After sending Nfirea safely back to Carne Village, the party reconvened with Pinison.
She led them deeper into the forest—toward the place where Zy'tl Q'ae was sealed.
With a dryad guiding them, progress was smooth.
She avoided dangerous monsters and rough terrain with ease.
"...You seem happy, Momon-san," Ninya observed.
"Eh?" Momonga tilted her head.
She hadn't intended to show any emotion—fully clad in armor, no less—yet Ninya sensed it anyway.
"I may be mistaken, but… you seem more excited now than during the escort mission."
Momonga stepped on a fallen branch, thinking.
Excited…?
Perhaps she was.
She hadn't come to this world seeking goblin exterminations or petty work.
What she truly wanted was adventure.
The kind she once shared with the Supreme Beings of Ainz Ooal Gown.
Exploring unknown lands, conquering terrifying monsters, sharing triumph with comrades—
But those days would never return.
Even so, walking toward an unknown threat—a world-ending magic tree—
a faint echo of that old excitement stirred within her.
"…I see," she murmured.
Ninya smiled softly as Momonga admitted:
"Perhaps I am enjoying this a little."
Ninya didn't look surprised anymore.
"You really are incredible, Momon-san."
Momonga shook her head.
"I simply remembered the days I spent with my former comrades.
We often faced beings beyond reason. Won through terror. Celebrated together.
This situation merely reminds me of those times."
"Those comrades… and those days… must have meant so much to you," Ninya said.
"…They were everything to me."
Her voice was distant, looking toward a past forever out of reach.
Ninya felt a pang of sorrow.
She's always looking backward… never at the future.
She wondered if the version of Momon she saw last night—the one who momentarily dropped her mask—was closer to her true self.
She didn't expect to replace her former allies.
She simply wished to help heal the loneliness she sensed in her.
Before she could say more—
"We're here."
Pinison stopped.
Everyone inhaled sharply.
"…It's completely dead," Peter whispered.
Before them stretched a vast expanse of lifeless earth.
The lush forest simply ended, replaced by a wasteland of withered plants and drained soil.
A sharp boundary separated life from death.
A place where nothing should exist.
"...This feels very real," Lukrut muttered, scratching his nose.
Dyne swallowed hard.
"I hear… the screams of the plants," he whispered.
Ninya glanced anxiously at Momonga, but her expression was hidden under her helmet.
Pinison spread her arms.
"This is the seal of the world-destroying magic tree—Zy'tl Q'ae."
Even Swords of Darkness could no longer dismiss it as a joke.
Momonga spoke calmly:
"…I see no sign of the tree itself."
"It's sleeping," Pinison replied. "Buried deep beneath this area."
Momonga folded her arms.
If she couldn't determine its level, she couldn't decide whether to fight or flee.
She considered returning to E-Rantel to report—
Until the earth split open beneath them.
WROOOOAAAAAAR—
The entire forest screamed.
The ground surged upward.
Swords of Darkness fell on their backsides, screaming.
Pinison shrieked.
Only Momonga stood firm, watching.
"...It's huge."
The dead earth shattered—
and the sealed monster rose.
A being large enough to blanket the forest in shadow.
A massive trunk like a fortress wall.
A gaping maw filled with jagged teeth.
Six colossal tentacles writhing like serpents.
The Magic Tree — Zy'tl Q'ae.
One of the ancient world-ending entities—
reborn.
Swords of Darkness trembled, paralyzed.
Even the calmest among them, Ninya, leaked a small amount of urine.
Momonga stepped forward.
She drew her greatsword with a steady hand.
Her crimson cape fluttered behind her.
Turning to the terrified adventurers, she spoke quietly:
"Protect Carne Village."
The knight in red walked alone toward the towering magic tree.
Ninya stared at her back—
the back of a true hero.
The ultimate holy war was about to begin.