Chapter 249
Chapter 249
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 249
Chapter Title: Plum Tree (2)
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"It's coming."
The Chinese national tree candidate charging toward us, violently rustling the grass.
No sooner had Banya spoken than it entered my detection range as well.
Plum Tree. A deeply rooted tree said to be among the very best among national tree candidates.
'That speed is no joke.'
Not even bothering to hide its power.
It emanates a fearsome aura.
To sense something like this here. The weight of it, something you'd expect only in real combat, cast tension over the faces of the surrounding national tree candidates.
At least on par with the Baobab family, or maybe even above.
Wishing it'd just pass by would be foolish. It was clearly heading our way with us in its sights.
"Looks like it's using an artifact... Let's wake the others first."
No need to say it—the sound of rustling from tents and sleeping bags announced Saku and Cornus bursting out.
No one here could miss the massive clump of mana steadily approaching.
"W-what's going on?"
The flustered Saku popped up from her spot, chattering rapidly in her native tongue instead of Korean. Cornus, still rubbing sleep from her eyes, fumbled for her sword.
"...We fighting?"
"Yeah."
Cornus shuffled over to my side, rubbing her eyes. I answered her question and took a quick scan of the night sky.
Deep, pitch-black darkness blanketed the forest floor. The faint glow of the blue night and yellow moon lingered around the lakeside.
Nearby, cameras were filming us.
[Bzzz]
We each grabbed our weapons.
With Cornus included, our team had at least five national tree-level talents gathered.
"Does it really think it can win coming here like this?"
To my question, Soo-yeon, who had been standing by, muttered as she drew her sword from its sheath.
"It must be confident. And... it has the skills to back it up. Never lost a single match against other national trees."
Just a little over two hours left.
"Even three national trees couldn't handle it?"
Soo-yeon let out a wry chuckle, her face still taut with tension.
"...We'll see."
She wouldn't say we'd lose outright. Pride wouldn't let her, for sure.
We had three national trees right here.
"If I lose, it'll be all over the internet, you know? Heh."
Relations in East Asia weren't bad like in my old world, but the rivalry was intense.
Korea-Japan matches drew fervent cheers and support, and the same tense tug-of-war played out between Korea and China.
So... if things went wrong and I lost here, I'd catch hell online too.
"Three Korean candidates knocked out by the Chinese national tree... You know what happens if that headline drops."
"Oh, damn."
"And don't even think about grabbing Cornus and running. Fleeing from here would make headlines just the same."
Her words made me flinch inwardly. We weren't even a full team with three national trees—couldn't we just run for two hours? Yeah, I'd been thinking exactly that.
"We'd love to tell you to run if we could... but getting flak for something like this wouldn't be good. It's fine. We won't lose."
Soo-yeon spoke with conviction, though she lightly bit her lower lip, betraying her tension.
"And."
Her dark eyes turned to me.
"...You're better than you look, aren't you?"
She'd probably said it because I'd already fought two national trees. But still. I needed to know how strong the Plum Tree was before I could judge.
A mage's role was simple enough. Nothing easier than hanging back and blasting away with spells.
But if the Plum Tree had more power than I imagined, spells alone might not cut it.
I opened my backpack from where I'd been sitting and pulled out some potions.
'Healing authority is still on cooldown.'
I'd been spamming spells, so my mana was down to less than half. Time to refill.
Cornus was in a similar spot, so I handed her a mana potion.
-Gulp.
The potion tasted like sports drink. I downed three mana potions in a row.
"You good to fight? Rest if you can't."
I tossed the empty bottles aside and asked Cornus. She pointed to her sword and puffed out her chest proudly.
"I'll fight too."
Her beaming, triumphant expression was adorable—like a kid with hands on hips. I pinched her cheek.
-Stretch.
Her glutinous rice cake-like cheek stretched out, and Cornus's eyes narrowed contentedly as she accepted it.
"Pulling my cheek again..."
-Smack!
Getting smacked was the routine now. I rubbed my stinging hand as I prepared for battle again.
Saku sidled up, watching us, and whispered in my ear.
"Si-heon oppa, Si-heon oppa."
"Yeah."
"...You two are really dating, right?"
"No."
"Suspicious..."
We weren't a normal pair, but we weren't dating.
Milking buddies? I knew it sounded weird. It was too complicated to explain.
-Tick.
Something snagged in my earrings.
Thud.
'Trap going off.'
Seemed like it was coming in without a care. Even as traps triggered one after another, its momentum didn't falter.
It wasn't taking any damage from them, apparently.
The distance closed until I could see it with the naked eye.
The cameras' lenses trembled with tension.
-Tap.
The surroundings fell deathly silent.
-Step.
A man stepped out from between the trees.
Long limbs. A balanced, muscular build and a refined face that could be mistaken for a woman's.
