Chapter 174
Chapter 174
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 174
Chapter Title: Guardians of the World Tree (9)
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After hearing the full story and giving it a moment's thought,
Kadim decided, for the time being, to grant the elf boy's request.
Roarrr—! Screeeech—!
The gatekeepers had conveniently stepped away for the "Week of Repose." The thorny vines were incinerated by the hellfire dagger, reduced to ashes. The iron bars bent like taffy under the ripping hands. Parneo watched in a daze, almost forlornly, as the obstacles he'd never dared touch vanished in an instant.
The biggest hurdle to escape was the World Tree's fine roots. The roots binding the girl's limbs couldn't even be scratched by clumsy axe work.
But that posed no problem for Kadim either.
Whoooosh, craaaack—!
"Gasp! Gr-Grand Druid, sir!!"
Parneo cried out in horror as the axe, shrouded in a sickly yellow aura, came down without mercy. But the blade sliced precisely through the roots alone, not touching the girl's skin. Parneo was left speechless at the near-divine control of power.
The girl, suddenly freed without warning, turned her cloudy white eyes toward the voice.
"Lord Parneo? What... what happened...? Who was it that just severed the roots...?"
"Li-Lilia! It's that Grand Druid you mentioned! I brought him here myself to free you!"
"...?"
The girl's expression changed in an instant. Like swapping a mask, from bewildered girl to resolute prophet.
Kadim stared straight at her pale purple face and asked sternly,
"Did you, by any chance, summon someone named Ilenia?"
"...?"
"...Pardon? Grand Druid, sir? What do you mean...?"
Parneo looked baffled, but Lilia did not. She shook her head vigorously, as if she had a hunch.
"No, that's not it... I've been confined here for quite some time. If anyone outside the great forest was called for help, it would likely be my other kin."
"...Then how did you know what I meant?"
"I may be lowly, but I have the gift of seeing future events in my dreams. Thanks to that, I knew you would come here guided by the servant of darkness and free me."
"...?"
"However, now is not the time. If I leave here now, my sisters will surely notice. To prevent the great chaos that would follow, I must... stay here a while longer."
Lilia rose shakily and sat back in her bound position.
Creak, creeeak...
The severed fine roots of the World Tree wrapped back around her limbs. Parneo rushed to the girl in shock.
"Wh-what are you saying, Lilia? We finally have a chance—why won't you leave?"
"...Lord Parneo, I'm sorry. But for your sake as well, I think... we should wait for another opportunity."
"An- another time?! If not now, when will we ever get out again? We have to go see the white jade flowers together, and all those other wonderful sights! Gr-Grand Druid, sir! Please help free her again!"
Instead of helping the boy with the roots, Kadim asked the girl,
"Your sisters—who do you mean?"
"...You'll come to know them naturally. You'll meet them soon enough."
With that, the girl quietly closed her eyes.
Her swollen lips sealed shut, as if she'd said all she needed to. Once closed, the prophet's mouth wouldn't reopen, like a rusted hinge. The confinement chamber echoed only with the boy's desperate pleas for help.
"Grand Druid, sir!! Please, just... please help her!!"
"...?"
Kadim furrowed his brow, glancing between the two for a moment.
Rip, riiiip...!
Suddenly, Kadim tore the roots away and hoisted the girl over his shoulder.
The girl's closed eyelids snapped open. The giant strode toward the exit. The boy, wearing a stunned expression, hurriedly followed. Duncan, waiting at the confinement entrance, blankly scanned the three emerging figures.
Kadim roughly dropped the girl to the ground and turned to the boy.
"I've saved this dark elf as you wished. So, what now?"
"...Uh, uh, yes?"
"You said dark elves are rejected as apostates by their kin. Surely a guardian wouldn't free one and expect no repercussions."
"...?"
"I'm asking if you're prepared. Prepared to abandon everything you've built for this girl."
Parneo's throat bobbed unsteadily. Kadim narrowed his eyes and glanced at Duncan.
