Chapter 537 – The Audacious Arbor Monarch

What emotion could possibly rival the ferocity of love?

The eyelids of Alba, cradled in my arms, gradually unfurl.

“…Ah.”

Upon laying eyes on me, Alba emits a drawn-out sigh. Is she coming to terms with the notion of being ensnared? Alba, her eyes darting around, eventually assesses her situation and her eyes widen in surprise.

“You – why…?”
“Did you genuinely believe you could enact such a submission with this fragment?”

I hoisted the shard of the crown resting at the head of the bed, waving it about. Alba’s face contorted like she’d been struck by some unseen force.

‘It’s not that the submission couldn’t be executed… Rather than my intentions altering, I’d prefer if it’s considered a mere bluff.’

I tenderly wiped the beads of sweat from Alba’s forehead.

“Why did you not resort to magic?”
“……”

Despite her ability to resist my attempt at submission, Alba chose inaction. Her lips remain firmly sealed in response to my query.

“Did you, perchance, have unshakeable faith that I wouldn’t ensnare you?”
“No…”

Alba, her face alight with joy, nuzzled her forehead against my hand. She is a sage, capable of fabricating even her expressions and actions, causing a churning unease within me. However, her response seems to dispel the fear I harbored.

“Then why?”

Alba delicately encased me in a loving embrace with both her arms.

“I didn’t want to inflict harm upon you.”
“Me?”

She nods.

Why does such an age-old noble radiate such innocence and vulnerability?

It seemed as if it wasn’t just Alba who was blinded by love.

“Why did you…?”
“I wonder.”

While my initial plan was to ensnare her, I find myself wavering at her single declaration of love, affirming that human frailty lies in emotion.

“If all of this is a calculated endeavor, then I fear I truly won’t be able to trust you.”

Alba offered no retort. Her expression still brims with delight, but if she presumes I’d trust her, she is sorely mistaken.

“No, Alba. I still can’t trust you.”
“It’s alright.”
“What exactly is alright?”
“Everything is alright, for now…”

She rests her forehead against my chest, fighting back the tears.

How can I express it? The sight of her, once dancing atop my head, now revealing such a delicate side… it tugs at my heartstrings. I can’t say why, but it’s endearing.

I gently grasp Alba’s chin, lifting her gaze to meet mine.

“Alba.”
“Yes… Ah.”

Alba’s eyes glisten with unshed tears. I cradle her head, our noses brushing against each other. Her ragged breaths stir a peculiar sensation within me. This exchange of affection continues. As I taste her lips and caress her flushed ears, Alba’s face turns a deep shade of crimson.

“Open your mouth.”
“Haa, haa…”

Alba, who had been gazing at me heatedly, opens her mouth in response. Saliva pools on her tongue, forming a small rivulet. Regardless of being on the upper or lower set, her teeth, sharp as those of a bear, are on full display.

I devoured Alba’s lips. Her hand, gently drumming on my chest, was noticeably timid.

“Do you truly love me?”
“Yes…Yes…I…I truly do.”

I extended my hand to her breast. Alba bashfully accepted my carnal desire.

Her soft and delicately curved breast was light to the touch, gently held within my grasp. With all fingers excluding the thumb, I cradled the lower part of her breast, while my thumb playfully poked the upper section. Given the absence of a bra, her breast, succumbing to gravity, stretched out like taffy under my touch, and I drew my mouth close to it, nipping at the peak. Alba’s breath, intoxicatingly sweet, whispered into my ear.

I ventured a question to Alba.

“Is this mine?”

Alba, with a blush, responded.

“Yes…”

Gently, I seized her ample buttocks. The flesh at the side of her pelvis, probed by my hand beneath the hem of her skirt, quivered at the snap of my wrist. Alba’s hips shivered in response.

“This too?”
“Yes, yes.”
“But why don’t you speak up?”
“I can’t… But it’s only you and Wiki for me. Trust me.”

You must tell me the story for me to believe.
This time, I didn’t press her. Instead, I comforted her gently.

Alba’s arm encircled my waist. As my knee parted Alba’s soft thighs, and I introduced her to the tip of my arousal, she jolted, stimulated by the contact.

“May I ask one thing?”
“……”
“Will people I know get hurt in the future?”

Her answer was silent but her eyes seemed to concede. I felt a pang of regret.

“Even Se-Young?”
“……”
“Dalalang, Byul, and Suyu.”
“……Yes.”
“What about Shiba?”
“It’s possible.”

