141
141 ― A Single Stroke of Sword
Jinwoo walked forward, pushing through the bushes. Behind him followed April, whose gaze was fixed diagonally ahead of Jinwoo.
There, a black root wriggled as it guided Jinwoo somewhere.
'Mother World Tree.'
Could that small root really be Mother World Tree? No, there was no room for doubt. Her instinct as an Elf was screaming at her to prostrate before that root. To nestle against it and find comfort.
Even if it was tainted by Erosion, that was her mother.
Then it would be proper to follow behind.
"If we go this way, we'll reach the royal castle? How long will it take?"
Wriggle wriggle.
"Hmm...... It'll take quite a while. Should we pick up the pace a bit?"
The root nodded as if understanding and increased its speed slightly. Jinwoo's steps also quickened, yet even as he kicked off the ground forcefully, he didn't break the grass blades that had grown. The clumsy Elf's gait he had learned in the past now showed no difference from a real Elf's.
While admiring that walk, April watched Jinwoo and Mother World Tree communicating.
Though she felt it was blasphemous, she couldn't help but ask. She suddenly opened her mouth.
"Master."
"Why?"
"Are you... Mother World Tree's proxy?"
"Proxy?"
What was she talking about? Jinwoo looked back with a puzzled expression.
"There's already a proxy. Your queen."
There was already Delpinia's queen, Fermu, the World Tree's priestess, yet she was asking if he was a proxy. Wasn't that a strange question?
"Of course, there is the Priestess, but... the Priestess doesn't come outside the royal castle. The royal castle is completely isolated now."
"So you thought there might be another proxy?"
"Yes. You two seem, well, very intimate."
April looked at Jinwoo's wrist. The black root was coiled around it, flaunting their closeness. In a way, it even seemed to be checking April out of jealousy.
"It's time for sunset."
Jinwoo suddenly looked at the sky and spoke. Though it still looked bright, the time had come. Since sunset in the forest was very fast, it would become completely dark in about 20 minutes.
People like Jinwoo or April could move without problems even at night. They weren't the type to fall prey to mountain beasts, nor were their eyes poor in darkness. However, periodic rest was necessary. Since one never knew when something might happen.
"I'll set up the tent."
"I'll prepare dinner."
The conversation stopped briefly as each focused on their task. A tent large enough for not just 2 but 5 people to sprawl out in was set up, and Jinwoo made soup loaded with meat.
It was fine since even Elves didn't refrain from eating meat. Especially now, she couldn't absorb mana and nutrients through her skin from the surrounding atmosphere.
Elves absorbed most of their nutrition through that and meals were merely supplementary. That said, they couldn't simply receive another person's mana as is either.
Mana that had adapted to another person's body once causes rejection reactions in another person's body. Therefore, to transfer mana to others, it was important to process it cleanly, and in that process, at least 60% or more loss occurred.
Therefore, the only place where she could replenish nutrition now was meals. If even that ran out...... She didn't want to think about that.
"I'll enjoy the meal."
April politely greeted and picked up her bowl. Food that was like a lifeline. Jinwoo also picked up his bowl, took a sip, and scooped up some meat. It was cooked so tenderly that it tore apart with even a light touch of teeth. The pungent pepper scent was impressive.
Next to him, the root licked Jinwoo's shin as if it were a puppy. Jinwoo took out the plant fertilizer he had received from Chartia before and fed it to the tip of the root. He had received it for garden management, and the root also bit into it eagerly and gulped it down well.
April watched that scene with a restless look. She didn't know what emotion she should have—whether she should be blasphemous or surprised.
"I have a bit of a connection with the World Tree. It's even growing in my yard."
It was a long connection in many ways. Though he couldn't explain it all, he talked about the parts he could. Even about how he had gone up to the Spirit Realm to find the World Tree's main body.
"The Spirit Realm? You mean the 6th Plane?"
"Yeah."
"Good heavens......"
It wasn't just his imagination that April's attitude became a bit more respectful. Though she had originally been extremely devoted, calling him Master, now she was almost half-worshiping him.
She had only just reached the 5th Plane, yet Master was already exploring the 6th Plane.
"The 6th Plane—I've only heard about it like a legend, but this is the first time I've met someone who actually goes in and out of it."
Even here, the 6th Plane was a place passed down like a legend. As Rona had said in the past, the Spirit Realm where spirits lived. To ordinary Elves living in this world, the Spirit Realm had an impression like paradise where immortals lived.
"It's not quite that much. Though mana is abundant."
"Is that so?"
"Even the fruit you pick while passing by is like a small elixir."
April listened with admiration. Since she gave good responses, it was comfortable to talk. As he shared interesting stories about the Spirit Realm, the night passed quickly.
After spending one night, the two continued moving. Following the black root's guidance toward Delpinia's royal castle.
