Magic Academy Bans Harem

Chapter 195 The Gatekeeper of the World Tree

"Are you ready?!"

Outside the World Tree Labyrinth, next to the already constructed magic circle, the Goddess of Baths asked Merci and An, who were already ready to go, in an extremely nervous tone.

However, since An could not hear the voice of the Bathing Goddess, in the end, the order was given again by Ritas, whose breath was getting weaker and weaker.

In an instant, the white dolls that were laughing constantly and reducing the range of movement of Ritas and others were burned by Merci's blue flames.

The next moment, as the white puppets cried out, white threads extending from all directions condensed at a high speed, and within a few breaths, the basic outline of a human figure took shape.

Perhaps the white-dressed woman's body was not fully formed yet, so she could not use more power to attack her opponent. Or perhaps, she had a mentality of playing with her prey.

In short, although she arrived quickly, she did not take action immediately.

And it was during this short period of time that An concentrated his energy and began to operate the magic circle under his feet.

An knew nothing about teleportation magic before. Even though she had received some basic instructions, it was impossible for her to master it in a short period of time.

However, what she needed to do now was not to successfully complete the magic, but only to command the magic particles solidified around her body to try to use the teleportation magic.

As for the rest.

Ritas's "Random Magic" will make it complete.

There is no doubt that it is a terrible feeling to have your "magic" being used for personal gain.

Although her abilities were probably more than enough, An, who had never applied for the status of "Great Wizard", felt deeply at this moment that the things that the professor of magic in front of her possessed, mastered, was doing, or would create in the future, no matter how insignificant they seemed, might be extremely dangerous.

In an instant, the magic circle on the ground emitted a dazzling light.

In a space without natural magic particles, the two great wizards gave their all and finally completed an action that the "Tree Witch" usually did with great ease and comfort.

In mid-air, Ritas's fingers were like a precise scalpel, creating a crack in the alien space.

What was emitted from this crack in the alien space was not the violent and chaotic energy of the "Levi's Realm", but an extremely soft golden light.

Without any hesitation, An picked up Ritas and Merci who was holding a white disc, and plunged into the rift in the alien space.

On the other side, along with countless white threads, the tenth sinner's "two-way" body was completely formed. What she saw was that the several people who had gathered in front of her a second ago had completely disappeared in the blink of an eye.

"."

Facing the empty space, where even the ashes left by the spell were blown away by a strange wind, after a short silence, "Two-Way" began to laugh continuously.

"You actually escaped from my sight again? It's not fun to catch a prey that is too slippery."

After stopping his laughter, "Two Sides" with a gloomy face began to fidget with his fingers vigorously.

In the crack of the alien space, in a passage that looks like a tunnel.

An gradually saw an illusory golden figure, leading everyone in front like a guide.

An felt somewhat familiar with this figure, but he couldn't remember it in a short time.

Ritas obviously had absolute, no, it should be said that he had a certain degree of trust in this person. Otherwise, he would not have followed that figure into the alien space as a difficult option that was only slightly better than going to the "Levi's World" when he really couldn't escape from the woman in white.

On the other hand, Merci, who had been worried and trembling ever since she met An, regained some brightness in her eyes when she looked at this long-lost figure.

Walking on a bridge that seemed to be built of light in the void, and following the golden phantom for a long time, everyone saw a door at the end of the bridge, and another golden figure standing beside it.

"Welcome to the 'World Tree'."

The young man's phantom, whose posture was exactly the same as that of "Filig Kota", spoke politely with his hand on his chest.

The young shadow who had been leading everyone forward and whose posture was exactly the same as that of "Engri Wilvedo" stood to the right side of the door opposite to the other shadow, and then turned his eyes away with a slightly indifferent look.

Wherever you look, there is an endless green ocean.

The ground is made up of extremely lush vegetation, while the aerial part is made up of many floating and connected islands.

There seem to be waterfalls one after another between the islands, but the water in these waterfalls is not turbulent at all, so they look more like a river flowing sideways.

The breeze blew across the ground, passing through countless green leaves, making a rustling sound like the earth's breathing.

In addition, the sound of flowing water is also particularly obvious in this space.

But even with so much noise, the impression this space gives people is still quiet. Or, in other words, it is "stillness" that goes beyond "quietness".

Why he had such a feeling, Ritas himself was not quite sure as he could only vaguely see the general scene.

Since I had been playing hide-and-seek with the woman in white for most of the day, it should be dark outside at this time.

However, this space was unusually bright. And after a careful search, one could discover something a little creepy. That was, there was no light source like the blazing sun hanging high in the sky.

So, is it because of the instinctive realization that there is no day and night cycle here and that one cannot feel the passage of time that this sense of "stillness" arises?

Next to Ritas, Filigree Kota smiled and said, as if to answer Ritas's strange feelings,

"Doesn't this place look like a deliberately created place, Professor Elson?"

"really."

Ritas responded with a hoarse voice, and then said,

"Is it a bad taste that there are no trees in the deliberately created 'World Tree'?"

Just as Ritas, who asked this question that was destined to be unanswerable, said, whether it was the floating island or the green ground, there were no trees growing anywhere you could see. "Hey~ It's really Little Yellow Hair and Engel! Why did you show up like this? Didn't you say you were hanging out with the father of magic tools? And, didn't this lead you directly to the main body of the 'World Tree'! How many floors did you jump at once? How many layers did you jump in the hidden maze? How much money did you lose!"

