The Giving Tree (3)
Straight black mist coiled into an iron fist, hurtling forward.
The man possessed by the Ma Gi called Yuto didn't so much as twitch as Muyeong closed in.
He knew.
He knew this puny black mist couldn't pierce his Ma Gi.
But that's where you're wrong.
Did he think I didn't know what he knew?
The reason I'd used Muyeong anyway was simple.
"Gotcha."
The black mist disrupted the moment it neared Yuto, reshaping itself to trap him at the center.
With Yuto sealed in the middle, I yanked my right arm back hard from midair.
"……!"
Smoke - Gwangpok (Fury)
Boom boom boom!
A massive roar erupted in the empty air.
The compressed Ma Gi orb he'd conjured slammed into the raging mist explosion, detonating in a colossal blast.
Thick smoke billowed up.
Ignoring the numb tingle shooting through my right arm from the backlash, I swung it toward the plummeting ground below.
Smoke - Musangbi (Fog Flight)
My falling body lifted again mid-drop.
Bursting through the smoke high into the sky, I locked eyes on the shadowy figure still at its heart and cocked my fist behind my back.
A faint silhouette appeared in the haze.
My body rocketed toward it at blinding speed.
The velocity made my skin crawl.
Enemy vision obscured by the returning smoke.
Grinding my teeth, I forced my drooping eyes wide and thrust my fist toward the figure at the smoke's core.
Black Dragon
Crack—
Something shattered against my fingertips.
The punch landed clean.
But.
"Guh……."
I was the one who'd taken the hit.
Red blood sprayed into the air.
Plummeting powerlessly through the smoke, I looked up.
What the hell was that?
What got me?
The lingering smoke had blocked my view—I couldn't see clearly.
Something struck me.
But I hadn't seen what.
I clamped my left hand over the shredded gash in my side.
It'd turned the tables on me, but not enough to stop me cold.
Way better than burning alive.
Right before hitting the ground, I swung a light fist behind me.
"Hoo……."
Thud.
My feet hit the earth.
Trusting in Natural Healing, I pulled my hand away from the wound.
Blood dripped steadily onto the dirt, but I had no time to care.
The smoke blocking both our views was clearing now.
He's coming.
The mist vanished from the sky.
There stood Yuto, right arm extended toward me, marking me as a dire threat.
Deep purple energy gathered from that point.
It flashed bright as light for an instant—then shot straight at me.
"Ugh!?"
Bang!
My right hand whipped out on reflex, deflecting the purple beam aside.
A heavy impact throbbed in my palm.
My shoulder—and even my activated Black Dragon arm—shook with fine tremors.
I clenched my quivering fist tight to steady it and charged forward.
Smoke - Musangbi (Fog Flight)
My current speed wouldn't cut it.
Fierce wind pressure battered me as my body launched forward.
In midair, I slashed with clawed fingers.
Smoke - Muin (Mist Blade)
Five misty blades hurtled toward Yuto.
He scattered Ma Gi to block them, but as expected, it failed.
The blades stabbed clean into his gut.
But.
"Shit."
Muin barely scratched the black Ma Gi coating him—nothing significant.
No, not even that. The scratches vanished in a blink.
So that's why he looks untouched.
My punch through the smoke had connected perfectly, yet Yuto stood there pristine.
I'd figured it hadn't landed right, but no.
It had.
He'd just healed instantly.
Unbelievable.
How the hell do you beat this?
A dry laugh escaped me as I swung a fist forward to brake hard and land.
Only one way to win.
A single blow strong enough to overwhelm him.
That was my only path.
So no reckless charges.
I had to wait for the perfect opening.
Power like when it blasted from the World Tree all the way here.
Make it count—shoulder be damned, I'd grit through it.
Darkening my gaze, I exhaled steadily and stared up at Yuto hovering in the sky.
Blood still trickled from my side.
Elses-to spat blood from his mouth and let his greatsword droop downward.
His eyes fixed on Han Mir in the distance, struggling with blood pouring from his side.
"Pushing a guest like this... Guess I'm a failure as chief."
Heh heh.
Chuckling throatily, he forced his furrowed brow smooth.
"Heh, what kinda nonsense is this in my old age."
He'd played tough in front of the kids, but he wasn't fine by any stretch.
After they left, the first wave of mutants had swarmed in.
Far more than now, and he'd stopped them single-handedly.
Elcid had burned, part of the World Tree too—but zero casualties.
That alone had been a stretch.
"When'd you all get so strong? Tell me, Lenny."
And now more strain ahead.
Snorting at Lenny's silence, Elses-to glanced at his left shoulder.
Gone, just for a split-second lapse.
"You were always the strongest in the party, Lenny."
Short and slender.
Yet her power rivaled Elspier's.
Sparring wins split fifty-fifty—they were equals.
That's why he'd planned to handle her himself, not burden the others.
