Chapter 221 - Successor (2)

RUMBLE-!

Intense vibrations were erupting beneath the roots of the brilliantly shining World Tree.

The vibrations were the gestures of the World Tree trying to raise itself, and also the rough shouts of the Dragon Slaying Sword trying to connect the worlds.

"Ooh...."

The old elders looked up at the newly created world of the elves, their mouths wide open.

The cone-shaped world filling the inside of the young World Tree.

The sight of the barrier formula, built up over countless years, slowly descending stimulated a strange emotion alongside extreme tension.

"Finally!"

The elves' barrier formula, finally reaching the Dragon Slaying Sword, slowly began to melt away.

Melting from its base and turning into glowing powder, the barrier formula, regardless of its massive volume, became a single line and was slowly being engraved onto the surface of the sword.

"It's done. It's done!"

Shouts of joy erupted from the mouths of the elders who saw the sight.

Because it was distinctly different from the swords they had seen before.

Unlike other swords, the Dragon Slaying Sword neither exploded nor crumbled; it simply stood there, clearly revealing its natural silver light.

WOONG- WOOOONG-!

Even though the rough magic formulas digging into its body were painful right now.

Despite that, the Dragon Slaying Sword stood resolutely, struggling to endure it all.

Because to the Dragon Slaying Sword, born from starlight, this land currently in crisis was like its birthplace.

"...."

However, Vlad's expression grew increasingly serious as he stood in the back, listening to the screams the Dragon Slaying Sword was letting out.

The elders might not have known, but Vlad, who shared the same world as the Dragon Slaying Sword, noticed that his sword had reached its limit.

And as if confirming that thought, the melting cone-shaped world slowly began to tilt.

RUMBLE-!

It was a collapse that could be heard not with the ears, but through the soul.

Watching the cone-shaped world lose its balance like a falling tree, the elders, who had been soaked in joy just moments ago, began to turn ashen.

The old Geronimo, who was watching this scene alongside them, let out a sighing remark, as if he found it hard to accept.

"No.... This can't be."

Yet, despite his desperate cry, the elves' world continued to tilt precariously.

The Dragon Slaying Sword supporting it from beneath was trying desperately to keep its balance, but the burden it had to accept was heavy, and the world it had to unfold was too vast.

RUMBLE-!

The young World Tree watching the sight was crying.

As if lamenting the elves' world that was about to fall onto it.

However, unable to extend a single branch toward the still-unconnected world, the young World Tree could only tremble as it watched the collapsing world of the elves.

* * *

GRRRR-!

ROAR!

The vibrations echoing in the forest were unusual.

It was not only vibrations echoing from beneath the ground, but also because there were entities trampling the earth above.

"There are too many! Captain!"

"The traps are useless!"

There were corpses running forward, staining the azure forest pitch-black.

With their pure white eyes glaring, they ran recklessly, paying no mind to the arrows shot by the elves, only advancing toward a single destination.

CRASH! BOOM!

The loud sounds of traps collapsing.

Even as they were buried in deep pits and pierced by surging wooden spears, the black wave heading for Aushrina showed no signs of stopping.

"... We retreat!"

There was no need to even check the front.

Confirming that the first line of defense to stop the intruders had been breached, the captain gritted his teeth and lit the nearby beacon.

"Everyone, fall back! Join the second line!"

Following the captain's command, the elves who had come out to intercept hurriedly began to fall back.

However, the black wave of corpses approaching without giving them a moment to breathe possessed a ferocious speed that caught up to even the elves' agility.

ROAAAAAR-!

Damn it! When did they get here!

Above the scream someone let out, black smoke was rising.

That smoke, visible even from Aushrina, had risen much faster than Varadis expected.

"Smoke is visible, Lord Varadis."

"...."

Surveying the situation in front of the palisades, Varadis bit his lip at the report from his side.

"We have received a report that the second line has engaged the enemy!"

"Captain. They say not a single person from the first line has been seen retreating."

Varadis's complexion wavered once more at the report that not a single person had managed to join them.

