novelraw Chapter 60 : The World Tree and the Demon Beasts (3)
Chapter 60 : The World Tree and the Demon Beasts (3)
Chapter 60: The World Tree and the Demon Beast (3)
In the pitch-black darkness, it felt like walking down a road where not even an inch ahead could be seen.
“Rahan.”
“Follow me.”
Before he even finished speaking, Rahan strode forward. His hurried steps revealed his unease.
He had just witnessed his parents die before his very eyes. Moreover, Riolfolt’s final words were akin to a will. It would be strange if his heart weren’t heavy.
At that moment—
Leon’s senses caught two presences. Familiar energies.
‘Garan and Amon?’
He heard footsteps following behind him—others also tracking the same presence. It would have been natural to panic in such pitch darkness.
But perhaps because of his extensive combat experience, their movements showed no hesitation.
Soon, Leon’s vision returned. They had reached the Prison Forest Ground.
At the same time, Leon saw it—
A strange island appearing in a space made only of sky and sea. And standing atop it was Ira.
“How pitiful. Hard to believe you were once one who reached the divine throne.”
Upon the small island, Ira looked up at an ancient tree—so large it might have taken a day’s span to circle around it.
“World Tree, is this truly all that remains of your power after the seal was broken? Has it truly dwindled to this?”
Sorrow filled Ira’s voice. His eyes, clouded with mixed emotions, carried a trace of pity.
“World Tree, where have the powers of the Empire—your powers—gone? I came with great expectations, but this is disappointing.”
“……”
“You will not answer? In that form, you can do nothing anyway. It would be wiser to simply answer me.”
“…Child of Jeozudin.”
At that instant—
A voice resounded, one that made every hair on Leon’s body stand on end. It was an instinctive reaction.
Ira’s face stiffened on its own.
“Child… my brother’s child. Why do you seek to repeat the same sin once more? Just this once, I shall let it pass. Go back quietly, and I will spare your life.”
The majestic voice reverberated through the air, each word making the space tremble. It carried a sanctity befitting a divine revelation.
Under normal circumstances, any human would have fled in terror. But Ira only laughed.
“Haha! I see now. I was mistaken. This island is not you. No… in truth, your seal was never broken at all!”
Ira burst into wild laughter. His eyes gleamed with madness, curving like crescent moons.
“In that case, I must unseal it completely.”
Wooong—!!
Ira began chanting slowly, his hands weaving intricate gestures—hand seals, a technique that only a rare few mages could master.
“O being who once stood at the pinnacle, hundreds of years have passed. Awaken from your deep slumber and return to the present world.”
And the moment those words left his mouth—
The sea vanished.
“……!!”
Suddenly, the sea was gone. Leon, who had been standing upon it, naturally began to fall.
“Damn it.”
They said the ocean’s depths were beyond human comprehension—and it was true.
Leon looked downward. There was no end in sight—only darkness. His body continued to plummet, proof enough of how deep it went.
Fwooooosh—!!
He felt intense weightlessness. Above him, Rahan was falling alongside him.
“Rahan! Use your magic before we hit the ground!”
Rahan looked toward Leon. His eyes trembled, fear vividly reflected in them. He seemed too shaken by the thought of death to think clearly.
Snap!
Leon grabbed Rahan’s ankle. There was no telling what could happen next; staying close was the safest option.
At his touch, Rahan gradually calmed down. Just having someone hold on to him seemed to give him significant psychological stability.
Even then, Leon never took his gaze off the ground. They didn’t know when they would hit it—they had to be ready.
Eventually, the ground came into view.
“Rahan, are you clear-headed now?”
“I’m fine. Should I use magic?”
“If you think we can land safely, go ahead.”
At Leon’s words, Rahan moved his mana. The same magic he had shown before was recreated. Leaves swirled around them like a miniature storm.
It was wind-infused magic. Their bodies slowly began to descend.
After landing safely on the ground, Leon raised his head toward the sky. He saw a faint dot of light above. Focusing his vision, he realized it was moonlight.
‘So, we’re this deep underground that light barely reaches us.’
And yet, the underground was unexpectedly bright. It was strange enough to make him wonder why it had looked so dark from above.
Then—
Whoooom—!!
A human silhouette appeared from above, plummeting downward. It looked as if someone were falling…
‘Come to think of it, didn’t they say other soldiers were being sent into the Prison Forest Ground?’
If that was the case—
“Rahan! Someone’s falling from above! Catch them with magic!”
“What?!”
Even as he shouted in shock, Rahan began casting. The swirling wind of leaves shot upward instantly.
“Where? I can’t see clearly!”
“A little more to the left! That’s the right side, you idiot!”
Thankfully, Rahan managed to catch the falling people safely. They had nearly been flattened into pulp.
Leon exhaled a quiet sigh of relief and looked at the ones within the leafy vortex.
“The Captain… and the Emperor’s Aide.”
“So this is the place called the Prison Forest Ground? How dangerous is it if we nearly died the moment we arrived?”
Garan’s face had turned pale. A natural reaction—no matter how strong a warrior’s body was, there were limits.
Had it not been for Rahan’s help, they would have been dead. Fear was only natural.
Amon, on the other hand, said nothing. He simply observed their surroundings. For someone who had nearly died moments ago, his calmness was remarkable.
