Chapter 239
Chapter 239
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 239
Chapter Title: Rampage (2)
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Kwoooaaarrr!
The one unleashing a monstrous roar was none other than the World Tree itself. After rampaging with slaughter for so long, it suddenly writhed in agony and began to go berserk.
“W-what the—”
“Fall back!”
“The World Tree’s gone mad!”
The World Tree abruptly started attacking not just the goblins, but the half-elves as well.
And it wasn’t merely attacking them.
The completely deranged World Tree sucked up every last drop of their life force, turning them into mummies.
“What the hell is going on?”
The battlefield turned into utter chaos as a result.
Both the half-elves and goblins panicked and tried to flee, but the World Tree didn’t let them escape.
Using at least thousands, tens of thousands of roots stretching out in every direction, it drained their life force like nutrients, slurping it all up.
Those forcibly elevated in rank by the Spirit Descent Ritual, and even those who were Master-level from the start, couldn’t budge an inch. In no time at all, they withered into mummies and died.
“Huff, huff!”
At this point, even the goblin high priest had to do something.
He showed a moment of panic, but then seemed to steel his resolve and gathered the power of shamanism. Borrowing strength from the spirits of his ancestors, he completed a powerful ritual.
“Plunge into eternal chaos! Ritual of Eternal Chaos!”
Pzztztztzt!
There was no way he could face the World Tree head-on anyway.
The goblin high priest knew that full well. Taking it on in its current state was impossible.
So he chose a different approach.
Make the already insane World Tree even madder!
Turn it against the half-elves and the Golden Lion forces instead of the goblins!
The World Tree, whose eyes had rolled back and mental defenses weakened, was struck squarely by the ritual and couldn’t resist.
It began rampaging even more ferociously.
“All forces, retreat!”
Confirming this, the goblin high priest ordered a full withdrawal.
There was no reason or ability to keep fighting. He planned to preserve as much of his forces as possible and bide his time for later.
He couldn’t handle the World Tree with his own power alone right now, but like in the ancient racial wars, if he could borrow the might of an orc lord or troll lord, there might be a way.
Kwoooaaang!
The maddened World Tree didn’t let the fleeing ones go easily, but the goblin high priest paid it no mind.
He somehow withdrew his troops in waves, like an ebbing tide, abandoning the battlefield.
“Hoo...”
This left the half-elves and the onlookers who had been watching the battle in a tough spot.
The World Tree going crazy out of nowhere.
Everyone was speechless at the inexplicable carnage. They had no idea what to do.
“That thing...”
The only one who could even make a guess was Rokan.
The Eye that Pierces All Things.
Using it to examine the rampaging World Tree, Rokan spotted something odd about it.
An unripe fruit on the World Tree, shaped like a green apple.
“No, not a fruit.”
Rokan realized it was an artificially created object.
It looked similar to the World Tree’s fruit but was subtly different, and he could see that the deaths piled up from the World Tree’s rampage were being absorbed into it.
More precisely, deaths from before the rampage had all been accumulating there too.
“The power of corruption.”
He couldn’t be certain of anything, but Rokan’s instinct told him. That thing was the power of corruption itself.
Through that fruit, formed and grown by devouring death, the corrupting power was being supplied to the World Tree.
The thick, glistening eerie green glow was proof enough.
“So it’s come to this after all.”
He didn’t know if it was because of the Book of Regeneration. Or maybe not. At the very least, someone had used that power to set this up.
Corruption Conspirators.
‘No, not them.’
Corruption Priests.
They were the most likely culprits.
“For now, we pull back.”
Watching the battlefield, which could only be described as a massacre, Rokan cleanly gave up.
Like the goblin high priest, he had ways, but no reason to use them. He didn’t want to.
‘Why should I help anyone?’
He still felt he could milk this situation for more gains.
Even after Rokan vanished to grind levels, the World Tree’s rampage continued.
The half-elves, unable to ignore or even attack the World Tree like the other races could, poured every effort into calming it but failed.
“It’s like some kind of contest.”
They even opened massive quests targeting half-elves and other races to create something like the Purification Orb from the ancient emperor’s era—or any method at all—to stop the World Tree.
[World Tree Purification] [Quest]
Purify the World Tree, which has been overtaken by sinister energy and gone berserk!
-Success Condition: Purify the World Tree
-Success Reward: Elf’s Treasure
An Elf’s Treasure, not even a half-elf’s!
Rokan flashed a satisfied smile at the reward no one could resist.
He’d have been a bit disappointed if it had been some half-elf treasure instead.
‘Then I wouldn’t have gotten as much out of it.’
Meanwhile, the World Tree roamed the field like a field boss, continuing its slaughter here and there. The half-elves had a solid grasp of the problem.
But it wasn’t just them. Every race in the World Tree’s path of destruction issued their own quests.
Theirs were more aggressive, allowing not just purification but outright destruction of the World Tree. But the key was that squeezing every race for their quests would yield an enormous haul.
“Now it’s my turn to step in.”
This was exactly what Rokan had been waiting for.
Sure, becoming the hero who saves the world sounds nice, but he needed something in it for him too.
He had no interest in unpaid honorary hero work.
