Chapter 95 – Because It Depends on the Other Side (3)

From the massive creature, black liquid poured and splattered from between its body segments, like blood oozing out from wounds.

‘Why are its minions here?!’

Barugo’s eyes widened in shock.

Among the five great calamities of the Demon Realm, the Demon Realm Tree (Makaisu) is one branch.

It is also the entity, domain, concept, and foundation known as the Mother of All Calamities.

And that thing was a creature formed from a fragment torn from the body of the Demon Realm Tree.

No, calling it a living creature would be a stretch.

If the World Tree of the Middle World is known by the epithet “Tree of Life,” then the Demon Realm Tree is called the “Tree of Annihilation” or the “Tree of Death.”

And, as proof, nothing that could be called the residue of life could be felt from it.

A rotting corpse wouldn’t look much worse.

What little living flesh it had was more like the bark of a rotten, dead tree.

What little muscle showed through looked as if the hide had been peeled from a living creature and left to rot, black, oozing, a grotesque sight.

Looking closer, its form was a mass of thick tree trunks and ancient wood tangled together, hard to even describe.

Yet it still had facial features and even four limbs.

Even its tail, stuck on the rear, was as grotesque as the rest.

Instead of fur, it had countless tangled branches and vines, arranged almost as if they were parasitic.

Tentacles bursting from its belly, blood-red moss and ashen mushrooms sprouting near its eyes, 

Overall, its colors were black, red, dark, and murky.

But when it opened its mouth to roar, inside it glowed with a reddish vitality.

Inside the black, tooth-shaped jaws, countless tentacles, vines, and branches stretched out in place of a tongue.

Grr!

Rrr, rk!

It swept its gaze around, as if searching for something.

Then, its gaze stopped in one corner.

“What?!”

It was looking at him.

Barugo felt a clear sense of hostility and malice from it.

It might sound strange to feel animosity from such a creature, but his instincts were blaring a warning.

This was dangerous.

No, he himself would be fine!

“Get out of here, now!”

Barugo barked at his subordinates.

Taking it as a declaration of war, the rotting earth dragon let out another monstrous roar.

Then it hurled itself forward.

Kuuuuung!

Its bulk slammed down, shaking the earth as if an earthquake had struck.

Those who failed to escape in time, swept up in the aftermath, were likely buried and killed without even a chance to scream.

“What kind of sorcery is this?”

Suddenly soaring into the air and looking down on the chaos below, Barugo threw a glance to one side.

‘Is there a connection?’

There was someone sitting slumped, staring blankly at the spectacle.

A black-haired boy.

Yet, on his face, if only faintly, was a hint of resolve, as if he’d anticipated something like this.

“Damn.”

The earth dragon raised its head.

It was certain now.

He was being seen as a target, prey.

Why was that?

‘Is it trying to protect him?’

Did the minion torn from the Demon Realm Tree want to protect that boy?

Or was it rage at Barugo for trying to harm him?

He wasn’t sure, but at least the reason was clear.

‘Then.’

It was worth testing.

No matter how threatening that thing was, 

…this wasn’t the Demon Realm.

Barugo had long since adapted to this place.

The air was different.

The energy pervading the world was different. It took years to adapt.

Here, the world itself was poison to his kind.

No, 

The Demon Realm was itself a space made of poison and malice.

They were born and raised in such a place.

Here, what would be considered deadly poison, air, sunlight, food, was something they’d grown used to.

That’s why, when the Demon King’s army invaded, the very first priority was to “demonify” the region, change the environment, claim territory.

Anyone unable to adapt would suffer just surviving here.

Emotions can’t be suppressed. Rationality, mind, and soul can’t be controlled by the laws of this place.

Breathing, seeing, hearing, everything is free.

Unrestrained emotions, untamed will, it’s like rampaging.

No restrictions means no control.

It means nothing to stop them.

It’s chaos.

Everything that would be a blessing is actually poison here.

…But once you adapt, it’s nothing.

And the mana that fills this place is different from demonic power.

Similar, but different.

Those who can’t adapt

become addicted, weaken, and collapse.

“That goes for you, too.”

That rotting thing couldn’t possibly adapt to this world.

It wouldn’t be able to act for long.

But, 

…it didn’t need much time to wreak havoc and deal devastating damage.

This was a problem.

If things went wrong, they’d be blamed for it all.

If that happened, even countries that had been passive would move to wipe them out, including the Empire.

‘If this was deliberate, it’d be a cunning move…’

But that couldn’t be.

Not possible.

Even the Demon King risked his life just to cross worlds.

To summon that here? Without any contract, ritual, or process?

Or had someone prepared for this without them knowing?

No, there hadn’t been any signs.

‘No.’

Now wasn’t the time to think.