They were personnel strictly selected to be placed on the most dangerous first line, but the enemy's advance easily exceeded Varadis's expectations.

'What ridiculous speed.'

Disrupt with arrows and block with traps.

Varadis had tried to buy as much time as possible before the enemy reached Aushrina, but his attempts were turning to nothing from the very beginning.

'And there are too many.'

It was a forest like a natural fortress, but even this dense forest was insufficient to block all the thousands of corpses unleashed by the wicked ones.

What's more, for some reason, the corpses rushing forward were charging toward the elves' location without the slightest hesitation, even in the complex forest paths.

"It's black magic."

In that moment, a low voice was heard from behind Varadis.

It was the voice of the Luga tribe godmother, biting her tobacco pipe.

"Since they walk in darkness, there's no need for them to search for the right path."

Though a wicked existence, black magic also originated from mystery.

At their methods, which only those of a similar kind could recognize, the Luga tribe godmother tapped out her pipe ash as if displeased.

"How many more enemies will be coming in?"

"... I'll take a look for you."

They weren't colleagues or comrades yet, but the godmother decided to grant Varadis's request.

Because behind Aushrina's palisades they were currently defending, there were not only elves but also the precious children of the Luga tribe.

HUUU-

Acrid smoke filled the air from the breath the godmother exhaled heavily.

Her breath, riding the wind, had soon crossed the forest and was heading toward the human forces outside.

'To think this many dark mages were gathered here.'

Beyond the forest seen through her mystery, dozens of dark mages were standing side by side.

They were chanting bizarre spells, attuned to the worlds each had built up.

However, the Luga tribe godmother was able to spot a woman emitting an intense presence among them.

'Is it that woman?'

Even at a glance, she was a woman in black mourning clothes who looked extraordinary.

Hidden behind a thick veil, she couldn't be seen in detail, but even just by looking at her bright red lips, one could guess her beauty.

"....!"

The Luga tribe godmother, who had been keeping a close eye on the woman, momentarily stopped breathing from the goosebumps that crawled up her back.

Because the woman was smiling, as if she had noticed the godmother's gaze.

"Hello."

When the woman met her eyes with a smile as pale as a corpse's, the Luga tribe godmother hurriedly waved her hand, scattering the gathered smoke.

"Oh, my god...."

"What's wrong?"

Varadis asked, seeing the Luga tribe godmother suddenly have a fit of terror, but she simply stood up with her cane, saying nothing.

"She is a very exalted mage. I have truly never seen such a being before."

"...."

"This won't be easy for either you or me."

With the godmother's words, the earth-shaking sounds were getting closer.

Hearing those heavy sounds, Varadis became certain that even the second line he had set up would collapse before long.

* * *

"... You, just now."

The old Geronimo who had let out a sigh watching their collapsing world.

At the moment when he had to give up on everything, Geronimo could feel a gust of wind brushing past his shoulder.

"Grrrgh!"

It was the wind created by the man who dashed onto the altar before anyone could stop him.

Vlad, who had ascended the altar along with the wind, was already holding onto his sword with a familiar touch.

"... Why does this hurt so much!"

A sharp sensation like having his teeth gouged at dug straight into his hands, but even so, Vlad didn't let go of his tight grip.

Extremely shocked at the sight of Vlad pushing against the gradually falling Dragon Slaying Sword, the elders just gaped, unable to even scream.

["Step away at once! It's a toxic formula that a human body cannot handle!"]

Even Quijano, who was shocked by Vlad's sudden action, told him to quickly let go of his grip, but Vlad merely continued struggling to prop up the falling Dragon Slaying Sword.

"Then what am I supposed to do! They said this is the last chance!"

Just as Vlad said, the cone shining inside the World Tree was truly the elves' last chance holding their hope.

Vlad knew all too well that if this barrier formula failed, the only thing that could protect Aushrina would be the hastily erected palisades Varadis had set up, and even those wouldn't hold out for long.

["... But!"]

But he shouldn't be doing it like this.

