I had long since given up on leaving through the front gate after causing such a commotion.

It was an enormous height down to the bottom, but I asked if I could descend using the dryad’s power just in case.

Mesquite said it was possible with just a leap, but if we fell together, it couldn’t absorb all the impact I would take.

However, Daisy said it was possible. She could manipulate her vines freely, using the protruding parts of the alchemy tower as supports to pull me down.

Earning, seeing that I intended to descend immediately through the broken wall, took out the bird-of-paradise dryad.

I wondered if the bird-like dryad could actually fly through the sky like a bird, but that wasn’t the case. The support-type bird-of-paradise flower generated wind intermittently, stepping on the alchemy tower’s walls as it carried Earning down gently. It was descending by reducing the fall speed as much as its ability allowed.

Leaving the fidgeting Papyrus behind, I hugged Daisy. Even my capable dryads, Wolfsbane and Elder, seemed unable to descend such a great height using their abilities. The other dryads returned to my artifacts only when their feet touched the ground.

“Let’s move quickly to the hill. I really don’t see a single guard.”

As intended, a major event comparable to an explosion occurred in the 16th terrarium. The secrecy of the alchemy tower was exposed to the outside. And a series of incidents hinting at signs of the world’s destruction lent weight to the revelation message.

“Whoa… do you see that crowd coming this way?”

As I ran toward the hill, I pointed at the masses rushing toward the alchemy tower and said it to Earning. She glanced at where I was pointing and nodded.

“It seems the people who confirmed the distorted message of the penalty are flocking to the alchemy tower to check the truth. Having that many people gather at the alchemy tower is actually a blessing for us.”

I felt a bit dazed. The plan had really succeeded. At first, escaping the alchemy tower had seemed so hopeless. Even when I planned these events based on clues from Elder’s story, I had doubted whether such an absurd plan would truly work.

The Golden Pumpkin Trading Company, trusting my wealth, bought up a large quantity of unripe fruit and sent them to the 16th terrarium.

The guild members who, upon hearing a single sheet of paper’s request, actually found a vein and brought scorching heat into the terrarium.

Winter, who infected the branches of the World Tree by planting pests into its body.

And it was possible thanks to Siedling, who created black rain using Belladonna’s graft in sync with Elder’s wide-area rain of life. I couldn’t have done it alone.

Leaving the alchemy tower, which felt like a dungeon where I’d been trapped for a long time, made me feel so relieved.

Thanks to the gathered people, the commotion grew even larger, allowing me to enter the hill without needing to bring a researcher from the alchemy tower.

Perhaps thanks to the cold rain Elder and I poured down once, the heat had subsided a lot. If I had to walk, sweating profusely in midsummer-like heat without being able to shower for days, I really wouldn’t have wanted to live.

Compared to my disheveled state, Earning looked so neat and clean that you’d never think she had been trapped with me. I felt like even if she wandered through back alleys, she’d still shine as brightly as she did now.

However, as I climbed the hill, a strange sight caught my eye. The note delivered by the secret agent clearly stated that the roadside trees near the square had turned white, but now all the surrounding plants were covered in white, as if struck by frost.

Could it be that the damage from that pest has spread this far? Earning definitely said the infection rate wasn’t that high.

“That man must have stopped by here. That was a poor judgment.”

Earning, seemingly sensing the same strangeness as me, clicked her tongue while looking around at the surroundings that had turned entirely white.

“Is this it? The place where my precious flower is trapped.”

Earning pointed to a spot where black branches were tangled like thorny vines and asked in a voice tinged with impatience. When I nodded, she immediately touched the black branches. Startled by the heat, she quickly pulled her hand away. She seemed to have lost a lot of her composure.

“Oh, my precious, beautiful honeysuckle. I’ve come to take you back into my arms. Show me your lovely face. I’m so sorry for making you wait so long.”

She called out in a plaintive voice toward the beyond the black branches. Through the gaps in the branches, I could see something pale moving. It seemed to be the honeysuckle dryad. But he did not respond to Earning’s call. It should have been a long-awaited reunion with her master, yet it felt strangely off.

“Ah, my beautiful flower. Why won’t you answer me?”

She pointed at the black branches, her eyes glaring fiercely.

“Hurry and remove that thing blocking the way between my flower and me. You said you could do it, didn’t you?”

Even with that nagging… In my dream, the branch of the World Tree clearly told me to head here. It said help was needed this way. But even after coming to the hill again as the dream instructed, there was no sign of a hidden quest activating or anything like that.

