Infinite Evolution Hunter - Chapter 261

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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261
“One hour? In Earth time?”
“That’s right. I just need your help in the Demon Realm for a single hour.”
Compared to Ji-seok’s soul—or the souls of a hundred million random Earthlings—it was undeniably an extraordinary contract.
“I won’t harm any other life form or exert any influence whatsoever.”
Yet Ji-seok sensed hidden intentions behind Gaff’s words.
“Of course, not only your acquaintances, but I swear no influence will touch any life in this dimension, Telus, or the Lower Realm. You’ll return in the same body you came with. However, I’ll erase your memories of those one hour. A personal request, you understand.”
“…”
“There’s no more favorable condition than this. What do you say?”
Gaff’s vertically-slit yellow pupils flickered with an ominous glow, and a colossal contract materialized behind him.
Ji-seok sensed something unfavorable lurking within that sinister agreement. Yet his instincts screamed that Earth’s destruction was overwhelmingly the greater threat compared to whatever awaited him.
Even as he deliberated, Hunters clashed with monsters pouring from the Gate, while another of my bodies held back the Manager’s descending avatars.
I had to extinguish the immediate fire first. Ji-seok drew a deep breath.
“I’ll make the contract.”
And I looked directly at Gaff and spoke.
“Excellent! Contract sealed!”
The contract materialized the moment I spoke, the document flashing brilliantly. Then a dagger shot forth from the contract, hurtling toward me.
The dagger, forged from demonic energy, remained unaffected by my domain and pierced through my raised hand, embedding itself directly into my soul.
“Don’t worry. It won’t affect your daily life, and it’ll vanish once you fulfill the contract.”
“Damn it….”
I rubbed my chest, exhaling heavily as I stared at the ominous dagger lodged in my soul.
“So what do I need to do now?”
“You’re connected to the World Tree, right?”
“Connected? I fused with the World Tree’s seed.”
“No, no, I’m not talking about that trivial leaf-like state. I mean the true World Tree.”
“What is the true World Tree?”
“I suppose I need to explain from the beginning. What do you think this world is?”
“Spare me the riddles! We don’t have time!”
“My, you’re impatient. Fine, fine.”
Gaff jabbed his elongated index finger, its black nail grown to an unsettling length, directly into my forehead.
“Look. Behold the secret of this world.”
In an instant, my body was pulled into darkness.
What appeared before me was the cosmos, yet the proportions were distorted. Earth loomed larger than the sun, and the distances between neighboring planets were unnaturally compressed. The Moon and Mars appeared far larger than their actual sizes.
And all of it flowed within a single current, like a river.
“Do you see it? That is the true World Tree.”
Gaff, now transformed into black smoke, materialized in the void.
“That stream of water piercing through Earth?”
“Water? Is that how it appears to you? That which flows through your world is the trunk of the World Tree. But that’s not what you need to see. Look at the greater picture.”
As Gaff finished speaking, I felt my body pulled backward, and simultaneously, Earth receded into the distance.
“Good heavens….”
“Yes. That’s the world. That is the true World Tree. The world where you and we live.”
Rather than what one might typically imagine as a tree, it resembled a chaotic tangle of roots spreading in all directions. Stems extended without order, interwoven in a bewildering lattice.
Beneath the cluster of stems—the World Tree itself—hung a sphere that was black below and white above, with threads of radiant five-colored light branching outward like veins.
“Those sphere-like objects are the Demon Realm and Heaven. And that magnificent tapestry of light is the Spirit Realm.”
Gaff offered further explanation to Ji-seok, who stood mesmerized.
“Your universe is over there.”
I looked where Gaff pointed, but it was merely a fragment of the colossal World Tree, barely visible.
“So our universe is merely a portion of a single branch.”
“Exactly. Each branch is both a dimension and a timeline.”
“So what am I supposed to do about it?”
“You fool. The moment you hatched the seed, you became connected to the World Tree. How could the World Tree on Earth grow so massive with such meager nutrients? Because it draws power from the main body. Yes, you expend your own life force to create branches, but you’re channeling the World Tree’s power. That’s what you’re truly doing.”
Gaff flicked my forehead again, and I was yanked from that dreamlike realm back to reality.
“Focus. Unless you want to watch your world—this branch—wither and collapse.”
“Is the future… not predetermined?”
Ji-seok had returned to the present, yet he had never truly felt free from the crisis of the world’s destruction. What if some branches of the World Tree were destined to flourish while others withered and died? Perhaps the struggles of a speck of dust meant nothing.
“True, this world was never meant to be a branch that grew large. A world destined to flourish shows promise from the start. But even a barren tree grows larger with nourishment, and even the finest seed withers without it. Such is the way of nature.”
“Alright.”
I had no way of knowing how truthful the demon’s words were, but I chose to believe Gaff.
Ji-seok closed his eyes and concentrated, searching for the power flowing from the World Tree.
“Gasp… What are you—”
Gaff plunged his hand into Ji-seok’s chest and seized his heart.
“I’ll help you feel the World Tree’s power. Don’t worry. You need to live so I can uphold our contract later.”
Deep within my heart, I felt a power as small as a seed. Though minute in size, its potential seemed boundless.
