“Awfully grotesque, isn’t it?”
Just half an hour ago, the Eloni Academy, once the pride of the elves, has vanished, replaced by the twisted core of the corrupted World Tree.
Thousands of black roots grotesquely intertwine, oozing thick purple magic between them.
The magic stretches upwards multiple times, absorbing the life mana dispersed in the air.
Life mana is spread all over the World Tree.
Among all, the living beings possess the most mana, but there’s no reason not to absorb the mana floating in the air.
[Ugh]
[Corrupted World Tree;;]
[Gross]
[Shiver]
[Let’s kill it]
[So, there’s a Sword Saint in there?]
[Oh sh*t]
[Grotesque Hanwoo ㄷㄷ]
[Smash it with the hammer ㄱㄱㄱㄱㄱㄱ]
[Let’s use a roar once]
It’s only about 10% of the World Tree that’s been corrupted, but seeing how massive the World Tree is, even this 10% is considerable.
It’s large enough to swallow a decent-sized city.
I transformed the White Guardian into a hammer and took to the skies.
When facing a giant opponent, nothing beats a hammer.
Kiiiii!!!
Swaaaaaash!
As I approached to slam down the hammer, hundreds, thousands of tree trunks aimed at me.
They seemed hell-bent on grabbing me to make me their nutrient.
I smiled wickedly and crushed the approaching trunks.
With the holy pressure, the trunks burst apart.
Judging it futile, the roots now aimed at me.
A root belonging to a low-class World Boss that Asuka is fighting.
Seeing that it’s only here, it seems like a guardian of the core.
Crack. I half-turned the hammer, rotating it in reverse.
In an instant, the airflow changed completely, and the roots that had been aiming at me lost their target, twisting around aimlessly.
Fwooosh!!!
One root burst under the blow of my hammer.
At the same time, as I aimed for another root, the remnants of the root that paused in mid-air shattered and aimed for me again.
[Watch out!]
“I anticipated it.”
In the brief gap, I transformed back to a spear and leaped into the air, twisting as I went.
The shattered pieces that brushed past where I was glared at me in frustration.
Meanwhile, I completed my preparation.
‘Roar of the spear.’
Kwaaaar!!!
Over a hundred storms fired in all directions, tearing apart the roots.
Though the remnants retreated to target me again through regeneration and separation, it was all in vain.
As I unleashed another roar, the remnants were ripped apart by the storm, obliterated at the particle level.
“Phew…”
[Wow]
[Shiver]
[So good at fighting ㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
[Is this the majesty of being rank 1?]
[I feel like I could take them all on by myself.]
“I’ll take them all down alone.”
“Wow.”
“Seriously, the spear is nice, but it beats the hammer.”
“God of Spear Lily! God of Spear Lily! God of Spear Lily!”
“Don’t ignore the hammer, no way.”
“But still, Lily likes the hammer more for real, haha.”
“…The hammer is better than the spear, right?”
It’s true that the spear excels in technique, but when it comes to one-hit power, there’s no weapon that can compete.
Breaking that core should be the hammer’s job.
I watched the core quietly observing as the roots died off around me.
Thump. Thump.
The grotesque black central root wraps around as if to protect the inside.
From within, an immense magic can be felt.
At my current level, it’s more than I can handle.
Crack.
But even so, I swung the hammer without hesitation.
And then.
“Celestial Race… damn chicken heads.”
Whoosh…!
My heart was pierce through.
■
[?]
[?]
[Whoa]
[Lily!]
[????]
“Ugh…!”
My heart was pierced.
To be exact, it almost was.
Barely twisting my body and pushing it away with holy power, I managed to dodge it, but that caused my left arm to be pierced instead.
Zzzt!!!
Ignoring the immense pain, I brought the hammer down again.
The upper root wrapping around the core shrieked and shattered under the holy power.
At this rate, I might just crush the core completely.
“…That’s tough.”
But the core quickly retreated, narrowly escaping my attack range.
Whoosh! Finally, the root embedded in my left arm was pulled out, and murky blood flowed down.
‘It’s not a sign of corruption.’
Both celestial and demon races can be purified or corrupted by opposing races.
A fallen angel or a converted demon is an example.
However, rather than being completely corrupted like in the media, they’re more like puppets enslaved by power.
Usually, it requires a significant difference in strength and soul rank for that to happen…
‘It’s not like that.’
I have no idea what level the demon named Verd was at before his sealing, but it’s not something to be concerned about rank.
What’s worse is the monster is currently pushing me with ‘power’.
‘If I wear the Heir’s Casket, I can catch him.’
Not just catch him, I could completely crush him.
