Chapter 80: The Sky Within Reach
Misha’s hand was held by Lance and pressed against the trunk of the Tree of Life. He didn’t dare move a muscle.
He tensed his back, trembling with nervousness, afraid that with this single touch, he would burn a hole through the tree. If it was serious, he might destroy the entire tree.
After all, this tree was a miracle left by the gods in the Holy Land and had so many magical effects to save people. Misha didn’t want to break it.
But his palm pressed against the trunk, feeling the rough texture of the bark, yet the Tree of Life showed no reaction at all. No scorching, no cracking, no turning into ash or dust. Everything was exactly the same as before he touched it, without a single difference.
Misha remained frozen in place, his hands shaking from fear. If Lance’s hand hadn’t been pressing firmly on the back of his hand, he might have hidden his hand away immediately in fright. At this moment, his heart was beating like a drum. He stood stiffly for a good while before realizing Lance was almost leaning on him, his back against Lance’s chest, Lance’s breath right behind his ear. Only then did Misha stiffly shrink his hand back, swallowing nervously, stammering, “I…”
Lance lowered his head slightly, whispering right behind his ear, “See, nothing happened, right?”
Misha: “…”
“I told you, everything in this world, be it mountains, forests, water, wind, or the growth of all living things, has no connection with your ‘gods’.” Lance paused slightly, lowering his voice even more. “When you see this tree, you shouldn’t marvel at it as some divine miracle.”
Misha shrank his hand back abruptly, pulling it out of Lance’s grasp and hiding it behind his back. Extremely nervous, he shrank backward, signaling Lance not to stand behind him anymore.
Lance took a step back but whispered the rest of his sentence: “You should marvel at its own effort and the greatness of life.”
Misha: “…”
Misha raised his head and looked at the Tree of Life in front of him again.
This time, he couldn’t help repeatedly pondering Lance’s words in his heart. Then he reached out and slowly touched the trunk of the Tree of Life.
He even thought, If I were a Divine Envoy, touching the Tree of Life without it withering might be normal. But I am a Demon King. Even if a Demon King isn’t a monster, he is somewhat related to these dark creatures. Could it be that because I have some divine blood, the Tree of Life didn’t react when I touched it?
It was hard for him to believe Lance’s words directly. Concepts formed over many years couldn’t be reversed in just a few days. He could only construct a somewhat reasonable explanation himself, trying his best to convince himself that maybe a trace of his past beliefs was still true.
Lance asked from behind him, “Aren’t you going up to have a look?”
Misha: “…”
Misha couldn’t help looking up.
The golden thread indicated by the spell was winding up the trunk of the Tree of Life. The stargazing place they were looking for should be among the complicated and interlaced branches of the Tree of Life.
The truth he had been seeking for so long was also up on those branches.
Misha took a deep breath, nodded, and said, “Let’s go.”
But Lance didn’t move. He even sighed, looking up at the towering canopy, uttering a helpless lament: “Ah… the Tree of Life is too high.”
Misha: “Huh?”
Lance: “I can’t get up there alone.”
Misha: “…”
Lance: “Don’t you know how to fly?”
Misha: “…”
Misha turned his head in confusion, looking at Lance.
Wait, who can’t climb up?
Why did he recall that when they first came to the Elven Holy Land to find the medicinal ingredients to break the Demon King’s curse, Lance climbed up this Tree of Life with ease, casually retrieving a branch with dew for him?
This was clearly a lie made up just to make Misha reveal his wings and fly him up, right?
Misha didn’t want to pay attention to the Hero’s nonsense. He even took a step back, staring at the Hero. But before he could question him, Lance coughed lightly and said, “Are you going to climb the tree?”
Misha: “…”
How could Misha climb a tree?
There was no such lesson in the Demon King’s compulsory courses.
He spread his beautiful black and red wings in an instant, looking up at the width of the gaps between the branches and leaves of the Tree of Life.
But before he could see the situation of the Tree of Life clearly, Lance reached out and grabbed the corner of his clothes.
“Since you can fly,” Lance smiled at him. “Give me a lift.”