What was visible might have been the Dragon Slaying Sword, but the essence that sword was trying to embrace was the world of the young World Tree.

The elves' magic formula was an attempt to connect to it, so what Vlad was currently trying to lift was not just a single sword, but a deep world as vast as Aushrina itself.

"Knight of the humans! Step away at once!"

"If you stay there, you will be crushed to death by its presence!"

GRINDDD-!

Along with the elders' shouts, the vibrations echoing from beneath the ground were growing fiercer.

It was the scream let out by the ground, unable to bear the increasingly heavy world.

"Gwaaah!"

However, Vlad simply continued pushing, holding onto his sword as if he couldn't hear them at all.

The golden world of Vlad, whose left eye was instinctively closed, shone as if it would burst, but as if that wasn't enough, the tips of Vlad's feet planted on the ground were slowly being pushed back.

["Close it!"]

"I already did!"

["Close your right eye too!"]

He had to raise it not through his physical body, but through the world he possessed.

But since Vlad was already fully opening his world, the only one who could help Vlad's world trying to prop up the sword now was Quijano residing within him.

"Urgh!"

With his closed left eye he had to see his own world, and with his open right eye he had to see this world.

Vlad had learned that this was the balance for the righteous path and the only way to not be buried in the world that was himself, but now there was no other choice.

["Slowly. Catch your breath."]

When Vlad closed his right eye and turned away from reality, all he saw was pitch-black darkness.

However, from that moment, the elders standing in reality could see the figure of someone emerging through Vlad's right eye.

That faint figure was standing beside the straining Vlad, trying to lift the falling sword together.

["Look through the sword you're holding."]

The image of the young World Tree trying to enter this world through the sword he held.

The World Tree, whose only channel to the world was the young Divine Maiden, was trying to create another channel called the Dragon Slaying Sword to prevent the crisis on the land it had taken root in.

["You see it now, right?"]

It was his own world that he was falling deeply into because he couldn't control it, but the firmly established voice of Quijano was still above it all.

Raising his head at that voice, Vlad could see a single small root wriggling above him.

["Bring that one here."]

Quijano's voice was getting further away, but Vlad knew what he was trying to say.

His world was like a brush painting the world, but to someone else, it could also serve as a pure white canvas.

Looking at the green world wanting to draw something through him, Vlad reached up his hand with all his might.

* * *

CRASH! THUD! BANG!

The sounds shaking the palisades were loud.

Even the large palisades were shaking from the mindlessly ignorant body slams that no living being could perform.

ROAAAR!

SCREECH! SKREEE!

"Captain!"

A corpse that finally squeezed its way through was fiercely baring its teeth.

Its head was half-crushed, but it had finally created a gap, and that gap was gradually widening from its violent head-shaking that paid no mind to its own body.

"Do not step back! This is the last place we can hold!"

Now that the painstakingly created second line had collapsed and only the palisade, their last bastion, remained, the only thing Varadis could say to the elves was not to step back.

WHOOSH-!

Acrid smoke began to spew forth following the breath the godmother forcefully exhaled.

Her smoke, which agonized even the dead, caused even the corpses to retreat, but that gap was also only for a fleeting moment.

THUD! THUD! THUD!

At that moment, there was a sight visible through the gap left by the retreating corpses.

A massive body distinctly visible even through the vision obscured by smoke.

It looked as if every single corpse had been smashed together to create it, a shape that induced vomiting just by looking at it, but the impact that massive body would cause would surely be real.

"That crazy bastard is charging!"

"Everyone, brace the palisades! They can't collapse!"

Everyone knew that not even the slightest hole could be allowed.

Because the rotten water that would pour through that hole was currently abundant outside.

"Loose your arrows!"

"What the hell are the druids doing!"

As if someone's shout had become a signal, a herd of boars from the forest began to rush toward the utterly hideous giant patchwork corpse.

The formation threatening the palisades swayed greatly at the sudden appearance of the boar herd, but as if the limits of their weight class couldn't be helped, even the charge of those powerful boars couldn't stop the movement of the giant patchwork corpse.

