Chapter 499: Chapter 499

Wait a second. That thing moved just now, right?

Yggdrasils root is moving?

Sun Wukong pointed at the tree while saying he definitely saw something. Thor replied that it was simply impossible, his eyes wide open in shock.

Was that something to be so shocked about, though?

Su-hyeun and Sun Wukong stared at Thor.

When the two stared at him with eyes clearly asking, Why are you so surprised? Thor regained his wits somewhat and clarified himself, Yggdrasil will move only when its about to give birth to a seed of another World Tree. But to think that its about to create a new seed in a situation like this one

Well, it moved, alright.

Gu-gugugu

The root began moving again.

This time, it wasnt a faint little movement like before. Unless you were blind, you would definitely see it.

The root was rising from below. No, waitsince the sky and the ground were reversed at the foot of the cliff, it would be the same as the root descending lower instead.

Whatever the case might be, the root approached Su-hyeun, Sun Wukong, and Thor.

Crack, craaaack

A persons silhouette made out of wood rose from the center of the root.

Su-hyeun had seen that figure before. Back when he saved a much smaller World Tree only a few years old, another World Tree claiming to be its mother appeared.

Sure enough

We meet again, Su-hyeun spoke after confirming that this one and that figure were the same beings.

The World Tree, Yggdrasil, a.s.sumed the wooden figure of a beautiful woman and opened her eyes to stare at Su-hyeun.

Yes, She replied with a truly radiant smile, something she hadnt displayed the last time they met. Its been a long time.

Despite a.s.suming the figure of unparalleled beauty, her complexion seemed noticeably paler than before.

The damage suffered by the root was worse than expected, it seemed.

Su-hyeun wordlessly stared at her beautiful countenance. That face was easily the most beautiful he had ever seen, including the G.o.ddess of Beauty herself, Aphrodite.

So, that was Yggdrasil all along, Su-hyeun thought.

This was not their first meeting. But back then, he thought of her as merely another World Tree and not the biggest tree there was, otherwise known as Yggdrasil.

Su-hyeun got a seed of a World Tree from her and had it implanted in his body.

He had to do missions on the world created by the young World Tree to reach that point. That was when he began questioning the nature of Yggdrasil. Was its true nature good or evil?

Honestly speaking, the existence called the World Tree is neither good nor evil, isnt it?

Technically, the World Trees should be considered neutral.

For the sake of the universes continued existence, they needed to be protected. Other than that, one should not think of their intentions as only pure and good.

As such, they were beings that Su-hyeun needed to be most wary of. They could easily become evil, pretending to be good, but at the same time, they could never become a true enemy that needed to be defeated, either.

First of all, Id like to offer my grat.i.tude. Thanks to your efforts, I managed to survive. Without you, my root would have burned down in its entirety.

We only did what we obviously had to do, maam, Thor replied while kneeling before Yggdrasil.

He would never kneel before anyone, not even to his father Odin, but Yggdrasil was the exception.

This being was Asgard, and the entirety of G.o.d Realm, itself. No, more than that, even the whole universe. The meaning of Asgards existence was tied to Yggdrasil, which meant the World Tree was basically the deity of Asgard.

Unfortunately for Thor, Yggdrasils attention was not on him. She continued to stare at Su-hyeun, Good sir, what will be your decision?

She asked the same question that Osiris also asked.

Su-hyeuns heart shook for a moment. He then shook his head, Im still not sure yet.

Is that so? Yggdrasil made a rueful face.

But that wasnt so surprising.

Now that both Osiris and s.h.i.+va had begun making their moves, Su-hyeun was basically the best s.h.i.+eld available to her right now.

But right at that moment

You better stop your bullsh*t right now.

Su-hyeuns seething voice was transmitted to Yggdrasils hearing.

She flinched in surprise and looked back at him. Her expression remained the same as before, with a warm smile, but the voice entering her hearing was a polar opposite.

Relax. Dont make a surprised face. Or a scared one.

