Chapter 328
Chapter 328
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 328
Chapter Title: Champs-Élysées (1)
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Forty minutes since the standoff with Flower had begun.
'Well, well.'
Midway up the mountain.
A bright yellow ghost was chasing the bead at terrifying speed.
"Halt right there."
"You think I'm gonna stop?"
Sansu-yu whipped her long hair as she charged, her massive chest concealed by armor, sword drawn.
He knew her well, since she was from the same academy.
Whatever magic she'd pulled off, he knew her true power wasn't supposed to be like this.
-Rat-tat-tat-tat!
Gunfire poured down like rain.
A submachine gun. KRISS Vector. M.
The third-generation firearm that incorporated every discipline, so devastating it was called the 'end of the Hunter era.'
Its overheated barrel glowed red-hot as spent casings ejected wildly.
A puppet body equipped with magic stones, fully prepared—even El Academy cadets couldn't match this setup for taking on Lee Siheon.
-Boom!
An explosion erupted with a burst of flames.
Sansu-yu's eyes locked on her target, and her sword arm swept horizontally.
-Clang!
A streak of bright yellow sword energy sliced through, splitting the bullets.
The tiny explosions from the ricochets each packed firepower equivalent to a B-rank spell, but the mana cloaking Sansu-yu's body shielded her completely.
The signature power of golden mana was a nightmare for mages.
No matter how much they fired artifacts at her, not a single scratch.
"...Insane."
The exclamation slipped out involuntarily.
"You move pretty well for such a blank stare."
Sansu-yu's sword energy, having dodged the bullets, closed in to cleave the bead's body.
-Crunch!
The tree he'd mounted shattered into pieces, collapsing. The bead created a foothold on the ground and fled once more.
'...Lee Siheon and those Cornerus Family lunatics. What the hell did they build?'
A monster.
The mana infused in the bullets he'd fired was sucked straight into Sansu-yu's sword and skin the moment it made contact.
At first, he'd thought she'd just gotten lucky blocking it.
But when he realized his own mana was actually boosting her power, the bead was utterly dumbfounded.
"Fine... Run all you want. Let's see if you can tank this too."
Mana surged into the air, soon manifesting a massive anti-materiel sniper rifle.
Not an anti-tank cannon, but a 30x173mm anti-materiel rifle.
Even with all his knowledge and tech combined, he couldn't miniaturize it further.
The bead's artifact, praised for surpassing a century of scientific advancement.
A single shot, loaded for an S-rank assassination contract, optimized purely for firepower—meant to kill big game.
-Click.
'Her thigh.'
Just cripple her.
The bead's finger moved, and soon a deafening roar shook the mountainside.
-Boom!
A sound like lightning striking.
The long rifle barrel exploded, the artifact itself detonating.
The bullet shot out at a speed no one could react to.
It pierced straight through Sansu-yu's charging thigh, tearing into her—
"...!"
But her entire body's mana twisted the bullet's trajectory completely.
A massive explosion bloomed behind Sansu-yu's back.
-KABOOM!
Flames engulfed the mountain. Sansu-yu closed in with even more ferocious momentum.
The bead screamed at the sight, like facing a living colossal bioweapon.
"...You crazy bitch!"
Biting down on a pill condensed from top-grade magic stones, the bead thought.
Seems he'd run into a truly bad matchup.
*****
"Wonder if she's doing okay."
-Tremble, tremble.
Marronier's thighs and hands clung tightly to my body, shaking.
"Sansu-yu is perfect for handling the bead, but who knows what she's hiding."
Place the right people in the right spots.
I'd reinvestigated Sansu-yu's unique mana trait after learning from the Sage.
'...Experiments are hard to condone.'
But at this point, if conditions aligned, her power exceeded anyone else's.
Even with her dantian shattered, her completed body had the trait of absorbing all surrounding mana as her own.
Pure poison for the bead, who relied on artifacts.
-Tremble.
Marronier's hot thighs wrapped around my arm grew slick with sweat.
With all that soft flesh, she might slip if I wasn't careful.
"Up you go."
"...!?!"
As I adjusted my grip, Marronier jolted in surprise, nearly letting go of my shoulder.
"Just lean on me comfortably. We're almost there."
She hesitated at my words, then wrapped her arms around my neck.
Her cat-like jaw rested on my shoulder, her right ear brushing my left.
Our backs shared warmth.
"Feeling better now?"
"......Yeah."
"Good. Time to get ready."
-Nod.
"Can I really do this?"
"It's something only you can do."
"Only I can do?"
"You think the Sage only recognizes one or two mages?"
If Imperial Path were here, maybe.
But that didn't make her a budget version.
Not even Imperial Path could read others' thoughts.
Marronier's authority itself was an unpredictably powerful force.
"......"
Marronier held me in silence for a long while.
Like something still bothered her.
I asked without hesitation.
"What're you thinking?"
"Oh, nothing."
"Tell me."
Her voice was faint, lost in the wind, but I could always pick out Marronier's beautiful tone.
She murmured.
"...I found out. That you're the Wood Spirit King."
"Yeah."
It was bound to come out eventually.
"How'd that even... happen?"
"No idea. Suddenly they say I'm the Wood Spirit King's heir... How should I know?"
"Did that power brainwash me too?"
I didn't answer. But the meaning got across.
"...I see."
More questions bubbling up, she asked one more.
"Then."
Her arms around my neck tightened.
Her sky-blue hair fluttered prettily in the wind.
One eye squinted against the gusts, Marronier rested her head lightly on my cheek—maybe from the mood, or the fierce wind.
"......Why's the Wood Spirit King trying to save people?"
No particular reason.
