The giant tree that swallowed up the Colosseo Academy.
It was of such enormous size and height that it was impossible to imagine its diameter.
It could be seen from cities far away from the Imperial Capital.
The roots hanging around the academy grew like teeth along the outer wall of the academy, giving the appearance of a gigantic monster lying down with its mouth open 180 degrees.
And at the center of the roots was a gaping hole that seemed to lead directly to Abyss.
The Abyss. The Hell. A grotesque pit at the center of its teeth, like a throat.
"What the hell is this! What have you done to my son!"
"My daughter! Give me my daughter back!"
The roots didn't budge, even when the most powerful men in the world, Cervantes the Spear King and Roderick the Archon, attacked with all their might.
They were even more helpless against the deep hole in the center.
A hole of unknown depth and unknown identity. And a giant plant filling it.
No one knew the identity of the giant plant that had swallowed the entire student body of Colosseo Academy.
...None. Except for one.
"It's a Hell Tree, isn't it?"
Morg Camus asked. She stared at the dull roots before her.
"Lady Morg. Do you know anything about it?"
Osiris asked from beside her.
He looked unusually urgent.
"Four of my brothers have been taken from before my eyes. If you know anything, please help me."
Osiris was followed by Cervantes and Roderick.
"My son! My son has been taken, too! Uh-oh! This can't be happening!"
"My daughter! I must save my daughter! What the hell is that!"
Camus waved her hand in annoyance.
"I don't mean for you to get all worked up. No, but now that I think about it, why didn't it catch me? Is it because I'm not registered yet? Oh, I should have gotten the bracelet when the admissions office gave it to me."
Whether anyone else cared or not, Camus had her own pace.
at that time.
"If you know anything, I would appreciate your cooperation..."
There was an awkward semi-response.
Where Camus turned her head, she saw a very familiar face.
Morg Banshee. Vice Principal of Colosseo Academy. Current acting Principal.
Seeing his cold face, Camus immediately straightened up.
Morg Banshee, Morg Snake's younger brother.
His appearance, voice, and accent were in many ways reminiscent of his dead master.
" ....Yes. Well, I don't know that much either."
Professor Banshee sighed in relief when Camus, who was known to be stubborn and self-willed, obediently complied with his request.
Though he had no idea why she had suddenly become so cooperative.
Well, whatever. Camus's words were quite surprising.
"This plant is a magic tree that first appeared in history books under the name of the 'Hell Tree'. It has been recorded under a variety of names depending on the time and place, including 'Inverted Chaos', 'Burrowing Tower', 'Passage to the Oil Realm', and 'Reverse Babel'."
"How do you know this, since these are not found in the histories I have studied?"
"In the mage histories written from the perspective of the Empire, yes."
Banshee questioned, and Camus dismissed it lightly.
Then she remembered the face of her childhood friend and her first love, who had brought her a strange tree with one root and a collection of old books of unknown origin.
"This is the legendary tree of a tribe of shamans who have long rooted themselves in the Red and Black Mountains. According to the records, it has the characteristic of spreading its roots above ground and sprouting underground, growing upside down."
Everyone's mouths were half open at that.
Ordinary trees grow upward, with roots below the ground and trunks extending above the ground.
However, this tree seems to grow downward with its roots above the ground and its trunk below the ground.
...Deep enough to touch the 'Hell', as the name suggests!
Camus continued his explanation.
"This tree is only about the size of a city on the outside, but on the inside it is different. It is said that it is close to impossible to accurately measure the area of the space inside the tree because it has the property of overlapping and distorting multiple spaces. It's literally a magic tree."
While it might pale in comparison to a Wraith Tree, it's still a threat when it grows to this size.
They didn't dare to imagine what the children were going through when they were dragged into the Hell of the tree.
Then Cervantes the Spear King said.
"Enough of that, what do we have to do to break through this damn tree and get them out?"
"If that was the case, I would have done it, sir."
"What?"
Camus clicked her tongue.
