Chapter 54
Chapter 54
Ch. 54 .｡.:✧ Elvenguard (7) ✧:.｡.
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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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Wow.
I was totally screwed.
The moment darkness enveloped us on all sides, that was the first impression that crossed my mind.
“Ignite!”
Thwack!
When I snapped my fingers, a small flame sparked in the air with a bang.
However, with nothing to burn in the empty air, the flame only emitted light for a brief moment before quickly extinguishing.
“Ignite!”
“…!”
Thwack.
When I illuminated another momentary light, Mia finally noticed my location and ran towards me.
As the light faded away again, her figure disappeared.
“Ignite!”
Creak!
When the flame sparked once more, tree roots were twisting strangely and extending from behind Mia.
“Get down!”
“Ugh!”
Mia approached me and lay down.
I immediately drew my sword with my right hand while continuously emitting momentary light with my left hand.
Each time, the tree roots moved as if in stop motion.
Instead of rushing straight at us, they bent right in front of us and gradually surrounded us.
“Why is the World Tree…”
“Get a grip. That’s not the World Tree.”
Thud!
Thwack!
Thwack!
Flames kept igniting, endlessly draining my mana.
The air here lacked mana, so mana recharge was slow too.
Nevertheless, I couldn’t stop doing this.
The moment I stopped, the light would disappear, and if the light disappeared, I couldn’t see anything.
The enemy seemed to know that too, deliberately dragging out time.
They didn’t attack at all.
“Can you use a light-emitting spell?”
“No…”
The situation was terrible.
The entrance had collapsed and was blocked.
In the midst of not being able to see anything without a light source, the only way to emit light was to recklessly pour out mana like this without any countermeasures.
‘I have to face Kali here?’
In this situation, I had to fight the Heavenly King Kali, while protecting Mia.
I couldn’t let her die since she was a precious prophecy vending machine who would recite my prophecies in the future.
Creak…
The tree roots that had been circling around us at some point formed a cozy sphere, completely enclosing us.
There was no telling when or where new root tendrils would sprout from.
In other words, the moment I exhausted all my mana and couldn’t use Ignite anymore, Mia and I would be stabbed to death by skewers flying from all directions.
But I couldn’t make the first move either.
The moment I left Mia alone and moved, the roots extending from behind would pierce through Mia’s head.
There seemed to be no answer.
“How do I even… Huh?”
Just as I thought we were trapped and about to die, a warm sensation emanated from my pocket, and a red light spread in all directions.
Light burst through my pants.
Dumbfounded, I took out the source of light from my pocket.
It was my black mana stone.
The mana stone in which Ifrit was sealed was emitting enough light to illuminate the entire cavity without any shortage.
“Hold this tightly.”
“Yes…!”
If we had a light source, the story was different.
I handed the mana stone to Mia and readjusted my grip on the sword.
At that moment, tree roots flew straight at us from all directions.
‘Meridian Swordsmanship. 3rd stance.’
A stance designed for facing multiple opponents.
I rapidly rotated the sword blade like a saw and intercepted all the flying tree roots.
Not missing the brief moment when the offensive subsided, I aimed a slash at the point where the tree roots originated.
Crack…!
Then the cage-like tree root prison that had surrounded us quickly lost strength and collapsed.
Even after that, I remained vigilant with my sword for a long time, but nothing happened.
This attack seemed to have ended here.
‘Is Kali not coming?’
The tree roots that had filled the walls were no longer visible.
It seemed they had used all the roots in this area to attack me.
In the process, it seemed they had consumed a lot of moisture too, as the soil on the walls that had been damp had dried and cracked.
“Phew.”
“Um, excuse me.”
Just as I let out a sigh of relief, Mia called out to me, tugging at my sleeve.
When I turned my head, Mia’s face had already turned pale.
“We need to get out of here quickly!”
Mia shouted urgently.
I quickly realized the reason.
The roots that had been supporting the soil were gone.
