72 - 78
Chapter 72 – Incursion (2)
Kyaaaaak!
Hansoo shook his head even while jumping down as he saw the huge amount of beasts in the inner parts of the mouth.
That was just the start.
'There's going to be more of them from now on.'
The Calamity Fish and Devouring and Vomiting Root had similarities and differences.
The similarity was that they were both impossible to kill from the outside.
Their main habitat was either the deep parts of the ocean or deep within the earth inside the World Tree's Root where it was hard for humans to reach.
The outer skin was so tough to the point that a human injuring it was almost impossible and even if one did manage to damage it, if you take account of the fact that you need to count their giant size in kilometers then any plans from the outside was futile.
And he had to attack it from the inside because of this.
The Calamity Fish had left the inner defenses to the tentacles but the Devouring and Vomiting Root didn't really have a need to create a defensive system due to its peculiar trait.
The beasts, who were created from the
Even if they made their way through while killing the beasts, they'll still be trampled by the other ones who would continue to charge.
'This is why I gotta solve that before I go.'
The outer mouth was endlessly sucking in the Toxic Waters with a powerful suction strength and the beasts of the inner mouth were roaring in glee as if they were waiting for food to be dropped.
Hansoo stepped atop the teeth that were on the outer parts of the inner mouth as he bought a bit of time.
'Well. There's a few guys copying me.'
Hansoo shook his head towards the few clansmen who he could see in the distance.
It'll all be in vain.
Once all the surface around here gets crushed and the Demon Mouth completely fills this place up, those guys will be given two choices.
To either drown by going into the Outer Mouth where the toxic waters were going into.
Or to go into the Inner Mouth before the entrance closes and fight with the beasts.
Once these things close their mouths then they'll all get swallowed even if they're bouncing atop the teeth.
'A moment is more than enough.'
Hansoo, who jumped in place a single time, pulled something out from his pouch.
A small Divine Stone Fragment which was the size of a rice grain.
Hansoo took a glance at the Divine Stone Fragment and then scooped up a bit of the baby's heart from his pouch.
'I need to use it a bit at a time.'
He needed to use the heart as the poison to catch the third guy of the Pillar.
Hansoo, who had scooped up a small amount of the heart, tied the Divine Stone Fragment and the baby's heart piece together and then threw it into the mouth where the toxic waters were getting sucked into.
Plop.
Soon the fragment swept down the waters as it disappeared into the outer tunnel.
Kugugugugugugu.
Once it had almost drank up all of the waters in the Kukulja lake, it started to slowly close its mouth.
Though it would rise back up because it was connected to the sea but those things had drunk so viciously that it had almost dried up.
Though it was wide, it wasn't very deep so it could not quench their thirst.
Kuuuuuuuu
Hansoo landed on the inner tunnel as he saw the mouth close.
Kyaaa!
A large amount of beasts had already set up camp there.
'Well. This is just the starting point.'
Maybe because they were located in the outermost Root but the difficulty of the beasts were not high.
Of course they will continue to gather up to him if he were to continue to fight back and forth here.
'Get through them quickly.'
Hansoo extended the blade of his sword and then swung it in all directions.
Chhguguguguk.
Kyaaaaaa!
The Gertas dropped artifacts and runes in all directions as they got cut in halves.
Kyaaaa!
Hansoo endlessly picked up the things that were dropped as he continued forward.
This guy's Root was quite similar to the World Tree.
As you went further and further up, the smaller roots would combine into each other as they become bigger.
And of course stronger beasts appeared the higher you went.
Hansoo held onto the Galadriang's Relic,
At that moment a sound of things getting slashed apart could be heard approaching him.
Kudududuk.
Ududuk.
'It's about time we meet.'
They had separated into different mouths.
Of course they would meet as they head upwards while killing the beasts since the roots combined.
A person who was walking while swinging a giant sword and slashing the beasts apart could be seen in the distance.
'A bit below Kalz Morenn? Is he the new captain of the shock troopers?'
And he could see somebody walking next to him with a cold expression in protection.
'He's the captain of Lighthouse huh. Is that guy Michael?'
Hansoo suddenly thought of Keldian's show off.
Seeing that he hadn't died and was collecting the forces proved that his skills were quite good.
'Well. I'll try. Keldian.'
It would've been different if they hadn't crossed roads in the first place but since it has become like this, it was better to have a good relationship.
Since they're now on the same boat.
It was some extra people who weren't part of his plan but it wouldn't hurt since they wanted to help.
'Anyways this is unexpected. I thought the Clan Lord would have escaped.'
Hansoo greeted the captain of the shock troopers who had an expression that wanted to send over a skill at any moment.
"Isn't it much better seeing me in a place like this?"
"…What are you thinking?"
Michael answered Hansoo's question instead of the captain of the shock troopers.
Since he could not figure out what Hansoo was thinking of.
'No. I can't even tell if he's a newcomer or not.'
At first he was befuddled, then he was enraged and then he was curious.
The reason why he had rated this Hansoo guy in front of him highly was partially because of his battle prowess but mainly due to his unknown intelligence.
Since he had heard that this Hansoo guy had prepared everything perfectly in order to kill the Calamity Fish.
And had successfully done so.
But coming in here without any preparations was not part of his plan.
He might've understood it if that guy had actually tackled through them, escaped this place with some unknown method and left them behind to fight while buying some time.
But for him to come into the mouth with them?
'Does he have the confidence to escape this at any time?'
Michael shook his head.
The first thing they had done earlier was pouring attacks at it trying to penetrate through this thing's skin.
But it was for naught.
The skin was so hard that the attacks didn't even work properly and when they made a decent sized hole, the toxic waters that this thing had drunk rushed in at a rapid pace.
Even if they did go through it, they'll just get swept by.
They thought of escaping while this guy opened its mouth to drink the toxic waters but gave that idea up once they heard the outside clansmen's message.
Since the people who had been sucked inside the Root were doing the same thing.
And the message said that no one had come out.
If the whole clan was to use up all their forces, a few people including himself would be able to get out but he didn't want to get out this way.
And that was why he had come to find this guy.
With hopes of him having some plans.
Hansoo laughed as he saw that Michael.
"Didn't you say you wanted to kill this thing? I've done this to fulfill your wish."
"…With just these numbers? We'll get trampled on the way there."
Michael made a helpless expression.
They only had about 150 people including all of the Search Teams and the Shock Troopers.
Of course these guys were the elites of the elites in the Red Zone.
But if it could be solved with just this then why would it be called a Calamity.
They will all get crushed apart by the ones coming down on the way up.
Hansoo shook his head at Michael's words.
"It'll be easier to do it now."
With those words, a very faint vibration could be felt from far away.
............….
An extremely large underground cavity.
A large factory shaped building was located near below the World Tree.
Something that seemed like a relic of a highly intelligent race, a building that seemed like the product of modern technology was now covered with unknown mucus and suspicious looking roots.
Like symbolizing the Elvenheim who had lost and gone extinct.
But surprisingly, the
Kiiiiiiiiiiiiik.
And in the hundreds of millions of Cultivating Containers within the Plant, things were constantly getting produced.
Though they weren't being used properly under what the Elvenheims wanted.
The main body of the
Since he could feel his mouths penetrating through the earth and having reached the sea.
Sucking the toxic waters of the World Tree was quite a lot but sucking it directly from the sea was completely different in terms of quantity.
The toxic water that had multiplied a few times in quantity was constantly getting transferred to it.
The Main body then got those toxic waters and then focused on his main job.
It took a part of it and used it to fill its stomach.
Then it poured the remaining toxic waters into the
Soon the Divine Stone Fragment which was embedded within the core of the
Kurururururuk.
A huge amount of energy and toxic waters were being supplied to the Plant.
The Plant, which was able to send out beasts all around the World Tree Mountain Range despite having a lack of energy and toxic waters, shined brightly in red with the plentiful amount of toxic waters and energy as if it could now work to its fullest and started up.
Chiiiiik.
The Plant, which was the result of Elvenheim's alchemistry, started to create a huge amount of beasts according to the saved DNA information.
In numbered many many times larger than usual.
Kurururuk.
The main body happily stimulated the fragment more as it sucked in the toxic waters more fervently.
Kiiiiik.
The beasts who woke up from the Cultivating Containers inside the Plant made confused expressions but then made vicious roars as they spread out through the Root's tunnels.
So they could fulfill their objectives.
Kwarururu.
Inside that Plant, millions of Ghweche seeds were endlessly pouring in while sucking in the nearby toxic waters.
By the time the arrived balloons gathered around a certain location inside, the divine stone fragment that Hansoo mad mixed in and sent up was almost about to explode.
Since though it was dead, the baby heart piece had constantly stimulated the fragment to give off energy.
Soon the fragment which had reached its limit started to pour out a huge amount of energy in all directions.
Chiiiiiik.
The moment the extremely bright light, which had the ability to scorch Hansoo through his Reinforcement before, touched the surrounding toxic waters, the waters turned into vapor instantly.
And the toxic vapor that had remained after caught on fire.
Then an explosive chain reaction happened.
Booboobooom!
The gas lit on fire and the explosion from the gas blew up the nearby balloons.
The toxic waters evaporated from the explosion and then more gasses came out.
The main body which was fully immersed in controlling the Devil's mouth in order to suck in the Toxic Waters looked at the Plant which had turned into a sea of flames and roared out in rage.
..............
Crunch.
