Countless twisted branches filled the vast space in every direction. They looked like grotesque fusions of plants and flesh, turning the place into a terrifying realm of monstrosities. Yet at its very center, there seemed to be a clear pool surrounded by natural flowers and grasses, a stark contrast to the horrors around it.
And there in that pool, imprisoned by densely tangled black-and-red vines, Lynn saw the figure he recognized.
Her expression was one of utter fury.
Her hair was a mass of diseased black-and-red willow branches, her luminous face beautiful enough to move the heart. Her skin was flawless white, and her slender body lay immersed in the nearly dried-up pool, almost dreamlike in its translucence. She looked exactly like the girl who had accompanied Lynn in the Colossus Space.
There was only one difference.
Now, black blight crawled over her body. Those ugly marks made her look like a slave girl covered in scars from her master's beatings.
Yet that only lent her an even more tragic beauty.
The corrupted Nature Goddess.
"Bastard!"
The willow-like girl spoke to him furiously, her face full of hostility.
Her voice was remarkably clear, yet weakened by the blight suppressing her. It was utterly unlike the deliberately mature voice the Mother Tree of Desire had used when speaking to him through her consciousness, and it stirred a terrifying impulse that made one want to commit a crime.
Lynn stared wide-eyed. "You're beautiful."
[Ding!][Ding!][Ding!]
Those two brief words instantly set off notifications that the Mother Tree of Desire's anger toward him had risen by hundreds of points.
"Despicable! Shameless! Filthy!!"
She cursed him furiously, her face flushed with rage.
ヽ(￣▽￣)ﾉ!
That was why humans really were such awful creatures. When she had cursed him through her consciousness, he had at