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Once Kufar entered the vessel, he rode on the liquid current and dashed above through the World Tree with terrific force. The height exceeded the limit of how high the trees could grow and it still went on, but Kufar had no idea how high up he was since he was inside a vessel.

He still somehow guessed from the travel duration that he was quite high up. He rose up where it was physically impossible to reach. He had no way of understanding what logic was working there.

In the first place, this was the sole World Tree in the world, and the embodiment of the myths. It wouldn’t be strange if principles beyond human understanding worked there.

Like that, he continued going up until he lost his sense of space, and eventually reached a fork in the vessel. This was proof that the tree was branching off, and that he had gone to quite a high floor.

The thickness of the vessel also grew gradually thinner, eventually growing so thin even Kufar’s body had trouble passing through. Eventually, it grew so thin only his core could pass. And at the same time, the tree sap’s force also gradually weakened. That fact told him that he was close to the peak of the World Tree.

Coming this far, Kufar clung to the vessel and started to melt the wall.

First, he absorbed the sap around, increasing his body volume. He stretched his body thinly along the vessel to maintain it.

This was to guarantee some volume of the body right away, for when he got outside. He didn’t know what monster awaited him outside of the vessel, so he wanted to be perfectly ready.

Then he continued to melt the vessel and prepare.

The upper layer walls were much harder compared to the lower ones, which made Kufar realize that the monsters here were strong enough to warrant such sturdy walls. However, since the lower exit was controlled by Bahamut, the only remaining exit was this.

After some hours, he finally succeeded in opening a small hole, and he squeezed himself out of it into the labyrinth. The place he crawled into was a vast, tattered space.

The floor was torn here and there, perhaps a residue of a fierce fight. At the center of that space was something akin to a magic circle, with a broken sphere at its center.

“Where is this…?”

Kufar regained his human form and muttered as he gave a glance at the dark space. If he remained in this dark labyrinth without even taking a human form or speaking, he felt like he would lose his awareness that he was a former human.

Perhaps one fortunate thing was that there were no signs of monsters around, so he could concentrate on figuring out the situation. Kufar has his magic knowledge from his previous life, so he wasn’t bad at such things.

After his investigation, he discovered that this magic circle was related to the core function of this World Tree.

“Is this… guiding the power sucked up from the land to this room? The World Tree was certainly said to support the world and at the same time gather power from it. In that case, this orb would perhaps be what manages the gathered power?”

In the myths, it was said that the God of Destruction and a being called Demon Lord battled each other at the top of the World Tree, and the aftermath broke the World Tree.

Realizing that this was that very place, Kufar was filled with deep sentiments. However, he hadn’t come to sightsee this time. He had to find a way to escape from this World Tree.

“Wait, Bahamut said he was the guardian of the World Tree. Then If I cause some abnormality, could I distract him from me? Also…”

He faintly recalled something from his conversation with Bahamut that could aid his escape. He looked behind him at the same time, and arrived at one more possibility. It was related to the advance preparations he did for the Pope’s assassination.

“If I pull this off… maybe I can outwit him?”

Outwitting a God. If he could achieve it, there would be nothing as exhilarating. All the more when the other party was someone who had put him through such a painful experience.

For that, he first had to restart the function of this orb. But even for Kufar who was well versed in magic, that wasn’t so easy.

“Oh well. There are no monsters around, and I have a Slime body. I have enough time. But I have to hurry up to get revenge on Reid.”

Slimes had no lifespans, but the detestable Reid had it. Kufar acted on emotions and wanted to get back at him for getting in the way.

“First, I have to analyze the surface.”

He gathered the orb fragments and moved his mucus to trace their surfaces. He was grasping its function and structure by tracing the conducting circuits of the mystical power hidden within.

However, this put a large burden on Kufar’s mind. The World Tree was far too large-scaled for a human’s mind to fathom. But even so, his hatred let him overcome that penance.

His wrath towards Bahamut for locking him up here, his hatred for Reid who was the main reason he fled here, and hatred towards the reason he had become who he is, towards the discrimination of half-demons—towards the world.

All of that united and supported Kufar, at the same time soaking into the orb.

Eventually, he connected the snapped fragments together with his mucus and started to prepare it. It would normally be difficult work, but Kufar’s body that was regenerated through the World Tree’s sap had gained a very high resistance towards the orb.

He pulled the orb into his body and continued to regenerate it. After who knows how long, Kufar spit out the now analyzed and repaired orb. The orb was no longer green, but turned into something else, a marble dyed in darkish color.

“Ku-khehehehe…. I can do it. This will be far more effective compared to assassinating the Pope!”

He laughed like a madman for some time, and then picked up the orb he spitted out. By restoring the orb, Kufar had understood every part of its functions.

“This orb has the function to regulate the World Tree’s power flow. If I utilize that… khehehehehe, ahahahahahahaha!!”

He already had an idea of how to escape. The rest was to lay traps for his revenge and he would be able to achieve his goal. Fantasizing about its result, Kufar continued laughing with no end.

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Author’s note: This place is actually where the Half-Dragon Eir and others fought, not Yuuri of Destructive Eyes.

As such, Kufar’s understanding is actually wrong. Not that it matters in regards to this story, lol.

This orb is the remnant of the soul-gathering mechanism that was shattered at the time.

I’m planning to write some of Letina’s daily life following the next chapter.