Episode 835
Episode 835
Lee Han had been walking for who knows how long when he suddenly realized the Crazy Doppelganger's nonsense had stopped.
'What? Did I turn it off?'
Wondering if he'd unconsciously deactivated the Echo Stone because he couldn't stand listening to it anymore, Lee Han checked his staff.
But the staff wasn't in his hand.
"?!?"
Before he could even be startled, the fluttering Black Book materialized onto Lee Han's palm.
Unlike before, having recently learned the method of observing his own soul, Lee Han could now sense the connection between the Black Book and his own soul.
'Ah. I see. So this is how it's connected to my soul, allowing it to appear in my dreams whenever needed.'
Lee Han attempted to extend his mana and touch the connection. The Black Book fluttered in surprise.
"If this connection is damaged, I won't be able to appear before this mage to assist in the future."
"Stop me?"
"Agreed."
"Alright, got it... Wait. Have you been listening to me all this time? Why should I listen to you now?"
"......"
The Black Book trembled at the mage's growth.
To immediately resort to threats the moment he held a blade...
"More importantly, I think you've misunderstood something. I'm not asleep. I was walking through the forest of that damn spirit... the Spirit King's forest."
Deciding to settle their usual grievances later, Lee Han resolved to clear up the misunderstanding first. The Black Book seemed to be under some misapprehension.
Lee Han wasn't asleep—he'd been walking through the forest.
'As if things aren't hard enough already. If it tells me to learn magic now, I'll just sever the connection.'
The Black Book fluttered as if to indicate it knew Lee Han wasn't asleep.
"You know? Then did you call me here to learn magic while I'm suffering from a curse? You wicked thing, just like your master..."
Before Lee Han, whose tongue had grown sharper from the curse, could hurl more vicious insults, he sensed an overwhelming presence ahead on the empty horizon.
Lee Han turned his head.
In the wasteland where only the Black Book had existed, another being now stood.
"...!"
Lee Han was startled by its appearance.
Not just because of its overwhelming presence, but because its outward appearance was extraordinarily bizarre.
It was a tree.
A tree that seemed to embody the very essence of violence!
'Do trees... even look like that?'
Until now, most tree spirits Lee Han had encountered were gentle, benevolent, and mild-mannered.
This was natural, as spirits couldn't completely escape the nature of their roots.
Just as fire and lightning spirits tended to be fierce, tree and earth spirits were usually calm.
But the tree spirit before him now completely shattered all preconceptions about tree spirits.
It looked as if someone had carved and twisted wood into the shape of a massive, bipedal monster.
Crunch!
As it moved, the sound of wood clashing echoed.
What should have been a light, cheerful sound somehow felt threatening and aggressive.
"Hey. Thanks. Thanks to you, I'm free from my seal."
The tree spirit spoke with the attitude of a back-alley mercenary or thug.
Perplexed, Lee Han asked,
"Who are you?"
"What? Who? This little... Never mind. Today's a good day, so I'll let it slide. I am the Hornbeam King of Fighting Tree Spirits, Saratan. Remember that."
'What kind of nonsense is this?'
Still confused, Lee Han tilted his head before belatedly noticing something.
Embedded in the being's head were the Frost Giant King's blue gemstone, the Teleportation Ore, and the Echo Stone.
'The staff!'
A high-ranking tree spirit that had been sealed within the staff.
This being was undoubtedly that tree spirit.
"How did you break free—"
Before he could finish, a fist came flying.
Thud!
A knotted wooden fist stretched through space and swung at Lee Han.
But Lee Han neither coughed up blood nor collapsed.
Having encountered enough crazies this year, he'd been on guard the moment he saw it.
As if anticipating the attack, he angled his psychokinesis to block before swiftly deflecting the impact away. The Black Book, serving as a substitute for his staff, fluttered proudly as if to say, "Well done."
"Huh. You're still alive? You're holding up better than I expected."
"Why are you acting like this?"
"Who dares interrupt when I'm speaking? Watch your mouth. I won't give you a second chance."
Lee Han was dumbfounded by the tree spirit's aggressive words.
'We should remove the "mad" from "Broad-Eyed King." That title seems too good for this bastard.'
It was becoming clear why this spirit had been sealed away by the other benevolent tree spirits.
As Lee Han cautiously kept his guard up, the tree spirit continued ranting, clearly exhilarated by its newfound freedom.
"Hey, you have no idea how suffocating it was! Stuck in the hands of some weak, dim-witted human brat—couldn't use my Authority, couldn't resonate with anything. I thought I'd die from frustration!"
"Indeed. My apologies. I was inadequate."
"Good, you understand, you little human runt."
Lee Han decided that once he got back, he'd throttle the talking oaks for this.
'How could they give something like this to a student?!'
And Professor Willow would be getting the same treatment.
'Seriously, what did those oaks have against me to give me this thing?!'
'Ah, no, that's not it. You've misunderstood. They must've given it to you thinking that after such a long time of reflection, its temper would've mellowed—that it could follow a young mage, help, and atone. Given your skills, I'm sure you can persuade and befriend this spirit. Haha...'
'If he's a proper professor, he should've warned me, "No matter how desperate you are, never awaken this thing unless you're ready to abandon its Authority." What kind of nonsense is this?!'
Of course, Professor Willow had said, "It's best not to awaken this too hastily," but that detail conveniently slipped Lee Han's mind at the moment.
The professor likely never expected Lee Han to unseal the spirit this quickly.
'But how did this bastard wake up? I didn't even use its Authority...'
