Now, all I had to do was hold the phone connected to the stem like an IV drip, and I left everything to the dwarves, who were endlessly supplying diamonds to the branch. I’d heard that even if you get a good medicine through an IV, it becomes poison if you don’t control the drip rate.

Isn’t this that situation? The number of diamonds I have… it had been decreasing and had already broken through the hundred-thousands place…

“Hey! That’s enough!”

But it seemed the dwarves couldn’t hear my voice. The faces scooping in the diamonds… the giggles… they all looked so happy.

Unlike the pattern when I spent diamonds before, the funnel had no limit. It absorbed the diamonds as fast as they were given without any clogging, so the dwarves, seizing the moment as if venting long-held grudges, mobilized all their manpower to inject the diamonds.

Should I just pull out the USB? But what if something goes wrong by yanking it out? As I held the stem, lost in thought, the festering branch began to show a different sign.

From the rotted spot, a new golden twig sprouted out. Gradually, a golden outer bark began to form over the tender inner flesh. Around that time, the anemia-like symptoms that had been tormenting me also eased.

The fallen droplets began to flow along the grooves on the floor. It was a sight I had seen before in the greenhouse of the 26th terrarium’s orchard. The droplets gathered in the circular depressions resembling magic circle patterns, trickling along as they washed away the ash on the floor.

The blue water winding through the room flowed from where the branch was into the other connected rooms.

As the anemia subsided, my strength suddenly began to surge. Vitality rose from deep within my chest, pushing out the heat that had been consuming me. The room was filled with an astonishingly refreshing energy, and the artifact on my wrist emitted a dazzling light in response.

The world tree branch was recovering its sacred appearance, just as I had seen in the 26th terrarium’s orchard and in my dreams.

“Thank you.”

Finally, the world tree branch spoke again. And then… I felt something settle deeply inside me with a thud.

The artifact began to vibrate so intensely that my arm went numb. Just like during the carriage boss fight with the witherling earlier, the hemispherical light emitted from the artifact expanded in size, rapidly filling the room and covering the entire orchard.

Even though I hadn’t touched it, the stem plugged into my phone pulled itself out on its own. Where the funnel had been on the screen, there was now a lush bonsai tree with abundant leaves.

The number engraved on the pot was 28. By the time the dwarves hurriedly turned off the tap, the digit in the million place of my diamond count had changed.

Now I could figure it out. The world tree branch had been sucking up my diamonds… and had finally fully recovered.

***

The recovery of the world tree branch was worth celebrating, but I had something more urgent. I ran out of the orchard to find my dryads.

It was a series of astonishing events, including the world tree matter. The threatening fire barrier had disappeared. Also, in the sky of the terrarium, a faint circular membrane was visible, so thin that it was hard to see unless you looked closely—just like looking inside my terrarium artifact.

The area was devastated to the point where you could tell at a glance that a great battle had taken place: all the buildings had collapsed, and the ground was sizzling. And… a massive golden spear rising from the ground was piercing through each joint of the bug-shaped entity made of fire.

The fire was firmly impaled, unable to move an inch, writhing weakly in desperation. In reaction, the ground shook incessantly. Just as I stumbled while running, Mesquite grabbed onto me and kept running.

The fire spewed enormous steam from where the spear had struck, gradually shrinking in size. Even as I ran toward it, the spear kept rising from the ground. It wasn’t a spear… looking closely, it seemed like a tree branch.

I had seen something like this before—attacking the enemy in the same way. It seemed identical to the technique the Elder had used by summoning the Mother’s flower branches. So, was that a branch of the World Tree?

Having finished their tasks, the dwarves should have quieted down until I woke up the phone, but somehow the commotion didn’t subside—the sound of giggling laughter and diamonds flowing. Normally, even if the diamonds they took were insufficient, they would have just grumbled a bit.

With a strange feeling, I looked at the phone and was surprised to see that one side of the screen was elegantly decorated with branches stretching out from somewhere.

This wasn’t the <Infinite Diamond> screen I knew, was it? Sliding to move the screen, I found a bonsai labeled with the number 28 there.

The bonsai pot, unlike the one marked 26, had become very wide, and a fountain-like sprinkler sat in it. The dwarves, as if playing a game, were joyfully tossing diamonds into it.

When diamonds were thrown into the fountain, bluish water sprayed from it, moistening the tree. My diamond count hadn’t changed at first, but now it was decreasing steadily—down, down.

Some diamonds bounced out of the fountain… but when a new golden spear rose up to pierce the bug-like fire, it sucked in the dwarves’ diamonds like a black hole.

I see… So that’s the source of the World Tree’s overwhelming attack power… It was right here. Without me even realizing it, it had been using up diamonds.

Of course, it wasn’t just the fire that took damage from that spear. The spear itself was also burned by the fire. But its recovery speed was much faster.

The dwarves finished their hushed discussion among themselves and began seriously hauling diamonds to the fountain. To me, it was like a bottomless pit had appeared, but even with thousands of diamonds disappearing in real time, it wasn’t a big blow.

