Chapter 93
93. Racial Trait
At last, the mastermind who had likely been lurking in the shadows for at least thousands of years revealed himself.
The reason was simple: he had thought it wouldn’t matter even if he revealed himself. Then why?
Why did that bastard think it was fine to reveal his identity at this exact moment?
If I had to guess, it’s one of two things.
Either he’s confident he can completely shut our mouths, or his goal is so close that it doesn’t matter if his identity gets exposed.
We know who he is, but we still have no idea what his real objective is.
If every High Elf king in history was just this one guy, then why did he try to make a peace treaty with the Dark Elves?
Why did the peace treaty through marriage fall apart, and why did he suddenly declare war decades later?
If all he wanted was longevity, there’d be no need to seize the World Tree. Elves are already an immortal race.
-Rumble!
I used the pendant to activate Mana Enhancement. Anyway, if he really is the mastermind, all I have to do is take him out here.
Just as I was thinking that and was about to charge forward with my sword, the World Tree surged with mana once more.
And my feet froze in place.
It wasn’t some kind of magical interference. Nor had fear or terror stopped my legs.
My brain just stopped.
I couldn’t believe that the tidal wave of mana I had felt until now wasn’t the whole story—that the difference in power was this absurd.
I had no idea how to win against that thing, so for a moment I stopped moving.
Fuck, what the hell is that.
The console above the High Elf King’s head was so pitch-black it looked like a tiny black hole.
It looked like a hole had simply been punched into the air. It was so dark my eyes were playing tricks on me.
The sword in my hand felt like a wooden club, and my armor and shield felt like sheets of paper.
“You’ve tensed your shoulders too much.”
A whisper by my ear, the touch of a hand on my shoulder—I quickly swung my sword.
-Whoosh!
But the attack sliced through empty air. The bastard who had moved behind me in an instant was back on the throne again.
What the hell was that, teleportation?
A movement skill with no warning that outpaced my Mana Enhancement-boosted reaction speed? Was that even possible?
“Why are you so tense, nameless human swordsman? My purpose is not to devour you.”
The High Elf King, backed by the World Tree’s mana, curled his lips into a smile.
“Now, beautiful shadow. Hand over your crown.”
“The crown……?”
“Yes, with just that last piece…… there will be no need to harm you.”
The bastard moved in an instant again, appearing in front of Eleanor. I swung again, but it missed.
“The devices needed to seize the World Tree are three, and the last one is the crown. All you need to do is hand that over.”
Was that why he had revealed himself? Because Eleanor, with the crown in hand, had appeared right in front of him.
Sure enough, if that was his goal, a marriage-based peace treaty would have been the easiest option.
When that fell apart, he started a war to take it by force—no, the timing feels off.
Shouldn’t he have started the war long ago? And if he had this much power from the start, why even bother with war at all—
“Ah.”
-No, that’s not it. He didn’t have this much power from the beginning. He gained it over a hundred years.
This isn’t power he built up himself. He simply spent a hundred years learning how to wield the World Tree’s power.
And of course, there was a reason he deliberately lured us into this room.
“You thought I’d just hand over the crown obediently after hearing that?”
-Crash!
When Eleanor swept her hand, thorns of shadow burst forth and engulfed the High Elf King.
“Right, I knew you wouldn’t hand it over. But why can’t you understand that your wishes are irrelevant—why haven’t you realized that?”
The king dodged the thorns with teleportation and drew in the World Tree’s mana. A gaudy magic circle spread out.
“I suppose I have no choice but to show some force.”
Even though just standing there had left me helpless about how to deal with him, now he was trying to use his power for real.
Now I can gauge it.
How to beat this sloppy bastard.
**
Mercedes, who had also been flustered, activated Mana Enhancement, and Eleanor raised the shadows to brace herself.
-Wooooong!
The magic circle formed by the High Elf King shot glowing spheres out in every direction.
It was an attack that reminded me of the underground dungeon with the Emerald Wyvern.
Each sphere had power on par with my total mana, but its precision and concentration weren’t that high.
-Boom! Boom-boom!
In addition to Mana Enhancement, I activated [All-Out] and barely dodged the attacks.
