episode_0043

It was hot.

Every single cell in my body sent that intense sensation to my brain, as if there was no need to perceive it with magic.

Even though the flames weren’t directed at me, my flesh felt like it was burning up, agonizingly.

How much magic did [Menckar] unleash?

No matter how much magic was unleashed, all that came back was a colossal beam of magic, radiating a blue light.

Nothing could be heard.

Ellicia’s shouting, Brownie’s barking, the chimeras’ death cries –

None of the sounds I had anticipated were audible.

Only a droning, humming sound, created as the beam passed, pierced my ears.

I couldn’t breathe properly.

Searing hot air fiercely passed through my nose, as if to melt my lungs.

No, perhaps it was a better choice for me to block my sense of smell like this.

Since I wouldn’t have to smell the stench of the chimera’s decaying corpses burning.

The cold light of the moon slowly descended from my neck.

That light soon enveloped my body, but perhaps it felt jealousy towards me, who was receiving even more moonlight.

The wrath of the person sitting on the World Tree’s throne inside, I could intuitively feel, even without revealing my magic.

“Ah, Ellicia. Are you hurt anywhere?”

“…..”

No answer came back.

Was this question meaningless to her?

Of course.

Because everything around the throne had been blown away, except for the throne itself.

Since the magic was so dense, and it also contained the World Tree’s magic, I worried the throne might also be blown away. However, the mountain of chimera corpses and countless shattered experiment bottles in front of the throne told me that Faust had protected the throne with all her might.

I tried to grab a nearby tree to steady my stumbling steps, but there was nothing to hold onto. Though I felt like collapsing right then and there, I walked towards the throne with those weakened steps.

The door Mother had specially created for me to enter the World Tree had a large hole ripped through it and could no longer serve as a door, and the same was true for one of the walls inside the World Tree.

Would Ellicia truly help me, even after seeing this situation?

Should I no longer expect her help?

Couldn’t she wait for me, walking so slowly?

The black-robed figures, those whom I had grown sick of seeing in the game, emerged holding swords that glowed with strange colors and began to surround Ellicia.

‘Do I have to expend energy here too…’

Though I possessed something beyond mental strength, I didn’t know what Faust had prepared inside, so I couldn’t help but hesitate to expend any more energy.

Ultimately, I raised my hand, intending to awaken something else that lay deep in slumber.

“Hey, Ray. Do I just need to deal with everyone here?”

An unexpected answer.

What elf would help someone who had harmed their Mother?

For me, who held such thoughts, this was an even more surprising answer.

“You don’t resent me for harming Mother.”

“Though we haven’t spent much time together.”

She turned to me and said.

“Still, you were sincere about Mother’s treatment, so I trust you.”

There are many advantages to using magic to perceive one’s surroundings.

One of them is being able to see my own expression.

Ah, even I could see it was a rather bewildered expression.

“Brownie, help Ellicia here.”

I, who had been momentarily dumbfounded, pointed at Ellicia, who was preparing to draw her bowstring, and spoke.

“Why, do I look so weak that I need the help of this small creature? I do have skills, you know?”

I smiled at her words and said,

“It will definitely be helpful.”

Leaving those words behind, I trudged towards the World Tree’s throne.

Perhaps my approach bothered the black-robed figures.

They charged at me, swinging the ominous swords in their hands.

However, those swords never reached me.

Arrows began to pierce their backs, one by one, and soon, as I stepped inside the World Tree, even Brownie’s roar echoed through the [Garden].

You are not the only ones who benefit from the full moon’s night.

Brownie seemed to be shouting this.

The mental strength that had been consumed by [Menckar] recovered as I drew closer to the throne.

Did she wish to converse with me?

She, who hadn’t moved an inch from the throne, sat still on the throne as if she were a doll.

Crunching, as I walked, stepping on the now-ashy chimera corpses, I finally faced her.

“Greetings. I apologize for the abruptness, but could you please stand up for a moment?”

