The Holy Crusaders froze, tense without even realizing it.
A tree towered before them.
It was so enormous that even when they craned their necks for a long time, they couldn’t see ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) its end.
Considering what kind of phenomena the plants they’d encountered on their way here had caused, this tree couldn’t possibly be an ordinary one.
And since it was blocking the entrance to the Galaharad Fortress entirely—
It was surely more dangerous than anything they had faced so far.
The fact that there was not a forest made of many trees, but only this single one standing alone, was another reason to be on edge.
Because one was enough.
But tension and fear aside, they could not retreat.
Even as they hesitated, who knew what scheme the Demon King might be plotting within Galaharad Fortress?
They had to move quickly, and that tree was nothing more than an obstacle to overcome.
“Start with fire.”
The mages drew their formulas.
Soon, a massive fire spell was completed.
Each individual spell was about the 4th Circle in level.
But as those 4th-Circle magics combined and merged, they radiated a blistering heat.
Even the knights watching from a distance broke into cold sweat.
A gigantic mass of flame conjured through the mages’ united effort.
And they didn’t stop there—wind magic was added to it.
When fire met wind, it transformed into a vortex of flame and shot toward the colossal tree.
The heat was so intense that even the knights faltered for a moment.
It had enough power to melt through the main gate of Galaharad Fortress in a single blow.
Kwaaaang!
The swirling blaze struck the tree and exploded with tremendous force.
The surrounding vision was swallowed entirely by scarlet flames—its power was overwhelming.
Those who briefly thought, maybe it worked? frowned when the flames died down and the unharmed tree stood intact.
“What the hell is that tree?”
“Is it some kind of World Tree or something?”
As they murmured among themselves, the tree began to change.
Wuuuuung—
The tree vibrated finely, and the surrounding air trembled in resonance.
Leaves that covered its crown rustled against each other though there was no wind.
Sasasasasak—
The sound, like billions of wings flapping at once, made them furrow their brows.
Then, the leaves began to glow a pale fluorescent green.
Though it was daytime, the world dimmed beneath thick clouds—yet the surroundings were gradually brightening.
And then, from above the tree, countless arrows of light rained down.
“Everyone, defend!”
“Stay alert!”
Even faced with the shocking sight of the tree suddenly firing arrows of light, the already wary Crusaders responded immediately.
Agile knights dodged or deflected the arrows with aura-infused blades.
The mages raised shields of mana to block them.
Paladins and priests did the same.
Endless emerald-colored arrows poured down from the sky.
Those focused upward were late to notice the ominous tremor creeping up from beneath the ground.
“What? Everyone, watch your footing!”
“Something’s coming from below too!”
No sooner had the warning been shouted than the ground burst upward, and a massive shadow engulfed the Crusaders.
“Don’t tell me—those are roots?!”
Gigantic roots, each thicker than ten meters.
More than a hundred roots surged upward at once, like a tidal wave of the earth itself.
The ground collapsed; soldiers were hurled away or entangled as they were swept up.
Knights, thanks to their keen reflexes, managed to leap clear of the broken terrain or sprint across the rising roots—
But the mages, slower in movement, could not.
Their interrupted concentration caused their spells to unravel, and over their exposed heads, the arrows of light came pouring down.
Pupupupupuk!
The arrows of light struck the mages’ bodies.
The feel of the arrows piercing their skin should have made them scream, yet instead their eyes fluttered shut and they collapsed.
They had fallen asleep.
“What is this? These attacks aren’t normal!”
As people suddenly began falling asleep one after another, the paladins panicked.
Thinking it might be a curse of the Demon King, the priests unleashed holy power to heal the sleepers.
“They’re not waking up? Then it’s not a curse!”
Realizing too late that it wasn’t a curse at all, one priest gasped in horror.
Which meant that the sleep induced by those arrows of light was something else entirely—neither sorcery nor hex.
“How effective.”
Julia, watching the scene from afar, muttered softly.
Those struck by the arrows of light—whether knight or paladin—fell asleep without exception.
“I knew we merged dream magic into it, but I didn’t think it would work this well.”
Julia clicked her tongue in amazement.
The arrows of light fired by the tree were not meant to physically subdue their targets, but to pull the victim’s consciousness into Dreamland—a type of dream magic.
Normally, dream magic could make people sleep or wake, but never with such potency.
It was effective only on ordinary people; against the Crusaders gathered here, it should not have worked at all.
What made it possible was Sedina’s power.
“Sedina, is that the World Tree?”
Julia asked the woman standing beside her.
“No. That isn’t the World Tree itself. It’s merely one of its roots.”
“A root?”
Julia was stunned. This colossal tree wasn’t even the World Tree itself—just one of its roots?
Then that meant the towering trunk they saw was just the root of a root.
“We pulled the root all the way here and made it rise above the surface. The World Tree is a symbol of life—it can sprout new branches and leaves even from its roots.”
What had emerged now was a sapling derived from the World Tree’s root.
Naturally, it was smaller than the real one.
And yet, it was so vast it felt like a mountain.
“But wait, the World Tree is in the Elven Forest, right? How could its roots reach all the way here—across the sea?”
“No matter how massive the World Tree is, its roots don’t stretch this far. So, we created pseudo-World Trees along the way, forming a connected path.”
“Pseudo-World Tree? Another strange term.”
