Chapter 30
Chapter 30
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 30
Chapter Title: The World Tree Shakes Its Branches (5)
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The rituals performed by a shaman hold special power.
This wasn't just mere pretense.
I had to provoke the beast's rage through these humiliating actions.
I needed to bind its grudge within the ritual.
Kaang—
The dagger clashed against the rattle, producing a sound.
Spiritual energy transferred from the rattle to the blade.
Ding-a-ling—
I could feel the beast's gaze fixate on me before pulling away.
It must hate this. After all, I was provoking it right now.
But...
I pursed my lips and whistled in unison.
Wheeeet—
This whistle infused with spiritual energy had the effect of drawing the attention of spirits.
The beast's gaze clung back to me.
"Watch closely. This is the fate awaiting you."
I raised the dagger and rubbed it against the beast's body, shaking myself.
As if the beast were the one being toyed with, I danced the blade over its form.
Swish—
I thrust the knife between its hides.
Puke—
The most defining trait of evil spirits.
They harbored intense hostility toward anything threatening them.
Impure energies began pouring toward me.
Ding-a-ling—
I shook the rattle to protect my mind.
It still wasn't enough to fully draw it out.
I kept stabbing the blade in.
Puke—
The more I stabbed, the stronger the energies directed at me grew.
I whistled once more to bind its gaze.
Wheeeet—
I offered the dagger on my shoulder and shook the rattle.
Provoking it as if to say, try to stop me.
Ding-a-ling—
Ding-a-ling—
A reaction erupted from it immediately.
Illusions began.
My vision blurred, and the beast's body felt distant.
Proof that it was gradually immersing itself into my consciousness.
I charged at the receding beast and thrust the blade again.
Puke—
"Urk..."
I'd stabbed the beast's body, but pain like being knifed in the gut shot through my own stomach.
But I couldn't stop.
This was all illusion, all its trickery.
I struck the blade and rattle, infusing them with spiritual energy.
Suddenly, my vision rippled, and the beast's form shifted.
It became the image of a wounded elf.
Trembling eyes pleaded toward me.
"..."
I closed my eyes.
The true presence of the beast before me sharpened in my senses.
I thrust the blade once more.
Puke—
"..."
No sensation came through my hand.
It felt like stabbing empty air.
Even though I'd clearly pierced the beast.
A chilling laugh from my dream slithered past my ear.
But every sound and sensation I felt now was fabricated by it.
I thrust the blade again.
This time, a eerie scream pierced my ear.
From the elf's illusion.
"You rotten bastard..."
Ding-a-ling—
It stimulated my fears in every form imaginable.
It seeped deeper into me.
Grudges swirled through my mind as if they were my own thoughts.
It felt just like during possession.
I could barely distinguish my thoughts from its.
The grudge began rejecting the spirit dwelling in my body.
Ding-a-ling—
"This is..."
Each shake of the rattle made the god connected to me grow obscured by its grudge.
Ding-a-ling—
"So this is it..."
Master had once told me.
When facing an evil spirit, you might lose your way.
That's when you must firmly recognize the presence of the divine spirit with you.
Even a single thread of doubt severs that connection...
I needed to shake off this grudge decisively.
"Hoo..."
My hand gripping the blade moved, aiming at one spot.
The blade pointed not at the beast, but at my own face.
Parmon the Old Man's shocked voice rang through the hallucinations.
"Chris...! Get a hold of yourself!"
The old man was worrying needlessly again.
I was perfectly sane right now.
I drew the blade across my face.
Its laughter echoed in my ear.
As if celebrating its victory.
"You little shit... don't get cocky..."
The blade passed over my skin, leaving no trace.
The same blade that had stabbed the beast left no mark on my face.
Just like when walking the tightrope.
The possession hadn't broken.
A single thread of conviction blurred its grudge.
I felt it thrashing inside my body.
"You're not getting out now, you bastard."
This was the moment.
I had to sever its connection to the World Tree.
As I swung the rattle, its frenzy began.
"Urk..."
Blood surged up my throat.
But trivial matters like that weren't the issue now.
With it inside my body, I could clearly sense it.
What it was trying to do...
"The branches..."
The dark mass was trying to shake the branches.
A squatter in someone else's home mimicking the World Tree.