“There it is. Draw it out.”
Following Gaff’s guidance, I pulled the power toward me. Crimson flames erupted from my chest.
“Ugh!”
Gaff hastily withdrew his hand, but it was engulfed by the flames rising from Ji-seok’s chest, charring black.
“Tch. This is how you repay help?”
“My apologies. It wasn’t intentional.”
Ji-seok tried to contain the surging power, but it overflowed like water breaching a dam.
“I’m truly brimming with strength. It feels like anything is possible.”
“It actually will be. To the World Tree, it’s insignificant power, but it’s more than enough to dominate a planet like this.”
“Excellent!”
Roots burst forth from Ji-seok’s legs, spreading across the ground. Like living serpents, they expanded while avoiding obstacles, swiftly reaching the nearest Break Site.
The site was fierce. With their limited numbers, Hunters and soldiers threw themselves forward, desperately trying to contain the Break.
The large branch Ji-seok sent forth sprouted sharp offshoots, skewering the monsters from below like kebabs.
“A new monster?!”
“But it’s only attacking the monsters!”
“Regardless, this is our chance! Fall back and reform the line!”
Before the retreating Hunters and soldiers, Ji-seok created a barricade of branches. The branches continued to grow, encircling the Gate in a protective ring.
The branches growing inward pierced and killed the monsters pouring continuously from the Gate, but there were simply too many.
“Strength lies in what remains, so be it.”
Ji-seok deployed his domain within the massive thorn thicket he had spread before the Gate. Monsters burst into flames the moment they emerged, turning to ash, and the Hunters still within the domain found their wounded bodies healed, their vitality restored.
“A god! A god walks among us!”
The Hunters fighting in despair thrust their swords and staffs skyward, crying out.
For nearby locations, Ji-seok personally proliferated branches to send aid, but the distance to the opposite side of Earth was simply too vast.
“I gave you a sports car, so why are you pushing the vehicle instead?”
Seeing Ji-seok lost in thought, Gaff tapped his chest in exasperation.
“What?”
“Abandon the notion that you must connect everything through branches.”
“…You mean as long as vitality is connected, that’s all that matters?”
“Exactly.”
“Jae-in! Open a Gate to the Break Site! Even a small one is fine!”
For this race, miniature Gates had been distributed to each competitor to transmit the power of will, and using the same technique, he opened a small Gate to the region where the Break had erupted.
Through the tiny Gate that no person could pass through, vitality arrived at the site, and Ji-seok deployed his domain to aid the Hunters. It was not the physical force of branches, but it was formidable support—burning monsters and healing Hunters.
Ji-seok’s vitality support did not stop at Earth. He opened Gates even to Mars, aiding the competitors fighting near the Gate.
“While sending vitality, I’ll spread branches across the entire Earth just like this.”
Slowly and broadly, roots grew from Ji-seok and spread across the entire planet.
“Do as you wish. I’ll be waiting in the Demon Realm.”
Gaff vanished into the smoke.

While Ji-seok spread the roots of the World Tree from the ground to block the Gate.
His other body encountered the new Manager’s avatar.
“How is it? Earth isn’t going as you planned, is it?”
“…You’ve exceeded specifications. In the histories of countless dimensions, there has never been an existence like you.”
“Is that so? What will you do about it? I exist on Earth.”
“I did not wish to resort to force, but you leave me no choice.”
The Manager’s avatar spoke thus, and behind it, hundreds of human-sized Gates opened, pouring down avatars.
“Damn it…”
Ji-seok had provoked them confidently, but the power that his earthbound body and Green had drawn from the World Tree was merely strength—unrelated to will—and could not stop the Manager’s spiritual form.
“Jae-in!”
“Almost there!”
The excitement and cheers of people worldwide watching the competitors battle monsters on Mars converted into will and gathered.
Because Green supported Earth and Mars with vitality, the gathered will was not wasted but accumulated.
“Will energy target reached!”
“Immediately channel all will energy into the magic circle! Gaia!”
Through a drone, Jae-in spoke to Gaia.
“I’m ready.”
“Bae Na-young!”
“Ready!”
Beneath Gaia, the ground was prepared with an enormous magical circle, and Bae Na-young stood at its center.
Small gates connected to the Research Institute were positioned at key points throughout the magical circle that spanned several kilometers.
“Gaia! We’re sending it now!”
Jae-in gathered the collective will of all humanity and transmitted it through the magical circle, while Bae Na-young converted the diverse wills of countless people into a single unified force.
That unified will became a single thick beam of light through the magical circle, shooting toward Gaia.
Gaia received the power of that will with her entire being.
“Remarkable.”
Gaia closed her eyes and savored the overwhelming power of will flowing through her body.
“I never imagined it would be possible to intentionally gather the will of so many living beings.”
“Will it work?”
“Yes.”
The cyan barrier around Gaia, who had sealed the Manager’s spiritual bodies, gradually dissolved.
“…Hah… Have you finally given up?”
The trapped Manager’s spiritual body spoke to Gaia.
“No, this is the end.”
The cyan aura spreading from Gaia’s body radiated gently yet swiftly outward.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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