Chapter 161
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 161
Chapter Title: Yggdrasil, Green Wave, Death Dragon - 1
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Although the entire building had collapsed under Lee Hyun-wook’s assault, the movement within had not ceased.
“O managers of the forest, seize the reins of great nature and summon forth absolute power—!”
Underground, Dark Elf ‘Spirit Shamans of the Forest’ stood in the darkness, emitting a black aura.
After swallowing a certain fruit, they had become capable of wielding magic beyond their limits.
They were in the process of summoning numerous forest spirits to exert their authority over the plant life…
“Now! Bestow hardship upon the forest’s faithful servants and make them burn their bodies—!”
But around the necks of these forest spirits were purple magic chains, and their small bodies trembled like aspen leaves as they let out desperate screams, as if on the verge of annihilation.
“Gyaaaah—!”
“P-please, just kill me!”
This cruel spectacle was a form of spirit shamanism known as ‘Black Elementalism,’ which exploited spirits.
“Gueeeeh…”
Forcibly drawing out power beyond their limits, the low-level spirits could not last more than a few minutes.
Countless spirits, having exhausted their power, simply vanished as if vaporizing…
“Thirteen just perished! Open two more spirit cages and commit all our strength!”
At that, one of the ‘spirit prisons’ stacked to the side opened, and ten forest spirits were dragged out.
The Dark Elves seemed all too familiar with using forest spirits as mere consumables.
Drawing on this strange power, the forest shamans planted the seeds of the Green Wave and forced their rapid growth, succeeding in propping up the collapsing ceiling.
Next, they began to push their way through the building’s wreckage.
“Oh—as expected, the spirit shamanism of the ‘Forest Keepers,’ who have reached the pinnacle of spirit control, is beyond imagination.”
Meanwhile, a middle-aged man with horn-rimmed glasses, a Villain associate named Mario Lima, couldn’t help but be impressed.
As a Black Elementalist himself, the sight was both familiar and astonishing.
“To secure this many spirits… I suppose I’ll have to put more effort into collecting them?”
At his words, the female Dark Elf ‘Flos Ruber’ standing beside him scoffed.
“Hah—you know nothing. Our blessed forest is teeming with such things; they are quite easy to come by.”
“That forest was once called Berlin, wasn’t it? I’ve been there a few times in the past.”
“Tsk, your ugly and filthy urban centers were brought down by the great nature we nurtured long ago.”
“Hehehe—of course. With power as magnificent as this, I’d gladly offer up a mere city.”
Mario Lima marveled as if he were encountering an advanced civilization, but his inner thoughts were different.
‘If I capture these things and study them… I could create quite a masterpiece.’
He entertained various fantasies, suppressing the sly smile that threatened to escape.
In fact, he was the one who had created the ‘City Sweeper’ based on a collective of earth spirits.
This time, he briefly fell into a happy dilemma, wondering what he could create with forest spirits.
But for now, he had to focus on dealing with their worst adversary, Steel Rain.
‘To think I’d be tripped up by that bastard again. Hah—this is getting quite interesting, isn’t it?’
Honestly, he never dreamed that Steel Rain would appear and interfere this time as well.
But the Villains had more than one plan prepared, so he wasn’t anxious yet.
“In any case, since the plan has gone awry, I will move to a different location for the second phase.”
As he spoke, he turned his head. A small portal had formed in a corner.
“Now… I need to hack the tender parts of Yggdrasil’s roots and find Nidhogg’s location.”
They planned to release the dragon Nidhogg, trapped beneath the roots of Yggdrasil.
They had devised various plans to shake Yggdrasil from within for the coming war.
*Rumble—*
Meanwhile, the Green Wave, having pushed through the building’s debris, began to surge up and cover the ground.
“And… the one who ruined our plans and fled upwards, did you say he was Steel Rain?”
Flos Ruber asked, looking up at the sky, and Mario Lima nodded.
“Yes, I sent you the data on him before. As you can see, he’s an unpredictable and very troublesome fellow.”
Steel Rain, along with Donald Harris, was a wall obstructing the great cause of the organization known as the Villains…
“Right, he manipulates steel? A remarkable ability, but against me, it will be nothing more than a useless parlor trick.”
