Due to Magnus’s fast speed, the monsters couldn’t escape even as the torch approached.

“Grrraaaah!!”

They screamed.

Regardless, Magnus threw the torch without hesitation at what looked like the roots of the monsters and immediately pulled back.

Whoosh-!

As if the black things were made of oil, the fire spread instantly.

“Seems it was the right answer.”

Magnus said as he put Serena down again.

His large hand landed gently on Serena’s head.

“But I don’t understand why there was an aurora only here. It’s not like it was trying to show us the location.”

Magnus muttered softly.

“Can you still see it?”

“Uh……”

At Magnus’s words, Serena tilted her head back. The fire that had spread made everything around bright. She could tell that the surroundings were like an empty lot.

And that there was a very large, black mass rising high in the center.

Serena tilted her head back a little more, looking past that mass. Looking at the darkness that was too black to even be called sky, Serena’s eyes widened.

“I can still see it. But it seems… a bit brighter.”

Until now it had been rather faint, but now how should she put it, it felt like a thin veil had been removed, making it a bit clearer.

“It got brighter?”

Shouldn’t it disappear if this is resolved?

Magnus’s eyes narrowed.

The screaming sounds that had been echoing began to gradually diminish. The spreading fire was consuming something sticky and slowly dying out.

Serena’s eyes narrowed.

A faint light was leaking out from the largest mass.

“What is this?”

Thud, thud thud.

It was then. As the things enveloping the black monsters burned away completely, bones began to pour out from inside.

“Bones?”

Among the bones clattering and rolling on the ground, there were also human-shaped corpses that had not yet fully become skeletons.

“…This is insane.”

Magnus said, reflexively grabbing Serena’s waist and pulling her towards him.

After burning the monsters, or more precisely, the sticky liquid covering them, all that remained around was nothing but corpses and bones.

So densely packed that there was no room to step.

Unless people had chosen this place to commit s*icide, it meant that many humans had died here.

Why?

The reason was simple.

Either something had lured humans here and killed them, or… someone had thrown humans in here.

It must be one of the two.

Judging by the corpses that hadn’t fully decomposed yet, it was clear that people had died here recently as well.

Crackle, crackle-!

The fire that had been consuming everything around slowly began to die down. Yet, the view was still bright.

The reason was simple.

Because light was flowing out from the largest mass.

What appeared from inside the sticky mass that had completely burned away was a pure white, very white tree full of bare branches.

‘A tree?’

Serena blinked slowly.

The pure white tree was… emitting light by itself, like the sun.

So bright that it felt like it might blind you if you stared at it. Of course, it looked a bit strange to call it a tree since it had no leaves at all.

“This is……”

“The World Tree.”

“This is the World Tree?”

“Yes, although only branches remain… a pure white tree like this doesn’t exist except for the World Tree.”

At Magnus’s words, Serena’s eyes widened slightly. It was very different from the World Tree she had seen in literature.

The tree with even white branches was said to be a tree full of vitality, literally bringing peace and blessings to the empire at all times, with green leaves all year round.

But this one was far from full of vitality… it was small, tiny, and withered to the point where it was surprising it wasn’t dead.

Moreover, there was quite a deep, unhealed wound at the base of the tree.

“It’s really strange, I was actually a bit surprised.”

It was then.

A young, soft voice was heard.

“I didn’t expect big sister to discover this place.”

Someone revealed themselves from behind the World Tree. It was a small, young… child with the appearance of a boy.

More precisely, the child that had been traveling with them and cared for by Drukan.

“I didn’t know big sister could see that light cluster.”

“…You.”

“I knew something felt off every time I saw you.”

Magnus clicked his tongue and blocked Serena’s front.

The child lightly tilted his head.

“Where are Drukan and His Highness the Crown Prince?”

“Hmm, where do you think they are? Big brother.”

“It’s creepy, so I’d appreciate if you don’t call me that.”

At Magnus’s hostile voice, the child opened his eyes wide and pouted.

The sight of him opening his mouth with a calm face while placing his hand on the pure white tree looked somewhat eerie.

Serena frowned with a subtle expression.

“Ahahahaha, why! I’ve been calling you big brother all this time, you know?”

“That was when I thought you were human, but not anymore.”

“Why? If I’m not human, do I not have the right to choose how to address someone? If I’m not human, do I not have the right to speak like a human? Why? Is it because humans are the greatest and most excellent creatures?”

The child spoke in a quite light voice, as if singing.

He tilted his head slightly, then spun around in place, and finally let out a light laugh.

He didn’t seem to be afraid of Magnus.

The child tilted his head and showed his eyes gently folded.

His red eyes, filled with fatigue, rolled slowly and then landed on Magnus and Serena again.

“Please answer, why can’t I call you big brother?”

“Because from the moment you hid your identity, the trust in our relationship was already broken. And I never once gave you permission for that form of address.”

“But you didn’t say you don’t like it either.”

“I just didn’t want to cause trouble because it was bothersome. Likewise, I’m sure I didn’t say I liked it either.”

At Magnus’s words, the child puffed up his cheeks with an exaggeratedly disappointed expression.

The child, who openly showed his displeasure, kicked the ground with the toe of his shoe.

“Where is this place?”

“I don’t want to talk to big brother anymore. I’m in a bad mood now~ Hmph.”

“Do I look like I’m joking right now? Or do you want to die?”

Magnus said coldly, his expression not changing at all despite the child’s cute tantrum.

At that, the child opened his eyes wide and tilted his head. Then he frowned and stuck out his tongue.

“Nyah. Big brother can’t kill me anyway.”

“You think I can’t kill a child?”

Magnus smiled coldly.

At his voice full of killing intent, the child burst into laughter.

As if he had heard something very funny, the child hugged the white tree and burst into laughter, then tilted his head abruptly.

“No. Big brother could probably kill me, a child.”

“Whatever you are, is your intelligence also at a child’s level?”

Magnus clicked his tongue.

It was frustrating how the conversation seemed to make sense, but strangely didn’t.

Or maybe that small, unidentified something was deliberately grating on his nerves.

“But… big brother can kill me, but you can’t kill big sister, right?”

“What are you talking about?”

The child smiled brightly.

“I’m saying that if big brother kills me, big sister will die too? Now you can’t kill me, right? Right?”

The child giggled.

It was strange how he burst into laughter with a face that couldn’t be more innocent and pure.

“…Why would I die if he kills you?”

“Because we made a contract, big sister.”

“……Nyx?”

At Serena’s call, the child’s eyes widened. The child curled up the corners of his mouth and nodded.

“Yes, big sister called me Nyx from the beginning, right? I thought you knew all along?”

“No, I just thought of the name Nyx when I saw you……”

“Isn’t that the same thing? Big sister is really slow.”

Ahahahaha, his laughing voice was so refreshing.

It seemed different from the owner of that husky voice that had persecuted, threatened, and tried to kill Serena.

“But, the darkness didn’t look like this… In the underground prison, clearly……”

“Ah…… that was residue. My residue.”

“Residue?”

“Yes, when the trash can is full of garbage, you throw it away, right? It’s similar to that. It’s emotions I threw away at some point because I couldn’t handle the rising feelings.”

The child explained.

Is that why? The child looked bright and cheerful.

None of the dark emotions or sensations that she felt from that rabbit could be felt.

The child circled around the tree once and then squatted down at a certain spot.

“Big sister, can you see this? This wound?”

The squatting child touched the base of the tree.

There’s a large wound. Serena looked at the child quietly and then slowly looked at the wound again.

“What do you think this is~?”

A cheerful question was heard.