Chapter 266

The sea stretched out, wide and boundless. Numerous rafts drifted on its gently rippling surface, with demons atop them as their passengers.

The only sounds were the faint noise of oars pushing through the sticky seawater and the flow of polluted air as it blew against the demons.

They scoured the Sea of the Afterlife with grim eyes, searching for any trace of the World Tree’s scent. They were certain that it was hidden somewhere in the vast expanse.

To an outsider, it might have looked like a peaceful and even serene journey—but the demons were experiencing hell in the truest sense of the word. Below their rafts was an abyss without end, and within its depths lurked countless weeds, waiting for an opportunity to devour their prey above.

The rafts shook from a sudden wave.

“Here they come again!”

Ravenous weeds burst from the dark water, unable to suppress their hunger any longer.

The demons continued rowing even as the weeds attacked.

“Get them!”

It was the bearded dwarves, not the demons, who were shouting.

At their commands, shadow spiders shot dark webs from the rafts, their nets ensnaring the emerging weeds.

“Hehe! Nice catch!”

The shadow dwarves chuckled as they raised their sharp axes and saws. The sound of slicing filled the air, shattering the silence over the rafts.

“Good! With these, we should be able to double the size of our rafts!”

“Don’t let them outdo us! Hey, demons. If you still don’t know where to go, why don’t you direct us to a spot where we’ll find more weeds?”

The demons maintained a stony silence.

“Tsk! You don’t talk much, do you? You might look scary, but you’re really cowards.”

“We are not cowards,” one demon finally replied.

Despite the dwarves’ prodding, they had to remain cautious.

The demon added, “You seem to be forgetting that unlike you, we are not truly immortal.”

“Hehe! What a shame.”

“Hmph...”

The demons decided talking to the dwarves wasn’t worth it.

It wasn’t something to be angry about, since they knew the shadow dwarves did not mean to mock them. Indeed, the dwarves sincerely pitied the demons—since demon souls were tainted, they could never become shadow soldiers.

In theory, there might have been a way. Suho’s destructive flames had the power to purify tainted souls, so if he used the flames on the demons, perhaps it would allow them to become shadow soldiers as well.

But they could not bring themselves to ask Suho to kill them to find out. Requesting to be burned alive was a gamble no demon was willing to take. If he didn’t manage to control his power with complete precision, their souls would be consumed by the flames instead of being purified, and who would take responsibility then? It would be better to just be eaten during a battle, since dying like that would be pointless.

Dying to the weeds which lay in wait below the water was equally pointless. It was only natural for the demons to be cautious here, since these weeds would not only kill them but also assume their identities.

Sure, the dwarves had a point—expanding the rafts quickly would be advantageous for the long journey ahead. However, speed would also significantly increase the danger.

“If we take rafts so small to a location filled with enemies, we will capsize,” the same demon remarked.

The moment the attacking weeds outmatched the webs spun by the shadow spiders, the flimsy rafts would be reduced to splinters. Dozens of rafts had already been lost this way.

Thankfully, there had been no casualties among the demons so far. Every time a raft was destroyed, shadow spiders would swiftly pull the stranded dwarves and demons onto their backs and carry them to another intact raft. They would stay there until a new raft could be made.

However, this cycle slowed down the overall progress of building larger rafts since resources had to be split for multiple purposes.

The demon clicked his tongue. “Finding the World Tree is harder than I expected.”

“You’re right,” a dwarf replied. “I thought you demons would be able to sniff it out quickly.”

“The sea is... too vast,” the demon stated.

They had their excuses.

“On top of that, our senses are dulled here.”

This was the Sea of the Afterlife. The pitch-black water not only obscured their vision but also dampened their other senses. It was as if they were inside some kind of perception-obstructing barrier.

At this rate, the only way they would be able to pick up the smell of the World Tree would be to rely on their sheer numbers. It would also take a lot of travel.

“Still... We will find it no matter what,” Esil said.

She had received updates from her subordinates scattered across the sea. She looked to the dark water, her eyes glowing as if she could see right through it.

