Ch.21571. The Grand Premise of Strategy.

That phenomenon, that manifestation.

Even as I witnessed it with my own eyes, I couldn’t comprehend it.

A harmony beyond understanding.

Kariel.

Unlike before, the one I reunited with was inherently dark, but…

That scene was even darker and more desolate—no, such expressions couldn’t possibly describe the spectacle.

If I had to compare it to something familiar, it was as if behind him stretched a starry sky, perhaps another heaven and universe, a world resembling those.

Such a bizarre landscape.

Darkness stained black.

An absolute darkness that even light couldn’t penetrate or interfere with.

And yet.

It was brilliant.

More radiant than anything else.

That darkness.

The circle-like void and the light and stems surrounding it like a frame.

Those stems and rings of light, stretching and extending, spreading so abundantly.

With just that, it seemed to effortlessly envelop the entire world in an instant.

I simply couldn’t understand.

A realm of incomprehensibility.

An inexplicable phenomenon.

In the end, I returned to my initial question.

What… what on earth is that?

“Heheheh!”

The War God who had been mercilessly mocking the world until moments ago—his divine status and prestige… vanished in an instant. Detached.

…Suddenly fallen.

Yet he, the War God, was somehow smiling.

At that moment, I regained my senses.

The battle between Kariel and him might not be over yet.

“There must be some conditions, right?”

“……”

Kariel didn’t respond.

Even without being told, without having it spelled out.

Both of them possessed the insight and qualities to intuitively understand what it was.

“A technique designed to thoroughly target only those who have something to lose. How pitiful. Truly pitiful. Such foolishness becomes perfect comedy at this point.”

“……”

“Fine. Let’s say you’ve won this round.”

The War God, in his form of darkness, gradually disappeared, exhaling black smoke.

“You can look forward to our next battle. Next time, I won’t just flick your chin with my finger—I’ll crush it with my fist.”

With that warning, he vanished with disappointing ease…

As if the battle that had just occurred was nothing but a dream.

Except for the pristine ground and ancient floor now in ruins.

Except for the nearby vegetation charred black and reduced to ash by his flames.

…He had truly disappeared without further incident.

“Are you alright?”

“…Yes.”

Kariel sheathed his sword and fastened it to his waist once more.

He answered the Queen’s approach in a low voice.

“I calculated that this would be enough to buy time.”

“But such a hollow defeat for him must have been unexpected.”

“…One plans strategies accounting for even such possibilities. You know this, Your Majesty.”

“……”

The one called War God—the Kariel from another world.

Even if it was just a small fraction, a mere quarter of his memories that had been extracted.

The only one who currently holds those memories intact would be Diana’kis, the Queen of this place.

“Shall we head to the World Tree then?”

“Yes. Whatever happens will happen there.”

However…

“Though I’m not entirely certain, the area around the World Tree is also a realm I cannot fully predict or observe.”

In a way, Kariel himself must possess the two core abilities most essential to elves.

The powers of the Deep Seer and the Far Seer.

…Though in detail, both abilities differed completely in type, method, and nature.

Rather, Kariel’s way of looking deeply was more efficient, skillful, and even more effective than that of the High Elves.

And the future he glimpsed wasn’t a fixed, determined future but possibilities.

The branches that derive from such possibilities. His ability was to glimpse the finite branches and branching points of infinite possibilities.

The Eyes of Vibsarin are cursed divine artifacts.

Those who bear them are destined to be subjugated by the future, unable to handle their power.

However, controlling and regulating them, degrading them from divine artifacts to tools, defining their use from this side… that would be the totality of his current ability to observe and determine future branches.

…Though he was still struggling to handle it properly.

Like fire or iron, their use and effect vary greatly depending on whether they’re handled correctly.

“If he had anticipated your early intervention, he would have certainly prepared for the challenge, or taken corresponding countermeasures.”

“Yes. I’ve considered that as well.”

So for now…

“I’ll do the best I can.”

====

The characteristic of the Demon King that Kariel had warned about was to never allow close combat under any circumstances.

‘He said even a small wound would be the end, right?’

Not just effective attacks, but even minor scratches could be fatal, he’d said.

It’s not like I’m fighting some damn venomous insect.

At least the poisonous sloths in the toxic swamps were slow.

Remira fully acknowledged Kariel’s words as she faced the insane onslaught of reddish thorns and branches extending from what was supposedly armor.

‘It would have been troublesome if I hadn’t known in advance.’

While waiting in front of the World Tree, she could, to some extent, perceive the divine status of the current Demon King occurring in the distance by listening carefully, even using spirit arts to read the aftermath.

Without needing to see, by extremely developing her hearing and tactile senses, she could make detailed inferences.

The fairy warrior’s senses, already naturally exceptional and further honed to the extreme, had developed into a systematic inherent characteristic that ordinary humans would consider supernatural.

However, if it came to facing off at full power in a plain area without terrain features or obstacles, elves weren’t in a position to claim superiority over humans or other races.

‘The right place at the right time, huh?’

But under certain conditions, elves were so formidable that no one could even imagine defeating them.

…However.

The problem was that this didn’t quite fit Remira’s current situation.

She swung her wooden sword to deflect the enemy’s attack.

Focus on defense and evasion rather than attack.

For actual offense, she retreated, quickly transformed her wooden sword into a bow, tied her hair as a bowstring, and used branches extending from the wooden bow as arrows—this was quite special in its own way.

‘It’s annoying that without fletching, I’m limited to short range.’