After a moment of contemplation, Lee Han realized the reason—it could only be the Forest of the Broad-Eyed King.
'But the seal shouldn't be weak enough to break just from entering the forest... Wait. This isn't the physical world—it's the realm of souls. Did I somehow end up holding the actual branch in reality?!'
No other explanation came to mind.
Who would've thought that simply holding a branch would undo the seal on a deranged spirit?!
Lee Han almost let out a bitter laugh at the absurdity of his misfortune.
Who knew the forest's "gift" would turn into a calamity?
"Then get lost. Let's never meet again. If I hear you've been using me as a staff, I'll rip your tongue out."
Far from being moved or grateful that a mere second-year had broken its seal, the tree spirit spewed threats and curses.
Lee Han cursed inwardly but maintained a polite outward demeanor.
'Fine, get lost! I already have enough weirdos around me—I don't need this kind of trouble.'
Losing a high-ranking spirit's Authority was a shame, but one with such a rotten personality wasn't worth keeping.
However, the Black Book fluttered slightly and shook its head.
"?!"
As it floated onto his hand, preparing magic as if warning him, Lee Han tensed.
'What? Why not? Damn it all! The seal isn't fully broken?! Those damnable little spirits!'
The tree spirit, attempting to leave, suddenly froze as if bound. Enraged, it spat out curses.
It had thought the seal was fully undone when its consciousness returned, but now it realized—it wasn't free after all.
A different spirit might've reflected, expressed gratitude for even this much freedom, and encouraged the mage—since that would hasten its full release.
But Saratan, the Hornbeam King of Gambling and King of Fighting Tree Spirits, being a sealed tree spirit, thought the exact opposite.
"Hey. This won't do. I'm gonna crush you."
"Why on earth?!"
"At the very least, I should be able to move where I want, no? Huh?!"
Attacking the mage wouldn't break the seal or restore his power, but at the very least, he could escape to another location.
Currently, since his true form was bound to that mage, even escaping was impossible.
The tree spirit staggered closer, fully intending to crush the terrified young mage without a second thought.
"Your Majesty, the King of Fighting Tree Spirits! Please hear me out for just a moment!"
What? Fine. Go ahead.
The tree spirit paused at Lee Han's polite shout.
In that instant, Lee Han borrowed the Black Book's power and slammed the maximum output of psychokinesis into the tree spirit!!
As he was sent flying backward, the tree spirit was stunned.
Not only was the mage's level far stronger than expected, but what shocked him more was being tricked by a mere human brat.
How could he fall for this from a young human whose blood hadn't even dried yet?
"I'll kill you...!"
Flutter!
The Black Book moved faster and more frantically than Lee Han had ever seen before.
Clearly, that alone signaled how threatening the opponent was.
"Guh—!"
Before the tree spirit could even attack, blood gushed from Lee Han's eyes, nose, ears, and mouth.
The Black Book had forcibly cast a high-level spell, overloading his mind.
It was only thanks to his infinite mana that his body held on—otherwise, it might have turned to dust from the rebound.
Even in this world of consciousness formed by souls, the damage taken here couldn't be taken lightly. A severe blow to the soul would affect his real body.
'This damn thing...' Lee Han cursed the Black Book. But given the opponent, the Black Book had no choice.
'...This is... Gonadaltes' Downfall!'
As the Black Book used Lee Han's hand to cast Gonadaltes' Downfall, the overload Lee Han had just suffered was transferred to the opponent.
As a spirit, Saratan couldn't quite grasp the discomforting sensation, but it still disgusted him.
"Release me! If I get free, I'll kill you!"
Lee Han, now in slightly better condition, let out a sigh of relief.
Meanwhile, the magic the Black Book had completed by straining Lee Han's mind finally took form.
Small World—Dendrobium!!!!
Saratan staggered back, bewildered by the unidentified magic.
Small World magic shook reality itself, so even a powerhouse from another dimension couldn't help but be cautious.
Thud!
A massive tree took root in midair and grew.
When the tree spirit saw his opponent challenging him with tree-based magic, he let out a derisive laugh.
"Are you insane?"
Saratan dropped his guard and formed a massive wooden club. He planned to smash both the pathetic magic and the mage in one go.
"Then die!"
With a roar, the tree spirit launched a fierce assault.
At that moment, black flowers bloomed at the tips of the branches of the tree growing in midair.?!
Saratan panicked when he couldn't feel the impact of his wooden club strike.
He should have obliterated both the mage and his magic in one blow—what was this?!
'...It's nullifying nearby physical attacks!' Lee Han realized first.
Small World magic altered the reality of a localized space, creating new rules.
Right now, this tree was erasing all physical attacks in its vicinity as if they'd never existed.
Since his sealed state prevented him from shattering the magic itself, the logical move would have been to calmly determine the range of the field and drag the mage outside it.
But Saratan, furious at being outplayed by a rookie mage, kept wildly swinging his club. Each strike only cut through empty air.
Thud!
"Had enough?! You're really dead, you human brat!"
When the club, which had been striking nothing, finally hit the ground, Saratan brightened.
That bizarre magic must have finally ended.
But in his excitement, he failed to notice the flowers at the tree's tips had changed.
Now, crimson blossoms had bloomed instead...
GGRRAAAGHHH!!
A horrific scream tore from Saratan as his essence was viciously drained.
Lee Han, panting heavily, watched the spectacle before suddenly remembering something and asking,
"...Wait. Didn't you say this was a spell the Skeleton Principal used in his youth?"
The Black Book fluttered, pretending not to hear.