Chapter 236: Aestrea Against The World (XIII)

They didn’t answer.

Not a single one of them.

The woman lowered her head, her fingers curling into the snow, but she said nothing.

The others just stared at the ground, not even daring to look at me.

Tsk…

Figures.

“…Hah,” I sighed deeply, my breath steaming in the cold.

Then, without warning, I moved.

Thud!

A swift enough strike that made the woman collapse instantly into the snow.

The rest followed before they even realized I had moved. I didn’t kill them, but that was the least I could do for them kidnapping my friends.

“Talk or don’t, but don’t waste my time,” I muttered.

I knelt down beside Derek first. He had a scratch on his cheek, and his armor looked scuffed, but nothing serious.

James, of course, had lost a shoe somehow.

Fucking idiot.

“…Always the loud one,” I muttered under my breath, picking them both up and slinging one over each shoulder.

Their mana was still stable.

Still breathing.

Good.

I was just about to leap back toward camp, compressing the mana inside my legs, when a soundless pulse hit the air.

KRHHH—!!!

The world twisted.

The snow trembled.

A beam of white light tore through the ground just a few meters in front of me, erupting like a geyser from the frozen earth.

It didn’t burn, didn’t make a sound; instead, it just shimmered like pure starlight, and I froze.

My instincts screamed.

Something was wrong, very wrong.

My eyes flicked back, and surprisingly… the dark elf woman I had knocked unconscious was… standing.

No.

Not standing.

Floating.

Her eyes had turned completely black.

Like ink spilled across her soul.

And when she opened her mouth, the voice that came out wasn’t hers.

It was something too smooth, too soft, too sweet… like a drink made out of sweet syrup and poison.

“Luntheris…”

“Not that fucking name again…” I muttered, and surprisingly, I couldn’t move as soon as I heard her words.

The mana in my body coiled, reacting like it had touched fire.

“…You really are as I expected you to be.”

The voice spoke again, and as I tried to speak anything… I realized that I simply couldn’t, as if my vocal cords were blocked by an invisible pressure.

My hands tightened slightly on Derek and James’ bodies, preparing to move, but the beam in front of me shifted, humming lightly, forming a circle of glowing earth symbols, floating like petals in the air.

“You speak of reward,” the voice said again, as the woman’s head tilted unnaturally, her black eyes never blinking.

“I can give you that.”

I gritted my teeth as I finally realized who I was talking to.

“You’re that fucking bit—”

“Yes.” The voice smiled through her lips, ignoring my ending comment.

“I am Gaia.”

The snow beneath my feet bloomed with green vines, despite the snow.

Tiny glowing buds rose from the ice, and the air filled with a strange scent, earth after rain, sweetness, old stone, and something… maternal.

“I know what you’re thinking, Aestrea.”

Gaia’s voice came again.

My eye twitched at her word as I replied.

“Doubt it.”

“You’re wondering why a Goddess of Earth would stoop so low, speaking through the body of a forsaken dark elf…”

Her head tilted again, and her voice grew colder, more ancient.

“…But that’s where you’re wrong. This isn’t stooping.”

“This is reclaiming.”

I said nothing.

She waited.

When I didn’t speak, she did.

“You want power, don’t you? Clarity? Answers to all the things they’re hiding from you?”

“I want a lot of things,” I said flatly.

“None of which involve dancing around like a puppet for someone who let their people rot underground for centuries.”

The air tightened for a moment, and even the vines stilled.

But Gaia didn’t react with anger, instead… she laughed softly.

“You’re sharp. That’s why I chose you.”

“I didn’t ask to be chosen.”

“And yet, here you are. Still listening.”

Tsk… this bitch…

She took that silence as permission to continue.

“I’m not like the others. I don’t need temples or worship. I don’t care if mortals bow or curse my name. I care about balance. About roots. About what holds this world together.”

Her eyes, or the woman’s, narrowed.

“The other gods corrupted this land with ambition and war. I watched it crumble, slowly. I stayed quiet… because the earth forgets, Aestrea. And the earth forgives.”

“But even I… can’t forgive what’s been done to them.”

She motioned her hand, and I saw visions flash through the white light.

Dark elves hiding in caverns with no light…

Children born with cracked horns…

Bodies marked by magic scars…

Chained to myths they didn’t ask for.

A cursed race… completely abandoned by their kind.

“And now, I ask again,” she whispered.

“Help them.”

She paused slighly, her dark eyes looking straight at my soul.

“…And what’s in it for me?”

Her smile didn’t change. But the vines behind her began to twist together, rising like a stem.

Slowly… they shaped into something tall… yet familiar.

A tree.

No… the Tree.

“You’ve been looking, haven’t you?” she whispered.

“Something ancient… something tied to your real nature… You should’ve gotten some idea of your origin after seeing the papers from the Dark Order, didn’t you?” she smiled maternally.

