On my phone with the black branch inserted, the <Infinite Diamond> screen automatically turned on. Through my blurry vision, I saw the number of diamonds decreasing at a maddening speed. Everything below the ten-thousand unit was skipped. Numbers exceeding a hundred thousand changed frequently.

Even the dwarves stopped what they were doing and stared blankly at the rapidly disappearing diamonds with surprised faces. It was incomparable to the time in the 28th terrarium.

Is it because this branch has a lower number that it eats more diamonds?

“You can’t lose consciousness.”

Elder grabbed my cheeks, made me meet his eyes, and kept calling my name, as if it would be the end if I closed my eyes. Looking into his eyes, as fresh as green foliage, made me laugh, feeling like my mind was being purified even as my body struggled.

“You’re laughing? You look like you’re about to die, and you’re laughing now?”

Elder scolded me with a look of disbelief.

The branch of the World Tree devoured the diamonds as if it had been waiting. As the diamonds dwindled, I could feel the heat crazily emitted by the black branch fading away. Even the unpleasant artifact aura of Papillion, which had been dominating the surroundings, seemed to weaken as its momentum was pushed back.

“What’s going on?”

Sensing something strange, Papillion looked around and caught my eye. In that moment, a bizarre scene unfolded before me.

From both Papillion and me, a shimmering colored aura rose from the ground and enveloped our entire bodies. Unlike Papillion’s aura, which had a vivid greenish tint like mixed paint, my aura was a soft beige.

The two auras surged threateningly toward each other, as if they had met their natural enemy. As a faint green hue swirled in my beige aura, turning it into a light yellowish green, I saw Papillion’s aura gradually fade.

At the same time, an alarm sounded from my phone, and a screen I had never seen before popped up.

Notice of Equity Stake in the 16th Terrarium of the World Tree.

Administrative authority may be transferred based on the equity stake in the terrarium.

Under the name of Papillion, the administrative manager ranked first in equity, my nickname was visible just below. Papillion’s equity, over 80%, was decreasing in real-time. Meanwhile, my equity was steadily rising.

Administrative manager 1st place Papillion 87%↓

Administrative manager 2nd place (Reserve) Jae 13%↑ New

It hadn’t been long since the black branch plugged a straw into my phone, but it was already consuming my diamonds at an incredible pace, enough to hold over 10% of the equity.

Papillion must have built up her equity solidly by steadily offering many diamonds to the World Tree branch over years, perhaps even decades, but in just a few minutes, part of her equity was snatched away from me.

Given the relentless speed at which the World Tree branch drained my diamonds, it seemed it wouldn’t be long before I surpassed Papillion’s equity.

It was clear Papillion received the same notification. After checking his wallet, he stared at me with disbelief. His face was bordering on shock.

The 16th was a front-number terrarium and the base of Inferno, so it was said a huge amount of diamonds could be supplied, right? There was no way I, who overcame that quantity and shot up into the reserve administrative manager position overnight, could look normal to him.

Only we, who could check the equity battle in real-time through our phone screens, knew about this fact.

As my aura gained a rust-like hue, the equity I secured in the terrarium also increased. Papillion seemed unwilling to stand by idly until his boss arrived. If left as is, I could snatch away his equity and even make him lose the geographical advantage of his artifact.

He manipulated the hesitant dryads with an angry face, launching a full-scale attack.

Feeling a great sense of crisis as I gradually chipped away at his equity, Papillion focused solely on attacking me.

As if inspired by the druid’s fury, the dryads charged relentlessly with a crazed momentum, difficult to evade like scattered blind bullets.

Piercing through Siedling’s defense line, a sharp attack aimed at me, sitting defenselessly on the ground. If I could move my legs to dodge, it would have been easier to protect my dryads too, but there was a limit to guarding me, stuck in place like a nail.

The black branch stem wrapped around my wrist also contributed. I was essentially a stationary target.

That was when it happened. Colorful petals, like a rainbow blooming on the ground, scattered and blocked the attacks aimed at me. The shield hit by the attack shattered, but a new shield quickly regenerated.

“I’m sorry I’m late!”

Instead of the busy Elder paying attention to me, I saw welcome restorative dryads supporting the dryads of Siedling. Zephyr, wielding a splendid giant longbow different from his usual one, shot an arrow toward the sky, and a rain of arrows drove back the black dryads that had pressed right up to us.