Typically, metal tools were used to cut down trees and trim bushes.
But in retrospect, felling even a single tree required striking it for a very long time.
‘Because the great forest of nature is not something that can be brought down by processed metal.’
No matter how many metal weapons one mobilized, it was difficult to erase a forest on the scale of great nature.
And that was even more true if that forest could continue to grow with a special power.
“Before me, he is nothing but prey. I shall personally make him nutrients for the forest.”
With those words, she strode forward, and vines gathered beneath her feet.
*CRACKLE—!*
From among the vines, a massive flower bud bloomed, enveloping her body before soaring into the sky.
***
Near Lake Chad, two whirlwinds churned violently, as if about to collide at any moment.
‘…If the Spirit King and the Guardian of the World Tree clash, this city will be half-destroyed.’
Just moments ago, Prydwen, carrying the Spirit King’s Moon and her friends, had flown off into the western sky.
If she could just face the Spirit King, she might be able to defuse this situation.
But that was a separate matter…
*Rumble—*
A mass of green vines, surging from underground, had already swallowed dozens of buildings.
Lee Hyun-wook, Kim Se-hee, and Park Jun-mo hovered in the air, staring down blankly at the scene.
‘But… their secret operation has been completely foiled, yet they intend to fight in enemy territory?’
Seeing that, Lee Hyun-wook surmised that the Villains’ plot was still in motion.
‘Otherwise, they wouldn’t choose to make a stand instead of fleeing when their plan has been completely crushed.’
To find out what their other move was, he needed to delve into those vines.
“We need to stop that now. But… it seems we’re up against a rather tricky opponent.”
“Well, when have we ever faced an opponent who wasn’t tricky? You’ll say that and then wipe them all out by yourself again, won’t you?”
Kim Se-hee said, drawing two daggers as she floated in the air.
“I’d like to, but this time, it’s a genuinely difficult situation, even for me.”
Just then—
*CRACKLE—!*
From within the Green Wave that had consumed the area, a light purple flower bud shot up, standing tall like a tower. The bud parted slightly, revealing a figure within, poised elegantly.
A graceful woman with long, flowing silver hair stood proudly, her red eyes looking up.
- Dark Elf Forest Guardian Flos Ruber (LV: 119)
He already knew this woman was here, but seeing it confirmed made him click his tongue.
‘Tsk, of all people, the most difficult opponent for me had to come in person…’
In his past life, after the Dark Elf legion conquered Europe and brought down Yggdrasil, they advanced into the Middle East.
At that time, the Allied Human Forces had formed a defensive line on the Israel-Jordan border to stop them.
‘And I fought that woman three times on the battlefields of Jerusalem.’
Lee Hyun-wook had been defeated by that Dark Elf woman several times. No matter how many steel weapons he mobilized, raining them down like a storm, he couldn’t stop the endless flood of man-eating creatures.
‘In the end, we were only able to stop it after Inferno joined and burned the entire Green Wave to the ground…’
Logically, the best way to deal with a forest spirit shaman was with fire-based attacks.
But Lee Hyun-wook didn’t have many fire-based weapons at his disposal.
He had a few ‘Fire Traps’ in AD-2, but those alone wouldn’t be enough to deal significant damage.
‘The most effective thing I have is the Flame Storm skill from Mjolnir…’
But hoping to resolve everything with that single shot was banking on a fluke.
‘I have to use that to create an opening and target the forest spirit shamans inside those vines.’
Worse yet, this was happening right near ‘Yggdrasil’ of all places.
That being, filled with immense life force, drastically increased the growth rate of all plants in the vicinity.
Now that the ‘Green Wave’ had taken root, it would absorb that blessing and continue to grow.
‘It might be even more difficult than fighting them in their home base, the <Green Hell>.’
That must have been why they sent an elite unit like the forest spirit shamans here…
‘So… nothing about this situation is advantageous. But I can catch them off guard.’
Drawing on his past life’s experience, Lee Hyun-wook thought of a plan and looked at Kim Se-hee and Park Jun-mo.
“That mass of vines is a type of forest. That means all sorts of monsters will be coming out soon.”
Then, smaller flower buds shot up, and from within them, more Dark Elves appeared.
