Chapter 192 |
The entire Forestis shook because of the reawakened World Tree, randomly spreading its roots in search of food like a starving child. However, those roots did not stop at Forestis and destroyed several cities beyond its borders. The World Tree only wanted one thing: more nutrients. Anywhere teeming with life was unsafe from the tree, and one party took advantage of that.
***
“Looks like the heavens are on our side,” Leo remarked.
“I think it’s more appropriate to say that the World Tree is,” Seong-Hwi said with a smile.
They had arrived at the filthy crescent swamp. It smelled putrid, filled with rotten branches, dry leaves, countless corpses, and silence.
[Activating Unique Skill: Symbol Embodiment.]
[Observer’s Earring, one of the symbols of No.9 The Hermit]
A golden hoop earring appeared in Seong-Hwi’s right ear, and he rapidly searched the surroundings in third-person view.
He said, “No ambushers or observers. The World Tree’s attack has everyone panicked.”
“Clan Dragon’s Teeth, huh? I haven’t felt this nervous since Subterra. Well, that hasn’t been that long either, I suppose. Haha!” Leo laughed as he consolidated his morale.
Saleana, who had shrunk to about fifty centimeters, stared at the three humans and asked, “Umm… Are you sure about this? I’m sure you know what it means… to antagonize the dragons.”
I appreciate their help, but… why? she wondered.
The humans before her, especially the one with black hair and eyes who seemed to be their leader, looked as if they were itching to help.
“Oh, I’m sure. Besides, I told you that I abhor dragons.”
“Even so…”
“And I have a debt to repay to the fairies.”
Seong-Hwi had not forgotten the promise he had made to Dryas, the Fairy Queen, when he received her wings.
“They have lost much of their power, but… please make good use of them.”
“I promise I will repay this debt to the fairies.”
“People need to be calculative. That way, they can calculate the most appropriate way to repay a favor or a grudge. I refuse to live a life forever in debt.”
If Dryas had not given him her wings, he would have never obtained the Wings of Evolution, and it would have taken him years to heighten his caliber to the point it was at. He had received an advance payment that he could never repay.
Saleana remained hesitant, but decided to set aside her doubts and think only about rescuing the fairies with their help.
She replied, “Very well. Besides, we are in no condition to refuse your goodwill. But will you be alright? This swamp is almost endless. The insectoids are gone, but it will be difficult for humans to cross.”
Leo smiled as he stared at the worried Saleana and answered, “Don’t worry. We have Seong-Hwiemon with us.”
“What?” Seong-Hwi asked.
“Enrique calls you that. Didn’t you know? Apparently, it’s what you call a versatile person.”
“Enrique, that son of a…”
He taught the innocent Leo something stupid. I’d much rather be called Thousand Skiller than that, Seong-Hwi thought.
However, he simply smiled rather than complain. He summoned the Tarot Deck of Destiny and pulled out a card showing a dog and a wolf looking up and barking at a moon with a human face on it. A crab was crawling up to land from the lake behind the two canines. It was No.18 The Moon, one of the Major Cards, symbolizing melancholy, darkness, insecurity, and more.
[Activating Unique Skill: Symbol Embodiment.]
[Freezing Wolf, one of the symbols of No.18 The Moon]
[Thawing Dog, one of the symbols of No.18 The Moon]
Awooo!
Ruff! Ruff!
A wolf and a dog were manifested, both with blue fur as cold as ice.
“Go,” Seong-Hwi commanded.
The Freezing Wolf howled as it dashed toward the swamp. The path it ran on froze, turning the swamp into an ice rink.
“Let’s move. The Thawing Dog will follow behind us and melt the ice, erasing any trace of us being here,” Seong-Hwi remarked as he ran along the icy path.
Leo hopped on Rhodes and mumbled, “See? All we need is Seong-Hwiemon. Right, Rhodes?”
Rhodes roared in response as he dashed along the icy path. Wang Chen and Saleana belatedly followed.
“You guys… have a screw loose,” Wang Chen mumbled.
“What an eccentric bunch,” Saleana remarked.
***
Seong-Hwi and the others crossed the swamp quickly, thanks to the Freezing Wolf and Thawing Dog, and discovered a group that had formed a defense line on the other side of the swamp.
“It must be them.”
“Are they remnants?”
There were several thousand inferior dragons, but they were in bad condition. The countless holes in the ground had been from the sprouting of the World Tree’s roots, and there were easily over ten thousand inferior dragon corpses sprawled throughout the surroundings.
