“What is that?”
Darish could not conceal his bewilderment at the sight of roots bursting forth from the inner wall.
Had the druids pooled their strength to unleash some hidden sorcery in preparation for the gate’s fall?
But his instincts screamed otherwise.
Though he was the head of the Radix family, entrusted with defending the capital, and though his real battle experience was limited, he was not so ignorant as to mistake this for a druidic spell.
‘Ventmin Lifret... just what have you done?’
The soldiers were equally shaken.
Having just broken through the gate, they had been poised to rush inside on momentum alone.
But now, with writhing roots surging like octopus tentacles, they faltered, unsure of what to do.
“What are you doing! Push forward! They’re only roots! Just cut them down!”
At the commander’s shout, the soldiers raised their weapons and charged at the roots.
Yet Darish felt an unknown dissonance and a vague terror.
Something within his elven senses screamed that this must not be left unchecked.
“Fall back, all of you!”
He shouted urgently, but the roots moved faster than his ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) command.
Shrrrak!
One whip-like root lashed out and ensnared a soldier.
In the blink of an eye, the elf struggled, but there was no escaping the crushing strength.
“H-help me—aaaagh!”
He cried for aid, but soon his body began shriveling, drying out like a mummy.
“What... what is that...?”
The soldiers who witnessed it up close froze in place.
The elf’s life force and fluids were drained until only a husk remained, collapsing limply to the ground.
And the roots, unsated, reached greedily for their next prey.
“D-don’t come near me!”
One soldier swung his blade desperately.
Clang!
But the moment steel struck the root, it broke with a metallic screech, leaving only the faintest scratch.
“Aaaaagh!”
He too was seized and met the same fate as the one before.
And so it began to happen simultaneously across the battlefield.
“S-save me!”
“Retreat! Retreat, damn it!”
“Don’t fall back! They’re just roots! Fight!”
“No, those aren’t ordinary roots! Even the spirits recoil from them!”
Chaos spread along the line, and into that chaos, the roots struck relentlessly.
Each swing sent dozens of elves flying.
Roots erupted from the ground around the shattered gates, snatching up soldiers as if they had been waiting all along.
Shouts, screams, dying wails filled the air.
Elves withered and perished, drained of everything.
The battlefield transformed into hell in an instant.
“What... what in the world is this...?”
Darish staggered backward, unable to accept the sight before him.
* * *
“Uwaaagh!”
The sudden eruption of roots tore the Tri-Noble forces to pieces, and the neutral faction was not spared either.
One soldier was seized by a massive root and lifted high into the sky.
His scream rang out.
He had seen what happened to the others—comrades shriveling into mummified husks.
For an elf, there was no death more horrifying.
It struck at their primal fear, enough to make even a seasoned warrior shriek like a child.
Slash!
At that moment, Ambella leapt forward, her greatsword cleaving through the root.
Ordinary blows left barely a mark, but against her blade, the root was severed.
“Fall back!”
At her roar, the elf soldier tumbled to the ground, scrambling away in panic.
The roots quivered like frustrated predators denied their prey.
Ambella’s brow furrowed.
“Ventmin Lifret. You’ve finally crossed the line.”
The roots writhing throughout beautiful Serendel Castle created a surreal, grotesque spectacle.
Ambella recalled the feeling when her sword bit into them.
Disgustingly hard.
Even she, confident in cutting down anything, felt resistance catch at her blade.
For other elves, they would be nearly impossible to face.
And their draining of life force while binding prey—unbelievable even to witness.
“Lord Ambella. Those are...?”
Vierno was shaken as well.
Ambella spat to the ground after pulling back the line.
“Yes. Those are roots of the World Tree.”
“The... World Tree? Impossible. The World Tree is the fountain of life—how could it drain vitality?”
“Life is not only birth. It is also death. Sprouting, growing, and at last returning to the soil at twilight—that entire cycle is life.”
The root of existence was in the cycle.
All thought of the World Tree as the divine tree that blessed new life.
But that was only half the truth.
The true authority of the World Tree was also to bestow eternal rest—death itself.
Ambella had only ever heard whispers of it.
Traces buried in ancient tomes passed down among the heads of houses.
Who would believe such a radiant, holy tree could grant death?
“Then... are you saying there’s no way to stop it?”
“Send ordinary troops, and they’ll only become nourishment for those roots.”
Ambella glared at the inner walls and the World Tree with her one remaining eye.
“All we can do is hope the ones who went ahead succeed.”
* * *
“Ahahaha. Yes. This is it.”
Ventmin perceived everything occurring inside the inner castle—not with her eyes, but with her entire being.
Wherever the World Tree’s roots reached, that was her domain.
What the World Tree saw, she saw.
What it felt, she felt.
“But it’s not enough yet. Not yet.”
Even after fusing with the World Tree, she had barely drawn out less than five percent of its power.
She had abandoned being an elf, becoming one with the World Tree itself.
Any ordinary elf attempting this would have lost their identity, becoming part of the tree, slipping into eternal rest.
But Ventmin endured.
Her noble bloodline, her iron will that accepted any means for her goal, the years of experiments she had conducted—
All of it piled upon a mountain of corpses, sustaining her mind even as she fused.
Her beauty was rotting away, her body drying into the husk of an old tree.
The less she resembled an elf, the stronger she felt.
And yet she still sensed a limit.
Her gaze turned to Sedina.
What she desired had not yet been grasped.
The key once held by the Plante family—the one that could connect fully to the World Tree.
“Tell me. Where is the key your mother passed on to you?”
“What... what are you talking about?”