- Dark Elf Druid (LV: 62)
Fourteen in total… they tamed monsters native to the ‘Green Hell’ and used them as weapons.
“And it should go without saying, but when facing an enemy who commands minions, the answer is to take out the ‘caster’.”
They had to target the fourteen Dark Elf druids and the boss monster, Flos Ruber. And most importantly, the ones still underground, sacrificing spirits to grow the Green Wave…
“Taking them down is the key to this battle, so we’ll have to watch for an opportunity.”
Easier said than done. It was impossible to break through the ground covered by the Green Wave to target them.
But at Lee Hyun-wook’s words, the two of them adopted determined expressions and drew their weapons.
“And Park Jun-mo, when I give the signal, use Mjolnir’s ‘Flame Storm’.”
Park Jun-mo gripped Mjolnir, which he held in his right hand, firmly with both hands.
“Yes, I’ll be ready and waiting!”
At that moment, the Dark Elf druids took out something like oak barrels and opened their lids.
“Uh, what’s that?”
From within, what could only be described as a swarm of bees began to pour out.
*WHIIIIIRRRRRR—!*
‘Those barrels… they’re Pocket Spaces.’
A Pocket Space was a higher-dimensional subspace where even living creatures could reside.
Inside those wooden cylinders, a considerably large insect nest had been established.
- Green Hell Venomous Insect (LV: 34)
They were only level 34, but when their numbers reached the thousands, it was a different story.
And as long as those barrels remained open, their numbers could multiply several times over.
The swarm of insects billowed like a black fog, approaching in a wide fan shape.
The first to move was Kim Se-hee.
“Ugh—disgusting… but I’ll take care of them!”
She sensed the winds she had secretly let loose earlier and pulled on them as if tugging on reins.
Instantly, the gently flowing air turned violent, creating a gust that tore through the area.
*SH-SH-SH-SHRED—!*
The approaching swarm of insects was shredded as if put through a blender, and green blood rained down.
“Did you see that woman? Looks like she’s a wind spirit shaman.”
“Ooh—let’s capture her and make her fight her own spirit to the death!”
They spouted such horrific things, completely at odds with the noble image commonly associated with elves.
Meanwhile, Kim Se-hee’s attack was formidable, but it had only grazed one side of the swarm.
Next, Park Jun-mo stepped forward. Lacking a flight skill, he moved forward, flailing as if swimming.
“Hah! Then I’ll try something I’ve been practicing!”
Electric currents flowed from his hands, gathering into several spheres.
“Hyaap—!”
They shot forward, releasing electric currents in all directions at regular intervals.
*Zap! Zap! Zap! Zap!*
Functioning as a sort of auto-turret, they zapped anything that approached. Against the swarm of insects flying in close formation, a single hit caused the current to jump from one insect’s body to the next, electrocuting many at once.
“Oh… Park Jun-mo, you’ve gotten pretty good.”
As the two of them unleashed their skills in succession, the approaching swarm of insects dwindled significantly.
‘As expected, they’re both optimized for dealing with large numbers, so they should be able to tie up the druids just fine.’
Lee Hyun-wook left the forest druids to the two of them and turned toward Flos Ruber.
“Be careful… that woman is stronger than any spirit shaman I’ve ever seen, aside from the Guardian of the World Tree!”
Maru sensed Flos Ruber’s overwhelming ‘spirit control’ and was on high alert.
“You, you’re not a spirit shaman, yet you possess a rather fine spirit. I can tell.”
Her voice, amplified by some magic, was clearly audible even from hundreds of meters away.
“But that is foolish. If you lack the power to command a spirit, it is nothing but a waste of mana.”
She elegantly extended a pale finger, and vines writhed from the ground like sea anemones and flew at him.
Lee Hyun-wook soared higher into the sky and created Mogeley propellers, setting them to spin.
*TH-TH-TH-TH-THUD—!*
The rotating metal masses, weighing 2 and 4 tons, shredded all the approaching vines to bits.
“Oh, an ingenious use of your ability, but such clumsy tricks will only prolong your life for a moment!”
Flos Ruber clicked her tongue and this time raised both hands. From within the Green Wave, tube-like plants shot up one after another, opening their mouths and spewing something out.