Colorful petals transformed the space, which had been consumed by black petals, into a beautiful and vivid display of hues.

Like a rainbow blooming in the sky after the rain cleared away the murky dark clouds, Iris’s party brought brightness to the grim battle.

High-level players really seemed different. Siedling and Iris’s party quickly coordinated, turning the tide of battle in their favor.

Administrator Rank 1 Papillion 70%↓

Administrator Rank 2 (Reserve) Jae 30%↑

When my share exceeded 30%, the momentum of the black dryads also shifted. This was because they could fully unleash their overpowering strength only within their master’s artifact. But it was clearly evident that their power was weakening, as if I were taking the artifact away.

The overwhelming aura of the World Tree branches that had pressed down on me gradually began to feel familiar. What had been burdensome became integrated into me, invigorating my body and even imbuing it with a refreshing energy.

“Oh my, Master! Are you hurt?”

Seeing me collapsed with a stream of blood from my nose, Zephyr asked in a startled voice. With nothing suitable to wipe it with, I roughly wiped the nosebleed with the hem of my robe and replied.

“I wasn’t injured by an attack. I’m fine! Thank you so much for coming in time!”

It was truly perfect timing. As if showing that I’m never alone in a crisis, the guild members appeared as saviors. Not only Siedling, but the guild members seemed to have angel wings on their backs.

It was fortunate that the battle became a bit easier with Iris’s party joining in, but the problem was the maddening heat drawing increasingly closer to us.

An immense heat was felt, as if a volcano had erupted nearby, and it seemed the leader of Inferno would soon reach our location.

I didn’t know what kind of person he was. But I was sure that even with him just arriving here, it would become an extremely difficult battle that our guild members couldn’t handle alone.

And clearly, my guild members felt the same sense of crisis. Looking toward where the heat was bursting out, Iris shouted to her party members that they must defeat Papillion before it arrived and evacuate to regroup.

Administrator Rank 1 Papillion 60%↓

Administrator Rank 2 (Reserve) Jae 40%↑

I could see Iris using her dryads and grafts.

The grafts felt like flashy finishing moves displayed with the dryads, making for quite a spectacle. She, in the form of a nimble swordsman, held the rapier of the German Iris.

As she swung the rapier, hundreds of sharp blades shot up from the ground.

Like a wave spreading from her toward the enemies, the massive needle-like blades pierced through the black dryads standing in their path, sealing their movements. The enemies, with their limbs skewered like meat on a spit, trembled and struggled like insects caught in a trap.

Administrator 1st Rank Papillion 50% ↓

Administrator 2nd Rank (Reserve) Jae 50% ↑

And finally, when Papillion’s and my equity shares became equal, the artifact energy swirling around Papillion shattered into pieces and vanished.

He was still the administrator of the 16th Terrarium, but he was no longer whole. His handsome face crumpled completely. With the advantage of the artifact, he had been able to block us alone, but not anymore. There were six druids on our side. It had turned into a fight where numbers tipped the scales.

Siedling and even my guild members seemed to question the sudden shift in our favor.

Why Papillion, a high-ranking administrator, was flustered, why our support-type dryads could now use debuffs, and why the artifact’s heavy pressure, which had oppressed us from start to finish, had disappeared.

But only Papillion and I, the ones directly involved, knew that the reason was me—dismantling the tower of equity he had built over long years from its very foundation in just ten-odd minutes.

“What’s going on? Just banish them! Things are going wrong!”

A black thistle dryad scolded its master, shouting. The disappearance of the artifact energy was a crisis not only for Papillion but also for his dryads.

Siedling’s ferocious dryads were ruthlessly thrashing the other dryads, just like in the fire chariot boss fight. The sight was such that one could vaguely imagine an unseen arena battle against Siedling.

The equity shares hit 50% each and somehow stalled for a moment. My share fluctuated between 49% and 51%, locked in a tug-of-war.

It felt like Papillion was using diamonds to make a last-ditch effort. So I could roughly guess—if I took the majority here, things would really become precarious for him.

But can he beat my infinite diamonds?

The leading digit of my diamond count remained at 9, unchanged.