Too greedy, maybe.
"Ma Gi's a bitch—even I can't handle it easy."
Shaking his head, he raised his drooping greatsword.
No crumbling yet.
He'd fulfill his duty.
Responsibility demanded it.
"Duty to protect the kids. And Mother."
He could do it.
Deep breath—he glared at the dark-skinned woman gripping a Ma Gi blade midair and poured mana into his greatsword.
Thud, thud, thud.
The earth rumbled.
One step forward on cracking ground from raw power waves, eyes blazing.
"There it is."
The World Tree's blessing on Elses-to, teller of truth from lies.
So-called Blessing of Truth—it marked one spot as real amid deception.
"……Farewell."
Swing this sword, and tomorrow never comes.
Still, he didn't stop.
Better to die proud as an elf chief than cower like a beast.
Elses-to brought his greatsword down with all his might toward the blessed point.
Lord El - Sesto
And so.
"Wh-what!?"
"……Grandfather."
The sky split in two.
Beneath the cleaved heavens.
Elpinire bit her lip hard, dangling her broken arm as she stared at the floating figure.
Ten years ago, one of the humans who'd come to Elcid: Shurin.
A mage then, now.
"Hoo……."
Hurling Ma Gi-tainted spells.
A massive fireball laced with black flames shot forth.
Planting her feet, she twisted her waist and unleashed a full-power straight punch.
Lord El - Primo
The indomitable iron fist of the first elf chief, Elf Primo, detonated the incoming Ma Gi fireball.
She scraped the ground and kicked fiercely into the air.
Lord El - Secundo
The piercing slash of the second chief, El Secundo, flew at Shurin.
Shurin raised a Ma Gi barrier to block it.
As if anticipating, Elpinire reset her stance seamlessly into the next move.
Lord El - Terzo
The righteous leap of the third chief, El Terzo, shoved the earth aside.
Launched at leg-straining speed, she was suddenly behind Shurin, heel raised high.
Lord El - Quarto
The fourth chief, El Quarto—closest to her own style.
His martial techniques recreated through her body.
Evergreen mana flooded her circuits.
Teeth gritted, she heel-smashed Shurin's skull.
Thud—boom!
Shurin plummeted with the roar.
Landing instantly, Elpinire kicked off toward her, knee driving forward.
"Tch."
Smack!
Shurin's outstretched hand blocked the knee.
Tongue clicking, Elpinire twisted midair into a spin kick at Shurin's face.
"……."
Thwack!
This time, it connected—Shurin ate it clean.
She scattered Ma Gi to steady herself midair, but.
Lord El - Terzo
Elpinire was already above Shurin's head.
Fist smashed down.
The impact flung Shurin's body upward.
Cracks spiderwebbed her Ma Gi armor.
Not enough power yet.
Realizing it, Shurin erupted in explosive Ma Gi.
"Ugh……!"
This wasn't plain Ma Gi.
Ma Gi magic.
The World Tree robe proved useless against the raging torrent sweeping her.
Ma Gi alone packed punch, but razor-sharp blades within shredded her flesh.
Danger.
Teeth clenched, she invoked the fifth chief, El Quinto.
Lord El - Quinto
The first female chief, El Quinto—compassionate as the World Tree.
Her barrier shielded Elpinire's body.
Barely enduring the Ma Gi storm, she swallowed tears and drew back her fist.
"……Grandfather."
A power she'd learned but never mastered due to inexperience.
But now, she could wield it.
Teeth gritted, toward the earth.
Toward Shurin below.
For the elves.
Lord El - Sesto
She smashed down Elses-to's legacy.
One point.
A black dot on pristine white paper.
Ink spreading wildly like spilled water.
"……."
Her plunging fist.
Spread across the earth.
The ground quaked like an earthquake.
On the warped, bomb-cratered terrain, Elpinire slowly rose and turned from Shurin's remains.
One left.
Yuto.
She turned to regroup, then halted.
"……That side's wrapping up too."
Yuto, bound in black mist wielded by the human whose side wound had finally clotted.
The human reeled him in, unleashing an inky fist devoid of all light.
That punch held power matching the one that flew from the cave straight here.
Done.
No need to worry there.
As Elpinire turned to aid the elves against mutants—
"-!"
A deafening roar tore at her ears.
Whipping around, she watched the human spray red blood, hurtling toward the World Tree—pupils shaking wildly.
"……Why?"
She glared at the culprit who'd flung him.
Lenny, bisected by Grandfather's final strike.
Shurin, head gone from her finisher moments ago.
Karos, crushed mid-leap.
Yuto, downed by the human's attack.
The four humans—minus Alec—slumped limp, gathering in one spot.
Melting without corpses left, merging into a single mass.
A black Ma Gi blob floating midair.
And at its center.
"……♪."
A single eye, just like the one from the cave, grinned in delight.