Deep Underground

What was there to prepare for?

Bard Wendell looked up at the enormous canopy that blotted out the sky, at the countless vines and pillars hanging down beneath it. This "plant," something that could almost be described as the product of myth, lay far beyond his experience and understanding. Even in the ancient texts of The End of All Things, there had been no description related to it...

No, not entirely none. He remembered that in the archives of The End of All Things, in certain religious texts passed down from the ancient Druidic church, there had been descriptions of something similar: In the depths of a divine kingdom beyond mortal reach, Amun the Giant Deer, the ancient Nature God, dwelled beneath a colossal tree known as "Reincarnation." That giant tree covered the heavens and the earth. Its canopy bore a city known as "Life," while its roots ran deep underground, entwining a great tomb known as "Death"...

Could the giant tree before him be a byproduct of The End of All Things forcibly creating an Artificial God?

There really was nothing to prepare for when facing something like this.

Relax, write a reasonably well-worded will, eat a good meal, and if he were still the Wolf General, he could say a few stirring words at a time like this—but unfortunately, he was still a prisoner, so there was no need for any grand speeches.

He lowered his head. "I'm ready."

Gawain nodded and gestured to the soldiers beside him. Soon, someone brought over the necessary equipment.

Although Bard was a former cultist who needed to atone for his crimes through merit, and although his task resembled that of a suicide squad member, Gawain had not brought him here out of spite or for private punishment. This mission truly required