Enemies with black flames popped out several times along the way, but there was no damage at all. Not only Jinwoo but April had also become much stronger than before. It wasn't a lie that she had prepared to enter the 5th Plane.
'She's definitely at a barely-S-rank level.'
She wasn't at the level of experienced S-ranks like Lin Shenlin or Reinhardt, whom he had briefly met just a while ago, but she was at the level of a Hunter who had just reached S-rank. She could win even if she faced a Black Knight alone.
Compared to Rona, she was still one step below, but it was good that she used a bow. Since it filled in the long-range attack ability that Jinwoo lacked.
"Is the royal castle still far... Hm?"
"What's wrong?"
There was still quite a distance left to the royal castle. Something was caught in Jinwoo's ki sense.
There were plenty of black flames, and moreover, a familiar blue flame was also at that location.
All the village Elves had taken refuge in a cave near the village. Since it was a small village, the number was only about fifty, but since the cave wasn't large, it was too cramped.
A single Elf was guarding its entrance. From the werewolves with black fur color swarming in.
"......"
Rona's face was like a ghost. Extreme anger transcended the level she could accept and instead achieved coldness.
While cutting down the enemies before her eyes, Rona's mind was recalling something else. Her childhood. That time when her family's clan burned down and disappeared. About the enemies that had attacked the clan.
'They're the same.'
The same. Exactly the same as these bastards attacking now. The color, the form, the smell. Even the air of this moment, heavily reeking of death and despair.
'I have to protect them. This time, I will!'
The Elves in the cave behind weren't her family. They weren't clan members. Elves from a tiny village where she had been staying briefly while passing through.
But she had to protect them. What she couldn't protect when she was young. Furthermore, if she could strike down the enemy, kill the foe, and complete her revenge......
―Keuheoeong!
"Aaaak!"
However, it was too much for her alone. The number of enemies was at least thirty or more. Meanwhile, she had to be quite careful just to take down one.
They were clearly stronger than the ones that had attacked her clan in the past. The leader-level ones from that time were now scattered around like minions. Just barely handling them one by one in 1:1 fights wasn't nearly enough.
"Ah......"
Blood spurted. While cutting one's neck, two rushed in from both sides and clawed her sides. She tried to jump back to dodge, but couldn't avoid all the claws of the one on the left.
'I can't let injuries pile up!'
It was a minor wound for now, but if these accumulated, she wouldn't be able to hold out. If she didn't stop the bleeding immediately, blood would flow out continuously and rapidly drain her stamina. She immediately took out nectar and applied it to the wound to stop the bleeding. Since she applied it hastily, the wound didn't heal cleanly, but the bleeding stopped.
'......Was it like this back then too?'
She suddenly remembered. When she was young, when she had lost her eyes to their attack and was only waiting for death.
There was someone who saved her. Someone who put nectar in her injured eyes, carried her young body, hid her in a cave, and fought off the swarming enemies like herself now.
She didn't see the face. At that time, she was only trembling inside the cave, and even that was when her eyes were injured, so she couldn't see anything. If that person had been here, could they have swept away all these enemies too?
'I don't know. The ones now are stronger than back then.'
She didn't know how strong that person was either. Because she couldn't see how they fought. By examining the traces of the remaining corpses, she only knew that they fought with a sword, but didn't know how strong they were.
Even while thinking that, she felt strangely concerned. If that person were here to fight back-to-back with her. Then, wouldn't they be able to overcome this crisis too?
Perhaps it was an empty fantasy to comfort herself in the immediate difficulty. Because...... as things were, it was certain that both she and her kin behind would all die.
'There's no way I can escape.'
If she pulled out alone, she might be able to. Though facing dozens of wolves all at once was impossible, escape might be possible.
But she couldn't. The option of running away leaving her kin behind didn't exist for her at all. If she did, she would lose her sword.
'I've lived uprightly all my life. Imagining that person's back.'
She had swung her sword all her life imagining the back of her benefactor whom she couldn't see, couldn't have seen. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say her sword was made of that heart.
But if she ran away here, her sword would crumble. So she couldn't run away. She had to defend this position to the end.
However.
'It's overwhelming.'
The end was in sight. Her stamina and magic power had already nearly hit rock bottom. That she was still holding on was because her will remained. Though both body and mental strength had reached their limits, her soul was still holding on.
She swung her sword in a trance. A sword swung with her soul, not her hands. The sword was heavier than usual. No, it was lighter. Clearly, her body felt it was heavy, but somehow it was light.
Chwaaak!
One. Another. Another.
She cut them down safely. She didn't know how this was possible with a sword that had almost no magic power. Her soul, right now, was trying to ascend to a new sky.
But it was insufficient. Though she had taken down more than ten in a situation already at its limit, it was impossible now. Her eyes closed. Her trembling feet shifted on their own and her body's balance collapsed.
What she saw while falling was the pack of wolves rushing at her, and
A single stroke of sword cutting down that pack.