Its will infused that shaking.
The will that I was threatening the World Tree.
"Romanel...! The shaking branches right now aren't the World Tree! It's this thing mimicking—!"
I couldn't finish.
Romanel's eyes lacked focus.
Having received a vessel of the World Tree, he was already battling its will.
Proof that it hadn't lunged at me.
It was thrashing, strengthening its link to the World Tree.
"...!"
My arm wouldn't move.
"The rattle...!"
Did it realize that shaking the rattle amplified the spirit's power?
It was forcibly pinning my arm.
I had to stop it before the other elves were deceived by the branches.
Then, Closel the Old Man's calm voice reached me.
Astonishingly steady.
"Don't worry about us. Keep doing what you're doing."
Parmon the Old Man's voice followed.
"We can hold them off for about a week."
Elves were already appearing from all around.
Parmon and Closel the Old Man stood before them.
"Do any of you know us? If you think of touching Chris... by all means, try it."
Anger etched the elves' faces.
This was too dangerous.
I needed to shake the rattle quickly.
Only by borrowing divine power could I sever its connection.
Irene emerged from among the elves.
"Chris."
"Irene! The shaking branches right now..."
"Don't worry. Elves aren't fools. Do you think we can't recognize the World Tree's will?"
"...!"
Looking back at the elves, their gazes all fixed on the World Tree.
Their anger wasn't directed at me.
It was toward the impure thing daring to mimic their god.
Not just the elves.
The elven spirits in the forest began gathering here too.
I felt their resentment.
They knew.
That this thing had taken root inside the World Tree.
They had awaited me, following the World Tree's final transmitted will.
The spirits clung to the World Tree's branches.
"...!"
The dark mass's energy visibly weakened.
And my arm began to move.
Ding-a-ling—
The rattle shook.
Ding-a-ling—
The grudges that had dominated my mind until moments ago vanished cleanly.
The sensation was slightly different from before.
The spirit's presence wasn't that of an old man.
My body was connected to something.
Instinctively, I raised my arm and shook the rattle.
Ding-a-ling—
Swooooosh—
"The... branches are shaking!! It's the World Tree!"
Each shake of my rattle made the trees throughout the forest respond.
The great tree called the World Tree's flesh trembled.
Ding-a-ling—
It felt as if the tree and my body were one.
An enigmatic sensation I'd never felt before.
And the dark energy lodged in my body came into sharp focus.
Ding-a-ling—
An immense energy gathered toward me.
All the trees sent me their spiritual energy.
An overwhelming amount, hard to bear.
This was the chance.
I used the spiritual energy to sever its connection.
The grudges that had taken root lost their anchor.
Urk.
Blood trickled from my mouth.
Right now, this thing was merely a lump of impure energies.
With its link to the divine severed, it had lost its reason too.
And I could clearly sense it.
It was the same method used to corrupt souls into wraiths.
As I'd suspected before, the necromancers' doing.
"These bastards keep..."
Originally, I planned to annihilate this dark thing outright.
I still had a massive amount of spiritual energy gathered.
But I changed my mind.
If they'd sinned, they should face punishment.
If they'd cast curses to create things like this.
Now it was time to return the favor.
Heat built around my eyes.
Blood was probably flowing.
"Guess I'll have to live with my eyes closed again."
I felt the fragmented curses scatter into the air.
Returning to their origin, no doubt.
"Haa... haa..."
Strength drained from my entire body.
To end up like this after doing something good... Lately, it felt like all I handled were curses.
Shamans weren't meant to deal with curses.
"Is it over now?"
It was Parmon the Old Man.
"Yeah... I didn't pass out this time."
"You're right on the verge."
"What about Romanel?"
"He just fainted."
"High elves have weak bodies, huh."
Now that the dark thing was dealt with, maybe I wouldn't go blind?
I still had some spiritual energy left...
I gave the rattle a light shake.
And I sensed energy from Parmon the Old Man.
He had bad luck with hands.
"Now fortune-telling's coming into play... Be careful not to lose your stuff, Old Man."
"Heh heh... Worry about yourself."
Looks like Parmon the Old Man wouldn't die like in the precognitive dream.
And darkness began closing in before my eyes again.
"Damn it..."
"Didn't you just say you were on the verge of fainting?"