Rumble-rumble-rumble-!
A violent tremor was occurring beneath the bright roots of the World Tree.h
The vibration was a gesture made by the World Tree as it attempted to rise, and it was also a rough roar made by a dragon-slaying sword trying to connect two worlds.
"Oh..."
The elven elders, watching the world being created once again, opened their mouths in astonishment.
A conical world that filled the interior of the young World Tree.
The sight of the barrier ceremony constructed over countless years slowly falling was extremely tense and stirred a strange emotion.
"At last!"
Finally, the elves' barrier, touching the dragon-slaying sword, began to slowly melt away.
The barrier formula, which had started to melt from the bottom and turn into a bright powder, became a single line and slowly engraved itself on the surface of the sword, regardless of its massive volume.
"It's done. It's done!"
Cries of joy began to erupt from the mouths of the elders who witnessed this.
Because it looked completely different from the swords they had seen before.
Unlike other swords, the Dragon Slayer Sword neither exploded nor was crushed; it remained still, clearly displaying its original silver color.
Wuuung! Wuuung!
Even though the crude techniques carving into its body were painful.
Though the ritual invading its body was agonizing, the Dragon Slayer Sword stood firm, enduring it all.
Because for this sword, born from the light of the stars, the endangered land was its home, the place where it had been created.
"…"
But Vlad's expression, as he listened to the sword's groans, grew increasingly grim.
The elders may not have realized it, but Vlad, who shared the same world as the Dragon Slayer Sword, understood that his sword had reached its limit.
And just as he feared, the conical world descending began to tilt slowly.
Rumble-!
It wasn't a sound heard with the ears, but a collapse felt through the soul.
Seeing the conical world lose its balance like a falling tree, the faces of the elders, which had been filled with joy, turned pale.
Old Geronimo, who had been watching the scene, exhaled a sigh of despair, struggling to accept what he was witnessing.
"No... No."
However, despite his fervent cries, the elves' world was becoming increasingly perilous.
The dragon-slaying sword holding it up was struggling to maintain balance, but the duty it had to accept was heavy, and the world it had to support was too overwhelming.
Rumble!
The young World Tree wept as it watched the elves' world tilt toward it, unable to extend a branch to support it.
Not yet fully connected, the young World Tree could only tremble as it observed the collapse of the elves' world.
***
Grrr-!
Graaah!
The vibrations coming from the forest were unusual.
This was because there were not only vibrations beneath the ground, but there were also beings trampling the earth.
"There are too many! Captain!"
"The traps are useless!"
There were corpses running, turning the green forest completely black.
They ran randomly, with their pure white wings shining, ignoring the arrows fired by the elves, and heading only toward one place.
Boom! Crash!
The sound of traps collapsing echoed throughout the forest.
Despite falling into deep pits or being impaled by wooden spears, the black wave heading towards Ausurin showed no signs of stopping.
"…Retreat!"
There was no need to check it in advance.
After confirming that the first line to block the intruders had been broken, the leader gritted his teeth and lit the beacon next to him.
"Everyone retreat! Regroup at the second line!"
The elves who had gone out to intercept following the leader's order quickly began to retreat.
However, the black waves of corpses approaching with no time to breathe had such intense speed that even the agility of the elves could not outrun them.
Screech!
"Damn it, they're already here!"
There was black smoke rising above someone's screams.
The smoke seen in Ausurin rose much faster than Baradis had anticipated.
"I see smoke. Lord Baradis."
"…"
Baradis, who was observing the situation in front of the wooden fence, bit his lip when he heard a report beside him.
"We've received word that enemies have been found at the second line!"
"Captain, they report that not a single soldier from the first line has arrived."
Hearing that not a single soldier had managed to regroup, Baradis's expression grew even more tense.
Although the personnel were selected so strictly that they were placed on the most dangerous first line, the speed of the enemy's advance easily surpassed Baradis's expectations.
'...This doesn't make sense.'
He had tried to slow down the enemy with arrows and traps.
Baradis had attempted to buy as much time as possible before the enemies reached Ausurin, but his attempts had been in vain from the start.
'And there are too many of them.'
The forest was like a natural castle wall, but even this dense forest was not enough to block the thousands of corpses unleashed by the evil people.
To make matters worse, the corpses seemed to know exactly where to go, running straight toward the elves without getting lost in the labyrinthine paths of the forest.
"It's dark magic."
At that moment, a low voice was heard behind Baradis.
It was the voice of the Great Mother of the Ruga tribe, holding a pipe in her mouth.
"Walking in darkness means they don't need to find the right path."
Although it is an evil being, dark magic also has its origin in mystery.
The Great Mother of the Ruga tribe shook the ash from the pipe as if she didn't like their methods, which only her companions could recognize.
"How many more enemies do you think will come?"
"…Let me see."
Although they were not yet comrades or comrades-in-arms, the Great Mother decided to grant Baradis's request.