The people flinched as they saw the tunnel of the Root shrink suddenly.
Since it felt like the Root had been enraged.
Hansoo nodded as he saw this.
'It blew up properly.'
Of course killing the main body with such an explosion was just in his dreams.
Since the main body was not weak like that.
But that plant would've been destroyed to the point where it would not be able to function temporarily.
According to the information he had received from the Elvenheim he had met in the Abyss, the durability of the Plant was not that high.
Since their race didn't have any enemies during the time they ruled this world.
'We have to move while the Plant is stopped.'
The Plant which was condensed from the technology of the Elvenheim was sadly made too well.
It would recover after a while and then completely focus on creating beasts.
They had to tackle through during the time when the new supply of beasts had been cut off and get to the Main Body.
"Let's go."
Michael looked at Hansoo with an expression full of suspicion.
'…What did he do? Does he know what's at the end of this Root?'
From the way he was speaking it seemed like his plans had succeeded.
Michael did not understand this.
No one knew what the main body of the Devil's Mouth was or what would come out at the end of this tunnel.
But how did Hansoo know of it to set up such a plan?
Many thoughts flashed by Michael's head but the conclusion came out rather quickly.
'I just need to focus on getting out of this place.'
As long as that guy was not suicidal he would've prepared a method of surviving.
If not, then they'll blame him for that when the time comes .
"Let's go. Prepare your formations. Shock Troopers stand in the front."
Since Hansoo was doing his part, he needed to do his own part.
If he were to fight with that guy because of his pride and make Hansoo lead them onto a strange path then they'll only receive damage.
Hansoo nodded while looking at Michael who started to control his clan.
'You made a wise decision.'
He didn't want to fight a bloodbath with these guys here either.
Every grain of battle power was precious.
Hansoo quickly stored the small Divine Stone Fragment that he had made for emergencies as he quickly moved his footsteps.
'Collect two Relics that are here on the way there.'
The Relics of two of the Five Great TIger Generals who had died after coming in here in order to retrieve the Plant.
With those he would have three in total including the Galadriang's Relic he had.
If that were to happen then he wouldn't need to think much anymore.
Since he would be able to use the Relics properly then.
Hansoo started to proceed head on.
Chapter 73 – Incursion (3)
Chugagagak.
Michael shouted urgently while looking at the beasts charging at them.
"Single Column! Shock Troopers divide into 2 teams! Use
The things that were running towards them were the
A gigantic Cow of 15 meters that could be found in the deep parts of the dungeon around the Base Root.
These things, which came out as a mini boss in the Base Root's Dungeon, were just roaming around in this location like unfenced cows.
'Damnit. It's a problem when it's too wide. For such things to roam around with no restrictions!'
The Root they were constantly climbing on had reached 200 meters in diameter already so such large cows did not have any problems roaming around.
Kuuuuuu!
There were only 9 of them charging at them.
But it seemed like a giant Tsunami had blocked the passageway and was charging at them.
At that moment a single strand of shining line swept past their ankles.
Chujujujuk.
Kouuuuu!
The ankles were still over 1m in thickness but the formless blade which had cut through their ankles cut over half of it off.
Of course they couldn't maintain their heavy weight when over half of their ankles had been cut off.
Kuwuwuwu!
Three of the giant cows that were charging lost their balance and toppled over.
Kudududuk!.
And because of this the other cows that were charging penetrated the sides of these toppled Cows with their horns.
"Attack!"
The clansmen of Lighthouse didn't miss out on the opportunity as they charged and started to cut up the ankles first.
Since their weakness was the ankles that were a bit too thin to support their giant body.
The relics they had obtained inside the stomach of the Calamity Fish was of great help.
Michael, who had been looking at his Clansmen finishing off the cows, looked at Hansoo and asked.
"Is that the final reward you gained from inside the Calamity Fish?'
He could only ask.
Since it looked like even the Seven Departed Souls wouldn't have such a weapon like that.
There weren't many other functions.
It wasn't like the sword of Baek Jongsang obtained at the branch, the
But instead it solely focused on its role as a sword.
One could change the length and shape any way they wanted to they could cut anywhere and once you shortened the length and compressed it down, it would get so sharp that nothing wouldn't be able to be cut.
Even before this, the
Though it was an injury of a finger's length it was still enough.
The sword which had been inserted through that hole increased in length as it destroyed the insides of its body.
It looked similar to the relics they had obtained but there were very large differences between their might and effectiveness.
Hansoo, who was absorbing runes corresponding to his contribution, nodded at Michael's words.
"Well. It's something like that."
There weren't any rewards for killing the calamities like the Calamity Fish.
But as Hansoo thought, the relics he could obtain on the way were quite close to the final reward.
'Even more so once I collect more of them. Anyways, my stats are…'
Hansoo checked for the first time in a while.
[Kang Hansoo]
Strength (Red): 33.2%
Stamina (Red): 31.5%
Agility (Red): 35.3%
Perception (Red): 33.9%
Mana (Red): 35.1%
Magic (Red): 36.5%
Physical Resistance (Red): 31.1%
Magic Resistance (Red): 36.4%
-Demonic Dragon's Reinforcement (Mastery: 3.5%)
'Good. I wish it increased above 5% quickly.'
Strong monsters were constantly popping out.
An amazing hunting ground.
And the level of the people he was with was quite high so their hunting speed was very fast.
Unlike the Colorless Zone, all eight different runes dropped in similar proportions so he didn't really need to take care of his runes as all of them rose steadily.
His mastery was increasing quite fast as well.
High level skills took an enormous amount of time to increase their mastery.
If you take into account that a skill like Demonic Dragon's Reinforcement usually takes about 5 years for a normal person to master then Hansoo's pace was extremely fast.
'If I go with these guys then… Would I be able to skip on using the Racial Metamorphosis once?'
Hansoo stared at Michael.
Racial metamorphosis was a skill which put extreme amounts of strain on the user's body.
It was quite hard for him to use it because it hadn't been long since he started to use it.
And because of this, Hansoo's plan was to hunt around under the ground, wait for the Racial Metamorphosis to cool down and then move out.
Since the difference of battle strength between turning the special skill on and not using it was too big.
On the other hand, if these guys performed well then he didn't need to waste time and could just go through the
Michael looked at Hansoo staring at him and opened his mouth.
"Do you really not have any thoughts of coming into our clan? We can really give you the greatest treatment. It seems like your gear is quite lacking other than your sword. We can fit you with the top quality ones."
Hansoo chuckled.
Since all his defensive items had been destroyed from getting attacked by the tentacles while he was killing the Calamity Fish.
How could a mere defensive item remain unbroken when it was getting attacked by things that a Dragon's Body couldn't even handle.
'Well. I can solve that in here.'
Hansoo looked at Michael and replied.
"Let's first focus on staying friendly in here."
Michael made an expression full of regret at Hansoo's words.
'I really don't know what this guy is. Seriously.'
He had thought that he had seen quite a vast amount of types of people.
Though all their action patterns were similar.
They would struggle to stay alive, struggle to get stronger then try to use whatever they gain in the middle however they can.
But someone like this was the first.
'Tsk. Observe him for now.'
Those who hide their intentions would definitely attack their backs.
Even those who show their intentions do it so, the ones who hide them were worse.
Because of this, he had sent messages all around as soon as he met this guy and told them to find out more about this guy.
Since the information he had was not satisfying enough.
If this guy was someone he couldn't trust then he could not get on the same boat as him.
No, it wasn't that he couldn't get on the same boat as him but rather that he had to kick that guy out.
But thankfully, a lot of people knew his name as he had stood out greatly since the Tutorial.
According to the combined intel of those who had met this guy, this guy wasn't a bad person to keep as a teammate.
No, it wasn't that it was bad but rather very good.
'It's really regrettable…'
It was really regrettable.
To the point of making him anxious if he didn't come to him.
But Michael's thoughts did not last long.
Since the surrounding environment started to change quickly.
Kududududuk.
Udududuk.
A vicious sound of the Root getting squeezed down could be heard.
As the giant root which had the size of a 100 meters in diameter made noises like muscles getting squeezed, the people's expressions naturally turned grim.
And in their view, a large area could be seen.
Though the tunnel made of the root had been quite wide until now, if those things had the shape of a tunnel then the space in the distance was basically a humongous sports field.
A single heart was located in the center of the giant space where tens of different tunnels were leading to.
The repulsive looking heart which had eyes and a mouth attached onto it, constantly pumped up and down as it supplied the nearby tree roots with the nutrition they needed to move.
Of course such things didn't come into their eyes.
"…Do we have to get through that thing?"
Tens of thousands of soldiers who were located around the heart.
They had seen it before.
The strange race who they had seen while they were searching around the Calamity Fish.
If there was a difference then these guys did not look like zombies and were rather quite full of vigor.
Though their eyes dazed out.
These things which were gazing into the distance, creaked their body and turned towards them as they got closer to them.
Hansoo looked at that thing and then spoke towards Michael.
"You definitely cannot die."
If they die here then the heart will swallow the dead person.
Then that Heart will use the genes of the one it had swallowed and revive it in the plant.
Like the army in front of their eyes.
They had to penetrate this while the function of the Plant was still down.
Michael shook his head at those words.
"Damnit. Even if you tell us not to die how can we against that…"
Their numbers were vastly different from the start.
And their equipment was similar to theirs.
Which meant that there wasn't much room for profit.
