Chapter 807: Dio Valsesis (1)
[Honey!]
Rookie’s urgent message appeared.
The two trees must not gather in one place.
“Block the King of Predation’s skill!”
I shouted to Yerim before I had time to sort out the situation in my head. The World Trees were, by nature, rooted trees. Without skills, they couldn’t move quickly. If Yerim nullified the King of Predation’s skill, En Duro would be able to use its own again. But Yuhyun had already dealt a considerable amount of damage to En Duro. As things stood now, we should be able to handle it.
“We have to buy time somehow until Yuhyun finishes it! Liette!”
Liette, who had been guarding me, transformed into a dragon without needing a long explanation. The enormous black dragon charged toward a tree far larger than herself. With the Puppeteer, who had joined us just in time, assisting her, Yerim drew the Mermaid Queen’s sea out from the water contained within the King of Predation. Liette savagely bit into and tore away the roots of the World Tree that could no longer use its skills.
En Duro, whose branches and roots had all been burned away, regained its skill and began thrashing, but the flames already coiled fiercely around the weakened tree. The King of Predation’s movements had slowed as well. For the moment, I could breathe again, but—
“Puppeteer, what the hell—”
Just as I was about to ask what had happened to Chief Song and Seong Hyunjae—
Craaaack!
Thick roots burst up from beneath the flame–covered earth.
The King of Predation’s roots.
Damn it, when did they get there!
“Yuhyun!”
Yuhyun swung his sword. The roots that had surged upward were sliced away in an instant. But there wasn’t only one tree root.
The two World Trees finally touched.
I felt a powerful movement of mana, like the moment a Transcendent was summoned.
“Get away!”
Yuhyun was the closest one to the World Trees. Goosebumps rose all over my body. A Fear Resistance message popped up. There wasn’t enough time for Yuhyun to get out. The King of Predation’s form vanished, and in the blink of an eye, it became one with En Duro.
At the same time, mana exploded.
I used Grace.
The four necklaces Myungwoo had made.
‘They can generate barriers linked to Grace.’
They had been made with SS–rank defensive items and a dozen or so communication–type items from the King of Harmless’s drawer as materials, then sprinkled with the magic stone powder left over from processing Grace.
‘When you activate them, Yujin, L–rank barriers will form around everyone wearing one of the necklaces within a certain distance. But they’re single–use, and since they’re based on Grace’s power, Grace will fall asleep for about an hour afterward.’
So use them carefully, only when it was truly dangerous, Myungwoo had warned me again and again.
Peep—
A faint bird cry reached my ears. A barrier formed around Peace. Immediately afterward, the mana storm came crashing in with ferocious force.
Ruuuuumble—
I squeezed my eyes shut on reflex. The barriers had activated safely.
Yuhyun, Yerim, Peace, and even Liette. Hwang Rim was probably protected as a bonus. But that relief lasted only a moment.
Kiiiiiiik!
Cracks began to spread across Yuhyun’s barrier, closest to the World Tree.
Are you kidding me? It was supposed to be an L–rank barrier! Even so, Yuhyun didn’t retreat. If the distance between us narrowed, the buff would disappear. So instead, he layered shields upon shields inside the barrier, preparing for the impact.
Crack!
Under the mana hammering against it, Yuhyun’s barrier finally shattered. The force of the mana storm had lessened from the beginning, but even then, the shields tore apart like paper. For a moment, it looked as if Yuhyun might hold out, but then his body was swept away.
I hurriedly checked the status window.
[Han Yuhyun (SS)]
He was still there. The Teacher skill was connected, too.
Immediately afterward, the remaining barriers also reached their limit.
– Grrrr!
Peace rolled across the ground as if he had been struck by invisible hands. I fell to the ground with him.
– Peep! Piii!
The Damage Nullification applied to me still remained. But Grace fluttered weakly, as if she had reached her limit, then disappeared.
“Urgh!”
