Magic Academy Bans Harem

Chapter 335 The World Tree of an Unknown Period
As evening fell, the three, who had turned back from Prista town, arrived at the front of the snow-capped mountain.

Facing an area still covered in white snow, where the concept of biting cold wind seemed to have become a tangible reality, the Bathing Goddess and Millie, having learned their lesson once, felt somewhat uneasy.

"Would you be turned into an ice sculpture and die just from a gust of cold wind? So why would you take such a risk to explore that area? Is that witch really that terrifying?"

Seeing the two of them, who seemed to be being chased by something and grew more panicked as the night went by, Xia Luoluo asked in confusion.

"It's probably a hundred times more terrifying than you can imagine."

The goddess of the bath said with lingering fear, while Millie beside her nodded repeatedly.

"Why don't we give it a try? Although I don't know why, I'm clearly much stronger in this world than in reality."

Xia Luoluo spoke with a bit of arrogance, and as if she anticipated that the other two would show doubt, she took the initiative to demonstrate.

She chanted a magical incantation with both hands pointing forward, and then, centered on her feet, a space at least ten meters in diameter, completely soaked in ice, quickly unfolded.

"Furthermore, I feel that I can also perform swordsmanship quite well."

With a casual flick of her wrist, Xia Luoluo plucked an ice shard formed from the icy space and deftly unleashed several slashes in mid-air.

"Hey~"

The goddess of the bath, who couldn't help but exclaim in surprise, could also truly sense that Xia Luoluo from the fairy tale world might indeed be exceptionally skilled. It was unclear whether this was due to her previous fusion with the "carrier pigeon," or perhaps for some other reason.

and many more!

The goddess of the bath turned her gaze back to Millie.

Although Millie can no longer unleash the same lightning-like power she displayed during her final battle with the district leader, she can still use it to some extent. It can be said that even in this world where magical particles are imperceptible, she still possesses considerable combat strength.

So, does that mean she's the only one who's useless, the brainy type? Is she the only one who's the brainy type?

"Excuse my bluntness, Miss Charlotte."

"Just call me Xia Luoluo. You've all been turned into children, but you're not actually children, right? It's weird to keep using a nickname for me."

"In short, even though you, Xia Luoluo, possess considerable strength now, it's still far from enough to contend with that witch who is suspected to be the regional leader."

Unlike the goddess of the bath, Millie, who was actually almost half a generation younger than Charlotte, was clearly a little uncomfortable.

"Furthermore, even if you could win, it's best to avoid encountering a witch unless absolutely necessary. For example, even if someone becomes a world-class boxing champion, they'll still be afraid of bugs when they need to be!"

“I sometimes don’t understand what you’re saying. Anyway, since you’ve said so, let’s head to this snow mountain. It just so happens that my specialty is ice elemental magic, so stick close to me, and I’ll help you deal with any problems you encounter.”

"Ok?"

The goddess tilted her head slightly.

Because I am skilled in ice magic, I don't have to worry about the cold.
This logic seems obvious at first glance, but the more you think about it, the more something seems off.

In any case, the Bathing Goddess and Millie followed Charlotte, who was bravely leading the way, and entered the long-awaited snow mountain area.

"It doesn't seem as cold as I imagined."

Soon after.

On the snow-capped mountain bathed in the glow of dusk, three young girls left three different sizes of footprints on the spotless white ground.

Just as Xia Luoluo said, after entering the snow mountain area this time, the three of them were not instantly frozen into ice sculptures, and the surrounding temperature, although cold, was completely bearable.

"Does your portable igloo actually work?"

The Goddess of Bath looked at Xia Luoluo's magic with some doubt. Just as the Goddess of Bath had said, the solid ice shell enveloping the three of them did indeed resemble a mobile igloo.

But what exactly is the principle behind this?
"So just leave it to me. I admit that I might have been a little bit... when I was a child because I was sick. But now I'm pretty reliable."

"Yes, yes, thanks to Lady Charlotte! Wow! What an amazing slope!"

Echoing the increasingly arrogant Xia Luoluo, they had already arrived at the Bathing Goddess high in the snow mountain, looking down at the scenery below and couldn't help but sigh.

At this moment, the snow slope blocking their path wasn't particularly steep, but it was extremely long.

Is the place where the snow-capped mountains meet a desert?

Millie, whose eyesight was good, looked across the vast expanse of white that was about to give her snow blindness and gazed at the area below the mountain.