It seemed like the strength of every individual was higher on their side but it didn't matter in front of numbers.
Hansoo breathed in and out.
Since those words were correct.
Their current situation was quite lacking in order to beat two of the Five Great Tiger Generals who were standing mightily in the center.
'I'll use it here.'
It was a bit burdensome to fight with the human's body while the Racial Metamorphosis was still on cooldown due to him not having all the Relics yet but if the others fight well then it was still doable.
"Everyone focus on your mana control."
Michael replied at the sudden words of Hansoo.
"What are you going to do?"
Hansoo breathed in and out at those words.
"I should use what I've gained."
He only said this but what he had obtained after killing the Calamity Fish was a lot.
Hansoo then pulled out a very small Divine Stone fragment of the size of a rice grain.
Then he very carefully lifted it near the Galadriang's Relic in his hands.
Surprisingly, the Divine Stone Fragment which had been placed on the edge of the sword didn't fall off and instead floated near the handle of the sword.
As if it was saying that it was its original position.
'Since I'm not the only one using it I should float a few more.'
Hansoo breathed in and out, broke a few more fragments and then quickly closed the pouch where the giant Divine Stone Fragment was in.
Keeeeeeeiiing
The fragments which were floating around the Relic started to pour out an extremely bright light.
Like back when it was providing a huge amount of energy inside the Calamity Fish's heart.
The Divine Stone Fragment didn't stop there as it started to slowly pour out a huge amount of energy.
Kudududududuk.
"Uh…Uhhuh?"
"Uuk?"
All the clansmen of Lighthouse, who were gathered in a group with Michael as the center, were shocked at the sudden powerful mana storm that poured out.
Then the blades of their sword started to react to the mana storm.
And then a bright blade started to cover the Relics they were holding onto.
A bright blade which had the destruction capability that was dimensions apart from the blade on their formless sword earlier.
If the formless sword's blade was like a calm surface of water then the bright blade on their sword was like a blazing flame.
"Focus on control!"
The clansmen instinctively knew that the Relic in their hands could control this energy.
Once they focused all of their mental power, the blazing blade that seemed like it was about to sweep over its surroundings started to change into a single strand of condensed blade.
Oooooong.
"What is going to happen…"
Michael was marveling at the weapons in his and his clansmen's hands but Hansoo's situation wasn't that great.
'Kuu… It's killing me.'
The situation of those who had to control a strand of mana that had branched out and him who had to control the main part of the mana was completely different.
The energy of the Divine Stone Fragment was jumping around as if it was about to explode in all directions.
Though the size of the fragment was small, he only had a single relic in the current situation where he couldn't get help from the World Tree.
Controlling this huge amount of energy with a feeble human's body felt like all of his blood vessels were about to blow apart.
It was like trying to make a crazy horse run forward without a saddle and a whip.
'But… I still have to do it!'
Hansoo used the Galadriang's Relic in his hand as he constantly controlled the surrounding manawave as he also condensed energy into his sword.
Kwajajajajak.
Soon, like lightning striking down onto his sword, a bright golden blade appeared on the edge of
Geeeeeeeeing.
'Hoo… Hooo. Much better now.'
Hansoo mumbled as he looked at the blazing blades on the relics of him and the clansmen.
The final defensive system that the Elvenheims tried to complete using the Divine Stone Fragment, World Tree and the Relics.
This was the original use for the Relic.
'Though the Elvenheims didn't even get to use it.'
They were the first ones to be able to see its might.
There wasn't much room for leisure.
All the mana vessels in his body were squeaking.
He had to finish this before his mana vessels turned into a mess.
Hansoo charged forward.
Chapter 74 – Incursion (4)
"Uahahahaha!"
Liu Hong laughed out loudly as he aggressively swung the bright blade in his hands.
Kwaaaaaaa.
A bright blade light from Liu Hong's hand chopped the charging army apart like a wave.
Wajajajak.
'It's amazing!'
The artifact he had was something that wouldn't stand out anywhere he went but the bright blade in his hand was on a different dimension.
'Wouldn't I be able to cut the Root with this strength?'
A destructive force that felt like it could penetrate the thick skin of the Root that previously made him give up could be felt in his hand.
'If it's this much then… I think we can go out of the Root without many casualties!'
Even if the zombie-like things in front of his eyes were strong, and even if they had relics in their hands they would die once they were cut into pieces as long as they were lifeforms.
And the sword in his hand was strong enough to slice apart those things without any problems.
He just needed to take care of these guys, cut apart the root and then go outside.
But Liu Hong realized that the situation wasn't as good as he thought as he swung his sword.
............….
Kudududuk.
Hansoo swung Galadriang's Relic.
The golden magic force from the Relic, which had received a large amount of energy from the Divine Stone Fragment, rushed towards the Elvenheims charging towards him.
Kaduduk.
The Elvenheims tried to defend against that attack with the relics in their hands.
But the golden magic force cut through their weapons and then cut their body into two as well.
'Damn.'
Though he had succeeded, it was not a satisfactory result.
Hansoo clicked his tongue inwardly.
He wanted to split apart six of them with a single attack.
But only four had died under the attack.
The other two quickly moved out of the attack range while the four defended against the attack.
'Maybe it's due to their bodies still being normal but their movements are different.'
Though these guys didn't revive like the spectres inside the Calamity Fish's stomach, they were much stronger since their bodies were normal.
There were tens of thousands of these things.
Those things were making sharp movements as they constantly pushed Hansoo and the clansmen of Lighthouse back.
"Damnit! Their recovery speeds are too fast! They heal back even if you cut off their limbs!"
"Cut off their life in one strike! They don't seem immortal"
"Damnit! Didn't these guys die yet? Where's the energy coming from!"
Similar shouts were being heard from all around.
Even if their limbs were cut off from being attacked, these things just reattached the arm and charged again after healing up.
Once you get cut apart and then heal the materials inside the body that were stored should run out but they were constantly healing as if such a limit didn't exist.
They would fall if you cut off their necks but it meant that it was an army that wouldn't falter unless you cut their necks off or crush their hearts.
The Lighthouse clansmen were holding them back well because their teamwork was great and they were used to fighting with each other but if things continued at this pace then they will get trampled.
Since the Elvenheims were staying very energetic unlike humans who would get tired.
If they didn't have the Mana Resonance Wave then they would've been trampled already.
Hansoo looked towards the giant object that two large Elvenheims were protecting.
'As I thought, I have to crush that central heart.'
The giant central pumping heart had a similar role to the core of the Calamity Fish.
Since it was inefficient to sustain such a huge body with a single heart, that object pumped nutritional fluid with the energy of the Divine Stone Fragment infused within it towards every corner of the body.
That thing's nutritional fluid was constantly being supplied to the Elvenheim soldiers through the floor of the root.
As long as that heart was pumping the Elvenheims will not cease to attack the clans.
'Let's go.'
Hansoo spoke towards Michael who was standing next to him.
"I'm gonna split away and then fight. Maintain the formation as well as possible and stay alive."
Michael clenched his teeth and then nodded.
Though they can maintain themselves, they wouldn't be able to push forward at this pace.
They needed something that would turn the tide.
'Damnit. I don't know what you know but… I wish you success.'
Hansoo left Michael and then pushed his Demonic Dragon's Reinforcement to the max as he lifted his body towards the air.
At that moment something rapidly flew towards Hansoo.
Kudududuk.
Hansoo aggressively swung his blade as he blocked the thing that was flying towards him.
A single marble.
A marble the size of a human's fist smashed into Hansoo's sword as they created a huge shockwave.
Surprisingly, the golden blade which could cut apart the Elvenheims could not get through the marble as the marble made grinding noises and tried to push Hansoo back.
'Nope.'
Hansoo condensed his mana reinforcement further, stepped on the head of an Elvenheim charging towards him and used that acceleration to push back the marble.
Crack.
Then a crack occurred on the marble.
As the crack appeared in the marble the marble ceased attacking Hansoo as it went back to its owner.
Towards one of the two Elvenheims that were guarding the heart.
Then the seven marbles that were spinning around the body of the Elvenheim made a bright light as they started to fly towards Hansoo at a incredible speed.
At the same time the other member of the Five Great Tiger Generals activated the bracelet on his arm.
Oooong.
Instantly a translucent armor appeared all over the Great Tiger General with the bracelet.
The two Great Tiger Generals who had armed themselves with two relics started to make a loud noise as they charged towards Hansoo.
Boomboomboomboom.
As the two, who were much larger than other Elvenheims, started to run towards him, it felt like the whole root was quaking.
And Fabien, the Great Tiger General with the translucent armor, smashed at Hansoo.
Boom!
Hansoo slashed the mana blade created from the Divine Stone Fragment aggressively towards the translucent armor but the armor resonated as it deflected Hansoo's attack.
Kududuk.
The relics that Hansoo and Fabien were using were originally Elvenheim's.
Though they didn't have the Mana Resonance Wave, they were still using them to their fullest potential.
'And these guys are also constantly receiving energy through the central heart.'
Keeriririrk.
But as if the armor could not withstand the energy supplied from the Divine Stone Fragment, Hansoo's golden blade slowly dug into the translucent armor.
At that time something flew towards Hansoo while making loud noises.
'Ekidrang's Relic.'
Two of the seven marbles around Ekidrang remained back to defend the body, four of them aimed towards the fatal spots all over Hansoo's body and the remaining one rushed towards the wrist which held Galadriang's relic.