I rolled over and over as though caught in a typhoon before dropping into a dry waterway. Peace fell into the channel as well. He had lost consciousness, but he didn’t seem badly injured. Liette was farther away, and perhaps because she had been in her dragon form, she remained faintly conscious. But she didn’t seem to have the strength to move. Through Liette’s blurry vision, I saw Yerim wrapped in her large forelegs. She had fainted, but it looked as if Liette had protected her well.
‘I have to find Yuhyun.’
I pushed myself upright amid the gradually weakening wind.
The greatest threat to the World Tree was none other than fire.
Yuhyun.
There was no way it would miss the moment he was incapacitated. It would surely go after my brother before anyone else.
I jumped out of the pit. Relying on the connection of the Teacher skill, I fixed my direction and ran.
The King of Harmless’s drawer.
I had been warned that using it in front of a Transcendent was dangerous, but I could probably use it once to escape.
Drrrrrrk—
Beyond the hazy sandstorm came the sound of something heavy dragging across the ground.
There was no time.
The sight of my brother collapsing in my arms before the regression flashed before my eyes.
Like hell I was going to watch that happen again.
I used the Lynx set skill and transformed into Delroux. The four legs of the large feline kicked off the ground. My speed surged, my sense of smell sharpened.
He was right ahead.
My nose found Yuhyun before my eyes did. Through the scattering dust, the hem of a black coat swayed.
Boom!
The ground shook violently.
It was coming.
Shwaaaak!
A sharp sound of cutting air struck my ears.
‘I’m a dead man.’
For an instant, Yuhyun’s voice rose in my mind.
The voice that kept carving the same fact into itself—that he was a dead body, a corpse that could not come back to life.
So yes, this was a stupid thing to do.
I should care for and protect myself more. My brother would want that, too.
But Yuhyun.
What am I supposed to do when my body, when my heart, moves before my head can stop it?
There wasn’t enough time to use the drawer. The World Tree would reach him faster than I would.
I threw myself with all my strength in front of where my brother lay collapsed.
Grace still couldn’t be used. Instead, I activated the barrier skill on the earring.
A B–rank barrier that would shatter to pieces against even a thin branch of the World Tree.
For some reason, a pointless thought crossed my mind.
Where had I gotten this red earring again?
A shadow fell over that thought.
Several branches, swung like sharp spears, came stabbing down.
Crack!
Blood sprayed.
It wasn’t mine.
– Grrrrrrr!
A black dragon blocked the branches. She bit off and severed several of them, but others pierced through her body.
“Liette!”
Liette had come running at some point.
The black dragon’s body was wrapped in vines and lifted into the air. Beyond her, the charred black tree towering endlessly upward looked blurred.
Even though I had seen and faced monsters for years, the sight felt unreal.
My breath stopped.
An unbelievable premonition drilled into my skull.
No.
Not a premonition.
Crunch—
It was reality.
Blood poured down from the sky.
Her dragon transformation released, and the limp shape shrank smaller.
A message appeared before my eyes.
[The effect of the title “Perfect Nurturer” is activating.
Nurturer Additional Skill ? Final Recompense
The skills and stats of the Awakened “Liette” will be transferred at double efficiency.
Duration ? 168:00]
…
Final Recompense.
[The effect of the L–rank skill Final Recompense will be doubled.]
Lautitars’ Natural Enemy.
Between the tangled branches, Liette’s body fell.
‘I don’t understand.’
Liette’s voice—
Liette’s thoughts—
echoed inside my mind, which had gone numb and still.
I kicked off the ground.
Twice the power of a born S–rank, and twice again.
Before the body stained red could hit the ground, I caught her in both arms.
‘I don’t understand Noah.’
Liette had never understood her brother.
In her gaze were Yuhyun and me.
Liette tilted her head.
‘Why are we different?’
You aren’t different.
I laid Liette down.
