It had been a gradual change, so much so that Ellis only noticed after a good hour or two of additional traveling.

The river had transformed. It became noticeably shallower. At this point, the water only reached up to his neck. This was a far cry from the river’s seemingly bottomless depth that he had once experienced in the past.

What’s more, the physical makeup of the riverbed had also undergone a transformation. For some reason, it did not look as natural as it had before. Gone were the jutting stony protrusions and loose sediment. In its place was this completely flat and somewhat smooth surface.

It was almost as if the river was not really a river, but rather, a canal carved out of white marble.

Naturally, Ellis came to one conclusion: the river was completely artificial!

It was far too geometric and far too perfect to be anything but man-made.

As he stared at the alien landmark, he unconsciously furrowed his brow. All sorts of thoughts filled his head.

It really does look like a canal… but, that should be impossible, right?

According to Grisella’s information, the river supposedly led into Ilpin’s holy ground. As the home of a dead god, amazing and inexplicably otherworldly things were par for the corpse.

But even so… is the entire river really just a small part of the holy ground?

That was an absurd thought!

Ilpin’s river ran for who knows how many thousands of miles. It was like an eternal dragon that threatened to entwine the entire world. Had such a thing really been crafted by human, or rather, godly hands?

In retrospect, as one of the perpetrators that killed Alma, and the individual who probably created this forest of immortal trees, the dead god certainly had some commendable skill. Creating a seemingly endless canal was certainly well within reason.

Wait, let’s slow down a bit. I’m getting too distracted here. Ellis recollected himself. My thoughts jumped way too far. Rather than the entire river, it’s probably only the source of the river that was once a part of the holy ground. Everything else naturally formed over time, or maybe they built the canal to match with the original river…

He gradually calmed down.

Ellis glanced over at Grisella. He was not the only to notice the change.

Her eyes sharpened, while her breath quickened. Grisella’s excitement was palpable and apparent for anyone to see.

Still, she did not lose herself. The more excited she grew, the more her caution increased. This was the fundamental nature of her character.

Up until this point, the had encountered two Calamity-Class monsters and a slew of weaker, yet still formidable mobs. It was only natural to presume that they’d encounter even more the closer they approached the source of the river.

The world tree… we’re almost there, but that doesn’t mean I should let my guard down. Master always taught me that a person shows their weakest side during moments of certainty.

She clenched down on the handle of her broomstick. A look of determination flashed through her face.

Sensing her changing demeanor, Ellis lightly nodded his head. Grisella had devoted so much time in her search for the world tree. It was only normal for her to be so excited.

“Let’s go.” He stated seriously, although the seriousness of the situation was somewhat ruined by the constantly jiggling piece of jelly that rested on the crown of his head.

The group continued forward and followed the changed river further upstream. The farther they traveled, the more extreme these changes seemed to get. The river grew even shallower. At the same time, the number of fish and plant life within the river steadily decreased. The gradual transition from river to canal was almost seamless.

The river wasn’t the only thing that had changed either.

The environment around them also underwent a noticeable transformation. The geography had flattened. There were less giant hill-like ‘tree roots’ than before. What’s more, a faint mist began to permeate throughout their surroundings.

The mist was different from the mist border that separated the outer and inner layers of the forest. It was not nearly as opaque. The mist here merely obscured the environment; it did not have any sort of vision-blocking capabilities. In fact, if he squinted his eyes and focused a bit more, he could still see pretty far ahead.

Also, the mist was not a piercing neon blue or some other kind of bright and unnatural color. Instead, it took on a more traditional shade of pale-greyish white.

Grisella traced her hand across the air. For a moment, she marveled at how the mist slid across her fingers. It was like running your hand across a gentle stream, tangible, yet elusive.

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“Amazing…” she exclaimed. “This, this is mana condensation! The mana here is so thick that it took on a physical form!”

Usually, mana condensations only ever happened in extremely rare and often times dangerous places. This was the first time she had ever witnessed such a phenomenon.

What’s more, that wasn’t the main part that surprised her.

Usually, such high concentrations of mana were volatile and dangerous. As the old saying goes, ‘too much of a good thing was bad.’ In this case, too much mana was dangerous enough to kill.

In this world, there existed a disorder known as mana poisoning, where the body becomes too overloaded with mana to the point where the victim’s vital functions shut down. In the most extreme cases, the victims quite literally explode!

Under normal circumstances, mana poisoning usually occurred whenever one took too many supplemental potions, but special environments could also afflict the disorder.

Most normal people would have died the moment they walked into a place like this… of course, that was only if you assume that the mana condensation within the forest was normal.

A mist as thick and tangible as this should normally be violent and volatile, but strangely enough, it wasn’t. It was warm and gentle, kind of like a stagnant midsummer’s breeze. If Grisella were to train in magic here, then surely her results would be twice fold, maybe even more!