CRACK!

The palisades the elves had painstakingly erected were pushed far back by its rough charge, which they could not withstand.

GUOAAAR-!

No, they were breached.

They were palisades planted deeply in preparation for this very situation, but as if unable to withstand the charge of the patchwork corpse, which was more vicious than any siege weapon, one side had completely collapsed.

Block it right now!

It must not be breached!

Everyone began rushing out to block the gap that was finally forming.

Warriors, both elves and the Luga tribe alike, rushed out and fiercely resisted, swinging their weapons, but a hole in a broken dam could no longer stop the incoming wave.

ROAAAAAR!

The massive wave that had been blocked by the palisades until now began creeping into Aushrina through the slightly opened hole.

Even the warriors who tried to hold their ground were starting to be swept away by that fierce wave that could no longer be blocked even with their bodies.

"Damn it!"

BOOOM!

Varadis's left eye, watching the scene, was burning as if it would burst.

However, the pentagram engraved in his left eye alone was insufficient to stop the surging corpses.

"No!"

Following Varadis's sharp scream, the black waves began to invade the elves' world.

The world of the wicked ones, leaving no possibilities wherever it swept past, was swarming toward Aushrina.

"... Take root."

At that desperate moment when the poisonous fangs of the wicked ones were bared wide toward Aushrina, a green wave quietly spread out.

SWOOOOOSH-

A wave beginning to spread calmly, like a crisp autumn wind brushing past a wheat field.

The green wave starting from a Sword Path someone had drawn quietly cleaved the corpses along the flowing wind and approached the fallen palisades.

"Vlad?"

At the end of the quiet wave, only the clear serenity held by the forest arrived.

Recognizing the person who had created the wave, Varadis widened his eyes in surprise, but Vlad, whose eyes were closed, simply smiled to himself without recognizing him.

"That's right. Just like that."

Conversing with the voice of the World Tree, which could now be heard through his world.

On the surface of Vlad's once again raised sword, complex formulas that hadn't been seen before were densely drawn.

"Try taking root once."

RUUUMBLE-

Along with Vlad's words, the green paint directed at this world began to paint its own picture.

The world of the World Tree, trying to be drawn not through the young Divine Maiden but through Vlad's sword, was entirely lit in green and entirely verdant.

Seeing that color starting from the tip of Vlad's sword, Varadis could only watch the sight being painted before him in disbelief.

"What on earth is this...."

The palisades were standing up.

They raised their bodies, which had already taken deep root.

It was a palisade completely broken and covered in wounds, but green sprouts blooming everywhere were already mending the trees' wounds.

Even the revived ones simply stopped and raised their heads, watching the palisades raising their massive bodies.

However, Vlad, who couldn't actually see the sight, was merely nodding and smiling as if he finally understood.

"Ah. So it was this color."

A world that could be fully understood because his two eyes were closed.

Vlad, currently standing not in reality but in someone's world, was gazing at a world completely filled with green light while holding onto a small root.

Do not pull out the sword I have planted.

Until the children no longer starve, until the young sapling before me can fully take root.

But right now, Vlad had drawn the sword and grabbed the roots put down by the World Tree.

So now, it was time to cut down those corpses hungering for the children.

"Then what should I draw this time?"

Opened to do just that, Vlad's right eye was completely filled with a green world.

Knight of the World Tree

RUUUMBLE-!

The palisades of Aushrina beginning to raise their massive bodies once more with a heavy sound.

Seeing the shadows of the trees growing taller and taller as if to touch the sky, the Count of Vitskaya widened his eyes in disbelief.

"... They've sprouted roots again?"

When they fell, they were just chopped logs, but when they stood up again, they were proud, rooted trees.

Seeing Aushrina's palisades that had now become a small forest altogether, not only the Count of Vitskaya but also the nearby dark mages couldn't hide their panic.

["Those bad guys."]

And there were green eyes glaring at them.

Burning fiercely along with the sharply raised sword, Vlad's right eye was blazing fiercely as he looked at the torn corpses of the elves.