My jaw clenched. The tips of my fingers trembled slightly.
But I turned around at once.
The World Tree would keep aiming for Yuhyun, and Yerim as well. I had to stop it.
‘You have to get stronger. Everyone hates dying, don’t they? If you’re weak, of course life is hard. Other humans didn’t seem all that different.’
A gigantic branch fell like lightning.
I drew my sword. I loaded the S–rank blade with the power of Severance and swung with all my strength.
Thung!
A sound like metal being struck rang out. My arm shook violently, but the branch was knocked aside. Half–cut through, it dangled loosely.
‘He was weak, cried all the time, and was useless. But I still didn’t abandon him.’
Liette cherished Noah.
But Noah rejected Liette.
In Liette’s memories, Yuhyun was smiling softly at me.
Why were we different?
She wondered.
But we weren’t different.
I was the same as Liette, too.
It was only that, in this society, people like me were the majority.
So we merely appeared gentle.
We merely appeared proper.
“You half–burned piece of firewood!”
Kardddddk!
The thick, enormous branch split wide apart. But the World Tree regenerated almost immediately.
I couldn’t let it come any closer.
I charged toward the World Tree’s trunk.
‘Sister doesn’t understand me. I probably won’t be able to understand you, either.’
Noah had said that.
Yuhyun and I were the same. We had stayed together without understanding each other, with one side simply enduring for the sake of being together.
Liette had wanted Noah to become like her.
He was her brother, so of course he should have been the same.
She couldn’t understand why he cried, why he was afraid, why he cowered. What in the world was so frightening? He never lunged forward, never bared his teeth. He had to get stronger to survive, so why did he refuse and run away? It frustrated her.
I, too, had wanted Yuhyun to live normally.
Because in our society, that was only natural.
I expected him to make new friends in kindergarten and school.
You have to be polite to adults.
Study hard, too.
Yuhyun followed my words.
Even though he had no interest in other people.
Even though he had no need to mix in and live among them.
He acted as I told him to.
Kooong!
The enormous tree, stained black, moved.
In my current form, I couldn’t stop it.
I used the Delroux skill again.
The white cat that had swallowed a dragon.
I became the Transcendent Delroux, three or four times larger than Liette’s dragon form, and slammed into the World Tree.
Bang!
The World Tree staggered and retreated.
– Kyaaaah!
With fangs imbued with the power of Severance, I tore into its branches. A dense poison flowed from my entire body.
‘Stop trying to make me fit you.’
Noah had said.
I felt Liette’s bewilderment.
But he’s my brother.
I wanted to tell the confused Liette that it was all right.
That my brother and I were different, but that was all right.
Just because I run on the ground doesn’t mean I have to make a bird walk.
Let it fly.
Just because I breathe dry air doesn’t mean I have to drag a fish out of the water.
Let it breathe water.
Different thoughts, different values, different actions.
Even if we are entirely different species, Yuhyun is my brother, and Noah is Liette’s brother.
Drrrrrrk—!
The World Tree’s form changed.
Branches and roots tangled together, massing into a gigantic sphere. Neither teeth nor claws could pierce through the tightly woven branches. Even the doubled power of Severance barely scratched the surface.
Part of the sphere opened, and countless monsters crawled out.
They rushed past me, aiming for Yuhyun.
I immediately opened my mouth and spewed poisonous breath. The monsters writhed like insects hit with pesticide. But a few survived by using the bodies of their own kind as shields.
I hurriedly turned to stop them, but the World Tree’s branches came wrapping around my legs. A giant ant crawled swiftly toward the place where Yuhyun lay.
– Yuhyun!
My brother still hadn’t woken up.
I drastically shrank myself down into a tiny kitten. The vines wrapped around my legs instantly loosened, and I slipped out through the gap and ran.
But—
Bang!
A branch slammed down in front of me. Now that my body was small, even the recoil alone sent me tumbling backward.
Damn it—
– It was at that anxious moment.
