Chapter 484: The truth About The Tree

Daniel slowly opened his eyes and looked around. Seeing that the plan had succeeded, that the massive giant had moved away, now chasing William and the other S-ranks, he let out a sigh of relief.

Their plan had been simple, but carrying it out was extremely dangerous. Even now, what had happened was far beyond his expectations—one of the S-ranks wasn’t even supposed to die.

"No! I don’t want to die! Help me! Agh—" a distant scream echoed in his ears.

He turned slightly and looked back... well, now the death count had officially increased to two S-ranks.

Still, he didn’t care and continued toward the tree. He hadn’t expected casualties, but it was something that could’ve been predicted.

After all, their opponent was a peak S-rank, and judging from the strength it had shown, its raw combat power was likely touching the boundary between S-rank and National-level Awakened.

With power like that, losing one or two people—or even more—wasn’t surprising. Even Diana wasn’t supposed to end up in that condition.

That girl was supposed to play a different role, but the giant’s single strike had left her one step away from death.

Still, as long as the plan succeeded, all of this would be worth it. Daniel slowly landed on the mountain ridge, right next to the tree.

He summoned his sword, and before cutting it apart, he gave it a look. It was just an ordinary tree, maybe the most normal and simple tree he had ever seen.

But strangely enough, it was beautiful—more beautiful than anything he’d ever seen. It felt like the source of all life itself, like everything originated from it.

It felt alive, and it was as if the tree was staring back at him. The air grew heavy and quiet, as if the two of them were observing each other.

Daniel felt a strange sense of familiarity, like he was meeting an old acquaintance again—someone precious.

And oddly enough, the tree seemed to feel the same. Its leaves and branches trembled slightly... as if it was happy?

But why would a tree be happy to see someone who was about to cut it to pieces?

"Huh? That human... how is he alive?!" at that moment, the giant suddenly realized something and turned its head.

Seeing that the human he thought he had crushed was standing alive beside the tree with a sword, its eyes flared red and it let out a terrifying roar.

The roar shook the sky, the land, and the entire island. It felt like everything might collapse at any moment and be completely destroyed.

William’s ears burst and blood flowed from them. The S-ranks felt their minds go blank for a moment from the sheer force of the roar.

The giant began to sprint back toward the tree with all its strength, as if it would die itself if it didn’t save it. A terrifying madness flashed in its eyes.

Even the S-ranks and William noticed it—from that roar alone, it was clear the giant had gone insane at the sight of the tree in danger.

But why? It seemed more than simple fear of death... it was more like it feared the tree’s death.

"That bastard, what is he doing wasting time?! Hurry up and destroy that tree already!" William grumbled angrily when he saw Daniel hadn’t destroyed it yet.

The S-ranks frowned as well—they were clearly irritated. What was that damn kid waiting for? Why hadn’t he destroyed the tree yet?!

"Damn it, it’s too late!" William exhaled sharply when he saw the giant nearing the ridge. It seemed destroying the tree was no longer possible.

"You human... I’ll tear you apart with my own hands! No—first I’ll make you beg for death, over and over! I’ll make you wish for death a billion times before I let you die!" the giant roared and stretched out its massive hand toward him.

Yet, it seemed the human in front of it didn’t even hear its words—nor did he care in the slightest.

The enormous hand approached, only inches away from grabbing him. Everyone was certain it was over, that the plan had completely failed.

But suddenly—BOOM.

The giant’s hand froze. In fact, it seemed as if time itself had stopped. Even the air had gone still.

Everything—life, awareness, consciousness—entered an absolute frozen state, without anyone even realizing it.

Daniel stared at the tree, eyes full of confusion. He couldn’t move his body either, but for some reason, his consciousness remained. He could still perceive everything.

Before he could analyze what was happening, one of the tree’s branches slowly rose and moved toward him.

He thought it was going to attack him—but on second thought, that made no sense. If the tree wanted him dead, it could’ve let the giant kill him, not stopped time itself.

The branch reached his head... and gently brushed against his hair.

Daniel felt a strange warmth, and then his vision darkened. His consciousness was pulled somewhere else—perhaps to a point in the past.

Time passed slowly. It was impossible to tell how long—seconds, minutes... years... maybe even thousands of years. No one could tell.

During that undefined span, everything remained frozen. The concept of time in this dungeon became meaningless, as if it had been separated from the flow of reality.

A terrifying power—one that could even strike fear into a demigod.

Then, the tree slowly withdrew its branch, and Daniel’s eyes lit up again. His awareness returned to normal.

"I see," Daniel muttered softly, gazing at the tree with complex emotions. Of all the possibilities, he hadn’t expected this one.

It turned out the tree belonged to him—or, more accurately, to the previous owner of the God Blood.

The reason for his sense of familiarity came from his bloodline—memories carved into it that couldn’t be erased.

The tree standing before him was the opposite of the Tree of Life. The Tree of Life was the source of freedom and creation—this one was the source of life and slavery.

Everything it brought to life, it also enslaved, binding their souls and using them however it pleased.

It was said to be one of the most infamous entities among the gods. The gods had sealed it away long ago because of its terrifying power.

But that forbidden being—the one whose very existence had been erased from all knowledge—had found and unsealed this tree, keeping it by his side.

Until his fall... and the tree disappeared. Now, after so long, it had returned into the hands of his successor.

The tree slowly turned to ashes, then to light, merging into Daniel’s Spiritual Palace. There, it reformed as a tree once more—but it seemed to fall into a deep sleep.

At that moment, time returned to normal, as if nothing had happened.

The giant’s massive hand was just inches away from him, but a thin barrier separated the two.

Then, a system notification appeared before all the Awakened present in the dungeon—

[ Dungeon successfully cleared. ]