["They killed them."]

A green aura was coalescing over the sharply raised sword.

And it was the same in the right eye he had snapped open.

The young World Tree, having finally stepped into this world through Vlad's sword and body, gritted its teeth as if unable to hold back its resentment upon seeing the corpses of the elves who had tried to protect it.

["They were all good people!"]

RUMMBLEEE-!

The fury of the young World Tree began to explode along with the briefly borrowed roar of a dragon.

As if understanding that fury, the green sea surrounding Aushrina began to shake violently.

"W-what on earth is this!"

Seeing the violent movement, Vitskaya's soldiers began to waver greatly.

"The trees are moving!"

Because the surrounding trees were wriggling and moving.

The trees, allowed to move by the permission of the forest's master, synchronized with the fury of the young World Tree and lifted the roots they had planted beneath the ground high into the sky.

CRAAAAAASH-!

Slowly, yet with a massiveness that was utterly unavoidable.

The formation of Vitskaya's army immediately began to collapse from the whips of trees striking down and filling the sky.

"Gwaaaaagh!"

"What the hell is going on!"

Exploding bodies and the echoing screams of the soldiers quickly began to fill the azure forest.

To think trees that were supposed to stay still were rising on their own.

It was such an bewildering sight that even Lamashtu in the distance raised her veil and widened her eyes.

"... Huu."

And there was a breath aiming for this moment of the enemy's panic.

This moment when a single movement could seize the heavily tilted momentum of the battlefield.

Vlad, having read the optimal moment for him to step forward, made his eyes shine and instantly shot forward like an arrow.

"Huuup!"

Countless heads of corpses began to burst apart with a single fierce swing of Vlad's sword.

It was a black wave that seemed utterly unstoppable just a moment ago, but the green world coalesced at the tip of Vlad's sword no longer permitted their advance.

ROAAAAR!

AAAAAGH-!

The golden lighthouse that had jumped into the black sea began to swing back and forth.

The white eyes began to snap open as if finally coming to their senses at Vlad's fierce strikes, but this forest accompanied by the World Tree was already akin to Vlad's own world.

"Vlad!"

Varadis urgently raised his arrow, watching Vlad being covered by pitch-black corpses.

But that was only for a moment; Vlad was soon soaring high into the sky, leaving the swarming corpses beneath his feet.

"... Huh?"

Squeak-!

The Knight of the World Tree rushing up the stairs created by the glowing mole.

Soaring as high as the thumbs-up the mole had given, Vlad was already leaping toward the patchwork corpse that had smashed the palisades.

"Haaah!"

It was too large to cut in a single strike, but that didn't matter.

Because the world of the World Tree he was holding right now was larger than it.

It appeared to be a single sword, but holding Aushrina itself within it, the sword instantly plunged into the patchwork corpse.

CRUNCH! CRAAACK-!

Was this what it looked like to be crushed under a massive boulder?

The head of the patchwork corpse pierced by Vlad's sword began to be brutally crushed.

GUUUEEEEK!

The weight of the sword that could absolutely not be handled even with hundreds of corpses clumped together.

The patchwork corpse thrashed its hideous arms wildly as if completely unprepared for that weight, but Vlad's plunged sword had not a hint of hesitation.

"... Joseph."

Because he could recognize Joseph's black eyes looking at him from beyond the surging corpses.

The man who had always smiled at him in that sunlit room.

But seeing him standing with those he couldn't help but hate, Vlad began to let out a rough roar.

"Joseph Bayezid!"

CRACKLE-!

Unable to handle the presence of the World Tree, the patchwork corpse finally began to collapse.

Vlad's form diving into the corpses along with it looked incredibly precarious, but the hue of the highly raised sword held an exceptionally clear green light.

["Get out of my forest right now!"]

"Get out of the way! You bastards!"

The cry of the dragon howling alongside the young World Tree.

The sword of stars and dragons, filled with that cry, finally began to cleave the azure forest.

RUUUMBLEEE-!