“That’s all I need to take.”
Rokan’s goal was clear.
Cut off the so-called ‘Fruit of Corruption’ and sever the power that had wrecked the World Tree’s mind.
He believed that alone would let the World Tree overcome the rest.
Because it was the World Tree, after all.
There might be other ways, like strengthening its mind or purifying the corruption, but Rokan had no intention of taking the hard road when easy paths existed.
Unless a quest handed him the path on a platter, he wasn’t about to detour for unproven methods. It didn’t suit his temperament.
“Kai!”
After touring each race’s territories and collecting every World Tree-related quest, Rokan immediately mounted Kai and took to the skies.
He’d already pinpointed the World Tree’s location.
Get close, slice off the Fruit of Corruption, and done. But given the opponent, he proceeded with utmost caution.
He had to get near the World Tree’s branches to reach the fruit.
“Rider of Legends, Gale Incarnate.”
So he executed the Antman strategy once more.
He could’ve used Giant Mode to cover hundreds of meters in a single flap, but that risked the World Tree blocking his approach preemptively.
Slower, yes, but minimized size allowed stealthy infiltration. There was still risk of detection, but he had counters for that.
“Full speed ahead.”
Spotting the World Tree from afar with his Eye that Pierces All Things, Rokan dumped skills preemptively. They had durations, so it was a loss, but whatever.
One strike. That’s all he needed to end it.
Kyaaarak!
But the World Tree was the World Tree.
He didn’t know how well it could wield its freshly awakened Grand Master powers yet, but as he entered about 100 meters, hundreds of branches shot out.
Each one like a deadly spear, stabbing at Rokan and Kai.
“Hmph, this level of control?”
But Rokan dodged them effortlessly. Being tiny made evasion far easier.
Add his evasion mastery, and the World Tree’s attacks didn’t feel all that threatening.
Swoooosh.
“...Damn it!”
But the World Tree didn’t just let him approach. If point attacks failed, it went for area denial.
Instead of stabbing with hundreds of branches one by one, it twisted and bound them into a massive flail and smashed down at Rokan.
“Hyper Acceleration! Time of Madness!”
Rokan triggered skills instantly, boosting his movement speed further.
He escaped the attack range, but the resulting shockwave-like gust threw off his control.
“Kai!”
Kyyit!
Branches stretched toward Rokan again as his sense of direction went haywire.
Gauging the distance to the Fruit of Corruption, Rokan switched strategies on the fly. He had Kai gigantify.
Boom!
Now level 300 and even stronger, Kai transformed into Giant Mode, erected an Elemental Barrier, and charged straight into the World Tree.
Kyyit!
In the process, the World Tree—superior in elemental manipulation—tore the barrier and stabbed tentacles of branches into Kai’s body. But Kai ignored it with his signature vitality and charge momentum.
“Sorry, Kai!”
Dwarfed by the colossal World Tree even in Giant Mode, Kai drew its attention plenty by aura-charged beak pecks.
“Wing Mode!”
Using Kai as bait, Rokan spread his own wings and shot toward the Fruit of Corruption.
“Bombardment!”
Branches reached for Rokan too, but he showered them with hand axes infused with explosive power, forcing them to hesitate.
In that gap, Rokan reached his target.
“Crazy!”
But the World Tree was no pushover.
The instant Rokan wound up for his strike, it moved the branch bearing the Fruit of Corruption.
Rokan’s stance crumbled, his defenses weakened.
Seizing the opening, hundreds of branches thrust out to turn him into a pincushion.
“Clone Summon!”
But Rokan had his own tricks.
“Wheel Wind!”
With a clone that perfectly copied even his wings, he began spinning. The incoming branches snapped or recoiled.
No matter the rank gap, Rokan’s attack power was already High Master level or beyond, enough to shatter mere branches.
“Berserk Chariot!”
Empty air with no footing, but Gale Wings amplified Berserk Chariot’s full might.
Explosive speed, plus boosted defense and super armor, repelled the blocking branches and carried Rokan right to the Fruit of Corruption.
“Lightspeed Slaughter!”
Rokan’s all-out ultimate flurry poured into the single point connecting the World Tree and the Fruit of Corruption.
Thud thud thud thud.
“...!”
Rokan faltered in that moment.
He’d expected high defense from the corruption’s protection, but for Lightspeed Slaughter to fail?
If even that amplified critical hit didn’t land, no attack of his would work.
“Insane.”
But Rokan didn’t despair or give up. Things outside expectations could happen anytime.
He bit his lip hard and unleashed everything, but the Fruit of Corruption didn’t budge.
Woooom!
Branches assaulted Rokan and Kai while roots devoured the ‘death’ from slaying other foes, feasting greedily.
“Indestructible, huh.”
Pummeling it until Gale Incarnate expired, Rokan admitted defeat.
But that didn’t mean impossible.
Just the wrong method.
Gritting his teeth in frustration at his own failure, he declared it.
“Time Reversal.”
In that instant, Rokan’s body vanished completely.
The World Tree’s branches flailed confusedly without a target, then resumed their destruction.
From afar, Rokan watched and ground his teeth.
“Not like this, like that. Fine then. I’ll go straight at it. Grr!”