Parasite (3)
The true form of the World Tree, which existed within the dimensional rift, looked like a single gigantic tree-and at the same time, like a vast forest made up of tens of thousands of trees.
Its overflowing life force wriggled and pulsed, forming one massive current.
"So this is the World Tree's true form."
It was a breathtaking sight that naturally drew admiration.
"Beautiful."
After staring blankly at the scene for a while, I snapped out of it and turned my gaze to the hospital room where my family lay.
Through the black eye, the room was filled entirely with the energy of the World Tree.
And then-
"So this is why it's described as parasitic."
The World Tree's life force was continuously being sucked into a transparent aura that had taken over my family's consciousness.
It looked no different from parasites clinging to roots and sucking up nutrients.
But that didn't mean the transparent aura was of particularly low rank.
"That power... it's fundamentally the same kind of energy as my black aura or the World Tree's life force.'
""
To borrow the White Dragon's term, it could be said to possess "divinity."
"Now I understand how it can exist within my domain without my permission."
It was a power with divinity, half-rooted in the dimensional rift where the World Tree's true form resided.
That's why it could exist within my territory without a direct clash.
"But then... where is all the energy it absorbed from the World Tree going?"
If it had absorbed the World Tree's life force, it should have grown in size or become more potent-but the transparent aura showed no such change.
It was as if everything it absorbed evaporated and vanished at the same time.
"Strange."
At first, I thought it was just inefficient at absorbing life force, but that wasn't quite right.
Upon closer inspection, I was able to grasp the structure to some extent.
"I see."
The life force it greedily devoured was being transferred somewhere through the transparent aura.
These parasitic auras feeding off the World Tree's core were acting as conduits, sending the absorbed life energy elsewhere.
"If that's the case..."
What would happen if I fed it my black aura?
I immediately teleported into the hospital room.
"Mr. Jaehyun, you're here."
Director Lee Sungmin, who had been standing watch with eyes wide open the whole time, bowed his head as soon as he saw me.
"Any unusual events?"
"None at all."
Thankfully, nothing had happened while I'd been fully focused on the World Tree.
I pointed to the black eye floating in the air inside the room.
"Director, can you see that?"
Lee Sungmin looked around where I pointed and said,
"Do you mean the refrigerator?"
"It's nothing."
Apparently, he couldn't see the black eye.
"That's a relief."
It would've been uncomfortable if everyone's eyes turned to me every time I used it.
I stood in front of my grandmother, lying in her hospital bed.
Through the black eye, I could see that her head was completely engulfed by the transparent aura.
I carefully reached out and generated a stream of black aura.
"What if something goes wrong?"
There was a chance it might completely reject the black aura, or that the transparent aura might go berserk.
However―
"I can't just sit back and do nothing."
There was risk, but if I wanted to resolve this situation, I had to try something.
"Grandma, I'll save you. I promise.'
Wuuung-
25
The black aura rising from my hand slowly moved toward my grandmother's head.
The transparent aura that had been clinging to the dimensional rift, feeding off the World Tree's life force, naturally consumed my black aura as well.
WUUUUNG!
I could feel the black aura being drawn into the core of the transparent aura and transmitted somewhere else.
"Not enough."
But the amount was too small to determine where it was going.
"A little more.'
"J
So I began to pour more black aura into it, more boldly this time.
Wuuuung-
"More."
As I gradually increased the amount, over 80% of the energy the transparent aura absorbed was now my black aura.
And then-
"There it is."
I could clearly sense the movement of the energy.
The moment the black aura that had been transported elsewhere began to
converge―
"Dongdaemun, open."
Dongdaemun.
It was a gate that allowed movement anywhere within a domain.
My own domain, declared over my home, was also fundamentally rooted in the power of the dark energy.
By pouring a sufficient amount of energy into an unknown place transmitted by the transparent energy, a temporary domain was created, and the necessary conditions were met.
Ziiing-
Beyond Dongdaemun, a lush forest appeared.
Without hesitation, I threw myself into it.
Once again, after confirming that Kim Jaehyun had disappeared, Lee Sungmin quietly began his work.
His role was to wait in the hospital room and respond immediately if an emergency occurred.
Because it was a critical matter concerning the safety of Kim Jaehyun's family, only those with top-tier abilities were assembled to provide care.
"It didn't really mean much, though."
Even though the best medical team had done everything they could to
examine and nurse them, there were no tangible results.
Nothing abnormal appeared in either the MRI or the CT scan.
That was because this phenomenon wasn't due to illness-it was related to supernatural forces beyond comprehension.
"All we can do is just basic nursing care?"
Even that felt mostly useless.
If they were ordinary humans, they would've needed to be turned regularly to prevent bedsores while unconscious, but except for the grandmother, all the people lying here were superhumans.