Misha: “…”
Misha ended up dragging this annoying Hero along.
The Tree of Life was too tall and its foliage lush. No one knew how far they had to follow the golden thread. He thought, even if the Hero could climb trees, climbing so far might exhaust him. If he lost his footing and fell from the tree, that would be bad.
He was already so close to the truth; he absolutely couldn’t let the Hero die in an accident at a time like this.
Following the winding light, he dragged the Hero into the dense canopy of the Tree of Life. Inside, it seemed like another world. After flying for just a short while, he vaguely sensed some differences from the rest of the Holy Land.
He remembered clearly that when he first came to the Holy Land, he felt the dense forest was eerie because he couldn’t hear insects or birds, nor see any living creatures living in the forest. The Elven Holy Land was like a dead place with no living creatures other than plants. But inside the canopy of this Tree of Life, it was completely different from the silence in the Holy Land.
He soon heard the first insect chirp, and then saw a group of fluffy birds squatting on the slightly glowing branches, tilting their heads to look at them.
Their feathers were all plated with golden light. Misha couldn’t help pausing slightly, looking at them with some surprise, when he heard Lance whispering in his ear again.
“Look,” Lance said. “The gods’ prohibition is also a lie.”
Misha: “…”
God said that except for the God’s Chosen One, no one could touch the Tree of Life, otherwise the defiled light would be destroyed.
But Misha touched it, and the Tree of Life was fine.
So many small creatures in the forest touched it, and the Tree of Life was fine too.
This prohibition of the gods was indeed just a lie.
Misha had mixed feelings and didn’t answer Lance. He just pursed his lips, focused on following the golden thread, and flew deeper into the canopy.
Lance just watched Misha’s profile in silence.
Without asking, he knew exactly what Misha was thinking.
Faith suddenly shattered, the truth turning everything upside down—anyone would find it hard to accept easily in such a short time.
He thought Misha needed time to slowly digest everything that happened. But now it seemed what Lance lacked most was time.
The Divine Realm was about to send a Superior Deity to the world. His action of destroying the Gates to Another World would inevitably face obstacles. If he was alone, he would only repeat the same mistakes.
But under the God King’s tyranny, it was hard for him to find any like-minded partners and comrades.
Lance lowered his eyelashes slightly, his gaze falling on Misha’s wings again.
The beautiful black and red wing feathers had recovered. The flames under the volcano left no trace on them; the scars were gone. Lance couldn’t help reaching out, wanting to touch the wing feathers gently, but then thought Misha was flying him up. Touching rashly at this time might affect Misha’s flight.
He withdrew his hand, vaguely feeling that a matter worrying him had ended.
Misha’s wings were intact; he hadn’t let anyone else get hurt because of him again.
Misha finally saw the end of the golden thread of the spell guiding them.
Light shone through the canopy, and the starry sky outside was faintly visible. The golden thread passed through the branches and leaves out of the canopy, landing on a thick branch extending outside.
Misha landed on that branch with his arm around Lance, but didn’t fold his wings. Instead, he looked around cautiously, even reciting the spell Zebulun gave him again to confirm if the stargazing place they were looking for was indeed here.
Lance reached out and gently stroked Misha’s recovered wing feathers.
Seemingly contrary to his expectation, the feathers were very soft. Misha was startled, retracting his wings almost instantly, staring at Lance nervously, asking, “What are you doing?”
Lance didn’t speak.
He pursed his lips slightly, smiled at Misha, and then looked around where they stood.
They were standing on a branch extending slightly out of the canopy. The height was astounding, as if they were stepping on clouds. The sky, originally covered by the magic from the shattered Gate, was finally revealed. They seemed to be standing higher than that twisted magic. The slightly cold night breeze blew on their faces, carrying a clear scent belonging to the forest.
Misha couldn’t wait to look up at the sky, trying to see what was strange about the sky in the stargazing place.
They were surrounded by the radiance of the Tree of Life. The light was too bright, seemingly making the stars in the sky look a bit dimmer. Standing at this height and looking up at the sky, Misha felt… they seemed closer to the sky.
