Ch.121116 – Arseria Forest

“Ahhh… haaah… no… I don’t want to be devoured… it hurts… KYAAAAAAAH!”

This was right after defeating the second corpse.

The corpse mage Nocturne grabbed her head and let out a horrifying scream.

Again? At this point, possessing this laurel is becoming more concerning than helpful.

Black markings crawl out from her hands and overtake her entire body.

The girl, her pale skin now covered in black spots, collapses to the ground.

“You killed them. They’re all dead. It’s over now, hahaha… haah… urgh…”

The girl’s neck twisted unnaturally. Eyes burn from within the darkness of her robe.

“So I’ll burn you all the same way.”

[Corpse Mage ‘Nocturne’ summons a random ‘Doll 3’.]

[Infamy difficulty has been set to 10.]

[The Empire’s Final Swordmaster · Reinhardt Schüpot (0/1)]

-IT’S HERE!!!!!!!!!!

-Wait, is the probability rigged?? Today’s stream is legendary

└ What’s the drop rate?

└ No one knows, story mode doesn’t reveal probabilities

└ In Challenger ranked games, object appearance rate is less than 1%

-Normally I’d welcome this with open arms but why now of all times? FFS

-Welcome, world’s #3~

-The whole world is against Adella;;

-What happens if this guy shows up during a tournament? Has that ever happened?

└ No way, these guys like Mephisto never appear in tournaments, use common sense

└ How long has ACK been running and there are still people who don’t watch tournaments?

-If we can just beat him, our combat power will skyrocket

“Why is he taking his anger out on us! Every laurel holder seems to have a screw loose! Except you, of course, sis…!”

-Among them, NoName seems the craziest, don’t you think?

-Adella, shut that mouth of yours!!!

-We don’t have time, just attack!

“I’ll explain everything later. Let’s focus on the enemy for now.”

I thought I only needed to know the enemy’s information for the Nightmare strategy, but I didn’t expect to be studying the lore during dinner time.

Thanks to that, I now understand her despair, knowing both Nocturne’s identity and “my” identity.

The air suddenly grew heavy.

The already sticky air became viscous with moisture, making it hard to breathe.

A clay doll emerged from the ground, gradually taking on color and form.

From within the rising vortex, a man reached for his greatsword.

It should be out of attack range for us, but…

[SaveMeFromGradSchool: I forgot! NoName, step back immediately!]

Instinctively sensing danger, Adella pushed me away.

“Siiiis!”

“…?”

A sword strike cut across the horizon.

KWAGWANG-!

The violent air pressure that followed swept across the ground.

“Ow, it stings…!”

Adella, who took the full impact, clutched her head and rolled on the ground.

The tip of her ear had been sliced off by the sharp blade.

“Heal…!”

Red blood soaked her face around the wound. I hurriedly tried to use mid-level healing, but the magic wouldn’t respond.

[Reinhardt’s barrier field has been deployed. Healing magic cannot be used.]

How promptly it informs us.

In a hurry, I tore off my sleeve to stop the bleeding from her ear.

“Urgh! My ear hurts so much… I’m not missing a piece, am I? My ear is still intact, right?”

“It’ll hurt more if you keep focusing on it. Just keep pressure on it and get out of the barrier field quickly.”

“If I leave, what about you!”

“If too much time passes, healing won’t work. Do you want to live with half an ear forever?”

“What?! It really got cut off? NYAAAAAAAAAAH!”

Such drama over a cut ear. The girl who didn’t even flinch when stabbed in the leg is now crying her eyes out over a small ear injury.

At least she seems to know regeneration magic, so she should be fine as long as she can cast spells.

[LG Chaos: I’m sorry. Actually, I’ve never encountered this boss before…]

[SaveMeFromGradSchool: Makes sense since he doesn’t appear in pro games. How are we supposed to handle this?]

Swordmaster, huh.

Does a Swordmaster in this world have skills on par with Klaus?

Reinhardt Schüpot must be the person Alphonse Schüpot mentioned before.

But to launch a ranged attack without warning from the start…

I had the chance to witness Alphonse’s innate magic, and now it seems like this one is determined to show me what a real ranged attack is.

