A white-green light filled the entire Origin Chamber, and the black roots completely retreated. For the first time since entering this world, the corruption showed fear.
The Incomplete World Root tilted its head slowly, its black body moving slightly as if trying to grasp something that shouldn't be there.
“Unknown…path…”
The empty voice finally sounded shaky. It's good that it's your turn to be confused once in a while. The mana around my sword continued to turn dark green, the Predator Bloom mixing with the white light of the World Tree, and strangely, the two didn't destroy each other.
They blended together peacefully, as if it were meant to be. The female guardian of the World Tree stared at the sword in my hand with slightly widened eyes.
“Soul resonance…” he muttered softly.
The black sword started to crack slowly, I immediately tensed up.
"Hey."
White cracks of light appeared along the blade, but it didn't shatter. The black coating on its surface began to peel away bit by bit, revealing a silvery white blade beneath the darkness.
The glowing root carvings covered its surface, beautiful yet ancient, very ancient. The woman's voice within the sword sounded soft and filled with relief.
"Finally…"
While the male voice took a deep breath.
"Been a long time."
The sword vibrated once, and then two transparent figures appeared beside me, and I immediately froze. The First Host and a woman with short hair and bright green eyes.
The two of them looked like shadows of light, not entirely real, but clear enough to be recognized. Mira would surely faint if she saw this. The First Host stared at her own hands for a few seconds, then chuckled. Tired.
“I thought I would never get out again.”
The woman beside him hit his arm gently.
“It's your own fault for being so heroic.”
Oh, so even thousands of years ago, couples still argued. Good to know, I stared at them in disbelief.
“...so you guys really do live on swords.”
The woman shrugged.
“Our choice of residence was indeed bad.”
The First Host immediately looked at me seriously, his gaze much more human now than before.
“Raka.”
I reflexively tensed up.
“Yes?”
He saw the white-green light on my sword and for the first time I saw real hope on his face.
“You really opened a new path.”
Incomplete World Root suddenly moved fast, black roots exploded towards us but before reaching us the sword in my hand moved on its own.
SHIIIING!!
One slash. All the black roots were cut cleanly, and the wound wouldn't regenerate. Silence, I froze as I watched. The First Host smiled faintly.
“The sword finally wakes up.”
The female guardian of the World Tree slowly stepped closer, her gaze fixed on the white sword in my hand.
“Its name used to be”
But before he finished a system notification appeared.
Weapon Evolution Complete
Name:
Eclipse Bloom
Rank:
Unmeasurable
Condition:
Linked to Path Divergence
Okay, that name sounds a lot cooler than the mysterious black sword. Incomplete World Root retreated again, and now for the first time, I felt a clear emotion from it. Fear.
"Possibly… impossible..."
The First Host immediately stepped forward, the red aura around his body still unstable but now much more controlled. He stared coldly at the Incomplete World Root.
“You always lose when you face the unpredictable.”
The creature roared, the entire chamber shaking. Black roots exploded from all directions at once, but this time I could see them all.
Echo Resonance fully activated, the root's path clearly visible in my mind. I took a single, slashing step, white and green filling the air.
The black roots shattered before they even touched me, and I didn't even realize my body was moving that fast. Kael would be furious if he knew I was starting to look cool without him.
The First Host and his companions joined the attack, red roots and green light striking the Incomplete World Root from both sides. Meanwhile, the World Tree guardians reinforced the chamber with white roots.
The fight filled the entire room but even though we started to hold it back the cracks in the sky above continued to grow.
I could sense something behind it getting closer, and the Incomplete World Root noticed it too. The creature suddenly stopped attacking, then its chest slowly opened, the black-red core within beginning to glow. The First Host's eyes widened.
"No!"
He moved quickly, but too late. The Incomplete World Root lifted the core skyward, and all the corruption in Elarion reacted simultaneously.
DUUUUUUMMM!!
The ceiling of the chamber shattered completely, and for a split second, I could see straight through the Varosk sky. A large black crack filled the air, and from behind it, something opened its eyes.
Not ordinary eyes, but giant eyes the size of a city staring down at this world. Mira was right, I didn't like all this either.
The pressure descending from the sky made my knees nearly touch the ground. Even the First Host seemed to struggle to stand, but strangely, the Eclipse Bloom sword in my hand glowed even brighter, and a woman's voice within the sword rang out softly.
“He saw you.”
I stared into the giant eye in the sky, and for the first time, I truly understood something. The World Tree had been protecting the world not only from corruption, but from something far more terrifying. Then the giant eye blinked, and a system notification appeared.
External Entity Awareness:
Confirmed
Target Acquired:
[Raka]
...
Oh that's bad.
[END CHAPTER 68]