Chapter 804: Two Trees (2)
Peace beat his wings in one long sweep.
The sun was up, and yet stars shone in the sky. Beneath that strange daylight, the wreckage of buildings lay piled like graves, scraped together by some brutal hand. It was the middle of Seoul, unmistakably, and still the sight made me think of a dungeon. Old worlds after civilization had vanished, leaving only its bones behind.
Beyond the district ravaged by the mana storm, blackened ruins stretched out in every direction. In the center of that barren land, where there was nothing left to burn, stood two trees.
‘World Tree species.’
Transcendents came from all sorts of races, but surprisingly, the most numerous among them were plant species—especially colossal trees. To amass enough power to cross a certain threshold, having a long lifespan was an advantage. Dragonkin were famous for living long lives too, but the race that outlived even them by another order of magnitude was the giant tree, most commonly called the World Tree.
Ancient trees that lived beyond a thousand years, gained intelligence, then continued growing without end until they rose as pillars of their worlds.
‘Rookie’s tree was a World Tree species too, wasn’t it?’
Because they had been forcibly summoned through the barrier protecting the world, they had been weakened, so they were not tall enough to pierce the sky. Even so, two trees larger than any I had ever seen spread their branches wide before us.
[World Tree species are weaker in pure combat ability compared to other Transcendents.]
Rookie’s message appeared.
[But once they put down roots, their recovery power is incredible. Give them three or four days, and they’ll recover enough strength that you won’t be able to handle them anymore.]
In other words, we had to take them down as quickly as possible. The two trees stood at a fair distance from each other, rooted deep in the ground, not moving an inch. It looked as if they intended to devote themselves entirely to defense and recovery.
“The one in front is En Duro, and the one behind it is Chewang, right?”
[Yes. Both are from the Fifth Origin. World Tree species appear particularly often in the Fifth Origin.]
Was that because the Origin itself took the form of a tree? Then did the Deepest Spring, the Third Origin, have a lot of aquatic races?
“Was the Mermaid Queen from the Third Origin, by any chance?”
[That’s right! How did you know? There are many aquatic intelligent lifeforms in the Third Origin.]
So the Origins really did seem connected to the species of their respective worlds. What about the other three? Usually, the elements went water, metal, earth, fire, wood, and so on, but there was already the First Flame for fire, so maybe not that. I wondered what good knowing any of this would do me, but I asked Rookie anyway.
[I don’t know whether I’m allowed to tell you the details, Honey… There are the Highest Mountain, the Wings That Flow Without End, and the Jewel of All Colors.]
Earth and wind, metal? Light? Rookie said he could not tell me more than the titles. The Highest Mountain was probably the First Origin, where Young Chaos was. It fit, somehow.
After studying the two trees, I shifted my gaze toward the area roughly between them. From here, even with binoculars, I could barely make out the black crystal. I could faintly see a swarm of butterflies fluttering around it. I wanted to rescue Yuhyun first, but since that thing was the source of the summoning, Rookie had said that if we touched it carelessly, we would be attacked by both Transcendents at once. We couldn’t destroy it until we dealt with the summons.
‘Hold on just a little longer.’
Your hyung will be there soon. After checking one final time, I descended. The others were waiting among the collapsed buildings.
“Just like Rookie said, they aren’t moving at all. I guess they don’t feel any need to hurry, since the game is over once they take control of the dream world anyway.”
I said it as I climbed down from Peace’s back. They must have figured the final contest of strength would be between Transcendents in the end, so they were focusing only on recovering their weakened power. Just then, a round portal opened.
“Goblin King Express Delivery, arriving now~!”
Yun Yun’s bright voice rang out, and the Puppeteer and Hwang Rim appeared. Sigma was still asleep, and Hyunah had stayed behind as Sigma’s guardian and watcher. Hwang Rim spread his arms wide at me with an expression that said he might die from joy.
“Jin! A reunion hug—”
Yuhyun stepped forward and half blocked me with his body. Hwang Rim paused and looked at Yuhyun.
“Oh, little brother Jin grew up a lot, huh? Isn’t he even bigger than a certain Mr. Seong? Guess all that time Jin spent biting and licking him paid off.”
“…Cut the crap. I explained it to you over the phone.”
