The Maou of the Forest
"Kirke! Can you drain the flooded water?!"
She nodded—
"Mortis! Check on the sailors in bad shape! We'll drain the water and evac immediately! Kirke! I know it's a lot to ask, but please!"
No sooner had Radamu dashed out than Lemon Hyacinth took command, seamlessly assuming leadership. Unless they could fight the elf, their priority was urgent evacuation. The plan was to patch up the Nautilus just enough, move to a safe spot, then have Kirke provide support right away. Only she could seal the water and revive the ship in this mess.
Hyacinth shed his coat to plug the hole, and Mortis threw up a barrier of light with her skills to push back the flood—but the influx was overwhelming, far beyond what they could handle.
"No, wait! You're saying we're leaving him behind?!"
Bartholomew Kidd grabbed Hyacinth, protesting that he might die fighting alone if they abandoned him.
"Parties have roles! It's an order from our party leader, big bro Radamu! We follow it!"
"What if he dies?!"
"What if we go help and just get in the way?! Big bro Radamu can judge for himself! Hesitating here is what's really hindering him!"
"Don't give me that bullshit! I'm not abandoning a comrade!"
"Bro Kidd!"
Before Hyacinth could stop him, Bartholomew held his breath, snatched his harpoon, and dove into the hole. The instant he was gone, he hurled a rock from the floor to plug it, then rocketed toward the surface.
Kirke caught her breath, temporarily securing the rock to seal the water, then pounded the Nautilus's circuit boards to restore its systems.
From the porthole showing the outside, Hyacinth watched Kidd swim farther away, yelling in fury—but the sound didn't carry through the water.
"Bro...!"
Kidd surfaced, swimming up to sea level. He knew rushing in would just hinder Radamu. His harpoon couldn't even scratch an elf's skin. So he dove deep, circled wide to evade the wind spirits' eyes, and pulled a harpoon buried in the bedrock.
It was smaller than expected, but etched with dense magic circles. He infused it with mana, held his breath, and bided his time.
He felt no betrayal learning Radamu Dice was that beautiful hero. Instead, he pitied him for hiding it to protect those around him—and burned with rage, vowing not to let some elf kill him. Kidd held his breath, stifling his presence in the sea, silently watching Radamu fight.
It wasn't even a fight. Radamu was just stalling, threatening the elf to prevent harm.
Right after handing over the golden apple—boom! The elf's upper body exploded.
Kidd wanted to charge, but the brands on the wind spirits' necks remained, and the sand cratered around the elf's lower half showed his psychic energy was still potent. So he endured, planning to drag Radamu into the sea if he collapsed from exhaustion.
And his grim premonition hit in the worst way.
The elf, upper body blasted, regenerated from the head down in midair—a grotesque impossibility. Kidd's eyes widened.
Brain reforming first, then flesh slowly building. Radamu swung the Bopal Weapon wide. Seeing the neck severed, Kidd clenched his fist.
That hero's sword will kill it, even if it regenerates!
But the elf liquified to dodge, slamming Radamu away. Kidd ground his teeth.
—If I go, I'm dead for sure. My dreams, all my efforts—gone in an instant. Death is that empty.
Just moments ago, countless had died, age and status meaningless. He could die here too.
Yet Kidd didn't hesitate at the surface. He leaped, raising his harpoon.
Even if meaningless, he wouldn't watch a comrade die. What kind of pirate doesn't embrace death?
The harpoon gleamed in the moonlight, launching with Kidd's roar to pierce the elf.
The sudden ambush staggered the elf. He'd found both druid and world tree—elves' sacred duties—but lost focus fretting over his safety after killing them in rage. That gap was Kidd's strike.
It bought Radamu precious seconds.
★
The sky blackened, the earth trembled.
The ground sobbed, quaking like heaving sobs—echoing the departed Earth Mother God's grief, the forest wailed.
Intelligent plants lifted heads; flowers folded buds, bowing. Trees shed leaves; running treants howled.
Forests across the Chronicle Continent pulsed—Daesurim's elves felt inexplicable dread and terror amid the uproar.
Something unknown writhed in the forest's darkness.
Resentments swept back to the beach on waves, blocked from their goal, crawling desperately, wailing horrifically, pleading for their king by name.
Blackened sky, moon losing color. Vast, unfathomable divinity spread through the air.
Continent's Overlords sensed it—those recalling the Maou felt ancient soul-scars, glimpsing death's shadow; others recoiled, frowning in extreme rejection.
Some screamed mad, unable to bear the Maou's presence. Long-lived races remembering whispered of a hero-enduring Maou coming, hiding in shadows.
"The second generation awakening already? ...Impressive. And an unexpected 【8th】?"
Some turned with interest.
Others bristled at the audacity threatening their cause.
Others felt awe at the darkness dwarfing their power.
Others trembled in fear, murder-lust mingling with despair.
——A storm of faith descended, and here the Maou arrived.
A cursed being whose name none could utter. Demons trembled; from beyond chaos it walked. Evil incarnate, madness—yet aggregate of blood from slain lives, their screams, shattered souls denied peace.
Even gods' hatred, murdered by elves, congealed there. A new Maou devoted itself.
A beautiful woman stood under moonlight. Tattered top from sudden growth—Radamu Dice rose.
Thorn vines tattooed on skin, spreading from her feet. Resummoning the shattered holy sword, now female, transforming into Maou—she exuded fairy-like allure.
White horns towering high gleamed whiter in moonlight.
Otherworldly, fantastical—blending with nature itself, cognition denied. Eyes saw, but thoughts couldn't grasp.
The elf foresaw: his next home was death alone.
Lives he'd slain birthed the Maou of the Forest here.
A half-Maou with only 3 Maou skills, yet infinite divinity, mana, energy—bottomless. Elves' slain resentments filled the human vessel Radamu like sand grains, overflowing black yin mana, no space left.
Without human form, it'd seem a walking black hole.
The demigod-being exhaled.
Red blood lotuses bloomed on the elf's body. He perished.
Drained of blood, life, soul by lotuses, he withered to dead wood, merging with nature—then vengeful spirits dragged him into darkness, soul shredding in screams.
The Clear Mind skill protects your mind.
"...My head hurts..."
No need for the greatsword. Amid thoughts of the beautiful moon, too many visions fatigued him.
The dead screaming to be accepted maddened the mind. Seas red with blood-tears; floors continents of corpses from elf-slain races.
Gods—dozens—loomed from skies, hollow black pupils shrieking death.
"...You okay, Kid?"
".....A girl?"
"No."
As it ended—or with transformation's end, the pounding drums and trumpets faded—his Maou form unraveled, time up.
[Hero Appearance!] effect holding it? Baffled if constellations foresaw a hero turning Maou, Radamu staggered, kneeling.
Gasping, he reached for Kidd's support. Body shrinking again hurt unbearably, like bones yanked then crushed.
".....No way! I ain't touching a girl's body...!"
"Gonna hurl."
Radamu spewed blood, slammed his head to the ground, and blacked out.
