Chapter 200 - Return (3)

Three people were flying high in the sky. They were on a bird with long wings, and it was made of white flame.

“That is…….”

In the very far distance, the sky looked as if it was in tatters as it burned. It couldn’t be explained as a natural phenomena. It was producing overwhelmingly more power than a storm.

“Hmm. This is the first time I’ve seen this phenomena. However, I have this odd feeling that I’ve seen it before….”

“Did you have a sense of deja vu? You speak as if you’ve seen this. It is weird.”

The voice next to him spoke up. The first voice voice answered the second voice.

“Maybe I’ve seen it before? I see. However, something unknown to me is happening within that. It is quite interesting. I want to go there quickly, and I want to see what is going on. ”

“This isn’t the time to be so happy. By the look of things, we were a step too late.”

“It can’t be helped. It’s damage that we have to tolerate.”

“Aren’t you being too relaxed right now?”

“It’s just one of those things that we can’t do anything about.”

“That point about you is still the same.”

“Hmmm. It’s still the same? I should be happy about that. I’m not sure if I’ll be the same after all of this….”

The first voice laughed. The laughter was buried by the flaps of the wings. The laughter was dispersed into the faraway blue sky.

Azell had manifested his Sky Splitter, and he had used the Sun Lightsaber. He caused a phenomenon called the Extreme Extinction.

Azell could be in his peak condition, yet the Extreme Extinction didn’t occur every time he used the Sun Lightsaber. Several troublesome prerequisites had to be fulfilled for the manifestation of the Extreme Extinction. The Sun Lightsaber had to be focused at a specific location, and high pressure had to be created. These conditions were a must.

Azell clicked his tongue.

“I failed. Shit.”

He hadn’t failed in manifesting the Extreme Extinction. However, he did fail in destroying his target.

The problem was the fact that his target had been too deep below the surface. If his target had been in a mountain like Belrun, he would have blown up the entire mountain. He would have let the power of the Sun Lightsword radiate outwards to cause an enormous explosion….

However, he didn’t know what was down there. If he caused an explosion in the deep underground, it could result in a calamitous result. If he was lucky, it would cause earthquakes in the nearby regions.

What would happen if he was unlucky?

The earthquake could hit the Southern Border guard pretty hard, and it could cause volcanic activities.

The consequences of detonating an explosion above ground differed from causing one underground. This was why Azell had concentrated his power to finish the Extreme Extinction. He had no choice.

The Sun Lightsaber’s Extreme Extinction destroyed everything within its range. However, a problem arose from the fact that the range wasn’t that large.

It destroyed part of Atein’s barrier magic, but the barrier magic had immediately reestablished itself.

Kairen spoke when he felt the enormous amount of magic energy swell from below the ground.

“Let’s think positively. At least, we aren’t on a fool’s errand.”

“It might have been better if there had been nothing here.”

Leticia grumbled.

-Open Dragon Soul!

She didn’t hesitate as she awakened her Dragon Soul. The image of a green Dragon appeared, and the nearby temperature started to drop precipitously.

When Kairen awakened his Dragon Soul, strong winds swirled around him. The two of them moved to the opposite ends of each other.

Arrieta spoke.

“I’ve heard the descriptions, but they are amazing. Still, I don’t think we’ll be able to end this fight quickly…..”

The problem was the fact that Azell’s party couldn't fight a long battle. They weren’t equipped to do so.

If one extrapolated from the last incident, it seemed Almarick and Aincera didn’t really know much about the pillars. However, it was also a possible that they became aware of the pillars through the last incident.

Azell’s party had to fight with the worst possible scenario in mind. They had to exit this place as soon as possible after destroying the sealed being.

Yuren, who had been focusing on his Detection magic, spoke.

“I’ve located the location of the seal. It isn’t good, Azell.”

“The seal was broken?”

“Correct. However, there is also a good news.”

“What is it?”

“It is as you’ve said. Part of the barrier magic have started attacking the being that was released from the seal.”

The defensive magic prepared by Atein was put in place to protect the seal. Of course, it would try to re-seal the being if the being broke free from the seal.

“That is good news. Let’s end the tree god before he become wise to this world.”

-Come Dragon weapon! Chain of the Earth Dragon!

