Chapter 238
Chapter 238
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 238
Chapter Title: Rampage (1)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Kee-yit!
But at that moment, Kai blocked their path.
It slammed back to the ground the foes who had been trying to take flight amid an irresistible gale.
It would have been utterly impossible before, but during his exploits after returning to the past, Kai's level had broken past 300, making it even more powerful.
Unfortunately, even reaching level 300 brought no full evolution into a "Great Peng."
[Elemental Big Bird, Kai][Lv 302]
"Good job, Kai!"
Rokan used the opening to slip away.
Dodging the goblin shamans about to unleash attack spells, he flew higher and farther to withdraw from the battlefield.
To figure out what was going on, he headed for the nearest human village.
"I see."
Safely back at a secure base, Rokan caught his breath and first gathered intel.
Something seemed to have happened covertly while he was off in the past, but he figured there would also be dramatic changes since crossing over here.
"A relief, I suppose."
Fortunately, the shifts weren't as massive as he'd feared.
Aside from part of the undead faction's field suddenly changing and some goblin player completing a race quest to empower the goblins, there were no alterations among the orcs or trolls.
That sudden surge in goblin forces was a problem if it was a problem—the stalled battlefield had turned urgent because of it.
"Shamanism... Tricky."
Shaman spells often wielded bizarre powers distinct from magic, making them hard to counter.
Moreover, 'descent'-type spells wrecked their hosts but could momentarily grant class experts master-level abilities, widening the power gap in an instant.
The prolonged war had increased the number of master-level players, but a bunch of makeshift master skills still posed serious pressure.
Even if they were just improvised master skills, a swarm of them could overwhelm an average master-level player.
Thanks to that, the goblins were rapidly swelling their ranks, but the Golden Lion faction wasn't sitting idly by.
"The World Tree is nearly complete..."
The half-elves had pushed their race quest—the World Tree's revival—almost to completion.
Orcs, trolls, and goblins had triggered quests to interfere, but as the faction with the overwhelming majority of players, the half-elves held them off somehow.
The enemy infiltrators were all master-level, but right in the heart of hostile territory, their numbers were inevitably limited, making breakthroughs tough.
"Ragnarok."
Team Ragnarok. They were guarding it too.
"That bastard Odin... He's a tough one, alright."
The Black Dragon Legion's sabotage squads had come close to success multiple times, only to be repeatedly thwarted by Ragnarok—and their leader, Odin.
It wasn't the same strength as the Genesis King from his previous life, but even after Rokan snatched several top-tier titles, Odin had grown into a formidable force.
Rokan felt like crushing him if they weren't on the same side, but grasping the big picture, he held back.
To counter the goblin high priest who wielded the Scepter of Wisdom, the Golden Lion faction needed to complete their race quest too.
"I wonder if they used 'that'."
Confirming the World Tree's revival was now just days away, Rokan grew curious.
Had the trap he'd set actually landed?
Had they used the "Secretary of Regeneration" to nurture the World Tree candidate?
The fallen saint's Secretary of Regeneration was a tome of forbidden arts for the corrupted, converting life force to death energy and vice versa.
In other words, it let them use abundant "death power"—easily gathered from wars—in place of scarce "life power" as fertilizer for the World Tree.
What side effects it might bring was unknown.
"For now, I need to buy time."
With that thought, Rokan clarified his next move.
Buy time, first and foremost.
He had ways to face the goblin high priest, but with high master so close, minimizing risks was wiser.
He wasn't some hero. Just harass and stall, level up, and the World Tree would revive for the showdown.
'Eat cake and have it too.'
It grated that Odin might rack up merits and surge ahead, but it was also something to look forward to.
If Rokan had wanted to crush Odin and Ragnarok in their infancy, he could have done it ages ago.
Yet he'd let them grow for one reason alone.
'I'll topple you when you think you've reached the peak.'
To hurl them from greater heights.
But that required commensurate power.
He needed to ascend to high master soon.
"Territory Management."
