Why are you here?
Feeling Ludger’s gaze, Lutus lightly shrugged his shoulders.
“I, too, have many questions, but given the situation, it is unfortunate that we have no leisure for that.”
The moment he saw Ludger, he immediately recognized who he was.
That clash they had outside Rederbelk left a deep impression on Lutus as well.
And Ludger, in turn, naturally accepted that Lutus would recognize him at once.
“...I see.”
Whatever the case, right now, Lutus was not an enemy.
On the contrary, in such a dire moment as this, he was the most reliable ally one could ask for.
“It has been a long time.”
Tearing his eyes away from Ludger, Lutus greeted Ambella.
Ambella curved the one eye she had left into the shape of a crescent moon.
“Hah-hah! How long has it been, human youth? You have grown so much since that day.”
“Well, being human, I’ve aged quite a bit. You, on the other hand, are just the same as ever.”
Seeing Ambella exchange familiar words with Lutus, Vierno asked in surprise.
“Y-you two know each other?”
“Well, we taught and learned the sword from each other.”
Vierno was aghast at Lutus’s casual words.
So the human swordsman Ambella spoke of had been Lutus Wardot?
And yet, hearing that the human swordsman she mentioned was Lutus, it somehow made sense.
The strongest swordsmen of their age had once exchanged knowledge and guidance.
Was that not a truly historic event?
But unfortunately, there was no time to fondly reminisce about the past.
Because Ventmin Lifret had visibly grown irritated at the arrival of another human.
“Lutus Wardot. I’ve heard of you. They call you the Empire’s Greatest Sword, don’t they?”
“Oh-ho. That’s quite the honor. But there is one mistake in that.”
With those words, Lutus lightly swung his sword toward Ventmin.
Along its arc, a razor-sharp slash cut toward her face.
Ventmin summoned a barrier of oak to block it.
Yet the sturdy wall of oak split apart like firewood, cleaved cleanly down the middle.
All from a single casual strike by Lutus.
“Not the Empire’s Greatest Sword—
but the Continent’s Greatest Sword.”
“How arrogant.”
Ventmin scoffed, pretending it was not even worth a taunt, but she could not hide the cold sharpness settling into her gaze.
Ambella burst into booming laughter.
“Kehaha! Since you’ve given us a gift, we ought to return one, shouldn’t we?”
In response, five branches aimed themselves at Lutus.
The five branches twined together in midair into a quintuple spiral, then merged into one and stabbed forward like a drill.
Lutus extended a finger lightly toward the drill.
At the instant the sharp tip of the branch brushed against his finger, it twisted like a rope, then split apart at the seams.
The tightly bound wood unraveled like a ball of thread, and then reversed upon itself, shattering into fragments.
Ventmin’s face froze over with chill severity.
Lutus Wardot.
Indeed, he lived up to the title not just of the Empire’s, but of the entire continent’s strongest swordsman. The martial power he displayed far exceeded the realm of humankind.
“You certainly have a knack for startling people.”
Lutus spoke as though Ventmin’s ambush had been nothing, then casually turned his head back and smirked at Hans, who stood in his beast form.
“Been a while, beast.”
[...]
Hans did not answer.
He simply hated being entangled with this monster of a man.
Clicking his tongue at missing the chance to befriend the beast, Lutus nevertheless did not forget the matter at hand.
“So then, am I supposed to cut down that tree before us? I came here as a knight, not a lumberjack.”
Of course, he was referring to the World Tree.
Arrogant words, yet no one spoke to rebuke him.
“I saw it from a distance—it’s overwhelmingly strong. To be honest, I can’t do it alone.”
“Hey, human youth.”
“I’m far past the age to be called a youth. Just call me Lutus.”
“Ah, very well, Lutus. Still, if we combine our strength, surely we can manage something?”
“Lord Ambella, even so, your words are too light. The World Tree is not something that can simply be felled like an ordinary tree.”
Ludger stepped in between the three who were voicing their opinions.
“There is a way.”
“Oh? And what way would that be, mysterious youth?”
“...Call me Ludger Cherish.”
Having come this far, with Lutus already knowing enough, Ludger no longer saw reason to hide.
He pointed toward Sedina, seated upon the throne at the heart of the World Tree.
“We must save that child.”
“Now that you mention it, there is someone sitting there. She’s the core moving the World Tree, isn’t she? Wouldn’t killing her be better?”
“We must save her. On this point, I will accept no objections.”
With flames of resolve blazing in his eyes, Ludger declared firmly.
Lutus only shrugged his shoulders.