Azell manifested his Dragon weapon. It was an enormous chain made out of some unknown black substance.

During the Dragon Demon war, this was only Dragon weapon that could go toe to toe with Reygus’ Soul Hammer. It was like the Earth Dragon, who were capable of controlling the earth. Azell gained the ability to freely move his chain.

Chwa-roo-roo-roohk!

It was as if the chain in Azell’s hand was dancing. It was three times as thick as a person’s finger, and it was several hundred meters long. It straightened out into the sky,

Then….

Koo-roo-roo-roong!

It arced in the air before it attacked a certain point in the ground. It shook as it dug into the earth.

The Chain of the Earth Dragon was like an Earth Dragon. It was capable of freely moving through the earth. It was capable of killing any monsters that were called out by the defensive magic, and at the same time, it could create a tunnel for its allies.

Soon, darkness poured out of the large hole in the ground.

It possessed an incredible amount of magical energy, and one could see monsters forming within it. These monsters looked familiar and unfamiliar at the same time.

Azell spoke.

“Well, let’s go.”

His words were like a starting bell. Azell’s party started fighting the unknown monsters.

All the immortal beings, who had lost to Atein, possessed abilities that transcended the logic of this world. They possessed extreme power. They all believed that their power was meant to change the world.

It was true that the world was a mess, so they wanted to change the world into something they considered to be right.

The Undead King wanted to change everyone into an Undead, so the world would no longer suffer from death and illness.

The Steel King wanted to changed everyone into living metal. No one would have to suffer from death or decline in health.

Then there was the tree god….

‘I have to bring peace to the world.’

The god of trees wanted a world without war. He wanted peace.

Was nature, which was unsullied by humans, peaceful?

It wasn’t.

All beings of nature fought desperately to live. Every being fought to live, and they tried to leave behind their progenies.

This was the case for animals and plants. Even small creatures like bugs followed the laws of nature. It was the survival of the fittest.

Would covering the whole world with trees bring peace?

At the very least, the god of the trees believed that.

There weren’t that many existence in nature that possessed wisdom. Aside from humans and the Dragon Demon race, the number was extremely low. However, they were all the source of the disorder in this world.

When strong desire and wisdom mixed, irrational results occurred.

Humans were able to imagine and carry out irrational deeds. They were also able to have emotions.

They destroyed other species to build up their civilization, and they perverted the laws of magic. They even changed the laws of nature that had existed since the birth of the world. For example, the relationship between the humans and the Dragons had been changed.

Both the Dragons and humans had overwhelming greed, but they now possessed the wisdom and power to carry out their greed. This was why he was going to turn the beings of desire into trees. Trees loved peace and harmony. If he changed every being into trees, everything under the laws of nature would become peaceful.

‘Atein…….’

The tree god remembered the being that had defeated him.

The time he spent sealed was like a dream to him. He had become part of the Great Darkness, and the fragments of thoughts from other beings brushed by his consciousness.

It had been a very peaceful sleep.

It was a sleep where he had forgotten all about his desires, humiliation and anger. He hadn’t even had the motivation to wake up.

This was why he had been asleep in this place for a very long time.

When he realized this truth, his anger burned.

Goo-goo-goo-goo-goo!

The ground shook.

The trees on the surface responded to his will.

He could accelerate the growth of trees accelerated by several thousand folds.

The trees under his control could move faster and stronger than animals.

The god of trees ascended to the surface using the big hole that had been created.

It happened at that moment.

Ggwah-gwah-gwah-gwahng!

A sword made out of blue lightning pierced him.

In a flash, the sword left an ugly scar on the ground, and it flew back up into the sky. It was a devastating lightning attack.

His body was broken into pieces.

However, it was useless.

-Who are you?

The god of trees queried his attacker. A young human male with red hair was glaring at him. He held a blue sword that was surrounded by lightning.

“Shit. He is called the god of trees. It seems he is fine after having his body destroyed.”

The red haired young man mumbled to himself.

The tree god’s body had been unbelievably easy to destroy. However, tree roots gathered from all directions, and they coalesced to form the tree god’s body again.

He was a tree that had taken on the form of a human. His whole body was made out of wood, and there were many branches, leaves, grass and moss covering him. He was a strange sight to behold.

Yuren mumbled.

“It seems we were prudent in removing most of the trees here.”

