Chapter 466: The Crying World Tree (3)
As the World Tree's roots rose, part of the Serendel inner castle crumbled.
White marble debris from the carved castle fell down along with the hazy dust.
Between the surging soil, falling debris, and the massive writhing roots, in that hellish battlefield, two swordsn crossed blades.
Alex and Bereborn, affected by gravity, leaped towards each other, stepping on falling debris.
Their figures grazed past each other, and countless sword strikes were etched in the air at the point of collision.
Large marble debris caught in the collision shattered into small pieces like finely chopped food ingredients.
The World Tree's stray roots that were aimlessly wandering nearby were cut off, spraying sap.
The collapsing environnt had little effect on them.
Rather, the environnt where they crossed swords was being sharply cut apart, like slicing a landscape canvas with a knife.
Alex landed on top of a half-destroyed marble spire.
When he slightly lowered his head to check his body, his artifact armor cloak had been cut diagonally.
anwhile, the unscathed Bereborn stood on the rooftop of a half-collapsed building, staring this way.
There was a tiny sword mark on his clothing.
'Well, well.'
On his side, it was just a minor mark, while on this side, the armor was gone.
If it hadn't been an artifact, blood would have been drawn.
Though they had exchanged hundreds of sword strikes while moving around fighting, their battle still showed no sign of ending.
'At this rate, I'm starting to feel embarrassed about brazenly declaring that I would take care of him.'
But it couldn't be helped.
In terms of pure sword skill, Bereborn was far above him.
'Is it the difference in experience?'
Actually, it made sense that he was being pushed back.
Despite his appearance, Bereborn was an elf who had lived for hundreds of years.
At least 500 years.
Moreover, as the leader of the Shade Wardens, he must have abundant combat experience, and as the sword protecting Ventmin, his training couldn't have been halfhearted.
Co to think of it, it was already remarkable that Alex, who hadn't lived even a tenth of that elf's life, could fight this evenly.
What made this possible was his talent, counted among the finest of all knights, and the artifacts equipped all over his body.
'Though I hate to admit it, in pure skill, he's above .'
Unlike the unscathed Bereborn, Alex's body was covered in minor wounds that would have been fatal if not for the artifacts' protection.
Still, Alex's eyes held a light of conviction.
Though he was pushed back at first, even now as they continued to clash, that gap was rapidly narrowing.
Bereborn wasn't one to miss sensing that.
"Human. You are dangerous."
In terms of rank, Alex was below Bereborn himself.
He tried to make up for it sohow with the artifacts worn on his body, but even those were quickly depleted in the prolonged battle.
However even Bereborn couldn't predict his victory.
Though power and artifacts were being depleted, aning this side should gradually gain the upper hand, the fight was changing to feel like it was sinking into a quagmire.
Bereborn could understand why.
‘That human.’
The more they fought, the faster he grew at an incredible rate.
It was hard to believe even while watching.
Despite being human, he was using Forest Walk, an elven footwork technique, and even recreating the dual sword technique that he himself used.
The recent clash confird it.
That brown-skinned human's talent was alien.
Beyond alien, it was astonishing.
'A true monster.'
Enough to shatter the common sense of Bereborn, who had privately prided himself on having no equal with the sword except for Ambella Burke.
If the fight continued like this, Alex would eventually rise to an equal position with himself.
No, would it really just stop there?
Every ti he saw Alex growing, Bereborn felt a chill like a beast about to bite his neck.
At this rate, an almost prophetic instinct told him that the guy would end up devouring him.
After devouring him and becoming an even greater monster, Alex's next destination would surely be the Cradle where Ventmin was.
That, at least, had to be stopped.
As Bereborn's aura changed drastically, Alex clicked his tongue.
'As expected of soone who fights well, his situation handling is damn good.'
Couldn't he just keep looking down on this side as an inferior race and let his guard down enough to get his neck taken?
Alex thought that, but knew life wasn't so accommodating.
"Tsk. Phew."
The artifacts he had received from all sorts of supplies from Rudger were almost all depleted.
Alex took off the now-ragged cloak with one hand and threw it away.
Now he could no longer count on the artifacts' protection.
From here on, he had to face that elf with pure sword skill.
'Slightly awkward.'
Though he tried his best to catch up, as expected of an elf's sword honed over long years, it took ti to analyze and absorb.
At the current rate, the odds of victory were about 40%.
That might sound high, but for swordsn of this level, even a 1% difference was very significant.
