Chapter 241
Chapter 241
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 241
Chapter Title: Rampage (4)
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Rokan's search and pursuit continued for days.
He tracked down the fallen priests, wiped them out, collected their drop items, and gathered fragments of the Prophecy of Doom.
At first, it was just single words, but after repeating the process several times, full sentences began to emerge. Rokan pieced them together to form a rough outline.
"The power of corruption will bring ruin to the world. With the ancient incantation Armageddon, the forgotten ○○ shall be revived. So that's it."
It wasn't perfect, but it was enough to sketch out the general story. With all his gaming experience, this was nothing more than an obvious cliché.
And one more thing. By combining the remaining words, he could infer a location.
"So this is the fallen priests' base on the elf side—their control tower, huh."
Having pinpointed the base of those who'd corrupted the World Tree by infusing it with corrupt power, Rokan gave a somewhat surprised look.
As the saying goes, it's always darkest right under the lamp. Who would've thought the half-elves' Elder Council was their hideout.
Not all the half-elf elders here might be involved in the World Tree's corruption, but it was definitely a tiger's den.
"Let's go, Kai."
But Rokan didn't hesitate.
He had titles like Friend of the Half-Elves, along with several reputation and affinity-related ones, but even that wouldn't get him through the Elder Council's doors. Stealth was the only option.
Shrunk down alongside Kai, Rokan slipped inside swiftly.
The half-elves, mesmerized by the World Tree, never noticed the intrusion.
"That way."
The Elder Council's interior, built from a massive tree mimicking the World Tree, was a first even for his past life.
But he had his upgraded Corruption Compass. Following one of its names led him straight to the target.
"Whoa!"
Moreover, his drastically shrunken body was incredibly useful for navigating half-elf territory.
The council building, woven from tree trunks, had tiny gaps everywhere.
No need to circle around complicated paths—just head straight through the cracks.
Taking the shortest route inside, he delved deeper guided by the compass, only to stumble upon an unexpected scene.
"No, you can't."
"What do you mean can't? Hand it over now."
"Just a little longer, please. Just a bit more, and it'll be ready. With this communicator, we can crush the orcs and trolls. Then..."
Two half-elf elders were arguing over something.
'Well, well, what do we have here?'
And their conversation was downright shocking.
"We don't need that for our great cause. Controlling the World Tree? It's just your ambition to have half-elves rule the world!"
"No, it's not. I'm merely trying to eliminate risks in advance for the perfect completion of our great cause."
They were somehow controlling the World Tree.
Come to think of it, even as the World Tree rampaged wildly, it often veered subtly toward orc or troll strongholds.
It would suddenly swing toward the Golden Lion alliance's races too, but aside from those momentary control slips, it seemed manipulable to some degree. Maybe even those were an act.
'That's what they're using to control it.'
Rokan instantly recognized the communicator's nature. Their blunt dialogue helped, but its shape was familiar too.
The Fruit of Corruption.
The device the guy held looked identical to those on the rampaging World Tree.
'But what's with that one?'
He'd found his target and should rush in to snatch it, but the situation was delicate.
The one holding the communicator and the one arguing with him—which was the ally? He knew the latter wielded corrupt power too...
"You're wrong."
Stab!
As he hesitated, something unexpected happened.
The half-elf elder scolding the communicator operator suddenly swung a knife, stabbing him.
"Gah... Why..."
Splurt, stab, stab, stab, stab.
And it didn't end there.
Until the victim's health hit zero, he stabbed repeatedly, using magic and corrupt power to block any recovery.
No chance to heal or flee—he snuffed out the life in one go.
"Before ruin, nothing is exempt. Not even half-elves. Once all returns to nothingness, a new world shall begin."
Eyes gleaming with madness, he snatched up the communicator.
"Rampaging war chariot, full acceleration!"
"......!"
Right then, Rokan charged. Restoring his body from rice-grain size, he boosted his charge power and slammed into the elf.
"Bone Crusher!"
Not done yet. Rokan targeted the elf's right arm clutching the communicator, striking with enough force to shatter bone and sever it.
"Urk, Corruption Transformation!"
Clang!
But it failed. Bone Crusher, which pierced armor, didn't land.
Only one reason: the elf's skin had changed.
Corruption Transformation.
A ability granting immense power by letting corruption consume the body.