“By any chance… Mesquite, how is the blessing of the World Tree felt in this terrarium?”

Is it because the World Tree branch in the orchard is still intact? It said the white one must die.

Mesquite closed her eyes with a grim expression at my question. By necessity, and of its own will, the World Tree’s branch must lose its power.

It must be hard to accept that a being akin to a god to the dryads, not only had to suffer long at the hands of humans, but was also being forced into an unbelievable, extreme choice.

“The aura of blessing has weakened a lot compared to when this terrarium was first visited, but it is still intact.”

“Compared to the 28th terrarium, it’s losing power faster, but I don’t have time!”

In response to Mesquite’s answer, Earning shouted sharply while looking toward the honeysuckle beyond the black branches. Still, what can be done? Only when the World Tree branch in the orchard completely loses its power will the hidden quest here trigger.

“I figured you’d head here.”

Suddenly, the voice of someone I never wanted to hear here reached my ears. A man with dazzling blonde hair was walking along the path we had come from, his face filled with a cold, burning rage.

“Papillion…”

“What on earth have you done to my terrarium? Even for you, Black Lily, this is unforgivable.”

It was clear from his tone just how furious he was.

“If I were going to beg for your forgiveness, would I have done it in the first place?”

“You’ve turned the entire Inferno against you. The fact that you look so carefree means you have no idea how much weight my words carry.”

Earning stepped forward, glaring at Papillion.

“Unless I tear off all that butterfly brat’s wings and trample them here.”

“You, of the honeysuckle, Del Earning, who should have been forgotten long ago. You’ve truly mastered the art of hiding and running.”

“Isn’t that only natural when there are people everywhere trying to kill me the moment I let my guard down?”

Unlike in the grand hall where he had been trailed by a whole retinue, Papillion was alone. Was it because of his confidence that he could handle all of them by himself?

“It’s too late, Earning. He’s already arrived at the terrarium. And he’s seen everything you’ve done with his own eyes. If I don’t take you all alive here, it looks like I’ll end up dead too.”

“If you’re going to die, die alone.”

Earning pulled out all of her dryads from the artifact, assuming a battle stance. Watching her, Papillion let out a sneering laugh, as if finding it ridiculous. At his gesture, the yellow bird perched on his shoulder let out a long cry. At the same time, black petals fluttered from the artifact, and the dryad they had seen at the inn appeared.

“A familiar face, isn’t it?”

The black thistle dryad. According to what Creacion had said, it was the dryad that had devoured Earning’s black thistle as fertilizer. Seeing the dryad, Earning trembled with rage, her eyes bloodshot.

“I’ll kill you.”

“You should know that it was your own recklessness that caused your precious black flower to die.”

The black thistle dryad aimed a rough, serrated saw at Earning. Even as she faced the dryad hostile to her, Earning bit her lip with a sorrowful expression.

“Our master is impatient, so let’s stop here. If you had stayed hidden in the alchemy tower until you died, you might have lived a little longer.”

Papillion flicked his hand, and the surrounding air vibrated unpleasantly, making his ears ring. The way he moved was identical to what the large aconite had done in the seed repository. The sight of the large aconite trying to turn the surroundings into an artifact environment.

It was a completely different energy from the temporary virtual artifacts that could only be manifested in a room surrounded by walls on all sides. Since the entire terrarium was his artifact, an incomparable pressure weighed down on the body.

Black flowers bloomed everywhere. Not only black thistles but also flowers of unknown species sprouted profusely. As many dryads would soon appear at Papillion’s call.

Having already gained the advantage of being inside the artifact space, could he defeat the countless dryads that matched the blooming flowers he summoned?

From small plants to large flowering trees, all bloomed fully with black petals, and at the same time, black dryads embodying those flowers appeared one after another.

Like elite battle troops prepared in advance, each dryad had beautiful wings symbolizing the king’s majesty and carried splendid equipment and weapons.

I thought it would be easy to create a massive forest in no time by mass-producing artificially improved flowers like a factory in the Alchemy Tower. They even resort to being struck by lightning to forcibly create a vessel for blessing.

“Earning, shouldn’t we really form a party here? You’re not saying we should fight separately in a situation like this, are you?”

Earning bit her lower lip as if grinding it at my words.

“I can’t.”

“They turned a blind eye to solo play in the Alchemy Tower, but will you insist on this even here?”

“I got rid of my wallet. I can’t form a network with any druid.”

“What?”

So all that fuss about not doing party play was because you had no wallet? Wait, I’ve never seen a druid without a wallet before.