The World Tree in the land of the elves, Greynifra.

The enormous royal castle beneath it was currently filled with tension.

The reason was simple.

Even the elves who had lived for centuries had never once seen the face of the lizardmen’s god, Hazad, who had now arrived at the castle.

Of course, it hadn’t been that way from the beginning.

In reality, Hazad, known as the Sage God, had come to meet the queen without causing any trouble.

Magrina, too, welcomed Hazad’s visit without any particular tension.

Moreover.

Although it seemed like their long-awaited reunion might be awkward, the two conversed in a surprisingly smooth atmosphere.

Rather than exuding the authoritative presence expected of leaders of their respective nations, they spoke with a sense of familiarity.

Of course, as high-ranking figures, they maintained a fundamental businesslike demeanor.

Even so, as the relaxed conversation continued, the elves were bewildered yet relieved.

Yes, that was certainly the case—until just a moment ago.

“The elves guarding my dear friend should be dismissed by now. They’re too weak to protect him properly anyway. Wouldn’t it be better for us lizardmen to take over his guard?”

That was until Hazad, whose face could hardly even be seen, uttered those words.

“……Ha, what nonsense are you spewing?”

In an instant.

The air in the audience chamber began to chill.

“Hmph, am I wrong? Lizardmen are much stronger than elves.”

Even in the face of Magrina’s chilling gaze, Hazad’s voice remained unchanged.

At his response, Magrina’s lips curled into a crooked smile.

“Oh? Is that so? The same lowly race that would have been annihilated if the Primordial Elf hadn’t saved them?”

“That applies to elves as well. And strictly speaking, I did offer my help, too.”

“Help? More like you were the one receiving all the help.”

The queen’s derisive laughter echoed through the chamber.

For a brief moment, Hazad fell silent, scratching his head awkwardly.

“Well, I won’t deny that I’ve received a lot from my dear friend.”

“‘Dear friend’? You’ve done nothing but take.”

“Hmph.”

After groaning in response to her relentless attacks, Hazad insisted once more.

“Anyway, from now on, we will be in charge of the protection.”

“And what if I refuse?”

“Then you must want to put my dear friend in danger.”

“You’re awfully confident. Besides, your side can’t even guard as discreetly as we can, can you?”

“Hmph—safety is more important than subtlety.”

Hazad glared at Magrina.

She glared back at him.

Everyone held their breath at the unwavering standoff.

After a long, frigid silence.

“Then why don’t we ask him directly? Let’s see whose protection he prefers.”

With a smile that suggested she had thought of a clever idea, Magrina made the proposal.

“Fine.”

As if he had been waiting for those words, Hazad nodded.

Both wore victorious smiles.

Watching them, the elves and lizardmen…

……

Silently averted their gazes, sensing the invisible sparks flying between the two.

***

It had been about a week since Alon arrived in Caliban.

During what could be considered either a long or short time, Alon focused entirely on fully recovering his body.

In the meantime, he gained one realization and heard two rumors.

The first rumor, relayed by Evan, was that Eliban was eliminating the strange creatures at an unexpectedly rapid pace.

The second was about something that had worried Alon for some time—the fact that most of the organizations that usually went berserk once Psychedelia began had disappeared on their own.

“Evan.”

“Yes, sir?”

“The organizations you mentioned yesterday, are they all really gone?”

“Yes. Just to be sure, I even had the information guild cross-check it. Aside from a few, they’ve all disappeared.”

“What caused their downfall?”

“Hmm—if I recall from our conversation, most of them collapsed due to attacks from rival organizations or external assaults. Otherwise, they were wiped out overnight.”

After pondering for a moment, Evan added as if something had come to mind.

“Oh! Now that I think about it, it seems one group took down several of them. If I remember correctly, the Blood Sword, the Shadow Ghosts, and the Flute Clan… and, uh, what was the last one? The Dark Wood?”

“……You mean the Dark Veil?”

“Ah, yes, that’s the one. Apparently, a single person took care of them.”

“Why?”

“The method of execution was identical in all cases. Their necks were twisted twice around. Or so they said.”

Alon stroked his chin with a peculiar expression.