*SHUSHUSHU—!*
“—Everyone, be careful!”
It was a volley of hundreds of poison darts. A single hit would paralyze the affected area for ten minutes.
In his past life, a top-tier Player unit from Israel had been wiped out after being hit by that.
The small darts spread out wide as they flew, making them difficult to dodge. A large shield was essentially required.
Lee Hyun-wook urgently generated metal to create a shield, intending to cover all three of them…
“I’ll block something like that, so you just do something about that woman!”
At that moment, Maru crushed the rooftop of a building and lifted the entire thing.
*CRACK—*
He shattered it into smaller pieces and scattered them wide toward the ground, and the poison darts were caught by the stone fragments.
“…As expected, you’re useful.”
“Just useful? I saved you all!”
But that wasn’t the end of it.
“Something else is coming!”
This time, purple flowers bloomed, and from their buds, spheres were launched upwards.
*Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop!*
The spheres burst in mid-air, dyeing the shade of Yggdrasil in myriad colors.
It looked beautiful, but getting caught in it would cause one’s skin to melt like cheese.
Lee Hyun-wook quickly ascended into the air, escaping the radius, but he was worried about the other two.
‘Dammit, I can’t move while worrying about those two.’
Kim Se-hee could fly freely on the wind, but Park Jun-mo, lacking any decent movement skills, just flailed in the air.
Fortunately, Hani flew over and rescued him.
“Agh, honestly, Park Jun-mo—you’re so much trouble!”
“…Ugh, my apologies.”
“You just focus on attacking. I’ll handle the defense!”
But Kim Se-hee and Park Jun-mo worked together better than expected.
“Then I’ll intercept those flowers. Please launch me towards the ground!”
At Park Jun-mo’s words, Kim Se-hee pushed his body forcefully toward the ground. As the spheres flew toward him, Kim Se-hee fired a gust of wind to alter their trajectory while Hani moved his body.
“Aaaah—h-here I go—!”
At that moment, the numerous electric spheres Park Jun-mo threw scattered towards the purple flowers.
*Pop— Pop— Pop— Pop—*
Upon impact, a burst of blue electricity erupted, crushing the area and melting the purple petals.
Meanwhile, Lee Hyun-wook was advancing, his Mogeley propellers spinning.
“Yes, come—!”
He had now reached a distance of about a hundred meters from the flower bud where Flos Ruber sat.
As Lee Hyun-wook approached, she raised the corners of her mouth and lifted both hands.
“Steel Rain, I have already heard countless stories about you.”
“…”
“Which means… I know your weapons inside and out.”
She spread her arms wide and spoke with supreme confidence, as if daring him to come at her.
Lee Hyun-wook paid her no mind and opened the subspace of all 12 AD-2s.
*SWOOSH—SWOOSH—SWOOSH—SWOOSH—SWOOSH—!*
Hundreds of weapons rushed furiously toward a single point.
But…
“Yes, Steel Rain. I knew you’d come with such a predictable attack!”
She clenched her fists as if to pull something out, then raised both hands high above her head.
*Rumble—*
The ‘Green Wave’ shot up vertically from the ground, creating a massive green wall.
At a glance, its continuous, violent movement resembled a giant green wave.
“Let’s see if you can break through me.”
The mass of vines writhed like snakes and began to bat away the incoming metal weapons.
*Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!*
“I know that among your weapons, I only need to be wary of that giant sword.”
However, she only managed to deflect a tiny fraction of the metal weapons, the Mogeleys.
The remaining hundreds of metal weapons plunged directly into the mass of vines.
Lee Hyun-wook tried to use his metal control to pull them out…
*Gurgle— Gurgle—*
“Tsk tsk, it’s useless.”
No matter how much force he applied, they wouldn’t come out. His weapons had become entangled in the mass of vines.
“It’s useless no matter how hard you try to pull them out. These vines are strong enough to destroy buildings.”
As if being sucked into a swamp, Lee Hyun-wook’s weapons completely disappeared into the mass of vines.
Lee Hyun-wook closed his eyes and used his metal control to sense where the metal weapons were.
‘They’re dragging everything underground. They intend to hold them tight so I can’t get them back.’
They had imprisoned his weapons deep below, where the roots of the Green Wave were.