It was as if a massive sword like a mountain was striking down.

Even the revived beings began to scream loudly as if afraid at the sight of the World Tree's presence, which couldn't be contained merely in the form of a sword, covering the sky, smashing the earth, and parting the pitch-black sea.

"... My God."

And Lamashtu was able to discover a golden horizon rushing toward them in the midst of that ruinous picture.

It was a sun that hadn't risen under the sky called Frausen, but in this place without him, it was a rising that no one seemed able to stop.

"B-block him!"

"He's charging!"

"Protect Lady Lamashtu!"

The headless knights hurried to form a wall to block the fiercely charging Vlad.

But the being they were trying to block was not a mere swordsman, but the will of the forest itself.

CRUNCH! CRACK!

From the tip of Vlad's swung sword, the headless knights were launched high into the sky.

Struck by a massive world they dared not resist, they merely fluttered about, shattered to pieces.

"Do not block my path!"

Smashing the headless knights and cutting down the fleeing dark mages.

Offering fitting sacrifices for the fury-filled World Tree, Vlad finally spotted the woman in black mourning clothes blocking his way.

"Right. You were here too."

Recognizing Lamashtu, Vlad's eyes glinted terrifyingly.

The black concentric circle standing above the green world was still causing ominous ripples and defiling the forest, so seeing Lamashtu caused the exact same emotion to soar simultaneously within both Vlad and the World Tree.

"... I'm sick of your bullshit tricks now!"

BANG! BOOM! CRASH!

Vlad was smashing the ominous texts that had suddenly floated up before him as he advanced toward her.

Lamashtu's barrier, which laid out the words of God backwards, was as terrifying as it was ominous, but the master of this land, the young World Tree, was not permitting her very existence.

"Ugh!"

Even Lamashtu, who was always so composed, couldn't help but frown deeply before Vlad's sharp strikes.

It seemed even she, who stood outside the world created by God, couldn't ignore the presence Vlad was projecting right in front of her.

"Why the fuck do you go around doing that bullshit!"

Vlad remembered the women who had died shedding black tears.

As well as the pitiful prostitute whose eyes he had personally closed in the fog-filled village.

They say there's no one in the world without a story, but her actions were far too atrocious, and Vlad didn't want to see such sights anymore.

"You fucking bitch!"

SHATTER!

Having smashed even the final barrier alongside his harsh curse, Vlad could finally reach the world known as Lamashtu.

Behind the path paved with the World Tree's fury, hundreds of corpses were already lined up, and not a single one of them had been able to stop Vlad's advance.

"...."

Lamashtu felt fear for the first time in a very long time at Vlad's rough touch whipping aside her veil.

Because the fury of a dragon, which even Frausen with the perfect fragment implanted couldn't reproduce, was standing right in front of her.

"Apologize even in death, Lamashtu!"

"Urgh!"

Normally he wouldn't have been able to reach her, but this was Aushrina.

The golden dragon frolicking on the green canvas was a being who could spread his wings as much as he wanted in this place.

"Vlad!"

Vlad's form, raising his sword while gripping Lamashtu by the hair, was the image of the infuriated forest itself.

Seeing Vlad trying to pierce through the fury built up so far in a single point, Joseph shouted in panic.

"Damn it!"

The moment the World Tree's fury was about to fall on Lamashtu's neck, Vlad could feel a very familiar aura digging into his side.

It was the aura of the teacher who had guided him into the world of knights.

"You reckless brat!"

A fierce aura was flowing from the eyepatch Jager wore.

His sword digging into Vlad's flank indeed contained the fierceness meant to twist the momentum of the battlefield, exactly as Vlad had learned.

CRACK-!

It was a strike from Jager that Vlad couldn't even notice because he was too furious and it was far too familiar.

It was an opening Vlad couldn't defend against, but a sharply risen root was already erected there.

"Jager!"

"...."

Jager wore a look of disbelief as he looked at the root that had blocked his sword.

But this was a momentary clash between knights, and having seized the chance again, the original golden light began to leak from Vlad's left eye this time.