But apart from that, he could hardly see anything unusual. This sky was no different from the sky he saw on the ground. He could only look at Lance with doubt and ask, “Is there… any problem with the sky?”
Lance didn’t answer his question immediately.
He held onto the branches and leaves on one side of the Tree of Life, slowly sat down on that thick branch, and then looked up at the sky full of stars.
Like a dream or illusion, the brilliant starry sky covered almost the entire sky.
Lance propped his chin and asked Misha a question instead.
“Is it beautiful?” Lance said. “The current night sky.”
Misha frowned and answered, “It seems within reach.”
Lance smiled: “Indeed within reach.”
Misha: “…”
Misha didn’t understand Lance’s meaning.
He followed Lance, sneaking into the Holy Land and climbing the high branches of the Tree of Life, not just to admire the night sky.
He looked at Lance, but Lance was focused on the sky. Misha had to sit down beside Lance, looking up at the sky with him.
He remembered Zebulun’s description of all this.
The sky in the stargazing place was “thinner” than other places, and here, it was easier for them to glimpse a trace of “reality.”
But now, apart from this sky full of stars, he saw nothing.
Misha couldn’t help frowning, feeling maybe his observation wasn’t detailed enough. So he opened his eyes wide, staring at the night sky harder, trying to see a difference. But this starry sky was no different from the night sky he had seen before. He really couldn’t see anything.
Misha withdrew his gaze, looked at Lance beside him, and couldn’t help asking, “This night sky—”
He stopped talking, swallowing all the words that followed.
Lance was looking at him.
He had been staring at the night sky motionlessly, but Lance’s gaze had stayed on him the whole time.
Misha was a bit flustered. He gripped the branch beneath him nervously, thinking that according to the Hero’s usual logic, the Hero staring at him must be a plot. The Hero must be waiting for him to ask. He couldn’t fall into the Hero’s trap. If he asked, he would lose.
Misha cleared his throat, deciding to continue with what he was saying just now.
“Is there any problem with this night sky?” Misha asked awkwardly. “I… I don’t seem to see it.”
He didn’t ask why the Hero was staring at him.
But since he didn’t speak up, the Hero stared at him even more unscrupulously. That gaze stayed on his face, faintly smiling, with no intention of moving away.
Under such a gaze, Misha was a bit uneasy. His heartbeat seemed to speed up inexplicably, and even his face felt slightly hot. He couldn’t look straight at such a gaze, so he could only lower his eyelashes slightly, letting his gaze fall on his hands.
“It’s not time yet.” In the long silence, Lance finally answered his question. “We have to wait a little longer.”
Misha swallowed nervously and asked, “Wait more?”
Lance: “Wait for sunrise.”
Misha: “…”
He couldn’t help looking up at the starry sky in front of him again.
It was already late, but it would still take a good while before they could wait for sunrise.
Since there was nothing unusual about the sky, waiting until sunrise might not yield any results either.
This thought flashed through his mind. Misha felt it was really hard for him to endure such a long unknown wait in silence. He couldn’t help turning his head quietly to look at Lance sitting beside him, coincidentally meeting Lance’s gaze.
Misha didn’t know how to start: “Um…”
Lance smiled and said, “It’s a long time. Let’s just chat?”
Misha: “…”
Misha hesitated.
But Lance had already started the topic himself, saying, “I know, you are very curious about my past.”
Misha: “…”
Misha was indeed very curious.
If the Hero stopped speaking in riddles and was willing to tell him the whole truth, he might still retain some goodwill toward the Hero, instead of only having the impression that this guy was really annoying whenever he saw him.
But he didn’t want to meet the Hero’s gaze, so he kept looking at his hands, then nodded.
“You brought me to find the stargazing place. As a reward, I am willing to answer a few of your questions.” Lance said deliberately. “Then the first one is… exactly how I came to this world.”
Recommended Reads
![[ABO] After Accidental Marking, I Became Everyone’s Darling](https://beereads.space/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/ABO-225x300.jpeg)
![Those Years When the Son of Destiny Was Severely Scammed [Quick Transmigration]](https://beereads.space/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/QUICK-TRANSMIGRATION1-214x300.jpg)
