Chapter 216
Chapter 216
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 216
Chapter Title: Lycanthrope (1)
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Harris, who had suddenly been put in charge of leading the investigation team, was still doing his utmost to pursue a life of utter laziness amid it all.
At this point, he had completely handed over all movement to the wind spirit Pascal, dangling limply in midair himself.
Since he and the spirit were connected through their minds anyway, controlling movements with mere thoughts wasn't all that difficult.
'It's good spirit arts training too.'
The wind spirit Pascal was still at the upper level.
His only top-tier spirit was the lightning spirit Watt, so this was a decent opportunity in its own right.
Of course, to onlookers, it probably looked utterly undignified for a High Elf, but who cared when it was this comfortable?
And besides, he had a perfectly valid excuse beyond training.
He was attempting to unite with nature in this state to once more sense the will of the World Tree.
That was the very reason he had ended up on this investigation in the first place, wasn't it?
'No real gains so far, though.'
Was that initial sensation just his imagination? There hadn't been any notable progress since then.
No special revelations from the World Tree either.
But just moments ago, while he was floating through the air, fully immersed in—er, diligently deploying Nature Assimilation...
At the faint edge of the vast breath of great nature that he sensed, he detected an extremely subtle anomaly.
It was so faint that only someone with Harris's insane level of focus could have noticed it.
At the time, the other elves were scattered in all directions conducting their investigations, so he headed there alone to check things out...
And that's when he discovered the group of about a dozen Lycanthropes.
They all bore strange red markings on their chests as if performing some ritual, suspiciously staring at an abyssal rift that had appeared atop a crude altar at the center.
— Heinz 2nd Indeed, those must be the Lycanthropes. I heard their activity on the Ion Continent had noticeably dropped in recent years. Looks like they secretly migrated to Enamel. — Hugo Wait, more importantly, isn't that an abyssal rift? Looks dangerous... Wasn't the Enamel Continent safe because of the World Tree's influence? — Harris ...Ugh, I really hate this... Harris had learned about the birth of the Enamel Continent during his High Elf education.
It was a mythic legend from thousands of years ago.
Originally, the heteroclite races had lived alongside humans on the Ion Continent, but for some reason, they needed a new home without humans.
Taking pity on these wandering folk, a benevolent god sent an incarnation to the earth.
That was the sapling of the World Tree.
The sapling transformed the modestly sized Enamel Island into a vast continent capable of housing all the heteroclite races.
Finally, nations formed with the Elven Kingdom—guardian of the central World Tree—at its heart, centered around the migrant races.
'That's why the Elven Kingdom is at the center, and why elves are respected by the other races.'
Of course, being thousands of years old, records were scarce, and even High Elf traditions omitted details for some reason, so the truth was unclear.
But the World Tree's existence and influence were plain facts, so few denied it.
And thanks to the World Tree—the pillar and root supporting the Enamel Continent—they had avoided the worst of the Immortal King's two invasions...
— Hannibal Strauss Oh-ho, so that's how they weaken the boundary with the Abyss. First time seeing it in person. Quite the unique method. At that moment, the top expert in the field—watching the ritual through Harris's eyes—gave his diagnosis on behalf of the Immortal King himself.
— Hannibal Strauss It's not punching a direct hole. If anything, it's like the scars left across the Ion Continent. Looks like they used remnants of the World Tree—twigs or leaves—as sacrifices. And those brands on their bodies... they're no ordinary marks. Indeed, if it were a true direct link to the Abyss, a mere dozen with that setup couldn't manage it.
They couldn't even pull off something this covert.
'The problem is these guys doing this crap in the Enamel Continent—no, in Elven Kingdom territory.'
Harris let out a small sigh, still assimilated with nature and concealing his presence.
No need to think deeply; their intentions were obviously malicious.
Looks like he'd stumbled into something troublesome.
'At least we caught it before it blew up bigger? Now to figure out how they blocked the World Tree's intervention.'
Of course, that was a matter for the nation to handle.
No guarantee they were only active here; the entire heteroclite continent might need to mobilize.
'I've done my part spotting this. No need for me to suffer alone! Let others deal with the rest...'
However.
The moment he decided to pull back.
Sniff? Sniff sniff—
One massive wolf-man nearly three meters tall at the front of the dozen-strong group sniffed the air, then...
Turned its head and fixed its gleaming yellow eyes precisely on where Harris was hidden.
"Ah, damn."
Before Harris's low mutter could finish...
Boom—!
A ferocious claw shot toward him alongside the explosive sound, closing the distance in an instant.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Vampires and Lycanthropes were both shunned by other races, but their temperaments differed vastly, leading to big gaps in their standings.
Unlike rational vampires—who only lost control to bloodlust and steadily grew their power in human society's shadows—these wolf-men flew into rages constantly, like the entire species had anger issues, making coexistence impossible.
In the end, save for a few who wandered as gang enforcers or war mercenaries, they were gradually pushed to the frontiers...
Their numbers dwindling pathetically compared to vampires.
Not even all remaining Lycanthropes combined could match one vampire Upper Clan.
"Heh heh hek, well well~ Guess things don't always go as planned, huh? That revolutionary blowhard was so cocky about not getting caught, but gotta give him points for no real substance. Tch tch."
Atop a tall tree.
A man perched on a high branch cackled madly while gazing toward one side of the forest.
It was too far to see from here, but checking on his subordinate's status posed no issue.