She could monitor her demons clearly because of Refined Lifeblood, the power she had awakened after becoming the King of Demons. No matter where or how they discovered the World Tree, Esil would know immediately.

At the thought of the World Tree’s leaves, she licked her lips. Now that she had tasted them, she understood why Vulcan had been consumed by greed and why she herself had become the Monarch of Gluttony. For demons, the taste was divine.

“We need a way to expand the rafts quickly, and all at once.”

Esil leaned toward the shadow dwarves’ suggestion that they should take the risk to gather a bunch of materials to expand the rafts.

For such a dangerous task, it was more efficient for her to get involved as a Monarch rather than relying on weaker demons. Therefore, she had been leading the charge herself, seeking out weed-infested areas and hunting them down. But now the weeds were smartly avoiding her raft whenever they saw it.

“Hmm. The weeds are refusing to appear,” a dwarf muttered.

Nodding at his observation, Esil focused her senses on detecting any signs of the weeds. All she found was a calm silence.

She clicked her tongue in irritation. “Clever pests.”

“At this rate, we won’t be able to build anything larger than our current rafts... We’ll never get to warships! I wish something big would just pop out of the water and— Augh!”

Suddenly, a sharp object pierced the chest of the dwarf who had been complaining next to Esil.

She was taken aback, but she soon beamed when she realized what it was.

[Item: “Key to the Shadow Dungeon” has activated.]

A hole opened in the Shadow Dwarf’s chest around the key, forming a shadow gate. Through it, a familiar face poked out.

“Demons of hell! How goes your task?”

Beru was peering out somberly, his sharp gaze sweeping over the rafts and their surroundings. He shrieked when he saw the size of the rafts.

“Kieeek! You lazy creatures! Why are they still this small?”

“What do you expect? The weeds we need to expand them are hiding away,” Esil grumbled in response. “I could dive in and gather them myself, but it’s too dangerous for my demons. Besides, the weeds are waiting for us to do just that. There is a limit to how many I can catch on my own.”

“Tsk! Well, the Young Monarch has come to handle that problem for you, as he expected that your performance would be subpar,” Beru responded.

“What?”

“So be grateful and show your reverence.”

As Esil tilted her head in confusion, Suho stepped through the shadow gate. He had not arrived empty-handed.

“Wh-what is that?!” Esil exclaimed. “Is it a tree?”

Suho was hauling an enormous tree trunk through the gate in an incredible show of strength.

“It’s an Elvenwood,” he said.

At that answer, the expressions of the shadow dwarves were filled with shock.

“E-Elvenwood?”

“The sacred tree of the elves...!”

Suho tossed the charred fragment of the Elvenwood into the sea. It floated on the black waters.

Though it was technically a “fragment,” he had brought the entire massive trunk after cutting off all the roots. Its size was staggering, making the rafts appear insignificant in comparison.

The demons and dwarves gawked at Suho.

“That’s our master for you!” one of the dwarves exclaimed. “How did you acquire such precious lumber?”

“What do you think? I figured it was a waste to burn it all, so I brought it along. Think it’ll work as raft material?”

“It’s perfect!”

The dwarves responded to his words with cheers. Their eyes gleamed with greed as they stared at the Elvenwood trunk.

Without waiting for a signal, they leaped onto it from Esil’s raft, saws and hammers at the ready. No matter how big it was, it was just a tree. If they didn’t hurry, another raft’s team might claim the precious material.

“Careful. It’s still alive,” Suho warned.

“Ack!”

“Gah!”

There was a chorus of strangled gasps.

“Oh. Perhaps I should’ve mentioned that sooner...”

Before he had finished speaking, the Elvenwood’s branches had lashed out and skewered several dwarves.

They were undeterred. Immortal as they were, they ignored the piercing branches and continued to chop away. They pulled out the branches lodged in their bodies and held them aloft like trophies, then burst into hearty laughter.

“Hahaha! What an honor!”

“To think that I would ever live to touch the sacred tree of the elves! Though I’m technically not alive.”