Should he switch to defense instead?
'But the situation above doesn't look too good either.'
At so point the World Tree suddenly went berserk and its massive branches covered the outer castle like a cage.
Just earlier, sothing like a red laser had even swept across the World Tree.
Just as Bereborn instinctively sensed sothing, Alex felt sothing as well.
If he didn't end this fight quickly and go help, Rudger would be in danger.
Not just Rudger.
Hans, Sedina, and even the elves supporting this side.
"Haah. I really hate this. I really can't stand having such heavy responsibilities."
Being naturally free-spirited and carefree, Alex found it unpleasant to be given such heavy responsibilities.
He hadn't wished for anything so grand from the start.
Though he had harbored ambitions to rise to a high position while attending knight academy, that was just the rash behavior of an immature ti.
Alex was well aware of his place.
How worthless the position of commoner was in this world.
How unfair, unequal, and cruel this world was.
So he turned his back on responsibility.
Since the world tried to deprive him of his rights, he tried not to bear duties either.
Like that he lost the person he loved.
'No. Maybe I was the only one who thought that way.'
Why was Enya's face appearing in his mind at this mont of crisis?
Alex couldn't help but smile.
The person who believed in him until the end, even while everyone else laughed saying they knew he'd be like this, yet how much had he despaired and lanted his circumstances that forced him to coldly drive her away, so he hated the world and lived like a vagrant.
He even wished soone would beat him to death.
To Alex, who was endlessly waiting for sothing like that, ca a man who reached out his hand.
"Duty and responsibility, huh."
Before he knew it after that day, he had co this far.
He made fun friends, found soone he wanted to follow, and regained the life goals he had forgotten.
-Clang!
Alex's gaze turned forward at the flash of sword light before his eyes.
Sensing so kind of crisis, Bereborn had approached and swung his sword.
How did he block it?
Alex belatedly realized he had moved instinctively.
He naturally blocked an attack that previously he would have taken a hit even while dodging.
He could understand why Bereborn had launched a hasty attack.
Alex grinned.
"Hey. Don't you know it's manners to wait for the mont of awakening?"
"......"
"Well, actually it was the right judgnt. I wouldn't wait either if I were you."
Though his words were playful, the opportunity that felt like his head would burst open had flown away but Alex wasn't impatient.
His talent was at a level where even the slightest inspiration could open the doors of ability wide.
And in this chaotic battlefield heading towards catastrophe, materials to give him inspiration were overflowing.
For instance,
-Slash!
Like that one-eyed elf cutting through roots and charging forward.
"...Ambella Burke?"
Bereborn muttered Ambella's na softly.
For him, if asked who was the most threatening enemy rather than the human swordsman before his eyes, it was undoubtedly Ambella Burke, the strongest swordsman among elves.
Though Bereborn had now inherited that position, he himself didn't think so.
His pride wouldn't allow him to sit in a position that was unilaterally vacated by one side's expulsion.
Only by properly defeating Ambella with the sword would that position shine.
To think that opponent would finally co like this.
But their destination wasn't him, but the direction of the Cradle.
Bereborn pondered slightly.
The opponent wasn't just Ambella Burke.
There was also Vierano Dentis, head of House Dentis, and the elite forces of the subordinate houses with them.
They must be stopped.
The mont he thought that, Bereborn was brought back to reality before his eyes by the flash of sword light.
"With this we're even."
Seeing Alex's playful smile and provocation, Bereborn had no choice but to focus on the opponent before him.
* * *
The living World Tree grabbed Sedina and pulled her towards itself.
The World Tree that had been terrifying beyond asure when binding Hans was now as careful as a mother holding a newborn when grabbing Sedina but no one could feel reassured by that sight, that included Sedina herself.
Two kinds of emotions were transmitted simultaneously from the rampaging World Tree.
‘Familiarity and hatred.’
The forr was the World Tree's own emotion tied to her bloodline, and the latter was Ventmin's emotion rged with the World Tree.
But if forced to weigh the two, the latter was overwhelmingly massive.
Though much of Ventmin's consciousness had died and disappeared, her negative emotions remained in the World Tree like heavy tals and spread widely.
-Kill Plante!
-If only you didn't exist!
-Die for the glory of Lifrey!
The lingering sentints weren't just Ventmin's.
The grudges of all the elves consud to connect with the World Tree were dissolved inside it.
Sedina's body froze stiff like ti had stopped when faced with that.