Indeed, the organizations Evan had mentioned shared a common trait.

‘They all became notorious by assassinating prominent figures. Later, they infiltrated various kingdoms, acting like parasites that corroded them from within.’

From a player’s perspective, no matter which kingdom one started in, these organizations offered quests that allowed them to get close to the king in some capacity.

However, aside from that, there was no apparent connection between them, which left Alon deep in thought.

‘Well, if they were wiped out due to a butterfly effect, that’s not a bad outcome. If they had survived, I would have had to deal with them myself anyway.’

He decided to focus on the fact that the troublesome organizations had been cleared out.

‘…… Of course, by mid-game, there would always be others who crawled out when the time was ripe.’

Naturally, stronger foes, in line with Psychedelia’s balance, would emerge later.

Still, for now, it wasn’t a bad thing that those nuisances were gone.

As he exhaled and leaned comfortably against the chair’s backrest—

[Meow?]

The small black creature, which had been idly tapping a ball on the floor moments ago, now perched on Alon’s thigh, tilting its head curiously.

As if to comfort him, the creature nuzzled against him affectionately.

After stroking the affectionate little one, Alon closed his eyes.

By now, he could observe the divine essences within him much more quickly.

He gazed at the floating divinities before focusing on Kalannon’s essence.

As soon as he touched it, it naturally expanded—like a distant planet suddenly being drawn close.

And within the enlarged divine essence…

Just as Alon had seen last time, there were shining stars and faint blue dots gently radiating outward.

This was the new realization Alon had gained over the past week while investigating divine essences.

By expanding a divine essence, he had discovered a way to see the believers who followed that essence.

First, the white starlight represented those to whom Alon had shared his power.

The dark-colored to slightly more vivid blue dots surrounding the divine essence—so faint that they were hard to notice without close observation—served as indicators of how many people believed in the essence and to what extent.

‘Rather than figuring it out on my own, it was thanks to Kalannon briefly appearing and telling me.’

Recalling Kalannon, who had suddenly appeared a few days ago for a brief conversation before vanishing, Alon shifted his gaze to examine the other divine essences one by one.

The Primordial Elf’s divine essence contained a large number of vibrant green dots, though not in overwhelming numbers.

Kalannon’s divine essence also had many blue dots, though not an excessive amount.

The red divine essence had two distinctly glowing red dots.

Unexpectedly, the white divine essence had an overwhelmingly large number of white dots compared to the others.

However, the white divine essence had a peculiarity that set it apart from the others.

When expanded, its originally white glow appeared as a faded, grayish hue.

And lastly, the black divine essence, resembling a black hole—

“……Ah.”

The moment he attempted to expand the black divine essence, Alon felt his contemplation shatter and opened his eyes.

No matter the other divine essences, every time he tried to observe the black one, his vision was disrupted in this manner.

A repeated phenomenon with no clear explanation.

As he made a puzzled expression—

[Meow?]

The small black creature, sensing that Alon had stopped petting it, tilted its head in protest.

Smiling slightly, Alon resumed stroking the creature and then spoke.

“Evan.”

“Yes?”

“It’s time to depart for the North.”

And so, preparations for their northern journey began.

***

The following day, Alon received unexpected news from Deus.

“……The ‘Great Collapse’ has occurred?”

“Yes. We received a report from the outpost yesterday.”

Alon fell silent.

The Great Collapse.

It was a phenomenon where the accumulated snow on the glacial mountains crashed down to cover the paths below, making the terrain highly dangerous.

The immediate problem was, of course, that the fallen snow made forward movement difficult.

But the real danger was something else.

The fallen snow concealed the crevasses that one must avoid in the glacial mountains.

Because of this, when the Great Collapse occurred, unless the snow was cleared by the ‘Tremors’ unique to the glacial mountains, the region would remain treacherous for months.

From what Alon knew, this setting had been designed in the game’s early-to-mid stages to prevent players from heading straight to Caliban and then to the glacial mountains too soon.

But there was one thing he didn’t understand.

……Why did the Great Collapse happen at this point in time?

‘In Psychedelia, it was supposed to occur much later than this.’

The unexpected timing of the Great Collapse raised questions.