Maybe it was his position as a leader,  a bad habit had taken root.

‘For now.’

Barugo’s form dropped down.

The scene was like a hawk, soaring in flight, spotting its prey and swooping down.

Its target: precisely where Cariel was collapsed.

And, as if sensing it, the earth dragon hurled itself forward.

If it looked like it was desperately trying to protect him… was that just a simple misunderstanding?

For such a massive thing, its reaction was surprisingly agile.

But it was still a step too slow.

All it could do was recklessly throw its body into Barugo’s descent.

Decaying flesh erupted, black bodily fluid spraying through the air like blood.

Grrrrr!

With a howl like a boiling swamp, the earth dragon twisted its body.

Barugo, bursting out of the monster’s body into the air, was astonishingly unharmed.

That was likely because the red lightning encasing his entire body wrapped him like full-body armor.

Kuung!

A moment later, the earth dragon crashed to the ground.

Its tail swept across the area, sending those nearby scrambling away in fear.

Fortunately, the fourth tier’s summit was spacious enough, otherwise, they all would’ve tumbled down, and the whole village would have been thrown into chaos.

Just rolling its body a few times would be enough to completely devastate the entire residential area.

And to have wounded such a creature, even that legion commander was a monster in his own right.

“We shouldn’t be standing around here like this, should we?!”

From the moment the thing appeared, Luillin, Leo, and the others were about to rush toward Cariel.

But the pressure radiating from the earth dragon was an overwhelming threat, far too much for mere humans to endure.

Yet the rotten, decaying dragon, or whatever it was, modeled after a lizard or dragon, had clearly made the monstrous legion commander its target.

Still, even if they wanted to ignore it, nothing about its bodily fluids, vines, or bark fragments could be taken lightly.

Some of what fell to the ground actually twitched like living things, suddenly sending out shoots and forming the shapes of beasts, or even humanoid figures.

In an instant, a horde of large and small monsters? Demonic beasts? Their numbers multiplied exponentially, and dealing with them was a nightmare.

“Why did something like that suddenly show up?!”

Luciri shouted, whipping up a gust of wind in frustration.

From her gloved black hand, a dense green wind seeped out.

It spread, enveloping her body and swirling around.

Naturally, the fur lining her dress hem rippled wildly, like the mane of a living beast.

“We can worry about that later!”

Leo, surprisingly agile, swung his sword.

Though he didn’t seem to have learned much, he was so used to combat that he cut down the rushing monsters without hesitation or mercy.

“Ugh! My hands are all sticky!”

The monsters burst apart from Luillin’s strikes, exploding and splattering black liquid like sap, or bodily fluid, everywhere. The whole area, and Luillin herself, quickly became a mess.

“No wonder the omens were bad! Was it because of that? What kind of disaster is this?!”

Deik, somehow already wielding a small crossbow, shot down enemies one by one.

Kkiek!

His arrows must have had some special effect, when they struck, the monsters’ bodies burned and smoked instantly.

Meanwhile,

Luciri’s wind carried the embers, and suddenly fire was cast into the air.

The unleashed flames rode the wind, sweeping the area in a storm. Most of the monsters caught in it screamed as they burned.

“This is why everyone goes on about magic!”

“Less talking, more moving!”

Ignoring Deik’s admiring remark, Luciri snapped back.

Whenever a monster moved too aggressively, Luciri used her wind to slow them down.

Or, if an ally needed to leap, she’d boost their movement, or their weapons, making up for any lack of strength or speed.

Defense? Just don’t get hit.

Her wind couldn’t stop attacks directly, but she could deflect or delay them.

Luciri demonstrated a remarkable mastery of wind manipulation in that regard.

And with her support, Leo and Deik dashed around, dispatching enemies with ease.

While the earth dragon continued to pressure and drive Barugo back, Luillin, Leo, and the group managed to reach Cariel.

“Are you all right?”

“Teacher? Are you hurt?”

“……”

Cariel sat, steadying his breath, and gave a slight nod.

He looked so weak, it seemed he could die at any moment if left alone.

His complexion was deathly pale, and he looked like he had no strength left to rise.

And yet… so he fought in that state against an opponent like that.

The small giant dominating the rotten earth dragon and mowing down its creations with ease, no farmer at harvest could have reaped so efficiently.

He was a wolf among ants, not sheep.

“Do you know why that thing suddenly appeared?”

Luciri asked, just in case, but Cariel wasn’t in any condition to answer.

Even if he was, it was doubtful he would have.

“We can worry about that later, let’s just get away from here, ”

As Leo reached out to support Cariel,

Cariel suddenly grabbed Leo’s forearm.

“……”

It was as if he’d finally come to his senses.

His golden eyes, blazing with will, fixed directly on Leo.