Chapter 71 71: A Parting Gift from the World (Bonus)

— — — — — — In the days that followed, brown and green lights streamed from the roots and branches of the World Tree. They converged and solidified into a single seed before Larentia. That seed took root—not in any soil of this world, but in the void itself. Its roots stretched northward to the Black City nestled between mountains and sea, and southward to the seven fortresses. A world reborn—something new. Something pure. Governed by fresh rules untainted by sin or entropy, this sanctuary now thrived beneath the barrier. — — — "Ooh~" "So this's what she meant..." Hovering beside Veyron, little Merlin finally connected the dots and shared the vision she was seeing with him. Veyron: "......" Honestly, he kind of wanted to roast Larentia's poetic choice of words. If you're just talking about transferring a seed from the old World Tree and using it to grow a new one, then just say it's a cycle of death and rebirth. Legacy. Continuity. Something that makes sense! Don't give me all that "cutting away the rot" nonsense. Such a phrasing! That's a totally different metaphor! "The people of the evil gods have been completely eradicated," he said, processing Merlin's update. "And based on the info you just gave me, the new World Tree is about to fully replace the old one. It'll become the new core of this purified world inside the barrier..." He turned and flew toward the direction of the Seven Shields Alliance as he chatted casually with Merlin. "So that means our mission is basically done?" "Pretty much," Merlin nodded. "Anything left on your to-do list here?" "...You already know the answer to that." Veyron rolled his eyes. "We've been together the whole time since we arrived. You know full well I've got nothing left to do. Still... doesn't it feel like this mission was a little too easy?" Compared to their last mission in the messy Apocalypse World, this one had been a breeze. That previous job only gave them one-third the starting rewards of this one—and it still took the whole group nearly half a month to finish. They had to gather all kinds of supplies, secure a base in Antarctica, and even make a special trip to Raccoon City to retrieve a virus immunity serum... But this time? All they really did was talk to some survivors, then Merlin used seven years of faith from seven million people to wake up a goddess, and Veyron followed that up with a few one-sided attacks against the enemy. And that was it. "Veyron, I don't think you realize how busted your own setup is." Merlin gave him a flat look. "Let's skip over all the prep steps. Just the last part alone... If you hadn't pulled 'Destined Death' from the Gacha last time, or if you didn't have that unique trait that lets you recover endlessly under the sun... do you have any idea how long it would've taken us to wipe out all the evil god spawn?" "Give them even a little more time, and with how deeply the evil god's power had infiltrated this world's rules, there's no way we could've wrapped this up so cleanly." "No kidding." Veyron chuckled. "If I was missing either of those things, I wouldn't have accepted this mission in the first place." "Yeah, fair point." Merlin had known Veyron long enough to understand his personality. When she first saw him volunteer for a mission this dangerous—one in a world already corrupted by an evil god's influence—she was stunned. That was, until she watched him ignite those weird black-and-white flames, darker than death itself. Then it all made sense. — — — Back within the barrier-shielded territory of the Seven Shields Alliance Veyron headed straight for the Black City. "Welcome back, sir—and congratulations on your victory." Just like last time, Chloe was already waiting outside the city gates. But this time, she wasn't alone—Claudia, Alicia, Prim, and the other fortress commanders he'd met during the Black Lotus handoff were all there too. Their faces glowed with hope, smiles full of expectations for the future. "Isn't this the part where something unexpected is supposed to happen?" Merlin teased over their private link. "Like, I dunno—maybe the new World Tree seed turns out to be tainted too? Or Lust isn't really gone, just suppressed and waiting to make a dramatic comeback?" "Where's the villain? Where's the traitor in the story?" "Would you please stop jinxing it?" As they made their way to the temple, Veyron chatted mentally with Merlin while half-heartedly responding to the fortress leaders' gratitude. Just before reaching the temple, about ten meters away, Chloe and the others stopped. They led the fortress leaders off toward the palace across from the temple to meet Olga and Celestine. Veyron continued forward and entered the temple, where Larentia was waiting. "How much longer is this going to take?" he asked bluntly after exchanging greetings. "Anytime," Larentia replied. She held up the World Tree sapling in her hands and showed them the newly formed world growing within it. At the top of the seedling sat a plain identical to the region of Eos. From there, they could clearly see both the northern Black City and the seven fortresses in the south. Surrounding the core plain taken from the old World Tree, dozens of green leaves had sprouted—each one forming a floating island of its own. It was still in its early stages, but even now, you could catch a glimpse of what the world might look like once the World Tree fully matured. "As you can see," Larentia said, "the new world is already complete—and it even carries a piece of the old one within it." She continued, "We didn't separate it from 'Mother' immediately for a few reasons. One was to give everyone here some time to prepare. "Even though things won't change physically after the separation, when people look up and see a completely different sky... well, Celestine thought it was important to give them a moment to say goodbye to the world they've known. "The other reason... is that 'Mother' wanted to give you both a parting gift, as thanks for everything you've done." "We've already been paid," Veyron said plainly. He knew exactly who she meant by 'Mother'—the old World Tree and the world's will itself. And Veyron felt a bit embarrassed as he looked at the only part of the old world that had been carried over—a silent reminder that everything else was being left behind. So the phrasing was correct? "Mother mentioned that," Larentia admitted. "But she said those rewards were for 'that side.' This is something meant just for the two of you." She hesitated, then added honestly, "To tell the truth, these things were originally prepared for the new world." "But since the new world wasn't created through natural means and in a rush, that's only that much it can handle right now... It's already hit the limit for its current stage of growth." In other words, while it was presented as a gift of gratitude, it was also a way to avoid wasting something valuable that couldn't stay and shouldn't fall into the wrong hands. Rather than let some other evil god—or a powerful being who might wander here following the energy projection and find them later, the world's will decided to entrust these things to Veyron and Merlin as gifts. Larentia still believed the gifts were incredibly valuable... but the context left her feeling more than a little awkward. . . . {Support me and read 50+ advanced chapters at???? patreon.com/_Coreal }