Chapter 704: 550 "Fantasy Tree
Following that, the night passed without incident.
Early the next morning, led by Ecter, everyone packed up the campsite in the forest, extinguished the campfire, and then left the woods.
Reiger trailed behind Ecter and the others, making no close contact with anyone, walking slowly along the road like an outsider.
Tettelot and the Knight didn’t seek out Reiger, probably not considering him as one of their own, but rather as a fellow traveler just for the time being, right?
However, their group, too, didn’t engage in lively chatter while they walked, except for Tettelot, who was relatively noisy. Ecter and the Knight didn’t seem like the type who enjoyed idle talk, so they only responded briefly when Tettelot spoke up, maintaining silence the rest of the time.
Surprisingly, their mode of travel was not by carriage but on foot.
"There are many Moors that appear in the wilderness. Traveling by carriage, we might miss them. Walking like this, we can eliminate them as soon as we see them, to prevent the fairies in the wilderness from being attacked, now that peace is approaching in Britain."
That was Ecter’s reason for choosing to travel by foot.
"Anyway, Ecter will use ’Mirror Fusion’ to run around. When we really need to hurry, we’ll just tag along."
That was Tettelot’s explanation.
"It doesn’t matter. If we really need a carriage, I’ll craft one myself."
That was the reason given by the Knight, Ecter, who could already work as a blacksmith to create tools.
And so, the group walked out of the forest leisurely, arriving outside.
As soon as he came outside, Reiger stopped in his tracks.
He looked up and gazed toward the north.
Because there, on the horizon, stood a massive entity that commanded his attention.
"Are you looking at the World Tree?"
Ecter noticed this and addressed Reiger.
The World Tree Ecter referred to was a giant tree on the horizon to the north of Britain, so massive it seemed to reach into the heavens, as if supporting the entire sky.
"The World Tree?"
Reiger gave a wry smile, neither affirming nor denying the title.
"Strictly speaking, it could indeed be called the tree that allows this world to exist, right?"
Said Reiger noncommittally, causing everyone to stop in their tracks.
"Why do you say that?"
Tettelot was the first who couldn’t resist asking this question.
Ecter expressed her thoughts as if contemplating.
"To my knowledge, the World Tree already existed before the Fairy Country, Britain, appeared. It has as much history as the Fairy Country—hence fairies call it the World Tree."
"For Britain, the World Tree is something that should naturally exist, akin to a symbol of Britain, a landmark that has long stood there."
"Although there are fairies who claim that this world can exist solely because of that tree, few fairies truly wish to investigate it; at least now there are none."
While saying this, Ecter glanced at Reiger.
"Have the fairies on your side completed an investigation of the World Tree?"
If so, Ecter felt she could have a serious discussion with Reiger about it.
Although she obtained some information about the World Tree from her own "memories", her understanding of it wasn’t as deep as she would like.
Perhaps sufficient information about the World Tree already existed in the future.
With these thoughts in mind, Ecter, the next second, heard Reiger say,
"All I can say is that the tree isn’t called the World Tree, but rather the Fantasy Tree."
Reiger’s indifferent remark made everyone pause in unison.
"The Fantasy Tree?"
The group exchanged glances.
Had Caldea’s people been here, seen the tree, and heard Reiger’s words, they wouldn’t have simply shown such mild reactions.
After all, while others might not understand the Fantasy Tree, they knew it all too well.
It’s a key point of the Lostbelt, a source that can reset the planet and create new myths.
When planted on the planet’s surface, it absorbs magical powers from the planet’s leylines and invades the present world, giving rise to the Lostbelt, a history different from that of proper human history.
If there were no Fantasy Tree, the reality of proper human history wouldn’t be invaded, and a Lostbelt wouldn’t easily arise.
Therefore, the Fantasy Tree is a cornerstone for the phenomenon of filtering divergent histories, the world’s root, a cornerstone of the world within the Lostbelt.
Becaue alien gods in collaboration with crypters planted the Fantasy Tree on Earth’s surface, a phenomenon known as blanking occurred, leading to the threat of human order’s extinction.
That’s why Caldea has been fighting on the frontline, confronting the crypters and alien gods, entering into various Lostbelts, felling the Fantasy Trees within them, and cutting off those rooted in the planet’s surface along with the Lostbelts, attempting to save the Earth, to preserve proper human history.
In other words, the Fantasy Tree is a keystone for the existence of a Lostbelt, yet for Caldea, it’s the greatest enemy and the ultimate object to be eradicated.