“Fierce, aren’t you? I was only speaking idly.”
But in truth, if it were possible, Lutus was the type who really would have killed her.
What erased that thought was Vierno’s voice.
“Killing her would be pointless. The World Tree has already accepted her essence and awakened. In other words, the only one who can suppress the World Tree is Lady Sedina herself.”
Vierno reasoned it out calmly. Sedina had to be rescued.
The top priority was to remove her from that throne and free her.
In that moment, a shared sense of purpose arose.
“To do that, we must first break through that witch blocking us. And the World Tree itself that stands in our way.”
In truth, rescuing Sedina meant forcing their way past both the World Tree and Ventmin to reach the heart where she sat.
“So, who is to open the path first? Surely you don’t mean to make me do it?”
To Lutus’s question, Ludger shook his head.
“I will.”
Saying so, Ludger retrieved artifacts stored within Steel Raven and spread them around.
“After all, this is the role of a mage.”
To clear the way for knights to advance—through overwhelming firepower from the rear.
That had always been the duty and role borne by mages from ancient times.
Vwooom.
As the artifacts resonated with one another, Ludger’s body slowly rose into the air.
At the same time, bluish mana began to flow out from his form.
“So protect me until then.”
The mana stones within the artifacts responded to his control, releasing their power and drawing complex diagrams in the air.
Vierno, watching, was inwardly astounded.
This was no mere single 6th-Circle grand spell.
Two? Three?
Countless formulae overlapped and intertwined, yet not one tangled or collapsed—their harmony was flawless.
He had thought he had already seen enough to be astonished. And yet here was even more.
But Vierno quickly reminded himself of his own role and fixed his gaze straight ahead.
“Hah. You intend to use magic against the World Tree?”
Ventmin sneered at Ludger’s challenge.
But it was nothing more than hollow bravado.
For she realized the magic he was preparing was no ordinary spell, and felt an uneasy impatience as she commanded the World Tree.
Uooohhh—
Wooden zombies rose en masse, charging toward Ludger.
Standing in their path was Ambella Burke.
“If it is the mage’s role to open the way, then from of old it has been the vanguard’s role to guard the mages.”
With a single strike, the wood zombies were cleaved in half and sent rolling across the ground.
But they soon stitched themselves back together and stood once more.
They could not be felled by slashing alone.
Yet it was enough to buy time.
Suspended in midair, drawing his intricate spell formations, Ludger looked down at Hans.
“Connect your mana to me.”
[...]!
“The World Tree absorbs raw, unprocessed mana directly. But magic structured through formula is different.”
Hans understood what he meant.
At once, his golden horns gleamed, and the beast spirit’s tremendous mana surged into Ludger.
The mana stored in the artifacts, the mana transmitted from Hans, and his own inherent mana—
He fused them together, stabilizing the whole, unraveling threads of mana and weaving them into formulas.
In an instant, complex three-dimensional constellations formed in the air.
Like a planetarium, blue stars of mana spread around Ludger, shining brilliantly like celestial bodies in the night sky.
“Kill that man!”
Ventmin unleashed a flood of sunlight-charged rays.
From the branches of the World Tree, countless beams of light rained down, all targeting Ludger.
Though hastily invoked, and lacking the overwhelming power that had once swept away entire legions, their destructive might against a single individual far exceeded necessity.
Each falling beam was like a colossal pillar—one direct hit would not merely wound, but kill outright.
And Ludger, fixed in place while constructing his formations, could not move recklessly. The situation was exceedingly dangerous.
It was then that Lutus Wardot intervened.
As Lutus stretched out his hand, the massive pillar of light bent away at a sharp angle, veering harmlessly off course.
The next falling beams were likewise deflected.
Casting aside the attacks midair, Lutus glanced back at Ludger.
Ludger, as though expecting him to block it from the start, betrayed no change in expression.
That look drew a snort of laughter from Lutus.
“Well now. Other than the First Princess, you’re the first one to exploit me like this.”
So this is why people say birds of a feather flock together?
Muttering under his breath, Lutus nevertheless continued deflecting the incoming beams one after another.
And in the meantime, Ludger’s construction of spell formulae reached the point of manifesting the magic he sought.
His eyes shone with a piercing blue glow as he fixed them upon Ventmin.
It was the phenomenon of excessive mana overflowing and spilling out from his body.
“The spell is complete. I’ll open the way.”
Ludger stretched out his right hand toward Ventmin.
In response, the formations shining around him blazed with light.
Magia Ex Machina.
The very spell Lesley had once demonstrated at the Kasarr Basin, now reproduced through artifacts.
