Chapter 401: False Evil (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 401: False Evil (1)
The iron pillar separating her from Lucas was a weapon she had seen several times now—the signature armament of Kang So-hyun.
“…Ruyi?”
To think he had already broken through Lucas’s interference and made it this far.
She had known it was coming, but he truly had become a monster.
However, as Ruyi shrank in size, the person who emerged was not the familiar black-haired cadet.
Instead, her friend stood there, possessing brilliant blonde hair and lime-green eyes.
No, this person was familiar too, but why was Cathy appearing instead of Cadet Kang So-hyun?
…And why was she wearing cat ears?
Upon closer inspection, it wasn’t just the cat ears. Every cadet appearing behind Cathy looked strange in one way or another, as if they had fallen victim to a prank by the fairies.
Could Cadet Kang So-hyun’s absence be related to this as well…?
“Put me down.”
“Ah, right. So-hyun. Do you want to get down?”
“…Huh?”
The voice was familiar, yet it sounded somewhat childish—as if he had a bit of a lisp—mixed with an adorable, innocent tone.
Then, wiggling out of Cathy’s arms and stepping down, was a tiny version of Cadet Kang So-hyun.
…What? He turned into a child? Because of a fairy’s prank? This is a bit of a problem.
Of all things, for their strongest asset to be weakened like this.
To be honest, she had believed that Cadet Kang So-hyun was the only one capable of stopping Lucas now that he had absorbed the power of the World Tree.
“Is this Noona the Chairperson?”
Uh, well. She wasn’t exactly at an age to be called “Noona,” but it did feel good. Perhaps the boy had been kind and polite since he was young.
No, that wasn’t the point.
Not only was his body like that, but did he have memory loss as well?
In this utterly desperate situation, Lucas also looked toward them as if he found it absurd.
“…Don’t tell me that the ‘Cadet Kang So-hyun’ you mentioned is that young child? You spoke as if he could defeat me the moment he arrived, yet you’re relying on a brat like that? You’ve really hit rock bottom.”
“I have much to say, but I shall refrain.”
This was bad.
The others had grown stronger, but they would still be insufficient against a High Elf who had grasped the power of a god.
“Hey.”
Whether he sensed her anxiety or not, Cadet Kang So-hyun, who had been looking back and forth between her and Lucas, approached Lucas with a look of extreme displeasure and spoke.
“…No, I almost let my guard down because of his appearance, but the aura I feel is certainly impressive. Still, it’s not at a level I can’t suppress.”
Lucas was the one to take the first move in battle.
Without answering the boy’s call, Lucas soared into the air, and thick green flames erupted around him.
“If we’ve both stepped into the realm of gods, then the one with the physical advantage wins!”
“Hey.”
The heat of the flames, burning with the natural energy of the World Tree, was so intense that everyone except Kang So-hyun was forced to take a step back.
“You should have come alone. Bringing all these distractions with you…!”
Just before Lucas could finish his sentence, shadows blanketed the world.
The shadows swallowed the deep green flames of the World Tree’s energy as if snuffing out a candle. As they expanded to trap the surroundings in a massive dome, Lucas finally looked directly at the boy in front of him.
“…Ah?”
“You keep ignoring me. I’m calling you.”
The moment the boy, who had been suppressing his power out of consideration for those around him, showed even a fraction of his true self.
Lucas shook his head, trembling, and Leilan understood as well.
Thinking their powers were similar was a ridiculous delusion; being small was not even a slight handicap for him.
If Lucas was a half-baked transcendent who had barely managed to scrape together fragments of a god’s power, then this boy was a being who should already be looking down from the heavens, remaining on earth only by his own will.
Seeing such a terrifying display from such a dainty figure caused a bit of cognitive dissonance, but for Lucas, that contrast likely only added to the terror.
“Right, when someone calls you, you should look them in the eye and answer. Otherwise, I might get angry and make a mistake. Right?”
…Judging by his words, he was definitely Cadet Kang So-hyun.
Because of his childish tone, it sounded strangely cute, but what he was saying was nothing short of chilling.
“There’s something I don’t understand.”
“I’m the one who doesn’t understand! How are you enduring with that kind of nonsensical power…! There’s no way such power comes without constraints…!”
“I don’t know. Just answer what I ask. If you interrupt me one more time, I won’t let you off.”
…Ah, but perhaps because he’s younger, his words are a bit milder.
‘I won’t let you off.’ Normally, he would have threatened to kill him or cripple him.
Regardless, what kind of question was he trying to ask while setting such a heavy atmosphere?
Not just Leilan, but everyone around them waited for him to speak. Finally, the question that came out of his mouth was…
“Do you like the Chairperson Noona?”
It was a completely absurd question.
“…What?”
“…What on earth are you talking about? There’s no way.”
“You were thinking it would be great if all the new Elves you make were like the Chairperson.”
Even while thinking it couldn’t be true, Leilan looked at Lucas. Indeed, Lucas’s expression was beyond stoic—he actually looked a bit angry.
“It is true that I hold her in high regard, but it is not a romantic attraction.”
“Really?”
“Yes. When I considered who to use as a model for recreating the Elf race, she was simply the most suitable subject.”
Right, even so, saying Lucas liked her was going too far. Even Cadet Kang So-hyun could be wrong sometimes…
“Women as beautiful, wise, righteous, and elegant as her are rare, after all.”
…Hmm?
“Even if I were the model, the new Elves would undoubtedly be defective. They would fall back into elitism and look down on others. They might even become a selfish race that finds no charm in helping others.”
No, wait a minute.
“But if they were a race modeled after her—after Leilan—that wouldn’t happen. Noble, beautiful, truly caring for others… a shining new race. A perfect race that has even overcome the weaknesses of long-lived species. The Elves can be reborn.”
