Chapter 389: Please, Just Listen to Me (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 389: Please, Just Listen to Me (1)
No, but seriously, I have my excuses.
Back then, the World Tree had already fallen into corruption, and the Elves weren’t just running wild—they were completely insane. To make matters worse, what should I call them? Offshoots of the World Tree?
These “Little World Trees” were popping up everywhere, sucking the life essence out of everything in sight. We were on the brink of actual total destruction.
It might sound rich coming from the guy who eventually ended the world himself, but at the time, taking care of the World Tree was the only logical move for the sake of the planet.
…Well, sure, it’s also true that I lost my mind when I saw them attacking Seo-ha and ended up turning the entire surrounding area into a wasteland.
After that, I devoured all the corrupted energy of the World Tree and rounded up every last one of those Elven bastards for a human sacrifice ritual… but anyway, I’m sure there was at least a little bit of concern for the world in my heart.
“First, could you explain what’s happening?”
What a load of absolute bullshit.
Right, this is all just the karma I’ve built up.
Actually, it’s for the best. If an opportunity to settle my debts appears, shouldn’t I pay them off as they come?
“Ah, I was a bit all over the place, wasn’t I? So, what happened was…”
I had asked for an explanation, but since this was an incident from the 1st Timeline, I already knew the general gist of it.
The reason the World Tree became corrupted was due to an experiment by a High Elf who went mad with a desire to monopolize the tree’s power.
Should I say he tried to become the World Tree himself?
The bastard had even researched all sorts of sealing techniques and lured in the World Tree’s natural enemy, eventually succeeding in weakening its energy.
The problem, of course, was that even a weakened World Tree possessed power far beyond what a single Elf could handle. That High Elf prick failed and died, and the natural enemy he’d lured in began targeting the weakened tree.
But something felt a bit off.
In the 1st Timeline, the World Tree’s complete corruption didn’t happen for another six years or so.
At this point, the culprit—that High Elf bastard—should still be alive, and the corruption shouldn’t have officially begun yet.
“Um, by any chance, is the World Tree not in a particularly dangerous state yet?”
“Pardon…? No, even if it holds out as long as possible, ten years seems to be the limit. It’s an emergency.”
…Is her sense of time different from mine because she’s the mother of a long-lived race?
“In truth, its power is already greatly diminished. At this rate, all of its strength will be stolen away.”
“That’s also a bit strange. Why didn’t you move personally before it got this weak? Why wait until now to ask someone else for a favor?”
I’ll accept that she’s asking me because the Elves can no longer hear her voice.
But shouldn’t she have taken action herself before things reached that point?
“Because I am not that kind of ‘god.’”
“…Excuse me?”
“Mmm, I mean that being a god doesn’t mean one can simply act as they please.”
For a moment, it felt as if static had hissed through the air, and I couldn’t see the expression on the World Tree’s face.
“I know I’m not in a position to ask this of you, but please… if possible, I want you to save me and my children. Before I am completely corrupted and stained by evil.”
The World Tree’s lips continued to move.
“If you cannot do that, then I would rather you ■■■■■.”
The noise made it hard to hear, but unlike before, perhaps thanks to my Fiery Eyes and Golden Pupils, I felt like I could read her lips through the distortion. The content was so unexpected that for a second, I wondered if I had misread her final words.
I would rather you kill all the Elves.
I must have seen it wrong, right?
“Ah.”
When I woke from the dream, it was early dawn with a bit of time left before training, but I knew going back to sleep was a lost cause.
“…That didn’t feel like just a dream.”
It was too late for another nap and too early to feel refreshed, but after a moment of deliberation, I pushed myself up.
“Since I’m up early, might as well get breakfast started.”
Even if the world ends tomorrow, a man’s gotta eat, right?
* * *
The World Tree had suddenly appeared in my dream asking me to save her and the Elves, but I wasn’t about to rush off to the Fairy Forest immediately.
If the World Tree were going to vanish tomorrow, that would be one thing, but for now, there was some breathing room. I wanted to be as prepared as possible.
