94. Serpent of Greed
Immense mana beyond comprehension, supplied almost infinitely by the World Tree. Each attack was lethal even to me with Mana Reinforcement active, boasting shameless defense and delay-free teleportation to boot.
The Tower of Trials is a clusterfuck in countless ways, but there's no way it tossed something like this at us expecting a straight-up frontal assault. Even benchmarked for 25 players, it's the same story—I'm probably twenty times stronger than the average Floor 9 challenger.
-KABOOM!
"Guh!"
The moment I shattered the throne, the High Elf King—who'd been lunging at Elenoir—vomited blood and collapsed. As expected, the throne had been his weakness.
A quick scan with mana detection confirmed it: his life force snuffed out in an instant. The magic circles he'd scattered everywhere vanished, and the suffocating torrent of mana finally calmed.
"Kuhk."
And right on cue, I spewed blood myself. To destroy that throne in one go, I'd pushed my body way too far. I hadn't taken many direct hits, but the ones that landed were all critical. Dodging vitals was the only reason I wasn't dead—depending on where they struck, instant death might've been on the table.
Well, system-wise instant death isn't a thing, but still.
"Elenoir, the door!"
Mercedes bellowed at Elenoir. Snapping out of her daze, Elenoir hurled shadows at the door.
-KABOOM!
The sealed door exploded into shards. The throne was gone, so the door didn't matter anymore. What I really wanted was to sever the fallen king's head for insurance—but my body wouldn't cooperate.
Mana Reinforcement released on its own, draining strength from every muscle. Blood loss was no joke, and my guts felt wrecked. As I struggled to move, the floor suddenly gave way beneath me, flipping my vision upside down.
"Fuck, what the—shit."
The next instant, I was cradled in Elenoir's arms. She'd pulled me in with shadow magic, it seemed.
"Sorry, it was the only way. Let's get out of here."
"No, wait—confirm the kill!"
"He's dead already. No life signs left."
I knew that much. My mana detection registered him as gone. But no matter how I sliced it, this wasn't over. No clear message had popped up.
-Rumble...
Sure enough, gut feelings like mine never miss. The High Elf King, collapsed and coughing blood, began to twitch unnaturally.
Something like pitch-black tree branches erupted from the king's body. The ebony limbs stabbed into the ground like spider legs, forcibly propping up the lifeless corpse.
"Fools."
The near-infinite mana was gone, but absurd levels still coursed through that dead shell.
"If you'd only handed over the crown... I could've made you understand my cause. But you smashed the throne without a word."
What the fuck was this lunatic babbling about? When he was blasting insane spells to kill us, that is.
"Didn't I tell you? The World Tree grows by absorbing the star's ley lines... Don't you grasp the meaning?"
"This star is doomed already. From the moment we elves were born, its destruction was foretold!"
"Why do you think elfkind possesses such keen mana perception? Because the World Tree willed it—to find a new land brimming with mana!"
We bolted from the room, leaving the rambling High Elf King behind.
"If we fail to find new land, the World Tree ends—and with it, the elves! Our souls will never return eternally!"
Elenoir hoisted me over her shoulder and poured on the speed. Mercedes kept her Mana Reinforcement up, running alongside. Our pace was ridiculous—we were already miles from the audience chamber.
But his voice kept echoing. Impossible at this distance.
"You thought severing my link to the World Tree would end me? I have reserves aplenty. You've only hastened your doom!"
That's when it happened. High Elf knights, sensing the intruders, leaped out to block our path.
"Halt! Who goes there?!"
"Out of the way!"
"M-Mercedes, ma'am?"
Mercedes surged forward with a roar, and the knights faltered in shock. Exiled or not, her status as the former top knight still carried weight.
But then, black branches burst from the nearby wall, skewering the knights like harpoons.
"Wh-what in the...!"
The impaled knights thrashed briefly before shriveling into dust in seconds.
"Had you yielded the crown willingly, human soldiers' lives would've sufficed as sacrifice... But now, that's no longer an option."
The jet-black branches, carrying the king's voice, lashed out in all directions. These weren't branches anymore—just monstrous tentacles devouring life on contact.
Our escape route sealed shut, swarmed by the black tendrils in moments.
Elenoir grimaced.
"Hold on to me tight. Don't let go, no matter what."
She skidded to a halt, grabbed Mercedes with one hand, and traced a shadow magic circle. The next instant, a geyser of shadow blasted us through the ceiling.
-BOOM!
KABOOM!
KWABOOM!
We punched through multiple layers of ceiling, rocketing into the sky. The impact rattled my already mangled insides. Vomit surged up my throat.
"Urk—hack."
I hurled a massive clot of blood and looked down. The sight was nightmarish.
Innumerable branches from the palace now engulfed the entire castle like a tidal wave. They pierced every visible elf, draining life force, splitting and multiplying to overrun everything. The spread was like wildfire on gale winds, tendrils now converging on the World Tree.
The black branches crawling up the colossal tree evoked mistletoe siphoning nutrients. Or rather—
It looked like hundreds of thousands of writhing snakes coiling up the trunk.
Elenoir, Mercedes, and I stared in stunned silence.
"I shall depart this star with the World Tree, founding a new elven kingdom in distant lands. The crown is irrelevant now."
"I wished to leave whole with the World Tree, but with the throne shattered and our bond broken—other measures are needed."
"A dying star awaiting its end? It matters not. I'll annihilate it all, fodder for the World Tree."
The deafening telepathic roar shook the heavens. The myriad thorns wove together into a colossal form.
Rivaling the World Tree in scale, it coalesced into a single enormous serpent.
Epic Quest progress exceeds 99%. Floor settings are changing.
Maze region is vanishing. Boss monster's transfer gate activation authority temporarily transferred to Epic Quest.
During Epic Quest, you may form parties with NPCs of 80+ affinity.
World Raid commencing now. Party and raid member limits lifted.
Caution: World Raid difficulty set for raids of 50+ members.
Form a raid. Eligible challengers on current server: 1
A crimson system interface flashed an unprecedented message. World Raid, raid party—familiar terms, but ones I'd never dreamed of seeing on Server 2661.
The Epic Quest updated once more, and the giant serpent's name etched itself into the air.
The massive black serpent gnawed the World Tree from its base, shattering and swallowing even the last branches.
Having greedily devoured the tree of life—and not stopping there, consuming all around—the serpent opened its maw and spoke.
"I shall devour this world alongside the World Tree."
A colossal raid boss that appears only under specific conditions, the king reborn as a World Boss gleamed with red eyes.
Epic: Dark Elf Saga - Final Chapter
🎯 Objective: Slay the serpent.
The updated Epic Quest made it clear: this was truly the final battle. The objective was brutally simple.
Kill that serpent.
From Floor 7 onward, the Dark Elf Saga that had dragged on for so long finally entered its finale.