“Think of it as a relay that connects communication. We planted intermediary trees to bridge the World Tree’s roots across the continent, all the way to Bretus.”
“...And the sea? Roots can cross the ocean?”
“For something like the World Tree, salt water doesn’t matter. It can decompose and discharge salt on its own. In fact, having more water around lets it grow even larger.”
The geography of Bretus, ideal for blocking foreign invasion, ironically became a great advantage for Sedina.
“Of course, compared to the real World Tree, it’s still lacking. That’s why I fused it with dream magic.”
“...Right. You did. But if that’s lacking, then what on earth does the real one look like?”
“Hmm. It would take too long to explain.”
Sedina didn’t bother elaborating.
It would take far too much time to recount everything she had experienced that day in the Elven Kingdom.
But her vague words only stirred more fear, curiosity, and imagination.
“I’ll have to hear it later.”
“Yes, later.”
Later.
An ill-fitting word amid a war this vast.
Yet the fact that it came out so naturally meant neither of them believed this war would be their end.
“Anyway, thanks to the World Tree’s vitality, the reach of dream magic has increased tremendously.”
Ordinarily, dream magic weakened drastically outside Dreamland.
But now, fueled by the World Tree’s life force, it had grown even stronger than in Dreamland itself.
Of course, reckless use would alert their enemies to their position.
To prevent that, Julia used Sedina’s plants as the main weapon and dream magic as support—
For instance, making those struck by the World Tree’s attacks fall asleep.
Naturally, those who fell asleep were now within Dreamland.
Not on the surface or upper layers, but dropped straight into the middle layer.
The middle layer was still dangerous, but with Nirva gone and the Goddess of Dreams asleep again, it was far more stable than before.
Falling into it no longer meant certain death.
And those now asleep were all elites—knights and mages of great skill.
They would be able to handle any unexpected threat with ease.
It might sound irresponsible, but it was the best and most efficient method available.
“Right. We’ve come this far; there’s no turning back. So, let’s go all the way.”
They had experienced too much inside Dreamland already.
It hadn’t been pleasant—if anything, it had been filled with grief and loss.
Precisely because of that, Julia could now understand Sedina better, and as a person, take another step forward.
Julia released her mana, scattering it around like tiny glowing motes.
Like dandelion seeds, those motes rode the wind and settled onto the World Tree.
She breathed the power of dreams into it.
The green mage, Sedina Roschen, and the dream-magic user, Julia Plumehart—
Together, they invoked an unprecedented new fusion spell in history.
[The Dream Shared by All]
Those who had reached the World Tree began to dream.
* * *
The battlefield was pure chaos.
The Holy Crusaders, who should have swept everything aside with overwhelming power, were finding the advance unexpectedly sluggish.
Their army vastly outnumbered the enemy, yet the Demon King’s forces used terrain advantages and a wide array of sorceries, creating a perfect stalemate.
Of course, they had broken through obstacle after obstacle, finally reaching the gates of Galaharad Fortress—
Only to be blocked again by the colossal tree standing at the entrance.
Moreover, the barriers of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd checkpoint cities hadn’t been completely cleared, and battles were still raging there as well.
“Damn it! If only we had the armored divisions, we could crush everything!”
The commander slammed his fist onto the table with a furious thud.
They had planned to sweep through with sheer firepower, but that was now impossible.
In fact, having so many troops only made organization and coordination more difficult.
The narrow shoreline was crowded with warships, leaving little room even to land.
Most ships had no choice but to hover idly offshore, waiting.
And though elite units had been sent ahead, no good news had come back.
For the command, which had hoped to end this war quickly, frustration was inevitable.
There was nothing more they could do.
They could send in ordinary infantry to push the front lines, but at this stage, infantry were useless.
Not just them—the armored corps, the steam golems, and the rear support units were equally ineffective.
All that remained was to rely on the smaller elite groups—knights, mages, paladins, and priests—to handle things well.
Of course, those “small elite groups” were hardly small in absolute numbers, so defeat never crossed their minds.
Still, the slow progress was maddening.
They were even considering ways to clear out the thorn barrier using infantry somehow.
Just then, a new transmission came through.
“What? ...I see. So that’s how it is.”
The command center immediately ordered the soldiers to withdraw.
The troops who had been about to detonate mines and annihilate the area hesitated at the sudden recall order.
Confused, they soon understood when they saw who was approaching.
Pure white vestments, a tiara upon the brow, and a gentle white radiance flowing around them.
At their head was a serene woman with silver hair—
“The Saintess.”
“Saintess Catherine has arrived.”
Saintess Catherine, followed by her priests, and the personal guards who protected them.
Even amid the battlefield, they seemed to shine with natural light.
The soldiers unconsciously stepped aside to make way.
No one told them to; it was instinctive.
Catherine walked through the parted path of soldiers until she stood before the wall of black thorned vines.
The greatest obstacle frustrating the troops—
Even after being burned once, the vines had regrown thicker and stronger, writhing like tentacles warning them not to approach.
Catherine looked at the thorn barrier and parted her lips.
“Burn.”
From Catherine rose a golden flame.
A tiny flame, no larger than the joint of a finger—no more than a candlelight.
That golden fire drifted weakly toward the thorned wall.
Tuk—
The moment it touched, the entire forest of thorns turned to ash.