“How strange. From above, I thought no light could reach this place. Yet the visibility here is quite clear. Do you have any idea why?”
“I don’t know.”
Leon replied curtly to Amon’s question.
“Does it matter whether it’s bright or dark? Either way, this is a place where we’ll have to risk our lives.”
“…That’s true.”
Amon nodded, his expression still emotionless but his resolve evident.
He was the one who had been subdued by Ira’s overwhelming presence earlier. He likely understood better than anyone how grave their current situation was.
Thud—! Thud—!
Then, a strange rumbling echoed from deeper within. The ground shook violently, as if an earthquake had struck.
It was clear even without words—inside that place, a battle between transcendent beings was raging.
‘Incredible.’
All he had done was sense their energy. Yet that alone made Leon’s body tremble with fear.
‘What kind of fight is happening in there…?’
With lowered eyes, Leon began to move forward.
Kwaaang—! Bang—! Kwaaaang—!!
The deeper he went, the louder the roars became. Fierce shockwaves erupted one after another, enough to make his body stagger with each blast.
At that moment, Leon saw it.
A towering ancient tree—so immense it could span hundreds of sheets—and Ira, relentlessly charging toward it.
“Hahahahahaha—!!”
Laughing madly, Ira rushed at the tree. But he never reached it.
Vines shot up from the ground, blocking his path.
Swaaaaash—!!
Countless vines lashed toward Ira at a terrifying speed—far too fast for the eye to follow.
And yet, Ira effortlessly evaded them.
“As expected of the World Tree! Even if your former glory has faded, your might is not to be underestimated!”
A wild thrill flashed across Ira’s face, the excitement of battle unmistakable.
Boom! Boom! Boom—!!
With every impact, the ground overturned. The air itself churned. Leon felt sick—just sensing the residual energy made his insides ache, as if taking internal injuries.
He glanced at Rahan. His face was ashen, eyes wide with terror, as though desperate to flee from this place.
Leon spoke.
“Rahan, get as far away as you can.”
“Do you have some kind of plan?”
“If you stay, even that plan won’t work. Go, now.”
Rahan nodded. The situation was too dire to argue. Even if he couldn’t understand, he had to trust Leon.
As Rahan left, Garan asked,
“So, what exactly are you thinking? This is a battle between monsters. Even knights wouldn’t be able to interfere, much less us. There’s nothing we can do.”
“There is something we can do.”
“Then speak.”
“They’re after the World Tree’s power. If the World Tree dies, they’ll claim that power for themselves. In that case, all we need to do is claim it before Ira does.”
“…Are you serious?”
Suspicion flickered in Garan’s eyes. It was easy to say—but Leon’s plan sounded reckless.
“Even I can’t join that fight. How can someone weaker than me possibly seize the World Tree’s power?”
“There’s a way.”
Leon muttered, his gaze fixed on the roots of the ancient tree.
“If my guess is right, there’ll be no need to fight at all.”
Boom—! Bang—!!
The terrifying clash continued—it was as if the very gods of chaos were warring before their eyes.
Amid that overwhelming power, Ira thought to himself,
‘So even rotted, a god remains a god. Even with just a fraction of its prime, it’s fighting me evenly.’
Troublesome.
‘I don’t have much time left in this form.’
The true form of the Seven Apostles (칠사도) devoured enormous amounts of demonic energy. The rate of consumption far exceeded regeneration.
That was the reason he had only revealed his horns and wings in front of Zeke before.
‘It’s about time to end this. The Triad should do.’
At that instant, black flames burst from Ira’s entire body—his own original spell, Black Flame (흑염).
Fwaaaah—!!
The black fire that engulfed his body surged toward the World Tree. Even a simple thought could tell—this spell was fatal to it.
Trees burned. That was a law of nature. Even a being above mortals could not escape that truth.
But that wasn’t all.
Ira unleashed countless spells—
Blinding white lightning, White Thunder (백뢰), struck down upon the World Tree. Miracles beyond human capacity unfolded in succession.
It was an unbelievable sight. Anyone witnessing it would have mistaken it for the wrath of a god. These were spells far beyond the laws of men.
Dust filled the air. From the cracked earth, the roots of the World Tree burst forth.
And then—
Fwoooosh—!!
With a fierce gust, the magic rebounded. Ira’s eyes widened at the figure revealed within.
“You—!”
Leon.
The son of Zeke—his mortal enemy.
He stood before the World Tree.
‘He came into the Prison Forest Ground? I was too focused on the World Tree to notice!’
What puzzled Ira more was how he could even be there at all.
‘If it were him, he might’ve broken through my magic—but not without a single scratch. That’s impossible.’
It had been a spell he cast at full power, one meant to end things in an instant. He had poured in strength on a level far beyond anything before.
There was no way Leon should have been unharmed.
“Surprised?”
Leon spoke then, a cold smile twisting across his lips.
“You can’t comprehend how I broke through your magic—but does that really matter right now?”
Crunch—!!
At those words, Leon’s hand grasped one of the World Tree’s branches.
But Ira could tell—that wasn’t just any branch Leon was holding.
“Leeeoon!!”
“What’s wrong? Weren’t you planning to do this yourself anyway?”
Groooan—!
Leon felt an immense power flowing into his body, and he grinned.
“Try and take it from me—if you can.”
Because even if it killed him, he wouldn’t let go.