A large woman in crimson armor was furiously stomping her feet in the center, with sparks of fire exploding in the air with each stomp.
She screamed, “Ahhhhh! Damn you, Sefirot! My soldiers! My eastern army!”
Saleana whispered, “That’s her. Her name is—”
“Agave,” Seong-Hwi interjected.
“Ah! That’s correct!”
Saleana stared at Seong-Hwi wide-eyed as if wondering how he knew.
Of course, I know. She’s the east commander of Clan Dragon’s Teeth, who relentlessly pursued Charles in my past life, Seong-Hwi said inwardly.
Before his return to the past, Charles Dullin and Seo-Yeon had been in the clutches of Kim Seo-Gyeong’s Clan Earthly Branches. Seo-Gyeong had negotiated under the table with Spartoi, the west commander and the de facto leader of Clan Dragon’s Teeth, to obtain a Dragon Heart, albeit low in rank.
Although Charles’s D Weapon awakened thanks to the Dragon Heart, Seo-Gyeong had underestimated the dragon clan’s system of authority and earned the wrath of Agave, the east commander. To make matters worse, most of the human cities were positioned around the east, within Agave’s domain.
Agave is tenacious. She pursued Charles all the way to the north. That’s how Reykjavik was attacked. Well, it won’t happen this time, Seong-Hwi thought.
He had defeated Seo-Gyeong and handed him to the Union, and Agave would die here.
“Here is what we’re going to do,” Seong-Hwi said after confirming the surrounding terrain and their enemies’ states.
He judged it was the perfect time to behead the proud dragons.
***
“Dammit! Damn it all!” Agave looked around after venting all of her rage. She had lost the majority of her forces. “How am I supposed to look at Master Adi Dahak in the eyes now?!”
She was more fearful of being unable to carry out the mission Adi Dahak had given her than losing her eastern army.
“No, no. There’s no way this blasted Sefirot attacked only us!”
She quelled her rage and fell into thought. The World Tree had most likely spread its roots throughout the entire Forestis. In other words, her enemies’ forces had likely shrunk as well. It was fortunate that the World Tree had attacked everyone equally.
I can still fulfill my mission. The orcs and centaurs must have suffered severe casualties as well!
She needed to reorganize her reduced forces and reconstruct the defense line. Although it would be nowhere near as airtight as before, having fewer men to command was more effective in dealing with the World Tree’s attacks.
Also… she thought as she stared at over a hundred restrained, trembling fairies.
“All soldiers, prepare Mana Drain! We will resume our mission after replenishing our mana!”
“Yes, ma’am!”
“As you command!”
The inferior dragons turned to the fairies, who could tell this was the end for them.
“Sniff…”
“If only… we had a queen!”
“Ahhh, I will curse you! Even if I die, I will curse every dragon!”
The fairies screamed in acrimony, but it was pointless. Not only was the rope around their waist made using a skill infused with powerful Draconic Mana, but they couldn’t defy the dragons’ commands.
As the inferior dragons approached the fairies, an unidentified man appeared in midair. Thirteen beautiful wings shone iridescently behind his back.
“Fairy… wings?”
“Is he one of us?”
The fairies admired the man’s splendid wings, forgetting their fear of death. They wondered if the Fairy Queen’s wings would be that beautiful and powerful if she existed.
The man said with a deep and dependable voice, “We’re escaping. Trust me and follow their guidance. I am Cheon Seong-Hwi, the Fairy Queen’s Second Knight.”
[Activating Unique Skill: Borrowing Destiny.]
[Macedonia's King of Conquerors]
[Activating Unique Skill: Symbol Embodiment.]
[Knot-severing Sword]
Seong-Hwi unsheathed the Knot-severing Sword that appeared on his waist and activated a skill.
[Activating Exclusive Skill: Rule Breaker.]
The sword shone with a golden light, infused with the power that could sever all rules. He severed the ropes restraining the fairies with a single slash, along with the Draconic Mana and the magical rules infusing them.
“NOOOOO!”
Seong-Hwi heard a scream and the sound of heavy footsteps. He turned to the confused fairies and shouted, “Follow their guidance out of here!”
“Pardon?”
“Whose guidance?”
Just then, fire surged from the holes that the World Tree’s roots had made in the ground. The lizard-shaped Salamanders jumped out from inside the flames.
“Hurry! Hurry!”
“Follow us!”
“Let’s run!”
The Salamanders grabbed the fairies and jumped back into the holes.
“Stop!” Agave shouted.