As for whether I’d bitten and licked Yuhyun, well, calling that entirely false was… complicated. But that had been my twenty-one-year-old brother, not the twenty-six-year-old one. The Puppeteer was silently watching Seong Hyunjae. His gaze looked somewhat displeased.
“Boss Kim Seobang, when can you come home? Everyone seems worried.”
Yun Yun spun through the air as she spoke.
“The other Kim Seobangs can’t even dream about this place anymore. But you still haven’t come back, so tons of Kim Seobangs keep asking both Dodam and Haeyeon what happened!”
“I’ll be there soon. Are the kids doing all right?”
“Yep! The pink fairy says she’s already preparing for her daddy’s birthday party. The yellow one is soft and cute! The black one bit me, though!”
She must have been messing around with Byeol and gotten bitten by Seol. My birthday, huh. There was still some time left, so I should be able to return before then.
“Keep looking after them for me, Yun Yun.”
“Don’t worry, Boss Kim Seobang! I’ll stay at Dodam until you come home!”
Yun Yun gave me a salute and vanished. Seonghan was there, and he was S-Rank, but with Yuhyun, Yerim, and even Noah away, I couldn’t help worrying. Still, as long as Yun Yun stayed with them, even if something happened, the kids’ evacuation would be guaranteed.
“Mr. Seong Hyunjae.”
He looked back at me. The existence known as Seong Hyunjae still felt unfamiliar to me, but I was certain I had known him. Even though nothing came to mind, I had that instinctive feeling. But whenever I tried to think too deeply about him, it felt as if a hazy fog settled over my mind. Even now, like this… I frowned without meaning to. So what I was asking was.
“…Are you really going to be all right with just the two of you?”
The Puppeteer had agreed to provide support, but the team facing one of the two Transcendents consisted of only Chief Song and Seong Hyunjae. Seong Hyunjae nodded.
“Fortunately, Chief Song Taewon and I have rather good teamwork. Isn’t that so?”
“Yes. It appears the current Hunter Seong Hyunjae possesses his experiences from before the regression as well.”
“Exactly how close were you two?”
Their personalities really didn’t seem like they would mesh at all. Seong Hyunjae smiled, and Chief Song said, flatly, “It was duty.”
“Ninety percent of the reason for my overseas business trips was probably Hunter Seong Hyunjae.”
“You may call it one hundred percent.”
“These days, Mr. Han Yujin also accounts for a substantial portion.”
My heart gave an unnecessary little twinge. No, well, about that… it wasn’t like I had gone overseas because I wanted to, exactly.
“Yerim, are you ready?”
“Yes! Mister Puppeteer, let’s go.”
Yerim flew up into the sky. The Puppeteer followed after her. Then next was… I turned my head and looked at Hwang Rim. Don’t wink at me.
“You said you can copy skills up to S-Rank, right?”
“Up to the skill’s rank, yes. With the target’s cooperation, I can draw out one hundred percent of an S-Rank title or skill’s effects. The conditions for stealing them are a secret~.”
“Does the copied skill show up in your status window too?”
“Nope. There’s no explanation either, so I have to figure out how to use it by feel.”
So he could copy and use a skill only if he already knew what the target’s skill did. Either way, if he could copy up to S-Rank, that worked out perfectly. The Veteran F-Rank title, which doubled the effects of attack skills, and the Unfindable title, which had skill sharing, were both S-Rank. In other words, Hwang Rim’s copy skill could take title abilities.
“Use your copy skill to take my sharing skill. Then use the sharing skill to pass your copy skill to Yuhyun.”
“And then little brother brings over big brother’s double attack skill effect?”
“Yeah. You don’t have any affection for Yuhyun, so you can eat a mini cookie and stick with him.”
On top of that, copied skills had their cooldowns reset too. Damn, if used right, this bastard Hwang Rim was incredibly useful. It was a shame his rank was short by just one grade. Doubling attack skill effects was good, but things like Liette’s Severance would have been useful too.
I tossed Hwang Rim a mini-mini cookie. He caught it and turned it this way and that, inspecting it.
“If I had my way, I’d rather be buried in Xiao Jin’s chest.”
“A dog is barking.”
“Little brother isn’t really my type.”
“What’s wrong with Yuhyun—no, never mind. That’s a relief.”
“Or the civil servant hyung would be fine too.”
That Hwang Rim bastard flashed a smile at Chief Song. Chief Song pretended not to see it, and Seong Hyunjae said, “How popular you are, Mr. Song Taewon.”