You could tell at a glance their bodily durability was on a completely different level from regular people.
"Honestly, even without us..."
There would be no problems.
And then it happened.
Flash-!
A radiant light burst out from Kim Jaehyun's grandmother, spreading in all directions.
Thud-
Lee Sungmin lost consciousness, not even realizing he had collapsed.
"Mm??"
When he regained consciousness-
"W-what the...?"
He couldn't move his body at all.
"Where am I?"
He couldn't open his eyes, but all the senses in his body were vividly alive.
"Liquid? Is this water?"
Thanks to that, he could tell he was immersed in some kind of liquid.
"It's not just water. It's sticky."
As a doctor, he tried to assess the situation calmly and logically-but only briefly.
Woom-
"M-my energy... it's draining?"
Lee Sungmin panicked as he felt the sticky, mysterious liquid gnawing away at his energy.
"P-please save me... Jaehyun!"
All he could do was pray.
But it wasn't just Director Lee Sungmin experiencing this.
The light that had spread from the hospital room had reached a wide area, and thousands of people nearby were now in the same state as him.
Lee Sungmin was, relatively speaking, in a better situation than most.
He had been granted power through a subordination contract with Lee Jisook, Kim Jaehyun's mother.
Thanks to the level boost that came with his awakening, he had the strength to endure this kind of situation.
But the same could not be said for the ordinary citizens.
Those who hadn't reached level 10, especially young children, were in extreme danger.
Children with low energy reserves likely wouldn't last more than two days.
A silent prelude to despair was playing.
The moment I successfully crossed through Dongdaemun, the scattered dark energy in the area gathered toward me.
And then-
Ziiing-
A familiar barrier formed around me.
"It's a little different from the home domain."
The biggest difference was the barrier's location.
Currently, my domain extended in a radius of about 10 meters centered on me, but this protective barrier was formed snugly right around my body.
"Feels similar to when I used Descent."
Back then, too, the barrier had protected my surroundings while the domain had spread wide in all directions.
And then-
"As expected, the domain shifts every time I move."
I could sense it instinctively.
"This state won't last long."
I had to achieve my objective as quickly as possible.
I immediately began my search.
"Eye of the Absolute."
In this place, there was no need to infuse it with dark energy to activate the black eye.
Wuuuung-
The surroundings were filled with a transparent aura.
"I've completely become the one on the other side now."
Just because it was a parasite didn't mean it could be underestimated.
It clearly possessed divinity.
This vast forest was entirely its domain, and I had willingly stepped into the heart of enemy territory.
All I had was a small domain about 10 meters in radius.
"I should've invested more power before coming in."
Regret wouldn't change what was already done.
"Don't rush. This time, I'm only here to scout. Once the cooldown on the East Gate resets, I'll leave."
And the next time I came in, I planned to extract as much dark energy as I could and send it here first before entering again.
"A forest, huh."
I had been aware of the environment from the moment I stepped in, but something about this place felt... off.
Soon, I realized why.
"There's no sound at all."
There wasn't a single noise that you'd normally hear in a forest.
No buzzing insects, no chirping birds, not even the rustling of leaves in the wind.
An ominous silence gripped the entire forest.
"It's like the forest itself is dead."
The trees and vegetation felt eerily unnatural.
"What's that?"
The trees here all had strange, tumor-like growths on them.
Since I could use the Eye of the Absolute within my domain, I peered into the growths.
Most of them were empty inside, but on the fifth one, I finally found a pod with something in it.
"...This is."
Inside was a shriveled corpse, floating in a sticky liquid.
"It's not human."
Though it looked somewhat human, the pointed ears made it clear this was a different species.
And then-
Flinch-
What I thought was a dried-up corpse suddenly twitched.
It was still alive.
The moment I realized that, I used my invisible hand to try to rip the pod open.
Slip-
But the creature's body melted away like a mirage and vanished.
Splurt!
All that was left in the torn pod was sticky digestive fluid.
"...No way."
I looked up and saw more of those tumor-like pods of all shapes and sizes hanging all over the trees.
"Teleport."
I teleported to the top of a tree.
"Invisible Hand."
I used the invisible hand to steady myself on the trunk and scanned the area.
The endless sea of trees gave me chills.
"...Hah."
A hollow laugh escaped me. It was too absurd.
Somewhere in this ridiculously vast forest, my family's spirits were trapped.
Likely sealed inside those grotesque pods, just like the one from before.
"There's no way I can search this entire area."
Only one option remained.
I turned toward the giant tree in the distance.
"Strike the head."
At this point, I had no choice but to go all in.
"Summon Retainers."
Ziiiing-
I summoned all of my combat forces.
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