Eat The World Tree

The forces of the World Tree were being pushed back much more than expected.

At this rate, even before I could reach the World Tree of Growth, it seemed they would be overrun, so I had no choice but to help directly. But, why here, of all places?

“Why are you there?”

-Boom!

Clearing the surrounding Floweren one by one, I confirmed her presence again.

“…Huh?”

She stared at me with wide eyes, her pupils trembling slightly as if sensing something was off.

No mistake.

It was Hongyeon.

Though her appearance had changed over time, she was definitely the comrade I cherished during my time at Dowon.

Her hair, once like red silk, had grown even longer than I remembered, longer than anyone I knew.

A long comb fixed her braided hair.

She looked more haggard than before.

Her arms were thin, her face was crumpled with fatigue.

Her sunken pupils had just begun to tremble.

She was looking at me with a blank face.

“You, why…”

I stammered while looking at Hongyeon.

“Why?”

After Dowon’s downfall, I found out through the status window that Hongyeon was alive not long after returning from the past.

I thought, like Cheondo, she had found her own life.

It was an optimistic thought.

I hoped she was living comfortably somewhere. I didn’t want to worry about it.

“Hongyeon.”

Why were you here, after losing Dowon and receiving such deep wounds?

Yet, why was it strange that she, with a pure heart, was here?

I denied what I saw.

-Bang!

Raising my magic to full power, the surrounding fanatics were blown away.

【Heavenly Authority】

Space distorted.

The pressure making the ground shake forced the kneeling fanatics to vomit gastric juice.

It wasn’t just a problem with the World Tree; I had to see it for myself to understand.

I approached Hongyeon, the only one not kneeling, step by step.

She might not recognize me, so I got close, gently grabbed her chin, and tore off the mask.

Two steps away, I showed my face to Hongyeon.

Her face, which had been cautiously watching me, stiffened.

“…!”

Stiffening, then recoiling, her pupils constricted upon seeing my face.

Hongyeon, who had seen a once dead person, couldn’t close her mouth.

No conversation ensued. My heart sank. Hongyeon couldn’t take her eyes off my face.

“Hey.”

I asked right in front of her, with an arrogant voice she might remember.

“Do you remember me?”

“…”

Her eyes, darkened by shadow, slowly lit up.

Unable to speak for a long while, as if her throat was choked, she grabbed her own arms.

Her face seemed to resist some great trauma.

She stared at me, trembling all over.

“Ah, ah-”

Her short cry echoed.

“Please…”

-Flash!

A blade flashed from her waist.

I quickly tilted my head back.

-Swoosh!

The blade grazed my chin.

With eyes full of frenzy, Hongyeon lunged at me.

Her hand, thrusting the sword towards me, trembled violently.

-Drip, drip.

Blood dripped from my chin. Her face contorted in pain.

“Haah, haah… haah.”

She showed a noticeably abnormal reaction.

Her breathing became rough, and she clutched her head with one hand.

The comb that had been in her hair fell and rolled on the ground, her hair soon becoming disheveled.

“…World Tree…”

Hongyeon’s eyes turned sorrowful.

“Why drag even the dead back to this world, just to kill me so much!!!”

The air around us froze with the wail of a woman full of resentment.

“You’ve taken away both my reason to live and to die… Why, why, why!”

Her eyes, filled with tears, were strange.

Hongyeon seemed unable to accept this reality.

Could she be seeing me as a fake?

“Hongyeon-”

“Shut up… Don’t talk with that voice!”

The pressure forced my mouth shut.

Pure hatred was directed entirely at me.

The anger she had nurtured for years, polished with each blade, crossed the space between us, and the spirit seemed intent on killing me.

Resentment was heavy. My heart felt like it was being torn apart.

“Everyone, everyone… How far will you go…!”

She muttered in a choked voice.

Soaked in pain and kneeling in despair, she looked at me with a crumpled face.

“How far… do you intend to make me miserable…?”

-Drip.

Tears fell to the ground.

---

It was a rainy night.

“…”

On that day when everyone who followed me lost their lives, under the evening sky where flames flickered.

Having lost everything, I could only extend the faint line of my life by begging with the face of a delicately crafted child.

‘I can’t even communicate. It’s scary.’

I was just a child of five years.

Yet, my lifeline was stubbornly persistent.

I survived tenaciously, chewing on rotten meat mixed with dust.

Filling my starving stomach was more important than the effort to live until death.

But even that didn’t last long.

I sometimes lay at the entrance of an alley, being eaten by rats as hungry as I was.

Chirrup, chirp.

The cries of rats echoing repeatedly.

My leg, bitten by a rat, stinging, bleeding. My appearance, sick and worn out.

“…Ah.”

My face reflected in the stagnant, rotten water was not something one would think of as belonging to a living person.

“…”

-Swoosh.

I thought my life would end there.

-Swoosh.

When the cold moon was obscured, and the gentle ribs of an umbrella caught my eye,

the eyes of an old man were looking down at me.

“Child. What are you doing there?”

“…”

I didn’t understand what he was saying.

“Are you in the same situation as me?”