Hansoo frowned as he quickly retrieved his sword that was slashing down onto Fabien's armor.
At the same time he activated the
Keeriririk.
Nurmaha's ring, which was supplied with a much larger amount of mana than before exploded with a red light.
Hansoo then changed the sword, which was infused with both red and golden light, like a whip and then lashed the air.
Padududuk.
The energy which was on the five of the marbles that were flying towards him disappeared from the Power Destruction.
Crack.
The marbles made crackling sound as cracks appeared.
But the marble which had withstood the attack pushed in and then smashed into Hansoo's body.
Puuk!
'Ku-huk!'
He had dodged four but he couldn't dodge the remaining one after losing his balance.
Since Ekidrang's Relic was too fast for that.
Hansoo breathed out roughly from the pain that ran throughout his body.
At that moment Fabien, who had been pushed back from Hansoo's attack, trusted his armor as he charged towards Hansoo.
Boomboomboomboom.
'Damnit…'
It felt like his mana veins were burning up.
It was too burdensome to use the Galadriang's Relic as well as Nurmaha's ring at the same time.
But if he didn't use both then he wouldn't be able to stop the guy charging towards him like a bear.
Hansoo quickly backed off as he applied the Power Destruction onto the golden blade and then slashed at Fabien's armor.
Craackk!
The armor made breaking sounds as a crack appeared.
The golden blade went through that crack.
Then it changed its form quickly as it started to grind up the insides of Fabien.
Kigigigigik.
At that time the bracelet on Fabien's wrist shined as the armor shrunk down.
The armor which had shrunk down to barely cover Fabien's skin did its best to resist the golden blade attack from Galadriang's sword and Hansoo's sword shone brighter as it tried to cut off Fabien's life.
Pachichik.
The Divine Stone Fragment supplied energy to the point as if it was going to explode.
The golden blade blazed up as it started to crush down the translucent armor.
The central heart constantly supplied energy but it could not compare to the energy from the Divine Stone Fragment.
At that moment a bright light exploded out as a huge crack appeared on Fabien's armor and a limb was cut off.
'I need to finish him now!'
Even if the armor was regenerating from the energy that was supplied, there were still loose ends.
The moment Hansoo tried to swing his golden blade to cut off the neck, a large soundwave was heard.
Kwaaaaaaa!
'Goddamnit!'
He would be able to cut off that guy's neck if he swung his sword but then his whole body would get crushed by the marble flying towards him to assassinate him.
Since his body wasn't a Demonic Dragoneer's.
Hansoo dodged Ekidrang's Marble flying towards him as he jumped back.
Shururuk.
In that short instant the armor quickly regenerated the crack from the constant energy supply as Fabien's right arm reattached from the Nutritional Fluid supplied through the ground by the Central heart.
Hansoo clenched his teeth as he saw this scene.
'He's not even a lizard.'
If this were to continue then there would be no end.
The body which did not go through the Racial Metamorphosis was getting destroyed from within from the wave-like mana as two Great Tiger Generals armed with two relics and backed up with the energy supply from the Central heart were charging towards him.
He tried to get through the two Great Tiger Generals first and smash the heart while the Clan was holding the others back but their cooperation was much more annoying than he had expected.
'Even if I gain some damage… Smash the heart.'
Hansoo looked at the pumping central heart in the distance which was the size of a small building, clenched his teeth and then rushed out.
............…..
Oooong.
The Plant, which was slowly and very minutely regenerating.
At that moment the
Since the plentiful amount of Divine Stone Fragment's energy seemed very lacking suddenly.
Though it had been pouring all the energy from the fragment into the Plant but fixing things was not its strong point.
While it was using up the energy extremely inefficiently, a great forcewave was felt from the root in the distance.
An existence that was using the energy much more efficiently than him though it was much less.
<…..>
The main body started to focus in order to sense and learn the flow of that energy.
Chapter 75 – Plant (1)
Kudududuk.
Ekidriang's Relic flew towards Hansoo who was running while stepping on top of heads like a meteor.
Kugugugugu.
Hansoo rapidly swung his sword as he aimed the golden blade towards the marble.
Craack.
The blazing sword cut the relic in two.
But Hansoo quickly lowered his head as he dodged the relic.
Since the relic that had been cut in two rushed up and tried to smash his head.
'Smart guy. It purposely loosened the Mana Wall.'
It had gotten rid of the Mana Wall so it would be cut more easily and then tried to hit Hansoo with the speed.
And as soon as that guy failed it was looking for another chance.
The marble that had been cut in two had long regenerated.
Ekidrang looked for another chance as he aggressively pushed in.
'If you do that then the story changes.'
Hansoo carefully looked at the marble that was flying towards him.
And the moment the marble almost reached him, he put away his sword.
At the same time he stepped on the marble flying towards him and poured in a large amount of strength.
Boom~
'Kuhuk.'
The pain felt like his leg bones were breaking.
Which meant that it wasn't quite enough to break his legs.
If it was covered with mana then they would've been smashed apart but that thing had disabled the Mana Wall.
Hansoo poured more strength into his thigh while stepping on the marble.
Tududuk.
At the same time Hansoo's body quickly rushed towards the Heart.
Booom!
The marbles constantly chased Hansoo the flying Hansoo and tried to assault his body but Hansoo barely dodged those attacks as he reached out with Galadriang's Relic.
Kwadudududuk.
A sensation that he had felt like dissecting the cocoon inside the heart of the Calamity Fish could be felt on the edge of the sword.
Such a hard and large amount of Muscles, Mucus and Ligaments were covering the Central heart.
A situation where he had to dissect a building that was similar to a bomb shelter.
But the relic that was in Hansoo's hand and the relic that was reborn from borrowing the energy from the Divine Stone Fragment was completely different in terms of strength.
The heart instantly split apart from the golden blade while making ripping noises.
At the same time the heart that was pumping at a regular rate started to pump madly as it was agitated.
The problem was that it wasn't the only thing that was agitated.
The surrounding Elvenheim army also started to change according to the heartbeat.
Tudududuk.
Muscles swelled up and the eye, that was out of focused, focused in.
The ear that was hanging down but had been slightly raised due to the battle now rose up as if it was trying to pierce the heavens.
And the two Great Tiger Generals who had been leading the Elvenheims were the same.
Fabien's body, which was already massive, covered his whole body which had been enlarged a step further with Mana Walls as he charged towards Hansoo.
Hansoo, who had been fervently slicing apart the heart, felt Fabien's fist cutting through the air behind him but he did not dodge it.
Actually he just allowed the attack after tensing up all the muscles on his body.
Kudududuk.
'Hu-up!'
Hansoo felt his conscious shaking from the fist that felt like it was trying to drive into his body.
The relic Fabien had was focused on defense unlike Galadriang's Sword but once the powerful armor combined with his great physical ability, his body basically became a weapon in itself.
But Hansoo received Fabien's attack and then straightened his senses.
He did not die.
Though his side had been ripped off, that guy had gotten very close.
'I can't dissect the Heart with this guy alive!'
Hansoo then started to concentrate all of the golden light on the blade.
The mana that was spreading in all directions from the Relic and the Divine Stone Fragment started to gather onto his blade.
"Huh? The mana reinforcement got weaker?"
"Is that Hansoo guy okay?"
The people who had been fighting momentarily flinched when the mana wave suddenly turned weak.
At that time Hansoo, who had gathered as much mana which was spreading through the Mana Resonance Wave as much as he could, slashed down the golden blade towards Fabien.
Since it felt like his body was going to explode if he gathered more.
Chuwaaaaa!
The mana blade that Hansoo had swung cut towards the charging Fabien's neck.
Kagagagak.
Though the armor surrounding Fabien's neck was strong, it was not as strong as the attack Hansoo risked his life for.
Crack.
A red line appeared on Fabien's neck.
But Hansoo frowned.
'It regenerated that too?'
Most Elvenheims stopped their movements when you cut off their necks.
But Fabien's neck was healing while the armor held the necks in place despite him having cut off his neck.
'It turns a lifeform into a monster.'
Boooom!
As Hansoo was about to move his body in order to end Fabien completely, seven marbles charged at him from the distance at an incredible speed.
Ekidrang had sent out all the marbles, including the ones protecting his body, after getting nervous from seeing Fabien becoming immobile.
Hansoo clicked his tongue and then jumped into the heart he was slashing apart.
Then he madly started to slash his sword in all directions.
Chaaaaak!
Ekidrang's Relic followed Hansoo into the heart and tried to rip Hansoo apart but it could not move like before
Since the delicate structures might also get destroyed in the process of smashing Hansoo.
The heart was as big as a small building but it was not big enough for Ekidrang's marbles, which flew like comets, to act freely.
Hansoo madly dodged and got hit by the marbles as he started to dig out the insides of the heart.
The heart filled with more rage as it tried to control more of the Elvenheims to come towards the heart but it was not enough.
The hole Hansoo had made on the hole was not really big.
Though he was grinding things up inside, it was not big enough for countless Elvenheims to come in.
The heart slowly lost its strength as it got destroyed step by step from the inside.
Then a change occurred.
"These guys became incredibly slow! Create some distance!"
"They don't heal anymore! We don't need to fight them head on! Just assault them from afar!"
As the energy supply from the heart stopped, the regeneration speed slowed down as well as their movement speeds.
Hansoo finished off the heart and then quickly ran outside.
