Chapter 587: Seeking a Master
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 587: Seeking a Master
Even with the power of an undying, I had no desire to fight a Qi Practitioner who had reached the Axiom. The one silver lining was that she was far too strong for me. A fight can only happen when opponents are somewhat evenly matched. So, Blanca couldn't be too serious about this fight either.
“Shei-ssi has already lost her manhood. She even had her arm ripped off once. Just thought you should know.”
I had just composed myself and was approaching Blanca.
In an instant, the distance between us closed. A jet-black suit filled my vision. A not-so-large hand grabbed my face, crushing me with immense force. The pressure felt like it would snap my neck.
“Mmph!”
I didn't resist. I knew I couldn't win. Instead, I let my body fall, grabbing and pulling on Blanca's arm. Her balance faltered for a moment, and my body spun half a turn in the air. Instead of smashing the back of my head, I landed on my back.
The moment I hit the ground, I uncurled my body. Shaking off her arm, I rolled backward to get away.
Blanca straightened her suit and said.
“Not bad.”
“Don't mention it.”
“I won't hold back next time.”
“Subtly implying you weren't going all out. It's probably true, but isn't it a little pathetic?”
“Awoo. Sorry. I'll make sure to grab you in a less pathetic way now.”
Blanca kicked off the ground. A black afterimage blurred across the World Tree's branch, rushing toward me like a phantom.
However.
“You're a bit slow, aren't you?”
Her movements as she ran on the Tree of Genesis were slower than usual.
The Tree of Genesis is a Divine and the World Tree. It is saturated with the World Tree's essence. On this ground—no, on this branch—it's difficult to use the Gon Qi Art. That's because a mere human's Qi Art can't easily penetrate the Tree of Genesis, which is filled with pure essence.
Why would a Qi Practitioner learn the Gon Qi Art? Why would they waste precious Qi by channeling it into the ground?
Because without anchoring their feet to the ground like stakes using the Gon Qi Art, they would slip, unable to handle their own immense power and speed.
Therefore, no matter how powerful a master who has reached the Axiom is, they can't move as fast as I can on this branch. Unlike them, who can't properly use the Gon Qi Art, I can perform a pseudo-Gon Qi Art through the Divine.
“Catch me if you can!”
I dashed toward the edge of the branch. Blanca was taken aback, seeing me look as if I was about to jump off.
“Where are you going? You'll fall if you go that way!”
“Don't worry. A monkey might fall, but I won't!”
The edge was practically a cliff. I ran along the precarious boundary where the branch curved downward. My body swayed as if I would slip at any moment, but I moved as if on flat ground, never falling.
“Qi Art? That can't be…”
Even Blanca, who had reached the Axiom, couldn't properly use the Gon Qi Art. Looking like a dog that had lost the chicken it was chasing, Blanca noticed the green blades of grass left in my footprints and realized the secret.
“You're growing small blades of grass to get a foothold? You're quite talented.”
“It's nothing special.”
“Awoo. I'm genuinely impressed. Making grass sprout wherever you step is a difficult feat even with Qi Arts. Qi Arts only control one's own body, but you're using Qi Arts and magic simultaneously. Woof, that's a skill honed to its absolute limit.”
Even though she was an enemy, I felt a sense of pride. No one had ever acknowledged my skills before, no matter how incredible they were.
As I was fleeing with that proud feeling, I heard Blanca's mocking laugh.
“—However, an exceptional skill requires too much finesse. That's its weakness.”
Blanca lifted her leg high into the air. Her suit stretched as if it would tear, her leg extending in a straight line. Like the hour and minute hands of a clock pointing to six o'clock, her two feet were spread as far apart as her body would allow.
Feeling a sense of foreboding, I looked back.
“Whoa, whoa. Wait! Don't tell me!”
“Woof.”
The moment her legs formed a dizzying straight line, Blanca slammed her raised leg down with tremendous force.
If you could see a seismic wave, this is what it would look like. A massive ripple originated from Blanca and spread across the World Tree's branch. The branch of the World Tree, as vast as the ground itself, bucked violently up and down. Twigs snapped off, and stalks of rice fell in showers.
“Aaaaaaaah!”
“The tree is shaking!”
The impact created by a Qi Practitioner who had reached the Axiom was immense. Even the people accustomed to life on the tree were nearly thrown off by the shock.
And I, who was running along the edge, was affected even more.
The shaking branch knocked my feet aside. I needed to step exactly where I'd grown the grass, but this subtle disturbance threw me off.
“This is cheating!”
“Awoo. You're the one who's cheating more.”