…Well then.
I’ll have to keep an eye out.

My burning desire cooled as I gazed at Alba’s face.
The message that she didn’t want this was clear on her face.

“I understand.”

Why would someone who cherishes me so much do something I despise?

“Thank you for telling me.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Why are you crying again?”
“…I was terrified of the thought of being distant from you already.”

From her thoughts, it seemed she had already prepared herself for our estrangement.

“I anticipated it, but…”
“Did it feel different when it happened?”
“It’s strange. Why do I have no control over my emotions?”

The sage, in a moment of weakness, considered surrendering to my will.
She, the embodiment of reason, felt the force of her own emotions more intensely than she had anticipated.

“…Do you understand what this means?”
“What does it mean?”
“I am the daughter of a former sage. I evolved to eliminate emotions.”
“Is such a person clinging to me?”

I’m not sure if it’s a compliment or if she truly finds it odd, but it’s pleasing all the same.

“Yes.”
“No, it’s not a trivial matter to discuss.”
“It’s cuter when you sulk like this than when you used to hide behind a mask.”
“Ah, ah…!”

In a fit of petulance, Alba, bristling with irritation, clung to me.

*Smack!*

Alba’s face abruptly drew closer as she pressed her lips to mine.

A kiss, assertive and insistent. Alba’s legs coiled around my waist. We spent a good while rolling around on the bed, only managing to disengage our lips after ten minutes.

“Heh… Hah, hah.”

With droplets of saliva trickling from the corner of her mouth, she gazed at me, her eyes gleaming like honey dripping.

“Hold me…”
“Were you scared?”
“Yes.”

Before long, Alba was nestled securely in my embrace. Her ample, warm breasts gently draped over my skin.

* * * * * * * * * * *

[Sacrifice is inevitable. There’s no other way.]
[Stop.]
[…If things continue as they are, the world will crumble in an instant. Give up. Just by sacrificing one life, you could save hundreds of millions.]

The withering hand of a child. As the branches overhead rotted away, Shiba had spoken those words to him.

“Dad, are you crying?”

Why had I come all this way? These questions surged in the king’s mind.

[Beep…]
[Shiba…?]

That day—the day my purpose in life had been negated. The daughter who died in my arms never once blamed me. Did Shiba know that it was her own father who had led her mother to her death?

‘Sage.’

The woman whose name was unknown to me.

Her plan had collapsed, and all the lives she’d saved, shedding her own blood, had perished in my hands. It was nothing short of what she had shown me.

This is the final dimension. According to the contract with the Origin… once this destruction comes to an end, the world can be reverted.

The king steeled his heart, his gaze fixated on a single point in the world.

‘No matter what…’

I must save it.

[Beep, beep! Dad, it’s in this book. There’s a next life!]
[Oh? What does my daughter want to be in her next life?]

Strength returned to the king’s weary fist, sending wood shavings tumbling from his arms.

[Beep! Shiba, in the next life, I want to be your daughter again!]
[Hehehe, then you can’t marry your dad, can you?]
[Beep!? Beep!! I don’t like that.]
[Alright, come here.]

A child who held onto each other with a worn-out blanket, who laughed heartily even if they couldn’t wash away the dirt from their faces.

[Shiba will always be dad’s daughter.]
[…….]
[Don’t puff your cheeks. Who knows? When Shiba grows up, maybe dad will marry her?]
[Beep beep. Stop tickling me.]

Thoughts that swelled incessantly. The one who interrupted that train of thought was a little girl, similar in size to Shiba back then.

[Wooden crunch.]
“….”

My imagination shatters. Feeling a profound discomfort, the king’s eyebrows furrowed. A fierce gaze targeted Sephirot’s forehead, and several branches sprouted from his body.

Sephirot, suspended in mid-air.

All manner of arcane forces reside within her. A set of wings, reminiscent of angels, graced her back.

“…A naive dove.”
【Sefi, not a dove, right?】
“Have you come to form a pact?”

At the King’s query, Sephirot tilted her head.

【How did you know? I’m intrigued.】
“It was quite apparent.”
【How did you know?】
“……”
【How did you know?】

Accommodating this child’s tempo had grown tiresome. From the King’s hand, a sudden burst of light emerged, and the ‘branches’ at his back swiftly advanced towards Sephirot.

-Thud!