“Still feigning ignorance? Ella Plante, when she fled, carried away the World Tree’s core code—[Central Dogma]. And now you have it.”
Sedina could not comprehend her words.
Central Dogma? What was that supposed to be?
She had no memory of inheriting anything from her late mother.
Ventmin recognized Sedina’s reaction.
Did she truly not know, or was she pretending?
It did not matter.
“Well, no matter. Once I kill you and dissect your corpse, I’ll find what lies within.”
At her command, the Wood Zombies began to move.
The Wood Zombies creaked grotesquely as their bark-like shells shifted, slowly closing in on Sedina.
In that instant, a storm of mana swept across them.
The zombies shattered like brittle wood, scattering to pieces.
Ventmin frowned.
“John Doe. Do you intend to struggle in vain like this?”
Ludger recalled the raging mana with terrifying precision and answered coolly.
“In a situation like this, do you expect me to just sit back and watch like an idiot?”
“At least, for the sake of our old ties, I could let you die without pain.”
Ventmin truly believed her words.
For she had already transcended the limits of a living being.
Slice—
A white line flashed. Ventmin’s head was severed.
It was Alex’s ambush, executed without a sound.
But the fallen head looked at him and sneered.
“I told you already. I no longer die from something like that.”
Her head was absorbed into the cradle, and a new one grew upon her body.
“What do you hope to achieve with such petty cuts?”
“...Well, I never imagined I’d one day fight a monster like this.”
Alex smirked, mocking her.
“If blades won’t do, how about reducing you to dust with something bigger?”
“What—?”
Before Ventmin could finish her retort, a colossal beam of mana engulfed her.
The blast tore through the cradle’s walls and even beyond, streaking into the outside world.
Even soldiers holding the line outside the walls saw the piercing streak of blue light erupting from within the inner fortress.
All that remained in its path was a charred black scar.
Ventmin, who had stood there moments ago, had been utterly disintegrated.
Hans, who had been feigning death, rose to his feet and moved to Ludger’s side.
“Interesting.”
Then, a voice resounded throughout the cradle. Ventmin’s voice.
“The idea of reducing me completely to dust wasn’t bad. But that only worked back when I was ordinary.”
At the cradle’s core, tree roots twisted together, knotting into the shape of Ventmin once again.
“Now, no matter what you try, you cannot kill me.”
[Th-this is insane.]
Hans trembled, shaken by her survival despite all their efforts.
“Then we’ll just kill you again and again until it sticks.”
It was Alex’s voice, already at her side, swinging his blade once more.
Ventmin did not move.
She only smiled arrogantly, as if daring him to try.
Clang!
Sparks flew as Alex’s sword was deflected.
His blade had not even touched her neck—someone had intervened.
“...So you followed us all the way here?”
Bereborn.
Ventmin’s most loyal retainer, the strongest warrior of the Shadewardens.
The gray-haired elf ignored Alex’s mockery, bowing his head to Ventmin.
“Forgive me. My incompetence has forced my lady to bear too heavy a burden.”
“It’s fine. This was bound to happen eventually.”
Ventmin was not particularly regretful about her transformation.
To say she felt no loss would be a lie.
But what she had gained was far greater.
The overwhelming sense of omnipotence that now coursed through her.
“I would love to savor this feeling longer, but sadly, time does not allow it. Bereborn.”
“Yes, my lady. Give me your command.”
“Dispose of that bothersome gnat. You won’t fail this time, will you?”
“...I accept your order.”
Bereborn turned his gaze upon Alex.
Alex let out a hollow laugh, pulling from beneath his cloak a vial filled with red liquid.
“Fine. I suppose it’s time we settled this properly.”
He smashed the vial against his chest.
The liquid burst into red powder, dissolving into the air before being absorbed into his body.
His wounds closed instantly, his body restored.
“This is why it pays to have wealthy patrons. Instant recovery drugs, no need to drink, no delay.”
Alex cracked his neck and glanced at Ludger.
“Leader. I’ll handle this one.”
“Do it.”
With Ludger’s permission, Alex vanished.
Bereborn disappeared after him.
They had shifted the battlefield for their duel.
Hans stiffened.
With Alex gone, there was no one left to hold the front line.
“Hans. Don’t be nervous.”
[B-brother...]
“Just do what you can.”
Hans gave a heavy nod.
Ventmin, who had watched in silence, finally spoke.
“You still don’t understand the situation, do you?”
At her gesture, the floor of the cradle split apart as new Wood Zombies rose.
“You have no choice. You’ll obey, and that’s all.”
Crack...
The roots that made up the cradle tore themselves free, reshaping into sharp spikes aimed at Ludger and Hans.
“Look around you. I am no longer one being—I am an army.”
The cradle itself, a living organism, had turned wholly against them.
“How do you intend to fight an army with just the three of you?”
“How, you ask?”
From within his cloak, Ludger drew forth an artifact blade embedded with magic stones, forged for knightly use.
Modified by Seridan, the blade shattered in a burst of brilliant light as Ludger overloaded its mana.
Immense power gathered in his hands, weaving into an intricate spell.
The roiling force pierced the ceiling, tearing a vast hole that revealed the sky and the World Tree beyond.
Ludger rose into the air, looming above Ventmin.
“If you are an army—”
The cloak of shadow around him unfurled like the wings of a crow.
From within, artifacts began to spill out one by one, circling him.
Hah. Artifacts?
Ventmin nearly scoffed.
But her arrogance faded as the number of artifacts only grew... and grew...
Hundreds.
Thousands.
Her expression stiffened, no trace of composure left.
Ludger looked down upon her and declared:
“I am armed with a weapon capable of fighting an army.”