The Thorn King (3)
Elly, Rydia, Karen—none of them could look away. Even Lemon, whose eyes had grown misty, and Apple, who had deliberately put a little distance between herself and her twin, remained transfixed by the brutal scene unfolding before them. That was how fierce Yona’s battle was.
His eyes were wide open, the corners of his mouth twisted in a subtle grimace. He threw his body diagonally with every strike, desperate to swing his dagger just one more time. The wounds he sustained healed quickly thanks to the Unicorn Dagger’s constant radiance, but the scars they left behind remained vivid. The light armor made from Iron Wolf hide—the best material available on the first floor—was now in tatters, bright red blood seeping through the gaps. Without the Unicorn Dagger’s unceasing white light restoring his body, he would have collapsed from blood loss long ago.
Watching it all, Elly bit her lip so hard that a thin trail of blood trickled down her cheek. Of course, if she wanted to intervene, she could do so easily. The same went for Rydia and Karen. The wooden figure covered in thorns was certainly strong, but it was, at best, the guardian of the first floor. All of them had long since surpassed that level, so defeating it would not be difficult.
Yet the reason they simply watched over Yona was simple: because that was what Yona wanted.
Rydia gently wrapped her hand around Elly’s tightly clenched fist.
“Are you alright, Senior Elly?”
“…Yeah. I’m fine. How could I not be, when Yona is fighting so hard?”
Yona had killed with his own hands a close friend who had once shared his most difficult moments, their paths now diverged. And now he was fighting an enemy born from devouring that very resentment. It was sad and painful, but he faced the past that clung to his ankles in order to step toward the future—for a better life.
How could she not cheer for Yona as he willingly shouldered such a heavy burden with that small frame? Especially knowing that everything he did was for her sake.
Because while Sina had seen Elly as the enemy of his faith who had destroyed his world, Yona saw her as the benefactor who had pulled him from the swamp of heresy.
Elly watched Yona’s desperate struggle—his bloodshot eyes on the verge of collapse yet refusing to fall. After a moment of hesitation, Rydia slowly spoke.
“Senior Elly. Do you know what happened to Yona before he was captured by Those Who Swallow the Twilight?”
“…Huh?”
“This is only a guess, but…”
Pitying Elly for always blaming herself, Rydia whispered the story she had intended to keep secret unless Yona brought it up first. Of course, she made sure only Elly could hear.
As Elly listened quietly to Rydia’s murmur, her eyes gradually widened.
And at the same time, Karen could not help but be equally shocked.
Elly and Rydia had not given her the full details, but Karen still had her instincts. She might not know the exact circumstances, but she had pieced together that Yona had once been a victim of Those Who Swallow the Twilight, and that he had killed a comrade from that time with his own hands.
The moment their first meeting flashed through Karen’s mind. His declaration that he loved everything in the world had been sincere. He possessed the unmistakable qualities of a saint. Yet his refusal to get entangled with the temple had also been genuine.
At the time, she had followed along believing the Goddess must have some profound reason, and she had accepted the idea that the Pope was a traitor, but…
Watching him directly confront Those Who Swallow the Twilight and battle the floor guardian, she saw something new. The anger and sorrow she had felt from him as he carefully laid the small figure he had struggled against to the ground were real. A resentment toward the world that rivaled his love for it. Yona’s heart was filled with such conflicting love and hate, such contradictions.
But now, as if reflecting Yona’s own negative emotions, he fought against the thorned wooden figure that emanated the same aura, and in doing so, Yona was changing. The hatred toward the world that had lain dormant deep inside him was slowly melting away.
It was not simply about cutting away his own darkness. It was about confronting it, accepting it, acknowledging it, and ultimately sublimating it into love.
“Ah…”
In reality, he had simply thought it was manageable once he actually fought the thing and started internally praising the Goddess, but to Karen, who knew none of that, it was a profoundly moving moment. Like a caterpillar breaking through its cocoon to become a butterfly. The still-fragile saint was undergoing metamorphosis, becoming a more complete existence. It was happening right before her eyes.
“Oh, Goddess…”
She clutched the goddess statue Yona had given her and made a vow. No matter what, she would follow the Goddess’s avatar who had descended to this land.
While Elly, Rydia, and Karen each sank deeper into their own separate misunderstandings—
Lemon and Apple had no thoughts at all.
“I have no idea what everyone’s saying, sir.”
“Trying to figure it out will only hurt us, sir. Best to ignore it, sir.”
That was because everyone else had erected sound-dampening barriers using magic tools and holy power so their voices wouldn’t reach anyone else! To Lemon and Apple, it just looked like a bizarre scene of people moving their lips, clenching their teeth, or shedding tears…!
Besides, neither Lemon nor Apple had the ability to join Yona’s battle. Eventually, after watching his struggle with nothing but admiration, Lemon carefully asked, wondering if this was really okay.
“Apple. What exactly can we do, sir?”
“We can’t do anything, sir. Let’s just bring some fried peas, sir.”