Like a branch puncturing the air and cleaving space, it moved. Encircling Sephirot’s throat, it snapped her neck to the bone.

From the petite body of the child, blood dripped down. The dove’s wings sagged, and the light vanished from the eyes of the deceased Sephirot.

‘She’s a creature oblivious to her own demise.’

This one doesn’t cling to life. Therefore, if there’s a means to end it, she can be killed anytime.

As the King’s hand stirred, Sephirot’s body was brutally torn apart. As chunks of flesh fell and blood flowed, the magical energy within Sephirot dispersed into the air.

-Zzzt.

At that instant. A distorted perception. The mutilated body of Sephirot vanished abruptly. Thereafter, Sephirot, seemingly unscathed, gazed at the King with a sour expression.

【How did you know?】

“……”

A thought grazed the King’s mind.

‘Ah, indeed. It occurred to me that Cornus was still alive.’

Sephirot, who had attained the knowledge of immortality, would not be easy to kill. From the King’s back, countless bifurcated branches began to assail Sephirot.

-Squeak!?

Bang!

The King’s ‘branch’ that was obstructed. Binary codes formed a barrier, slicing through the space. In the blink of an eye, the King’s arsenal was severed.

Grumble…

Simultaneously, a colossal shadow loomed above Sephirot’s head. Eden. The massive airborne fortress stared down at the King… ready to pierce the planet. Although this different dimension won’t cause problems on Earth if it collapses, activating it would surely bring countless World Trees to their severe demise.

【Tell me.】

The World Trees couldn’t prevent such a Sephirot.

‘Embodiment of Knowledge.’

The power and essence of Sephirot. Her power was impervious to plundering. The King of Trees also possessed Sephirot’s power, but only a sage could wield it if not Sephirot.

The power of the World Tree of Knowledge could only be realized by mastering every theory about a phenomenon.

It wasn’t infinite power, but… a power amassed over tens of thousands of years. Causing a magical explosion that could engulf a planet was a trifle matter.

【Won’t you tell me?】
“I’ve met you in the past. And killed you. You also proposed something to me at that time.”
【Really? I appreciate you telling me. But… what proposal?】

“You are well aware, Sephi.”
【 ……. 】

Sephirot remained silent. The King’s words had struck a nerve.

“You’ve attained immortality. It appears Cornus’s experiment was a success.”

A curious affair.
The survival of Cornus, a phenomenon never seen before.
Sephirot, observing this, had theorized the reactions within Cornus’s body, thus achieving immortality. It was an unforeseen variable.

Sephirot does not welcome anyone into Eden who is not deeply interested.
Each had their reasons for including Marronnier, Cornus, and Lee Si-heon in the selection of the forest guardian.
Cornus held the power of immortality.
Marronnier, bifurcated magic and the strength of the national tree.

‘To kill that, it would take several months.’

At least 70% of power must be restored to be lethal.
The King, swiftly calculating, spoke as he retracted the energy of the ‘branch’.

“So, what’s the matter?”
【 Sephi, I’ve come to make a proposal. 】

Perhaps the content is akin to what was offered to another version of oneself.

“Leave.”

At the King’s words, Sephirot extended her lips in a gloomy expression.

【 …Tch. Fine. 】

Surprisingly, Sephirot conceded.
The King had even anticipated her reaction.

For Sephirot had not yet acquired complete knowledge about King Mokryeong.
The King of Trees had once faced Sephirot, who had gained that knowledge, and he had killed her with his own hands.

‘You plan to perfect the king.’

Either by correcting the already completed King of Trees,
Or by completing the power of Lee Si-heon in this world.

If Sephirot’s plan was to be realized, Sephirot could never kill the King of Trees.
For Lee Si-heon’s power to be completed, he must defeat the demon of trials himself.
All Sephirot could do was to coax Lee Si-heon to kill the King, or… simply wait for the King of Trees to destroy the world.
That was the singular path to completing the King’s power.

【 Insolent Tree King. 】

A well-aimed shot.
A sardonic smile curled around the King’s lips.

– Whooosh!

A tremendous typhoon erupted, and Sephirot vanished from sight.
The King glared at the spot where Sephirot had been until finally, he lowered his gaze.

‘…….’

A while ago, the sage’s words drifted past him.
He could introduce him to Shiva.

‘….’

If one intends to harden their heart,
The answer would be to kill Shiva first.

The King’s solitary eye, luminously shining, quivered azure.