Chapter 272 – Atop the World Tree
From beneath the World Tree, a blue light shot straight up into the night sky.
It was a massive arrow made of light—smaller than a spear, yet larger than a regular arrow.
As the eerie arrow surged toward Gram, another Star beside her—Ella, the Blue Tower Master—moved.
Flash!
Her water magic gently enveloped Gram, shielding her.
Trusting in the defensive specialty of the Blue Tower Master, Gram did not move, focusing instead on the object in her hand.
“Lily!”
“Yes!”
At that mont, Lily’s eyes were dyed in light as she reached toward the sky and clenched her fist in the air.
When Lily gritted her teeth and yanked her clenched fist downward, the barrier protecting Gram split apart with a sharp rip and vanished.
Magic Nullification.
Through the gap left by the vanished shield, the piercing arrow zeroed in on Gram.
She couldn’t avoid it.
“Well? What will you do now?”
I climbed the World Tree with Karl, watching Gram closely.
If she used the ability of the Blood-Drinking Chalice, the arrow before her wouldn’t pose much threat.
Even just activating the Veil of Blood would make my arrow vanish like dust.
But could she really use that ability in front of the other Stars?
Kkieeeek!
Gram didn’t use her power. Instead, she sacrificed her Veluga.
Yanking the reins, she used the Veluga to block the arrow. In return, its wing and torso were pierced.
As blood sprayed in the air, the Veluga began to fall.
Gram floated midair and moved toward Ella, but my focus wasn’t on her.
Terremor.
The bomb left her hand.
A white sphere fell through the air toward the ground.
Panic rose in my chest.
“Karl, now!”
“We need to get closer! It’s too far!”
Karl, who had been scrambling up the branches, suddenly reached out in desperation, firing black fluid from his palm like lightning.
A spectral form evolved through the birth of the World Tree.
Like a stream of black ink, the specter stretched out, snatched Terremor midair, and pulled it in.
“Catch!”
I recognized the silhouette embedded in my vision.
As soon as I saw the Terremor cloaked in light, I clenched my jaw.
The bomb had activated.
Grabbing the Terremor Karl had sent , I regulated my breathing.
Hup!
Then I unleashed Sacred Power.
Flash!!!
Golden light erupted from deep inside the World Tree.
I closed my eyes tightly and focused on the flow inside Terremor.
The heavily condensed mana core vibrated erratically—violently, hotly.
Zzzk
Soon, the vibrating core cracked, and a torrent of mana began to leak out.
Left alone, it would explode.
I bit down hard and corrected the distortion using Sacred Power.
The nature of Sacred Power is Law.
As Sacred Power touched the core, the leaking mana halted. But that was all. The violent vibration continued.
There wasn’t enough Sacred Power to fully correct the distortion of the core.
That was the reason I failed in the past.
But now, it was different.
[Now!]
“Graaaaah!”
At Reto’s signal, golden light burst in my eyes.
The golden glow engulfing Terremor surged, flowing through my hands, arms, and entire body.
My body began to glow gold.
Enchanting.
The target was my body.
Enchantnt upon the body carried the risk of destruction upon failure. That’s why I’d never attempted it before.
Until now, I had only relied on spectral arts to buffer and surround myself.
But—
[Heart of Retonicalus – Synchronization Rate 50%]
With the synchronization rate rising, I could now enchant my body more safely.
Beyond my heightened senses, I could hear an intense heartbeat.
Thump—!
As my heart pulsed fiercely, I felt every cell in my body surge.
With senses sharpened to the limit, ti itself felt like it slowed.
The enchantnt, instead of spreading, began to concentrate in one part—my heart.
[Do not relax.]
“Eeek!”
The energy that corrected disorder seeped into my heart. And then—
Thud—
The mont the enchantnt succeeded,
Flash—
Golden light exploded from my body.
[Unleash it!]
Reto’s voice rang out.
As the enchanted heart pumped, Sacred Power burst forth like a fountain.
Torrents of Sacred Power poured into Terremor.
Drrrkkk—!
The cracked core settled into place, and its distortion was imdiately corrected.
Monts later, Terremor lost its glow and returned to a normal sphere.
“It’s done.”
The disarm was a success.
Exhaling sharply, I looked around.
Though I’d stopped Terremor, the battle still raged.
I glanced inside the World Tree.
Leaves glowing softly in radiant brilliance—
An intense battle was underway in this mysterious space.
Modin, Lord of the Ivory Tower.
He had infiltrated the World Tree with a purpose and was being blocked by the ghosts.
Elton led the ghosts, fighting to stop him.
Seeing this, Karl summoned another specter and looked at .
“Shouldn’t we help? He looks like he’s in danger.”
Though they outnumbered him, Elton and the ghosts were being pushed back.
As expected of an artifact sorcerer, the items Modin wielded had strange and wondrous powers.
Each ti they emitted light, Elton groaned, and the ghosts were forced to retreat, bleeding.
I shook my head.
We couldn’t spare the attention.
“It’s not over yet.”
“What?”
“Don’t forget Demtor’s true objective.”
