By the time Nacht stepped into the village of the elves, the sky he looked up at had transitioned to a completely reddish-red color.
　A strange town with a drawbridge-like wooden path across a series of large trees.
　Some of the houses themselves were made from the trees, and it was truly a fantasy. Small lights and laughter by the quiet lakeside and houses. Nacht and Aisha marvel at such a town where spirits play.

''Hmmm. It's wonderful.'

　And above all, the beautiful girls with long ears that come and go are wonderful.
　Maybe it's because of the incident twenty years ago, but the ratio of men to women is about 7:3, and most of them are female. The elves, many of whom are female, are looking at Nacht curiously. Or perhaps I should say, they are admiring him. Nacht smiled with satisfaction while being exposed to the feverish gazes of both men and women.

''Ah--I wish I could show my friends this spectacle.

　I can see the SDF making a small leap.

''Again?　Master Nacht?

No, no, no, Aisha - definitely not - I'm only Aisha.

'Ha!　Oh, my God, in front of everyone!　It's embarrassing!

What do you want me to do?

　With such admiration, I stepped in.

　At that moment--

What--!

Master Nacht?
　Aisha looks at Nacht, who has stepped on the tatara, curiously.
　Nahat quietly grabs Aisha's hand and says, "Don't let it go, Aisha.

Aisha, don't get carried away. Stay conscious - don't worry, I'll be there for you.

"--?
　The next time Aisha, who had no idea what she was talking about, had a question mark on her face--

'Ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch!　--It's hard, it's hard, it's hard, it's hard, it's hard, it's hard, it's hard, it's hard, it's hard, it's hard, it's hard, it's hard. No, no, no--no more!

　I don't even know if I can call it a human voice.
　The cries of agony surged like a tidal wave.

''Aaaaaaahhhh!
　Aisha screamed at the voice that was too painful.
　Nacht squeezes Aisha's hand, which is sweating like a waterfall and turning pale.

It's a good idea to have a good idea of what you're looking for.
　His voice, which acted stoutly, was on the verge of tears.

"Somebody--!　That's enough!　You don't have to help me - just kill me already - kill me... .....

　The voice that belatedly echoed was a scream with all the despair of this world - a scream that even a sinner who had gone to hell could not utter.
　The only two people who could hear it were Nacht and Aisha.
　It was the cry of a soul.

　Urs looked at us anxiously, but Nacht restrained him with his hand, telling him not to worry.
　It had echoed just a little bit since we entered the forest, but it exploded as we entered the village. When it was this loud, even Aisha could hear it.
　Aisha, who had shown a glimpse of Nacht's power during the events in Estor, could hear the voice of a strong soul.

　Nacht governs her magic from Aisha's grip and softens the screams that come through.
　For a young girl, this voice is a little too extreme.


　A small pout and support Aisha, who is breathing heavily on her shoulder.

'Are you okay, Aisha?'

Nacht-sama.......what the hell was that.......?

'I don't know who's voice it is, but I'm sure it's someone who has felt indescribable pain - someone seeking relief.
　Nacht looked at the withered World Tree.

''Help me, I have to........save.......Nacht-sama......that thing!　You can't let them do that!　You have to help them!

Hmm... why is that?
　Nacht said in a trying tone.
　Aisha pressed even closer to such Nacht.

''Those girls........said it hurts.......!　It's painful.　What in the world would make him want to die from the depths of his soul Aisha can't imagine... so we have to help - now! !
　You have a gloriously strong will hidden in your eyes.
　There would be only one choice if such a thing was pointed at you.
　Besides, saving Aisha's mother's homeland is the most immediate decision. Getting involved in the anomaly of the World Tree is also the only difference between being slow or fast.

''Sorry Urs--I have a wild goose chase. I'll be heading down to the World Tree first.
　Nacht walks away from Aisha's hand.

'--let's help the crying child, shall we?

Okay.
　Saying that, Urs stood in front of Nacht and the others as they started to walk away.

'Wait!'　I can't let you through to the World Tree.
　Nacht turned his narrowed eyes to Ursus.

'Why, why?　Those kids are still crying!　I'm telling you, I'm in pain!　I'm screaming for help!　I've got to get there as soon as possible--

Do you want me to let you people die?
　Urs, who has the image of a calm captain, said that in an unusually strong tone of voice.

'It's no good, Aisha-dono - I'm not saying this in a mean-spirited way. That place is dead - it's not in a state where people can get close to it!　I can't just let you all die!

What do you mean...?