"Desert. Am I seeing things? It looks so gray and barren over there."

"It looks gray over there too."

Gazing at the gray desert that merges with the snow-capped mountains, the Bathing Goddess and Charlotte frowned.

Just watching from a distance, the three of them couldn't come to any conclusions. So, they decided to try to find a way to go down.

After consulting with the other two and confirming that they had no better ideas, the Goddess of Bath presented her own proposal.

"Slide straight down?"

Hearing the goddess of bathing's bold proposal, Xia Luoluo instinctively felt that it probably wouldn't work.

The goddess of the bath thought that since they could create things like mobile igloos, why not simply make a large ski that could accommodate three people, and then ski down the mountain in one go to the bottom?

What if there are obstacles on the hillside?

This kind of thing should be left to the capable Millie to use her swordsmanship to control the direction!

"Give it a try. If all else fails, we'll just end up back under the golden apple tree. Anyway, it's almost nightfall, so even if we fail this time, the losses won't be too great."

"Unlike you guys who seem to have gotten used to it, I've never done this before! If I'd known I might die from this kind of reckless behavior, I would have rather gone and fought the witch."

Despite her complaints, Charlotte eventually followed the description of the Bathing Goddess and made a large-sized ski.

After sitting on the skis, at the command of the goddess of the bath.

The three of them began to glide down the towering snow-capped mountain with a "whoosh".

"I feel a strange sense of exhilaration! Wow—!"

As the speed of the large skis gradually exceeded the goddess's expectations, Charlotte, whose long, golden curls were almost stretched into a straight line, shouted with great joy.

"Feeling great? Ah! Watch out! There's a big rock ahead!"

Amidst the goddess's scream, Millie calmly used the ice cone-shaped longsword that Charlotte had made for her to precisely shatter the rocks blocking her path, and even slightly adjusted the trajectory of her skis.

And so, after a series of close calls, the three of them successfully reached the foot of the snow-capped mountain.

"Haha, if it weren't so tiring to climb back up the mountain, I would love to do it a few more times."

"Indeed, there is a fascinating, novel and exciting feeling in this behavior."

At the foot of the snow-capped mountain.

Beside the bathing goddess, who was covered in a puddle of mud, Charlotte and Millie were saying these words.

Even Millie's heavy expression, which had seemed to indicate she was struggling with something, dissipated somewhat after she slid down the snow-capped mountain.

"you."

It's nice to be young
As the one who made the suggestion, the goddess of bathing felt completely disintegrated at that moment.

"Next?"

How about we explore the desert area first?

Millie looked around and said casually. Only those who could start over with the Golden Apple could so recklessly attempt to enter a place that resembled a desert without any preparation.

"Do you need me to carry you, Goddess of Bath?"

Charlotte reached out her hand to the bath goddess on the ground, who seemed unable to get up for the time being.

"Huh? Is that okay?!"

"You could at least show some token politeness."

Charlotte was speechless, but the Bathing Goddess's hand had already firmly grasped her outstretched arm.

Having dug her own grave, Xia Luoluo had no choice but to carry the Bathing Goddess on her back. And since the Bathing Goddess's figure hadn't changed much since the beginning, carrying her wasn't too heavy.

"Although I have a feeling that things have come to this point... are you really a goddess?"

"Of course! Absolutely! So, you should feel honored and cherish this time you get to carry me, hehehe. I didn't really notice before. Xia Luoluo, you smell really nice—"

"I'll throw you in the sand."

With a sigh, Charlotte and Millie, carrying the Goddess of Bath on their backs, headed towards the desert.

"Are you sure you're going the right way? It feels like the scenery around us hasn't changed at all, even after all this time."

A short while later, in the vast desert, Charlotte, somewhat lost, asked Millie a question.

After arriving in the desert, the three girls realized that the grayish appearance they had seen from the snow-capped mountains was not an illusion.

This seemingly endless desert is indeed filled with a deep gray color.

Furthermore, they didn't know if the word "desert" could accurately describe the land beneath their feet. Because what made up this area wasn't sand, but something resembling dust.

"And the Goddess of Bathing, shouldn't she be getting down and walking on her own by now?"

"Hiss~ Hiss~"

"Although you're a different kind from that guy Ritas, you're still pretty infuriating."

"Huh? Does putting me on par with Xiao Li mean you want to marry me too, Xia Luoluo, dear!"

"!"

Finally, Xia Luoluo couldn't take it anymore and threw the Bathing Goddess off her back.