Thanks to those foolish(?) heretics who had taken their weapons but not their snacks, the fried peas were safe. Lemon rummaged through her flat chest and pulled out a well-tied pouch. She took out the traditional elven sweets inside and began sharing them with Apple.
Crunch. Crunch.
“Oh, but Sir Yona really did summon the floor guardian, sir.”
“It really is surprising, sir. He must have had a plan all along, sir.”
Munch. Munch.
“…By the way, doesn’t that guardian look really familiar, sir?”
“I was thinking the same thing, sir. But I can’t quite remember where I saw it, sir.”
Nom. Nom. Nom.
“Hmm… Ah! I remember now, sir! Isn’t that the thorn monster from the Basileus legends, sir?”
“Why would the founding myth suddenly come up here… huh?”
Apple, who had been speaking in disbelief, suddenly froze. She carefully examined the floor guardian fighting Yona. A humanoid figure grown from thorny wood. The crown-shaped thorns on its head—now half-severed. Its ability to consume wood to create new thorns. And the power to freely manipulate the thorns covering its body.
In the distant past, the story of Basileus, the first elf king who received the World Tree’s trial. The entity that carried out the World Tree’s trials was precisely that thorn monster, also known as the Thorn King.
And right now, Yona was fighting that very trial’s monster.
“……”
“……”
Lemon and Apple stared at each other in silence. Then they nodded at the same time.
“We need to get in line early, sir.”
“Becoming Sir Yona’s concubine? That sounds like a total jackpot, sir.”
They no longer needed the fried peas. Pulling out a comb whose last use they couldn’t even remember, the two began neatly combing each other’s hair with serious expressions.
“There are many rivals, but our boss Eve is clearly the best, sir.”
“She has an entirely different level of experience compared to those youngsters, sir.”
The pair casually said things that would offend both sides.
“So the best option is to ride on Boss Eve’s coattails, right, sir?”
“Serving him would be reason enough, sir. And more importantly, even though it’s an old story, Boss Eve’s marriage conditions remain the same, don’t they, sir?”
Lemon and Apple exchanged sly smiles. But the two blockheads had no idea. No matter how hard a blockhead wracked its brains for wisdom, it would only become an even denser blockhead.
“I want to live an easy life, sir.”
“Saying ‘live an easy life’ somehow sounds lewd, like doing it raw, doesn’t it, sir?”
The two flat-chested elves from the Great Plains puffed out their unchanging chests with pride.
“Sir Yona loves money, sir.”
“If we offer him money and beg him to do it just once, he’ll look at us with contempt, trample us thoroughly, and still give permission, sir.”
It was a truly trashy way of thinking, but unfortunately, there was no one present to stop them. Everyone else was too busy floundering in their own delusions.
“…But I don’t know how much we’ll need, sir.”
“Money! Only bigger money can make elves great again, sir!”
After going in circles, Lemon and Apple had ended up obsessed with money just like the other elves. The two immature girls began burning with ambition… no, with desire. It was spring.
“Ugh!”
I really didn’t think they’d actually sit this one out.
I swallowed a scream as I yanked out the thorn that had pierced deep into my forearm. Of course, I was the one who told them not to help unless it was truly life-threatening, so I had no right to complain.
Ptui!
I spat out a glob of bloody saliva and glared at the Thorn King before me. My mana was nearly depleted. My already meager stamina was on the verge of total exhaustion from endless all-out sprinting, and the phantom pain from being stabbed and healed over and over lingered in my body.
But the results of my all-out carving were clear. Most of the thorns covering the creature’s body had been snapped or sliced away. It wasn’t as exhausted as I was, of course. Still, it had lost its weapons and armor. The Thorn King began to back away, increasing the distance between us. This was a change from its previous pattern of trying to close in and stab me no matter what.
Judging from the arrow-absorbing ability it had shown at the start, it was probably trying to consume the surrounding trees to replenish its lost thorns. This was something I could use.
“Ugh.”
I staggered as if exhausted, deliberately showing an opening. The creature immediately leaped toward the opposite side as if it had been waiting for exactly that. The moment I saw its back, I realized—this was the decisive moment I had been waiting for.
I quickly pulled a low-grade mana potion from my subspace pouch and drank it. Thanks to my Gluttonous Stomach, mana surged back into me instantly. I poured it straight into my Invisible Cloak and Haste Boots while activating Sound-Eating Steps.
Sound-Eating Steps
The now-familiar sensation of being isolated from the world. I swung my dagger at the Thorn King’s defenseless nape as it reached toward the trees of the great forest beyond the plains surrounding the World Tree’s illusion.
Slice!
Its neck was cut halfway through, revealing the growth rings. With the Haste effect still active, I didn’t miss the opportunity and kept swinging the dagger.
Slice.
Slice.
Slice.
The white light pouring from the Unicorn Dagger filled the space as the Thorn King’s body was instantly shredded. Wrists, hip joints, waist, shoulders, spine… Its now-defenseless body, stripped of its thorn protection, was dismantled piece by piece.
Thud.
The head fell last. I drove the Unicorn Dagger straight into the still-burning green flames within its eye sockets.
Stab!
“Thanks for the wish right.”
That was the end of it.