I screamed and reached out. Having already missed my footing, I stretched out my hand and touched the Tree of Genesis.
A part of the shaking branch transformed into a vine. I quickly grabbed it and hung on. I was worried it might snap since I'd made it in a hurry, but the vine, grown with the essence of the World Tree, was tough and sturdy enough.
I was saved. As I dangled from the vine, breathing a sigh of relief, Blanca slowly approached in my field of view.
Walking on the branch, upside down.
“Huh? How!”
“Woof. I got inspired.”
Blanca lifted her leg slightly. Claws, protruding from her shoes, were dug into the branch.
“That's something a leopard would do!”
“I can do it too, now that I know how.”
“Dammit, this is why I hate geniuses!”
“Now you're just making me look bad. Compared to your trick, what I did with my claws is just child's play.”
Blanca walked like a bat in an upside-down world. Dangling from the vine, all I could do was watch. She finally reached the vine.
“Farewell, woof. The man who almost became my master.”
“Aaaah! Stop!”
Ignoring my scream, Blanca crushed the vine with one hand. It snapped and fell toward the distant ground….
“Huh?”
But I didn't fall. The vine Blanca had cut was a different one from the one I was holding.
It wasn't that Blanca had made a mistake. She truly intended to make me fall, and she did cut the vine she was looking at. But the one that snapped was a different vine.
What was off were Blanca's senses. A glittering butterfly flew before her eyes.
“…A butterfly?”
Feeling something was wrong, Blanca's fur stood on end as she spread her Qi Sense. Only then did she notice the heavy floral scent lingering at the tip of her nose. She saw that the branches extending horizontally, vertically, and diagonally were unnaturally cut off. She also realized that the sounds reaching her ears were subtly different.
Her five senses were distorted. Using her beastkin instincts, Blanca threw a punch toward a space in the gap between her senses. With a crisp tearing sound, like ripping a curtain, a witch in a hat appeared from within like an illusion.
“I believe I told you not to do anything conspicuous.”
No, in truth, she hadn't appeared. There was no one there. But the incense made from burning flower petals, the faint smoke, and a sound inaudible to human ears were creating the illusion of a woman.
Magic that can disrupt the senses of even a Qi Practitioner who has reached the Axiom is rare. This was the work of the Witch of the Night, Walpurgis. Scattering mana-infused catalysts to affect sight, hearing, and smell, and then creating the hallucination she envisioned—that was the power of the Witch of Pleasure and Illusion.
Recognizing the nature of the illusion, Blanca spoke.
“The Witch of the Night herself has appeared. Is this man really that important?”
“This is a separate matter from him, Blanca. We aided you, but you ultimately failed to conquer Ende. Why are you, who should be reflecting on your failure and awaiting the next opportunity, attacking him?”
“Because… that's the only way someone would show up to tell me why I shouldn't kill them, right?”
So you attacked because you couldn't be bothered to ask? Drastic, but efficient.
“This isn't about who you kill. It's a matter of your authority. Do you know how many meat-fruits were consumed to feed the Wolf King and his pack? We even provided people to assist you. Yet you failed spectacularly and even lost the Wolf King.”
“But these two were the ones who stopped us at Ende. If it weren't for them, the path to the Empire would have been open.”
“That is no excuse for your failure. Had you succeeded, we could have brought him here sooner.”
Blanca's body stiffened at the piercingly cold words.
Walpurgis's illusion scattered in an instant. Transforming into a swarm of dozens of bats, her illusion flew to my side and circled around me. I could hear the buzzing of thousands of insects. Amidst the strange noise made by the bats, my body slowly began to rise.
“You shouldn't leave without a word. If you wish to go on an excursion, you should have me or another witch as your guide.”
“I did bring one person with me on the way here.”
“That is why I was able to arrive without being late. However, I would prefer it if you took me with you from now on.”
Walpurgis's swarm of bats lifted my body while lodging their brief protest. The ride on the cloud of bats was not pleasant. The bats' feet pinched my entire body, and the fine vibrations were so intense it felt like every one of my cells was moving independently.
Just as I was about to rise past Blanca, she perked up her ears and stared at me. Despite being reprimanded by Walpurgis, she looked surprisingly pleased.
“So you're the King of Humans that Maximilien spoke of?”
Am I found out? Well, I suppose there's no point in hiding it anymore. The rumor's out everywhere.
“So? Have you had a change of heart?”
Blanca retracted her claws and smoothed her fur. Placing a hand on her chest and pulling one leg back, she bowed her head politely, even while hanging upside down, and replied.
“Let's meet again. Master.”