The fairies froze from her command, but it was pointless since the Salamanders were dragging them. The last Salamander wiggled its blazing tail and disappeared. Over a hundred fairies had disappeared into the holes in the ground in an instant.
Agave gritted her teeth and shouted, “After them! Now!”
“You’re asking the impossible of them. The underground tunnels are extremely complicated,” a man said.
Agave turned to the source of the voice, her eyes inside the bone helmet blazing. She screamed, “Human! How dare you lay your hands on dragon property?!”
“I’ve completely forgotten how greedy you all are. You think of others as your property, as if it were natural. It seriously gets on my nerves.”
Seong-Hwi stared at Agave with deeply sunken eyes. Regnator had been no different; he treated the Destiny Stone as if it had always been his.
[Activating Unique Skill: Borrowing Destiny.]
[Chok Chun-Gyong the Unfortunate Martial God]
[Activating Unique Skill: Symbol Embodiment.]
[Sword of Koksan]
The Knot-severing Sword disappeared from his waist, replaced by the Sword of Koksan. A pair of will-o'-the-wisps flashed from his eyes.
“How about I act childish like a baby like you all for once? I’m bored, so I might as well cut off your head,” Seong-Hwi remarked.
“A mere human dares to…”
Agave twirled her spear, made from a drake’s bones, in fury. A storm of fire raged as she and Seong-Hwi clashed.
***
Seong-Hwi assessed his power as objectively as possible.
I’m a Double-S human of superior caliber, albeit on the low side.
He had come very far in just one year. He could now call himself one of the powerful in the Mirror World. However, power was always subjective, and that principle did not change even among the Ten Lords and Fiends.
Hence, Seong-Hwi’s goal was to reach the top of the pyramid. He couldn’t rest. He couldn’t be satisfied. He was always so busy moving forward that mere inferior dragons before him could not be a pebble in his path.
“Die!” Agave shouted as she activated a skill.
[Activating Race Skill: Blazing Fang.]
Agave thrust her spear, and a jaw made of fire opened, its fangs ready to tear Seong-Hwi apart. The flames, created from the arrogant and ferocious Draconic Mana, were so hot that it was hard to breathe. The average inferior race High Ranker wouldn’t be able to take the attack.
Agave was also sure of her victory because her Draconic Mana stat was S(2); a mere inferior race, no less a human without a secondary force, could never block it.
“Ahaha! It’s over!” Agave shouted.
However, Seong-Hwi took deep breaths as he slowly raised the Sword of Koksan over his head. At the same time, a card flew out of the Tarot Deck of Destiny.
[Activating Unique Skill: Symbol Embodiment.]
[Rose Wreath of Strength, one of the symbols of No.8 Strength]
[Strength A(92) → S(1)]
[Duration: 00:00:59]
[Duration: 00:00:58]
…
A rose wreath appeared on Seong-Hwi’s head. Albeit temporarily, he became a Triple-S human. His white muscle fibers contracted, and he was filled with unprecedented power. He felt like he could slice an entire mountain in half.
He swung down the Sword of Koksan at the same time that the Wings of Evolution flashed. It was Step Forth and Kill. The fangs of fire, about to tear Seong-Hwi apart, were torn into pieces.
“Impossible—”
Agave, behind the flames, reflexively raised her spear to block, but it only took a moment for the Sword of Koksan to reach Agave. The sword cut through the spear and her crimson helmet as if they were paper, and split Agave from the crown of her head to her solar plexus.
Blood poured like a fountain. Agave’s skull was split in two, and Seong-Hwi could see himself in her shocked eyes that were getting further from each other. He was smiling, satisfied that his efforts had not been wasted.
He pulled out the Sword of Koksan from Agave’s corpse and smiled nastily. “You seemed so strong in the past, Agave, east commander of Clan Dragon’s Teeth.”
Thousands of inferior dragons charged at Seong-Hwi in rage.
“Kill him!”
“How dare you kill our commander?!”
“Avenge the commander!”
They had him surrounded from all sides; escape seemed impossible. However, a chain whip shot out from the ground like a snake and wrapped around Seong-Hwi’s right arm. The chain whip became taut, pulling Seong-Hwi into the hole in an instant.
“Dammit!’
“Chase him!”
“Ready for a pursuit!”
The inferior dragons quickly ran into the hole, but Seong-Hwi was already nowhere in sight. They deemed it impossible to find Seong-Hwi in the winding, maze-like tunnel.
All this had transpired in under three minutes.