Chapter 45
Chapter 45
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 45
Chapter Title: The Destroyed World (9)
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Lee Sang-hyun wrapped only his vital parts—his head and heart—with mana and surrendered the rest of his body to the tree roots.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
The roots then burrowed into his body. It wasn't painful, but he couldn't shake the instinctive disgust.
Whether they harbored killing intent or not, the idea of something foreign invading his body was inherently creepy and uncomfortable.
Wriggle, wriggle.
The roots rummaged through his insides like they were searching for something. Purely by sensation, it felt profoundly threatening, yet his survival instincts remained silent.
‘...As expected.’
Even after a long while, no killing intent emerged. Of course, he flinched when they brushed his heart.
But as time passed, it settled. The roots no longer touched his heart.
Ssslk. Ssslk.
Finally, the roots that had been stirring inside withdrew on their own. Lee Sang-hyun let out a quiet breath and turned to Elka.
『Puh... Hoo...』
The guardian deity Elka's aura had already calmed.
Those eye sockets that had glared at him with demonic hostility were now utterly vacant.
“......”
Lee Sang-hyun watched Elka silently. He kept his grip on his sword for any contingency, but it proved unnecessary.
Elka retreated.
Then vanished quietly. It had clearly realized Lee Sang-hyun was no demon and withdrawn.
‘...Gone.’
Lee Sang-hyun exhaled the breath he'd been holding and eased his tension. He didn't linger like a fool, though.
He pursued Elka deeper into the woods.
‘...That way.’
Elka's movements were bizarre—leaping between trees—but fortunately, the dank, humid traces lingered, making it trackable.
Rustle, rustle.
An hour of sprinting over dead grass and fallen leaves. At last, Elka's erratic path came to a halt.
‘There?’
Lee Sang-hyun approached where the guardian deity had stopped, his steps cautious to avoid raising undue alarm.
Moments later, a wide clearing appeared under gray clouds. An ancient tree stood there, along with an elf.
‘Lea...!’
The High Elf Lea of the Star's Song...
She knew how to cherish nature, pursued peace and coexistence, and possessed the ruthless resolve to strike down foes when needed—a cool-headed protector of the forest, yet one warm enough to lay down her life for love.
But the Lea before him was a doll, pale beyond white.
‘...Undead.’
Dead, yet animated.
‘Did she... turn herself into this?’
He suspected as much not just from her caved-in chest, but because deathly qi seeped from her heart.
Ssss... Ssss... Ssss...
Blackish-red death qi leaked like mist from her still heart, corrupting everything around it.
An intensely chilling energy. But...
‘This suffocating pressure on my heart... from the Star's Song?’
Thump... Thump...
Lee Sang-hyun reeled from the emotion crushing his heart. But only for a moment. He gripped his sword tight.
‘...End it in one blow.’
He would cut down High Elf Lea because she was dead yet moved.
And because there was no reason to wait for the hero any longer.
The hero...
Ailbern had fulfilled his duty and departed.
‘Rest in peace.’
Lee Sang-hyun swung his sword with full force.
Whoosh!!
Blue sword qi hurtled toward Lea's heart. In moments, the organ that had spewed death qi for eons would finally stop.
Crackle!! Crackle!!
Yet it was blocked by some unidentified force and failed.
‘A barrier? Then...’
Lee Sang-hyun sensed it—the doll-like Lea in slumber was on the verge of awakening.
But he held back from unleashing more sword qi in haste. Instead, he waited, almost hopefully, for her to rise.
‘...She's stirring.’
Lea, slumped against the tree in repose, rose to her feet.
And her heart beat once more.
Thump...!!
Time trickled away like sand. Lea stood at a fork in the road and had to choose: perish here, or live on and await the hero.
『He... will come back.』
Lea chose to wait. Somehow survive... and meet the hero. Ailbern.
『I... believe.』
『I do believe.』
To that end, Lea resorted to forbidden magic—an act unthinkable in peaceful times past, a violation of sacred vows, but she had no options left.
『The forest... can't survive. The demons won't stop. Better than a pathetic death...』
『...I have to wait.』
The dire circumstances spurred her onward.
Lea invoked forbidden magic to defy life's flow. She rejected the natural descent and reversed it, halting life itself.
The cost was the forest's vitality.
『Ailbern......』
The guardian deity Elka willingly surrendered his scant remaining life for her sake.
And to fend off the demons, he left a white horn allowing passage only to those bearing 'life'.
But even as the halted time resumed its flow, the hero never returned.
From the risen High Elf Lea's lips flowed not faith in his return, nor resentment for the endless wait, but Rune words.
“?!!”
And those Rune words unleashed a destructive blast at Lee Sang-hyun.
Kwaaaaa...
Caught in the explosion, Lee Sang-hyun was hurled hundreds of meters. Prepared as he was, he avoided serious injury.
‘...Magic.’
What the High Elf Lea wielded was magic. Akin to sword qi, yet distinct.
‘...Not going to be easy.’
Even without a true clash yet, he foresaw the challenge.
Lee Sang-hyun felt no fear, of course. He drew a steady breath, pondering his counter.
Right then.
Nameless spoke.
‘Receive it...?’
Lee Sang-hyun grasped Nameless's intent at once. The High Elf Lea had closed in unnoticed and loosed her magic.
Pew!!
The spell was a beam of light stretched impossibly long. A headshot meant instant death.
