Chapter 336
Chapter 336
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 336
Chapter Title: Hong Yeon (1)
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⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ ['Tree Codex' activated. Partially absorbs the abilities of the 'World Tree of Endurance.'] Mental Strength has sharply increased. ['Tree Codex' activated. Partially absorbs the abilities of the 'World Tree of Solidity,' sharply increasing Durability. The authority 'Solidity' of the World Tree of Solidity can now be used.] ⚔ STATUS ⚔ ⚡ Strength: 13.1 💨 Agility: 13.6 ✨ Magic Power: 15 💪 Stamina: 12.1 🍀 Luck: 10 🛡️ Endurance: 14.9 💖 Charm: 9 🧠 Intelligence: 7 🌟 Potential: 14 Unique Traits (2): [Tree Codex (S→SS)] [Combat-Type Body (SS→EX)]
Held Skills (4): [Black Path (-)] [Divine Art of the Heavenly Demon (EX)] [Lust Technique (B)] [Walking Pheromone (E→C)]
Dispositions (7): [Wood Spirit King (-)] [Sword Talent (A)] [Magic Talent (S→SS)] [Lewd Demon (B)] [Spirit User Talent (B)] …
Authorities (3): [Healing (-)] [Remnants of Time (-)] [Solidity (S)]
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Due to the massive changes in internal energy, some skills and dispositions have changed. The king's aura has grown stronger. Partially updating the status window. Potential has decreased due to growth progression. It had been a while since I'd last checked my status window, and the text was blurrier than before.
I could still read it, but I'd have to squint a bit more closely now.
'Does this mean the status window can't hold any more stats beyond this?'
Since the status window itself was based on the power bestowed by the World Tree, it might be reaching its limits.
-Fwoosh!
Standing on the skeletal steel beams of the hotel rooftop—now just bare bones—I gazed into the distance.
I'd taken measures in the basement where the trees were growing.
No ordinary Flower member would be able to infiltrate it.
As I'd grown, I'd gained some confidence in my magic skills too.
"Still not enough, though."
I smirked at the status window one more time.
The stats boosted from my connections with the trees had piled up nicely.
Stats gain relative value as they increase, so they didn't rise by a steady 0.2 each time anymore, but the accumulation was definitely noticeable.
-Bang!
I swung at the empty air with all my might, and the sound of it cutting through rang out.
Clashing with the plum blossoms right before using Black Path had apparently been surprisingly effective.
My sharpened senses pierced through the surroundings without conscious effort.
And now I had other authorities too.
I'd have to figure out how to use them properly.
⚡ AUTHORITY ACTIVATED ⚡ Solidity A red aura of qi coats the skin.
The World Trees didn't always grant authorities.
My actual gain was just that one tree.
For now, I could only maintain it for a short time, and it wasn't all that efficient.
Like with Healing, I'd have to use it steadily to build up its power before it could really pull its weight.
"..."
I rolled my shoulders and looked down at the scene below.
"Still a long way to go."
People had called me close to the realm or whatever back in my Little Heavenly Demon days, but now it just made me chuckle bitterly.
Guys who had never even reached the realm themselves, trying to guess who could? Ridiculous.
It was empty flattery, but as my own level rose, I realized the truth.
If we compared it to common ranks...
The gap between F and S was nothing compared to the chasm between S and the realm.
Which meant that even among the S-rank hunters everyone revered, the skill gaps were massive.
In short, I was still far behind Master.
'If I just had time... I wouldn't have to do any of this crap.'
No point dwelling on it now—the line had already been crossed.
I stood and turned my gaze toward the distant Foundation.
Stepping beyond the steel beam, my body tilted. Falling from the rooftop of a hotel over fifteen stories high.
-Whoooosh!
Cold wind whipped across my face as my view widened, the ground rushing closer.
-Thud!
I landed on the ground, kicking up a cloud of sand that muddied the air.
I started walking forward slowly.
As my vision cleared, I slipped into the gap in the front lines I'd scouted earlier.
'The Foundation's interior is top secret.'
Its layout wasn't public knowledge.
It couldn't even be mapped out schematically—only the administrators knew the rough structure.
But there was one thing even civilians knew.
The Queen of the Cradle.
The World Tree overseeing 'growth' existed in the Foundation's deepest core.
The noble mother of all saplings grown in the Cradle.
Something you couldn't even glimpse with your own eyes unless it was now, a tale from a distant moon impossible for lowly humans to touch.
In other words, I had to target Mom.
Everything before had just been training.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ The mother of saplings.
The Queen. World Tree of Growth.
Movements to target her—and to protect her—were accelerating.
Hours had passed since the first raid.
The stalemated front lines were wearing down Flower and the Church alike. Complicating skirmishes left them scrambling just to hold the line.
-KABOOM!
Major facilities turned to dust under bombardment.
With every spell blocked everywhere, where the hell were these explosions coming from?
'Damn Flower bastards.'
Knight Commander Zeon glared with bloodshot eyes.
'Sistus. If not for that bitch...'
A being rumored to swallow nations single-handedly.
She'd only sent a few clones, and the Cradle was already in panic.
Yet the lines held thanks to the Church's obsession with the World Tree inside.
"We cannot yield this place!!!"