Because behind the Ausurin fence they now had their backs to, not only were the elves but also the precious children of the Ruga clan.
Huff-
Thick smoke filled the air as the Great Mother exhaled deeply.
Her breath, carried by the wind, had already crossed the forest and was heading towards the human army outside.
"I can't believe so many warlocks have gathered."
Beyond the forest seen through the mystery, warlocks who seemed to be dozens of years old stood side by side.
They were reciting strange spells to conform to the world they had built.
However, the Great Mother of the Ruga family could spot among them a woman exuding a strong presence.
'Is it that woman?'
She was a woman dressed in black mourning clothes who seemed unusual at first glance.
Although it was impossible to see her in detail because she was covered by a thick veil, her beauty could be guessed just by looking at her bright red lips.
"…!!"
The Great Mother of the Ruga family, who was looking at the woman, stopped breathing for a moment as a chill ran down her spine.
Because the woman smiled as if she had noticed the Great Mother's gaze.
"Hello."
Seeing her smile pale as a corpse and making eye contact with her, the Great Mother of the Ruga family quickly waved her hand and began to disperse the accumulated smoke.
"For God's sake…"
"What's happening?"
Baradis asked, looking at the Great Mother who had suddenly become agitated, but she said nothing and only stood up with her staff.
"She's a powerful sorceress. I've never seen anything like her."
"…"
"It will be difficult, both for you and for me."
With the Great Mother's words, the sound of vibrations on the ground was getting closer and closer.
Baradis, who heard that loud sound, was convinced that even the second line he had prepared would soon collapse.
***
"…Now."
Old Geronimo sighed as he watched his world crumble.
At that moment when he had to give up everything, Geronimo could feel a breeze of wind pass by his shoulders.
"Agh!"
It was a wind created by a man who rushed to the altar without anyone stopping him.
Vlad climbed the altar with the wind and held his sword with a familiar hand.
"…Why does this hurt so much?"
Although the pain, like a stabbing sensation piercing his hands, was intense, Vlad did not let go of the sword.
The elders were so shocked to see Vlad pulling back the dragon-slaying sword that was slowly falling that they couldn't even scream and simply opened their mouths wide.
[Get out now! This ritual is too strong for the human body!]
Even Kihano, horrified by Vlad's impulsive action, told him to let go of the sword, but Vlad kept trying to lift the dangerously tilting Dragon Slayer Sword.
"Then what am I supposed to do?! This is our last chance!"
As Vlad said, the cone shining inside the World Tree was truly the last chance to contain the hopes of the elves.
Vlad knew very well that if this barrier ceremony failed, the only thing that could protect Ausurin would be the hastily built fence by Baradis, and even that wouldn't hold for long.
[...But!]
But it shouldn't be done this way.
What was visible was a dragon-slaying sword, but the essence of what the sword was trying to contain was the world of the young World Tree.
The magic of the elves was an attempt to succeed, so what Vlad was trying to create now was not just a sword but a world as vast and deep as Ausurin.
"Human knight! Step away immediately!"
"If you stay there, you'll be crushed by the presence!"
Rumble-!
With the elders' shouts, the tremors underground became more intense.
It was the earth's cry, unable to bear the increasingly heavy world.
"Aaahh!"
However, Vlad simply held his sword and continued pushing it as if he couldn't hear anything.
Vlad's golden world, instinctively closed, shone as if it were about to explode, but as if that wasn't enough, Vlad's toes were gradually being pushed back.
[Close your eyes!]
"I already have them closed!"
[Close your right eye too!]
You must build it through the world you have, not through your body.
However, since Vlad had already opened his world with all his might, the only person who could help Vlad's world, now trying to lift the sword, was Kihano, who lived within.
"Damn it!"
With his left eye closed, Vlad saw his own world, and with his right eye open, he saw the real world.
That was the balance he had been taught, the only way not to lose himself in his own world. But there was no other option now.
[Slowly. Take a deep breath.]
When Vlad closed his right eye and detached from reality, all he could see was total darkness.
But at that very moment, the elders nearby saw a figure emerge from Vlad's closed eye.
Although it was faint, the figure seemed to be helping Vlad lift the sword that was collapsing beside him.
[Look through the sword you are holding.]
Vlad, looking through his sword, saw the small root of the young World Tree trying to enter this world.
The World Tree, which only had a young priestess as its sole passage into the world, was trying to create another passage called the Dragon Slayer Sword to avoid a crisis in the land where it was rooted.
[Can you see it now?]
It was my world that I couldn't control and was sinking into deeply, but Kihano's voice, firmly established, remained above.
Vlad lifted his head following the voice and could see a small root twisting above him.
[Bring that guy here.]
Kihano's voice was growing more distant, but Vlad could understand what he was trying to say.
My world was like a brush painting the world, but it could also be a pure white drawing paper for someone else.