‘…She even knows that?’

It was annoying that she knew everything about me, but when I saw that tree… my heart slowed, and my throat dried slighly, making me swallow hard.

“Yggdrasil.”

She smiled, this time with pride.

“The real one. Not the fake shrines the elves show off to tourists. The one buried in the core of the world. Where all threads of fate meet.”

Her eyes glowed darker.

“You help them… and I will give you the path.”

The real Yggdrasil…

The origin of mana.

The meeting point of realms.

The root of all life… healing, rebirth, evolution.

“…”

I stared into those black, bottomless eyes for a long time.

Then, finally…

“…Where is it?”

Her voice was quite soft, but it still shook the bones of the world.

“North of the Abyss.

Where light never reaches.

Where even gods forgot to look.”

“And when you’re ready…”

Her hand extended.

“I will open the door for you.”

The vines wilted again.

The air calmed.

The dark elf woman collapsed once more, unconscious this time for real.

I exhaled slowly.

“…Fucking gods,” I muttered, flexing my fingers.

“Always so dramatic.”

But…

Yggdrasil, huh?

So that’s where I need to go next.

Even if I had to dig through snow, blood, and madness to reach it… I would definitely reach it.

Because what lay at the roots of that tree… might finally give me the truth about my origin.

After all, what kind of child can make a Dragon dot on him?

“Ahh…”

The silence left in Gaia’s wake felt heavy, like mist curling between my ribs.

The vines had receded, the snow had returned, and the strange glow that clung to the world was gone.

Only she remained.

The dark elf.

She stirred, letting out a soft, dazed breath as her eyelids fluttered.

And then… she gasped, sitting up fast, her hair falling over her shoulders in tangled waves. Her black eyes, now back to normal, landed on me immediately.

She froze.

I didn’t say anything at first.

Just looked at her, arms folded, James and Derek both lying unconscious behind me.

A sigh escaped my lips.

“…Your goddess made me accept your proposal,” I said flatly, rubbing the bridge of my nose.

“You should be grateful to her.”

For a moment, her face was unreadable.

Then, it lit up like someone had turned the moon into a sun.

“Y-You really accepted!?” she gasped, her voice trembling slightly.

Before I could even blink, she lunged forward, gripping both of my hands with trembling fingers, shaking them up and down so hard my arms jolted.

“Thank you! Thank you thank you thank you thank y—!!”

“Stop,” I muttered.

“I swear to the gods… stop shaking me or I’ll bury you headfirst in this damn snow—”

She didn’t stop.

Her whole body wiggled with pure joy, like a puppy who just got adopted. My left eye twitched… this was too much.

And suddenly, behind me, there was a groan.

Then another.

“…Ugh… why’s my neck so stiff…” Derek muttered, eyes half-closed.

James sat up more dramatically, blinking as he rubbed the side of his head.

“Wh-Why do I feel like I was used as a pillow by a mountain goat—wait.”

He turned his head.

Saw the dark elf woman gripping my hands.

Saw her shaking them like they were maracas.

Saw me, staring into the void with dead eyes.

His entire body froze.

“………”

His face turned pale.

Then crimson.

His hands immediately flew up to his chest, clutching his shirt like a damsel in distress.

“DID YOU SELL MY MAJESTIC BODY WHILE I WAS SLEEPING?!”

I blinked slowly.

The woman paused too, clearly as confused as me.

And suddenly…

“I KNEW IT!” James cried, pointing a dramatic finger.

“I KNEW MY VALUE AS AN ART PIECE WOULD CATCH UP TO ME ONE DAY—AESTREA YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO PROTECT ME—”

“Shut up, idiot,” I muttered, finally yanking my hand free from the elf’s.

“I don’t even think they find you attractive.”

“EXCUSE ME?!” he gasped, clutching his heart. “Derek! Say something! He just insulted my soul!”

Derek groaned and sat up, glancing at the scene with heavy-lidded eyes.

“…You were shirtless and unconscious, bro. I’m surprised he didn’t sell you twice.”

James shrieked in betrayal.

Meanwhile, the elf girl looked between us with a look of awe, confusion, and the tiniest giggle.

“You… all really care about each other, don’t you?” she asked softly.

“Unfortunately,” I muttered.

“So, uh. Mind telling us what the hell happened while we were taking a nap?” Derek stretched his arms, asking.

I turned to him, replying with the same tone.

“…Apparently, I just agreed to help save an entire forsaken race of exiled dark elves who are worshipping a goddess that controls the planet’s roots…”

“…After punching two of them in the ribs.”

Derek blinked.

James dropped his arms.

The elf girl just smiled innocently, her cheeks were slighly flushed.

“…Huh,” James said.

“I miss the days when we just fought monsters and complained about cafeteria food.”

I didn’t laugh.

But…

Maybe my lips twitched a little.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep