12 – 【Owner of the Forest】
Only upon reaching the point where the forest ends could Lucion catch a glimpse of Tritan.
A wide clearing, like a carved crater.
A solitary tree standing proudly in the middle.
【Owner of the Forest】 Tritan.
Overwhelming in scale.
Several villages could easily fit into the crater, with a tree confidently occupying the center.
It may appear dormant now, but thinking that the enormous tree could move sends shivers down the spine.
“No matter how skilled Zion is… it might be better not to touch that.”
“It’s just a tree, though?”
“In a way, it’s like a world tree from a fairy tale.”
Sia also thought so.
With only that known tree and the fact that Tritan exuded so much sanctity, it was easy to mistake it for a world tree.
A tree fused with spirits, generating sanctity as a link between land and sky. The numerous monsters residing in Tritan also emanate sanctity, making it look like a pile of sanctity from afar.
It was occasionally considered a pure zone, and elves sometimes lived there. It’s such a massive tree that one race could form a cluster and make it their dwelling place.
“It should be fine. It seems like there’s no shortage of living beings around.”
“Because it seems like you’re sleeping.”
Once Tritan falls asleep, he usually sleeps for about ten years. After tossing and turning once, when Tritan falls asleep again, the surrounding landscape changes.
“Let’s go closer and see.”
It could be a good experience. You never know how many times we might come across Tritan on our way to the Demon King’s castle.
“Are you sure it’ll be okay?”
“Well, if things get dangerous, I can just take you and run away.”
“Okay, I understand.”
Lucion slid down the crater first. Then he waited for Sia to come down.
Sia followed Lucion’s lead and slid down the crater. When she went back up, she used her divine power on her feet to dig into the ground and climb up.
You can have a more overwhelming experience up close.
“A thousand years? No, even a thousand years wouldn’t be enough.”
It’s a tree trunk so thick that you might suspect it’s accompanying the history of the stars.
Thick, sprawling branches, leaves blooming in various colors, and fruits hanging from the ends of the branches.
Usually, there would be a tribe guarding Tritan, but there was none here.
The reason could be guessed.
The craters around Tritan. It’s highly likely that Tritan created them himself. That’s the nature of Tritan, who is quite temperamental.
People don’t worship Tritan.
Although they have divine power, their temperamental nature classified them as “monsters” instead.
An enemy that needs to be subdued. A species that cannot coexist with humans. No living being can safely survive near this tree.
“Still, it seems like the small creatures are living quite well.”
Animals were seen busily moving about on the trees.
Sharonbirds and Howlts, their white fur floating through the gaps in the leaves, looked quite active.
Lucion looked down at Howlt, who was perched on his leg.
“King!”
It seemed like he was happy to come to Tritan.
“You came from here?”
It was quite a distance, but still within a reasonable range.
Lucion took out a map from his pocket and began mapping.
The map only showed the overall shape of the roads and the large river, but it didn’t have any mapping of the deep parts of this forest.
He quickly drew a blue circle with his ink.
After finishing the mapping, he looked around.
“There must be a way up.”
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To pick the fruit, he had to climb the tree no matter what.
He had climbed trees before, but never one as big as Tritan.
“Hmm.”
He put the map back in his pocket. Then he pondered. How did he climb up before?
There was nothing to hold onto, and the trunk was too flat and thick. It felt like a wall was standing in front of him.
Come to think of it, in his previous life, he had climbed up the castle wall.
He had made several attempts, but it wasn’t impossible.
“Ah!”
A good idea came to mind.
There was an easier way than balancing and climbing up the tree.
“Kyle.”
“Yes, Your Highness?”
“Get up there.”
“Yes, Your Highness!”
The howlards were already up in the tree.
Kyle was also a howlard.
He knew how to climb up.
Kyle leaped up the tree, spinning around it as if he were jumping on the ground.
It seemed that despite being covered in fur, Kyle’s claws were quite capable of gripping the tree.
And in the meantime, his body was light as a feather, so climbing the tree was no problem at all.
But he couldn’t recall being trained to follow commands.
It seemed that Lucien understood from just looking at the tree and pointing with his hand that he should climb up.
Kyle found himself on top of the tree in no time.
Your Highness! Your Highness!
It was not very audible, but it was better than Lucien climbing up the tree himself.
Lucien picked up a rolling tritan fruit. Then, with the intention of dropping something identical to what Lucien was holding onto the ground, he raised it up for Kyle to see.
However,
The moment I straightened my stooped back,
It felt like I had confronted something I shouldn’t have.
A voice, trembling with fear, came from behind.
“Um… Zion.”
“Yeah, I saw it too.”
A massive sphere had formed on Tritan’s pillar.
#
Tritan’s eyes.
Lucion locked eyes with Tritan.
“……Well.”
‘Damn, I was just trying to pick fruits while sleeping.’
A passage from the book comes to mind.
“Do you know? Spirits hardly trust humans.”
The book had talked about the reasons for that.
Using spirits only for one’s benefit. Moreover, a being that, by utilizing spirits, disrupts the natural habitat of spirits.
Tritan, merged with the tree, didn’t particularly like humans either.
And now, in this situation, a disliked entity is approaching during sleep to pick fruits.