Rokan promptly opened the territory and unit management screens to redeploy his forces.
Not to clash head-on with that mad squad led by the goblin high priest.
With the goblins rampaging unchecked, cutting off undead support, he targeted their isolated bases.
To strand them.
The undead, already reeling from the Hall of Death evaporation fiasco, fell back helplessly. Orcs and trolls, chasing their own race quests for "sacred relics," held back from aiding properly.
[Level up achieved.]
With the breathing room, Rokan hit master-level hunting grounds to grind levels.
The goblins pressed on solo, scorning alliance aid, but their path only tangled with dwarves, gnomes, and half-elves—no big impact on humans—so he let them be.
Once he hit high master, he could handle the high priest or whatever with more ease.
Two weeks later, the battlefield shifted.
The World Tree's revival!
"Finally, huh?"
The half-elves had completed their race quest and revived the World Tree at last.
Its revival came with innate bonuses, but what they needed now was raw power.
To repel the goblins' spearhead thrust, they had to move the World Tree itself.
World Tree vs. Goblin High Priest.
The matchup of the century unfolded amid universal attention.
"Elves not back yet?"
Half-elf lore held this legend: the elves would return once the World Tree revived.
But not yet. Whether they hadn't heard or needed another quest was unclear.
One sure thing: though incomplete, the half-elves had gained the World Tree's blessing, grown stronger, and deemed themselves ready to battle the goblins.
And now, combat began.
"Kill the pointy-ears!"
"Don't let the ugly runts escape alive!"
The fight was fierce from the start.
But unlike the undead-elf clashes, this was a different beast.
Level gaps existed, sure, but their combat styles diverged more sharply.
Back then, brutal melee powerhouses dominated both sides. Now, shamanism and archery—two alien forces—collided.
Intense yet somehow lax, a distant slugfest pummeling each other's turf.
"Boring."
Spectators found it dull as dirt.
Word had spread, drawing players—including streamers—but with no dramatic highlights, viewership stagnated.
Nearly an hour of ranged attrition saw viewers abandoning channels en masse.
But opportunity knocked for them too.
Those who endured, securing prime spots, saw audiences explode.
Grooooaaar.
The World Tree itself began to move.
"Ooooh!"
"Let's go! The World Tree fights with us!"
"Rally under the World Tree! Watch your footing!"
Melee half-elves swiftly gathered beneath it.
Using it as a shield against shaman blasts, they closed in.
Goblins had melee too, but racial traits limited their numbers and variety.
Get in close, and we win!
That conviction gripped the half-elves.
"Spirit Descent Ritual! Soul Mutation!"
"Wh-what? Power surging!"
"I'm master-level now!"
"What's going on?!"
But the goblin high priest was no pushover. It exploited players blindly accepting buffs, turning them against the foe.
No warnings about the Spirit Descent Ritual and Soul Mutation shredding souls in backlash, or the guaranteed level drop upon expiry.
Just a prompt asking if they'd accept the shamanism. Unaware of the combo's aftereffects, players succumbed to sweet victory and intoxicating might, morphing into monsters.
"Kyaaak! I'll kill them all!"
"Half-elf bastards, you're dead!"
Yet half-elf resistance was fierce.
Sudden power-ups didn't mean mastery.
Some adapted fast, but half-elves already held massive edges in physical balance, letting them fight back.
Plus, staying within the World Tree's aura boosted regen and all stats for them too.
"Disruptors of the world's balance, return to nothingness."
Kwe-eek!
The World Tree joined in. Like ages past, it lashed with roots and branches, slaying foes and pressing forward.
"Bad matchup."
Now the goblins were on the back foot.
The high priest specialized in spells—buffs and debuffs to edge allies ahead—over direct attacks.
But the World Tree neutralized most debuffs with blessings, leaving them helpless.
The priest hurled unfamiliar attack spells, but the tree resisted magic fiercely by nature.
Damage was negligible, and its insane regen swiftly restored health.
Untouchable.
Just as that thought crossed his mind, the unthinkable happened.