“I’m glad our work wasn’t in vain.”

Leticia sounded tired as she spoke.

This location had been overgrown with trees. However, an earthquake and a storm had swept through this region. The destruction had reached a radius of several kilometers. It was a mess.

Azell’s party had done this. The party focused on destroying their surrounding as they fought the monsters summoned by Atein’s defensive magic.

The tree god possessed the ability to freely control trees. There were many trees nearby, so this location would allow him to maximize his power if they hadn’t done anything.

The tree god tilted his head in puzzlement.

-You aren’t Atein.

Instead of speech, the tree god spoke through mental waves. He looked as his surrounding as he spoke.

-Who the hell are you? Why are they running away?

Azell was about 50 meters away as he faced off against the god of trees.

His comrades had run away as soon as they saw the god of trees had regenerated from Azell’s attack. They were acting as if a monster was chomping at their heels.

Azell grumbled.

“If you had come out a little bit later, I would have ended you for good…. You are making this more complicated than it has to be.”

He had been fighting Atein’s defensive magic, so he hadn’t been able to prepare his Sun Lightsaber. However, they had used their fight to destroy the forest. They were successful in destroying most of the trees that could be used by the tree god.

The tree god spoke.

-You are quite smart. Are you related to Atein? You seem to know a lot about me.

Azell didn’t answer him. He didn’t plan on wasting his words on the tree god.

He had to destroy the tree god as soon as possible, and he had to exit this region. This was why he focused on his senses.

‘I see. It seems he does have a real body.’

The tree god had his body completely destroyed, yet the had regenerated himself through the roots of the trees.

This alerted Azell to something. He possessed an attack called Extreme Extermination, but he wouldn’t be able to destroy his enemy if he didn’t know where to direct his attack. If the tree god didn’t have a weak point, it would be an absolute disaster.

However, when Azell concentrated, he was able to find the nuclei of the tree god.

It was moving along the tree god’s blood vessels like blood. Very small marbles holding his power was circulating through his body at high speeds.

‘I can kill him.’

When his body was destroyed a moment ago, the tree god had moved the nuclei into various parts of his destroyed body. Then he called the leftover trees to reconstruct his body. When Azell became aware of this process, he became sure that he would be able to kill the tree god.

-Come Dragon weapons! Unyielding Fortress! Earth Dragon’s Chain! Master of Raging Waves!

He summoned his Dragon weapons in succession, and his body was divided into several dozen clones. He had used the Dance of the Shadows, and his clones were identical to him. Each of them possessed a presence. They all ran through the air.

The tree god titled his head in puzzlement.

-What an interesting trick. A human is capable of doing such a feat?

Atein was capable of using Incarnation, and the tree god had fought against Atein. It seemed the tree god had been sealed for a very long time. It must have been a period in history when Atein hadn’t been able to use Incarnation yet. Maybe, they had fought before the technique called Incarnation was created.

Koo-koo-koo-koo-koo!

The Earth Dragon’s Chain swept over the region. A massive amount of soil surrounded the tree god, and it attacked like a tsunami.

-This is…child’s pl……...aaaaa..yyyy……?

The mental wave being emitted by the tree god was cut short.

The sight in front of the tree god’s eyes became distorted, and he felt a terrifying amount of pressure shake him violently. It was as if his body and mind was being assaulted by a wave. It felt as if he was being tossed by the sea.

It was an attack from the Dragon weapon called the Master of Raging Waves. The ‘current’ created by the Dragon weapon was able to attack physically and it was capable of blowing away the flow of magical energy. It was capable of putting pressure on the spirit.

Azell shot above the soil. He pointed towards the sky as he spoke.

“I don’t know if you know this.”

It was truly a gesture full of meaning, so the tree god looked upwards.

His eyes widened.

A part of the sky was being distorted in a strange way. It was as if an enormous drop of water was floating in the air.

-What is that?

“By looking at your reaction, you know nothing. Your body will soon find out what it is.”

Azell snorted as his body dissolved into light. It had been his clone.

Then…….

Kwah-ahhhhhhhhhh!

The enormous dimensional distortion floating in the sky changed shape. The sunlight had been gathered from the heavens, and it became an attack that couldn’t be avoided. The attack poured down on the tree god.