Su-hyeuns voice continued, and Yggdrasils expression reverted to how she used to be.

Her complexion remained pale, but she didnt get scared or fl.u.s.tered, as expected of her.

Su-hyeun thought of that even during their first encounter, but she certainly was a brilliant actress, wasnt she?

Why are you saying this, good sir?

If you persist with your bullsh*t, then I might end up choosing the other side instead.

But what do you mean by my bullsh

Werent you trying to do something with the seed planted in my body just now?

When Su-hyeun brought that up, Yggdrasil stopped replying altogether as if she had nothing to say.

Su-hyeun observed that reaction, then s.h.i.+fted his gaze over to Sun Wukong and Thor, Can I speak to her alone for a little while?

Both Sun Wukong and Thor made puzzled faces at that request.

Why was he suddenly asking them to leave the two of them alone to chat? Thors loyalty to Yggdrasil was far too strong, so he decided to step forward to say that such a thing could not be allowed. But then

Please, listen to his request.

When Yggdrasil also made the same request, Thor swallowed back what he originally wanted to say and simply nodded, Very well.

Take care of it quickly, okay? I wanna head back home soon, so we can get something to eat, said Sun Wukong.

Understood, Third Brother.

Thor turned around and strode gallantly away while Sun Wukong rode on the cloud to float up, his head lazily resting on his hands.

Now that they were gone, Su-hyeun s.h.i.+fted his gaze back to Yggdrasil once more.

However, his expression was far more unforgiving than a second ago, Were you trying to use the seed to take over my body?

That was not my intention, but

Then, why did you do that just now? Su-hyeun pointed to where his heart was.

That was where the seed had been planted.

When he pointed there, Yggdrasil instantly realized that excuses would not work anymore.

Therefore, she chose to maintain her silence instead.

She didnt make any excuses or movements, either.

It was impossible to use force against the current Su-hyeun. After all, he was already strong enough to rival the G.o.ds of the Five G.o.dly Sages tier.

Making excuses at this stage would be no different from antagonizing him even further.

Su-hyeun waited for an answer, but he suddenly walked up to Yggdrasil when one didnt come.

Grab!

Then, he grabbed her by her throat and lifted her off the ground.

Su-hyeun watched Yggdrasil struggle as she held onto his hand, her expression pleading with him to be released.

His eyes began burning murderously in rage. You try one more c.r.a.p on me, and I will join the other side without hesitation, you hear me? It looks like you know what happened to me and what kind of person I am. In that case, you should have been more careful.

You have changed a lot, good sir.

Yes, I have. And thats why its driving me nuts.

Cruuunch!

Su-hyeun broke Yggdrasils neck. Her body instantly turned into pieces of wood and clattered to the ground.

He then turned his head, I already knew that this seed was supposed to use me as its fertilizer and become a brand-new World Tree. However, I won in the end, and the seed is now in an eternal slumber.

Gu-gugugu

He looked toward was where a new body of Yggdrasil had generated.

She wasnt dead, of course. Even if he broke her neck or ripped her limbs apart thousands of times, she would not die.

Unless all of her roots rotted away, burned down, or the whole universe was destroyed, she would live on.

Even so, you tried to control me through the seed. Just this once, Im willing to let it go since the seed has been helpful to me. But the second time? I wonder what will happen.

It seems that I have made a mistake.

Yes, you have. A terrible mistake.

Step, step

Su-hyeun turned around and walked over to the root, not her wooden body.

Yggdrasils expression instantly changed. She asked him in an urgent voice, Whatwhat are you trying to?

Take a good look.

Ruuumble

Su-hyeuns fingers transformed into intense flames. When he slowly moved his hand, the flames morphed into the shape of a crimson dragon.

Nno, you mustnt!

This is what awaits you in the future.

Su-hyeun ignored Yggdrasils scared voice and waved his hand. When he did

Khaaaaah!

Ruuuuumble!

The crimson dragon made of condensed crimson flames rapidly flew toward Yggdrasils root.