Crack!
– Kiiik!
A spear pierced through the ant’s head.
Then—
Rumble!
Light flashed and traveled down the spear, bursting the ant apart from the inside in a single blow.
“That you, Hyung–nim?”
It was Moon Hyunah’s voice.
I hurriedly returned to the form of Transcendent Delroux and bit down on the World Tree, refusing to let go.
“Was it Delroux? Anyway, Dal suddenly woke up. Said Seong Hyunjae contacted him.”
“That fellow politely asked me for help.”
Sigma spoke as he threw a wire, wrapped it around a bee’s neck, and pulled.
Wait.
Seong Hyunjae did?
I really couldn’t imagine he had asked politely.
Hold on.
‘If Sigma woke up…’
Then Seong Hyunjae had… died…
Was that what happened?
That… did seem to be the way it worked.
My head throbbed.
“Looks like Seong Hyunjae is in a deathlike state! He’s with Chief Song, and apparently he told Dal he was going to use a protection skill that gets stronger while he’s in that state. Did that guy always have a skill like that? Anyway, Hyung–nim!”
Hyunah shouted with reassuring confidence.
“I’ll get the kids somewhere safe first!”
– Please!
I didn’t know the exact circumstances, but it seemed Seong Hyunjae and Chief Song were safe, too.
Hyunah approached the collapsed Liette and froze for a brief moment. But she didn’t say anything. She must have lost comrades before, too. There was no way she hadn’t.
After a short sigh, she lifted Liette in her arms.
Sigma, whose stats were higher than Moon Hyunah’s, was holding back the swarming monsters. In the meantime, Hyunah carried Yuhyun across to the other side of the waterway as well.
That was one burden off my mind.
But there was still no way to defeat the World Tree.
My stats and skill effects had risen dramatically, but with Liette’s cutting power, it was difficult to destroy the enormous sphere packed so tightly together. Even if I cut away part of it, its regenerative ability was too high.
– Khk!
A branch shot in like an arrow and grazed my shoulder. I cut down every branch raining toward me and rammed the World Tree with my whole body, pushing it back.
Even then, Liette’s memories continued to surface.
‘Noah, you’ve become plenty strong, too.’
So, well.
Though she still struggled to accept that Noah’s path and her own were different, Liette was satisfied enough.
Her brother was still beautiful, and he had grown quite strong. Under Kang Soyeong’s mediation, they even began interacting in their own way.
‘Mr. Yujin and his party seem to have returned safely.’
Noah said.
It was then.
When we had entered the dream world, saved Seong Hyunjae, and Noah and Liette had been separated.
What in the world had happened then?
‘This place really is—huh?’
Liette turned her head.
There stood children who looked like twins.
One had black hair and golden eyes.
The other had white hair and silver eyes.
Liette blinked. Noah raised his guard, and the two children opened their mouths.
‘We are Dio Valsesis’s twins.’
‘The origin of the curse you carry.’
…
Dio Valsesis.
Twin dragons.
Liette tilted her head.
‘Venom and Curse Dragonkin? Monsters? You don’t look alike at all.’
Just as Liette said, they didn’t look like monsters.
The twins looked at Liette, then at Noah.
‘Originally, we were twins of the Light Dragonkin.’
‘While we were still in our mother’s womb, Diarma, master of the Venom and Curse Dragonkin, placed a curse upon us.’
‘One of the twins would transform into Venom and Curse Dragonkin.’
‘And kill the other.’
Only one egg was born.
Inside it, the stronger of the twins was dyed black.
Wrapped in curse and poison, the stronger child crushed the weaker to death.
‘You obtained titles that originated from us.’
‘Had both of you remained Venom and Curse Dragonkin, you would have been safe.’
‘But now that one of you has regained the true form of the Light Dragonkin.’
‘The curse will be fulfilled.’
Noah and Liette looked at each other.
–TL Notes–
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