“So-hyun. I’m sorry, but I don’t think this suits me.”
After finishing the dawn training, Ha-ni approached me with an apologetic face and handed back Claiomh Solais.
“Mmm, I had a feeling that might be the case. It’s not quite right, is it?”
The Elves themselves aren’t much of a threat, but the “Fairy Forest” that sits on the path to their territory is a real headache.
If we were all going to move together, everyone needed to be perfectly prepared.
That’s why I was checking everyone’s new equipment and looking over our overall coordination.
In Cheon Yu-hak’s case, his compatibility wasn’t bad; he had adapted well to Airgetlám and was using it quite effectively. It seemed Ha-ni was a different story.
Then again, Ha-ni prefers single-edged blades, while Claiomh Solais is a double-edged greatsword. Its attributes—light and heat—are also the polar opposite of Ha-ni’s cold attribute, so it was somewhat inevitable.
Technically, she could use it if she had to, but she probably felt that drawing out less than half the power of a Myth-grade artifact was a waste.
“Not even as a temporary measure until we find a new sword?”
“Well, a sword is all about feel. If I get too used to a greatsword, I’m afraid I’ll struggle to get my rhythm back later.”
“Yeah, can’t be helped then.”
I decided to find Ha-ni a new sword soon. Since it was a greatsword, it was a bit awkward for me to use too. Should I just feed it to Black Shadow?
— Woooong…!
As if reading my expression, Claiomh Solais let out a sharp metallic hum. It was too noisy, so I shoved it back into the Gourd.
“Well, even with Ha-ni fighting with an unfamiliar sword, you guys weren’t bad at all.”
This training was closer to a game of tag where I didn’t attack, but even so, landing a clean hit on me while I was flying around on the Nimbus Cloud was no easy feat.
Sure, it wasn’t a one-on-one and they had ganged up on me, but I didn’t expect them to actually land a hit in just an hour.
“…I’m currently dealing with a crisis of confidence because the eight of us couldn’t catch you alone,” muttered Cheon Yu-hak.
He had recently acquired a Myth-grade prosthetic arm and his confidence had been soaring.
“So many things have happened that it feels like a lifetime ago, but thinking back to when we first met… this is definitely surreal,” said Lilac.
He was smiling, but his eyes looked hollow.
“No, the worst part is that after we chased you so desperately and finally landed a blow, it turned out to be a clone,” grumbled Kang Ha-ni, looking deprived and demoralized.
“And you kept using your looks to distract us mid-fight. That’s cheating, So-hyun.”
Wait, Ga-eul, that’s unfair. What do you mean, “using my looks”? I was just smiling the whole time.
— Hah, are you actually serious?
Wait… even Sun Wukong is taking Ga-eul’s side on this?
“Honestly, how am I supposed to catch someone flying on a cloud? My weapon is literally armor,” Aisha whined, looking the most dejected of the bunch.
“Are you going to ask a villain to play fair when you fight them?”
“Th-that’s not what I meant, but…”
“Man, I can’t even call you my disciple anymore, So-hyun.”
“I agree, Junior. Honestly, most S-rank heroes are probably weaker than you now. I don’t think you even need to attend the Academy anymore.”
The two seniors were looking at me with somewhat bewildered expressions, but I had no intention of taking back what I’d said.
Of course, at my current level, if I actually intended to attack, they wouldn’t last long. But they were still growing.
It would be one thing if they were like Flash, who had already reached his limit, but reaching this level of skill while still in their growth phase was actually insane.
…Of course, I had been aggressively power-leveling them with all sorts of “supplements” lately.
Until recently, they were at a level where they’d stay stuck at A-rank without my Reinforcement, but now they could legitimately hold their own against S-ranks.
If they all attacked as a group, they might even be able to take down a Calamity-class threat.
If we added the professors to the mix, things were looking really good.
If I just took a bit more time to teach them, we could surely conquer the Fairy Forest without any major issues…
Ah, dammit.
Whenever I think like this, something always goes wrong.
“Uh, guys. What is this?”
Sure enough, Ga-eul, who was checking her smartphone, started making a very ominous sound.