Roooooar!

Rumble, crackle!

An explosion went off, causing the red flames to envelop the entire root.

The flames spread in the blink of an eye. These flames seemed to treat the tree as their fuel and raged on like some wildfire.

Yggdrasil could only stare in utter stupefaction at this spectacle from far away. Her eyes trembled greatly as the flames billowed.

It didnt hurt, even though the root was clearly on fire, and even though she should be writhing in agony right now, she didnt.

There could be only one reason for that.

This could be your future.

It was all because Su-hyeun controlled the power output to ensure the root would not burn down.

His divine Flame was a mysterious power that only burned the opponents he chose.

No matter how intense the flames were, they would not harm Yggdrasil as long as Su-hyeun didnt will it.

But it was another story when one flipped that around.

Indeed, you have changed a lot, good sir.

Right at this very moment, Yggdrasils root would go up in flames if that was what Su-hyeun wanted.

He wanted to demonstrate this fact to her, which was why he created this scene.

Fwhoooosh

The flames vanished in an instant. They were sucked back into his palm.

He addressed her while not even looking back at her, Now you know, so you should not provoke me anymore.

Yggdrasil didnt say anything, but that was already enough of an answer.

He walked right past her. As the distance between them grew, he addressed her one last time in a voice soft enough that she would have almost missed it, I pray that you are someone worthy of protecting.

Su-hyeun made his way back to Asgard.

The citys devastation was so extensive that rebuilding it seemed pretty difficult. Even if he wanted to search for survivors, there werent many, to begin with.

Of course, that didnt mean there were none.

Thor managed to locate Asgards survivors one by one. Since Sun Wukong could perform the cloning technique, he also lent a hand. Although, technically speaking, it wasnt just one hand but hundreds of hands instead.

As for Su-hyeun

Hey, little bro! What are you doing up here?

He was lying on the temple roof where Odin fought his last battle to stare at the skies above.

Whats up with all this daydreaming? Sun Wukong asked.

You know, justI had a few things to think about.

What kinda things? Sun Wukong took a seat next to Su-hyeun. He glanced at Su-hyeun lying on his back. You know, youve suddenly changed.

Really?

Yeah. Did you finally find out some things you were supposed to know? What happened with that b.a.s.t.a.r.d, anyway?

Su-hyeun chuckled at what Sun Wukong said.

Even though he didnt explain in detail what happened with Osiris, Sun Wukong spoke as if he already knew everything.

He certainly knew Su-hyeun better than anyone. If Sun Wukong werent with him right now, Su-hyeuns thoughts would have become even more tangled up and, eventually, lean to one side.

Well, something did happen, alright.

Is it kinda difficult to talk about?

Yes. Kinda

If he could help it, Su-hyeun didnt want to discuss the matters related to his past life, the one of Set, with anyone.

Even if they happened to be Sun Wukong or the Bull Demon King, he still felt the same way. This was his problem. He had to decide on his own.

Hmm Sun Wukong mulled on Su-hyeuns reply before lying down himself, Sure, whatever. Do what you think is the best.

He didnt seem to have any opinion on Su-hyeuns response.

However, Su-hyeun was grateful for that. Sun Wukong must have been curious, but he didnt try to pry any more than necessary.

Despite bringing it up first, Su-hyeun didnt explain further. Sun Wukong decided that there must be a good reason for that.

Looks like the weather is improving, Third Brother.

The sky above was initially dark and filled with gloomy clouds, but the weather was clearing up. Bright light broke through the gaps in the clouds, one ray at a time. The weather had been very gloomy, so the light felt somewhat blinding to their eyes.

And so, as they wordlessly stared at the clearing sky

What the heck?

Su-hyeun and Sun Wukongs eyes caught an object blocking out the light. Both of them sat up simultaneously without saying anything to each other.

However, Sun Wukong seemed to recognize what it was. He muttered while looking up, Oh, hey! Thats Buddhas palm..