To date, Caldea has breached five Lostbelts and has felled the corresponding Fantasy Trees.
The alternate tales of Britannia were also born due to the appearance of the Imaginary Tree, hence why the recluse Beryl Gate came to this Britannia.
However, 400 years in the future, when the official reign of the queen began, the Imaginary Tree in the eyes of the recluses, the World Tree in the mouths of the fairies, suddenly vanished.
In other words, there was no existence of the Imaginary Tree in the future, and the Fairy Country of Britannia also did not have the World Tree. This alternate tale had already degraded, becoming a world different from the pan-human history.
In light of this, Queen Morgan decided to cross the barrier of Britannia’s alternate tale and invade the pan-human history, intending to turn the entire planet into a world where only Britannia existed.
Reiger, too, saw the legendary Imaginary Tree for the first time and couldn’t help but take a longer look, even activating his Transparent World to peer through the towering World Tree that pierced the clouds.
With one look, Reiger couldn’t help but exclaim in awe.
"What terrifying Magic Power..."
Through the Transparent World, Reiger saw inside the Imaginary Tree.
It was almost entirely made of Magic Power.
The size of that Magic Power was absolutely the most astonishing he had ever seen in his life.
Even the true nature of the Sky-high Skaia when reverted to her youthful beast form for play, or the "Calamity" that became the cursed monster capable of crushing Norwich and ravaging all of Britannia, didn’t come close to one ten-thousandth of the Magic Power hidden within the Imaginary Tree.
If he were to unleash that Magic Power and detonate it as fuel, it would probably cause phenomena not unlike the changing of heaven and earth, right?
"That’s right, without such power, it’s impossible to sustain the formation of an alternate tale."
Reiger contemplated for a moment.
"What are you thinking about?"
The voice of Ash resounded in Reiger’s ears the next moment, waking him.
"Nothing much," Reiger immediately shook his head and said, "Alright, let’s continue on."
Ash looked straight at Reiger and nodded after a while.
Although Tettelot and the Black Knight felt that Reiger was hiding something, seeing that Ash did not pursue further, they also didn’t ask anymore.
After all, there was plenty of time, they could slowly find out later.
......
And so, the journey of Reiger with the savior and their company began in an unremarkable fashion.
They traveled on foot through a Britannia that no longer knew conflict, where no clan stirred any wars, first heading west and then to the north.
It was then that Reiger realized that the coast and forest where he had first arrived were actually Norwich.
In the 400th year of the Fairy Calendar, the port city of Norwich had not yet been built, and the evil castle known as Camelot did not exist on this land yet.
In this era, the most famous city was Salisbury.
Becauese inside Salisbury was the great cathedral, the site boasting the first grand construction known in Britannia.
As a tribute to the savior’s deeds, the great cathedral of Ash had already been built by this time.
However, it was Tettelot the loudmouth who inadvertently mentioned,
"Ash’s ’spear’ has been sealed there."
What she was referring to as ’spear’ was naturally the Chosen Spear held by Ash, who was a Paradise Fairy.
When leaving the Inner Sea of the Star, every Paradise Fairy would bring along an artifact, which would be used as both their weapon and personal symbol.
Ash had the Chosen Spear.
Altoria had the Chosen Staff.
However, Ash’s Chosen Spear was already sealed, and it was sealed within the great cathedral of Salisbury.
So said Tettelot.
"It’s all the fault of those fairies! They’re really too selfish! Even though it was Ash who eliminated the ’Calamity’ that threatened Britannia, they dared to do such a thing!"
"Ash was furious at that time! She was so angry that everyone felt scared, you know?"
"As a result, Ash’s ’spear’ got reversed! It became a bad weapon!"
Tettelot’s explanation was abrupt like this, and anyone else would probably not understand.
Reiger, however, understood.
"Simply put, those fairies did something foolish again, which almost caused our savior to fall into darkness, right?"
Unfortunately, the savior did not fall to the darkness in the end. Instead, her ’spear’ did, becoming a weapon with severe side effects.
Reiger also knew that in the cathedral of Ash in the future, the sealed ’spear’ was no longer there.
It was taken by someone and became another’s weapon, also leading to a somewhat tragic character.
Afterward, the group traveled throughout Britannia, subduing Moors, and at times, they would investigate ancient ruins and relics under Ash’s guidance, exploring the history of the island’s birth.
After meandering around for half a month like this, Ash finally led everyone to that place.
———The Great Cave.