Are You Right Next to the Forest

Nese hesitated, as if he wanted to say something.

He had seen Keir effortlessly put forth those profound, inspired theories. Even the teachers present at the time had agreed with them.

And he was an angel.

Angels were high-ranking, long-lived energy beings. No matter what, their innate abilities should have been powerful. Especially compared to someone like him, who had only just transformed into an energy being and was still not used to it...

Nese did not want to entertain any disrespectful thoughts, but he could not help wondering—

Why had he stepped into the red stream alone, yet now both of them were hanging here?

Enduring the scarlet current and an overwhelming urge to scratch his back, he looked at Keir.

The Throne Angel was sharing the same frail sapling on the cliff face with him—a sapling that did not even have a second branch.

One of Keir's wings hung limp, while the other was spasmodically curled into a ball.

In energy vision, the threads of order energy outlining his form were now extremely sparse, as if they could snap at any moment. A mess of overlapping geometric symbols covered the wound on his shoulder—rule-sealing sigils Nese was maintaining with his own mana.

Beneath the sealed wound, azure-green, dark black, and deep red colors faintly surged back and forth.

The destructive energy had not yet been eradicated... It was continuously harming the angel from within, weakening his strength...

And then there was this.

The disorderly power permeating every corner of hell. The eyeball cores wreathed in black clouds all around had turned toward them, slowly drifting toward Keir as though drawn by a magnet and clinging to him like black tufts of fur.

Nese realized the severity of the situation.

It was not just that he was injured. He had also left Calamity Stone Floating Island, with its protective barrier, and lost the horn necklace Yicha had left behind. The natural energies of Chaos Hell would gradually erode this low-ranking Throne Angel on their own.

No wonder Keir had said there was no way... The angel truly did not have much strength left.

The problem was—

Neither did the sorcerer.

Not merely because he had to maintain the mana seal over Keir's wound.

The scarlet river water pouring down from Fire Thunder Zhesang made his entire body itch while silently draining his strength.

At this moment, Nese felt his palms growing slicker and slicker, and the impact of the river becoming harder and harder to endure.

A cold, ashen feeling began to spread through his heart.

It felt as though nothing he did would matter anymore.

The sounds by his ears began to blur.

Maybe I should just let go and fall...

The thought sent a shudder through him, jolting him awake in horror.

Only then did Nese realize that the hand gripping the sapling had nearly slipped free. Across from him, Keir wore a drowsy expression.

A hissing sound, like the breath of something dying, rose from below.

He looked down and saw several pallid swarms of pale worms that had somehow spread up from the bottom of the abyss, writhing along the cliff face toward them.

"Angel! Wake up!"

There was no time for manners. He drove an uppercut into Keir's face.

"Mmm..." the angel groaned.

Nese began desperately trying to pull himself onto the tiny tree.

The little tree seemed nowhere near fully grown. Its trunk was soft, and with the river washing over it, every reachable spot was wet and slippery. He clawed and kicked until he was nearly exhausted, yet only managed to hook both arms over it.

The pale worm swarm approached quickly. He could almost make out their constantly writhing forms—things like chicks that had been half-hatched and then roasted, some with distorted human faces, some without.

Suppressing the itch, Nese cupped a handful of scarlet river water in both hands.

He needed something that could serve as a mirror to cast a long-distance information spell and call Yicha for help.

He had not wanted to disturb his teacher.

Damn it. It made him ashamed. How badly he wished he could solve this himself.

To keep that tiny patch of water still, he thrust his head over the pool in his palms and used it to block the current.

Then he looked into his hands.

Nese felt the blood in his entire body freeze.

The water reflected nothing.

His facial features, his head blocking the light above and casting a shadow that should have appeared. Even the worst mirror should at least have shown those.

There was nothing.

The water's surface was a misty, dark crimson.

This red water did not reflect anything... This bizarre little stream of hell!

Always walk right next to the forest. Always avoid the red streams.

Damn it.

He should have listened to the Chaos Hell Travel Guide.

The moment he woke up, he should have dragged Keir toward that strange forest and gotten out of this place first.

"How do we get back to the edge of the forest..."

He did not realize he had said it aloud.

"You're already in the forest."

A thin voice spoke.

Nese widened his eyes and looked at Keir. The liquid in his hands spilled through his unconsciously opened fingers.

The angel was staring blankly at him as well. That clearly had not been Keir's voice.

"Your voice got very thin," Keir said.

"It wasn't me."

"Not me either."

"It was me," the thin voice said.

"Who?"

"Not me," Keir said again.

"Heh. Me."

Nese looked down at the little tree wedged beneath his armpits.

"Me. How many times do I have to say it? Are you deaf?" the little tree said angrily.

Nese said nothing.

"My apologies, so it was you. I didn't know you were here. I'm terribly sorry."

Light returned to Keir's dim eyes. His trembling hand tried to gently stroke the bark. "Hello. I have long admired you."

Nese still said nothing.

How should he put it...

He suddenly felt that this conversation was both difficult to understand and difficult to join.

But the conversation ignored him and continued.

"Heh. A little angel. You've actually heard of me!" the little tree said.

"Great Alexander Hanging Ghost," Keir said. "Your magnificent legends have been passed down to this day, unforgettable to all who hear them."

The little tree let out a smug laugh like rustling leaves.

"Heh. You're lucky. My temper is much better now. You'd better understand what I mean. You've performed well. Come in."

Come in where? Nese had been about to ask.

But there was no need soon enough.

Creak, creak—

The sound of shoots stretching and bark splitting.

The little tree rapidly thickened and thickened again, until it was as wide as an eight-horse carriage. The leading edge of the pale worm swarm had only just reached nearby when it was blocked below.

At the same time, springy branches grew from the crown, roughly forked up the angel and the sorcerer, and tossed them onto the trunk, which now had ample space.

The little tree—no, the enormous tree—split part of its roots embedded in the cliff with a crack, forming something like an eave and thrusting upward. The rushing, splashing red water of Fire Thunder Zhesang was perfectly blocked.

A dim cave entrance appeared before them.

Without even looking back, Keir lifted a leg and walked inside without hesitation.

Nese tried hard to suppress his emotions. Again.

Then he quickly followed.

"This tree is called Alexander Hanging Ghost? Why?"

After turning down a pitch-black bend, Nese quietly asked Keir.

"What tree?" Keir said in surprise.

The sorcerer felt that one of the two of them had to be insane.

The angel scratched his hair, and a faint halo suddenly lit above his head.

Though it was not very bright, that small amount of light illuminated the nearby space.

The cave stretched so high its ceiling could not be seen, so deep that no walls were visible.

Countless long, thick tree trunks crisscrossed within it. Dense branches and leaves dripped sticky fluid. Roots twisted out a riverbed-like ground, extending deeper ahead.

Thousands upon thousands of filthy flowers patterned like crying faces, their edges scorched black, bloomed among them. Upon touching the angel's holy light, every flower shed tears like insect eggs at once.

"Alexander Hanging Ghost," Keir said, "is the Underforest, as ancient as Chaos Hell itself."