Ep.11 - The Dark Mage and the World Tree (2)
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"Human... no, fallen black mage who has forsaken being an elf, Lich who bears sin! I shall take your grudge in its entirety and send you to the underworld..."
Chichi's words, hurled at the Lich like an incantation, were cut short by the hymn-like thorns that bloomed from the ashen mana.
"Oh, for the love of— Just die already!"
"No, you crazy bitch! Use your magic properly!"
"I told you I'm using it properly~!!!"
The Lich, which kept reviving even after dozens of physical destructions, continued to resurrect under the rapid-fire combos of the Kaede, Riko, and Neva trio.
The ashen mana surrounding the black mage kept blooming and clutching onto its lifeline. Chichi's magic was needed to blow away all of that irritating ashen mana altogether, but...
"Augh...! Seriously! Why only me...!"
Chichi, who had never been Enhanced through a soul bond with Delin, couldn't contribute much to the fight compared to the other women.
The only effective damage came from Neva's sword aura, discharged with force; the curse Riko had carved deep into her dagger; and the swirling wind pressure from Kaede's greatsword.
"Forget Miss Chichi and let's finish this with the three of us! Philmark, focus!"
"What are we to do with that delicate young lady! Chichi, you must at least use your magic properly..."
"I said focus! You just had to open your mouth with a pointless remark...!"
Kaede and Neva circled the black mage and swung their weapons to their hearts' content. The sword aura stretched past the black mage and toward Kaede, but Kaede dodged it deftly and kept thrusting her greatsword. Likewise, Neva desperately deflected the wind pressure from Kaede's greatsword and kept attacking the black mage.
As the two's combo continued, Riko slipped into the brief openings that appeared, stabbed the black mage's body with her dagger, and immediately withdrew. Stabbing a chest reduced to bare bones was far from pleasant, but Riko kept exploiting the gaps. Her curse, like venom, placed restrictions on the black mage's movements. It winced, feeling the pain.
The black mage repeatedly vanished into smoke and reappeared to create distance, but the three women's speed was astonishing. They didn't let the black mage escape. If it tried to break free from their attacks for even a moment, they kicked off the ground and closed the distance again.
The three had only two things on their minds. That this was more manageable than fighting a Dragon. And that they didn't seem likely to lose.
"Fall back!"
Even so, the women didn't loosen their grip on tension. In that state of focus, whenever the black mage tried to unleash something powerful, they all repositioned according to Neva's command.
Neva's shield was considerably sturdy. When everyone hid their bodies behind her, the black mage's attacks were even deflected by the shield standing firm.
Even magic that shot out like light with an eardrum-tearing sound, even the swing of some massive thing threateningly launched from a suddenly appearing gray void...
"Everyone back! Eva, come to my side!"
Of course, the black mage wasn't just stupidly taking hits, so it created countless illusions to avoid the one-against-many disadvantage.
They looked like smoke. Countless blades and spears made of ashen mana scattered like smoke, preparing to rain down on them.
"Chichi, you too!"
When everyone, including Helen, gathered beside Neva, Neva gripped her shield tightly and drove it into the ground. Then, a shining circular barrier formed with Neva at its center.
"Is it still far off? The three of us could win, but without your magic, Miss Chichi, it will take quite some time...!"
"I-I'm doing my best too, you know? It's just that the compatibility with that black mage is bad!"
While the circular barrier struggled to block the countless weapons, the women huddled together and urgently talked.
It was the only time they had to strategize. Though loud bursting sounds surrounded them on all sides, they had to use this gap to come up with a plan.
"Then Miss Chichi will support us and guard the rear, and Miss Helen, please quickly offer all the prayers you can right now for us. As soon as that black mage's attack ends, the three of us will charge out immediately and continue the combo like before...!"
"No, more than that! How about Helen sticks close to Chichi's side and assists her, like earlier? As far as I can see, when the two of them stick together, they have some effect to a certain degree..."
"You idiot, if that's the case, it's better to just invest everything in us and smash him! Hey, chain-smoker! Just keep buffing us!"