Yeah, I have plenty of diamonds anyway, so if the World Tree’s branches can use them to block the fire, I’m all for it.

Without even looking ahead, clinging to Mesquite, I barely managed to enter the battlefield where the barrier had disappeared. Since Siedling and I weren’t in a party, maybe due to the danger of Belladonna, my Dryads were standing on the opposite side from them.

Even in that short time I spent reviving the World Tree’s branches, everyone had been brutally attacked. Above all, the Elder, who always stood upright as if tireless, had its knee broken. My heart sank along with it.

Daisy looked exhausted, but thankfully seemed unharmed. The Elder must have given it their all for that. Not to mention their side, which couldn’t receive proper healing since we weren’t in a party…

I swiped past the cheerful dwarves’ <Infinite Diamond> screen and attempted to connect to Siedling’s artifact network. Then I immediately ran to my Dryads.

I hastily poured potions over Daisy and Elder, meticulously checking their conditions. They were battered all over. Seeing my dryads, who must have struggled without their master, made tears well up in my eyes.

As we approached, the sand barrier effect flickered over Daisy and Elder, wrapping around them before disappearing. It meant the severed connection between us was finally reestablished.

Both of them looked much more at ease than before. Even Elder, who had been kneeling on one knee, dusted himself off and stood up.

“Now I feel a little alive.”

Elder said as he opened the potion lid. Daisy also wiped her ash-covered forehead and managed a faint smile. Seeing my tearful expression, she instead comforted me, saying, “I’m fine. Just a little tired! I’m not hurt at all!”

Mesquite blocked the sparks falling from the writhing insect fire with her shield. Meanwhile, my dryads fully recovered from the fatigue of battle. I even felt they somehow seemed more vibrant.

That’s strange. Still, my dryads must have endured a tough battle while I was away.

Taking a deep breath, Elder drove his staff into the ground. He seemed to intend to take care of Siedling party on the other side as well. A wide-area heal was cast… and unlike before, a different effect spread around.

Whenever Elder used his power, a dazzling white light resembling the color of his mother tree’s petals always burst forth. But now, a surprisingly clear golden light took its place.

It was as if the golden light seeping from the spear that had pierced the insect fire had melted into it. It seemed the branch in the form of a golden spear and Elder’s power were resonating.

The force Elder emitted was so explosive that it felt like a massive wave was surging around him.

“Oh… Elder, that’s incredible?”

“What did you do out there? This feels exactly like the power I used at the World Tree.”

“It’s because we’re in the same environment as inside the World Tree now. This whole place… yes. It feels like being inside Jae’s soul. More precisely, it feels as cozy as when I’m inside Jae’s Terrarium artifact.”

Mesquite said that, looking at me with eyes slightly different from usual. Those eyes… I felt they held a hint of awe. Such a gaze was so unfamiliar that my face felt like it would burst from embarrassment.

“My master, Jae. I think it’s okay to hand over the team’s main role to Daisy now. That fire is no longer a very threatening existence to us. Let’s focus our strength and seize the momentum of the battle.”

Mesquite’s evaluation finally turned positive. Following her words, I shifted the soul connection to Daisy.

Daisy, receiving my heart that urged her to thrash about with all her might, connected two daggers. Then she leaped forward, spun her body greatly, and launched a boomerang. The boomerang flew with a threatening sound.

Daisy’s attack was also different from usual. Instead of the red petals that represent Daisy, golden petals spread along the boomerang’s trajectory like a sparkling Milky Way in the night sky. The boomerang she threw cleanly severed two segments of the worm fire from its main body and returned.

Thud!

The fire that fell with a loud sound became another entity and writhed. As a golden barrier from the Elder enveloped me, Mesquite abandoned defense and leaped toward that fire alongside Daisy.

As the main body shrank, its struggle diminished further than before. And the Shrilling side, seemingly regaining its strength, began to put up a good fight.

When we cut off what seemed to be the head, the remaining segment became a new head. That side took charge of the front part, and we handled the back part, steadily reducing the fire’s size.

Just then, as if that side had used a graft, the Shrilling fired a burst of rounds with a massive rifle to land the finishing blow. It’s a bit unfair that we lost the last hit, though.

Seeing the massive fire, which had boasted an oppressive aura dark enough to be grim, lose its power due to the World Tree’s blessing, I once again realized the majesty of the World Tree. The village wasn’t a safe zone for nothing.

When the fire vanished, the golden spear shattered into fine particles of dust. The dust formed a round sphere, swirling along the internal currents, then suddenly spread out in all directions. The force nearly pushed my body away, so I clung tightly to the Elder.

The star-like sparkling power spread throughout every corner of the Terrarium. Flowing between the ruined buildings, it washed away the ashes and extinguished the remaining fires or pushed them out of the Terrarium.

As the fire was pushed outside the Terrarium, its size gradually shrank until it completely disappeared. The sight was so fantastical that I stared at it, mesmerized.

A dazzling spectacle of golden radiance that confused the eyes. The Terrarium, which had been stained black, quickly recovered with gold, as if recovering from a terrible illness.