…Is this actually a law of science? How can the timing be this shitty?
“Why? What happened?”
Ha-ni walked over, checked the screen Ga-eul was showing, and tilted her head.
“Apparently, the Elf Kingdom just made a public announcement?”
“…What kind of announcement?”
“…Something about how it’s unacceptable for Elves to interfere excessively in human society?”
I didn’t have the courage to check with my own eyes, so I asked for a summary. The words that flowed from Ha-ni’s mouth were almost exactly what I had feared.
Still, a tiny sliver of hope remained.
“So, they’re going to ‘judge’ the Chairperson for violating Elven ethics and take her back themselves.”
And there goes the hope.
Right, those crazy bastards.
In the original story, even when the Chairperson was reduced to a doll that couldn’t even die, those pricks insisted on taking her back just so they could use her.
Ah, of course, not all Elves are like that. It was a group of extremely conservative Elves who went off the deep end and committed those acts.
It’s probably the same this time.
But then, the words the World Tree tried to say to me at the end of the dream flashed through my mind.
She said she’d rather I kill them all. Surely she didn’t say that because of this…?
Anyway, it looked like our next destination was officially decided: the Elf Forest.
Even without me saying a word, everyone looked at me and nodded.
It seemed everyone was finally getting used to these constant incidents.
…Somehow, saying it like that makes it feel like we’re the ones solving all the world’s problems.
Well, honestly, I wasn’t that worried.
Of all people, the one those bastards were targeting this time was the Chairperson. It’s not like she’d go and do something reckless or lose her cool, right?
If we all discussed it together, we could surely solve the problem without much difficulty.
Yes.
That’s what I thought.
“…I’m sorry, but could you let me handle this alone this time? Cadet Kang So-hyun.”
I thought that right up until the moment the Chairperson utterly betrayed my expectations and threw a wrench in the works.
* * *
Leilan Claudia felt a sense of pressure emanating from the cadet who was looking at her as if he’d misheard her.
The person standing before her was, without a hint of exaggeration, a cadet who had become stronger than herself.
However, that didn’t mean she intended to change her mind. Ironically, the reason she had made this decision was precisely because of Kang So-hyun’s strength.
If he were an ordinary cadet—one she could restrain—she probably would have accepted his kindness and worked to solve the matter together.
But he had become too strong.
He was so powerful that, in the event of an emergency, she wouldn’t be able to stop him alone.
And that meant there could be a massive number of casualties on the Elven side.
In the worst-case scenario, the possibility of total extinction couldn’t be ruled out.
Of course, she knew that Kang So-hyun wouldn’t normally go that far.
But she couldn’t say the possibility was zero.
To be honest, even from an Elf’s perspective, Elves had a tendency to look down on humans.
If one of his precious people were insulted, Kang So-hyun would not hold back.
She had developed an interest in humans and chosen to live among them, but that didn’t mean her homeland wasn’t precious to her. She wanted to resolve this as peacefully as possible.
“…So, that is the reason, Cadet Kang So-hyun. I believe you would endure most things, but if an Elf were to insult Cadet Cathy, Ha-ni, or Ga-eul… you wouldn’t stay your hand.”
“I won’t deny that.”
His face looked strangely hurt and a bit angry, but at the same time, he looked like he understood.
“I want to resolve this as peacefully as possible. So please, give me the first chance. If I cannot solve it, I will honestly ask for your help.”
“What if I get offended by this and decide not to help?”
“Then that is simply how it must be.”
“…I’ll help you, so tell me if it gets too hard.”
“Yes, hearing you say that is reassuring. I’m sorry for doing something that feels like betraying your kindness.”
“No, I didn’t realize being too strong would cause problems like this, but I guess it happens. Honestly, I can empathize with your point of view.”
…I feel even worse now that he’s agreeing so readily.
He’s a good child at heart; perhaps I’m being too sensitive just because he’s grown strong.
Chairperson Leilan felt a bitter pang of guilt as she watched his retreating back as he said his goodbyes and left.
…Completely unaware of what he was actually thinking.