"A bit early, but... they've been spotted, so no choice!"
He ruffled his hair wildly, then slid down and leaped to the ground below.
Thud!
After a not-insubstantial hang time, what landed lightly was a massive wolf-man over three meters tall, with not a shred of humanity left.
Awooooo—
A howling wail toward the sky after a deep breath.
At that eerie resonance incomprehensible to outsiders, black shadows began gathering around him one by one.
"Finally starting? Been waiting forever, King! Let's move now!"
"Grrr— Still got time left; you sure about now? Might be too early—lots of guys won't be ready."
"If the King says so, there's a reason. Grahahaha!"
Three particularly hulking wolf-men stepped forward from the arrivals, growling.
"Kekeke! Catrope's properly snared. Sounds like they're going at it hammer and tongs."
"Grrr—that idiot finally. A High Elf make a move? Then we're really short on time. No guarantee the others haven't been spotted."
The one skeptical at the King's curt addition quickly grasped the situation and nodded.
Once spotted, speed was everything.
With all convinced, the King surveyed his assembled underlings and slowly nodded.
Three of eight general-class—the strongest—at least fifty knight-class, and assorted rabble.
Once things kicked off, the scattered rest would converge immediately.
...And above all, he himself was the greatest force.
"If we're short, so be it! We've endured plenty already! Grahahaha! Let's go! Burn the whole World Tree down!"
Roooar—
Awooooo—
He was the leader of this final 'Wolf Pack'—the Lycanthrope King, who had once played the fool in the Oath of Reverse Heaven, now a hollow title.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Lycanthropes, often compared to vampires, had a somewhat similar hierarchy.
Vampires divided into Sacred Blood, True Blood, Pureblood, Lesser Blood, plus outliers Servant and Slave.
Lycanthropes: King, then generals, knights, warriors, soldiers.
As the ranks implied, their identity was pure combat prowess.
Lacking vampires' varied abilities or blood magic, focused solely on physicality.
But sometimes simplicity was efficiency.
Their strength, agility, endurance, magic resistance, regeneration outclassed equivalent vampires head-on.
...Harris was feeling that keenly in real time.
Much to his regret.
Krarung—!
Like a bolt from a clear sky, azure sparks erupted noisily once more.
"Graaaargh!"
From within burst a charred black monster that trampled surrounding trees, lunging at Harris midair.
It even kicked off the air to pursue his wind-spirit dodge, altering trajectory.
'Ah, this guy's such a pain!'
The Lycanthrope before him was unmistakably general-class... equivalent to a Master.
Not on par with the Imperial Guard Captain Starb who troubled Hesperon recently, but still a hassle for Harris, newly minted High Elf.
Pzzt—!
"Grahack! Fighting dirty, you coward! If you're a man, face me head-on!"
Hassle, but not unbeatable.
'What nonsense.'
Over thirty minutes of pummeling might explain the reaction.
This was the forest—nay, Elven Kingdom soil, World Tree nearby.
Harris wielded Heir of the World Tree, Nature Assimilation, Star Observer, Call of Nature—skills so affinity-focused they bore the dire side effect of sloth.
Sound spirit Decibel sealed its acute hearing and skin vibrations.
Wind spirit Pascal and fire spirit Kali blocked smell and heat sense.
All spirits conjured light and dust to blind it, so with Harris's presence vanished into nature, it lagged a beat every time.
'And at our level, that one beat is fatal.'
Right after another shockwave passed.
With Hyperesthesia activating for extreme stillness in time, he drew Themis—bow from World Tree branch.
"Hoo—."
Hesperon at this speed would've shredded his muscles, but no big deal for High Elf Harris.
Pzzt! Roar—!
Whooosh! Hummm—
As power rose, nature's forces gathered around him; pulling the empty bowstring sucked in ambient nature, forming one arrow.
One breath complete.
Lycanthrope resisted fiercely; Harris zapped it with lightning again.
Second breath.
Gathered, condensed, merged with prior arrow.
"Graaa! You bastard!"
Predictable resistance, meaningless.
Repeated the simple process several times.
Pzzt!
Lightning-like arrow.
Roar—
Compressed flame on arrowhead.
Whoooosh—!
Wind and vibration enveloped it next.
"~~♪"
With Melody of Harmony and Fairy Archery, the arrow fired—
———!
Soundlessly slicing air like a beam.
For finishing a foe battered over dozens of minutes...
It sufficed.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ The moment combat began, sentinels summoned via sound spirit Decibel had encircled the area, making short work of the rest.
Two knight-class and five warrior-class elites, but Elven Kingdom sentinels were veteran fighters—no contest.
As things wrapped up, following Hans's advice, Harris destroyed the incomplete altar...
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ The World Tree gazes upon its child. Right after the abyssal rift closed, he faced a very familiar system message.
'Huh?'
Then, the warm sensation he'd felt before tingled from his toes to scalp.
'...Quest rewards don't mess around.'
He'd first gotten this at the 1st Summit, meeting Hans and earning High Elf qualification.
Not as drastic a change, but no complaints.
Whoooosh—!
Thanks to it, wind spirit Pascal became his second top-tier spirit after Watt.
Harris closed his eyes, expanding his senses fully.
Boosted nature power and affinity widened his perception range vastly.
Though the incoming laziness surged stronger too.
Still manageable, so he'd welcome such patronage anytime...
'Wait... is this an experience booster event?'
Suddenly, the thought crossed his mind.