His flowing white hair alone proved his identity as the Plum Tree.
"Hm..."
His unfocused eyes swept the area.
Colorless lips parted, and his tongue flicked out to lick the corner of his mouth.
Deadpan eyes fixed on Kim Soo-yeon. Then he took us all in.
A viscous smile spread across his face.
"...This'll be fun."
A dry mumble. For some reason, his smile made it seem like he was savoring this moment with his whole body.
At the same time, the spells Banya and I had prepared crashed down on him.
Cannon fire or bindings. If we could pin his feet, that'd be enough.
Magic circles formed in the air, unleashing a barrage of mana arrows from within.
From earth magic to turn the ground into sucking mud and hinder approach, to massive walls of fire boasting firepower that would make anyone hesitate to get close.
We poured on maximum suppression without revealing our authorities or full powers.
'National trees won't use their full strength unless they're near the final trial anyway.'
Not full power, so we could hold out for two hours at least.
-Jingle.
That's what I thought.
-Jingle.
'...Damn.'
Unexpected. This was serious.
The sound of bells shaking.
The space where he stood warped in an instant, cracking like shattered glass, and the man vanished from sight.
-Flash!
The Plum Tree appeared right in front of us like a teleport.
Couldn't track it.
The aimless spells fizzled midair or exploded on the ground. Only useless shockwaves rippled around.
A breeze from behind rustled the Plum Tree's hair.
"Why not use something other than magic?"
Just before leaping, Soo-yeon infused mana into her sword and advised me.
"Si-heon, you'd be better off with th—"
Soo-yeon, who had been looking at me.
-Jingle.
Her body flew back from the Plum Tree's kick landing squarely.
Still too fast to see.
Soo-yeon rolled into a landing on the gravel, and I stared at the Plum Tree's face right beside me.
A face that didn't register me at all.
Staring blatantly only at Kim Soo-yeon, ignoring me completely.
The Plum Tree's speed was beyond expectations. Less movement, more like folding space to leap. A whole different league from anyone I'd faced before.
Astounded expressions crossed everyone's faces.
'...Whitey.'
The source of the rumors Yi-hyang had tipped me off about. Had to be this strong to stir up such a commotion in the forest.
Made sense now why he'd charge into this powder keg of a first trial all alone.
He had the confidence.
I flicked my fingers to form a sword.
-Shing.
The staff instantly morphed, forming a black blade.
Close combat from here on.
I swung without hesitation to sever his neck, but the Plum Tree's head snapped aside, dodging.
"...What?"
Only then did he look at me with disbelief.
"Don't interfere."
Chinese sounded unexpectedly grating.
As the translated words hit my ears, the Plum Tree vanished again.
-Jingle~!
'Bell sound.'
My ears rang as the surrounding space distorted—that was the timing.
My neck twisted toward where he'd reappear.
Missed twice, but the third time I could barely keep up.
I dodged the fist aimed precisely at my face and stepped back a pace.
-Whoosh!
The Plum Tree casually evaded my horizontal sword slash.
"...Huh?"
He blinked his eerie eyes, clearly not expecting my counter.
-Jingle!
Suddenly accelerating, he charged at me like a beast.
Once from the left, once from the right.
I backpedaled, deflecting a few punches with my sword, then he lunged with both arms to envelop me.
I leaped back wide, out of his range.
"You."
Surprised eyes. Interest sparked on a face that had only shown boredom toward me.
"...You're strong?"
Who knew how Chinese conveyed that nuance—the translator made it choppy.
As the Plum Tree lunged again, Cornus slipped between us and thrust her sword at him.
She wouldn't lose in a straight power contest either.
Her sword traced a clean arc toward his neck, forcing him to retreat.
After exchanging a few blows of fists and sword, the Plum Tree stepped back.
Cornus in combat was no pushover.
With her mana replenished, she was every bit a national tree contender.
"You too."
The Plum Tree's face lit up with growing delight as he looked at Cornus.
It had been similar when Saku faced him directly.
Saku, fighting hand-to-hand like a fox, bounding on all fours.
She couldn't last many exchanges before Soo-yeon took over the baton.
"You too."
Even taking Banya's spells head-on.
The Plum Tree never lost his smug smile.
Like a boy entering a playground full of blocks, his innocent expression right before fighting was downright creepy.
"...Si-heon."
"Yeah."
"That guy's weird."
"I can see that."
I wholeheartedly agreed with Cornus.
Strong or whatever, something was off. Any guy with normal thinking wouldn't come here in the first place.
This one was like Baolang.
S-rankers usually had some personality quirk.
Me included—all the ones I'd met were like that.
Still, we could handle him.
A few exchanges in, and we had less than an hour left.
Knocking him down might be impossible, but buying time? We could manage that just fine.