At that moment, its body began to expand.
The shrinkage magic carved into it was unraveling.
It grew larger and larger, eventually filling the entire clearing.
The turtle let out a sorrowful cry.
I could feel its concern for me.
It must have sensed what was about to happen.
I gave it a small smile before stepping toward my designated position.
This was the core of the magic circle.
Hao had stood in the same position when he summoned the Sky Ring into Hari.
He had made Hari believe that she was the Sky Ring.
What I was about to create was similar.
This magic circle was built upon the foundation of my tree.
By gathering all the love from the stars within my heart, we would bring forth a new form.
That form would be me.
It would be my tree.
And the turtle would become the vessel to contain that ‘me.’
It was chosen as the target of descent because of its uniqueness.
Just as Hao had believed Hari to be the Sky Ring, the stars could believe the turtle to be me.
When I first created it, I had used my tree as the foundation for its movements.
Through that process, its magical core became deeply connected to both me and my tree.
So deeply, in fact, that my tree could control its body directly.
And so could I.
Yes, its body was practically my own.
That meant the turtle was me.
And so, I would descend a new version of myself upon it—a god that the dolls loved.
This god would cherish them as much as the love they had given.
That was my way of repaying them.
I slowly released the magic coiled within my heart.
The magic circle, already saturated with the tower’s power, was half-activated.
My magic seeped into the circuit, which soon began to wriggle as if it were alive.
The circuits rose into the air, groping their surroundings as if searching for something.
I released my magic more forcefully.
Their target was me.
The circuits locked onto me, then shot forward, piercing my body.
Pain spread throughout me, and the circuits began to greedily absorb my magic.
I simply closed my eyes and focused on releasing my power.
The stars blooming on the shadow tree within me began to shine brightly.
It was love—faith directed toward me.
That love flowed into my body and merged with the magic circle.
Layer upon layer, the magic circle grew increasingly complex.
To create something, an equivalent price had to be paid.
The Sky Ring Cult had done the same.
To create Hari, they had sacrificed all their accumulated power—faith and fragments of the ring.
This magic was no different.
I was creating a god.
And to do so, I had to sacrifice something of equal worth.
‘So, what was it that I had to give up?’
The simplest option was to sacrifice the dolls.
If I offered up their love and power, a god could be born—just as the Sky Ring Cult had done.
But that was impossible.
I was their source.
If the stars offered their love to me, they would be severed from the shadow tree and simply perish.
Even giving up their power would have the same result.
I couldn’t force them to make that sacrifice.
So, I had to give up more of myself.
My accumulated strength.
The treasure’s magic I had gained from them.
My tree itself.
Everything I had taken from them through their sacrifice—I had to return it all.
The magic circle flared brightly.
The circuits greedily drained more of my body—my tree, my mind, my magic.
I felt my tree within me tremble, as if screaming.
The circuits had burrowed into it, draining its power.
It was a new kind of pain.
I had thought myself accustomed to pain after repeatedly chipping away at my tree.
But having my strength drained directly was on an entirely different level.
I clenched my teeth and endured.
I focused all my mind on pouring out my magic and the will of the stars.
And in the midst of that, I realized—
My tree was dissolving.
The shadow tree, too, was losing its domain and beginning to waver.
Everything I had built was crumbling away.
My tree twisted pitifully, and the vast realm of the shadow tree shrank.
But even as it faded, I could feel something being born.
Something was gathering toward the turtle.
It was everything that had left me—the love of the dolls, the power of the treasures, the fragments of my broken realm.
The magic circle condensed those forces and molded them into a form.
A divine form, created by the dolls.
And so, upon the turtle’s back, it took shape.
Though invisible to my eyes, I could feel its presence.
It was me.
And yet, it was not me.
The strange connection I felt toward it slowly faded.
It had completely separated from me and fused with the turtle.
The turtle’s star shone brilliantly.
‘But had I given it too much?’
Within the intense concentration of power, cracks began forming in the turtle’s stars within the shadow tree.
I stiffened.
And then, I poured my magic directly into it.
Though my magic patched the cracks, it wasn’t enough.