"This tree is impossible to intervene in from the outside, the only way to get through it is from the inside."
"Where can you find something like that!"
"Where is it? It's here. It's not just a plant, it's a tree that only grows in Hell. Besides, I heard it's a fairly rare species even in Hell."
In other words, it's impossible to do anything outside.
…bang!
Professor Banshee gritted his teeth and punched the root of the Hell Tree next to him.
"Damn it, it's my fault, if I had been just a little more cautious... just one more suspicion... I wouldn't have gotten my disciples into this mess...."
Winston's bracelet, magic stone maintenance, greening project, parent observation classes, and unconditional tolerance toward Professor Sady... There was nothing that wasn't suspicious.
The fact that he knew and did nothing to stop it makes Professor Banshee feel even more responsible.
Thus, the parents and professors were deeply despairing and wailing in front of Hell Tree.
But.
"What are you guys so worried about?"
The only person who is calm.
Only Camus was looking at the crying people as if she couldn't understand them.
"He probably didn't get caught, but went in on his own. Isn't that because he have his own thoughts?"
At her words, everyone's eyes widened in wonder.
People who had stopped crying flocked to Camus like they were grasping at straws.
"What do you mean, he's got a thought? He's going in himself? Who the hell is he?"
Then Camus replies, so nonchalantly as if it was natural.
"Who is it? my fiance."
* * *
Vikir opened his eyes in a black room.
A black room. That was the only way to describe it.
This empty space seemed to be used to store something, and now it was fulfilling its role of imprisoning Vikir.
It was like being inside a giant seed chamber.
'...It's just like I heard.'
Vikir had never experienced this space firsthand, but he knew it indirectly from the memoirs and journals of former Academy heroes who had gone through it.
The Tower of Babel stretched underground.
It is the result of the extreme development of Amdusias's power to 'steal the firstborn'.
'Normally, he's only supposed to take the first born, but... in this case, he's just taken all the 'children'.'
Vikir thought to himself in the small space.
This is an underground tower built by Amdusias.
The lower you descend, the more vicious the ecosystems, traps, and bizarre prehistoric creatures.
An interweaving of worldviews. That's what this creepy tower is all about.
Vikir closed his eyes and imagined the internal structure of the Hell Tree in the memoirs of great heroes.
'The ghosts of ancient civilizations captured and enslaved long ago, the undead in ruins where they lost their minds, the beasts that roam the void, the tribes armed with golems and magic weapons...A place where the worldviews of deserts, seas, volcanoes, and snow fields coexist on each floor.'
Common sense and the rule of law do not apply here, where so many multidimensions are layered, distorted, and refracted, such as in the Magic Tower or the Grave of Swords.
'It would be difficult to crush all of the Academy's brightest young sprouts, so they must have tried to trap them in here.'
Indeed, when the Hell Tree appeared at Colosseo Academy before Vikir's regression, many young heroes nearly met a miserable end.
If they died or retired within this tower, they would immediately become nourishment for the demon.
However, if even one of them is able to leave the tower alive, all those who have died or retired will be resurrected.
Before his regression, Amdusias also built this tower and was confident that no one would leave this place alive... but the demons' plans were ruined when an unusually genius individual escaped the tower in his previous life.
In fact, Vikir knew the future and could have prevented the tower itself from ever appearing....
'There's a reason I didn't do that.'
Vikir was thinking to himself.
-Ting!
There was a strange sound in the darkness.
A sound that seemed to echo not through his ears, but directly into his head.
Then, something suddenly appeared in front of him.
It was a piece of meat with twisted features, oozing flesh and internal organs, and flapping ugly, dried wings.
[Hell o, am I the 'fairy' wh o is in cha rge of the to wer?]
Vikir nodded at the bizarrely shaped lump of flesh that called itself a fairy.
'...Because of this.'
The creature spoke with a bizarre pronunciation and tone, accompanied by an unpleasant flapping of its wings.
[Fr om no w on, fir st co me, fir st ser ved ?]