If the soil had all dried up, twisted, and lost its viscosity…
“Damn it…”
This cavity would collapse.
Sure enough, soon a rumbling sound accompanied by vibrations began, and soil started falling from the ceiling.
“Run!”
“Y-yes!”
Time was of the essence.
I grabbed Mia’s hand and hurriedly ran towards the entrance.
The spot where we had been standing just a moment ago was already occupied by a huge rock.
“No…!”
I tried kicking the blocked entrance.
I tried digging it out with my hands.
But the thickly piled soil wall didn’t budge at all.
Meanwhile, soil kept falling from above my head.
In an instant, my body was being buried in the soil.
“Ugh. Come under me. That way, there will be space to breathe.”
“Then what about you?”
“One of us has to survive, right?”
“…!”
It was no use now.
The only thing I could do was cover Mia with my body and endure.
We had no choice but to wait for the rescue team to come from outside.
“Ugh…”
However, as the ceiling gradually collapsed, the amount of soil piling up on my back kept increasing endlessly.
It hadn’t even been a minute yet.
My back was already groaning, reaching its limit.
It would break.
I would die.
I couldn’t endure any more than this.
‘If only I knew how to use even one magic spell!’
I stretched out my hand in front and tried to visualize the image of a strong gust of wind as Alicia had taught me.
In my mind, a whirlwind had already burst out from my palm and blown away the soil wall.
But in reality, nothing happened at all.
No, damn it.
No matter what, this was too much.
I’m not asking for much.
Did I ask to become a great mage?
Basic magic was something anyone could do, they said.
I should at least be able to use a magic spell to blow away this soil wall.
Just as I was pouring out such resentment in my mind.
“Huh?”
“…”
Something touched my chest.
When I looked down, Mia was holding the glowing red mana stone near my heart.
Before I could even read her intention.
A quiet voice echoed in my head.
Kwang!
As if shooting a palm blast, the soil wall in front of my hand shattered into pieces and flew away. And we managed to tumble forward into the tunnel.
“Haa. Haaa…”
“Huff…”
We collapsed, covered in soil, and exhaled heavily while looking at each other.
We were alive.
Immersed in that sense of relief, no other thoughts came to mind.
“Phew.”
Thud.
With a final blow, the dead giant tree in the training ground collapsed.
How many times had I struck it?
I had stopped counting midway, so I wasn’t sure.
Half a day had passed since escaping from the base of the World Tree.
When I came out clutching my back that was on the verge of breaking, the elves had formed a huge crowd.
Leaving the explanation of what had happened entirely to Mia, I quickly slipped away and washed up at the accommodation first.
Then I holed up in the training ground and kept punching until now.
“Yoo-jin.”
“Oh, Alicia.”
“Can you please stop calling me that…”
“What’s the matter?”
“The magic that pushed away the soil wall earlier. I found out what it was.”
Alicia entered, opening the door with a creak.
Her expression was quite serious.
Leaving Undecided to lick my fist, I decided to listen to what she had to say.
“After analyzing the mana traces, it was revealed to be telekinesis magic.”
“Telekinesis magic? Ifrit, you bastard. So you can use that too.”
I held up the mana stone that had become completely dyed red.
The moment that magic was fired, he had clearly spoken.
He said he would help just this once.
Thanks to that, I had saved my life.
So I thanked the mana stone countless times.
But this guy kept ignoring me.
How embarrassing.
“No. The only magic the Great Spirit of Fire can use is flame attribute magic. Telekinesis magic, which doesn’t belong to any attribute classification, cannot be used by spirits.”
“Really? Then did the priestess use it?”
“That’s not it either. The mana used at that time was clearly yours.”
“Then…”
“Yes. You have mastered a 5th tier non-attribute magic. Telekinesis.”
Alicia’s serious voice told me this was no joke.
I was dumbfounded.
I, who couldn’t even use 1st tier magic, suddenly awakened to a 5th tier magic?