Millie, who hadn't had a chance to interject before, didn't answer Charlotte's question. She just kept looking back at the location of the snow-capped mountains and up at the faintly visible stars in the sky to make sure they weren't going off course.

until
"what is that?"

Millie gazed into the distance at the faint black dot appearing at the horizon, and asked in confusion.

In the metaphor of the goddess of bathing, it's like a gray desert where a new layer was created but nothing was drawn on it, and finally, something other than gray dust appears.

"Where? Oh, there really is something."

Startled, Xia Luoluo quickly ran forward to confirm what the black dot in the distance was.

After walking for some time, they reached a point where they could clearly see the scenery in the distance, and the three of them stopped at the same time.

"Is that a tree?" "Is it a golden apple tree?" "It doesn't seem like it. Even if a golden apple tree has withered, it shouldn't look like that. Why does that tree look a bit..."

look familiar?

Charlotte, Millie, and the Bathing Goddess all had the same idea.

In the distance, a towering tree, seemingly withered for a long time, still stands with an enormous body, albeit quite bare.

If the golden apple tree grows very straight, this towering tree has many twisted and crooked parts. But it is precisely this distinctive crookedness that gives the three of them a sense of déjà vu.

"Ah, I know what it looks like now. The 'World Tree'! Isn't this the World Tree?!"

As an elite in the "familiarity" field, the Bathing Goddess, with the most experience in this feeling of familiarity, was the first to think of it.

Upon hearing the words of the Bathing Goddess, Charlotte and Millie also showed expressions of sudden realization, "Oh."

It is indeed the "World Tree," but it is not the real World Tree; rather, it is the pseudo-World Tree that serves as a symbol of Erles Higher Magic Academy.

"So, this area really is also part of the past?"

Xia Luolu guessed.

After being transformed into a treehouse and a golem, Ers's ancestral pseudo-world tree has officially "retired" from the battle at the Academy Exchange Conference.

"How far back in time is that?"

Millie continued to gaze at the gray dust that covered the pseudo-World Tree.

There wasn't even an academy around the pseudo-World Tree. So, does this mean that this situation dates back to before the establishment of Erles Academy?
Furthermore, why is the pseudo-World Tree completely bare?
Even after she enrolled, the pseudo-world tree at Erles Academy, which had been ravaged by the tree witch, hadn't completely lost all its leaves like this.

Apart from the pseudo-World Tree, which can be considered a barely matching entity, nothing else can be matched.

Could it be that only the area centered around Elson's mansion is a replica of reality?
As they gazed at the pseudo-World Tree from afar, each of the three had their own thoughts.

Suddenly, Millie keenly sensed something was amiss.

"Watch out, Xia Luoluo, Sister Yu!"

Be careful about what?
As these thoughts crossed their minds, they felt a sudden, violent tremor from the ground.

I instinctively jumped back a distance, and saw two vine-like things with a pale green color suddenly pierce out of the ground.

The goddess of the bath was still shaken, thinking that if she had reacted any slower, her foot would have been pierced. Meanwhile, Xia Luoluo, as if struck by lightning, launched a counterattack with the vines.

With the sound of ice cracking, several green vines that had pierced the ground froze and then shattered.

But things didn't end that simply.

As soon as Xia Luoluo's attack happened, it was like stirring up a hornet's nest. The ground began to tremble even more violently, and beneath the gray dust, it seemed as if a large number of things were moving, with ridges of varying sizes rising from all directions and converging towards the three of them.

"What the hell is this!"

In an instant, the three surrounded individuals began to put up a separate resistance.

At that moment, they also saw clearly what was attacking them.

Those were some strange, plant-like things.

Their bodies are roughly humanoid, except that the torso is a distinctly pale green, and their limbs are replaced by vines and roots. Furthermore, they have no "head," only ferocious predatory organs resembling Venus flytraps.

As the goddess of bathing and her two companions began their battle against the hundreds and thousands of strange plants that suddenly appeared.

In the distance, a figure wearing a gas mask watched their every move.

The figure, clearly human, watched the three being attacked without doing anything. Even as the strange plants regenerated quickly after being cut, putting the three in grave danger.

Until, after several flashes of sword light, lightning, seemingly emanating directly from within Millie's body, illuminated the battlefield.

"How could this be? How is this possible?"

The figure in the darkness couldn't help but tremble the moment it saw Millie's face.

(End of this chapter)