Chapter 268 – Revelation
To mages, the Ghost Forest was like a thorn lodged deep in their throat.
A forest that had long been a thorn in their side had vanished—not gradually, but suddenly, like a mirage.
“...The curse is gone!”
What Ella urgently referred to as a “curse” was the phenonon of mana depletion.
The curse they had been barely holding back with Blood Nature had vanished, as if it were a lie.
The Stars each felt the mana overflowing in the air and fell into thought.
But, being mages, most began with suspicion.
“Are the witches trying sothing desperate?”
With two Ortas dead, it wouldn’t be strange if they tried sothing outrageous. Even so, Ella shook her head, looking puzzled.
“But this phenonon is actually favorable for us, isn’t it? It ans the mana restriction is gone.”
“True enough.”
Clarke narrowed his brows, sensing the abundant mana flowing from his Staff of Ruin.
How should they interpret this, and how should they act?
Due to the sudden lifting of the curse, the judgnt on Gram was postponed for now.
“Y-Your Grace!”
At that mont, a frantic voice called from outside the command tent.
“You need to co out imdiately!”
“What is it?”
“B-beyond the forest... there’s a massive tree...!”
“A massive tree?”
The Stars exchanged glances and quickly stepped outside the tent.
With the wind ca a rush of blood stench.
After several rounds of battle, the outer landscape was chaotic.
Corpses of dead mages and rcenaries were scattered about, moans of the wounded and howls of beasts echoed here and there.
Just a while ago, mages had been frantically running around trying to heal, but now the outside appeared frozen in ti.
Mages stood still, blankly staring in one direction.
“...What is that?”
At the center of the vast forest beyond—
A mysterious tree, rising high through the forest, ca into view.
The tree was enormous and shone brightly like a beacon in the dark.
Though the Stars had never seen this tree before, they were familiar with similar entities.
“Could that be the Millennium Tree?”
“That’s not the Millennium Tree.”
“Not...?”
Clarke turned to Modin with surprise in his eyes.
Though hard to read due to his usual blank expression, Clarke could clearly see shock on Modin’s face.
Had he sensed sothing from that tree?
“...This is a completely unfamiliar energy. It’s deeper and purer than even primordial mana. This is... what?”
As the Artifact Magician, Modin possessed the ability to identify the nature of any kind of energy—a unique ability that made him the greatest artifact maker.
Yet, even Modin, trembling slightly, couldn’t fully comprehend the energy emanating from the tree.
Though similar to the energy of this world, Modin imdiately recognized that it was not of this world.
“That tree—no, that being—is far too dangerous! It must be eliminated imdiately!”
“So it’s definitely not the Millennium Tree?”
“The mana we’re feeling is flowing from that being. A tree that emits mana cannot be the Millennium Tree.”
Clarke nodded and looked around at the other Stars.
The mont he laid eyes on that massive tree, he had already decided to remove it.
A mysterious entity had sprouted in the witches’ forest—the heart of the enemy. He couldn’t just let it be.
“How much fighting force can we mobilize?”
“Are you thinking of launching an assault already?”
“Now is the best ti to strike. Demtor’s main force is gathered, and the mana restriction has been lifted. We can use our full strength.”
“That’s a hasty decision!”
Ren of Radiance was the one who objected.
“Shouldn’t we investigate further? We don’t even know exactly what that entity is.”
“Do you really think a being born in the witches’ sanctuary could be favorable to Demtor?”
“...That’s—”
“Then let’s put it to a majority vote.”
Ren bit his lip hard.
He saw that Gram and Modin had sided with Clarke.
Three of five Stars had voted in favor of attacking, so Ren had no justification to stop it.
At that mont, Gram, reading the mood, cautiously stepped forward.
“There’s a way to erase both that tree and the witches without staining our hands with much blood.”
“There is? Right now?”
“Yes.”
“What is it?”
At Clarke’s question, Gram smiled and replied.
“Terremor.”
“...Terremor?”
The wide-area mana bomb—Terremor.
At the ntion of the forbidden bomb, Ren’s expression twisted. So did Ella’s.
Ella, with uncharacteristically fierce eyes, glared at Gram.
“Gram, Terremor is a forbidden weapon. Have you forgotten?”
“I’m fully aware.”
Because the core component of wide-area bombs was the mana core, it had been banned by majority vote a year ago.
The mana core was akin to a mage’s heart, and there had been strong resistance to using it, even within Demtor.
“But right now, it’s the best card we can play.”
“You’re planning to use Lindbergh’s core.”
Modin imdiately saw through Gram’s intentions. If she used Lindbergh’s core to make Terremor, the resulting explosion would be several tis more powerful than conventional bombs.
It could destroy not just the tree, but the entire forest where the witches lived.
Now that the mana was unsealed, Terremor would work—and could wipe out troubleso enemies in one strike.
“Indeed…”
Modin fell into deep thought, and seeing this, Ren quickly tried to persuade him.
“Lindbergh is the master of the Wind Tower! If you sacrifice him without consent, the tower won’t stay silent. We can’t experint on mages anymore!”
“You sure sound righteous, Ren.”
“What...?!”
“We’ve experinted on humans, witches, even monsters—so why not mages?”
“You—!”
Ren glared at Gram with killing intent.
Gram Seraphim—she was the problem.
Since she beca a Star and gained power, Demtor’s direction had twisted.
Instead of the righteous path of growth through discipline and enlightennt, magic achievent had shifted toward rapid advancent through experintation and sacrificial research—akin to the path of heresy.
Ren had always vehently opposed experints from the start. The use of lives in experintation had all begun with this woman’s hands.