“Did you know how to use telekinesis and were hiding it from me?”
“No, that was the first time I used it too.”
“Try using it again.”
“Well… I can’t use it again.”
“What?”
Since returning, I had tried all sorts of things.
To use that spell just one more time.
But no matter how hard I tried, it didn’t work.
So I naturally thought it was a spell used by Ifrit or Mia.
But being told it was a magic I used, I was simply dumbfounded.
‘It seems clear that Ifrit provided some kind of help.’
At that time, I did have the thought of wanting to blow away this soil wall.
Just then, Mia brought the mana stone to my chest, and the magic was activated.
From the circumstances, it seemed like Ifrit had played some kind of trick on me…
“Hey. Mister. Dude. Bro. Man. Grandpa.”
“What are you doing by yourself…”
“No, this guy keeps ignoring me.”
No matter what I said to the mana stone, it remained silent.
It had been ignoring me ever since I came out of the tunnel.
He said he would help just this once, and it really ended with that one time.
What a petty bastard.
“And… The elders are calling for you.”
“Is it about the request?”
“I think so.”
“Get your equipment ready. We’ll accept it right away and enter the dungeon.”
“What? We should enter after you’ve mastered telekinesis. You’ve finally awakened a 5th tier magic!”
“It must have worked by chance just that one time. What 5th tier magic for someone like me? We can’t invest unlimited time in a magic that may or may not work again.”
I learned one thing while being trapped in that sealed room with Mia, on the verge of dying.
Kali had already taken control up to the base of the World Tree.
If he kept going up and took control of the leaves, it would be too late.
Seeds of plague would spread throughout the world, causing millions of casualties.
We had to enter the dungeon as soon as possible.
“Undecided. What about you?”
“…Fully. Prepared.”
“Right. Let’s go.”
“No! Are you going to enter the dungeon while your fist is bleeding so much?”
“Why? Are you scared? If you’re scared, you can quit. I’ll be happy to take all the rewards…”
“Who said I’m not going! I’m going! I said I’m going!”
Alicia, who had been nagging continuously, followed me with heavy footsteps.
I could understand Alicia’s feelings too.
She would want to enter after preparing perfectly.
But if there was one thing I had learned from clearing hundreds and thousands of dungeons, it was that there was no ‘perfect’ preparation for entering a dungeon.
In the end, as long as you were challenging an unknown dungeon, no matter how you prepared, there would always be something lacking.
In fact, Kali would also be flustered, hiding and then getting caught.
Hesitating here would give her more time to fortify her defenses.
It was right to strike while the element of surprise remained.
Moreover, when I thought of the promise I made to the elven boy, the longer I delayed, the more guilty I felt.
“Mr. Cheon Michael Jackson…”
The moment I stepped out of the training ground, my legs stiffened.
The elders and Mia had already come here and were standing in a line.
Mia hadn’t even washed up yet, so her body was still covered in soil.
“Thank you sincerely for saving the priestess. Although I know it is proper etiquette to express gratitude first when receiving a favor… The situation is urgent, so I apologize for making another shameless request. It seems the World Tree is being controlled by an unknown enemy. Please eliminate the dungeon that has taken root at the base of the World Tree.”
The elders knelt on one knee and pleaded in unison.
What was coming had arrived.
I approached the disheveled Mia, and she held my hand with a worried look.
“Please come back alive.”
“Is this a request too? It seems like the request fee will increase.”
“Don’t joke around…”
“I got it. Of course I have to come back alive. I need to hear the priestess’s prophecies for a lifetime. How could I die and waste that?”
“Eek…!”
I gently pulled her hand, bringing the priestess close to me.
Then I whispered quietly in her ear.
“Only you know. My real name is Yoo-jin.”
“…!”
I had gotten in so much trouble for wanting to laugh every time I was called by an alias.
Feeling utterly refreshed, I let go of Mia’s hand and turned around.
Let’s go. To kill the bastard who tried to bury me alive.
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