“Honey and Mr. Civil Servant~? Your tastes are at opposite extremes, aren’t they?”
Liette tilted her head.
“No, actually, I think they might have something similar going on. I think Mr. Civil Servant looks appetizing too~.”
“Right? I knew you were a woman with taste, noona. Your little brother’s pretty—”
“Honey, can I cut off his arm? We only need him to share the skill anyway.”
Liette really did draw her sword, and Hwang Rim tried to hide behind me, only to dodge Yuhyun’s kick and flee. Yuhyun looked at Hwang Rim like he was a cockroach that had appeared in the kitchen. For reference, Yuhyun did not seem to find cockroaches disgusting. They were simply pests that his hyung hated and that were bad for sanitation, therefore needing extermination. Nothing more, nothing less.
“Stop running your mouth, use the skill, and get in here. Don’t stick your head out either.”
I opened the pouch attached to my belt as I spoke.
“And use any support skills you have.”
“Yes, yes.”
After Hwang Rim ate the cookie and shrank, I put him in the pouch and handed it to Yuhyun. Sorry for making you carry around something like this, little brother.
[Mister! We’re in position!]
A message came from Yerim. Good. I used the teacher skill and climbed onto Peace’s back. Yuhyun stepped onto willow leaves and leaped up, while Seong Hyunjae and Chief Song climbed onto Liette, who had transformed into a dragon. I took a short breath.
“Let’s go.”
Peace spread his wings. With a grinding roar, the black dragon’s claws scraped long grooves into the ground as she shot forward.
“Liette, finish connecting the waterway and come back to my side!”
– Got it!
Liette changed direction. She raced toward the waterway we had dug ahead of time from the Han River. Her massive body landed at the end of the torn-up channel, and the power of Severance she possessed split the earth. Kwa-gwa-gwa-gwa—
– In an instant, soil was ripped open, and the channel began to connect. Even though the black dragon was gradually drawing closer, the two Transcendents did not so much as twitch.
‘Given their size, I guess even Liette looks like a puppy playing in the dirt.’
The waterway passed in front of En Duro. Keeping just enough distance that it would not touch the widely spread roots, it headed toward Chewang at a speed almost no different from running. The plan was for them to reach the second World Tree like that, and then for Liette alone to return. She would stand by to protect me and, if things went wrong, help Yuhyun.
“Ah, ah.”
I brought the megaphone to my mouth and tested it lightly.
“Rookie, you ready too?”
[Yes, Honey. Once you give the signal, I’ll connect you so the Transcendents can hear right away!]
“Good. Yuhyun, get ready too.”
I looked up at the branches, so thick they seemed ready to cover the sky. The trunk had a dark blue sheen, and rather than wood, it looked more like a mass of metal. An incredibly hard ironwood, one that even SS-Rank Black Blood Flame could not burn. Among World Tree species, En Duro was a Transcendent with powerful combat ability. Its branches, leaves, and roots were all sharp, hard weapons, and once it began moving, its tangled trunks and roots would supposedly gather and transform into the shape of a beast, making it fast as well.
[Honey, done!]
Liette’s message appeared. At the same time, I sent a message to Yerim.
“Yerim, now!”
Boom! In the distance, the wall that had blocked the waterway exploded apart.
[Water’s coming~!]
Rumble, rumble, rumble—
A moment later, I felt the vibration of an enormous volume of water pouring in. Waves rose high, filling the waterway. Amid them, I saw the Puppeteer, his eye color changed. He glanced toward me.
“Keep going straight to Chief Song’s side!”
Water flooded over ground that had been dried bone-dry by heat. As soon as it sensed moisture, the World Tree began to react. Rrrrrip. Several long roots tore up the earth and stretched toward the stream.
“Thought so.”
It was land whose moisture had all been stripped away by Yuhyun’s fire. A World Tree was still a tree, so of course it would want water. Especially when it was exhausted from forcing its way into another world. Chief Song sent a message saying that not only En Duro, but Chewang had also begun absorbing the water. With that, the groundwork was finished.
“Hayul, are you awake? Just hang in there one more time, then you can rest all you want!”
[Yeeees.]
Park Hayul, who had been unconscious the entire time and had only just woken up, sent back a limp message. I told him to listen closely for the signal, then lifted the megaphone. Above me, glittering stars were visible in the sky. Man, I wanted to flip them off. But for this moment, they were our precious audience.