Grisella wasn’t the only who noticed the peculiarity of this mist. Ena, Wight and the other wolves did too. Although they were not quite certain as to its specifics, they could feel the mana that circulated in the air. As creatures of the forest, they were quick to realize the benefits that this place had to offer.

Of course, Ellis was completely oblivious to all this. In fact, aside from noticing how overly excited Mumei suddenly was (to the point where it would not stop jumping on his head), he did not really think much of the mist.

If it’s this thick, does that mean it will rain soon?

The mist simply reminded him of the rare early spring mornings that he occasionally got to enjoy back in his old world. Ellis rather enjoyed such weather. As unlikely as it may seem, rainy days and foggy mornings had a way of making his usually drab and dreary life not so drab and dreary.

From his experience, misty weather usually resulted in a damp environment. Droplets of water would cling to car windows and other flat surfaces.

Strangely enough, he did not feel any of that wetness here. The world was dry and the air was arid.

As expected of a fantasy world, they even have magical waterless mist… Aside from such unimportant thoughts, he did not pay the mist any more attention.

The group continued walking.

Eventually, after a few hours, they came to a stop.

“That’s….” Grisella widened her eyes in amazement. Even her shoulders trembled.

Ellis looked at the scene before him and tilted his head. For a moment, he did not quite know what it was he was looking at.

White.

A few hundred meters in front of them, the forest suddenly ended. In its place was pure white.

It was not the gradual obscuration of the mist, but more like an abrupt and sudden change in setting. It was pretty jarring, especially within the context of this endless forest.

After a few seconds of constant staring, he finally discovered the true nature of this scene. He was actually staring at a giant wall! The white wall jutted out from the ground and reached almost unfathomable heights. The wall was no shorter than even the tallest trees within this forest. In fact, even now, the top of the wall was not visible, a fact that contributed to his earlier confusion.

“This is it…” Grisella dazedly muttered, almost entirely to herself. “We’re finally here. The holy city…. It’s the holy ground, the holy city of the lost God… it’s… it’s just like my master said. It’s actually real.”

A feeling of immense weight suddenly vanished from her shoulders.

Only Grisella knew the exact lengths that she had gone through in order to get to this point. Only she knew just how many years she had wasted, how many years she had spent alone and desperate…

To her, this was not just some curious adventure she offhandedly decided to go on in order to satisfy her boredom. No, it held a far greater importance than that…

For a moment, she blankly stared at the white wall. Grisella tried to look up, to see past the wall, but she couldn’t. The wall was too high and the mist grew thicker the further up it went. She could not see ‘it’, but… she did not really mind.

Even without seeing it for herself, she knew. Deep within her heart, she could tell. It was there. It was real.

Behind the white wall was the holy city and above the holy city was the legendary world tree.

As she lost herself within her own delusions, Ellis glanced over. He stared at her dazed expression for a few seconds before he suddenly patted her shoulder.

Grisella jumped. The sudden contact had surprised her.

“Don’t get so excited yet,” he said. “Save all that for when we actually get past this giant wall.”

“R-right… you’re right. Let’s get inside first.” She shook her head and cleared away her thoughts. Despite how careful she tried to be, even Grisella was not immune to feelings such as shock and joy.

She regained her composure and half-sprinted towards the wall. Ellis could only shake his head as he followed after her.

They continued to follow the river. Judging by its position and direction, the river led directly to the white wall.

After a few minutes, they eventually reached the end.

Ellis narrowed his eyes.

There was a half-circle carved out of the white wall. It formed a sort of archway that directly connected to the river. Compared to the grand height and majesty of the giant wall, the waterway looked tame and inconspicuous in comparison.

This somewhat surprised him.

The end of the river was not some magnificent entrance that ceremoniously welcomed them into whatever paradise excited beyond the walls. Instead, it was small and delipidated. There were even a few cracks that ran along the edges of the arch.

Ellis realized then. It really wasn’t the entrance to some magical holy ground. No, the river that he had followed for more than six years was nothing more than a giant sewage drain.

He would have been a lot more shocked by this sudden revelation, but much of his attention was a bit preoccupied with the… ‘beings’ that stood guard in front of said sewage drain.

“…”

He could not help but breath out a sigh of relief.

At the very least, those things aren’t rats.

If he really went from Slime to Goblin, and then to rat, then he would have much rather killed himself! A messed-up fantasy world like that where rats were stronger than dragons was definitely not one that Ellis wanted to live in!

No, instead of rats, a pair of towering wooden statues flanked the entrance. From his experience with all sorts of fantasy novels, these things sort of resembled wooden Golems.

They stood at a height of nearly thirty meters. They weren’t the largest enemies that he had come across, but they certainly were the most aesthetically pleasing. The aura that they gave off also wasn’t light.

The fact that there were two of them only added to the pressure.

Without a doubt, they were the final obstacles. The guardians of the Holy city that existed at the foot of the world tree.

“…”

Ellis cracked his knuckles and breathed out a puff of air.

A god might not be something that I can beat, but mere guardians aren’t enough to stop me!

Suffice to say, he was raring to go.