Do you understand what that implies?
“…Sia.”
“….”
“Run….”
This time, he couldn’t even finish his sentence.
The ground moved.
#
A tree that moves with determination.
Because it’s a tree, it might just be a monster that can be burned with fire.
But what if the scale is different?
A tree so massive that it could be considered an island moved with determination.
And it clearly had hostile intentions.
Kugung!
Treetan pulled out the roots that had been fixed in the ground.
Waking up to an uninvited guest.
It seemed like it was about to go berserk, so he unleashed all his defensive measures.
Treetan is a fortress.
Thanks to being fused with an elemental, he could use elemental magic.
Ssaaah-.
A chilling sound is heard. At first, it sounds like the sound of a blade.
When he looked up, he saw giant leaves pouring down. Clearly, they were leaves with powerful cutting force, like blades.
Lucion quickly drew his sword. And then, he immediately unleashed all his divine power.
Hiding your strength? If you continue such nonsense, you’ll end up in the afterlife right here.
Currently, Lucion’s level has reached just below the rank of a knight commander. In addition, his divine power surpassed Halo.
He reached a level stronger than any existing holy knight.
No one in Lucion’s past lives had reached the same level as he did in this life.
However, Tritan also manipulates divine power.
He launches attacks by skillfully combining elemental magic and divine power.
“Let’s go all out.”
Assorted branches swirled around, descending towards Lucion, who did his best to protect Shia.
Divine power is originally white. However, if the heart harbors a variety of colors, that color can change.
“A single slash won’t block it.”
The baptism of leaves descended, layer upon layer, thick enough to turn Lucion into dust.
Among the countless annihilating magics that Tritan can perform, this is just one, but even to block this light jab, Lucion had to exert all his power.
“To block it, I need to counter several times as well.”
Lucion slashed the air four times with his one-handed sword. The diamond-shaped blades shot up into the sky.
Different forms of True Cuts.
The blades, blossoming in sky colors, created the mist of divine power.
The ones blossoming in red created the flames of judgment.
The blue blades poured out the essence of divine power.
And the golden blades, blossoming, swallowed up all the blades spread above.
“Foolishly, I’m not trying to face each one individually.”
The firepower is definitely lacking.
While the leaves of the tritan tree are sacred in their very existence, the sword has no substance.
It is impossible for something without substance to triumph over something with substance.
It is simply pierced through by the sharp leaves with substance.
Each leaf is like a sword.
Therefore, the purpose was to create substance.
The fog of divine power is “firewood”.
The flames of judgment are “ignited fuel”.
The essence of judgment is “pouring oil”.
And the golden sword serves as a “medium”.
Thus, it creates a massive explosion of fire in the air.
The explosion in rainbow colors neutralizes the divine power of the tritan, devours the spirit magic hanging on the leaves, and converts it into fuel, piercing through the sharpness of the tree trunk and instead igniting a magnificent explosion, soaring high.
The sight of tens of thousands of sacred objects burning in rainbow colors.
Lucia captured the most beautiful clash in the world with her eyes.
The battle was still ongoing, but Lucion was preparing for the next move.
“Now, the attack will come.”
In the fight against Tritan, there is practically no way for an individual to win.
Tritan is an enemy who may defeat even an army.
Because every branch, every root, and all the monsters that reside are Tritan’s weapons and forces.
She glanced briefly behind her to check on Sia’s condition.
He was praying.
“They said to run away.”
There was no room to care about Shia. To withstand Tritan’s onslaught, all focus had to be directed at Tritan.
And the divine power was already almost depleted.
“For the cost of a fruit, it’s too much.”
Living for thousands of years meant having tens of thousands of attack methods. And Tritan had lived for so long that it was impossible to grasp how many years.
“Is the army stalling? Are they trying to use magic that requires casting?”
If that’s the case…
Lucion looked up at the sky with full tension.
But all that could be seen were leaves burning brightly.
The branches did not fall.
The wind blew upward.
“It would be nice if even the branches burned.”
Tritan’s branches were non-flammable objects.
Enveloped in elemental magic, he was fire-resistant. Fire, the biggest weakness of wood, could not be an enemy to Tritan.
Only physical attacks.
It was known that the only way to defeat Tritan was to strike with an axe.
The tense state lasted for about a few minutes.
Lucion lowered his sword.
If Tritan wanted to kill him, he would have done so several times by now.
The vigilance was still present, but it felt like an insignificant expenditure.
“……”
“Sia. What was that just now?”
As Lucion eased the tension, Sia deemed the situation concluded. More accurately, there was simply no way to handle it, but maybe if he cracked a joke upfront, they might let it slide.
Sia looked at Lucion with a hint of awe.
Well, what he just witnessed was undeniably far from ordinary.
He had seen the orphanage director demonstrate the prowess of his training by emitting a blade of energy. Yet, what he witnessed just now was a firepower that was a hundred, no, a thousand times more formidable.
Lucion, still quite tense, responded.
“I infused sacred power into the blade. More than that….”
Lucion stared at the tree.
Since a while ago, the black hole watching them intently was gradually moving.
Tristan’s eyes.
Tristan’s eyes descended down his skin.
Then, piercing through them, he spoke.
“It’s sacred power,” he said.