* * *

[Vtube]

[World of Arsheria] [@worldofarceria_KR]

[World of Arsheria | Nocturne Nailink Character PV – “Secret of Arsheria Forest”]

[Warning: This video contains spoilers. Please watch with caution.]

Hey there, cool person passing by! I’m Nocturne Nailink.

Are you busy? If not, would you like to hear my story?

Well, you see…

Every moment since waking has been nothing but pain.

[Nocturne Nailink! Don’t you dare come out!]

I didn’t open my eyes even when I heard them calling for me.

Because from the moment my eyelids parted, it was hell.

[Has your brain rotted? You should be grateful just to be alive, huh? Do you want to die like the other brats?]

They say this as a threat.

They can’t kill me anyway.

I’m one of the few chosen test subjects, a resource, nutrients. Perhaps these are names I’ve been called more often than “Nocturne.”

Despite my struggles, I was dragged away by the men again.

I knew what they would demand of me.

[Here, take it. Swallow it quickly, we don’t have time.]

What I received was a purple pill.

A month…

A pill containing a month’s worth of magical energy.

This had never happened before… I had resolved to die if pushed to the limit, but that resolve crumbled as fear took over.

[Why are you resisting! Do you need your head cracked open before you’ll crawl in on your own?]

Though I knew resistance against adults was futile, I struggled with all my might.

But all I got in return was merciless beating and regret. And endless self-loathing filled the empty spaces between emotions.

Soon, countless thorns sprouted from the ground.

[Ah…]

The thorns, smelling of soft earth, mercilessly pierced my hands, arms, and legs. They penetrated through. The iron smell of a forge filled the air.

As if not allowing even a death scream, the final thorn stabbed into my neck with a crunch.

A month of hell began.

…

…

The hell grew increasingly horrific.

What should have required a month’s rest after each day became shorter and shorter in cycle.

After emerging from a month in darkness, unable to even scream in pain, I just wanted to die.

Really, never again, absolutely, no human could endure this.

I think I heard from the men that biting your tongue hard enough can kill you. Should I bite my tongue now? Or there’s a sharp branch on the ground. Could I die if I cut my wrists with it?

My heart was pounding so violently I could feel the pain. And at that moment.

[Stop it.]

[…?]

It was a voice as gentle as a spring breeze.

When I turned toward the voice, there was another test subject like me.

[First time seeing another test subject?]

That couldn’t be. I’d been here for 5 years already. What surprised me wasn’t that.

[Your ears…]

[Oh, these?]

Her ears were incredibly long.

They must have been at least half the size of her face.

In my 5 years of experiencing every hell imaginable, all I had developed was a small lump on my ear.

It’s a side effect of the pills.

But for ears to grow that long, how long must she have been trapped in this forest?

[I’m not sure. Looking at recent experiments, I think I’ve been here about a year. It was when cherry blossoms were blooming.]

A year in a place where you can’t see, hear, or move, buried in the ground, where feeling pain is all there is.

It wasn’t normal. And true to her words, her mental state wasn’t normal either.

She stuttered, couldn’t remember what she had just said, her mind wandered, and sometimes she drooled with her mouth hanging open.

But when her mind occasionally returned, we continued our unfinished conversations.

[When that tree is fully grown, a demon will be summoned to this world.]

I realized that the thorns shooting from the ground were the roots of a massive tree. And that the tree’s name was “Yggdrasil.”

[It won’t be long now.]

What do I care if a demon is summoned to this world? My everyday life is already hell.

[Do you have family? Where in the Empire are you from?]

I did.

I don’t remember well, but I had a loving mother and siblings.

I told her how I was brought here tied up in a carriage for dozens of days.

But how did she know I was speaking the Imperial language?

[Didn’t you know? Everyone here is from the Empire. You, me, and those men over there.]

What she told me was shocking.

So all our suffering was to grow that tree…

The Empire used slave children like me as sacrifices, she said.

[But the fruit hasn’t ripened for years.]

She explained why the experiments were getting more intense.

[But there’s still hope.]