"That merchant abandoned even his family to follow me. The sacrifice you'll make won't be any less."
"...Huh?"
"You'll live as a fugitive for life. You'll forsake your status, honor, achievements, all ties and bonds, wandering dark alleys alone. No one will help you; everyone will hunt you. Even warm kindness will be met with icy suspicion."
"...M-my lord? I didn't abandon my family, I..."
"Are you truly ready for that life? Or did you act on a fleeting whim you can't sustain?"
"...I did abandon them, but no, it's not like that, actually..."
"Are you prepared to fight solely on your own strength for this girl your whole life, without relying on others?"
"...I'll reclaim it all later, but calling it abandonment leaves room for serious misunderstanding..."
As Duncan repeated his unheard protests,
"...?"
Parneo bowed his head deeply.
Until now, he'd thought he could answer "yes" without hesitation to such questions.
He was wrong. It was arrogance. The weight of the question facing him was far heavier than imagined. His master, insulted for failing to raise him right; rivals gloating over his downfall; subordinates drawing bows on him; kin sending contempt instead of respect... He wasn't strong enough to endure it all yet.
This moment of self-objectification was painful. It laid bare how reckless, foolish, cowardly, and weak he truly was. But he couldn't pretend otherwise out of bravado—that would break his bones and forfeit growth forever.
Lilia groped for the entrance to return. Parneo supported her and solemnly reentered the confinement. After restoring everything, he looked up at Kadim with a bitter smile.
"You... you're surely no Grand Druid. Who... who are you, really...?"
To the boy who'd grown through this pain and taken a step forward, Kadim gladly revealed his identity.
"The Great Warrior of Atala."
'Blue Fang' Borduel's plan was nearly perfect.
Designating this week as the "Week of Repose" to block access to the World Tree was a brilliant stroke. Especially as an impromptu measure devised overnight in crisis, regardless of whether it was followed or broken.
If the barbarian honored the "Week of Repose" and stayed away, perfect. A week was ample time to find the confinement site. When he came after, an excuse for breaking the promise, then subdue and lock him away.
If the barbarian defied the "Week of Repose" and entered, also fine. It would violate sacred natural law, giving cause for arrest. Subdue him justly, confine him, then leisurely search for the site.
Of course, pushing such a reckless plan relied on one assurance: even a warrior who'd slain a basilisk alone couldn't face the myriad guardians inside the World Tree solo.
Though mid-level factions like 'White Turtle' Tevio refused cooperation... it mattered little. They were toothless old fools anyway. The radicals, led by 'Blue Fang,' believed they could hold the barbarian hostage and reclaim their god from the World Tree Keeper.
But "nearly" perfect meant... not quite flawless.
One variable ruined it entirely.
The barbarian was far stronger than expected.
"Bo-Borduel, sir! 'Iron Stump' and 'Black Moss Crocodile' have fallen! And all the lesser guardians they led have been slaughtered..."
"Damn it! 'Lava Hide Fang' has gone silent too! The other guardians are being overwhelmed without resistance!"
"...?"
Even in a place amplifying their power manifold, the guardians scattered like leaves before the barbarian's axe and sword. Was he truly the comrade of one who'd felled a dragon...? The barbarian's absurd might left them dizzy.
But the die was cast. Meanwhile, the barbarian climbed relentlessly. Borduel rallied the radicals, converging for a total assault.
Finally, the barbarian reached the final battlefield.
The World Tree's core, a vast cavity too grand for a mere knot-hole.
Grrrrrr...
Creaaak, creeeak...
The remaining dozen or so first-rank guardians were nearly fully "naturalized," their mimicry perfected. Only 'Blue Fang' Borduel retained elf form to greet the ascending barbarian.
"Welcome, great comrade of the short-eared wench. You've violated nature's laws so brazenly, slaughtered innocent guardians to reach here—truly laborious."
"...?"