Then he dashed towards Fabien who had almost finished regenerating.
Chwaaak!
Fabien tried to resist but he couldn't move since he needed a greater amount of energy than the others.
Hansoo's sword cut off his wrist.
At the same time the relic that was on his wrist fell off as well.
The wrist had stronger protection from the armor than the other parts but it couldn't be sustained after the energy supply had been cut off.
Hansoo quickly changed the form of the sword as he brought the bracelet that was on the wrist to himself.
Then he quickly put it on.
Hoooong!
The mana that was blazing inside Hansoo as if it wanted to explode quickly calmed down.
His control over the Divine Stone Fragment had increased much more as the relics increased to two.
Like insisting that the control didn't merely multiply by two by having two relics, the powerful mana storm quickly calmed down under Hansoo's control.
'Hooh.'
Hansoo sighed in relief as he saw his mana veins quickly calming down.
The amount of mana that would be used up would be twice the amount if he were to control both.
He would be able to supply more mana since having two relics allowed him to control the Divine Stone Fragment with much more ease.
'It's amazing.'
Hansoo mumbled inwardly as he saw the mana blade that blew up to the point where it was about to explode.
It was like his when he had only gathered two.
He couldn't even imagine what he would be able to do if he were to collect all 5 relics and attain the complete
Hansoo, who had been looking at the mana that had been pouring all over his body, looked at Ekidrang in the distance having a hard time controlling the 7 beads and then quickly charged towards him.
...............
"Hoo-ok… Hoook."
Michael looked at the surrounding clansmen as he breathed in and out harshly.
Though they were all gasping for air from the battle, the battle ended very quickly despite them struggling until now.
Since the Elvenheim had all lost their strength and fallen down the moment the heart was crushed.
And one more thing.
Michael looked at his sword that was shining much brighter than before.
'A lot more mana is being supplied than before.'
Michael then looked towards the origin of the cause.
Seven marbles floating around him, a new bracelet and the sword he previously had.
He, who had obtained many new things, was a lot different from before.
The sensation of him pushing his limits could not be felt as the energy that was being sent their way was greatly amplified.
And around his body, larger fragment pieces than the ones before were floating around his body.
'…He reminds be of a Pylon.'
Memories of a game he used to play a long time ago, Starcraft, came back to him.
Michael looked at Hansoo and asked.
"What are you going to do now?"
Hansoo laughed as he spoke.
"You've been to dungeons many time. It's the same."
The Plant has shut down.
Though a few remaining beasts would still be around and the difficulty of them would still be high but it really wouldn't be that burdensome since he would be able to control the Divine Stone Fragment with the three relics.
'It's working out better than I expected.'
At that time the captain of the shock troopers who was standing next to Michael approached him and whispered something in his ears.
It seems like he had seen something with a skill.
Michael's expression turned grim as he heard this.
"Didn't you say that the beasts won't come out anymore?"
"Mmm?"
When Hansoo made a confused expression, Michael spoke with a frozen expression.
"I checked with the skill because we had gotten closer but… There's no need for words. Just see it for yourself."
Michael then transferred the image from the skill of the captain of the search team,
The image of the view the captain of the search him had seen could be seen on the mirror that he was holding.
A building that had remnants of an explosion but still had a decent look.
And the beasts that were slowly being recreated inside it.
Though all the Cultivation Containers weren't working as if it wasn't fully healed but from one look one could tell that strong things were being produced.
And the speed was getting faster as well.
'Damnit… Those are things that appear at the end of the dungeon of the Base Root.'
Michael muttered inwardly.
Though the Five Calamities were strong, they were plenty of other monstrous things other than them.
And such things were slowly being produced from the Plant.
While Michael was making a grim expression, Hansoo also frowned slightly.
'The Fairy shouldn't have intervened.'
It shouldn't have known that he had come to the past.
And if it was going to intervene then it would've done so in the beginning.
Since he wouldn't even have been able to come back to the past if they had intervened at the Crystal in his past life.
'Did the main body sense and learn the Mana Wave?'
That was highly likely.
"Don't we need to escape?"
Hansoo shook his head at Michael's words
Though it was a giant beast that looked like it didn't have much in its brains, it was not stupid.
It would constantly watch and learn.
You would not be able to make it fall into the same trap twice.
He would need to prepare for the Plant even more next time and there would be no way to penetrate through the beasts if the Plant wasn't shut down.
'But… There's no need to face them all.'
There was no actual need to fight.
He needed to buy time since he had obtained the Relic.
"Can you hold onto your breath for a bit?"
"What?"
The moment Michael replied Hansoo pushed the power of the Relic in his hand to the limit.
Then he slashed at the root around them.
Booom!
The line of light that had been strengthened from the Divine Stone Fragment made a hole in the tunnel surrounding them just like that.
Then toxic waters started to pour out from those locations.
The Outer Tunnel that sucked in the toxic waters.
"If we ride this then we'll get there in an instant."
"Huh."
Michael looked at the tube full of the toxic water that was headed towards an unknown location and made a bitter expression.
Then he thought to himself.
'Do we need to take such risks to help that guy?'
But Michael just shook his head.
They wouldn't be able to get out from here only by relying on their own strength, without the relics that guy was holding.
And that guy didn't have any thoughts of leaving before he ended this so they had to see the end no matter what happened to them.
'Damnit. I've been caught badly.'
It had been a long time since he felt the pain of seeing blood once you provoked a dangerous fellow to the bones.
Michael clenched his teeth and started moving.
............
The main body was lost in thoughts as it was learning the mana wave that it had sensed inside the Root.
A power that a strange guy had shown.
It wasn't enough to deal with that guy with the beasts it had now.
<…..>
It needed a different method.
Though it was creating beasts for defense but the power it held now was equal to their creator who had created test subjects like them.
It knew instinctively.
Why the guy at the sea had gotten quiet.
It didn't know what would happen once that guy were to charge in like this.
The main body stopped the regeneration of the plant momentarily as it started to focus the energy into a different location.
To create the clone,
Chapter 76 – Plant (2)
Kwagagagagaga.
A bit over a hundred people clenched their teeth within the aggressively rushing toxic waters.
'Damnit. It's really rough.'
Though the inner tunnel that they were moving in was large but the outer tunnel that was sucking in the toxic waters was even larger.
The people, who felt like they would get swept off from the rapid waters of the river, held onto their hands tight in order to not lose each other.
'We might just die if we lose each other!'
These people activated all sorts of skills to survive and used the strength that had reached the red stage to hold onto each other tight.
And in between them the 7 marbles were constantly roaming around, held them in place and prevented them from crashing into the walls by slightly changing the directions.
'Damnit. I'm not sure if we are going to all die or not.'
While Michael was cursing out in his mind, a light could be seen in the distance.
A light that started from the end point of the giant tunnel.
'We've arrived.'
Hansoo controlled the marbles, Ekidrang's Relic, to burst out and quickly approached the wall.
If they were to get swept into the Plant then they would just all melt from the Plant's processes.
He had to make a hole to escape before then.
Keeeeiing.
The golden blade in Hansoo's hand exploded aggressively.
Hansoo stabbed the blade that had been extended into tens of meters into the wall.
Kagagagagak.
'Ho-oop.'
It felt like the flesh in his hands was about to explode.
The blade that was created from Galadriang's Relic was strong but the tunnel near the Main Body was much thicker and tougher than in the beginning and the current was extremely strong.
Hansoo tightly clenched onto Galadriang's Relic in order to not lose it due to the current as he activated Ekidrang's Relic to hold himself in place.
Kiiigigigigik.
Hansoo's efforts weren't in vain as his velocity quickly slowed down despite being in the water.
And in the spot that Hansoo had gone past, a cut of tens of meters had been left behind.
The
Since it would be impossible for even something like it to not feel any pain once the root that acted as a vein had been scratched like that.
At that moment an enormously large explosion occurred behind him.
Michael and his clansmen, who had been behind Hansoo, had used all their strength to send out skills.
Though it was hard for over a hundred people to activate skills at the same time but they did it in a single try as they sent out a powerful attack towards a direction.
They used the reaction force from that to push themselves out of the toxic waters as they were driven towards the outside of the Root.
Kwaaaa.
"Kuhuh….Cough."
"Huaa… Huaaaa."
Though the Root circulating the toxic waters had been floating tens of meters in the sky, there wasn't anybody who would die by falling from such a height.
The people who came out from the toxic waters landed on the ground and then grinded their teeth as they caught their breath.
"Goddamit. Never again."
But unlike those clansmen, Michael instead quickly looked at his surroundings
A wide open area.
Two different kinds of roots could be seen above them.
The giant root of the World Tree that they were familiar with.
And the root they came out from, that was stuck beneath the World Tree Root like a parasite.
Their gazes naturally fell towards the location where the root extended to.
And the thing that was located at the end.
"It's huge…"
Beneath the location of the World Tree Root, a gigantic structure was located.
Though they had checked it with a skill previously, seeing it in front of their eyes like this was much much different.
"For something like this to be under the World Tree…"
At the same time the other thing could only come into their eyes.
A giant lifeform that was surrounding that giant structure.
Beasts were slowly crawling out from all around that lifeform that seemed like the main body of the root they were on until now.
Hansoo started to prepare the mana inside his body after seeing this.
The objective was the same as before.
He had to pull out the Divine Stone Fragment before the Plant fully recovered.
"Get through it quickly. Stick behind me well."