She had sent a message for help via pigeon, so someday someone would come to rescue them.

I felt both despair and hope simultaneously.

If someone really came to rescue us, could I see my family again?

I gathered a bit of courage and whispered to her.

“I hope we both survive to meet again.”

But after a day, two days… I never saw her in the forest again.

Oh… wait…! My story isn’t finished yet…

Are you still busy?

If not, could you please save me?

Here in Arsheria Forest, where all the world’s flowers shine brilliantly like stars.

The demons’- KYAAAAAAAH!

[Nightmare Ⅱ]

[-WareSoft-]

* * *

Watching NoName easily handle the Empire’s Final Swordmaster, Nocturne was feeling a mixture of bewilderment and fear.

‘The doll is pushing him back…?’

Even now, her head feels like it’s about to split from borrowing the demon’s power.

Having drawn out all the laurel’s power in exchange for dedicating the rest of her life, she shared the same vision as Reinhardt Schüpot.

A sword with imperceptible edges flies toward her.

The doll’s living instincts were sending warnings.

If she didn’t react immediately, her head would fly off.

There was no finesse in her movements. Nocturne simply moved as the corpse wanted.

Shiiik-

It sounded like wind hitting a window, but the power behind that strike was substantial.

Her heart trembled violently. She kept closing her eyes with each incoming attack.

Nocturne wasn’t used to life-or-death combat.

Yet the reason the doll could continue facing NoName was ultimately the power of the laurel.

The doll kept finding openings even amidst the merciless bombardment.

Feeling this throughout her body, Nocturne felt like crying.

‘Just die… please! Just die already!’

As if her will had been transmitted, Reinhardt’s body lurched forward.

He kicked off the ground and frantically infused aura into his sword.

Nocturne felt the pain of arm muscles tearing and the sword-wielding hand being ripped off entirely.

“Urgh…!”

She had a strong intuition that this might be the final strike.

That’s why, this time with her eyes open, she couldn’t close her mouth at the sight that followed.

The giant’s body was impaled on her sword, dangling in mid-air.

She was shocked to see the arm supporting the Swordmaster’s immense weight with just one hand.

How could a person end up like a chicken skewered on a metal rod? She watched as the woman threw the sword into the wall and slowly walked back toward her.

“No… don’t come… Come, heir of Yggdrasil. No, no! Stay away…!”

Even without a weapon, it was natural to be terrified when facing an abyss of unfathomable depth.

Tak-

Even as the footsteps of death approached right before her, Nocturne Nailink couldn’t raise her head.

Her hands tightly squeezed her own neck.

I’m going to die, this is how I die.

She recalled the days of extending her life by somehow getting under the Imperial Prince’s wing, surviving day by day.

Realizing that karma had finally caught up with her, she resigned herself, but was startled when she saw the woman’s face.

“Sis?”

Though her vision was blurry and dark from being consumed by the laurel, she was certain this was the test subject she had met in Arsheria Forest.

“Hic… urgh… hic… y-you… it was you, sis. I’m so sorry I didn’t recognize you…”

Realizing that the reaper coming to take her life was the test subject she knew, tears welled up from overwhelming sorrow. She also felt an inexplicable sense of relief.

“They said my family… they’re all dead… the Pope burned down the entire forest… hic…”

“No, your family is all alive.”

“…! Really…? Can I trust you again like I did back then…?”

Tears flowed down her blackened skin. NoName brushed away the dark shadows with her finger and said:

“Yes, Nocturne Nailink.”

“Thank you… sis, please… live…”

Nocturne’s body went limp.

But her small hand, like a fern leaf, still preciously held onto NoName’s finger, refusing to let go.

[You have defeated Corpse Mage · Nocturne Nailink.]

After gently closing her eyes and collecting the ring made from the laurel, I left the cave.

NoName suddenly looked up at the indifferent sky.

In a world where the concept of elves doesn’t exist, the soft voice of a woman who called herself an elf echoed:

“This is truly a shitty world too.”

[Part 2: The Eternal Blade, Nocturne’s Tale END]

[Part 3: The Crumbling Tower of Babel]