“If I tried this during life, it would have been my last day anyway! Hahaha!”

The dwarves couldn’t help their excitement. This was an Elvenwood, after all. There were few living dwarves who had touched the sacred wood with their own hands, and almost none in the entire history of the dwarven race who had.

Even then, a dwarf might have been lucky enough to pat a tree’s bark, but little else. Sawing into it as disrespectfully as they were doing now would have been unimaginable. To dwarves, the long-eared elves were a fierce, murderous bunch, and the less was spoken about spirits, the better.

Yet here they were, slicing the revered wood of the elves into pieces. It made them so happy that they wondered if this was reality.

“My saw is in heaven today!”

“A boat made of this sacred elven wood?”

“One that will sail the Sea of the Afterlife?”

“Yes! This is what makes life worth it!”

“I can now die without regrets! Well, die again, I guess! Hahaha!”

Ordinary materials deteriorated quickly when exposed to the deathly air and waters of the Sea of the Afterlife. But wood like this was not to be disrespected by using the word “ordinary.”

However, something seemed off.

“Hmm. Were Elvenwood trees always like this?” one dwarf asked.

Though they had heard tales of these trees, this was the first time any of them were seeing one in person.

There was something very strange about the tree that Suho had brought. The energy it radiated was unsettling, and the branches moved continuously, trying to attack the dwarves. It seemed rather ominous.

“From what I’ve heard, these are supposed to be holy trees,” another dwarf murmured.

“But this seems more like... a magic beast in the shape of a tree.”

“No,” Esil interrupted.

Her expression was grim as she glared at the Elvenwood and refuted the dwarves. The other demons shared her unease.

“This is supposed to be the elves’ sacred tree? But it’s similar to the weeds...”

“You noticed it too?” Suho asked.

He nodded in agreement, confirming her suspicion.

“After fighting an Elvenwood myself, I got the sense that they fall somewhere between the weeds and the World Tree.”

It was a realization he had come to after facing the sacred tree.

As Suho shared his experiences, Esil muttered gravely, “If you’re right... Does this mean the weeds were devouring not only demons, but elves, too?”

“Nobody can say, I guess. It seems similar, just with a different method, right?”

One “plant” hunted and fed directly, while the other patiently waited for its food to mature before it attacked. If the weeds had evolved into the Residents of the Rift by preying on demons, it wasn’t far-fetched to think the Elvenwoods had once been weeds that grew by cultivating and feeding on elves.

Even the growth processes were strikingly similar: The weeds devoured souls to evolve, while the Elvenwoods had a symbiotic relationship with spirits.

“You’re right, especially considering their constant struggle for survival,” Esil said. “It makes sense. The Absolute Being intended for his creations to become ever-stronger warriors in the war against the Rulers...”

She shivered slightly as if she had just uncovered a hidden truth of the world.

In the end, it hardly mattered whether the Elvenwoods had originated from weeds or not. The Absolute Being, who was now dead and gone, had wanted to watch his creations engage in an unending war. In that sense, the Elvenwoods fit perfectly into that grand design.

“But it is now excellent material for us to use,” Beru said, snickering.

The shadow dwarves who had been excitedly chopping away turned to Suho.

“Master, where did you find this?”

“Why do you ask?” he responded, smiling slyly as he caught the greed in their eyes. “You want me to get you more?”

“Can you?!”

The dwarves froze for a moment, then burst into a flurry of excited chatter.

“Look at how resilient this wood is!”

“It’s so disgustingly determined. Even now it’s reaching out its branches and grabbing the weeds under the sea!”

“If we make use of this, we could easily make warships that repair themselves!”

“True,” Suho murmured. His gaze returned to the Elvenwood, its branches still writhing despite the damage.

Noticing the dwarves’ eager expressions, he gave them a firm nod. “I can bring you as many as you need. In fact, you’ll have enough to rebuild every raft with Elvenwood lumber.”

The dwarves gasped.

Indeed, the issue wasn’t a lack of Elvenwoods—the world actually had far too many.