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Chapter 325
It Was Not Meaningless (Illustration)
"Hah... hah..."
Her grip strength was steadily fading.
Even so, Rize gritted her teeth and tried to pull that woman up.
Only then did Linne muster the strength to climb up.
"Hoo... hoo..."
Е̇ n ŭ m̀ а . ĭ d́
Rize took a deep breath to steady herself.
Linne just watched that sight quietly.
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Rize, catching her breath, asked her in bewilderment.
"Wh-why are you looking at me like that?"
"...Because you're spouting such idiotic nonsense. My soul nearly left my body."
Linne brushed her chest and turned her head away.
Е̇ň ú m̌ а́. і d̀
"So... what do you intend to do?"
"Yes?"
"What do you mean 'yes'? You said live and atone, didn't you?"
"Th-that's right...?"
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"Then I need to know what you're doing so I can decide how to help."
"Ah, th-that's true."
È ň uḿа.і̃d̂
Rize couldn't hide her flustered state.
She seemed to think her sincerity had gotten through.
'How can someone be this stupid...'
Linne looked down at Rize.
A strange emotion welled up.
Her past, which she thought she'd discarded long ago, was being relived through him.
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"I have to purify the World Tree. By exchanging the Ma and corrupted mana inside my body..."
"So you'll sacrifice yourself to save the World Tree?"
"Yes."
"...I see."
Sadness tinged Linne's face.
Complex emotions seemed stuck in her throat, leaving her unsure what to say.
W̆е́b̌ nоv̄ е̌l̀ Е̄ ň u̇mа
"Let's go."
"Yes?"
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"Since I know what you're trying to do, I'll tell you what needs to be done."
"Are you really going to help me?"
Rize isn't a fool either.
What enemy in the world would suddenly say they'll atone and ask to be guided?
E ṅŭ m̂ а . і d
Linne spoke as if she were pathetic.
"You stupid bastard. You gonna keep spouting stupid shit? I can at least help with your idiot moves."
"Ah, yes...!"
But right now, she felt no hostility from this woman.
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If that was the case, Rize trusted people enough to willingly be fooled.
"Hey kid. Sorry, but could you hold my hand? Think I twisted my ankle."
E n̊u m̈ а
"Y-yes! Be careful."
Rize took Linne's hand.
She was limping, but her ankle wasn't actually twisted.
She just needed an excuse to touch him.
'Small and soft.'
An emotion Linne had forgotten surged up.
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The last time she saw him, he was tiny, bloated, wrinkled, and his whole body was flabby.
Now she could feel hard bones inside soft flesh.
There were so many things she wanted to ask.
How he'd been living.
Whether he'd been eating properly.
But all those rising questions had to be pushed back.
W̌ê b̄_no̊v̈е l̈ E n̆ ūṁ а
That was the karma for the deeds she'd committed.
Holding a gloomy mood, Linne cursed the world.
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For her right now, that was the best she could do.
"We're almost there."
The corridor leading to the Great Chieftain's room.
As they drew closer, Linne felt her complicated heart clear up like the corridor itself.
Wе̂b.ňо̇ v e l Е nům̄ а
'Right.'
I just have to do what I must do.
When they arrived before the Great Chieftain's room, Linne stopped and called to Rize.
"Hey kid. Listen carefully from now on."
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"Yes?"
"You've been deceived by me until now."
Еn̆ŭ_m̊ a . i d̈
"Yes, what do you mean—."
Linne threw Rize toward the corridor and sealed the entrance.
"Linne-ssi! Why—?!"
"Don't scream, just listen! The door's thick enough that it barely carries sound anyway!"
Linne pressed her down with momentum, and Rize obediently followed her words.
Linne explained to him calmly.
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"The World Tree as it is now can't be revived just by throwing your body at it."
She honestly told him what would happen based on the facts so far.
"Demonic energy? That's the second problem. From the moment Mesabosk was drawn in, this tree was destined for extinction. The Mother's growth that the elves had forcibly suppressed has been unleashed, and now it can't be turned back."
"B-but you won't know unless you try to fix it?"
At Rize's words, Linne scoffed.
"You stupid bastard. Why do you think High Elves monitor each other and survive? It's not just a racial trait. It's because there's a drastic measure for when someone harbors ulterior motives and it spreads. Since an Elder plotted rebellion, the Great Chieftain must follow the First Rule."
Е̌ n̆u m̈а
"Th-that's... what exactly?"
Rize could guess.
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But she wanted to deny her own thoughts by hearing her say it.
"Killing the World Tree, the Mother."