But only briefly.

“The expedition won’t proceed either, then.”

“With the Great Collapse happening, I doubt it. The barbarians also won’t be appearing during this period.”

Alon decided to delay his northern journey.

‘This might not be a bad thing after all.’

He had wanted to take more time to study the divine essences he had obtained, including Kalannon’s, alongside his magic.

With that in mind, Alon decisively abandoned the plan to go north.

“Oh! Then are we heading home?”

“You sound delighted.”

“Well, isn’t it a good idea to rest a little? Especially after everything that happened in the jungle.”

“You’re not wrong.”

With Evan now visibly more energetic, their destination was swiftly changed to the Marquis’ estate.

“Well then, until next time.”

“Understood, my lord. I will visit you in four months.”

“There’s no need to go out of your way.”

“No, I insist.”

“Well, if you say so.”

***

After a brief farewell, Alon boarded a carriage bound for Palatio Marquis’ estate, while Deus began disbanding the expedition team.

Some time later—

“It seems everything is settled.”

“Hmm~”

After hearing his lieutenant’s report, Deus returned to the mansion.

On the way to his office, a small smile unknowingly crept onto his face.

Going to the office usually meant work.

But for Deus, this particular visit carried a different meaning—it was a source of enjoyment, akin to a relaxing pastime.

‘Just a little more, and the blueprint will be complete.’

He was finalizing the blueprint for a statue commission.

Before departing on this recent expedition, he had been rushing to make arrangements for the project.

With that thought, his steps became lighter.

And the moment he opened the door to his office—

“……?”

“Sili?”

“Hello, brother.”

His younger sister, Sili, was there.

Not just there—she was completely engrossed in examining the blueprint he had been diligently drafting.

The sight made Deus instinctively flinch.

Because he was reminded of Sili’s scolding from last time.

She had criticized him for spending too much money on a mere statue.

Of course, the cost was covered by the money Deus had earned—and the money he would earn, technically drawn in advance—so it was all within a manageable budget.

Yet, as someone who loved his younger sister dearly, he couldn’t help but care about her every word.

So, once again, he found himself cautiously observing her reaction.

And recalling how, the last time he had attempted to create additional statue blueprints and had been caught, she had given him an even sharper look.

Now, cold sweat began to form on Deus’s forehead.

“…This blueprint is good.”

“…?”

At those unexpected words, Deus’s face filled with confusion.

Sili’s response was entirely different from what he had anticipated.

But only for a moment.

“Ah.”

Deus came to a realization.

Sili was no longer the same as before.

She had been saved by Him.

Just like he had.

Remembering this, a slow smile spread across Deus’s lips.

In other words, his beloved younger sister now shared the same thoughts as he did.

“Is that so? It’s not fully complete yet, though.”

“Even so, I think it’s been designed very well.”

“I see.”

Seeing that Sili now shared the same hobby (?) as him, Deus felt deeply satisfied.

Their conversation flowed naturally.

For a brief moment, he was even moved, thinking—’so this is what true sibling bonds feel like.’

But that sentiment didn’t last long.

“Hmm, but this part needs more detail. For example, like this—yes, yes, the coat should be longer.”

“Oh~ I see.”

“And the eyes need some adjustments too. It shouldn’t be like a diamond shape—you need to express it more delicately, brother. Since the Marquis has blue eyes, rather than just crafting it like this, the gemstones should be more finely cut—”

“…Sili?”

Deus sensed something.

“Why? What’s wrong?”

“…I know that part too, but realistically—”

“Are you saying you’re going to cut corners on the statue because of realistic concerns?”

“Uh, well—”

“This part here should be higher. The horns should curve upwards more. It would be best in gold.”

“…Gold? Hmm—I mean, that would be nice, but considering the budget, maybe something else—”

“Gold.”

“Huh?”

“It has to be gold.”

“No, but the budget—”

“Gold.”

“…Budget.”

“Gold.”

This was the same sister who had once criticized him for spending too much on a single statue.

Yet now, with a stern and utterly serious expression, she was firmly repeating gold over and over.

“…Fine. Gold it is.”

“Yes.”

At that moment, Deus realized something.

Sili had changed.