NOVEL NEXT Chapter 3: I Knew I Had to Eat Noodles
"I was really foolish, truly..."
The weeping elf girl lifted her sorrowful little face and said, "I only listened to what you said, that the world was going to be destroyed, all efforts would be in vain; I did not know it would start from the Silver Moon Tree Court."
"I got up early in the morning to pick some fruit, took my companions out of the Silver Moon Tree Court, eating fruit and singing along the way, when suddenly we were hijacked by the end of the book... first there was an earthquake, and then we were slapped to death."
"..."
"Let me speak..."
An elf woman, who appeared to be a bit older, took over the conversation from the elf girl. She looked at Yila, who was inquiring about the situation, and said, "At that time, I was still in the Royal Court Tree when I felt the earthquake and looked out the window."
This elf sister, while curiously observing this novel world and streets, continued, "At first, I saw the World Tree growing upward, and then realized... it wasn't growing, but the World Tree was elevating."
"The World Tree withdrew its roots, twisted them into countless legs for walking. Its branches turned into several massive arms, eyes grew from its bark... and then it indiscriminately destroyed everything around."
The imagery described by the elf sister easily reminded one of a treant, one that smashed anything in its path... but if one just considered the size of the World Tree, it would become clear.
It was more colossal than anything one could describe as merely "large."
*Just imagining it, Yila walking on one tiny branch of the World Tree would feel like walking on an endless flat plain.*
*In other words...*
The height of the World Tree was so immense that it was indescribable by any means. One couldn't imagine it as a monster like Godzilla or King Kong.
It wasn't something like a 500-foot or 800-foot creature.
The height of the World Tree, roughly estimated, was at least as tall as the Empire, if not more... in other words, thousands of meters high, almost breaching the atmosphere.
If not breaching it already.
"Indeed, it was a calamity qualified to destroy the world... perhaps the more accurate term would be 'disaster'?"
Yila said this while watching the AI machines, who had received orders long ago, starting to guide the arriving souls to suitable residences. He continued to ask, "And then? What happened next?"
In response to Yila's question, the elf sister continued, "Then, Cassiopeia organized us to form the first line of defense against the World Tree Beast... and then we were all killed in an instant."
The elf sister said this while casually discussing her death... after all, with the fact that they continued to live inside Yila's soul after death, it didn't really feel real.
"Even arrows concentrated with all the Mana couldn't harm the World Tree Beast. Not even magic worked... these were all innate traits of the World Tree."
The elf sister seemed resigned, and behind her and the elf girl, more elves kept arriving... it looked like they were "refreshing" on the streets.
And she was right. Fire couldn't ignite it, Mana couldn't blow it up, and swords were of no use either; these were all intrinsic traits of the World Tree. Until today... nobody ever thought it was a bad thing.
After all, before today, no one would have imagined... that one day, the World Tree would pull itself up and then, just like a comedian, hit people—hey!
*While Yila was thinking about this...*
"Splat~"
Accompanied by a unique sound effect, a soul gathered under everyone's gaze, and a familiar face appeared in front of Yila and the other elves.
"Ha! So this is inside Yila's body? Wow, this world is so bright."
Cassiopeia exclaimed, looking around. Then, she immediately saw the stunned Yila and brightly greeted him, "Yila, you're here, huh?"
To be honest, Yila thought Cassiopeia wouldn't die so quickly.
"Do you know what happened outside?"
Cassiopeia asked, looking at Yila who nodded. She waved to her father and sister, who had also died, then cheerfully clapped her hands and said to Yila, "Boom! Silver Moon Tree Court, gone!"
Even though the situation was tragic, for some reason, Cassiopeia seemed quite happy. Many other elves were not particularly sad either, instead, they were happily chatting with each other.
The free elves had turned the street into a noisy marketplace.
"Alright, tell me the specifics later. First, I need to arrange your housing."
Yila said this to Cassiopeia, patting an AI machine on the shoulder and saying, "Hello, please gather the characteristics of these specific racial individuals, then store them in the racial database as 'Elfs' based on similarity."
Yila then looked at the AI, whose eyes sparkled with data streams, and after the AI responded with [Permission confirmed—command completed], he continued, "Move all the 'Elfs' to the uninhabited 'Sky Garden'... ."
The so-called Sky Garden was an aerial city, very suitable for a race to inhabit... Since elves were not used to eating meat, just like some alien races with unique customs, it was better for them to have their own territory.
This way, when newcomers arrived, they would appear directly in the Sky Garden, and the AI would explain the situation to them... further considerations need to be made for other races' specific needs as well.
AI: "Command completed, Sky Garden No. 14 has been renamed to 'Elf Air Garden.'"
"Arrange the construction of direct sky rail elevators, connecting the Elf Air Garden... move the elves currently in the city to the new location, and elevate the permissions of this elf beside me to be the Full Authority Agent of 'Elfs.'"
After arranging the matters related to the elves, Yila turned to look at Cassiopeia... At this moment, Cassiopeia was gazing at him with shining eyes, admiringly saying, "So cool!"
In response, Yila could only shake his head helplessly and said, "It's really not as impressive as you think. Doing anything requires permission, which is quite troublesome... although I have the highest authority, so I don't feel that much."
Yila said this, then exchanged greetings with the elves following the AI, and then led Cassiopeia towards a certain direction.
"Let's go, I'll take you to eat something... something called 'noodles.'"
"..."
"Yila~"
"Hmm?"
"Yila~~"
"Uh... hmm?"
"Yila~~~"
"Hmph~ what are you doing?"
"Nothing, just calling you."