"Then you...?"
Rize must be guessing internally.
Wěbn̊ǒ v̀ӗl Е́n̆um ӑ
Linne had to turn that into certainty.
"I'll die. Along with the Great Chieftain."
"No! You mustn't die!"
"Then you're fine with it?"
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She scolded Rize with a sound rising from her chest.
"You stupid little brat. You said the sinner me must live and atone, so why are you treating your own life like it's nothing?! If your parents saw that..."
Е̊ ñūm̈a . і̂ d
She suppressed her rising emotions.
"You think they'd just accept it?"
"Th-that's... I... to do that..."
"Ah, shit!! This stupid bastard. Really stupid and ugly bastard! You're a defective product so you spout that kind of shit!"
She spat harsh words at Rize.
Not because she hated him.
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But the feeling that had settled like a clingy child couldn't be easily erased.
Linne knew words wouldn't get through.
It was surprising how similar they were.
"Hey, you stupid spirits over there!"
-We're not stupid!
-Wanna die?
Е̌ ǹ u m̊ а̇
-Yeah, yeah!
"Do you want to watch that kid die?"
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-Rize, mustn't die.
-Absolutely protect!
-Protect protect!
Fortunately, there were those she could communicate with.
E n̈ u ḿ а̌ .і̊d̃
"Then take that brat and get far away from here. This place is done for now."
-We're not your subordinates!
-But we can't let Rize die!
-Right right!
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The small spirits became the World Tree's Nightmare and seized Rize.
-Must avoid, Rize.
Eň ù m̀ а̀. і̆ d̂
"Don't! If I sacrifice myself, something might come of it!"
There surely was some way.
But Linne couldn't allow that.
A child who grew up noble like a flower despite piling up resentment and wounds in a harsh environment.
She didn't like how she treated herself lightly like a dandelion seed.
"If you want me to atone that badly, then you do it in my place."
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She gave weight to that one.
"Bear the karma your mother committed in my stead."
"What?"
Rize's thoughts seemed to stop at those words.
"What does that... what... wait! Just one question! Linne-ssi! Linne-ssii...!"
But she could ask no more.
Web nо̃v̇ е l̄ Е̃n̆ ü mа̊
The World Tree's Nightmare took Rize and moved.
At the sound fading beyond the corridor, Linne sank to the ground.
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"I'm sorry..."
As she was about to drown in rising emotions, Linne lifted her head.
Not yet.
See it through to the end, Linne.
Е̇_ǹü m̊а .і d
She turned her feet and entered the Great Chieftain's room.
In the center was a man she knew well.
"Great Chieftain..."
The source of that hatred and loathing.
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He had been struck by Elder Cypress and hung in midair, bound by white threads.
He looked like a puppet doll dancing in someone's hand.
Е̌n um ã . і̊d̆
"This stupid old man..."
Even calling out loud got no response.
Linne clenched her fist in betrayal.
"If you were going to make me like this... you should've at least lived well and eaten well, damn it."
The affection sunk deeper than that.
They say love and hate are a paper's width apart; even the blade she'd sharpened for over a hundred years seemed to crumble futilely.
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Now she only felt pity looking at him.
Linne carefully created a thread and connected it to the Great Chieftain's mind.
His body, which seemed like it would sleep forever, twitched briefly.
-Linne... you've returned in the end.
Linne scoffed at that voice.
"Look at you, old geezer. This appearance really suits you."
W е b̃ n̈о̄.v̂ ӗ ĺ Ë ñ um̌ а́.
-Yes, this is my end.
His calm acceptance displeased her.
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Instead of pouring out curses, she spoke to him.
"Elder Cypress has fallen. And I... killed everyone."
Linne lowered her head to look at her own hands.
Red blood, yellow dirt, and her own blackened heart were visible.
Ên um̌a.i d
-You did what I should have done, Linne.
"It's just my personal revenge. Not for you."
-We all had obsessions with eternal life. We had to suppress them to achieve our karma... but if we can't, we must remove that obsession. You knew that, so you gave peace, didn't you?
"Funny. Trying to score points with me now? Still not falling for it."
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She knew it was nonsense, but she had to say something like that.
Linne clenched her fist tight.
Е̊ ňu ma
"Your son... tried to sacrifice himself to save you and the clan. Think that you raised him to be that way."
-Did you meet Rize?
"Yes."
-And learned he's your son too?
"Yes."
Linne recalled Rize's face and laughed.
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"He looks just like your childhood. Who would know the Great Chieftain was once such a beautiful man?"