"Let's do that~"
The attacks gradually subsided,
And at last, at the moment all the illusions vanished back into ashen mana,
The women all charged out again.
Because each and every one of them was a woman of unparalleled greatness, their attacks were indescribably powerful, and yet flawless.
Chichi stood idly in the back, pointing her staff at the black mage, but magic never fired from its tip.
No one knew it better than Chichi herself. That insane Lich over there was an existence one step ahead of her in terms of magic.
Chichi's role was set. While the other three pushed forward in close combat, she had to tear space to create small portals for battlefield control, and infuse their weapons with condensed power.
"Tch..."
A suffocating word surfaced in Chichi's mind. Helplessness.
And then another word surfaced. Alienation.
It wasn't even a group she particularly wanted to fit into, but here, gathered among Delin's women, she felt an inexplicable sense of alienation.
Somehow, she felt weaker than those women, felt like she fell behind in feminine charm too, and even her bond with Delin seemed inferior.
'It doesn't matter. Since I'm just going to leave with Delin later on anyway...'
Even as she repeated that to herself and tried to calm her heart, those tall, well-built women were always there before her eyes.
Even in her eyes, the other women were each and every one of them beautiful beyond compare. More precisely, they overflowed with feminine allure.
Strong, toned, with well-proportioned bodies that were a feast for the eyes.
Ideal women who could have been featured in the anatomy drawings she used to fiddle with back when she gave lectures, the kind that belonged in textbooks.
Figures where curves and softness coexisted with tone and firmness. Splendid breasts that were neither excessive nor lacking, and wide-set hips coupled with well-trained lower bodies.
With women like that present.
Would Delin choose Chichi?
Suddenly,
The sound of voices reached my ears.
Those sounds reached even me, cowering trapped inside the pasture, and the other men beside me also perked up their ears to listen; they were that distinct.
"Euuugh..."
It was obvious. This was another plan to extract semen through persistent chakjeong.
Sick to death of it, even if I twisted my hips this way and that to avoid it, they took all of it as tantrums or aegyo...
The terrifying chakjeong where even if I shook my head side to side begging them to stop, they just told me not to whine and hugged me tight...
This was hell on earth. A living hell where communication was impossible.
The bitches who cursed and swore while doing it at least gave me a rough idea of when it would end and a chance to find an opening to resist, but these elves had absolutely no openings. There was no carelessness from those insane bitches who treated me like a baby and tried to monitor my every single move.
"Huuugh..."
'I'm sick of this now, please... noona-deul...'
It was better to just be glancing around warily among the noonas. If I stayed here any longer, I felt like I'd go mad like the other men.
I offered a prayer, putting my desperate heart into it, asking to please be freed from this hell...
"Baby."
Had my prayer been heard?
The elves came up to me, pulled me to my feet, and said,
"Truly, congratulations. The World Tree-nim said she wishes to see you. Ahh, our baby..."
It was an unexpected thing to say, but with those words, I was saved.
The elves immediately washed me diligently (an embarrassing process) and dressed me in clothes, and without doing chakjeong, they immediately took me somewhere.
At the thought that I could rest even for a moment, tears welled up and I gave thanks in my heart. I didn't know who I was giving it to, but anyway, I was truly grateful, I prayed over and over, thanking them for saving me.
"The World Tree-nim is an exceedingly beautiful being. She cultivated the land of us elves, made it fertile... and grants us bodies superior to other races and virtuous mana. Baby, the fact that you can meet her is truly an honored thing... ahh..."
The elves chattered on about this and that, but it wasn't of much concern to me.
Anyway, the moment an opening appeared, I planned to immediately... jump off something or other to return to the save point, and the moment my mouth was even slightly freed, I planned to shout Load.
Everything I was experiencing in this place was, in any case, just an illusion that would all vanish. Because once I Loaded, it would all become something that never happened...
"You were chosen by the World Tree-nim. How praiseworthy, praiseworthy..."
So, all these incidents with the crazy elves who kept stroking my head, and hugging me tight while pat-patting my butt, would all fade into distant memory.
Even as I was dragged before this tree called the World Tree or whatever, I observed my surroundings carefully. Surely an opportunity would come. Surely.