Chapter 2192: Chapter 2192

The exit, of course, didn't materialize simply because Jenkins had completed his task. Instead, the ship itself began to act strangely.

The deck trembled as the vessel slowly began to sink. Once it was nearly level with the pier, Jenkins nimbly vaulted over the railing and landed on the dock.

The dock was real, not some phantom backdrop. The head sank with the ship, but its voice seemed to emanate from all around him:

"In this Mysterious Realm, you'll have to fight those ants, of course. But before that, just as I mentioned, why not take a tour of my ideal world?"

The head's voice asked, then added:

"I can guarantee that no one will disturb us until you've finished your tour and shared your thoughts. On the ship, you learned what happened here, but you haven't seen my masterpiece in its entirety or grasped my vision. That would be a terrible shame for me."

"I want to know who you are,"

"A supreme machine crafted by my Lord, Great Wisdom. I possess my Lord's experience and wisdom. Beneath my Lord, I am the most intelligent."

"Aren't you the least bit curious about my ideal 'Land of Steel'? About the metallic world I've calculated and deduced? You've siphoned off some of my Lord's power as the 'Lord of All Machines'—it's impossible for you not to be interested. Even a single glance, just to understand... think of it as a moment of reprieve before the final battle. My Lord wants someone who truly understands it to witness this creation. I suspect my Lord also thinks that even in failure, someone should be there to inherit it all."

The voice continued its temptation, even daring to admit the possibility that the Difference Engine could fail. Jenkins nodded. There was a certain logic to its words.

"But I'm truly sorry... I have absolutely no interest in your world."

Jenkins placed the leaf gifted by the World Tree in his mouth. He turned his back on the steel World Tree to face the broad river, then sighed softly.

"World Tree, you are with me."

In his last dream before entering the nine-story metal tower, Jenkins had met the consciousness of the World Tree itself, which had replaced his blessed flask with a single leaf. Holding the leaf in his mouth rendered him immune to all poisons and curses, but that wasn't its main function. Its primary purpose was to grant him a single chance to call upon the World Tree's presence.

The description of this power was vague. It didn't specify whether the World Tree's physical form would descend, whether it would deliver a full-powered strike across worlds, or if its consciousness would simply arrive to fight alongside him.

Therefore, before making the call, Jenkins had no idea what to expect. So when he sighed and the leaf dissolved in his mouth with no immediate effect, he briefly wondered if he had misunderstood its function entirely.

Fortunately, he hadn't. The momentary calm was simply because he was looking in the wrong direction. After Chocolate helpfully flicked the tip of its tail in front of his eyes, Jenkins finally raised his gaze to the sky.

A great hole had been torn in the sky, which had previously been so shrouded in dense fog that nothing was visible. The mist desperately fled the opening. Within that circular rift, a lush, inverted forest was clearly visible, as if the skies of two separate worlds had been stitched together.

As his perspective zoomed in, the rift in the sky focused on a specific region of the forest. Jenkins saw an island in the middle of a lake, a place that looked like something out of a fairy tale. Points of faint luminescence made every inch of the reflected space seem to radiate a soft light.

He then saw colorful, dreamlike motes of light drifting on the wind and the tender blades of grass swaying gently. He saw the great tree on the island, and it looked exactly as it had in his dream.

"I knew it wasn't a dream," he murmured. "So the World Tree's true form is this small."

Small, that is, relative to the world-spanning behemoth he had imagined. Nᴇw novel chapters are publɪshed on novᴇlfire.net

The inverted tree projected a green light that poured from the rift down into the Mysterious Realm. An endless stream of life force began to drive back the surrounding fog. As the green light touched Jenkins, the emblem of the [World Tree Seedling] materialized at his feet.

The emblem had depicted a small sapling, but now it began to grow at a visible rate. It was still a young tree, but its branches stretched out, its trunk thickened, and tender leaves sprouted from its boughs.

Chocolate meowed in celebration. The cat knew its help wouldn't be needed this time. But that was fine. A cat, after all, must strike at the final moment to truly demonstrate its importance.

