Trap (18)
-Ehehehehik!-
Above the clouds.
From the high heavens, Luna’s sinister laughter echoed.
Below, the four great spirits were advancing towards Elvengarde under the orders of the Transcendent.
The elves surrounded by them had no choice but to flee, waiting for their deaths.
-Elvengarde, which Kaliga failed to destroy, will finally be destroyed! We can kill the superhumans gathered here as well, so this is the situation we dreamed of! That guy wasn’t interested in the first place, and this was the original goal!-
Luna muttered to herself, making excuses for not being able to kill Eugene.
She thought he wasn’t even a fistful, and she still thought so.
She had no confidence in winning in either a fistfight or a firefight with this Transcendent, who had surpassed all the limitations of human life and body.
But why?
The moment Luna faced Eugene, she felt a sudden chill run down her spine.
A deep and thick aura of death!
Luna was sure that as a long-dead spirit, she was no longer afraid of death.
She was involuntarily shrinking and trembling at the aura of death emanating from Eugene.
Ominous.
And most of the things that Luna felt ominous were actually dangerous.
She had lived by her instincts and survived until now.
Even though it hurt her pride a little, it seemed like she had to follow her instincts this time as well.
That’s why Luna was now high in the sky, avoiding Eugene.
-It would be much more fun to kill those around him than to kill him······! Ehehehehik!-
Luna laughed out loud, desperately trying to convince herself that Eugene was a god’s grape.
Elvengarde will soon be destroyed.
And the Transcendent will become complete by absorbing all the power of the undead army.
There were adversities such as the superhumans gathering and trying to conquer the dungeon together.
Or the Great Demon dropping out halfway through.
But they had overcome them all.
Now that they had the power of this Transcendent, who was no different from a god, they would be able to conquer the present world alone, without the help of ‘him’.
The moment Luna believed so firmly.
Luna’s eyes twisted with a sharp sensation.
-What?!-
Meanwhile.
On the ground, Elvengarde was under a state of emergency.
Elvengarde, isolated and surrounded by the great spirits.
Only a few elves had escaped.
Most of them had not yet been able to evacuate.
From afar, the sight of giant spirits devouring the forest and houses was unfolding in all directions, east, west, south, and north.
“Everyone! Don’t worry! We are currently persuading the great spirits, so they will stop soon!”
“It’s over for us now! Elvengarde is doomed!”
“The great spirits chosen by the World Tree are angry······!”
“You’re persuading the great spirits! Are you lying, priestess? Huh?!”
“That······.”
In front of the terrified elves, Mia’s lips trembled.
She had to somehow calm the people down and suppress the chaos to gain control.
There was no way to captivate a crowd of nearly a hundred thousand, who were driven to the brink of death.
Until now, she had ruled them by emphasizing her faith in the World Tree.
In a situation where the great spirits were trying to destroy the World Tree, all her ruling ideologies were being shattered.
‘I have to believe.’
She had to believe in Eugene.
She had to believe in Eugene and his companions.
As she thought so, Mia felt a little bit of relief in her heart.
Now was the time to be tough.
“Okay. I’ll tell you the truth. We are currently carrying out an operation to physically subdue the great spirits.”
“Yes······?!”
The crowd stirred.
Mia closed her eyes tightly.
She listened to the short-range communication magic flowing in on the mana.
‘General Rex! The momentum of the fire is not dying down!’
‘The Frost Lord will soon release his maximum mana! Aim for that moment and destroy the spirit core!'”What? Hey, if the core is destroyed, the Great Spirit will be annihilated······!”
“Shut up! Which is more important, the Great Spirit or the 100,000 Elvengarde citizens! I can even kill a god if it’s for our elves!”
“I will obey!”
They are not visible in the distance.
Even now, the warriors of Elvengarde, the Frost Lord, the witch, and the saintess were struggling to subdue the Great Spirit.
In the meantime, there was nothing as terrible as a riot due to the failure to control the masses from the inside.
As much as they were risking their lives to protect Elvengarde, their efforts should not be in vain.
“How dare you touch the Great Spirit······!”
“Isn’t that betraying the World Tree?”
“The Great Spirits are not in their right minds now. There was a similar incident before, but the Fire Great Spirit at that time had no intention of causing human casualties. But now, they are only advancing to kill. The Great Spirits have already lost their minds. Heaven has not abandoned us yet. Even if the Great Spirit betrays us and we lose the World Tree, the fate of the elves does not end here. The fate of the elves is not something that the World Tree gives us. It is something that the elves themselves choose and continue. At least I, the priestess Mia, will never give up on you elves. Even if we lose the Great Spirit’s protection, the World Tree, and Elvengarde, I will not give up. What will you do?”
“······.”
The noise subsided and the audience fell silent.
Mia, who said that even if we lose the World Tree, we will start over in another land.
It seemed that they were somewhat shocked by this.
Elves are a race that lacks the tenacity of humans or beastmen.
Since they have lived only in Elvengarde, which has been blessed with mana, divine beasts, and spirits since birth.
There were many elves who did not understand the concept of pioneering and adventuring in barren lands.
But it’s just that they’re not used to it.