“Do you understand now? Your precious reputation is nothing but a parlor trick before me.”
With everything going according to plan, Flos Ruber shouted in delight.
But Lee Hyun-wook didn’t give up and fired another volley of hundreds of metal weapons.
*SWOOSH—SWOOSH—SWOOSH—SWOOSH—SWOOSH—!*
“Hmm? This one… is dumber than I thought. Why doesn’t he learn?”
Lee Hyun-wook, of course, didn’t stop, squeezing out all his metal weapons and pouring them on.
*SWOOSH—SWOOSH—SWOOSH—SWOOSH—SWOOSH—!*
“Is that really all you know how to do? Why not try using the skill of that greatsword you’re so fond of?”
Now wearing a somewhat bored expression, she shook her head as if he were pathetic and even offered advice.
“M-Mr. Lee… n-nothing’s working. Is it okay to keep pouring them in like that?”
Even Kim Se-hee, who was continuing her fight nearby, voiced her concern with a bewildered expression.
Lee Hyun-wook’s strength came from his ability to continuously maintain a large number of metal weapons.
But if they were all swallowed by the vines like that, wouldn’t he effectively lose those weapons?
Even if he used Shatter in there, it wouldn’t cause any significant damage.
In other words, to any observer, Lee Hyun-wook was fighting an unusually costly battle.
But…
“…Hmm, it’s about time for a reaction.”
Lee Hyun-wook maintained a relaxed expression and did not cease his assault of metal weapons.
“Hm? What did you just say?”
To Flos Ruber’s question, Lee Hyun-wook smiled for the first time and answered.
“I’ll tell you one thing: eating whatever you find will give you a stomachache.”
“…What?”
“Your race, unfortunately, doesn’t seem to have even such an obvious lesson?”
And just then, a truly strange phenomenon began to occur.
*Sizzle—*
The Green Wave, which had been surging and consuming the area, began to shrink noticeably.
Like a thicket doused in herbicide, the healthy vegetation withered in an instant.
“…W-what is happening?”
Finally noticing the symptom, Flos Ruber frowned and communicated with someone.
The ones supplying power to this Green Wave were the forest spirit shamans underground.
- *Gasp*—L-Lady of the Forest, a-all of us have suddenly been afflicted by a strange curse!
“Hm? A curse? The battle’s influence does not reach where you are. What do you mean by that!”
She closed her eyes and used her own forest spirits to sense what was happening below.
And…
- Warning! You have fallen under Balmung's curse ‘Chains of Pain (Stage 3)’.
* All healing effects are temporarily reduced. (-40%)
* ‘Severe’ bleeding temporarily occurs in various parts of the body.
* Mental strength is temporarily ‘greatly’ reduced, causing hallucinations and auditory illusions.
* Body’s fortitude is temporarily ‘greatly’ reduced. (-50%)
* All stats are reduced by the ‘Evil Spirit’s Restraint’. (-20%)
She realized that her subordinates had been afflicted with the above status effects.
That’s right. Among the weapons the Green Wave had dragged down below was ‘Balmung’.
‘In my past life, one of the ways that woman tormented me was by sealing my weapons like this.’
And cleverly, she had deflected weapons with area-of-effect skills, like Mogeley.
She knew exactly which weapons Lee Hyun-wook used and had thoroughly exploited that knowledge.
But since Lee Hyun-wook had never shown her ‘Balmung’, she couldn’t filter that sword out.
‘…In other words, by turning her own tactic against her, I can catch her completely off guard.’
In the end, that sword was pulled down into the underground, where it began to inflict a ‘curse’ on the area, and the forest spirit shamans responsible for producing the Green Wave were steeped in that curse, losing their power.
‘Now the regeneration of the Green Wave will be significantly weaker.’
Lee Hyun-wook raised both hands, and behind him, four Mogeleys and Sudarshana lined up.
And…
“Park Jun-mo, now!”
“Ah, yes! Right away!”
At that moment, Park Jun-mo threw Mjolnir and cast ‘Flame Storm’.
Lee Hyun-wook dropped the four Mogeleys toward that point, using all their skills.
The earth trembled for a while, and the forest collapsed into a heap of ashes.