I expressed my intention not to kill the executive in front of me, as much as possible.

“Hmm, why are you so impatient? In the carriage, you faltered when I got close, but now you’ve become a bit braver, haven’t you?”

“Are you a dual personality? The person I saw back then wasn’t like this.”

The most punchable tone among the smug tones I could use.

Even with such disrespectful words, her body didn’t move at all.

“Both are me. Anyway, I have a lot to ask you. First, why do you say ‘[saw]’? Aren’t you blind?”

“I have a separate way of seeing the world.”

Strange.

Was the person in front of me truly Faust?

Red hair like the sun, red eyes comparable to it, and finally, a youthful face.

It was no different from what I had seen in the game.

In fact, it was so identical that it felt alien.

However, my intuition sensed something was off.

Her mouth moved with her words, but no strong emotion was visible on her face.

If Faust was in a timid state, perhaps, but was she truly someone who could express such restrained emotions?

“Hmm, so that’s how it is. Then how did you create the barrier in that forest?”

“I have no idea what barrier you are referring to.”

“It’s no use playing ignorant. If you tell me what that barrier is, you can leave the [Garden] without a scratch. Oh, as a bonus, I’ll send the elf fighting outside, spattering blood, along with you.”

“I truly know nothing about it.”

“Really? Then die.”

I felt nothing at all.

I didn’t realize until the very last moment that a being devoid of magic was striking my side.

I only perceived it through my heightened sense of touch and hearing, having become blind.

“Gah…!”

I let out a single cry and was slammed into the World Tree’s wall.

Weak.

The chimera’s fist hadn’t even managed to knock me out, despite me wearing no proper armor.

However, that wasn’t my problem.

‘Magic… no chimera was being detected by the returning magic…?’

[It hurts…it hurts…it hurts so much….]

Only that chilling sound occasionally resonated from various parts of the wall, and I felt nothing else.

[Heart Sword]

I drew all my swords, but what more could a blind person who couldn’t see do?

All I could do was swing my swords at the air or position them around me to prepare for the next attack, which could come from anywhere.

‘Do they have bodies that can pass through magic…? What a coincidence…’

Fighting these monsters would take too much time.

I turned my head and looked at Faust, who was watching me suffer, chin in hand.

Chimeras are her experimental subjects, so if I kill her, won’t that solve it?

And it would be over if I just took out and activated the item in my inventory before the chimeras could charge at me.

[Heart Sword]

I unleashed a Heart Sword towards the neck of that frail girl.

And then, a slicing sound was heard.

A hollow sound.

However, the magic returning to me told me:

That the neck of the person it referred to as Faust had already been severed, and that it had clearly seen hot blood gushing from her head.

“Haha!”

However, my ears revealed the magic’s lie.

Her cheerful laughter still echoed from the throne, but my magic remained silent.

My magic was merely relaying unbelievable words to me.

That Faust’s body, which had been sprawled on the floor, had stood up on its own, wiped the blood from its neck, and returned its face to its original position.

“You, you really do see with magic, don’t you?”

Only Faust’s highly invigorated words resonated in my ears.

Did she think I would be flustered by such an attack?

In truth, I was quite surprised by my magic’s deception.

But that was all.

If this chimera had been even slightly stronger, I would have been immediately defeated.

“Do you happen to swim well?”

“What…?”

The appropriate remedy for an opponent with high mobility is,

[Cetus-style, Type 2]

Range, I expanded the range of [Kapaljidma].

Wider still, yet not extending beyond the World Tree.

Higher still, yet not piercing the World Tree any further.

Perhaps the stats that transcended mental strength were helpful, allowing the orcas to leap and play within an even wider area.

This wasn’t a lightly used [Kapaljidma].

Still, considering its range, it was similar to those of a higher tier.

Shouldn’t its name be a little different?

[Kapaljidma – Limit]

The sound of orcas,

The mighty roar of orcas, resonated within the World Tree, silencing the chimeras’ cries.