In the end, I couldn’t stop the stars from shattering.
They crumbled like sand.
‘Failure?’
For a moment, I thought so.
But I quickly shook my head.
No.
The connection to the turtle’s body remained.
I entrusted myself to the magic circle.
I forgot the pain.
I simply poured everything into the turtle.
And in that moment—
The shattered stars began to stir.
They clustered together, clinging to one another.
Slowly, they merged, forming a single cohesive shape.
It was like a great star—vast, radiant.
The soft glow of its light filled the shadow tree, painting it in ethereal luminescence.
As I gazed at it, a memory surfaced—
***
The moon.
The beautiful moon that adorned the night sky.
Like the moon, the newly formed star stabilized.
The magic circle, having accomplished its purpose, began to settle.
The circuits embedded in my body lost their grip, forcefully pulling away.
With that jolt, I collapsed onto the ground, utterly drained.
I had no strength left to move.
I simply lay there, dazed, watching as the magic circle’s glow faded.
At its center, the turtle stood.
It let out a cry, then shrank its body.
Slowly, it approached me.
It looked completely unharmed.
The magic had been completed perfectly.
And yet, I couldn’t bring myself to smile.
Instead, a hollow laugh escaped me.
Of course, I felt empty inside.
My strength had regressed significantly—far beyond where I had started before the lectures.
No, it was worse.
I had been pushed back to the very beginning, to when I had first reached the level of the young tree.
Before activating the magic circle, I had briefly entertained a thought.
‘If I use it repeatedly, could I strengthen the dolls even further?’
But now, having experienced it, I understood.
This was not something that could be done twice.
Recovering from this single use would already take an immense amount of time.
If I ever tried it again…
My tree might collapse completely.
A deep sense of exhaustion settled over me.
I could no longer move.
Yet, despite everything—
A quiet satisfaction filled my heart.
I blankly watched as the turtle drew closer.
On its back, where nothing had been before, a small sprout had emerged.
That was the god I had created.
A warmth blossomed within me—a deep affection for what I had brought into being.
It was me, and yet, it was not me.
It floated above the shadow tree like a moon.
The turtle and I locked eyes.
‘Turtle’ no longer suited it.
It had become a god for the dolls, a protector and guardian.
I glanced at the sprout growing on its back, then at the moon glowing in my heart.
Its stars had melted into the moon.
Yes, I had the perfect name for it.
“You’re Dalbuk.”
The turtle scowled and rammed into me.
My head rocked from the impact.
It seemed to like the name.
***
It was the perfect name…
Or so I thought.
But the turtle’s expression did not soften in the slightest.
I sighed.
It seemed I would have to give up on convincing it.
I quietly observed the turtle—no, Dalbuk.
The god I had created would now move for the sake of the dolls.
It would protect them, care for them—
Just as much as the love they had given.
The moon.
I could feel its power.
It was a blessing, the natural result of love.
Under this blessing, even if a doll lost its body, its consciousness would remain.
That consciousness—
That was the true essence of the dolls.
If they ever lost their bodies, they would reside within the moon, embraced by the love of their god.
That was what I had wished to create.
A sanctuary for the dolls—
A resting place.
A kind of afterlife.
The turtle’s gaze had changed.
Within its eyes, I saw a new depth of intelligence.
It looked at me, then glanced at the empty air.
I followed its gaze—
And my eyes widened.
There stood my professor.
She studied the turtle intently, then smirked.
She didn’t say a word.
Instead, she lightly tapped my head as I lay sprawled on the ground.
There was a subtle distance in her touch—
A difference from before.
Of course, the power of the treasures that had once resided in me had now transferred to the turtle.
I let out a dry chuckle.
My professor’s eyes gleamed with curiosity as she examined the turtle.
She had once told me that Hari had the potential to become a treasure.
And in that sense, the turtle was similar.
After all, it was an existence formed from the condensed power of the treasures.
Naturally, it was exactly the kind of thing my professor would find fascinating.
As she smiled slyly and approached the turtle—
The turtle took a step back.
Watching this unfold, I closed my eyes.
I had no strength left to keep them open.
And just like that—
I lost consciousness.