The old man knelt down without saying a word. There, I lost consciousness and bowed my head, but what stuck in my memory was the old man’s straw sandals, standing tall even in the heavy rain.

…

From there, my life changed.

The world was not always cruel to me.

When I opened my eyes, there was a roof with holes in it, an old man, and well-cooked rice.

Even though it was just a skinny fish and dried vegetables, how sweet it tasted in my mouth.

Thinking about it now still makes me laugh.

“Is it tasty?”

“…?”

“You can’t even speak, must be a foreigner. Hmm. You’ll learn slowly.”

The old man had a cold face, but he was kinder than anyone I had ever met.

And though he was always strict, he took my side in one way or another.

Every night, I devoured two bowls of rice like a servant, and missing human warmth, I would cling to the old man and sleep.

“…Hello.”

“Correct.”

I learned to speak.

“Straighten your fist there.”

“Huh!”

“Tsk, you have no talent for boxing. How about trying a sword?”

“Yes, Father!”

There were also moments of despair.

“Here, child. Look at this.”

I understood life.

The space in the mountains that the old man showed me was vast.

My small world, where beautiful peach blossoms bloomed in abundance and the meandering river was indescribably beautiful.

My home.

My hometown.

A place I could never remove from my mind, even for a moment.

The world of my father, me, and my siblings.

“This is Dowon.”

“Dowon…”

“It’s small now, but we’ll grow it together. There are few people living here, and it’ll be hard to manage, but you’re clever; you’ll do well.”

A place where I would dedicate my life to work.

The old man, with his wrinkled, deeply scarred large hand, patted my head and gave a faint smile.

“I haven’t given you a name yet.”

My father was kind.

“It’s Hongyeon.”

“Hongyeon? What does it mean?”

“Well, in another place, they call autumn leaves that. It doesn’t have a big meaning. You’ll create the meaning as you go forward.”

“…Hongyeon!”

Thus, my second name was born.

I personally fixed the dilapidated village and took in the sight of the growing market.

I cultivated farmland and read external books to ponder how to lead Dowon better.

I never missed my father’s training. Later, I became strong enough to be recognized as a cult leader, earning praise.

“Do a bit more, please.”

-Wah!

Although my mother had passed away, I had three adorable siblings.

One was so delicate that I thought she might die, but she was actually destined to be the Young Demon.

One was bold but very stubborn, and another was overly affectionate.

I was amazed that triplets from the same womb could have such different personalities.

Though they didn’t have a mother, I would take on that role.

“My siblings.”

I would protect these children at all costs.

Even if they weren’t connected by blood, they were more precious to me than anyone else.

As life flourished, so did Dowon.

Work increased, but I didn’t lose my joy.

My siblings grew so quickly that I couldn’t help but smile every day seeing them grow.

‘I guess I really cherish this place.’

The leader of the demonic cult. A position that someone from the outside might scorn, but to me, this world was everything.

It was precious.

Therefore, I had to be wary of outsiders who could pose a threat.

As I grew from a girl into an adult, my responsibilities only increased.

The people of Dowon were always a step behind the ideal talents I envisioned, so I had to take on some of the work myself.

Though I would occasionally get irritable, even that was just light grumbling.

“…Cough.”

My father’s life might soon come to an end.

I worked even harder so that, when the time came for him to die, he could close his eyes in peace.

To live as a good companion to the one who would lead Dowon after me, as a big sister to those children.

I was ready to give everything, but being human, I sometimes got frustrated due to anxiety.

“Hey.”

Love came suddenly.

That man, whom I thought of as an enemy, referred to himself as Dowon, as this very place I loved. Ironically, we nearly killed each other upon our first meeting.

‘He was a strange person.’

Suddenly appearing, he rose to the position of the Young Demon, and soon won the trust of everyone in Dowon.

He calmed my weary mind and body, strained by overwork.

Or rather, it was more like half threats than soothing.

“Ugh, kid. Do you think efficiency will increase if you work yourself to death?”

“Wh, what?”

“Enough, get up. Go and get some proper sleep.”

“No, just wait. Let me finish this first.”

“Do you want a beating or do you want to sleep?”

“…I’ll sleep.”

He worked so well that my exhausted mind found much peace.

I was curious about how my father managed to find such a person.

Conversely, my own shortcomings were highlighted, making me feel ashamed for a while.

“…”

Yet, somehow, things got better.

Like when he covered me with the black dragon robe that only the Little Heavenly Demon could wear when I dozed off, or how he always looked after me despite his rough words, giving me cold drinks when it was hot, bringing tasty food when he went out.

Everything was good.

Even when my speech became slurred due to business matters, he would step in for me.

“Drink this.”

Why did my heart flutter so much when we shared a drink?

I didn’t realize it was love at the time, but after losing him, I knew that feeling was love.

“…”

I didn’t know before I lost him.

Because he left without even leaving his remains, only giving me a blood-stained gi.

I couldn’t convey my feelings.

Even after losing everything, giving up everything, and nearly sending him away, that feeling still had a place in a corner of my heart.

Not being able to tell you that I loved you.

That was my only regret.