Astartes of the Bear School

Chapter 2023 1995. Burning the Golden Tree?
The golden tree is rejecting everyone from the outside world.

The moment he realized this, Lan En immediately wanted to leave.

After all, this means that if the border region cannot resolve this issue, then from now on, the border region will no longer be able to give birth to a true 'god' or a legitimate King of Elden.

God and King are paired, and God needs to go to the Golden Tree to meet the Ring of Law in order to truly ascend to the throne.

This is the truth of this world.

Now the Golden Tree is refusing to let anyone know... If others find out about this, the entire border region will probably go crazy!

As someone who witnessed this scene, Lan En was afraid that others would think that he was responsible for it.

If that's the case, then everyone from heaven to earth, from the entire border region, will come to kill him.

But it was only for a moment. Afterward, the Witcher calmed down from the sudden and profound sense of crisis.

He recalled the bitter words Montgomery had spoken to him: "We have long been abandoned."

The Golden Tree rejected everyone from the very beginning, is that what it meant?

A look of realization and disbelief crossed Lan En's eyes.

He looked up at Melina, who was standing in front of him, trying to touch the golden net of light.

The soul girl's hand was so close, yet it seemed impossible to touch her.

The outermost layer of the optical mesh is like this, not to mention the physical thorns behind it.

The thorns formed from the golden tree are obviously not something simple.

Just as Lan En looked up, perhaps coincidentally, Melina, who was unable to touch the light net with her palm, also turned around and looked down at Lan En.

Behind her was a golden net of light, the light shining from behind as brilliant as gold yet cold, making it difficult to see her face clearly.

But the Witcher had a vague feeling... she seemed to feel a sense of relief.

It wasn't the relief of 'getting things done', but rather a brief respite and... a little bit of happiness from 'not having to do certain things for a while'.

“It seems no one can go to see the Golden Tree.” Lan En frowned, looking at her as if his previous observations of her had never happened. “Is your mission over?”

Melina remained silent for a moment, then looked at the light net and thorns with a hint of reluctance before stepping down to be at the same height as Lan En.

"This is the Golden Tree's self-formed hard shell, which it rejects everything from the outside world. To enter it and truly pay homage to the Golden Tree, one must overcome these barriers... My mission is closely related to this."

"Then what's your plan?" Lann gestured with his chin toward the net of light at the end of the stairs. "Mongt, as the Blessed King, can sound so bitter. That's the power of the Golden Tree."

“I have a way.” Melina said calmly and indifferently, her right eye, open, staring directly at Lann’s gaze, emphasizing, “I have a way!”

"I wish I could travel with you again! To the summit of the Giant Snow Mountain, covered in snow and above a sea of ​​clouds—the summit with the extinguishing flames. That way, I could burn the Golden Tree. And with it, these thorns of rejection would be burned away."

The Witcher stared blankly at the soul girl.

They wanted to see the golden tree, but were blocked from the outside by its thorns. So they decided to burn the golden tree.
...Isn't there something wrong with this logic?
Lan En could understand that these thorns were the Golden Tree's resistance to the outside world. Although it seemed to be only a small patch in front of him, it would probably take a fight against the power of the entire Golden Tree to destroy them.

But they burned the entire golden tree?
“When you saw these thorns, you should have already realized it, Lann.” Melina’s right eye looked seriously at the Witcher. “This world is beyond saving. It has been collapsing ever since the Ring of Law was shattered months ago, and it’s far from over. There’s no bottom line.”

Every bad situation must come to an end; after a process of falling and collapsing, there must also be a process of improvement and recovery.

This is a habitual idea that people have based on past experience.

It wouldn't be bad to use it in today's border areas either.

Compared to the Golden Law era that was still around just a few months ago, the chaos, bizarreness, and strangeness of the world today are like hell!
Since we're already in hell, no matter how things develop in the future, we should be able to rise up and find peace, right?
This is why the awarding ceremony is being held so grandly and joyously in Rodel today.

Everyone viewed the victory at the Battle of Rodel as a landmark turning point, signifying the restoration of stability for the Golden Dynasty and giving them renewed hope for the future.

Now, right beneath their feet, in the magnificent city of Rodel, the distant, ethereal cheers of the people are not only for the heroes' victory, but also for their own potentially better future.

However, once witnesses get close to the golden tree and see the thorns that symbolize its rejection of everything, they immediately realize: it's hopeless.