Our goal was to protect the World Tree.
I looked up into the air beyond the World Tree.
Gram and Ella’s blue-scaled wyvern hovered above.
Suddenly, several glowing orbs dropped from the wyvern circling the World Tree.
Seeing that, Karl grimaced and urgently launched his specters.
“Huh? There’s more than one?”
“There’s more than one dead mage.”
“Shit! That ans there could be even more?!”
“One thing is certain.”
Looking at Gram, then at Karl, I spoke.
“The fate of the World Tree rests in your hands.”
“Send them all to . I believe in you.”
“Shit!”
At least five were visible.
Fortunately, due to Terremor’s chanism, it couldn’t be detonated secretly.
The World Tree’s surroundings lit up with brilliant light as Karl frantically hurled his specters, catching the bombs one by one.
And dismantled them.
Having already perfectly disard one, the difficulty decreased with each attempt.
If things continued this way, we could likely repel Demtor’s ambush without much issue.
Ti was on our side.
Gram bit her lip.
Though blood trickled out, she had no ti to feel pain—only frustration.
“This is insane!”
Another Terremor she had just activated was caught and sucked into the World Tree by that black whip again.
She had tried to protect the bombs using magic, but that witch Lily dissolved them one by one.
Tried to block them physically, but that damned whip stole them anyway.
At first, she laughed, thinking them fools.
But when none of the Terremor exploded, the severity hit her.
Soone was dismantling Terremor.
An impossible feat—yet it was happening right before her eyes.
Flash!
That golden light.
She hadn’t seen the person, but there was soone suspicious.
Soone who knew her secrets—and could even seal her power.
I told them to take him out first. What the hell are they all doing?!
Looking around, the situation wasn’t great.
Clarke and Ren were both being suppressed by interference and that massive shadow.
Modin, who had entered the World Tree, still hadn’t erged.
Demtor’s forces were blocked from advancing any further, held back nearby.
The witches’ response had been flawless.
They were losing.
Even at a glance, it was clear.
“...Damn it.”
Gram grimaced and clutched her final bomb tightly.
Unlike the others, it was twice as large.
A large-scale bomb created using the mana core of Lindbergh, Star of Demtor.
Gram was certain this one would make history with its catastrophic destruction.
If this one exploded—it would be over.
“This one must succeed...”
Gram had created as many Terremor as possible using dead mages’ cores.
Despite opposition from Ren, Ella, and the other mages, she had forced it through, using the witches’ collapse as justification.
If this ambush failed, she would lose all the influence she had built.
That couldn’t happen.
“Ella, no more. I’m beginning the final operation.”
“Wait! Gram hasn’t returned yet!”
Gram had infiltrated the World Tree to retrieve a part of it.
To research this new existence before it was destroyed in the explosion.
The plan was to wait for Modin to finish collecting samples before starting the final phase—but Gram was already activating the black sphere.
“What are you doing?!”
“Can’t you see what’s happening?! We need to detonate it now! We might not even get the chance later!”
At Gram’s fierce tone, Ella bit her lip and pulled the reins.
She intended to maneuver the Veluga and create distance—
“...Ah!”
Suddenly, her Veluga went out of control and rushed toward the tree’s summit.
It couldn’t be controlled.
“What did you do?!”
“I did nothing.”
She turned and glared at Gram—but truly, she hadn’t moved.
Gram smiled faintly and slipped the shattered vial into her sleeve.
Good thing I made that...
The vial, extracted from Kal’s blood, contained one of his divine abilities: [Mind Control].
It couldn’t control Stars, but a Veluga could be subdued temporarily.
Under Gram’s influence, the Veluga soared to the top of the World Tree in an instant.
Below, Modin was engaged in intense combat.
Ella released the reins and shouted urgently.
“Modin! Get out!! Right now—!”
Suddenly, Ella’s vision flipped upward to the night sky.
Her Veluga twisted its body and rocketed into the air.
Away from Lily and the black whip’s reach—
The Veluga rose high enough to pierce the clouds, until the towering World Tree looked no bigger than a palm.
Then, it stopped.
Wooooooong!
Gram placed the black sphere into the air.
Unlike the previous white ones, this bomb—infused with Lindbergh’s core—glead with a black, ominous light.
A mana bomb so deadly it had earned an ancient na:
Desmore, Light of Death.
“Let it all be erased.”
The mont Gram activated Desmore’s mana core—
Twooooom!
A mana shockwave burst into the night sky and spread in all directions.
“What the hell’s going on?”
Karl scratched his head, staring at the sky.
Above the World Tree, a swirling haze ford—
and it began to churn like a storm.
But it wasn’t a re storm.
A mana storm.
Its violent, chaotic energy stirred a dangerous sense of impending detonation.
“Arthur!!!”
Riding her broom, Lily appeared.
She looked up at the screaming night sky and reached her hand toward .
I grabbed it and leapt onto the broom.
“What about ?!”
“It’s a two-seater.”
“Wait—!”
Abandoning the pitifully outstretched hand of Karl, Lily began ascending the World Tree.
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