"Sedina!"
Rudger, riding Steel Raven, approached Sedina being pulled by the World Tree, but the World Tree wouldn't tolerate interference.
Countless scattered branches beca sharp spears targeting Rudger.
Rudger tried to destroy the branches by detonating artifacts, but the World Tree's branches infinitely regenerated no matter how many were destroyed.
When one was destroyed, two, three, no, more than 10 grew in its place.
Though Sedina needed to be saved imdiately, the situation wasn't favorable.
Moreover, the World Tree wasn't Rudger's only opponent.
"Don't interfere! John Doe!"
Rudger had to pull Steel Raven back from the golden arrows surging from below.
Ventmin, whose body had completely transford into wood, was glaring at him viciously.
-Creak.
In the central pillar of the World Tree a large groove appeared as the thick bark split left and right.
Inside was a throne made of wood and the tree's roots forcibly sat Sedina there.
It looked like inserting Sedina like a key into a large keyhole.
"L-let go!"
Though Sedina struggled to break free, sturdy vines bound her hands, feet, and body to fix her to the throne.
Not stopping there, part of the vine wrapped once around Sedina's head.
The sharply rising thing was a crown made of wood.
"Ah."
Sedina's eyes beca turbid as the crown was forcibly placed on her.
Having lost consciousness against her will, she soon went limp and fell asleep with closed eyes.
"Ahahaha!"
Ventmin burst into laughter seeing that sight.
"Yes! It was there after all! The final key to fully control the World Tree, the Central Dogma! It was deep in that blood!"
The Central Dogma, the core key of the World Tree, wasn't a physically existing key.
It was engraved deep in the genes inherently possessed by those of Plante blood.
The World Tree, sensing danger from the dragon's flas, had instinctively detected it and taken Sedina.
It was a situation no one had predicted or even thought of.
The World Tree that t its complete master awakened.
The World Tree that was already a sacred tree now emanated a pale green light on its own.
"The World Tree...is awakening!"
The sight was even beautiful in a way.
Ventmin, rged with the World Tree, smiled in ecstasy feeling the massive power rising in herself as well.
This is it.
It was an enormous power incomparable to when just skimming the World Tree's surface and it gave her a sense of omnipotence like truly becoming a god.
"Everything is mine."
Along with Ventmin's voice overflowing with greed, the World Tree trembled.
Seeing it seem to resist those words, Ventmin sneered.
"What do you think I've been researching you for until now? I've been waiting for this mont."
Though she had lost part of her consciousness rging with the World Tree, she hadn't forgotten the sense of purpose she had held for hundreds of years.
Rather, as other mories were cut away, her goal remained even more firmly.
"500 years. During that ti countless elves' lives were sacrificed."
Just look at the wood zombies composing the Cradle.
They were victims and test subjects, data for researching the World Tree.
A hill of death built up with history, corpses, and blood.
Standing suddenly atop it, Ventmin could finally et eyes as an equal with the previously invisible being.
With the World Tree that had finally opened its eyes.
"Resistance is futile. My arrangent is already inside your body."
A malicious code woven with life and death.
Through it, Ventmin rapidly absorbed the World Tree's authority as her own.
As Ventmin felt the rising power, conversely the World Tree scread in pain.
But even that sounded like a pleasant lullaby to Ventmin.
"Well then. Shall we test it?"
Currently the World Tree's power she had transferred was up to 30%.
Ventmin's gaze turned to one side.
There was the Three Noble Families Faction's army trapped in a cage, frozen in place unable to do anything.
Worthless worms daring to oppose her.
-Crack.
Ventmin pointed at the elf army with her hand split like an old tree.
The World Tree's strong vibrations suddenly stopped.
At the sa ti the surroundings darkened.
'What?'
Rudger, wandering in midair, suddenly looked around.
Though it was clearly dayti, the brightness suddenly dropped as if night had fallen.
Conversely, what beca that much brighter was the World Tree.
'It absorbed all the surrounding light?'
-Woong.
The World Tree absorbed all the sunlight pouring on the surroundings and transford into a tree of light.
Then light began gathering at the World Tree's front.
It was a massive energy mass churning like white and yellow mixing.
Watching it from atop Steel Raven, Rudger felt a chill run down his back.
That was dangerous.
At that mont Ventmin passed the sentence on the army.
"Die."
The World Tree's rage was fired at the Three Noble Families soldiers.
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