There's no hope left.

The world will never get better since that day months ago. There is no such thing as a 'terrible limit'; the rules of the world will only continue to crumble more and more deeply each day!

The Elden Ring, which governs the workings of the world, can only be repaired or its laws changed within the Golden Tree, whether one wishes to do so simply.

Now, no one can enter the Golden Tree. Therefore, there is no salvation in this world, and no end.

"Burn the Golden Tree and then take the opportunity to enter its interior?" Lan En's expression was extremely cold. "This is an unforgivable crime since the beginning of life in this world, Melina."

"Why go to this point? Just because of your vague mission? Even if you're obsessed with your mission, why do you think I'd join you in committing such a heinous crime?"

The Witcher's cold words seemed to be an attempt to distance himself from Melina, who harbored such dangerous thoughts.

"If the world continues to crumble, that's everyone's problem, and everyone suffers the same way. But if someone tries to be the first to do it and burn down the golden tree... the person who takes that first step rarely ends well. Do you understand, Melina?"

The soul girl did not respond immediately. Her light reddish-brown, slightly wavy hair was draped down, and her right eye was staring straight at Lan En.

"You care about this world, and about the lives in it."

"Tch," Lan En scoffed almost immediately, "The border area is so vast, why should I care about so many people?"

However, his deliberate sneer had no effect on Melina.

Only when the sneer on Lan En's face gradually faded under her piercing gaze did she speak, still indifferent and calm.

"If you don't care, then why did you do so many troublesome things in Sunshade City, when you were facing Torisha?"

The girl's eyes were pure, yet they seemed to hold an unwavering certainty and trust.

She just looked at you so calmly, yet you could no longer use excuses or pretenses to avoid it.

With a 'smack', Lan En slapped his forehead, the crisp sound echoing back and forth on the steps enveloped in the wood of the golden tree.

"I'm going crazy..."

Melina's lips curved into a barely perceptible smile, a very faint smile, but one that she had never shown since meeting Lan En.

The girl looked incredibly radiant.

“I know this is an entreaty that asks you to commit an unforgivable sin. But if this path leads to the result I want to achieve, then I want to go down this road… What do you think?”

Melina pursed her lips, looking at Lan En with a hint of caution.

Lann pressed his forehead without lowering his hand: "But even if you want to do that, do you know how? As far as I know, the giants' annihilation flames only have a tiny remnant in that cauldron."

"The war of giants during the Golden Dynasty nearly wiped out the fire giants. The flames were left only because they couldn't be extinguished, but even if they couldn't be extinguished, they should only be a small flame left now, right? And the Golden Tree has such powerful strength."

The giant's ash flames are an inextinguishable flame.

However, Lan En did not believe that this flame was of a higher rank or stronger effect than the [Primordial Flame] of the Flame World.

Not to mention that the extinguished flames now only have a few traces remaining in the cauldron of flames on the snow-capped mountain.

In truth, Lan En thought those flames were probably similar to the embers on his [Turbid Flow - Extinction].

Yes, Lan En believed that the flames on his [Turbid Stream Annihilation] were now enough to burn down the Golden Tree.

However, the problem with [Ember] is the same as with Extinguishing Flame: their size is too small.

The Embers are the remnants left behind by the Lords of Cinder in the Fireworld after they were burned by the First Flame and their souls stabilized the world. There weren't many to begin with, let alone a portion sealed within a sword.

If that spark hits the golden tree, it might indeed ignite, but it would likely be engulfed by the tree's immense overall power.

Either increase the amount of flame, or seek to elevate the essence of the flame.

In short, at this stage, Lan En believes that neither the [Ember] nor the [Ash Flame] on the snow mountain, both being remnants, has the ability to burn the Golden Tree.

However, when asked about the practical implementation issues, Melina simply shook her head.

"I will prepare the spark to reignite the extinguished flames, to make it burn brightly again. As long as you can reach the summit of Giant Snow Mountain and get to that cauldron of fire, I will take care of the rest. You don't need to worry."

"Have you done it?" Lan En removed the hand from his forehead and looked at Melina with suspicion.

It wasn't that Lan En doubted the soul girl's ability to handle things; it was just that the girl had been by Lan En's side ever since she appeared, and usually followed him invisibly, without ever doing anything on her own.

Everyone who wanted to get to the foot of the Golden Tree followed Lan En.

There's really nothing to report about their performance.

(End of this chapter)