'Twenty years ago in an attack, the World Tree was cursed. It decayed along with the Chief - the leaves were gone, the branches were broken, the roots rotted, and the breath of life was gone. The surroundings were contaminated like a poisonous swamp, and the two elves who came close to save the Chief - Olivier-sama - lost their lives just by getting close to him -!　That's why we.....　You are unable to even mourn your late Chief........
　Urs said as he put his hand over his chest and clenched it to suppress the pain of the past that was assaulting his chest.
　His eyes were bloodshot. But still, he held back his own helplessness with steel will. It was never easy.
　The captain of the ranger team is not an expert, he thought again.

''That's why I can't let you through here.
　He gritted his teeth and his voice leaked out of the gap.
　The rangers blocked the way as Ursu's intentions were met with a ranger's face.
　Aisha tried to do something about it, but she still faltered at the urus who turned good will on her.
　Eventually, Aisha looked up at him anxiously, and with just her eyes, Nacht told her that she was fine.

'I'm alive.'

What?
　He says again to Urs, who spills out a voice like that, as if he doesn't immediately understand the meaning of what he's saying.

'Your Chief is still alive. That said, the light of life could go out at any moment - but the Chief and the World Tree are still alive.

"...well, it's not... it's not... it's not... stupid... ...
　He was dead, and he was aware of it. No wonder he was confused.
　Urs shuddered and held his head in his hands, still not knowing what to do, and remained silent, pondering what to do.

'Open the way, Urs and his merry band of friends - Aisha says that's where we'll go. If you don't retreat, will you push through?
　Nacht just stands and spits out the words.
　That's all it takes, but it creates a painfully strong - physical intimidation.

'Maybe he's bluffing--'
　Someone said that.
　Before long, people seemed to have gathered in their own way.

'We need to talk to the elders--'

"Don't.

　The voices of the elves were interrupted by the voice of Urus.

'I'll take the blame, clear the way for Lord Nacht.

But, Mr. Urs!　This piece of shit--

You didn't hear me, I said, "Let me through.
　A sharp voice cuts off all opinions.
　Nacht passes through the crowd, which is silent and sluggishly making its way through the crowd.

'Lord Nacht!　Please, please, please save the Chief - please save Olivier-sama...!

Ha, you have nothing to worry about - you can come with me, Urs - what? I'll make sure you're safe.

　Nacht said confidently, as if to tell him that there was not the slightest bit of concern.





◇





　A stagnant smoke rose from a corner of the forest where a green carpet seemed to have been spread all over the ground, a stagnant smoke that could hardly be described as black or purple.
　The ground was melting like magma. Noxious bubbles rose up from there, emitting a strange smell.
　It was a devastation that was difficult to comprehend as a real scene.
　It was like hell on the other side of the natural boundary.
　All living things had died out in equal measure and were sinking into a mass of rotting flesh.

　There was no place to walk, no path to follow.
　But surely--.
　Beyond that, a single large tree existed as if it had fallen down.

''What........is this.......''

This is where the Chief and Lady Floria fought on the night of the tragedy and where the most beautiful flowers used to line the grounds, a favorite of Lady Olivier's.

　Now there's not much to look at.　

'Aisha, Urs--put this around your neck.
　With that, Nacht took out the two necklaces. It was easy to understand the cause of this devastation if Nacht felt it through his perception.

　The divine beast's necklace - a necklace that, like Aisha's ring, has the ability to prevent state abnormalities - is what is called a specialized equipment.
　It is an armor that specializes in a certain point, similar to Nacht's Primordial Darkness.

　The power of the necklace is spell resistance.

It's the same as the original Darkness.
　Checking the two men equipped with necklaces, Nacht was one ahead of them.
　He took a step into the sloppy foothold.
　Then - an inexplicable sound rises from underneath their feet. It was a sound as if they were being burned by a hot fire.
　It's a good idea to be able to have a good idea of what you're looking for.

''Hey, hey, Nacht-sama--''

Are you, um, okay with that?

'Don't worry--there's no way this level of curse, and that's just the aftermath, is going to work on me.
　Nacht said to the two men who still hadn't taken a step forward.
　Nacht raised his footsteps as if to stomp out the horrifying presence that was crawling up from the bottom of the earth. At the same time, there was a sound like a spark, and something black drifting around Nacht's surroundings dissipated.

''A curse, is it?''
　Nacht nodded at Aisha's words.

'The Divine Beast's Necklace is a specialized equipment that gives you a high spell resistance. At least the aftermath or so won't be able to help you. You can proceed in peace.
　Hearing that, Aisha took a deep breath.
　She let it out slowly, and the two of them took a step forward as if they were ready.

''Ugh........''

I don't like--

　The two of them had a similar reaction.
　It felt as if they had one foot in the black slime, no wonder they were uncomfortable.
　But that was the extent of it. The fact that this was the case astonished Ursus. It was said that the elves who had once set foot in this land had gradually rotted their bodies and died after suffering for three days and three nights.
　Many times the curse tries to crawl up from the earth, but the pale light erases all of it.

