A slight change occurred after Lyla declared that she would halt the system. First, the number of people in the party decreased. Zich sent Hans, Snoc, and Elena up before him so that there would be an emergency response team if some kind of danger fell upon Violuwin the moment they stopped the system. Hans and Snoc were delighted to hear this. They had gotten sick of loitering around the tomb without much to do. Only Elena seemed to be disappointed by the departure.
As someone who had focused heavily on magic theory and studies when she thought she didn’t have any magic, her magic knowledge was comparable to high-level mages; thus, she was enjoying her time researching the tree. Yet, she also didn’t disagree with Zich and followed Hans and Snoc back to the city’s surface; as she walked with her slouched shoulders, Snoc and Nowem worked hard on comforting her. In the end, only three people—Zich, Lyla, and Marilyn remained behind in the tomb.
‘This is an opportunity!’ Marilyn was overjoyed to see the three disciples leave. Zich’s forces had decreased, and with their absence, it would be easier for her to carry out her plan. Yet, it still wasn’t that much. There was still a huge risk, since she knew the greatest strengths on Zich’s team was Zich himself and Lyla.
Marilyn began to manipulate the tree little by little. Since Elena was gone, she was able to manipulate it when Lyla left the space to eat or sleep. When only one person was left near the tree, Zich came to guard it, but even that was fine. Even if Zich was the Demon Lord of Strength, he wouldn’t be able to tell if Marilyn was manipulating the tree or not. Furthermore, she couldn’t have been happier to be left alone with Zich in the same room.
As she worked, Marilyn and Zich engaged in lengthy conversations. They didn’t talk about anything important and simply centered their conversation to any topic thrown at them. Marilyn was full of glee to even have such insignificant chit chat since it was something she would not be able to do for long in this timeline. As they carried on this enjoyable conversation, Lyla came back after her meal.
“Marilyn, you should also eat and come back.”
“Should I?” Marilyn was getting hungry, but she regretted that her sweet time with Zich had to be cut short, so she hesitated.
“You should go and come back quickly. What are you taking your time for? Time is precious around here.”
“Ah, wait a moment!” Marilyn moved away from Lyla who was lightly pushing her back and approached Zich.
Grab! She suddenly hugged Zich.
“Eheheh!” While letting out hysterical laughter, she left through the entrance door, satisfied. As if she was swept by happiness, she skipped with light footsteps.
“You must be happy to have a beauty like that hug you.” Lyla stared at Zich with narrowed eyes. Zich smirked.
“I have gone through too much to feel happy about a silly hug like that.”
“Good for you.” Lyla’s mood worsened. She took rough footsteps to the tree and crouched near it. Then, she began to search the tree’s mana again.
“How is your work going?”
Lyla conveyed her mood to Zich with her silence. Yet, the silence didn’t last long, and Lyla wasn’t foolish enough to become trapped by her feelings.
“It’s going well.”
“Does it seem like Marilyn noticed anything wrong?”
“She seems busy. She doesn’t even secretly try to hinder me either.”
“Did you grasp the tree’s mana movements?”
“Generally,” Lyla said. If Marilyn heard this, she would have gasped. Zich was also surprised.
“Already? I thought it would take you longer.” This was the best-case scenario Zich had imagined. Realistically, he didn’t expect Lyla to fully grasp the tree’s identity and simply wanted her to gain a better understanding of the tree. Then again, perhaps he should’ve expected this from Lyla; she had exceeded his expectations once more.
“You know how I studied the Tree of Water before? I used that experience. Besides, Marilyn’s mana movements were simple, so it was easy to see through them.” Besides the fact that Lyla had the experience studying the Tree of Water, Marilyn would have been filled with shock to hear anyone describe her mana movements as ‘simple.’
‘Marilyn’s talents had always been through the roof though.’ However, Zich understood. Lyla’s talents were comparable to his and weren’t something that the likes of Marilyn’s talents could compare to.
Thus, Zich responded simply, “That is good news. Then, do you know what Marilyn is doing right now?”
“Generally.”
“…What is she doing? Is she just focusing on the research?” Zich asked with his last ounce of hope, but the response he got was disappointing like he expected.
“No.”
“…I see.”
With this, the small bits of hope that Marilyn wasn’t connected to the robed figures were vanquished.
“What is she doing?”
“That is…” Lyla couldn’t finish her words. It was because Zich had placed his fingers to his lips while looking towards the entrance. It seemed like Marilyn was coming back. Zich blurted out an ordinary, mundane topic, and Lyla naturally responded to it. Zich leaned against the wall while jokingly asking questions, and Lyla responded succinctly while researching the tree. They looked like they had spent all their time with menial chit-chat.
“I’m back!” Marilyn said while returning to the room.
“Hey. How was your meal?”
“Today’s meal was delicious!” Judging by the oil around her mouth, it seemed as if she had really enjoyed her meal today.
“Then, is it my turn?” Zich pulled his back off the wall and walked towards the entrance.
“Wait, Sir Zich!” Marilyn called out to Zich. She approached Zich and buried her face in his back. “Fufufu!”