Perhaps it was because they had finally arrived at a safe place together, or perhaps it was because she had seen a familiar character she hadn't seen for a long time (although not a beautiful girl), and she had no ill feelings towards that character, and she even felt regret when the character left the stage (although not a girl), so the Bathing Goddess immediately returned to her usual cheerful and lively feeling.

Merci, who was holding the round plate, was a little at a loss.

She didn't know whether she should convey the goddess' words directly to the senior and Engel whose names she didn't know.

If I don't tell her, it seems like I'm not very kind to the goddess. If I tell her, it seems like I'm not very polite to everyone.

"What's your status now? Ghost?"

Under Filigree's guidance, An placed Ritas under the shade of a tree and a mushroom.

After getting closer, the people who came to the "World Tree" for the first time discovered that the plants growing here were, on the whole, much larger than they had imagined.

"ghost!?""!?"

It seemed that the Bathing Goddess and Merci, who had been psychologically traumatized by the recent adventure in the abandoned house, would react just by hearing this word.

"I'm not really sure what the situation is."

Filigree shook his head.
"I can't even remember exactly when it was, I just remember that I was in a very strange place, maybe in some books, the 'gap between life and death'. At that time, I looked back on my poor past and felt that my life was really hopeless."

Filigree looked into the distance with his vague eyes, sighing and speaking, but before he could finish,
"Oh, oh, oh, oh, please try not to touch me, Professor Elson. Although I have no physical body now, I have an illusory sense of touch. So as long as I am touched, I will feel an uncomfortable sensation as if my whole body is being tightened. And if my body is pierced, it will be even more serious, enough to reach the level of phantom pain."

After taking several steps back, Filigree finally escaped from the range of Ritas's "magic hand" that was constantly waving around.

"Well, the overall experience is pretty much as described above. Anyway, just when the flame of my life was about to be completely extinguished, something like a ball of light suddenly appeared in front of me. After touching it, I vaguely felt its will asking me if I was willing to become the 'Gatekeeper of the World Tree'."

"And then, you agreed to such a suspicious invitation?"

“No choice.”

On behalf of Fili, Engri responded with a cold voice.

“That’s definitely how it feels.”

Filigree smiled bitterly.
"We can feel that if we don't accept the invitation of the 'World Tree', what awaits us is death. So, even if we have to risk selling our souls, we still choose the side with hope. And, although it feels like we can talk about it later, the identity of 'World Tree's Gatekeeper' is actually not bad. At least, it's not like those stories where you sell your soul to the devil. And..."

Filigree smiled, put his hand on Engli's shoulders, and pushed him in front of the crowd.

"Thanks to this identity, Engel can help you like I am now."

Engel, who was pushed over, shook his shoulders but didn't move away. He just frowned, turned his head and whispered "Mind your own business".

"So, why did the little yellow-haired guy and Engri become the 'Gatekeepers of the World Tree'? This is a hidden job that can only be unlocked by the characters in the team after clearing the last floor of the World Tree Labyrinth."

"Isn't it because of the 'Life Fruit'?"

In the world tree.

In the distance, An seemed to have discovered something, so she asked the two gatekeepers to show her the way.

On Ritas's side, Merci was silently using what she could find at hand to take care of Ritas, who was occasionally dozing off.

"If I remember correctly, the game was almost over when the 'World Tree Labyrinth' was cleared, right? Then this hidden job that can only be obtained by clearing the World Tree Labyrinth has almost no time to be used. Is there any meaning to its existence?"

"Uh, does it mean it can be used again after three rounds?"

"."

"Well, let's talk about the Life Fruit. The little yellow-haired guy and Engri shouldn't be the only ones who use that thing. I don't know the details, but were the 'Terror' and 'Labyrinth' also connected to the Life Fruit? Then why didn't they become gatekeepers? I know! It must be that the World Tree doesn't like bad guys either!"

Hearing that the Bathing Goddess had found the answer herself, Ritas was too lazy to correct her.

Rather, he wasn't sure of the correct answer to this question.

But if it was just a guess, he thought the reason why other beings could not become gatekeepers was very simple.

They died, completely, and were burned to ashes in the light of the "solar eclipse".

In comparison, although Fili and Engli were described as "having lost their souls and therefore unable to recover", strictly speaking, their bodies in the outside world were being kept alive by the Fruit of Life.

It was precisely because of this speculation that when Ritas asked the two of them, "Did you just accept it?" it was not entirely a sarcasm.

He believed that the reason why the two could not find their souls in their bodies in the outside world might be because they were bound by the "World Tree".

But who can say for sure?
Moreover, it was just as Filigree said. If they had not been acting as the so-called gatekeepers, facing the pursuit of the white-dressed woman, it would have been difficult for Ritas and others to get the respite they have now.

"I feel like the little yellow-haired guy gives me a completely different vibe than he did in the academy. If I must say, it's closer to the atmosphere in the game. Engel is pretty much the same."

"Since you don't dislike Filigree Kota, why not call him by his name?"

"Tsk, calling him by a nickname has its advantages! When I get him into the church, I can change it if he expresses his dissatisfaction to me!"

Why did it become a situation where Laferleger had to join the church?
Under the shadow of the giant mushroom, Ritas, the Bathing Goddess and Merci chatted for a while.

The two golden ghostly gatekeepers and An returned to where Ritas was.

"Over there, is the place I have been looking for, my real home."

In front of Ritas, after thinking for a moment, An finally decided to abide by the agreement and said so, pointing to a floating island in the distance.

(End of this chapter)