Eleanor also used a shadow-based movement skill, and Mercedes dodged simply with sheer speed.
But the spheres kept coming without pause. If I kept dodging these alone, I’d be out of stamina before long.
Then there was no choice.
“Hngh!”
I braced my core, boosted my durability stat with [All-Out], and finally activated [Iron Wall] as well.
-Boom!
I didn’t dodge the incoming sphere and took it head-on. The blast made my whole body tingle.
Its attack power could break through my multiple resistances, and the mana storm at the blast point churned my insides into a mess.
Fuck, it feels like they’re pulling my organs out one by one and spinning them in a centrifuge. Blood is rushing up my throat.
But by accepting the injury, I succeeded in closing the distance through the magic attack.
“The World Tree’s mana is drawn up from the star ley lines.”
-Clang!
The king casually formed a barrier to block my sword and began to ramble.
“Like all trees, it grows by stealing the power of the earth. That’s why that power is never truly infinite.”
The High Elf King’s eyes flashed, and a bizarre heat ray shot toward me. I quickly raised my shield.
-Sshk!
But the heat ray pierced the shield as if it were nothing, skewered my arm and chest, and seared the wounds with heat.
“The star ley lines will run dry someday. In fact, this world is already running on fumes.”
A giant shadow axe came crashing down on the rambling High Elf King. It was Eleanor’s attack.
But the king used teleportation again and dodged it with ease.
“Just so you know, don’t take that to mean my power has reached its limit.”
This time, Mercedes swung at his back, but the strike missed as well.
“Oh, really.”
I gulped down a potion and tossed the sword I was holding aside. It was time for my specialty.
The sword missed, of course, but by then I already had a new spear in my hand.
The spear missed too, and then the axe swing was blocked; even when I threw the shield, that missed as well.
-Clatter-clatter-clatter!
But I didn’t care and kept dumping the items in my inventory while charging the king.
**
It didn’t matter if my attacks were blocked. It didn’t matter if they missed. It didn’t matter if I got hurt.
No matter how wildly I threw myself at him, none of it landed, and all I got were wounds splitting open and blood flowing out, but it didn’t matter.
The harder I threw myself at him, the more that idiot would underestimate me.
-Boom!
The weapons I had dumped out shattered into pieces and scattered. The High Elf King raised a hand as if annoyed.
“You’re hastening your own death.”
Seeing the hand packed with massive mana coming at me, I shouted.
“Break the door! Get out of here!”
Mercedes and Eleanor reacted instantly to my shout.
While I was drawing his attention, the two of them had already gained a lot more freedom of movement. The High Elf King turned his head too late.
That bastard only closed the door after we came into this room, then revealed his identity as if he’d already won.
And his power depended on the World Tree, so he couldn’t possibly freely wield another being’s power.
Otherwise, he would have gone out onto the battlefield himself, wiped everyone out, and taken Eleanor’s crown.
Then the limitation I could infer was that he could only use his power in this room, where the throne connected to the World Tree stood.
“Did you think you could run away?”
The High Elf King used teleportation to block Eleanor’s path as she tried to flee. My guess seemed to be right.
He couldn’t freely use the World Tree’s power outside this room. That must be why he was blocking us so desperately.
Then what does it matter? My real target wasn’t escape.
I was making myself into a complete mess to draw his attention and shouting for them to escape, so of course he’d think that was my aim.
Getting drunk on power and looking down on your opponent, only to get burned—that must be a trait of your race.
[Lightning Charge]
[Sensory Amplification]
[Weakness Insight]
[All-Out]
I used every buff skill available, grabbed one of the countless weapons I’d been throwing around, and hurled it again.
The reason I’d charged him so recklessly and shouted for them to escape were both to keep him from realizing what I was aiming for.
The weapon I threw was aimed at the High Elf throne connected to the World Tree.
-Crash!
Watching the spear I’d thrown with all my strength smash the throne to pieces, I thought.
Did he say he was the father and king of all High Elves? Yeah, that really does seem to be the case.
He may have tremendous power, but when it comes to actual skill—he’s no different from that prince.