Chapter 98: The Tree Is Dying
"The core of the Fairy Forest is the World Tree. Initially, the Fairy Forest as a magical realm was not as it is today, but rather a void space with nothing in it."
"The first life within this void space was the World Tree. Therefore, under the influence of the World Tree, the void gradually transformed into the vast forest we see now."
"The great magical realm itself supplies energy to the World Tree, which then fully utilizes that energy to construct the magical realm as it exists today—this has always been the core model of the Fairy Forest."
"And now the situation is... although the later-born World Tree hasn't encountered any major issues, the lifespan of the earlier-born great magical realm itself has reached its end."
Hmm?
Hearing the fairy elder say this, Noah showed no expression on his face, but inwardly he was quite puzzled.
Does a great magical realm have a lifespan?
However, he didn't ask the fairy elder about this question. Instead, during a break in the relay, he inquired with Mary.
Faced with Noah's question, Mary straightforwardly provided an answer.
"Yes, it does."
"And not just great magical realms—basically everything in this world has a lifespan. Humans have short lifespans, while gods and those Phantasmal Species have longer ones, but they are not infinite. Even the 'star' beneath our feet has its own lifespan."
Hearing Mary mention this, Noah was aware.
Planets indeed have lifespans.
Although he couldn't recall the exact number of billions of years from the scientific data he had unintentionally seen in his previous life regarding Earth's lifespan, he knew it was less than a hundred billion—around ninety-five or ninety-six billion years, if memory served.
Thinking of this, Noah also recalled the Land of Steel from the Type-Moon setting.
The Type-Moon lore about the Land of Steel is sparse, mostly left to readers' speculation. But now, upon reflection, the cause of the Land of Steel seems to be humanity's endless extraction of resources, which pushed the 'star's' lifespan into a countdown.
Then, just as after a person dies, the immune cells within the body go berserk like a runaway Eva Unit-01, frantically killing invading enemies until they all perish in battle—
Could the Land of Steel be a manifestation of Gaia reaching the end of its lifespan?
Noah was still unclear about these matters, but at least after hearing Mary's explanation, he understood that great magical realms also have lifespans.
After all, even Gaia has a lifespan, so most things should indeed possess one as well.
It's just that some beings have extremely long lifespans, similar to the immune cells in the human body—they go berserk and fight to the death even after the person dies, rather than perishing immediately.
Thus, to short-lived humans, such beings might seem immortal or undying.
Having grasped this, Noah continued relaying the fairy elder's words to Mary.
"Under these circumstances, no matter how unwilling we are to accept it, we must acknowledge that the tree is dying, and the home we have lived in for so many years is about to vanish."
"In such a situation, without the protection of the Fairy Forest, we too will become like you in Britain, forced to bear the inevitable fate of destruction."
At this point, the fairy elder looked at Noah and Morgan, his eyes filled with sorrow.
"So, given that we all face an inevitable fate of destruction, rather than fighting separately, wouldn't it be better to unite from the very beginning? Let us form an alliance and join forces to confront this doomed fate, striving to seek a glimmer of hope within it. What do you think?"
Upon hearing the Fairy Elder's words, Morgan pondered for a moment.
From a purely rational perspective, there was nothing wrong with what the Fairy Elder had said.
After all, if everyone shared the same enemy—the inevitable fate of destruction—then cooperation was indeed the best solution.
Considering it from Britain's standpoint, there seemed to be no downside to this.
With the fairies having lost their homeland and forced to seek help, they would hardly refuse when Britain needed their assistance in return.
In such a scenario, Britain would effectively gain the power of the fairies.
Morgan knew that these fairies were far from weak.
Their knowledge of the mystical arts was profound, and the fairies themselves were formidable. In terms of physical prowess, they surpassed ordinary Britons, and even the least talented among them possessed greater aptitude for magic than humans with some innate ability.
Moreover, fairies had a strong affinity for plants and were exceptionally skilled in growing them.
If the fairies joined Britain, the nation would undoubtedly experience a significant boost.
Progress would be made in agriculture, mysticism, military forces, and even weaponry.
From a purely pragmatic perspective, the benefits were substantial.
As for whether to trust these fairies...
Morgan glanced at Noah.
She felt this matter was worth discussing.
As for Noah...
Outwardly, he appeared to be deep in thought, but inwardly, he felt a sense of reluctance.
At that moment, Mary's voice echoed in his mind.
"Should we agree?"
Hearing Mary's voice, Noah sighed inwardly.
"Looking only at the benefits, there's no issue. But the real question is, can these fairies truly be trusted?"
Noah's Observation Haki was of the future-sight type. While he could sense hostility in others and detect emotions, when using his Observation Haki on these fairies, he perceived no hostility or malice from them.
From this perspective, the fairies seemed trustworthy.
If not for his simulated memories, Noah might have believed them.
However...
If the fairies' situation was truly so dire that they had to seek help from humans, why had they never appeared in his simulated memories?
Those annihilated by Vortigern were one thing, but even in simulations where Vortigern hadn't wiped them out, the fairies never came seeking help.
This made Noah suspect that something was amiss.
After all, once could be a coincidence, twice might be chance, but three, four, five times—never seeing them at all—could only mean there was a problem.
He just couldn't determine whether the issue lay with the fairies themselves or something beyond them.
That was why he was conflicted.
After all, he wasn't particularly skilled in schemes and strategies, so in a situation where he could identify problems but couldn't trace their source, it was only natural for him to hesitate.
And as if sensing his hesitation from Noah's words, Mary no longer continued to speak in riddles.
She directly explained the situation to Noah.
"Although the parallel world I come from differs in many ways from the main world you inhabit, the parts concerning Fairies and the World Tree are clearly the same."
"If it were you, you could indeed gain significant benefits from this matter by relying on the Rhongomyniad—but Noah, don't trust these Fairies. They are deceitful."
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