…He doesn’t actually like me, does he? If even you’re like this, I’ll have to seriously question my luck with men.
“The Chairperson is noble and beautiful?”
However, Cadet Kang So-hyun looked toward her as if he couldn’t understand and let out a smirk.
“Wait, what does that laugh mean?! What exactly are you laughing at!”
“…Indeed, depending on the context, I might find myself angry as well. What part of her are you mocking?”
“Who knows? I just don’t think she’s as noble and pure as you think she is.”
Lucas seemed to take his words as a mere provocation, but Leilan felt a bit guilty and couldn’t just laugh it off.
“Anyway, thank you for the chat. Thanks to you, I’ve bought some time.”
Bought time…?
“I admit it. I alone cannot defeat you. But what if I bring someone who is in the same realm as you?”
When she snapped out of it, she realized the pressure she felt from Lucas had diminished significantly.
At first, she thought it was just because Cadet Kang So-hyun was emitting such an intense aura, but that wasn’t it.
The moment he judged he had no chance of winning, he had pretended to engage in conversation while transmitting his power somewhere else.
“You can probably guess who lent me this power, can’t you, Leilan? The one who absorbed the energy of the World Tree and can now move in earnest… that person is coming here personally.”
The moment she recalled the power Lucas had shown in his battle with her, and the dragon that was likely the original owner of that power, she shouted without thinking.
“Cadet Kang So-hyun…! Don’t let your guard down…!”
“It’s too late. No matter how much of a monster he is, he can’t stop that person!”
The moment Lucas nodded, the ground vibrated, and from beneath the World Tree at the center of the forest, it reared its head.
The calamity that had destroyed the world they originally lived in and killed over ninety percent of their kin.
Even after they barely managed to migrate to this world, it had doggedly followed them, and they had only managed to seal it within the roots of the World Tree at a massive cost.
“Nidhogg…!”
The wicked venomous dragon that gnaws at the roots of the World Tree.
The Evil Dragon Nidhogg.
The monster of myth had revealed itself.
When it had first crossed over from the previous world and was weakened, they had sealed it within the World Tree’s barrier at the cost of many lives. Yet that madman Lucas had finally deactivated the barrier and even provided it with nourishment to wake it up.
The dragon, freed from its seal, opened its massive maw, and toxic energy began to gather in its gaping throat.
Acidic Breath.
The foul and powerful breath lunged forward, piercing even Cadet Kang So-hyun’s shadows.
In an instant, the images of her kin melting away from a single strike flashed through her mind.
Terrified that the nightmare of that day was repeating, she forced her power up to create a wall of storms.
It was a barrier created by squeezing out every last drop of her remaining strength, but unfortunately, it wasn’t enough.
Even if she had been at full strength, it wouldn’t have been easy; it wasn’t an attack that could be blocked by a wall made in her exhausted state.
Was the fact that it held for even a brief moment a reward for pouring out her remaining power?
Just as she thought it was all over.
[Are you giving up already?]
The fading storm suddenly surged with even greater violence, beginning to clash equally with the toxic breath.
At the sound of the voice, everyone present turned their gaze toward it. There stood a villain wearing a familiar mask, along with three others presumed to be his companions.
Centered around the Pure White Demon Mask were those wearing green, yellow, and pink masks.
[I came to teach the Elves the beauty of farming, but the situation is quite a mess.]
[My goodness. Is that Nidhogg? I wondered what was happening when the World Tree’s barrier suddenly vanished…]
[No, I was wrong, so please let me go. I won’t, I won’t ever mess around again. I just wanted to save my sister…]
…What? These were people she was supposed to be seeing for the first time, yet one of them smelled like a familiar nutcase.
[Lucas Claudia. A delusional dreamer lost in the fantasy of becoming a new World Tree and recreating the Elves from scratch.]
While her attention was briefly stolen by the green mask, the Pure White Demon Mask faced Lucas with his usual cool… no, dignified appearance.
“…And who are you?”
[Who am I? The answer to that question depends on the attitude you show from now on. To you, I could be a reaper, or perhaps a villain even worse than you who has come to thwart your goals.]
However.
He paused to catch his breath before continuing.
[If you ask what I have come to do, I can answer that. You hypocrite, who forces your ideals on others under the pretext of helping your kin.]
“You call me a hypocrite…?”
[I shall judge your hypocrisy with Evil.]
The shadows Cadet Kang So-hyun had been controlling suddenly wrapped around the masked man as if changing masters. The shadow wings unfolding from his back tore through the toxic breath that had been blocked by the storm.
[You focused too much on the range and let the intensity weaken. That is not how you handle shadows.]
He even descended slowly, as if giving advice while looking at Cadet Kang So-hyun.
The villain who had intruded upon the battle between the evil dragon and the cadet stood in front of them with an incredibly noble attitude, as if protecting them from the dragon.
[I apologize, but I shall intervene.]
“A-Ah, no. Why are you suddenly intervening!?”
In truth, since he seemed to be helping them, she should have been expressing gratitude rather than questioning him, but for some reason, she wanted to talk to him more and ended up nitpicking.
[…Why? There is no reason not to answer, so I shall. Personally, I have business with those fellows, and if I were to give one more reason, well.]
“One more…?”
[You all must not die yet. Did I not tell you to perish only to prove my mastery?]
…He’s so cool.
She wanted to talk more, but unfortunately, the situation didn’t allow for it.
[Graaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!]
[This is not a suitable situation for conversation.]
The venomous dragon roared, and the villain with shadow wings took flight.
[I shall deal with that first.]
Is something wrong with me for thinking even that stoic attitude is cool…?