After squashing him, I can seal the demon back in the sword and stuff it away in a different dimension forever.
Yet, I kept it inside.
‘Dreaming no longer…’
The Crown of Succession is unstable.
If I keep using this unstable tool that calls forth the emotions of the past, I might lose the current me.
I will no longer go back to the past.
‘Advance. And do not look back.’
Recalling is enough.
Hating and remembering him is sufficient.
“I like the method pretty much… but what a disappointment. The Celestial Race I anticipated turns out to be just you.”
“You’ll regret it because of me.”
“Really?”
The core opens.
Roots stretch out as if welcoming the king, and between them stands the Sword Saint, eyes wide like a fool.
I’ve really lost my body like an idiot.
[What is this?]
[The Sword Saint has gone crazy.]
[Why is he like this?]
[???]
[I heard the Sword Saint’s sword is a demon; could that be it?]
[Penalty’s a nightmare.]
[Another self ON ㄷㄷㄷ]
[Ah… I am the ‘Other Side’ and ‘Shadow’ of the Sword Saint…]
[Hahahahahaha]
Now, let’s think.
With my current state, capturing the corrupted World Tree and the demon race is tough.
To catch them, I need to use the Crown of Succession or Sacred Transformation, but the Crown is impossible for the aforementioned reasons, and Sacred Transformation is even worse.
Sacred Transformation is a last resort you only use when absolutely desperate.
I need something I can win with without dragging up the past.
‘Something that didn’t exist in the past but exists now.’
The mouth of the Sword Saint opened.
“My name is Verd.”
Swish.
“I will kill you and go beyond the world.”
As Verd’s words finish, violet magic erupts like crazy.
The roots that stretched out in reaction massively enhance and aim at me.
Most were smashed with a hammer, but like waiting for an opportunity, the black roots thrust in the direction I couldn’t move.
The rough roots came crashing in and were cut off.
I didn’t do it.
“Starlight Rush!”
Swoosh!!
The sword of starlight, ‘Meteor Sword,’ sliced through the roots.
The dazzling swordmaster Aisha, shining with starlight aura, stood by my side.
Something that didn’t exist in the past but exists now.
That’s…
“Brother Sword Saint! Can you hear me?!”
“……”
Should I kill her?
[Hahahahahaha]
[Look at how she can’t get a grip.]
[So funnyㅋㅋㅋ]
[You don’t just fix people up.]
[I heard half of rankers are abnormal.]
[So cute.]
[If Lily, whom I regret saving, is like that, I’d really support it.]
[Hahahahaha]
[I’m fine.]
[I’m fine, I’m fine.]
Thwack.
I flicked Aisha on the forehead.
“Ah!”
“Focus. If you disturb me, I’ll blast you away too.”
“…Ugh. Got it.”
Aisha steadied herself and raised the Meteor Sword.
There’s some squishiness, but Aisha’s talent is more than enough.
What’s important is her ‘cutting power.’
On her own, she can’t chop down the World Tree’s core roots imbued with magic, but her class and weapon are crucial.
‘Slice.’
It’s a unique ability that embodies the power of ‘cutting’ just like the Green Hermit I lent to Yena.
If it cuts, it will definitely sever and deal extra damage.
Of course, with that level of demon, the ‘definitely’ power could be neutralized, but if I make slight adjustments, the story changes.
“Adding one more bug won’t make a difference…”
Verd, who’s taken over the Sword Saint’s body, mocked her while tightening the roots around the core once more.
He looked pretty relaxed, but it was evident he was slightly flustered.
“……”
Aisha, though she wasn’t the Sword Saint, tensed up.
But it was precisely that state that made her aware of her own intensity.
“Give me back my brother’s body!”
The starlight slashed through the roots.
With a whoosh~ sound, the roots were severed, releasing magic.
In the meantime, I slammed the core roots with my hammer.
The core, blocking both sides, scattered fierce magic and sent Aisha and me flying.
Kaboom…!
A massive root rose up, incomparable to the previous ones.
It was like a mountain rising up.
Even though it was less absorbed, the core seemed to be straining as magic oozed out and reached here.
“Aren’t you pushing it too hard?”
“Shut up! You won’t be able to pierce this body anyway!”
The sky darkened.
A towering size loomed over Aisha, far away from me, but I didn’t make any moves.
Sre.
There’s someone else who will cut that.
“Really? Then how about this?”
In a flash, the root was severed.
A small woman stepped over the black roots, scattering green brilliance.
‘Asuka Elposis.’
“Die. You damned bastard.”
The green blade, higher than the roots, split the core in half.
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