The World Tree itself hadn't appeared in the Mysterious Realm, but it had temporarily entrusted a portion of its power to Jenkins. As they were both of the World Tree, their power was fundamentally the same. Thus, the energy pouring in from the distant Prosperous Forest was enough to induce a further transformation in the emblem at Jenkins's feet.

By the time the rift in the sky shrank and vanished, Jenkins was radiating an undeniable aura of green light. A colossal power surged through him. The World Tree had lent him a fraction of its strength, making him a miniature version of itself. Though this power was a one-time gift, it would be more than enough for this Mysterious Realm.

The voice of the metal head fell silent. In its place came the sound of heavy, rhythmic footsteps from the direction of the steel World Tree. Three golden ants, each the size of the ancient dragons Jenkins had encountered in the last Mysterious Realm, burst through the coalescing fog at the edge of his vision.

Their bodies were segmented into three parts: a head of pure gold, a thorax of reddish-gold, and an abdomen of dark gold. Their two black-gold antennae seemed to corrode the very air as they twitched. The eighteen powerful legs of the three ants slammed against the ground, and the island trembled with the impact.

"The devourers of the World Tree..."

The golden ants shared an ancient, intricate connection with the World Tree. The moment its power manifested, they emerged from the steel behemoth and charged directly for the dock. Compared to the other Beasts of Calamity Jenkins had faced, these three ants lacked any potent psychic contamination or soul-crushing aura. They seemed to be nothing more than three enormous monsters.

"It won't be that simple,"

he thought, tapping his toes and rising into the air, savoring the temporary freedom of flight. He had easily subdued the Scarlet Ephemera at the end of the ancient town encounter, but that was only because the World Tree was its natural counter. Not every Beast of Calamity could be handled so easily—especially these ants, which were a natural counter to the World Tree itself.

The airborne writer extended his right hand, scattering a wave of green light. In the ground before the dock, thousands of multicolored shoots burst from the soil and surged toward the three ants.

Simultaneously, on the island of the steel World Tree, saplings sprang up one after another, rapidly growing into a sea of towering trees to block the ants' path.

But this offered not the slightest obstruction. Wherever the ants passed, a sound of furious gnawing was followed by the swift disappearance of all plant life. With every bite, the three golden ants grew larger. By the time they reached the spot beneath Jenkins, thin, golden wings erupted from their thoraxes. With a blur of motion, they too took to the sky.

"These ants can fly?"

Jenkins muttered, directing vines on the ground to shoot into the sky in an attempt to drag them down. But the moment any plant touched the golden ants, it would instantly vanish as if devoured.

Moreover, the life energy Jenkins had sown was vanishing as quickly as water from a draining pond. The ants grew larger still. After starving in this prison for millennia, they were finally tasting a familiar, delectable meal.

"So, the Difference Engine placing these ants on the eighth level was a perfect choice," Jenkins mused. "They're the ideal counter to the World Tree."

With that thought, Jenkins descended, landing atop the crown of the steel World Tree. The moment his feet touched down, he knew it was made entirely of metal. The vibrations from his landing allowed him to 'see' the complex, nest-like structure within the crown and trunk.

"But these ants don't seem to understand one thing,"

he said, taking out his cane. With a flick, it grew and lengthened, transforming into the familiar shape of his scepter.

"The only reason you could devour the World Tree was because it intended to abandon the power within that body."

The green light swirling at the scepter's tip shot out as three shimmering ropes, binding the flying ants. Their thin wings vibrated furiously as they struggled, and Jenkins felt his power draining away, siphoned by the golden insects.

But after only a few seconds, the ants found they could no longer drain his strength.

"Life energy not under my direct control is naturally consumed by your instincts. But this power is now mine to command."

He gripped his scepter, and the emblem at his feet flashed, releasing a flood of green light that enveloped the entire crown of the steel World Tree. The light formed a brilliant web, and trapped within it were the ants.

"If the World Tree does not give it, you cannot take it."

The three ants descended, landing on the crown. Where they touched, the silver-gray steel instantly transformed into a glittering gold. The corruption spread slowly from those three points, creeping across the crown as it contested the World Tree's power. That gold was the power of corrosion, the sin of greed—the true sin of the ants' own epoch.