The drawback was that once activated, it couldn't be reversed, and the user would eventually be devoured by the corruption. But the elf willingly sacrificed himself.
To buy even a moment's time. To fulfill his sacred cause, even at the cost of his life.
"Damn it, Mad Slaughter!"
Boom-boom-boom-boom-boom!
But attacks weren't ineffective. Nor had the elf fully escaped Rokan's grasp.
Pinning him down, Rokan swung his battle axe wildly to quell rising unease, the internal impacts forcing the elf to vomit dead blood.
"Human's factory... Master Berserker Rokan... was it?"
Yet he laughed. As if it were nothing, baring white teeth without releasing the communicator.
An elder knowing a great human noble was plausible.
But Rokan found the laugh unsettling.
"Don't care, you bastard!"
Gripping his battle axe tighter, he unleashed every remaining skill.
"Heh heh heh, useless. Like your Berserk, I'm in an immortal state too."
"Fine, then I'll take your head."
Thud!
Pointless. Blood sprayed, showing impact, but the head didn't come off. As if indestructible.
"Told you it's useless."
Rokan smashed the grinning face again, but couldn't silence him.
"Don't know how you found this place, but one thing."
"......"
"You failed."
Crack!
In that instant, the communicator shattered.
Could only corrupt beings destroy it? Seeing it crumble futilely, Rokan couldn't even get mad.
The target was dead.
The Corruption Transformation must've linked to the communicator—or Fruit of Corruption—destroying him too.
What drove him to cry for doom at the cost of his life?
"Not my problem."
Truthfully, he wasn't curious. No need to understand zealots' ideology.
[Destroyed Corruption Communicator][????]
A corruption communicator stripped of power. It relayed wills via corruption and absorbed death energy for near-permanent use as a corruption battery.
Now destroyed and non-functional.
Perhaps whatever it controlled could never be reined in again.
"Insane."
No matter how he inspected the remains, it was tied to the World Tree.
So was toppling the World Tree the only way? As he pondered, half-elves alerted by the commotion arrived.
"What happened! May we enter?"
Strict orders kept them from barging in, but as guards, they knocked, ready to force entry if needed.
"Time to bail..."
Zzzzt.
Then, something bizarre. The two dead half-elf elders' bodies melted away.
Monsters vanished after a time for field/dungeon cleanup, but NPCs followed a different process—yet these seeped into the ground regardless.
What was happening? Rokan didn't dwell. Moments demanding snap decisions always came.
"Bombardment!"
He smashed the floor instantly.
The wooden floor shattered, shaking the building, but he jumped through the hole to trace clues.
"This..."
He found something unimaginable.
Not just a lower floor—a secret chamber with a single corpse laid out.
"The Ancient Emperor..."
The corpse he'd defeated with the Purification Orb, lost due to foolish high masters' carelessness, was right here.
"This is bad."
A corrupted World Tree was bad enough; now a corrupted Ancient Emperor too? Either alone might be manageable, but both? Even Rokan doubted himself.
'Maybe it's still okay.'
That's why he clung to faint hope. The emperor hadn't awakened because the revival ritual was incomplete.
Makes sense—exposed to the Purification Orb, antithetical to corruption, even the corpse retained its aura. Infusing corruption for revival clearly had limits.
"Then I'll end it once more...!"
Whummm.
Right then, energies from the two elders' corpses seeped into the emperor's body.
Slightly supplementing the deficient corruption, it activated his defense mechanism.
[The Corrupted Ancient Emperor detects hostility.]
"Damn, talk about bad luck—trip and break your nose!"
[The Corrupted Ancient Emperor awakens arbitrarily.]
"Only ruin shall be."
'It's lost its mind.'
Rokan clicked his tongue at the emperor bolting up like a jiangshi. Eyes utterly mad.
When humans revived him, some reason remained, but now his brain was thoroughly pickled in corruption.
A mindless brute knowing only destruction and ruin. That was his state now.
"Still, I won't lose to a non-Grand Master."
Rokan charged first at the foe.
Still unfinished, the emperor was merely high master level.
No way he'd lose.
"Clone Summon, Gnome 5 Brothers, Kai!"
Kyit!
Before Gale Incarnation ended, Rokan unleashed everything to finish it.
Swift and decisive.
Destroy at least the Ancient Emperor before fallen priest reinforcements arrived.