"Goddamnit. Even if you say it…"
Michael grinded his teeth as he saw the beasts swarming towards them from the distance.
At that time the relics that were around Hansoo flew up like a storm and smashed the life form's head.
Boom!
The Relic which had devoured a large amount of energy from the Divine Stone Fragments smashed apart the life form's head and then returned next to Hansoo.
"It's not that bad. I told you I'll fulfill your wishes for you. To kill this thing."
"…I shouldn't make wishes so quickly from now on."
The atheist Michael found God who he hasn't searched for in 2 years again in his mind as he prepared the formation of his troops while looking at the charging beasts.
..............
Kudududuk.
The man who had raised himself out from the Cultivation Liquid looked at his surroundings.
A man who had the form of an Elvenheim.
But unlike a normal Elvenheim, he had a strange aura coming off of him.
At that exact moment a voice was transferred into his head from above.
To go out and get rid of the intruders.
The man looked upwards.
The thing that was extending huge roots in all directions.
That thing was definitely within his memories.
'Devouring and Vomiting Root… that was something I gave power too.'
And because of this the man started to feel angry.
How dare such a thing give him orders.
The main body of
<…>
Even that guy was a clone that was created with the Creator's cells as the basis, its abilities couldn't even compare to him.
But for such a thing to act with such insolence.
The thing that made it worse was that he couldn't give orders to it because it was created with the Creator's cells as the basis.
The Devouring and Vomitting Root had created the clone in time but it didn't know how he would act since he wasn't bound to its orders.
There was a reason why it hadn't made it until now.
<…..>
"…"
While the two were getting on each other's nerves, the one who spoke first was the man.
"You have… the key to the
One of the two treasures of Elvenheim.
According to the cloned man's memory he had given it to this guy to store.
<….>
"I gave the position to control the plant to you back then. I know it's here."
<….>
As the Devouring and Vomiting Root kept giving off dissatisfied feelings the man grinded his teeth.
"This dumbass. I need that thing to block the guy outside. Hurry and give it to me."
The man was realizing the fact that the outside situation wasn't great.
It seems like the plant wasn't working properly because it received some kind of damage..
It meant the situation was bad enough to the point where it couldn't focus on healing back the Plant and had to constantly squeeze beasts out.
And the beasts created didn't seem like they had the upper hand either.
Since large screams of beasts were being heard outside along with loud booms.
'How could this be… These guys are danger level 12. They came to kill it?'
The most dangerous beast created from the Plant was level 7.
But on the other hand the others including the Calamity Fish were level 12.
Level 12 was dangerous enough to threaten a whole race to extinction.
And had done so already.
The man frowned as if he was flustered.
Then the main body, which was constantly detecting the outside information with a root that acted as an antenna, started to open its octopus-like beak from within its body as if it couldn't hold it back anymore.
Kugugugugugu.
As the giant mouth that was hundreds of meters in diameter opened, hundreds of tentacle-like roots reached down.
And in the spots where the two roots had extended from, two objects were located there.
One was the Divine Stone Fragment that shone brightly as it supplied the main body with the energy it needed.
The other was a strange looking key the size of a finger.
The main body used one of the hundreds of roots as a hand as it pulled the silvery key up.
Then it stretched it down to the man below and gave it to him.
"Hmm. Good. Anyways, this insolent bastard…"
The man spun the key on his hand and then coldly laughed as he looked at the Divine Stone Fragment above him.
<….>
While the
...............…
Boom!
Hansoo blocked one of the countless roots flying towards him with Ekidrang's Relic.
Charararak.
Though tens of roots were flying towards him, he could estimate the movements of some.
Hansoo blocked off the root as he thought inwardly.
'As I thought. The defensive system is weaker than the Calamity Fish.'
The thin roots of the Devouring and Vomiting Root looked like the tentacles inside the Calamity Fish at a simple glance but the difference in power was great.
Though there was still a very big problem left.
There was a reason why the defensive system was so weak.
It was weak because it wasn't needed.
Guuoooo!
An ogre that was the size of a three story building smashed down onto the ground with a bludgeon that reached tens of meters.
Booooom!
A huge vibration ran out in all directions as the ground wavered up and down.
The seven marbles were busy blocking off the roots reaching down from the sky.
He had to face it directly.
A golden light reached out long from Hansoo's blade.
Booom!
Hansoo attacked the bludgeon that was flying around in all directions.
Shukunk.
The bludgeon was cut off and landed at a different location.
Kuuuuuu
The giant ogre made a flustered expression and then made a vicious expression and tried to swing its bludgeon again as if it was trying to smash the ants in front of its eyes.
Though it didn't really matter much.
Churrrrk
By the time Hansoo finished swinging his sword, the bludgeon and the ogre's neck, which were in the area of the swing of the sword, had long been cut off.
Kuwuhh…
It then fell down to the ground.
MIchael, who was fighting in the distance, saw that beast, focused and then shouted out loud.
"We can win! We're almost there!"
Then they looked towards the thing that was shining brightly in the distance.
A bright light that was guiding them like a lighthouse.
The same thing as what Hansoo was holding onto.
'We win if we pull that thing out huh.'
Hansoo had told them.
The thing that was supplying the giant body with energy was that thing.
Everything will be solved if they get there and pull it out.
At that moment Michael flinched.
'Then the Plant will stop working?'
Then what would the other adventures hunt to get stronger with.
But at that moment a change occurred.
Kuwaaaaa!
"Huh?"
A huge shockwave was created from somewhere inside where the Divine Stone Fragment was shining along with a loud exploding noise.
And not long after that sound was heard, the lights of the Plant started to turn off.
At the same time the hundreds of thin roots that were attacking them constantly shrugged down as they lost their strength.
'This…'
Hansoo frowned.
He had seen this before.
At the Calamity Fish's heart.
It meant that somebody had pulled the Divine Stone Fragment from inside the Devouring and Vomiting Root.
'Who?'
At that moment a voice was transferred into his mind.
'Key? He knows the name?'
To call the relic the key.
Of course the original name of the relic was The Five Keys, so
But there shouldn't be anyone but him who knew this here.
Since the only people who called it that were the Elvenheim, and only the high rankers at that.
"Stay here."
"Huh? Hey?"
Hansoo left Michael's shouts behind him as he moved forward.
Chapter 77 – Plant (3)
'First time seeing these guys. How are their skills?'
The Clone, Alpha, mumbled as he looked at the people in the distance.
There were around 150 people.
Though it was the first time he saw that race, it didn't really matter much.
The important part was their power.
Alpha laid down a conclusion after looking at the mana wave and the fight.
That the strongest person over there was around level 6.
But they were probably at around level 6.5 due to the leaked weapons from
Others were distributed around level 4 and 5.
'They're just bugs.'
Alpha stopped caring about them.
Then his gaze turned to the guy he had called.
'That guy that's running to me… He should be around danger level 9?'
He would probably be around level 6 without the relics.
But he had the relics of Galadriang, Ekidrang and Fabien of the Five Great Tiger Generals.
He would be around level 9 since he was efficiently supplying and using the Divine Stone Fragments.
The might of the relics was that great.
'He's really fascinating.'
Not everyone could use it like that.
Even if one was to obtain both the relic and the divine stone fragment, they needed a huge amount of minute mana control in order for their bodies to not blow up.
'As if he had been using mana for decades.'
Just from the mana control he seemed equal to himself.
If you take into account who the original of the clone is then the fact that the guy over there was similar to him was something amazing.
But Alpha shook his head.
'…Something's missing. He has more.'
To kill the Calamity Fish with just that.
Impossible.
Killing the Calamity Fish from the outside was of course impossible and even if someone were to act inside its body like this it would still not be possible.
Since the inner defenses of the Calamity Fish were at least at level 10.
And somehow he had fried the Plant as well.
'Shall we see his hidden cards then.'
The king's treasure that acted as the Arsenal that would arm his soldiers, the
There wouldn't any problems though he could only use one of the five different kinds of weapons.
Since there were enough gears in there to to arm millions of soldiers.
'I guess I'll need to borrow the powers of the Divine Stone Fragment.'
Alpha raised the key in his hand, Thousand Soldier Armors, and made a motion of stabbing it in the air and turning it right.
............….
Hansoo moved quickly as he went towards the center of the
At that moment a large amount of things started to pour down on Hansoo.
'This bastard… Playing around after telling me he wanted to see me.'
Even if that guy had set up a plan, he still had to advance if he didn't want to miss the Divine Stone Fragment.
Hansoo poured all the energy from the surrounding Divine Stone Fragments into Fabien's relic.
Ooooong
A tremendous amount of marbles started to smash at the formless armor created around his body.
Huge in numbers but, smaller in size than Ekidrang's, the marbles surrounded Hansoo and madly started to tear him apart.
Hansoo urgently checked his surroundings while Fabien's formless armor was getting shredded.
'Main body. I need to find the main body.'
At that moment something came into Hansoo's view.
A blurry image could be seen among the silvery clouds.
Hansoo aggressively swung Galadriang's blade towards the distant location.
Craack
The Divine Stone Fragment supplied a huge amount of energy.
The moment the golden light extended away from the sword, the marbles in the air moved and started to block the blade.
Kigigigigik
Though as each individual marble was weaker than Ekidrang's they were crushed the moment they made contact, but as tens of thousands of these blocked the path of the golden light, the light eventually lost its strength and disappeared.
'Tsk.'