It is not that the elves lack something that humans and beastmen have.
If you want to do it, there is nothing you can’t do.
It was natural, as there were many elves who left Elvengarde and adapted to the land of humans.
Although they are said to be abandoned by God, if so, beastmen and humans were originally abandoned by God.
“The land where elves live is Elvengarde. So Elvengarde will not perish. It’s just that the form will change a little. It is not that God has abandoned us. We are leaving the bosom of God. Now it’s time to leave the cradle and face the world.”
Elvengarde has insisted on an isolationist line so far.
Thanks to that, they were able to maintain peace without any external aggression, but they were also far behind other countries in terms of technology and culture.
Despite being an inland country with no access to the sea, it functioned like an island nation.
On the good side, it was a good way to continue the tradition.
On the bad side, it meant that they were constantly falling behind as time went by.
Rather, it was an opportunity to reduce dependence on the Great Spirit and the World Tree.
It was an opportunity to get out of the well and face the world.
Until now, it was unimaginable because the World Tree and Elvengarde were intact.
Now that Elvengarde is physically destroyed, it was a chance to overthrow and start over.
“If you are afraid of that, I have no other choice. Elves. Are you afraid of the world? Do you think that the elves will not be able to develop the land that the humans and beastmen you have been looking down on have developed? Do you think that you can’t do it because you’re elves?”
“No!”
“No!”
Answers burst out here and there.
Before they knew it, determination began to fill the eyes of the elves who had been filled with fear.
The fear of death was still there.
But now they were not innocent lambs who didn’t know what to do.
Beasts ready to defeat anything and move forward in order to live.
The elves were no longer a weak race wearing the clothes of nobility.
Mia smiled faintly at this.
Now the fate of the elves lies in the hands of the elves themselves, not the gods or the World Tree.
“Elvengarde. May it last forever.”
“Euaaa!!!”
It was a desperate situation.
But the more so, the hope grew.“Ahh! “Master!”
On the other hand.
On the front lines struggling to stop Ifrit.
Tae-soo and Gwi-ho were lying down with burns all over their bodies.
The spirit body of the Great Spirit is burning with flames and approaching right away.
Sogong sobbed as he hugged his master, who was unable to come to his senses.
It would be enough to just abandon the elf land and run away.
Why did I get injured like this while trying to help stop it?
“Run away! If you continue like this, you will soon be crushed by the spirit body and die!”
“Ah······.”
Rex shouted.
Only then did Sogong look back and was astonished.
It was Sogong who was trying to run away by picking up his teacher.
“Eww······?”
Sogong hesitated due to the feeling of resistance as if he was being hit.
Guiho’s hand remained glued to the ground and did not fall.
Even though Guiho was unconscious, he was unconsciously manipulating the formation on the ground to slow down the Great Spirit’s advance.
There is nothing you can’t do if you want to forcibly remove it and evacuate it.
He could have run away with his teacher like this.
But Sogong could not bear to do so.
Guiho had the will to activate this method until the end, even if it was meant to die.
As a disciple, his will could not be broken.
“Hi, Seeing… I really don’t like it…”
“What are you doing?!”
“Master, if your hand leaves the floor, pick it up and run away! “I’ll buy you some time!”
Crying wildly, Sogong moved forward.
It is against etiquette to break a teacher’s will to die.
So there is only one way to save the teacher.
All I can do is help you complete this formation and activate it.
“Huhhhhh…!”
Sogong knelt down on one knee and traced the pulse of the Jinbeop spread on the floor.
In addition to the feeble magical energy of the unconscious Guiho, Sogong’s powerful magical energy created a steady flow.
Soon, the entire formation began to shine brightly and surround the Great Spirit of Fire.
It was definitely a sealing art.
Because the Great Spirit’s momentum is so strong, it cannot be sealed and is only slightly slowed down.
But that was enough.
If only I could buy time, that would be more than enough.
“Ahhhhh!
But for Sogong, it was a little too late.
Just before completely completing the formation.
The Great Spirit’s spiritual body touched Sogong, and the flames instantly enveloped Sogong.
The pain of burning flesh wracked Sogong, but she held still and continued to manipulate her strategy.
The pain of being burned alive was more bearable than I thought, since I had experienced it from Eugene before.
“Keueuuu…
And finally, when the formation was completed and took effect.
The small ball burned to a pure white color and disappeared.
Rex, who had been watching her with her mouth open, wiped away her tears, hugged her and turned around.
“Damn it… What on earth am I doing when such a young female is risking her life to stop me…!”
Little did she know that the one who had just died was Sogong’s alter ego her her her her.
“We gained a lot of time. With the sacrifice of the witch, Taesoo, and Sogong, the formation was created for about 10 minutes…”
“Ah! I’m exhausted from magical power! aaah! My legs are numb! Ugh…!”
“And the Frost Lord’s Chill gave me about five more minutes.”
“······.”
“······.”
As the saint summarized the situation, silence fell in her command center.
All we can do now is just be mindful and buy time.
All we could do was hope that Eugene would make it, and extend her lifeline little by little without any guarantee.
But now even that has reached its limit.