Facing beasts many times his size and grotesque verdant thickets, the barbarian remained impassive, like eyeing mere rocks. Borduel's gaze narrowed slyly.
"But... how did you find this place? We were about to come for you... Even if you repelled the guardians, navigating up shouldn't have been easy..."
"...?"
"Ah, that thieving tomcat always sneaking to the confinement? You had its help? Well, if it's that desperate to join the dark elf bitch... we'll oblige soon enough."
Kadim ignored it. He casually counted the guardians' heads and murmured indifferently.
"Thanks. For gathering all the heads I need to collect in one spot. Now just smash them and off to Melissa."
"...?"
Grrrrrr...
Shriiik, shrrrr...
The guardians snarled in unison at the brazen taunt. Borduel raised a hand to restrain them, curling a crooked sneer.
"Arrogant. Utterly arrogant. But that's... precisely short-ear behavior."
"...?"
"To say it now, but I truly despise short-ears. Not just your guest and the World Tree Keeper—all short-ears on this continent."
"...?"
"They're like children clutching huge loaves in both hands, yet whining for more. No... worse. Far worse. Because short-ears have the power to steal others' bread."
His tone shifted abruptly. His furious pupils slit vertically. A torrent of rage poured from his forked tongue.
"I just can't understand it. In the mythic age, they drove out all other races, claimed the continent's prime lands—wasn't that enough? Why do short-ears covet this great forest's heart, steal our god, our lifespans, our dreams, and now slaughter even us guardians? How much more must they take from us elves to be satisfied and stop this rampage? Huh?"
Borduel spat venom at humanity's sins. With each word, pent-up fury erupted like a geyser. He omitted their merits, imputing individual faults to the whole race—it didn't matter. The emotional blaze spread; even the mimicked guardians glared bloodshot at the barbarian.
Kadim listened silently, then replied dryly.
"All I've done is execute oath-breakers..."
"...?"
"...Sorry. I apologize instead. Even without full details, seems my comrade did quite the number on you."
"...?!"
"When I meet Melissa up top, I'll talk it over properly. If returning your god and lifespans is possible, I'll persuade her to do so."
His words doused the boiling rage with bewilderment.
An utterly unforeseen response for the guardians. After slaying so many elves, to say that? A ploy to pass? Yet the barbarian's eyes held an indescribable sincerity. Even Borduel faltered, momentarily lost in confusion.
"Is that true...? You'll really persuade the World Tree Keeper?"
"She won't ignore words from an old comrade, stubborn as she is..."
"Do-Don't be fooled, sirs! Impossible! It's a deception!"
But one must hear people out to the end.
"Of course."
"...?"
"After I smash all your heads."
The berserker focused his mind, dripping bloodlust as he raised his sword.
Hummm, grrrrrr...
A chilling killing intent pierced their chests. The guardians froze in shock, then belatedly assumed combat stances a beat late. Cyan mists thickened, reinforcing fangs and claws.
Kuwoooo—!
Grrrrrrk—!
"Damn it, I knew it... Sirs! Kill that bast—"
But Kadim was faster.
Activating Akulanos's Tattoo, a chimeric monster with goat and lion heads fused erupted from the floor.
Rumblle...
A colossal divine projection reaching the ceiling gaped greedily, permeating the space and devouring all before dissipating like smoke.
Thud—! Whooshhh...
The Indomitable Devourer eradicates not just mysteries but divine miracles. Hesilia's dense divinity dispersed like morning mist, reverting all guardians to ordinary elf bodies in one breath.
"Wh-what?"
"What is this? Why has the mimicry suddenly...?"
No time to ponder the cause. Another area attack surged immediately.
―――― Kaboooom—!
A torrent of blood from the crimson blade. The Iron Blood Ghost vomited the accumulated elf blood in one go.
"...!!!"
"Sirs!! Dodge—"
Slaaaash—!
-[Multiple] HP
A bloody slash severs over a dozen heads in a straight line.