He had expected this.
Hansoo, who had foreseen that it wouldn't end simply like this, increased the mana in his body and tried to quickly charge through.
Since he needed to crush his opponent before his body would get shredded apart by the silvery cloud's attacks.
'If all fails… Use the Mana Code!'
But the cloud that seemed like it was about to attack Hansoo any moment, just calmly floated around the air after attacking and defending once.
As if it saw everything it needed to see.
'Was it a test or something?'
As Hansoo walked past the silvery marble cloud, a single Elvenheim was waiting for Hansoo.
The man greeted him as soon as he saw Hansoo.
"Hello. It wasn't much, I just called you over because I got interested."
The man was looking at him with a laid back expression as if he had gotten relaxed even further than before.
Hansoo realized the man's identity as soon as he saw him.
He had heard a lot of things from the Elvenheims he had met in the Abyss.
Of course he had also heard about the
It was clear that he was a clone since there was no way that guy would be here.
'Devouring and Vomiting Root… It seems that it was surprised.'
It would of course have the genetic information of their creator, the Fallen One.
But to clone that kind of guy even if it could have guessed more or less things would turn like this.
'That's why you get cleaned out.'
Hansoo coldly gazed at the Clone who was spinning the key around.
The Clone had a giant Divine Stone Fragment on his right hand and a small key on his left hand.
Hansoo mumbled inwardly after looking at that.
'To control the Divine Stone Fragment to that extent without the relics…'
He knew because he was also using the Divine Stone Fragment and the relics.
He understood how well that guy was controlling the Divine Stone Fragment.
Of course that guy wasn't pulling out all the energy from the Divine Stone Fragment but if you take into account the amount of energy the fragment has then that much was still fearsome.
That guy was expertly pulling out a large amount of energy and pouring it towards a certain location.
And Hansoo knew where that large amount of energy was being poured into.
The huge number of marbles floating behind him.
Though they were smaller than the Ekidrang's Relic Hansoo had, they numbered in tens of thousands.
Hansoo frowned as he saw the floating marbles and the Divine Stone Fragment in the Clone's hands.
'…Is that the Arsenal I have heard about?'
Marbles like Ekidrang's Relics were constantly being released from the open space behind the Clone.
That's the
Since it was an amount that could arm millions of people, the number was tremendous.
'And as I remember… The Arsenal was seized before they could even arm the soldiers.'
The
The reason why the Elvenheim had lost against the war against Calamity Fish was that their Arsenal had been seized before the soldiers could get armed with the other four gears in exception to the sword.
'I don't even know what he has has belief in.'
Hansoo finished his thoughts as he looked at the Clone.
"What are you thinking?"
Why would the guy who had attained the Divine Stone Fragment call him over.
The Clone smiled as he spoke.
"What else. I need to now finish what I was doing. Though you won't know about it."
The Alpha looked at the relics floating around Hansoo after he finished speaking.
He was not stupid.
He knew that he was just a clone.
But that did not matter.
His objective could be completed as long as his ability and memory was the same.
'And I need that thing for this.'
He would be able to create a foundation with those things, the second Divine Stone Fragment he had and the key,
"I'm just wondering if you could just give me the things you have? I was just born so I don't really want to fight."
Hansoo didn't even reply as he started to rotate the mana within his body.
And Alpha smirked after seeing this as if he had expected this outcome already and flicked the key in his hand which caused a larger amount of marbles than before to start pouring towards Hansoo's body.
Kudududududu
'It's a power that could even crush level 10s.'
The strength he had seen earlier was level 9.
This much was enough to erase him without a trace.
Alpha, while pouring in the mana wave created from the Divine Stone Fragment towards the countless marbles, sent in the special mana code ordering to attack Hansoo using the key in his hand.
The reason why
Normal soldiers could use the five different kinds of gears like the Formless Armor and the Seven Star Marbles from the Arsenal only when the King allows them to.
If the five keys that the Five Great Generals had, the
If the Thousand Soldier Armors didn't allow the five gears to work then they would all stop working.
The reason why he didn't care about the bugs in the distance with the relics was because of this.
Since he could stop them at his will.
At that moment the Clone freaked out.
Kiriririrk.
"Uuk?"
Something was quickly invading through the Seven Star Marbles that were being controlled with his Mana Wave..
To be precise the marbles that were controlled by his mana waves were lost from his command and started to tilt as soon as they entered the mana wave created from the Relic and the fragments.
And of course once the silvery marbles got weaker, Hansoo swung the golden sword light as he charged at him.
The Clone spat out loudly unintentionally because he was so flustered.
"What the hell! How do you know the Mana Code!"
The Mana Code that was only inscribed on the Thousand Soldier Armors that ruled over the Five Gears was flowing from Hansoo's mana wave as it was destroying the mana flow within the Seven Star Mables.
And because of his he could not control them properly.
Hansoo, who had heard the scream-like shout, thought of the conversation he had with the Elvenheims he had met at the Abyss.
'Didn't know that I'll get to use it like this.'
He didn't really expect much since the Elvenheims didn't know about the location of the Arsenal either.
But to find it like this.
'So all of this comes into my possession if I cut off your neck right?'
Then his future plans would become much easier.
He would've been smashed apart if he didn't know the code but it wasn't hard to approach him once he knew the code.
Hansoo, who had been smiling coldly, looked at the clone who had entered his range and slashed down the golden sword.
Kwararararak
The golden blade cut through the air as it accelerated towards the Clone.
At this moment the Clone gnashed his teeth, stabbed the key onto the air again and then spun it the other way.
If one spun it rightwards then the Arsenal's space will get opened and a large amount of gears will pour out.
But when he turned it leftwards, something different happened.
Charururuk
The moment the key spun in mid-air, all the surrounding air was flipped inside out as it created a silvery ripple.
This ripple started from the Clone's hand which held onto the key, started to climb up the clone's arm and then covered his whole body.
Boooom!
The golden blade smashed down onto the silver armor but it was so tough to the point where not even a scratch was created.
Hansoo freaked out once he saw the extremely familiar form of the armor.
"Uk! Weapon Eater!"
Weapon Eater.
Solo Numbering 6.
An invincible armor that grew by eating up gears.
Hansoo was shocked from the appearance of an armor that could be found in the upper zones.
'The complete piece was here! The complete piece of Weapon Eater!'
Artifacts were mostly just copies of things that existed somewhere in some world.
Since it was just something that was resupplied as a reward from the fairy.
The reason why numerous items of the same kind could exist was this.
And since the location where the copy of Weapon Eater was found was not here, this meant that the thing over there is the original.
Though he had heard about the key form of the Arsenal and the fact that a special armor of the King was hidden in it but he didn't know that the armor was the Weapon Eater's original version.
'Another reason came up for me to kill him.'
Hansoo's eyes shone at the unexpected find.
Chapter 78 – Racial War (1)
Boom!
Hansoo started to madly smash down the armor in front of his eyes.
The clone stared at the attacks pouring at him and then started to grind his teeth.
'Damnit. It's really annoying.'
The Thousand Soldier Armor could only be strong.
It was obvious.
Since it was an armor made to protect the king.
Being protected by the Thousand Soldier Armor and commanding the soldiers armed with the gears inside the Thousand Soldier Armor.
Though the armor was fitting to be the King's treasure, it was impossible for him to beat that guy with this current body during this situation where he didn't have any soldiers and the Seven Star Marbles were being negated from the mana code.
'This won't do. I need to get out.'
The Clone grinded his teeth.
That guy over there was not in a rush.
Though the Armor was protecting him for now, he will get pummeled to death eventually.
He could not die in such a place.
'I cannot fail.'
He didn't even know where or what his original was doing.
But from what he had seen, it seemed like he had failed his objectives in this place.
Since something like this wouldn't have had happened if he was alive.
'I cannot die here… for the 1.6 billion of my people who are waiting for my success.'
He had come over to this world with only his soul because of this.
And because of this he had fought against all of the Elvenheims here by himself.
For the survival of his race.
'I will end it all.'
The Clone clenched his teeth.
'Dammit… Though I don't want to give up Thousand Soldier Armor…'
The Clone Shouted.
"Succession of the Thousand Soldier Armor!"
As soon as those words ended the armor that was surrounding the Clone started to disassemble at an extreme speed.
Then it followed the golden blade light that was smashing at him and stretched towards Hansoo.
The silvery scales quickly moved onto Hansoo's body from the Clone's body.
And soon Hansoo's body was completely covered with the King's Armor, Thousand Soldier Armor.
Kudududuk
Hanso tried to move but the silvery armor became a prison and did not let Hansoo move.
Power Succession.
A stage during when the Thousand Soldier Armor checks the owner for their qualifications for the Armor.
He had attained the power over the Thousand Soldier Armor like this through the same process.
The equipped person will go through the test for the qualifications to become the owner of the Thousand Soldier Armor while being inside it.
Though seven out of ten people will usually die in that dangerous process but he didn't think that Hansoo will fail at all.
Kiririririk
The Clone quickly turned his head as he saw the Armor squeaking already.
If that guy equips the Armor then his battle power will rise up to around level 10.
Though he won't be at level 12 like the Calamity Fish and reach the disaster level but he will be strong enough to go against a whole castle and its inhabitants.
If a hundred came at him then all hundred of them will be killed.
'Escape through teleportation.'
Since the Devouring and Vomiting Root had stopped its movements it was now possible to teleport.