''Let's move on--''

　A world that doesn't seem to belong to this world, a world where everything is crumbling as if it were decaying. Since we were walking through such a world, our footsteps were never good.
　But a little further on, the great tree was already in front of me.
　In the roots of the huge tree, which was over a hundred meters long, it was there--

This is--!　Maybe we shouldn't look at Aisha....

What do you mean by that, huh?　----!　Hp--
　Seeing this, Aisha involuntarily held her mouth.

''Don't tell me........Chief, are you.......?''
　It's not surprising that they wondered.
　Few would recognize it as a person when they see it lying on the ground.

　Suddenly, I look underneath it.
　Then, a white object wrapped in flesh that had turned purple and scraggly had fallen. If you look closely, you can see that it has joints and five fingers.
　It was an arm, an arm that had melted off his shoulder.

　There was a child wrapped around the roots of a tree, seemingly at the crucifixion.
　One of its long elven-like ears was missing.
　The blonde hair, which would have been darker and more beautiful than Aisha's, was not only dull, but also raw and painful in areas where the entire scalp had been peeled off. The miasma is a mere mortal disease, and the mere fact that the miasma is a mere mortal disease is enough to kill you.
　The miasma is a miasma that can only be seen from the side, and it appears to be dead.
　If he hadn't assimilated with the great tree and made up for the parts that had melted away, he would have died long ago.

''Olivier-sama--!　Olivier-sama, I'm here to help you!
　Even in his fleshly form, Urs somehow reaches out to help the little girl.

''I have to help--''
　It was the same for Aisha.
　Nacht restrained Aisha and Urs, who tried to reach out to him almost simultaneously, with his hand.

''It's better not to touch it. No matter how resistant the necklace is, this is not an easy curse to bypass and touch,
　From the moment he saw the decaying forest, he could guess that it would be powerful in its own right. However, the curse in front of me was far more powerful than Nacht's expectations.

''Nacht-dono, what is that curse...?''

The Curse of Death, the second most powerful curse I have ever known.
　The curse, which can be handled by boss-class monsters of more than 120 levels, is a curse that will always kill the target. It is not something that can be nullified by half-hearted skills (skills) or tools (items).
　In the past, everyone knew about it from the "Hellenes Curse Incident", which was a sudden-type event that nearly resulted in a large number of deaths. At that time, Nacht's Otherworld Café (Outer Cafeteria), the super-sized guild, the Knights of Glory (Glory Knights), and a number of other top guilds managed to stop the competition and move on without causing any deaths.
　I have fond memories of running around complaining about how the management was trying to get rid of newbies and new users.

(The question is--who on earth used this stuff?)

　There are three possibilities.
　The first was the possibility that a high level player with a spellcasting profession used it. The second was the possibility that a boss monster with a level of over one hundred and twenty used it. And the last one could have been used by a high-level being in this world that Nacht had yet to know.
　The demon race fell into the third possibility, but it was doubtful that there was really a demon race with that level of existence. I admit that Erin, who played in Estor, was strong in her own right. But even so - he wasn't a good enough opponent for Nacht to fight. At least, he couldn't handle a death curse with that guy's level.

''-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------''

　Nacht, who was lost in thought, was interrupted by an exclamation transmitted from the great tree.

'Although I said I would do something--well, what do I do now?

Couldn't you, Master Nacht?
　Aisha said anxiously.

'I ran into a combat job--basically, I can't recover, undo a spell, etc.--'
　I can't help but think that if this body was once a second character, it would have been easy to undo the spell.
　Aisha's shoulders slump dejectedly and tears come to her eyes.
　The voice, even now, I guess I can hear it.

　Ouch,.

　Painful.

　Help me.

　Kill me.

　Such a voice was so painful.
　In Aisha's struggles as she moaned in distress, I could even see such a hesitation in Aisha's struggle to see if I should kill her, rather.

''--But Aisha. Don't worry - nothing is impossible for Nacht-chan. So don't look at me like that.
　To look good.
　To show that nothing is impossible in the presence of Aisha.
　As Aisha's master, to fulfill the tender desires of her lovely squire.

First, let's break the curse.

Yeah, but you said you couldn't do it earlier?

'On my own, I might add,'

　Take out the "Universal Allowance" from the common storage.
　A chargeable item, the Universal Allowance was an item that my friends called a chargeable item with no contents, or a chargeable item that evolves.
　When purchased, it contains various recovery items such as Yggdrasil leaves, mystic elixir, fairy tears, secret peaches of the sacred world, and many more.
　Of course, they all have an impossible level of recovery effect, but the one Nacht has is specially made.
　It is packed with many-ranked recovery items that the pharmacist of the Outer Cafeteria and the alchemist of the SS used even charged items as material items without mercy, mixing and refining them.