Yet Lee Sang-hyun stood firm. Honoring Nameless's wish, he brought his sword down on Lea's magic.
Swoosh!!
Blue sword qi cleaved the beam in two.
A faint crack spiderwebbed across the doll-pale face of Lea. Her sealed eyes trembled.
『......』
But only fleetingly.
Another Rune conjured fresh magic.
‘Ice...?’
The spell flash-froze the area, plunging the temperature. It then clung to Lee Sang-hyun's body.
Intent on turning him into a snowman, evidently... but futile.
Lee Sang-hyun didn't even brush it off. He melted the ice into water effortlessly.
“......”
No retaliation. He merely regarded High Elf Lea with steady eyes.
Lea's lips moved mechanically.
This time, lightning.
Crackle!!
Lee Sang-hyun took it full-body.
‘Kuh!!’
Slicing lightning was impossible folly; he had no choice but to weather it.
Crackle! Crackle!
Bolts erupted repeatedly from Lea's hand.
Lee Sang-hyun endured them all, thrusting his sword into the earth to ground the discharge.
Crackle!!
The lightning assailed him mercilessly. Lea's face remained rigid and pallid as a doll's. No emotion whatsoever.
Crackle... Zzt...
At last, the lightning faded, leaving only afterimages in the air.
A spell of tremendous power. Any lesser demon would have been obliterated, bones and all.
Huff! Huff!
Yet Lee Sang-hyun stood.
White smoke rose from his body, but he didn't collapse. His calm gaze held firm.
『......』
Lea's expression didn't shift. Silent as a slumbering doll, she murmured another Rune.
Splash!!
One might wonder if it was pointless—Lea's magic was as emotionless as her doll-like form.
Mechanical. Simple. Repetitive.
Of course, it was flashy and potent as befitted sorcery. Flame spells were especially vexing, patterns be damned.
Boom boom boom!! Booom!!
The blasts vaporized ambient mist and splintered dead trees.
And it didn't stop there. Chain detonations devoured a vast swath in an instant.
Kwaaa...
Flames bloomed from Lea's hands, morphing into a colossal bird that unfurled its wings at Lee Sang-hyun.
A phoenix evocation, awe-inspiring in its majesty.
Fwoosh!!
Flames roared with soul-scorching ferocity. Trees crumbled to black ash in the blistering heat.
“......”
Lee Sang-hyun endured doggedly, cleaving the inferno. His wounds weren't severe. Nearly half-melted, sure—but super regeneration pulled him through.
‘...The finale.’
Tension gripped his steadfast heart. Sword leveled ahead, he awaited the 'final spell'.
Swooo...!!
At length, a tiny orb the size of three knuckles formed in Lea's palm.
Pathetic on the surface. Smaller than her hand—hardly credible as an offensive spell.
Yet it dwarfed the phoenix in menace and might. For it transcended destruction into 'annihilation'—a magic rivaling the demon Neptune's void.
Thump! Thump!
The tension was unique.
‘...Here it comes.’
The red orb launched from Lea's hand. Straight for Lee Sang-hyun, naturally.
He didn't yield an inch. He advanced instead, slashing down with all his strength.
The clash rocked the forest.
The roar lingered ages before fading.
The shockwave razed hundreds of meters wholesale, even grazing the gray clouds.
Rustle. Rustle.
Flame, smoke, ash, and dust settled over the quieted woods. High Elf Lea remained ashen as ever.
『......』
A doll devoid of feeling.
Yet her eyes cracked open. The lids, sealed till now... parted ever so slightly.
Lee Sang-hyun clocked it instantly.
‘"Receive it" meant... make her open her eyes.’
Conviction dawned. The goal: fully awaken those eyes.
Thus, he held ground. Breathing regulated, braced to take it all.
『......』
Fresh magic brewed in Lea's hand.
This one: brutal winds shredding flesh to ribbons.
Not wind alone, either. It inhaled flames, smoke, and ash to swell its fury.
Whooo!!
Gray gales ensnared Lee Sang-hyun, battering nose, mouth, and eyes.
Flames, smoke, and ash blinded and choked him. Trapped in wind, yet facing suffocation—an absurd irony.
But berserker that he was, Lee Sang-hyun embraced it all and pressed forward a step.
‘...Advancing.’
Six vortex winds spiraled from Lea's vicinity, tendrils outstretched.
Whooo!!
Spinning every which way, they bore down on Lee Sang-hyun.
He sensed them through pure instinct.
‘Slash...!’
Wind differed from lightning. Six precise strokes rent the vortices asunder.
Sli... ce... ce... ce...!
Core-slashed, the vortices deflated at once. The gray gale slackened in tandem.
『......』
Then came a Rune unlike any before from Lea's lips.
Chill!!
Primal dread surged. Survival instincts blared frantic alarms to flee.
Lee Sang-hyun neither bolted nor backpedaled. He forged ahead with bullheaded resolve.
Piii...
The unheard Rune birthed darkness.
Deeper than cavern depths.
Deeper than the starless night sky.
As if peering into the human soul...
『......』
Lea opened her eyes.
Empty, though.
Unfocused. Pitch black.
Still lost in nightmare.
Swooo...
Lee Sang-hyun glared into the encroaching dark and invoked the hero Ailbern's swordsmanship.
Second Form—Pierce.
It was a single ray of light that pierced the gloom.