"That insolent look in your eyes hasn't changed."

Vlad hurriedly threw aside Lamashtu's hair that he had been holding and quickly gripped his sword with both hands.

Because the knight named Jager he knew was not such an easy opponent to be faced with just one hand.

"Why are you stopping me!"

The tip of charging Jager's sword was fierce.

Able to conceal countless intentions in just a single step of advance, he managed to successfully block Vlad, albeit for a brief moment.

"Because it's not time yet."

Jager confirmed Joseph running away while supporting Lamashtu, and then began to advance toward Vlad once again.

Vlad swung his sword fiercely as he watched them getting further away, but Jager was a man with the superb skill to parry the enemy's momentum.

CLANG! CLAAANG! CLANG! CLANG!

"Gah!"

Even if that momentum was far surpassing his expectations.

"What kind of sword is...."

He tried to sneer like usual, but the ends of Jager's arms were already trembling violently.

It was Vlad's fury that could absolutely not be handled with just a single sword, but the reason he was inevitably trying to endure was probably because he too was a knight upholding his liege's will.

"I said move! Please!"

"No!"

A few surviving dark mages began to disappear into the thick smoke alongside Lamashtu.

Seeing Joseph disappearing with them, Vlad gritted his teeth and swung his sword, but the knight named Jager blocking him was a master of counterattacks and a swordsman with mysterious footwork.

"Not yet, Vlad. Not yet...."

Jager's voice quietly whispering as if only for him to hear lingered at the tips of his ears.

Unfortunately, it seemed his words didn't reach Vlad, who was immersed in his own world.

"Raaaagh!"

Watching Lamashtu and Joseph fading away up ahead, Vlad began to let out a shout filled with fury.

Even though the young World Tree hadn't allowed it, it seemed the dark mages had forced open a gap and finally found a way out of the forest.

"I said please move!"

At a crossroads of an unavoidable choice, Vlad had to recall the oath he made.

Doing what must be done in the place he ought to be.

For the sake of the young possibilities they would snatch away once again.

To do so, there are times when one must cut down even a respected teacher.

CRUNCH!

Unable to parry it, the tip of Vlad's sword finally pierced straight through Jager's body.

Unable to control his body against that massive momentum, he was slammed into the tree right behind him, but even so, Jager was smiling.

"Ugh! Keugh!"

Though it was for a very brief moment, having blocked the forest's fury with his whole body, Jager was ultimately able to buy a precious piece of time for Joseph.

"... You punk. Your nose is bleeding."

In the eyes of the knight who had completed his mission like that, only his disciple crying right in front of him could be seen now.

"Open your eyes quickly. I don't know much, but it looks like the burden is immense."

Pinned to the tree by Vlad's sword, Jager's figure looked miserable.

However, even for him, it seemed his only disciple came right after the liege he had to serve.

"Jager."

"In the end, a day like this finally comes."

Watching Jager growing paler as blood drained away, Vlad finally opened his closed left eye.

As the world that a mere human couldn't dare to handle fell away, intense pain finally surged through Vlad's entire body, but even so, Vlad struggled to support Jager.

"Cheeky bastard. You grew up too fast...."

Jager's smiling figure could be seen in Vlad's increasingly dimming vision.

Vlad widened his eyes to not miss that somehow precarious figure, but no matter if it was a dragon's body, an entity like the World Tree was not something that could be easily contained.

"... You could have told me."

Just saying the one thing he had been harboring all this time was his limit.

"At least to me, you could have."

"I'm sorry."

The last sight Vlad saw in his pitch-black fading vision was Jager gently patting his head.

Grasping Jager's collar, Vlad slowly bowed his head and leaned against him, as if asking him not to leave without a word this time.

["Thank you."]

The sky was clear, and it was a day with a cool breeze.

Although his surroundings were filled with the angry shouts of elves and someone's screams, the only sound reaching Vlad, who had collapsed after finishing his task, was the whisper of the young World Tree telling him to quickly rest.