“Gram, don’t you think our reckless experints will one day bring divine punishnt upon us?”
“Such things only matter after we’re destroyed. Are you not aware of how dangerous Demtor’s current situation is?”
“Demtor is not so weak!”
“Then let say what I’ve been holding back. Our ally, Kal, is dead.”
“...What?”
“I moved the Black Butterflies without permission because of a distress signal from Kal. Sir Harkman was there too.”
“Even Harkman...?”
At Clarke’s faltering voice, Gram gave a small nod.
Harkman, the cleaner Clarke valued deeply, was dead.
“Can you take responsibility for what you’ve just said? If it’s false...”
“Then I’m no longer a Star of Demtor. I’ll lay everything down and leave.”
At Gram’s resolute declaration, Ren could say nothing more.
Kal was dead. Even the cleaners sent as reinforcents had perished.
Then what was happening in Tobaron now?
Had a new ruler already been decided?
“Tobaron has fallen into Hunt’s hands.”
At her words, the Stars let out a low groan. The force that had killed Lindbergh, master of the Wind Tower, was Hunt.
Of all threats, Hunt now owning Tobaron posed a massive danger to Demtor.
“Under that tree, our enemies are gathering one by one.”
Sensing the shift in mood, Gram emphasized us in her words.
“Even Modin pointed out how dangerous that tree is. And if we miss this mont, we may not get another chance. By then, even Tobaron’s forces may side with the witches. Could Demtor handle that?”
“Demtor will not fall so easily.”
“What about the Black Star?”
“Do you think those wolves will sit by and watch Demtor in crisis? Our enemy isn’t just the witches. Broaden your perspective, Ren.”
At Gram’s provocation, Ren looked about to explode, but Ella restrained him.
She shook her head weakly.
A sign that the montum couldn’t be reversed.
Clarke silently observed, then raised his hand.
“We’ll vote.”
The answer had been decided from the start.
Inside the blood-scented tent, Gram stepped in.
Seeing Lindbergh, lying like a corpse on the bed, she turned to Ella, who had co with her.
“It’ll take about a day to complete. Until then, no one can be allowed in.”
“...Understood.”
“Creating the bomb requires precision. Please understand.”
Ella led her to her own tent, where Lindbergh had been moved for treatnt.
But now, it belonged to Gram.
‘Cold-blooded.’
For the sake of the collective, those who lost their power were simply prey.
Ella felt the horror in her bones as she left the tent.
‘Just like Ren said... are we now riding an unstoppable carriage?’
Whether that carriage led to a cliff or glory, she didn’t know—but one thing was certain: there was no turning back.
Ella let out a deep sigh.
Now, they really couldn’t stop.
Even if the end led to destruction.
Gram stood before Lindbergh.
In just a few days, he had beco a pitiful sight.
They had said he wouldn’t make it through the night—and even to her, he looked beyond saving.
Yet his death had beco her lifeline.
“Guess the gods haven’t abandoned after all.”
She set a private barrier around the tent and placed her hand over Lindbergh’s heart.
“Still faintly beating, Lindbergh.”
Lindbergh the Gale.
He was supposed to undergo her awakening surgery once this was over.
Like with Clarke, Gram had planned to slowly absorb his true blood during the procedure.
She had even plotted to seduce him to ensure she could access his blood whenever needed.
“Guess they were right when they said not to kill the goose that lays golden eggs.”
True blood regenerates over ti. She had planned to raise him well before devouring him, but now the goose would die before it matured.
“I was even looking forward to sleeping with you. What a sha.”
Ssshhh—
A red mist began to fill the space.
The true blood pouring from Lindbergh’s body was quickly absorbed into her own.
“Haa…”
A soft moan escaped.
As if overco with ecstasy, her breathing turned ragged—and her complexion quickly returned to life.
She had recklessly spent her precious true blood fighting Hunt.
To make matters worse, she’d lost the remaining Black Butterflies while dealing with the enemies that followed after.
‘I didn’t protect a single one.’
She had tried to save them, knowing how valuable they were—but in the elusive chaos of the Ghost Forest, she couldn’t cut them loose.
The cause of this disaster—
That one man.
The one who wielded that strange bow.
Everything had gone wrong when he sealed her Blood Master ability.
Demtor feared the witches and Tobaron—but to her, that man was the most urgent threat to eliminate.
“If I use Lindbergh’s bomb... maybe I can.”
Lindbergh, now completely drained of true blood, had stopped breathing.
His heart no longer beat.
Gram carefully clawed open his chest.
She had never made Terremor using a Star before.
But one thing was certain—if she used Lindbergh’s core, the bomb would be monstrous.
How powerful would it be?
She could only hope the man she hated would be caught in its blast.
“…By the way, why hasn’t Arcane contacted yet? He should be here by now.”
He had disappeared with Kal’s corpse. She was beginning to worry he’d get caught in the explosion.
Her hands moved busily.
Soon, the only sound left in the tent was her humming.
***
“You really ca. I didn’t think you would.”
“You were the one who chose the eting place.”
“You told to pick it. Still, you actually ca. Why? Are you looking to die?”
“Haha, co on now—”
While the World Tree was being born and chaos brewed in the forest, I faced soone in a remote part of the woods.
An unexpected encounter.
The man smiled gently as he looked at , then glanced around and smacked his lips, scratching his chin.
He must’ve noticed those hiding nearby.
“I ca alone, but you brought company. That’s disappointing.”
“You control summons. I wouldn’t say you’re alone. Why did you call ?”
“Because I received a revelation.”
“A revelation?”
Arcane of Fate.
He had co to find .
User Comments
0 comments from readers