The sound of happy laughter rang throughout the room. However, she didn’t cling to him for long. She soon moved her face away from Zich and waved her hand. “Please enjoy your meal!”
“I will.”
After Zich left the room, Marilyn walked towards the tree again. Her cheeks were blushing in happiness.
Lyla asked, “Are you that happy?”
Recently, Marilyn was sticking even more closely to Zich than before.
“Of course. I’m dying of happiness.”
Lyla’s expression became complicated as she stared at Marilyn’s cheerful smile. Was this really the face of someone planning a conspiracy behind their backs? At first glance, it was impossible to believe.
‘But…’ Lyla looked at Marilyn’s mana flow. Her eyes shook as she saw where Marilyn’s mana was heading towards. It was certain that Marilyn was lying to them.
* * *
Several days passed like this. Marilyn’s expression of affection towards Zich increased one level higher, and Lyla’s mood worsened respectively. However, their research on the tree continued without problems, and Lyla was now able to control the green tree. This basically meant that the date for Marilyn to carry out her place was now set.
‘I hoped Lyla wouldn’t find out.’ Marilyn let out a sigh. However, she also hadn’t been very hopeful about this. Even though it would be too difficult to control the Tree of Earth, Marilyn thought that Lyla would definitely be able to control something like the green tree.
‘In the end, I’ll have to kill them.’ Marilyn had already laid out her plan. She just merely had to carry it out.
“Are you planning to stop the system tomorrow?”
“Yep.”
Zich and Lyla began conversing amongst themselves. Lyla was her very close friend, and Zich was the person Marilyn loved. Marilyn quietly captured Zich and Lyla’s faces as she would no longer be able to meet them.
* * *
In order to prepare for tomorrow, they went to bed earlier than usual. Dead silence filled the room. The only things in the room were the stone chambers and statues. Since the only beings that could let out sounds were now asleep, it was no wonder that the space was dead silent.
It was at that moment.
Grrung!
A low sound rang in the room. It sounded as if a heavy stone on a rock was being forcibly moved.
Grrrnng!
The sound rang out again. This time, the sound was a bit louder. Moreover, the same sound could be heard from another place.
Grrrrrrrrng!
The sound grew even louder, and there were now more places emitting that same sound.
Flash!
Zich opened his eyes. He immediately clutched Windur and got up. He assessed his surroundings, but nothing looked suspicious. However, Zich didn’t let down his guard. ‘I definitely heard something.’
There was no way Zich misheard this sound. Moreover, this was a sound he had heard before. Zich raised his head and stared at the nearest statue. Normally, the statues stared directly to the front with sharp eyes. However, the statue that Zich was looking at was different. The statue bent its head and was now looking in Zich’s direction.
“Lyla! Marilyn!”
As soon as Zich shouted, Lyla opened her eyes. She grabbed her staff next to her and raised her body. Her movement looked extremely trained; it was from the experience that she gained in her travels.
“W-what’s the matter?” Compared to Lyla, Marilyn’s movements were clumsy. She clutched her staff and stared at Zich with startled eyes. However, Zich’s reply was unnecessary.
Thud!
A loud sound rang in the room. Everyone’s gazes headed towards where the loud sound came from. The statue standing on the platform in a grand pose had come down to the ground.
“W-w-what is that!” Marilyn exclaimed in surprise. However, since it wasn’t Zich and Lyla’s first time seeing a moving statue, they coldly assessed their situation.
“Zich. Did you perhaps secretly bring Windur inside the pyramid?”
“I never did that. Whenever I went near the tree, I stuffed Windur back into the magic box and went around with a substitute sword on my waist. You also saw me.”
“Then, why is that moving?”
“Who knows?”
“Is this a situation to be leisurely having a conversation!” Marilyn shouted to them.
“Yeah, that’s also true. Let’s escape first.”
“I didn’t lower the system yet.” As Zich led them out, Lyla complained and followed him from behind.
“You two are way too relaxed!” Marilyn was dumbfounded.
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
It was a spectacular and amazing sight to see huge stone statues descending from their pedestals. They all looked at them, had swords in their hands, and if they didn’t make it obvious that they wanted to crush Zich, Lyla, and Marilyn, it would have been a great sight to see. The statues weren’t the only things that began moving. An unusual mana flow swirled around and scattered in all directions.
Ssssk!
Something black was starting to come out of the ground.
“Shadows…” True to Lyla’s words, they were the same shadows that had tortured Zich and his companions before. Zich clicked his tongue as he saw a number of them spouting from the ground.
“It seems like they’re going to fight us like they did in the past.”
“They’re definitely not good news.” Lyla also frowned. “Well, there’s no need to be startled. If our enemies come at us like last time, we just have to treat them like how we did last time.”
Zich stepped forward. The shadows began flowing in as if they were being pushed by water. At the same time, the statue closest to Zich wielded its sword. An enormous sword came down on Zich, and likewise, Zich swung Windur.
Crasssh!
A loud sound erupted in the room. The stone statue’s large sword soared high up in the air, and the statue lost its balance and floundered.