　This is one of them - a drop that dispels all the curses in this world, and that is this Dusk Drop. It was a special tool that even Nacht didn't have so many of them.
　It would be a lie to say that there was no hesitation, but if you look at that too painful figure - and most importantly, if you look at Aisha's tearful face, any hesitation was blown away.
　Rotten, droplets dripped onto the girl's cheeks.
　Instantly.

"Ugh--

　The dead girl reacted physically for the first time, her voice spilling out, albeit faintly.
　Before she could pause for a breath, a ripple spread through the air.
　The change was dramatic and instantaneous.

　The air was clear.
　The evil atmosphere that had covered the World Tree and the girl disappeared as if it were an illusion, and the ground that had been sludge was transformed into normal, strong soil.

　The melted face and crumbling arms cannot be restored, but the blackened spots have disappeared and the human-like color has returned to its body.
　-- those eyes are still closed.

'Still no good, huh?'

Master Nacht--?

'Her spirit, let alone her body, was already at its limit - Aisha would have heard them, the two voices.

Yes, sir.

'One is the voice of this little girl who couldn't bear the pain beyond her limits, and the other is the voice of the spirit who assimilated the little girl and shared her pain. If she had been alone, she would have died out long ago, unable to resist the curse. And such an equilibrium between life and death, that last-minute equilibrium, has scarred their souls as well - only physical damage can be healed by the recovery drug.

The Chief--will Olivier-sama not be able to survive anymore...?
　Urs asked.

'I'm a little torn--should I help, or should I just let him rest in peace?
　It's not that there is no way.
　But this time, though, there is only one way.
　And to tell the truth, Nacht doesn't want to use it.

'Nacht-sama, Aisha can hear--he can hear!　A voice that says, "Help me--bear, bear, bear, bear--and finally, I'm going to be able to help," so... --Aisha is.........

'Aisha is a sweetheart--'
　Nacht announced in a slightly curt manner.

'Nacht, sama?'

"-But, Aisha. We can't help anything, and that's not to say that we can't help everything we see. Our power is not a panacea. That's why, Aisha, when you reach out your hand, you can't be proud to say that you helped.

　Honestly, I don't want to use it. For Nacht, it is a special thing that is non-negotiable to Nacht, above all else.
　No matter how painfully sympathetic the being in front of him looks, how painfully sympathetic he is, how much he is an elf of his choice, how much the means to help exist, how much he can pay for the suffering - Nacht is so attached to it that he wants to leave it to die.

'You can only think you've helped, etc., if the one you saved thinks so and thanks you for it. A good deed is only good when the other person thinks so, and everything else is just hypocrisy. If you help someone you don't know for no reason, the only thing that will be saved is your own heart.

'Aisha is--!　I didn't mean to--

'I know, I know Aisha's kindness, and I know her soul best. So this is my advice. My power is not infinite, either. Only one more person can be saved this way in my lifetime - only one more person can be saved in the hundreds, thousands, or tens of thousands of years to come, in the time we live. That's the kind of power Aisha says we should use, not on our friend Izuna, not on Aisha's flesh and blood mother, but on the little girl in front of us, you know?
　Nacht asks the question, "Is Aisha's choice really her true intention?
　Was Aisha's choice really her true intention?
　Isn't this a temporary outburst of emotion?
　Isn't this the charity of a fool who is drunk with good intentions?

''..........''

　Besides, I didn't want to use it for anything other than Aisha.
　The only thing that's unique is just Aisha.
　The only thing special about Nacht's is the Aisha he met at that time. That's why Nacht himself thinks that he shouldn't use it.

''Even so--''
　Aisha's brilliant eyes radiated a strong will.
　In the end, if it was to influence Nacht's will, it was only Aisha's words.

''-- Still, Aisha, I want you to help her. Just like Nacht-sama rescued me from the brink of death. The dragon's squire does not bend his words. If I don't help her at this moment, Aisha won't have the confidence to live on from now on.

　Aisha said.
　Wherever and however far - it's still straighter than Nacht's.
　Nacht chuckles at that.
　It's not just a matter of time before you get to the point where you'll be able to get your hands on it.

'Ha ha ha - not at all - you're no match for Aisha.' --surely I said I'd help you.

Yes, I said that.

And I have a way to help the girl.
　If you pull back here on the grounds of scarcity of power and so on, that would be synonymous with turning your back and running away. If you do that, Aisha - and Nacht himself - will despise you.
　The dragon's squire does not bend his words.
　Of course, Nacht doesn't bend his words either.

''All right--''
　With a strong voice full of determination.
　Nacht approached the sleeping little girl in the forest and slowly laid his lips on hers.