Even if he was a clone and did not have the leaf of the World Tree, it would still be possible for a single body to teleport with the cells in his body.
'I guess… I won't be able to take the Divine Stone Fragment.'
The Clone frowned.
The Divine Stone Fragment had a lock casted on it to prevent teleportation through the World Tree to prevent theft.
It was obvious, since it'll be a disaster if some crazy person were to charge in and teleport away with the Divine Stone Fragment.
The Clone madly dashed upwards.
He had thought of putting the Divine Stone Fragment back inside the Devouring and Vomiting Root but he might get caught if he were to do that.
The Clone, which had ran past the main body of the Devouring and Vomiting Root, laid his hands on the World Tree Root that was located above it.
Kiiiiiiieeeng
The World Tree Root, which was gaining back some of it's original color after the Devouring and Vomiting Root had disappeared, activated in reaction to the Clone's body.
'I shall see you later.'
The Clone grinded his teeth as he saw the guy finishing off the succession.
He and that guy were not compatible.
It seemed like that guy was collecting Relics and Divine Stone Fragments.
He needed the Relics and the Divine Stone Fragments that guy had for his race.
'Damnit. How did the original body fail.'
The only remaining memories left were himself giving the genetic information to the Devouring and Vomiting Root.
He had no way of knowing what the Original had done after that.
Since the World Tree had dried up and the Elvenheim had been destroyed, it seemed like his objective was almost complete.
But why wasn't there a single sight of his own race.
'First… I will go to the flower.'
Then the clone's body completely disappeared.
Soon the silvery armor that was making squeaking noises and was pressing down onto Hansoo's body as if it was trying to crush it had stopped.
Then it quickly disassembled and started to collect within his hand.
Then a small silver key appeared in Hansoo's hand.
Hansoo quickly checked his surroundings in order to get an idea of his current situation.
'Tsk. It ran away.'
Since he had left behind the Divine Stone Fragment, it seemed like he had escaped through teleportation.
Since there was no way he would not take that thing if he was going to run.
Kirurururk
Hansoo stabbed the key onto the air and then spun it rightwards.
Then a black hole appeared in the air.
When he focused, all the surrounding Seven Star Marbles all started to get sucked into the hole.
'I don't think I can even use it to attack.'
It was burdensome to sustain the Mana Wave alone.
There was no way for him to use the Seven Star Marbles to attack like the Clone when a simple retrieving order hurt his head so much.
The reason why the Clone was able to use these things to attack was because he was made of the cells of a very special person.
It was better for him to just send that focus onto his Relics and fighting with those.
Hansoo Organized his thoughts and then spun the key leftwards.
Kiriririrk
Then silvery scales instantly covered all of Hansoo's body.
One of the two King's Treasures.
Thousand Soldier Armor.
Maybe it was due to the others being replicas, the features were similar to the Weapon Eater he knew.
It would grow by eating up gears.
It would get harder and harder and change its color once enough has been devoured and turn into an artifact of zones above.
It would evolve once it ate thousands and thousands of gears.
It only ate the good materials from those gears and then creates an armor that fit the user's body.
Of course it showed off a much higher hardness and mana conductivity compared to other armors.
And a special ability of the Thousand Soldier Armor.
Hansoo took out the forgotten sword from the Arsenal and then lightly swung it towards his body.
Kagagagak
As soon as he swung the sword the surface of the armor changed.
To a form that was suitable to resist the attack.
Toong
'As I expected.'
It would show an increased defense against weapons it had eaten or ones similar to it.
It seemed like it had eaten the forgotten sword before since it already had resistance against it.
An armor that was faithful to its job as armor.
Though there weren't many more extra skills but it was to Hansoo's liking because of this.
'I don't think I need to feed it more.'
As it seemed, the Thousand Soldier Armor had already evolved to the peak of the Red stage.
It would actually be more troublesome if it evolved further.
Since his runes were still Red.
Hansoo stopped hitting the armor and then thought of the plan from now.
The next plan was to kill the third Calamity.
There was only one thing he needed to do at the Root here.
'First I need to weaken the Ouroboros.'
The Third Calamity that was so huge that it tied itself around the World Tree Trunk.
He needed a bit preparation to go against that giant snake.
'First the poison.'
Hansoo quickly ran towards the lower parts of the World Tree Root.
As the two Calamities who sucked onto its toxic waters disappeared, the World Tree was draining a much higher amount of toxic waters that couldn't even be compared to the amount before.
Kwarruruuru
Hansoo gathered the surrounding corpses and quickly started to assemble them.
Since there was a huge amount of corpses around the Plant due to the battle.
Hansoo, who had combined this and that, mixed in the baby's heart he gained before and created a black liquid.
Then he chopped up the World Tree Root with Galadriang's Relic.
Shuguguk
Hansoo poured in the liquid in his hands after seeing the flow of the toxic waters heading towards the Trunk on the inner parts.
'That's completed.'
The assembled poison that had flowed wasn't that poisonous by itself.
But once it touches the toxic waters then it would react and change into something fatal towards the Ouroboros.
There wasn't much time left until this poison will enter into the stomach of the Ouroboros who would be sucking out the toxic waters with his fangs biting into the inner Trunk parts.
Hundreds of thousands of tons of toxic waters will be turned into something fatal and enter it's stomach.
'Though this isn't even close to enough.'
Actually he had planned to do as much as he did up to this point.
But it seemed like he would need to change his plans from this point on.
Since something unexpected happened.
'A Clone huh.'
Hansoo frowned.
Though that guy was a Clone he would still have a lot of powers since it had the cells of the Original.
He had known as soon as he saw him running away through teleportation.
'I don't know what kind of tricks he will use.'
The only thing he had heard from the Elvenheim was that the Fallen One had tried to use the Calamities to turn the World Tree into a mess and force the Elvenheim into extinction.
The Elvenheims didn't know either, as to why their King had suddenly gone mad and tried to massacre them all.
'Tsk. There's a limit.'
Elvenheims and Humans both, they were both races that had failed and roamed around the Abyss.
Those who lost because they didn't know something and because they did lack something
Of course there was no way for them to know everything about that world.
His job was to run while filling up those lacking gaps.
'Though I guess I know one thing.'
He had no way of knowing what kind of thoughts he had and what he would do.
He also didn't know how much of a difference in power the Clone had to the Original.
But the actions of the Clone was clear.
It had targeted the Relic in his hands.
Which meant that the Clone needed the Relic in his hands for his objective and would definitely come find him.
'I don't know if his appearance made things easier or harder.'
He had gained a lot from that guy's appearance.
With The Thousand Soldier Armor, Three Relics and the Divine Stone Fragments then he would be easily be able to get through the defense system of the Calamity Fish that he had barely passed through after pouring in the poison.
He was a level stronger overall than when he used Racial Metamorphosis.
He had also attained the Arsenal and the gears within it was a huge profit.
But he didn't know how and when the guy, who clearly had evil intentions towards him, will affect him.
'I guess I should look around a bit then.'
If that guy were to use some tricks then a clue will pop up somehow.
'I guess I need to receive some help. Anyways, how will they react.'
People will row the same directions when they were on the same boat but the story changes once the boat arrives.
Hansoo collected the Divine Stone Fragment and then quickly moved towards Michael who was loitering in the distance.
............…
Top of the World Tree.
Though it had dried up, it still soared above the clouds.
A single flower had bloomed at the top of this.
Though it seemed small in comparison to the giant World Tree but this pink flower easily reached over 1km in size.
And a man was standing on the edge the World Tree where the flower was attached onto.
The Clone who had run away using Teleportation.
But the Clone was making quite a troubled expression.
"…Entrance is not allowed?"
The living area that was only allowed to kings,
Though it looked beautiful from a point of view, it was a construct made from a huge amount of energy.
If somebody who isn't granted access touches it then they will ignite on fire and then burn away.
There were only two people who could freely enter this place.
King.
And the Administrator who had collected the five keys and had the qualifications to ask for the Throne.
Even the Five Great Tiger Generals could not enter this place without the King allowing them so.
And the Clone was confident because of this.
Since his body was made of the Original's cell who was the King.
But for him to not be able to enter.
If he hadn't stopped because he felt ominous in the middle then he would've burned off in an instant.
'Damnit… What happened.'
He had believed that memories were useless but when a situation like this happened he could only regret the blank memories.
There was only one way now.
'I have to collect all the keys.'
The Three Relics that guy had.
He had to kill that guy in order to collect them all.
And he needed power to do that.
A power that wasn't consisting of tricks but rather strong enough to crush that guy whole in an instant.
'Teleportation… is going to be a bit hard right now.'
There was too much strain on the body since it had teleported without the leaves and only through his power.
But he did not have the time to wait for the cooldown.
'Go to Ouroboros.'
The Clone started to quickly run down the World Tree.
And the Clone thought on the way down.
Though he had no memories but reality showed him.
His race was not here.
The original body had clearly failed.
'The failed original does not have the qualifications anymore. I shall… Receive that name now.'
The Clone then thought of the original owner of his body and memories.
The person who had been called the Last King of Elvenheim in this world.
No, there was no need to use that name anymore.
A name from much before then.
The name before he had crossed over with his race's hopes and had been born in Elvenheim during the time when his race,
'Now… I am Tekilon.'
Tekilon started to go down even quicker after completing his thoughts.
In order to gain the power of Ouroboros, the giant snake that would have coiled around the pillar.