hey, hide first. Something's not right.

Caught off guard by the unexpected situation, Carpe hid behind a rock.

When he peeked out to look at the stone coffin.

'…What is this?'

Altear was gone, and in her place stood a blue mantis.

A fragment of Zebeth.

The piece of the Four Seas had suddenly appeared.

'I'm going crazy. What's happening? Where did Altear go, and why did this monster suddenly appear?'

-…While you were hiding, I saw that the queen didn't disappear.

'What?'

-The queen transformed. Into the Zebeth fragment. She transformed after completely melting.

'What? That's… Wait, what?'

At the moment Carpe was about to deny the Demon Horse's words, a skill came to mind.

When he first encountered the Zebeth fragment, one of its skills was this:

[8th Rank – Ultimate Camouflage]

Camouflage.

It meant 'disguise.' In other words,

'Did it disguise itself as Altear to enter the village?'

-…

Who would have thought that the one targeting the World Tree's fruit would be nesting at the roots of the World Tree?

It was hard to believe even with his own eyes.

'Should I fight?'

-Will you be frozen in an instant? Don't provoke it. If you're detected, you'll turn into an ice statue.

'What the hell. What kind of scenario is this?'

Fortunately, the Zebeth fragment didn't seem to notice Carpe.

It continued to emit cold, which was immediately sucked into the stone coffin.

'Damn it, bro. Don't stop me! That thing was trying to break the stone coffin!'

Just like the fanatic priest Maiaedes, the event bosses in the Demon King scenario were undoubtedly set to destroy relics.

Although the Zebeth fragment wasn't related to the Demon King, it had fought against the Demon King and his relics in ancient times.

Thus, it sensed that its enemy was sleeping inside the stone coffin.

'I can't let it do that!'

This journey was to obtain the Demon King's relics. If the relics were damaged, it would be a complete failure.

He had to fight, even if it meant risking his life.

'Huh?'

But Carpe didn't engage in battle.

The Zebeth fragment, which had been injecting cold into the stone coffin, stopped its actions and transformed back into Altear.

"Phew. This won't last much longer."

She sighed deeply, looked at the stone coffin with warm eyes, and began to inspect it.

Soon, she seemed satisfied and started to stagger away.

…Towards where Carpe was hiding.

'Ugh.'

-Hold your breath. Breathe!

Carpe tried his best to suppress his presence.

Altear passed by the rock where Carpe was hiding without noticing and headed towards the entrance.

After a long time, even after Altear completely disappeared from sight.

"…"

-Hey. She's gone. Breathe.

"Phew."

Carpe exhaled deeply, holding back his breath.

"Wow, I thought I was going to die."

Such tension in an RPG. Even a horror game wouldn't be this intense.

-We need to sort out the situation. But I don't even know what to sort out. What's going on here?

"That's what I'm wondering."

Carpe got up and approached the stone coffin.

The increasing cold as he got closer made him realize that the Zebeth fragment had been there just moments ago.

"What's going on?"

Altear, or rather, the Zebeth fragment, had tried to break the stone coffin but suddenly transformed back into Altear and left.

"…What did she mean by 'it won't last much longer'?"

Why did it stop trying to break the coffin?

Carpe examined the stone coffin carefully but found no signs of damage.

Instead, it felt well-maintained.

"Oh."

A peculiar groove was visible in the center of the stone coffin.

A keyhole, similar to the one on the stone coffin where Tina had been sleeping.

If he inserted the Seal of Arkham here, the stone coffin would open.

"Hmm."

When he obtained Tina, the caretaker of the cemetery had the Seal of Arkham.

Similarly, the matching seal for this stone coffin was undoubtedly in Altear's possession.

Without Altear's permission, he couldn't open the stone coffin.

But.

-We should open this. We need to check what's inside.

"I was just thinking the same thing."

Carpe, who was an existence above the Demon King when it came to 'opening' things, extended his right hand over the stone coffin.

"Unlock."

[Unlock has been activated.]

Creak!

The lid of the stone coffin opened with a short flash of light.

"…What?!"

-…Wow. What is this…?

And the two men, upon seeing the contents of the stone coffin, were more surprised than anything they had experienced today.

The 10th-rank player, now stronger due to the lottery.