It’s already been 20 minutes since Eugene entered the dungeon.
A constant chill surged through the dungeon, and before I knew it, the chill had broken through the stone door and crawled out.
It froze the ground around the dungeon and went further to turn the outskirts of Elvengarde into a snowy area.
Still, the great spirits showed no signs of stopping.”In about 30 minutes… As soon as 30 minutes pass, I’ll go save Eugene. You know that, right?”
“Wasn’t it 30 minutes since the Great Spirit stopped?”
“But it hasn’t stopped. Are you going to wait here until you’re crushed to death by the Great Spirit?”
“······.”
If possible, she would save only Eugene and escape with him.
The Frost Monarch had clearly said so, but no one could stop or blame her.
No one could say that it was selfish to choose to save a loved one rather than die with those who had no hope of survival.
The witch and the saint were both more inclined to that side.
“I’ll be the selfish and ruthless one who takes the lead. Elvengard is not my land, and the elves are not my people. It would be a dog’s death for me to die here. I did my best, but it wasn’t enough. When 30 minutes are up, I’ll rescue Eugene from the dungeon and escape through a hole that only a few people can escape through. Follow me if you want.”
“······.”
“Saint. Witch. We won’t blame you if you leave. As the Frost Monarch said, you don’t have to die here. Please escape when you have the chance.”
“······.”
With a look of slight resignation, Rex murmured.
Jill and Julia hesitated, their lips twitching.
It’s not that they didn’t trust Eugene.
They knew that Eugene would definitely do it.
But what if he was even a little late?
What if the Great Spirit stopped after it had crushed all of Elvengard?
As they began to think such thoughts, tears welled up in their eyes.
“I’ll stay here.”
“What?!”
“The witch and the Frost Monarch should escape first. I am a being who spreads hope to humanity. It doesn’t matter if they are humans or elves. I will stay and help the elves not to lose their hope until the end.”
“Saint······.”
From Noble mtl dot com
It was a professional mission.
As an individual, she wanted to run away.
But as a saint, she couldn’t do that.
Jill was surprised that she, who was so timid and cowardly, had made such a decision.
But she thought she could understand Eugene a little bit.
Sometimes, you have to take risks when you are afraid and don’t want to lose.
“I, I, I’ll stay too······. I still have some magic left······. I’ll trust Eugene and wait······.”
“Oh my! What am I going to do if you two are like this! I’ll stay too! I’ll charge my magic for the remaining 10 minutes and release it again!”
“Thank you······. Thank you so much······!”
Rex nodded with tears in his eyes.
They say that a person’s true nature is revealed in extreme situations.
It seemed that the reason why superhumans were superhumans was not simply because of their physical strength.
‘It’s not a big deal to just be physically strong······.’
He recalled the time when he had fought an entire race in a duel and burned 800 years of his life to do so.
The important thing was not strength.
What was truly important was the spirit that wielded that strength.
Rex nodded his head, feeling a sense of respect for these three superhumans.
“Huh?!”
“Huh?”
But then.
A rumbling vibration was transmitted through the ground.
The expressions of those who had hurriedly checked the Great Spirits’ presence brightened.
The Great Spirits had stopped advancing.
That wasn’t all.
[What the hell am I······ doing······?]
The Great Spirits had regained their senses.
“We’ll have another 30 minutes from now.”
“Yes······.”
It was a success.
Eugene had done it.
.
.
.
-Thisthisthisthisthisthisthisthisthisthisthisthisthisthisthisthisthis!!!-
A figure fell from the sky.
Luna kept flapping her wings, but they only cut through the air.
The transcendent being, unable to reduce its speed at all, crashed to the ground.
-Groooooan······!-
Soon, Luna’s transcendent body stood up, covered in mud.The body was heavy, and the omnipotent power was no longer felt.
The transcendent body that did not age or die was no longer transcendent.
It was just an ordinary human body that was slightly harder than others.
-Why?!-
Luna’s scream echoed.
The energy transfer of the undead legion was going well.
Only then did Luna’s expression turn to horror as she looked back at the dungeon.
The forest of Elvengard, which had been covered with green trees, had suddenly turned into a snowy white country.
A vast snowfield spread out in a circular shape, centered on the dungeon.
As soon as Luna stepped inside, she felt a deep chill that pierced her bones.
-Ugh! What did this little rat do to my dungeon?!-
Luna forced open the frozen and immobile stone door and stepped inside.
The undead legion that was supposed to be defending the dungeon had long since frozen into stone statues.
Luna shivered and descended lower and lower, her whole body covered in frost.
There was nothing to block Luna’s entry.
It was like a labyrinth, a place suitable for defense.
The opponent who had actually taken over the dungeon had not set any traps or ambushes.
It was as if he was just luring her inside.
Luna thought it was strange and entered the innermost room.
When she entered the hidden dungeon in the basement, she found a figure.
Luna’s body froze as she saw it.
“Oh. You’re here? I thought you’d freeze to death waiting.”
-······-
There, Eugene sat on the altar.
He was holding a girl vampire in his arms, stroking her and smiling a bloody smile.
His breath seemed to carry a faint scent of death.