Seeing the green world he wished to paint through it, Vlad reached out with all his might.
***
Boom! Crash! Boom!
The noise from the wooden fence trembling was loud.
Even the large wooden fence shook due to the brutal onslaughts that no living being could execute.
Screech!
Screech!
"Captain!"
A corpse had wedged itself between them, baring its teeth fiercely.
Its head was half-crushed, but it had managed to create a gap, and the space was widening as its head violently smashed against the fence, paying no heed to its own body.
"Don't fall back! This is the last place we can hold!"
Now that the second line, which had been painstakingly built, had collapsed, leaving only the barrier that could be considered the last bastion, the only thing Baradis could tell the elves was not to retreat.
Huff-!
A dense smoke began to fill the air as the Great Mother exhaled laboriously.
The Great Mother of the Ruga clan exhaled with effort, filling the air with thick smoke. Her smoke, so suffocating that even the dead recoiled, only created a brief respite.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
At that moment, something could be seen through the gap where the corpses had escaped.
A massive figure, clearly visible even in the low visibility, obscured by the smoke.
The corpse looked as if it had been formed by smashing everything together, a sight nauseating just to behold, but the impact that the enormous body would cause was likely very real.
"That damn thing is coming!"
"Everyone, reinforce the fence! It must not collapse!"
Everyone knew that even the slightest hole must not be created.
Because right now, a lot of rotting water was flowing through that gap.
"Fire the arrows!"
"What the hell are the druids doing?!"
As if someone's shout was a signal, a herd of boars began to charge from the forest towards the enormous, terrifying, ragged corpse.
The formation threatening the fence was greatly shaken by the sudden appearance of the boars, but not even the powerful charge of the boars could stop the movement of the massive ragged corpse, as if the limitations of its weight class were inevitable.
Crack!
The fence that the elves had painstakingly erected fell backward due to the creature's abrupt charge.
Graaah-!
The fence had been breached.
Although it was a fence deeply embedded in preparation for this very situation, one side collapsed as if it couldn't withstand the attack of the shattered corpses, which were more vicious than any siege weapon.
"Stop them!"
"They must not get through!"
Everyone began rushing out to close the gap that was finally forming.
In a desperate effort to block the breach, the elves and warriors of the Ruga clan launched themselves into the attack, fiercely brandishing their weapons. But the breach, like a broken dam, couldn't contain the wave surging towards Ausurin.
Screech!
The dead, who had been held back by the fence, were now slipping through the gap, advancing towards Ausurin.
The tide, too strong to be contained, was sweeping away the defenders trying to hold it back.
"Damn it!"
Boom!
Baradis's left eye burned with intensity as he watched the scene unfold.
However, the pentagram engraved in his left eye alone wasn't enough to stop the influx of corpses.
"No!"
Black waves began to invade the world of the elves after Baradis's single cry.
The cursed beings advanced, leaving nothing in their wake as they moved towards Ausurin.
"…Lower."
At that critical moment, as the venomous fangs of the cursed beings loomed over Ausurin, a green wave spread out silently.
Swish-!
A wave that began to spread gently, like the autumn wind passing through a wheat field.
The green wave, which started with someone's sword strike, followed the flowing wind, quietly cutting through the corpses and moving toward the fallen wooden fence.
"Vlad?"
What came at the end of the calm waves was only the clear silence that enveloped the forest.
Baradis, who recognized the person who created the wave, raised his eyes in surprise, but Vlad, with his eyes closed, didn't acknowledge him and was only smiling serenely.
"Yes. That's it."
Now, speaking with the voice of the World Tree, audible only in his own world.
Vlad was smiling as new inscriptions shone on the blade of his sword, inscriptions that hadn't been there before.
"Take root once more."
Rumble-!
With Vlad's words, the green wave began to paint his world into reality.
The world of the World Tree, represented through Vlad's sword instead of the young priestess, was all green and all blue.
Seeing the color that began to emerge from Vlad's sword, Baradis could only stare in awe as the spectacle unfolded before his eyes.
"What the hell is this…"
The wooden fence was rising.
Though shattered and scarred, the new green leaves emerging were healing the trees' wounds.
The resurrected corpses, who had until now advanced relentlessly, stood still, astonished at the sight of the fence rising once again.
However, Vlad, who in reality couldn't see the scene, simply nodded and smiled as if he now understood.
"Ah, so this is the color."
A world that could only be understood with closed eyes.
Vlad, now in someone else's world, not in reality, clung to a small root and looked at a world full of green light.
Do not pull out the sword that I have driven in.
Until the children stop starving, until the young tree before me can fully take root.
But now Vlad had drawn the sword and taken hold of the World Tree's root.
And so, now it was time to cut down those hungry corpses that were eyeing the children.
"So, what should I draw this time?"
When Vlad opened his right eye to do so, the world was filled with green.