CHAPTER 519: THE WORLD TREE [II]

"Isn’t that dangerous? If what you said is true, then aren’t you going to face the wrath of a dragon at this rate?!" The Elder is worried about Elaina.

"Although I haven’t faced dragons in my lifetime, if a dragon can’t be reasoned with, then there is only one choice, and that is to deal with it. It isn’t my first rodeo against big monsters, so it doesn’t really matter much to be honest," Elaina shook her head.

"I think I trust the farmer this time around. I have seen her skill firsthand when we were still heading here since there are seven worms that we have to bypass before reaching this place. The farmer easily dispatched all of them in one fell swoop, making the presence of those worms relatively easy to deal with. So if it were someone going to deal with something stronger than us, I think the farmer can actually fight against it."

The Elder cast a doubtful glance at Elaina but soon sighed in reluctant acceptance. "Alright, fine. You get the permission for me. Take this brooch and wear it to bypass the barrier erected there. It will allow you to get deep in the area where we forbid access to the other pixies. But I already said this and I already warned you that whatever happens there is none of our business now," the Elder said as he handed over a green brooch that looked like a leaf-shaped accessory.

"Don’t worry, I am not expecting you lot to be able to help me out there, considering that just being near there would trigger problems for you. All of this is on me."

Elaina wears the brooch on her clothes. Raguna quickly offered his assistance to Elaina.

"Let me at least escort you to the main entrance. Even if I can’t enter the place, I should at least be able to guide you until there."

"Thanks for the offer, Raguna, but are you sure? Considering being near that place is enough to cause problems for you, doesn’t that sound bad?" Elaina looked at Raguna with concern."

"I agree with the farmer, Raguna. And besides, how can you even come back here when you still can’t fly? Your injuries are still in bad shape. I doubt she can help you if you started convulsing there due to the place’s power," the Elder seconded.

Raguna has no choice but to comply. Since he can’t go back on his own, Elaina has to go on her own inside the place where the supposed dragon is currently present. The Elder is quite sure that this is a bad thing, but since Elaina was more determined than ever before, he has no choice but to comply.

...

...

...

Like the Elder Pixie has said, there was indeed a barrier erected on the narrow pathway. The soil that leads to the area is clearly showing a dark color, making it pretty similar to how the soil is looking up in the surface. Now, Elaina is quite sure that the one who is indirectly causing the rot is none other than the one who currently resides deep into the cave.

"God of Farming, do you think the World Tree sapling can still be healed?" Elaina asked.

"[There is indeed a possibility. Like what you said earlier, the only way for us to deal with it is to nip the cause of the rot.]"

The roar of the creature deep in the cave is getting louder. Elaina had her sword ready in case it wasn’t a dragon in the first place. She is ready to deal with it as soon as possible.

Elaina pushes forth to the barrier, and thanks to the brooch given by the Elder Pixie, the barrier does not react the moment she passes through it.

"Looks like the brooch is indeed working as expected."

Following the tight trail, Elaina continued forth while covering her nose. The smell is not that bad compared to the other disgusting smells she has inhaled in the past. The only difference is that even though the smell is not that bad, it is also not pleasant to smell. It smells like some sort of dried-up blood. The longer one smells it, the more it starts to stink. Thankfully, covering her nose is enough to fully stop the smell from entering her nose.

As she continued on the path, the noise of the roars was getting really close. Her grip is also getting tighter as she continues to move forward.

"[Now I understand why those Pixies can’t enter this place, their attunement to mana is enough to overload their senses the moment they got close. Since they are that attuned to mana in the first place, the moment they get real close here, their bodies would suddenly feel like they are being sucked in by something.]"

"And now I am fine because my body doesn’t even recognize the mana around my surroundings?"

"[Correct. The heavy mana in the surroundings does not even work for you. In short, you are immune to it.]"

Elaina smiled. "Good to know. You know, sometimes I wonder if my body that doesn’t have any way to use mana is a blessing."

"[There is a downside, yes, but considering most anomalies were caused by mana overload or something that is related to mana, it is enough to be also considered as a blessing in a sense. After all, you will be technically immune to it.]"

Elaina continued on the path, the smell getting stronger and stronger. It didn’t take too long that Elaina had to hold her breath from time to time just to ensure she couldn’t breath the stench. Sure, it wasn’t that bad of a smell, but the longer one would smell it, the more one would feel their stomach turn upside down.

Moving through the narrow pathway further, she soon arrived at a big clearing deep in the path. It was quite big for a whole town square to be built there. In the center of that place is another tree, very similar to the one that the Pixies have shown to her, with the only difference being that this tree is much bigger and much taller than the trees present that are being guarded by the Pixies.

"[What the hell? Isn’t this another World Tree? There are two World Trees present in one area?!]" Even the God of Farming was not expecting it.

"Looks like the Holy Rot wasn’t just happening back there, it was also happening deeper into the cave, its just that the pixies can’t even see deeper due to the corruption happening and stopping them from even casual check here," Elaina said as she observed the surroundings.

It wasn’t looking like the holy presence one should feel before a tree considered to be the source of pure holy powers, and more like watching a swamp with a tree that glows growing on it.

Compared to the tree before, this one is not in better condition, as the majority of its trunk has turned black, and the majority of the leaves are slowly turning black as well. The ground it was growing on has also been dyed black, making the situation look more hopeless than ever before. When Elaina was closing in, she noticed someone stuck to the tree’s trunk, with something protruding out of their body from the tree. She couldn’t properly see who that person was since she was still far, so she went closer.

Elaina approached the person slowly so as not to alert that person. Once she got closer, she soon identified the person to be a guy with red hair, long uncut hair that reached the ground effortlessly despite him being in a very high position above ground, and his clothes that looked like those from the army in the past. It was a uniform that she had remembered to be featured on some books with pictures depicting a Dragon Knight, soldiers who are known to be capable of transforming into dragons and can fight in both their dragon form and regular form, and are known to be the reason why some wars have been won in the past.

However, Dragon Knights have ceased to exist after the dragons began to isolate themselves away from humans. Ever since their disappearance, Dragon Knights have no longer been a thing, and many people have already forgotten about them. Only those who are known to be veterans of the war can remember them, and most of those veterans are either old and forgetful now or have already perished long ago. The only remaining records that are considered reliable and contain information about them are present only in books.

So if Dragon Knights are gone, then why is this person here? Not only that, but there was a big weapon currently impaled on the man before her. It was the same thing that Elaina thought was protruding earlier from that person turned out to be a weapon, that allowed the dragon knight to remain suspended in the air.

"[What are you going to do now, Elaina?]" the God of Farming asked.

"What else? For starters, we shall remove that spear from his body and get him separated from the tree."