Squeezing out every last drop, they fought Flower.
The priests charging to their deaths were no different from fanatics.
The knights packed in tight. An army over a thousand strong poured from the Cradle.
This was no mere guild skirmish—it was a legion waiting at the Cradle's heart for Flower.
Of course, Flower had its own forces.
-Thud, thud. Thud. Thud.
Footsteps shaking the Cradle. A group centered on one executive and her proxy had invaded.
Terrorists true to form, crumbling the Cradle with cunning, relentless tactics.
Hong Yeon stared at the Knight Commander with dead eyes from the army's center.
'One.'
A genius of schemes.
The cult leader who once ruled One Garden had reached perfection upon joining Flower.
The finest strategist of the era.
Never suffered a loss in a single battle.
Within the Hunter Association, Hong Yeon's existence had evolved from target to terror.
Of course, her name wasn't known.
Since joining Flower, she'd avoided referring to herself by name.
No.
She simply had no need for one.
Having lost reason to live, she'd found reason to die.
What use was a name clinging to that?
Names were for the living, after all. She needed none.
"Haa..."
Hong Yeon exhaled bitterly, her lips twitching. Her downward gaze slowly lifted.
Hundreds of elite soldiers awaited her command.
-Swish.
Her hand pointed ahead.
Toward the Cradle's core.
"Go die."
A parched voice from her dry throat.
-Yes, sir!!!
The fanatics charged en masse.
The massive wave kicked up dust and splattered blood around.
Hong Yeon observed the battlefield from a slight distance, subtly shifting the tide.
Superhuman wars rendered old historical tactics useless.
With vast skill disparities and magic as a wild variable, tactics had to adapt constantly.
True army strategists were rare throughout history.
So in this era, at least...
Only a girl broken by misunderstanding, fate, and every evil the world could muster could stand there.
The sole commander born of tenacious obsession and malice.
Cult leader of the Demonic Cult.
Now an executive of Flower.
Hong Yeon's magic blanketed the front.
Calmly scanning every movement, deploying Sistus's clones at the perfect moments.
-Boom!
Explosions raining on the lines.
As the aggressors, Flower couldn't bring overwhelming numbers.
The size difference was clear from the start.
Nine-to-one in manpower.
Yet they'd achieved near-victory in siege and urban warfare with inferior forces.
It was a raid, meticulously prepared—that's how they'd pushed this far.
"Impressive."
The sixth executive, Other Shore Flower, let out an admiring voice.
"I only meant to smash part of the Cradle. It's on the brink of falling—no need for me to step in."
He'd acted as a spy inside, now the killer of the Grand Cult Leader, chuckling incredulously.
He'd heard she had a talent for war, but not to this degree.
Hong Yeon ignored Other Shore Flower's face entirely, focused solely on the battlefield.
'A dangerous woman.'
Too talented.
Her personal combat prowess was negligible, but her ability to expand forces and secure funds was exceptional.
Even warfare was right up her alley.
Within Flower, Hong Yeon's presence bordered on faith.
'She could become a problem.'
Other Shore Flower decided, slowly retreating.
To report her actions—and check her growing faction.
-Step, step, step.
Other Shore Flower turned and vanished.
Hong Yeon noticed but showed no reaction.
Her goals had always been consistent. So what if some executives saw her as a thorn?
She was going to die anyway.
-Boom!
The Foundation's noose tightening.
The entire Cradle falling into Flower's grasp seemed all but certain.
Hong Yeon opened her mouth to send a mental command, deploying Sistus's last clone—
-Thud.
That was the moment.
Something black hurtled in with ominous momentum, sweeping the area.
"What is...?"
-Grrrk!?
Hong Yeon couldn't track the sudden intruder's speed. Soldiers who failed to react had their heads severed in an instant.
Like a crashing wave, the black afterimage traced curves.
No death cries echoed as the front collapsed.
Even among superhumans, some stood out.
Ways to counter them had been devised by prior strategists—but
-Splash!
If your response lagged, there was no counter.
'Where the hell did it come from?'
Distortion crossed Hong Yeon's face for the first time.
All skilled threats around the Foundation had been rooted out long ago.
Hardy beings who might endanger the World Tree's attendants later.
She thought she'd eradicated every sprout in the Cradle. Had one survived?
No, not that.
The hotel far from the Foundation. The stage of the Forest Keeper Selection Tournament, surrounded by countless National Trees still breathing.
If they went all out, such movements weren't impossible.
But reports said every National Tree was combat-incapable just hours ago.
No way one like that could appear.
-Flash!
Boom!
A strike pierced the cultists around Hong Yeon.
No sword in hand, yet fist strikes burst hearts.
A familiar motion somewhere.
But the figure too fast to track melted into the shadows, vanishing into the distance.
Still sweeping the lines.
Plans crumbling. Front lines shattered, Flower's advantage flipping dramatically.
Hong Yeon regained her senses, frantically sending mental commands and issuing orders.
Reform the lines around suppressing that one—they could handle it.
That's what she thought—
-Creak.
The halted shadow turned toward Hong Yeon.
Blood-smeared face, red qi wrapped around both arms. Black magic.
The man scowled at where Hong Yeon sat.
-Why the hell are you here?
His lips parted briefly, as if muttering something.