She offered her guess after my long silence.
"Because the Sage told you to?"
"Could be."
There was Star's request too.
And if it were Heavenly Path, or people I knew, I'd have done the same.
"Then why bother undoing my brainwashing? If you'd wanted... you could've just done whatever."
Legitimate questions. All ones she'd have.
From her perspective, there must've been tons nagging at her.
"Hmm... Well."
"...As the Wood Spirit King, you must've faced tons of discrimination, right? Was that why you hid it?"
"Not many know. And I haven't faced as much discrimination as you think."
Heck, I'd only been here half a year.
Chuckling at her wild guess, I pondered long before trailing off.
"I just did what I wanted. Overthinking gives you headaches."
"...That's it?"
"If I dress up a non-reason, there's one."
Nothing special.
"You're a good person."
Late to become National Tree, but she racked her brains to fulfill her duty purely—and stressed over it.
Someone whose dream was an ordinary life.
I knew from our talks she'd never stray.
"In short, basically."
She's not someone to hang with me.
Marronier fell silent.
Gripping my clothes tight, she made a face I couldn't see behind me.
My shoulder grew damp.
"From my side, nothing to say. Was gonna give you a scolding and send you off, but things got messy. Got trapped in a dungeon, and of all dungeons... tsch."
"......"
"Feeling better now?"
"Earlier... if you'd ditched me, couldn't you have caught those two?"
"What good's saving lives if people die?"
I landed atop the tall spire.
Put Marronier down where she could see the hotel rooftop and the surrounding mountains.
A translucent mana platform supported her. The island's highest watchpost was now set.
A breathtaking vista unfolded below.
Hotel windows flickered one after another. A small city on the verge of blackout.
Sigh, and the wind scattered worries instantly—chest-opening air.
Flames and smoke rose nearby.
The burning mountain left an impression, impossible to see usually.
-Whoooosh!
Ashes riding the wind grazed Marronier's cheek.
She looked down below, hiding her reddened eyes.
"See it?"
-Nod.
Countless monster hordes approached from afar.
The dungeon's control had fallen to Flower.
Civilian facilities were long destroyed, like a gate incident in Africa.
The value of a mage.
I pointed beside the hotel nestled in the mountain.
"Right there."
Part of Marronier's plan.
On the schematic map, only that spot was highlighted red.
Best position to block Flower and monsters swarming from behind the hotel.
Control it, and no monsters could circle to the hotel.
Monsters crested the hill, flying toward us.
Marronier swallowed, gripping her staff tight.
"...Let's go."
She leaped wide, surrendering to gravity as she plummeted.
Activating wind magic, Marronier floated gracefully to the spot.
I dropped beside her, securing the perimeter.
-Grrrrowl.
They swarmed from all sides, encircling.
Red-glowing eyes surged like waves.
Piling up like a bursting dam. We weren't late.
Judgment made, I spread mana to scan everywhere.
"Got her."
"Really? Thank goodness..."
She clutched her chest in relief, biting her lip.
Banya.
One of the few shamans left in the world, as far as I knew.
The strange letters on the monster's forehead and its exotic mana matched what I'd sensed before.
I picked up a half-broken but functional radio and called Aori.
"Aori."
[Go ahead?]
"Yeah."
Pre-arranged, so a few words sufficed.
I could've found Banya myself, but her mana was too sparse for pinpointing.
As Marronier finished prepping, I shaped mistletoe into staff form and thrust it forward.
"Grrrrawr!"
-Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
One shot each.
Arrows shot from behind pierced monster mouths, hit ground, and exploded.
Wind blades erupted from the earth, sweeping and shredding everything.
Surrounding monsters turned to ash in seconds.
Perimeter cleared, I patted Marronier's back last.
"I believe in you."
"......Yeah."
Marronier answered, gathering mana.
A radiant smile bloomed beneath her face.
When I was deep in magic development—holed up in the lab, endless debates with the Sage, creating spells—Marronier.
As a mage, she'd reached far higher realms since then.
Marronier closed her eyes.
"...Release."
Tree roots surged from her feet.
They spread slowly, binding her body like restraints.
Twining upward, they stopped at her chest.
Marronier, shaped like she wore a massive dress, softly raised one eye.
"Champs-Élysées"
[Elysian Fields]
A long avenue of thorned seven-leaf trees flashed in my mind.
Her resonating blue eyes took in the whole mountain.
A form clad in a root-woven dress.
Branches sprouting from her hair resembled my child Shiva.
The blooming white buds were unmistakably Marronier—flowers of the thorned seven-leaf tree.
Her dress infused with mana took on her natural blue hue.
Taller now. More grown.
The petite Marronier gazed at me gently from her new height, tilting her head.
The flower bud by her temple bloomed fully upon seeing me.
"Thank you."
Her voice bloomed from her lips.
Strangely, her release didn't produce the grotesque voices typical of other Wood People.
The Wood People's voices I'd heard were horrific, raspy cracks that instilled terror in others.
"......"
Marronier's voice defied description.
It echoed in my ears, swirling endlessly, embedding deep in my brain—crystalline, unforgettable.
No artificial voice, no matter how tuned, could match this feeling.
"...First time seeing this form? Might look bizarre to humans."
"Nah."
"I haven't shown anyone yet. Honestly, kinda embarrassing."
Even her speech grew refined.
Stunning me briefly.
Her hand turned toward the mountainside.
Gathering mana formed a massive orb.
It burst, petals blooming. Her will manifested as small white petals scattering across the mountain.
Like heavy snow piling on winter sidewalks.
-Whoosh!
I watched the score bloom from her hand, then quietly left.
Everyone in position. All that remained was to push.