“My little brother, Yuhyun.”
It was just the phrase I needed to use the skill, and yet emotion welled up in me for no reason.
“First, happy twenty-sixth birthday again. I’m sorry I couldn’t celebrate it properly.”
“It’s okay, hyung.”
Yuhyun looked up at me as he answered. I swallowed once and checked my inventory. The watches.
‘I’m glad I prepared two.’
I still had not given them to him. Once we rescued the twenty-one-year-old Yuhyun, I wanted to give the gifts to both of them at the same time. I wanted to tell them that I held them both the same way, and yet differently. The twenty-six-year-old Yuhyun was in bad condition, but Rookie had said that even if he fought this battle, he should be able to hold out for a few more days. So to both of my little brothers, together. And I would… receive a watch too.
“I always wanted to get you back. Things got badly twisted between us, and I got so tired and hurt that eventually I couldn’t even express it properly anymore. But I always felt that way. I wanted us to go back to how we used to be. That’s why I came this far.”
That was all. I looked up at the sky. Whether they saved the world or destroyed it, whatever grand purpose they had, I could not have cared less. Who gave a damn? Let them do whatever they wanted. I was just trying to hold on to my people and keep living.
“I regretted it so many times, thinking that at the very end, I should have said this to you no matter what. Yuhyun, I love you. Your hyung loves you so damn much. And thank you. You were truly…”
Memories from before the regression came flooding back. A message also appeared, saying that the My Kid skill had activated. I drew in a deep breath and poured it all out at once.
“The best! Korea’s greatest Hunter and guild leader! Practically number one in the world! And now, on top of that, the first and only SS-Rank in our world! My little brother is the best! Let’s go!”
[Yeeaaah.]
Along with Park Hayul’s weak answer—
Ruuuumble—
All sorts of objects appeared across the wasteland in front of the World Tree. They were things Park Hayul had moved over for us, items that would burn well. To raise Yuhyun’s stats, we needed to burn a lot, but there was nothing left to burn here, and that damn tree would not burn easily. Hayul, you worked hard.
“Hyung, move back.”
Whoosh. Flames bloomed from Yuhyun’s fingertips. I quickly put distance between us. At the same time, Yerim raised the Icewood Spear high.
“The sea of our great Mermaid Queen sunbaeeee!”
Park Hayul’s power had weakened, so we could not bring out the Mermaid Queen’s sea in its entirety like before. But through the water we had prepared in advance, we could call forth a portion of that ability.
Skill nullification.
‘Normally, Yuhyun would get swept up in it too.’
The water brought by Yerim and the Puppeteer had all disappeared. Into the two World Trees, into the bodies of the trees. Ordinarily, the water inside another Awakened person’s body could not be controlled from the outside. Even if the other person was far weaker, it was difficult. But this was water Yerim had saturated with plenty of her mana in advance, and the Puppeteer had treated it specially as well.
‘And rather than controlling it, all we’re doing is triggering simple skill nullification.’
Flames spread. I felt Yuhyun’s stats rising rapidly. Double all stats. Lone Raider buff. Footsteps of Ash buff. Blessing of Fire buff. A World of One buff.
Han Yuhyun, standing alone wreathed in flames, was without question the strongest Hunter.
Ruuuummmble—
Perhaps it sensed that the heat building in power was not ordinary, because the World Tree began to move. Massive roots lifted, and branches folded inward. Yuhyun’s hand swept through the air. Along the path of his hand, more than a dozen swords appeared.
Blade-Devourer.
SS-Rank blades melted down. Red-black molten metal gathered in a white hand. The double attack skill effect buff.
– Little one.
En Duro’s voice rang out, deep and heavy. A massive branch blocked Yuhyun’s path. Mana wrapped around it thickly, as if it were using a defensive skill.
Boom!
The molten sword clashed with the branch. Its power matched the World Tree’s, but it could not cut through. However—
“It worked!”
Yerim shouted.
The skill nullification effect of the dream sea.
It activated from inside the World Tree’s body. The water of life that had spread through its entire form turned to poison. And at the same time—
Craaaack!
Yuhyun’s sword split the branch apart.
Thud. The enormous branch crashed to the ground and was swallowed by flames that rushed in like a starving wolf pack.
–TL Notes–
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