Chapter – 23
“Are you sure we’ll find it if we come here?”
“Just trust me.”
The outermost part of the forest the readers had mentioned.
We arrived at the entrance of the forest where we had first stepped in. Moving quietly, we walked carefully in case there were other survivors nearby.
After walking a bit further, unlike the dense tropical vegetation at the entrance, we reached a place surrounded by cliffs on all sides.
The height was so dizzying that one wrong step could send you falling. Xenon, unlike his usual self, slightly flinched.
“I don’t understand why we came to a place like this.”
Before climbing the cliff, he carefully inspected the surroundings with suspicious eyes, then walked ahead.
After confirming there were no dangerous objects nearby, he reached out his hand to me.
“This place doesn’t seem to have anywhere to hide or escape to.”
“That’s exactly why they came here.”
Xenon looked at me with a what? expression.
Shrugging, I grabbed his hand and climbed up the tall stone steps.
“If they can’t escape anyway, they chose a place with cliffs on purpose so both the hunters and the hunted would have trouble moving.”
“I don’t quite understand that.”
Having lived his whole life without ever being chased, it seemed he couldn’t understand the desperate survival methods of the weak.
“Just think of it like this. If we’re going to die anyway, we might as well make it hard for you too.”
Unfortunately, Xenon’s expression didn’t change.
That meant he still didn’t get it.
I sighed and continued.
“In an open place like this, evil spirits are at a huge disadvantage. If they’re unlucky, they might get hit by a ruler’s attack while running and die.”
“No.”
“……”
“We won’t die.”
Ha… seriously.
He really was a man impossible to reason with.
After staring at him briefly, I stepped closer and placed my hand on his waist.
For a brief moment, his pupils widened at the sudden contact.
I took advantage of that moment.
I pulled him sharply toward me.
A cool yet sharp scent brushed past my nose.
“Do you really think so?”
“…Wendy Porcelain, what are you doing?”
Despite looking annoyed, he didn’t push me away.
Still, if I held on any longer I might get punched.
Before that could happen, I quickly let go and brushed the hair sticking to my cheek aside.
“If I had pushed you the other way, you would’ve died here.”
“……”
“Do you understand? They came here prepared to fall together with the people trying to hurt them.”
Only then did emotion appear on Xenon’s usually expressionless face.
“They’re all people with that level of resolve.”
“……”
“They’re not weak people you alone have to protect.”
Though it had only been a few days, Xenon had a habit of trying to solve everything himself.
Even when his own life was on the line.
Sometimes he acted as if all responsibility rested on him alone.
As if he had forgotten we were a team.
Other people might have just comfortably relied on Xenon’s strength.
But that didn’t suit me.
And it always bothered me.
Because it looked like he didn’t trust us and was desperately trying to handle everything alone.
‘Besides, if Xenon handles everything, Lilia will never awaken!’
Lilia’s awakening was important.
Hestia’s Brazier was a good skill.
But the real skills only came after awakening.
Well, he probably understands now.
His expression didn’t look great either.
‘He looks pretty shaken… maybe I should stop here for today.’
“So you shouldn’t rely only on your abilities and be careless—”
I was about to give him a light warning when—
“Unni!”
“Noona!”
Familiar voices came from the stairs.
I instinctively turned my head and saw the twins running toward us.
“Don’t do dangerous things anymore!”
“Yeah. You don’t have three lives.”
Without even expressing their relief properly, they ran up and hugged me tightly.
“Unni…”
Next to them, Lilia stood with tears welling in her eyes, looking like she might cry if touched.
“This crybaby kept looking for her savior.”
Eden approached awkwardly and spoke.
Lilia pouted at his words.
“I’m not a crybaby.”
“You are.”
“I’m not… waaah!”
I watched the scene with a detached expression.
‘Haha. This is chaotic.’
Soon Yeriel also climbed up and shouted when he saw us.
“Miss Wendy! Mr. Xenon!”
He must have been in a hurry since he even dropped his luggage and ran over.
“I’m glad you’re safe. I’m relieved you’re together.”
Yeriel said he had been worried about Xenon ever since he heard everyone was targeting him.
Xenon’s eyebrows twitched noticeably.
“You were worried about me?”
“Of course! You’re my comrade.”
“But I’m a ruler. You’re evil spirits, so—”
“But now you’re a defector, aren’t you?”
“……”
“You protected us all this time. Now it’s our turn to protect you.”
There was no malice.
Just pure goodwill.
But for Xenon, who had always lived as the strong one, those words seemed quite shocking.
Normally he would’ve scolded them for saying something embarrassing.
But now he stayed silent.
“Good. Now that the whole team is here—”
It had been a warm reunion, but…
“Found him.”
“Over here!”
“The defector is here!”
“Kill him!”
“No, don’t kill him. Capture him!”
Unfortunately, happiness didn’t last long.
Survivors began flooding toward the cliff.
“Uooo!”
“Catch him!”
I looked at the endless stream of people gathering.
And roughly estimated their numbers.
One, two, three…
Even excluding those who hadn’t arrived yet, there were hundreds.
Their goal was to damage Xenon.
They didn’t need to kill him.
The condition to pass this area was simply to deal valid damage to Xenon.
But even if they didn’t intend to kill him, we couldn’t relax.
If each of them landed even one hit, Xenon—who had already fought thousands—would soon be beaten into a pulp.
Even with Yeriel’s healing flowers.
Numbers like this couldn’t be handled.
There must be a way.
My usually sharp mind wouldn’t work.
There has to be…
Even my thoughts froze under the pressure of numbers.
At this rate, Xenon would be beaten badly.
Then our team would be next.
My mind went blank as I looked anxiously at my teammates.
“Step back.”
What was he thinking?
Xenon stood ready for battle, aura covering his body.
Thankfully, he didn’t seem intent on fighting them all.
He was only threatening those approaching.
“Are you crazy? Want to get buried?”
“If you come closer you’ll trigger traps.”
The twins guarded the front back-to-back.
Lilia—
“Everyone stay close to the brazier!”
She had summoned a large flame mass, now big enough to truly be called a brazier.
Eden beside her searched for escape routes.
“Paths, possibilities… and openings.”
And then Yeriel stepped in front of me.
“Miss Wendy.”
A flower bloomed in his left hand as he spoke.
“I regretted leaving you behind the whole time.”
He looked unusually gloomy.
“If something had happened to you, I would’ve suffered for a long time.”
“Yeriel.”
I was about to say it wasn’t his fault—
“Mr. Xenon saved you, right?”
He said it as if he already knew.
“How did you—”
“I just had a feeling. He seemed like the type who would.”
He smiled faintly and muttered:
“I won’t run away anymore.”
His face was filled with conviction.
Then he stepped forward.
Flutter, flutter.
Green sprouts grew from beneath his feet.
“Instead of running… I want to stand beside you and protect you.”
Thick mystical vines climbed up his legs.
“Yes… I think I’d like to be something like a tree.”
Brilliant white vines wrapped around him, shining.
Crack. Crack.
Thin white branches pierced through his body.
“W-what is that?!”
He was transforming into a giant tree.
Completely transformed, he waved his branches like a dance.
Swoooosh—
White radiance slowly pushed away the forest fog.
[Among the flowers blooming magnificently in the western heavens, who is their parent?]
A pleasant whistling sound and a clear song echoed softly like a heartbeat.
Where the white tree’s light touched, mysterious flowers wrapped in transparent barriers began to bloom.
This power.
The overflowing vitality.
The gentle radiance like spring rain.
This was the one moment in a lifetime when a human evolves into one of the saviors destined to save a ruined world.
An awakening.