-All elves who knew that form are dead, so only you know. Being able to peek into my past at will was your talent.
"That's why you loved me."
Linne was an impurity in High Elf society.
Ironically, the Great Chieftain felt yearning affection for that impurity.
Linne also loved the Great Chieftain who thought of her as special.
W еb̊n̊ о̄v̇e l Ёn ŭ m̄а
"So explain. Our son... did you see him as that kind of tool?"
-How could that be? Rize's actions were honestly unexpected. I just hoped that child would purely leave this place and see more of the world. Like you.
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"Can I believe that?"
-If you wish, you can look deeper into my mind.
Linne didn't.
There was no way he'd lie now when he was this powerless.
Ě n̊u_mа̌
Instead, she took his hand that had slipped from the threads and fallen.
Pure white, but rough like tree bark.
"Why did we get so twisted?"
And contrastingly, her own dirty black hands were visible.
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"If you'd just told me... that our son was still alive..."
-Would our fate have changed then?
Ӗ ń ŭm̃ á .і̌ d̄
Linne thought for a moment and shook her head.
"Maybe not. I was originally this kind of bitch."
Whether she was submitting to fate or resigning, Linne herself didn't know.
-I had to hide it. Just like you hid me to the end even on the day you fell.
"Hehe... thinking back, it really was a foolish thing to do."
She hated because she loved, and hid because she loved.
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That was the strange emotion called love-hate.
"I regret it."
-What do you regret?
"I wish I'd never known that pretty child was mine... then I wouldn't have done such a selfish thing."
-Why do you think that?
"I told that cute son of mine that I'm your mother."
Е́ ṅům̀ӑ . і̌d̊
Moisture mixed with hollow laughter.
"That's the worst. A terrorist who caused such a massacre being a mother... not knowing I'm that child's mother forever would've been the best gift. My greed made it this way. I'm a selfish bitch to the end."
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Self-reproach.
Tears finally flowed down her cheeks in sadness.
-Truly kind, Linne.
"Old geezer, did you get so old you can't even understand words anymore?"
Ě n̈ u.mа̃
-A huge burden called you has been born for that child, so he'll survive. You might think it's a burden, but for that child it'll become a weight he can't leave life behind. And he'll experience and create better things.
The Great Chieftain comforted her.
Linne chuckled.
"Thank goodness. His personality doesn't take after me at all. Whatever storms come, he'll live speaking pretty words like you."
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-That child will also have a moment when he becomes poisonous like you.
"You sure know how to say things you shouldn't to your own child."
Wе̇ b̂ n̊ о̊ v̆ е l Е.n̈ů mа
-Enough reunion chatter. We must do what needs doing. Will you lend me your hand?
"I'm already holding it."
She knows that's not what he means.
Linne carefully focused and helped what the Great Chieftain was trying to do.
Then the threads wrapping the Great Chieftain began to react.
Wooooong—.
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The clear light vanished, dyeing red.
This tree becomes a giant bomb now.
-Mother has answered. She says she'll leave our side now.
"Then let's send her off properly. So she has no lingering attachments to this world."
The light grew larger.
Heat as great as the light instantly heated the surroundings.
W̌ е ḃn̄ ȯv̌ӗ l Eñ ũ m̈а̊
Fear rose along her increasingly scorching skin.
Linne squeezed her eyes shut.
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-Don't worry.
The Great Chieftain's immobile hand held Linne tight.
-This time, I won't let you go.
"Can I believe you?"
È n ûm̈а
Before an answer could return, hot heat completely enveloped Linne.
The pain was momentary; immediately her form was dyed pure white.
The ugly appearance corrupted by sins committed in this world was nowhere to be found.
Only the resonance of the soul remained.
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Her form from the purest time.
Where does the soul head?
Еń u̇.m̈ а̃ .і̄ d̈
Hell, heaven, or the World Tree like the elves' homeland?
Wherever, I'll fall into the Void.
There's no place that accepts Linne who embraced the Void's power and fell.
Her end will be wandering in Limbo and evaporating.
Birth and death are natural order,
For us trapped in the cycle, only emptiness remains,
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Life is this meaningless.
Linne feared death.
Because everything would become empty as he said, she feared death.
But right now, she felt rather refreshed.
The hand she held was still there.
Though separated by misunderstanding, their end is together,
Ẅе́ b̄ nо̌ v еl̈ Е̄ n̊um̀а̃
The proof of their love still remains on the Serdes Continent.
The trace she most desired is walking on the Serdes Continent.
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She'll learn to rise from despair, find hope, and sow it.
Her death was no longer meaningless.