Still, the draw weight was good, and the wooden bow performed surprisingly well, making it quite exceptional.

Her hair, infused with spirit arts, didn’t break easily either.

If she had more time, she might have twisted several strands together to make a proper temporary one.

…But not now.

‘Just in case.’

Having two bows wasn’t a reason not to use them.

Besides, the bow made from her wooden sword wasn’t her usual short bow but a special longbow.

It could certainly substitute as a striking pole, if not quite a spear.

The tip could be adjusted to stab depending on the situation.

‘…Looking at it this way, this is also a divine artifact.’

And apparently, this was the worst weapon that the Demon King feared most.

-фÿĦʼnʬʕ∈ʨ-!!

The other side seemed quite angry.

Though the language was incomprehensible, the emotion behind it came through clearly.

Reddish branches extending through the armor shot out like the thorn arrows fired by certain monsters and beasts.

A rain of dozens of thorn arrows quickly covered the spot where Remira had been.

By now airborne, she further moved her body as if flying by creating wind through spirit arts.

The string of the longbow in her hand stretched to its extreme.

The arrow nocked on it was a large yet sleek wooden arrow, long enough to resemble a sword.

As it left the string, it split the air with a boom similar to a drum burst, creating a steep gust.

-!!!!

From the Demon King’s entire body, not just branches but entire crimson tree trunks were uprooted and collided with the fired arrow.

BOOM!

The sound was like a massive arrow from a siege weapon piercing a wooden fortress.

“Haa!”

The one fortunate thing was that the Demon King also didn’t seem to be in good condition.

Above all, judging by his movements and seemingly bound feet, the other side was not just struggling but essentially forcing himself.

…They say beings from the demon realm have their powers greatly reduced when they come to the middle realm.

Even so, to be this powerful—how formidable would he be at full strength?

Moreover, this was someone who was not at full capacity, severely injured, staggering—and yet still this powerful.

‘But I can’t just keep retreating either.’

She was in a defensive position, not in a situation where she could flee while striking from behind or the flank.

…If not for that, she could have not only held her ground but even guaranteed victory.

…Slowly but surely, the other side was approaching the World Tree.

She didn’t know what the Demon King intended to do here or what scheme he was planning.

…But it was clear it wouldn’t have a positive impact.

-ʨʬÿʼnʕ∈Ħ!!!

“Hmm?”

But regardless of the crisis she felt, the other side seemed quite displeased with the situation.

The Demon King hunched over.

An unknown pressure and killing intent exploded from him.

As crimson currents swirled around her, the entire area was being buried in a reddish flow.

‘What is he trying to do now?!’

She quickly nocked an arrow and fired.

Once again, crimson trees sprouted like a shield wall to block it.

But that wasn’t the only problem.

Suddenly, crimson trees began to grow around the area, enveloping and covering it.

Moreover, as branches and stems moved, the Demon King grabbed one and was rapidly approaching through it.

It looked like he was hanging from moving ground.

‘This is completely different from the Demon Kings I’ve heard about in rumors….’

But it was clearly the epitome of abnormality.

As the Demon King closed the distance with his charging momentum, she quickly transformed her longbow into a shield wall and held it out.

THUD!

The shield shook but didn’t break through.

However, having taken the full impact, her entire body was jolted and practically thrown into the air.

‘How am I supposed to withstand something like that charging at me!’

By now, the trees had begun to take form as if they were living beings.

Moreover.

Grr-rrk! Gruk!

…Now they were even growling.

Though the form was still crude, it was gradually taking shape through the sprouting and tangling trees, vines, branches, and stems.

‘It’s not… a summon, is it?’

By now, Remira herself had been pushed back to a position just dozens of steps away from the World Tree.

However, the tree monster in front of her, larger than the Demon King and as big as a house, was in a dangerously good position to ram into the World Tree with just a few strides.

‘Will this work on that thing too?’

While the weapon was like a natural enemy to the Demon King, there was no guarantee it would work on that summon? minion? servant? Whatever it was.

Even if it did work, that thing was clearly not a normal living being by any standard.

And such things usually… need to have their core or vital point destroyed to be eliminated or neutralized.

The lack of information bred hesitation.

Though it was just a few seconds, the time it takes to breathe in and out once or twice.

…For someone, it was an eternity in an instant.

Grrrr-rk!

As the eerie roar permeated the area,

the strange creature visibly hunched its entire body.

Then the trees and branches attached to its body creaked and snapped with a wooden sound, spewing countless small branches and bark.

‘Is, is it just going to charge?’

That’s the stance four-legged beasts often take before pouncing, isn’t it?

‘Can I block it?’

Earlier, I was sent flying by something not even half its volume.

And now something with even greater volume and mass is charging with a proper stance?

…This is asking for death!

“Ugh!”

It didn’t even give me a chance to hesitate.

Before I could even groan, it was already airborne.

Reflexively, I tried to form a thicker, sturdier shield wall.

…But this strange divine artifact I inherited couldn’t endlessly extend trees and branches like the Demon King’s.

‘What should I do?’

Without any chance to respond, the collision had already happened.

CRACK!

The sound of wood colliding, breaking, and shattering made my knees weak.

However… somehow the impact felt lighter than expected…?

‘Huh?’

White dust sparkled as it rose.

Dust? Yes, it was dust.

But this was…

The chill transmitted from the hand holding the shield.

With just that.

Remira could truly, if briefly, feel relief.

The massive shield wall she had formed was now covered by an even larger ice barrier.