What Lesley had invoked with metal cubes, Ludger invoked with artifacts—vastly amplifying the destructive force.
If Lesley’s version had allowed him to wield any metal magic without prior construction, then Ludger’s adaptation allowed him to wield any magic at all without preliminary setup.
A 6th-Circle ice-element grand spell—
[Heavenly Sea Icebreaker Fleet]
And now—
Colossal battleships wrought of ice descended from the sky, aimed squarely at Ventmin.
“6th-Circle? You think a mere spell like that can harm me?”
Ventmin sneered, amused at Ludger’s supposed futility—until her expression stiffened at the sight that followed.
For it was not a single vessel falling upon her.
It was five.
Not a ship, but an entire fleet, roaring as it crushed down upon her.
Pillars of white ice exploded outward, spreading in all directions.
The killing frost surged like a fan-shaped wave, freezing everything in its path—even reaching the World Tree.
The force of five simultaneous 6th-Circle grand spells was nothing short of catastrophic.
“This cannot...!”
Breaking through the ice, colossal trunks and roots of the World Tree surged upward.
The World Tree would never perish, even in the harshest of ice ages.
A mere 6th-Circle ice spell would never suffice to destroy it.
Yet awaiting those rising roots was a fearsome conflagration.
A 6th-Circle fire-element grand spell—
[Infernal Great Flame ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) Realm]
A rain of fire poured from the heavens, overturning the roots that had thrust themselves upward.
Just as before with the Heavenly Sea Icebreaker Fleet, this spell too carried the force of threefold repetition at minimum.
The blackening roots, unable to withstand the searing flames, proved the devastation of his magic.
Ventmin was staggered.
To unleash 6th-Circle spells in rapid succession like that?
Was such a thing even possible for a human?
As her mind reeled, Ludger unleashed yet another spell.
A 6th-Circle wind-element grand spell—
[Moon-Sundering Fortress of the Wind God]
A fortress of wind that could tear even the moon asunder.
True to its name, the immense gale ripped apart the roots before him, then further fanned the lingering flames of the Infernal Great Flame Realm.
Wind and fire together.
The two elements harmonized, raising a blaze that consumed everything.
“How many can you...!”
Ventmin, though aghast, did not remain idle.
From the swollen roots of the World Tree, torrents of water burst forth—subterranean groundwater mixed with the sap of the sacred tree—surging to meet the oncoming inferno.
Fire and water clashed, filling the surroundings with dense white steam.
Suddenly, a creeping dread seized Ventmin’s heart.
‘Surely he won’t attempt yet another?’
Ludger had already exceeded the limits of what any human could endure.
Even if the mana was drawn from artifacts, it was still Ludger who bore the burden of constructing the formulae.
To command such overwhelming mana would drive the human brain to its very limits.
What he had already shown was enough to be called miraculous.
So stop.
Did he hear her unspoken plea?
Ludger began shaping yet another mass of mana into form.
Crackle!
Violent sparks leapt in the air.
Even Ventmin, transformed into the form of an ancient tree, felt her skin prickle as though stung.
Around Ludger, yellow light spread as his mana surged, colliding with the steam and generating crackling currents.
That abnormal phenomenon expanded outward, covering a radius of five hundred meters.
A 6th-Circle lightning-element grand spell—
[Ten-Thousand Thunder-Blades that Sever the Clouds]
Golden lightning swords blazed forth, cleaving through the curtain of steam as they shot toward Ventmin.
Some pierced forward like lances, others slashed sideways as though to hew apart the world, still others spun like boomerangs.
True to its name, the number of thunder-blades neared ten thousand.
Nor was their sheer quantity a weakness—each blade held devastating power.
A single one brushed against a wood zombie, and the creature with its resilient life force turned black, crumbled to ash, and scattered.
From the branches of the World Tree, lances of sunlight fired to intercept.
The lightning blades and solar lances collided, erupting into blinding light and deafening explosions.
The air vibrated with force, the acrid stench of burning vegetation filling every breath.
And then—suddenly, some of the sunlances snapped and vanished.
Crackkkk!
A foreboding sound rang in Ventmin’s ears.
She looked up to the branches of the World Tree.
The very limbs that should have endlessly spewed forth lances of light were breaking apart with a groan.
Because something vast and metallic was falling.
Even the stout branches of the World Tree could not easily withstand the sheer impact energy of such a mass.
And if that mass was no natural stone, but a magically conjured super-dense meteor of metal—then even less so.
A 6th-Circle metal-element grand spell—
[Heaven-Collapsing Meteoric Iron]