Chapter 220: The World Tree's Intruder (1)
"I'm sorry! All of us demi-humans are sorry!"
Even though I had pierced her nipple and made a new knot-hole, I didn't think it would come to dismembering her limbs.
Still, I had no choice but to cut them. There was no way to move this giant tree otherwise, so whether big or small, cutting it down was the only solution.
And since a wagon couldn't reach this place, I had to drag her out of the elf forest myself. In the end, like Pai said, it made sense to leave only the trunk to make transport easier...
"Not that I'm into that kind of thing."
I'd disassembled the arms and legs of an angel golem before and hung them up, but that was a captive enemy, and it was originally meant to be disassembled, so I didn't feel too bad. This time, I was the one doing the cutting, and the guilt was nearly bringing me to tears.
"Do lumberjacks endure this kind of sadness every time they chop a tree?"
Of course, lumberjacks don't cut down dryads but ordinary trees.
And because I was supposedly good with a blade, I had to wield the Leaf Blade myself. This damn Leaf Blade was so disgustingly sharp that I had to be careful not to slice her whole body in half as I dug into the dryad.
"You can just slice it roughly. It doesn't really work on trees anyway."
"Fucking jerk..."
If I told myself I was just pruning or taking a cutting for propagation, maybe it would feel less wrong. But I was still cutting up a dryad with a human-like shape, so the psychological burden was heavy.
Slice!
I quickly swung the sword, severing the thigh and arm Pai had marked. With most of her limbs removed... no, more like her body was sculpted only to show a female figure—just the torso, shoulders, and upper thighs connected to her pelvis. That made the emotional burden slightly easier.
Thud!
She was filled with sap inside, so the severed dryad was heavy, but not too much for a knight like me to carry.
"Just store her in this container. Aunt Iris will keep infusing her with spirit energy during the trip so she won't dry out."
"Yes."
There was no pained expression on her face, and now that she was away from the tree, her reactions stiffened naturally. She looked more like a wooden statue now, which oddly made me feel a bit better.
We laid her in a wooden coffin Pai had prepared in advance, lined with moist moss, and sealed it shut so the moisture wouldn't escape.
"Next time someone says to bring a dryad, let's pick a smaller one..."
"Pandel said Ban would be carrying it anyway. Are you sure you're okay? It's pretty heavy."
"Yes, this much is fine. More importantly, is training over?"
"Aunt Iris already told us everything we need for the test, so no problem!"
Pai confidently clenched her fists.
Boom!
Like a massive destruction spell hitting a fortress.
Like divine punishment burning a giant tree from the sky.
With a deafening roar, a blinding light came flying at me from behind.
Wuuuung!
"Is that... an attack spell?"
I had once seen the Kingdom's magic division launch a long-range bombardment when I was caught by a wasp nest, supporting the Magic Knight Order.
But that had been a precisely coordinated strike from waiting mages in the capital. The light now flying at us had similar power, yet was coming straight at me.
"Dryads, protect us!"
Rustle!
Leaves burst into the air as spirit energy surged from Pai's body, and the dryads formed a protective barrier.
Fwoooosh!
The light that came tearing through the sky burned the leaves, but it was refracted and diverted into the forest. Thanks to the spirit energy saturating the woods, the mana's power weakened, and although some dryad leaves burned, the strike—comparable to the Kingdom's bombardment—was blocked.
"Everyone okay?"
Some dryads near the front almost caught fire, so I used today's harvested sap to douse the flames and prevent a wildfire. We ended up using all of the sap.
"It's a loss, but better than letting a dryad burn."
I discarded the empty bucket and moved toward the direction the magic had come from. Along its trajectory, the trees in the forest were all scorched, revealing the scene beyond.
"What is that?"
The view previously hidden by the trees was now visible.
A giant tree, a clear lake beneath it, and a straight, burned path leading to us.
"The heart of the elf forest... the World Tree where the Elder Council resides..."
The World Tree was under attack.
Flash!
Soon after we blocked the strike, six elf rangers arrived, summoned from the village to the dryad forest.
"Pai, what's going on?"
"A powerful mana-infused strike flew this way."
"From the World Tree's direction?"
The six rangers, including Iris, frowned as they stared into the distant heat-distorted landscape around the World Tree.
"The heat's blocking the view."
"What should we do?"
"We need to check the World Tree's condition."
The village chief quickly issued orders to each ranger.
"Elven, Alora. Check the border in case humans from the Kingdom are behind this. Senen, scan the nearby forest and activate the barrier. Hyphon and I will put out fires."
Iris, the only one without an assigned task, pointed to her own face.
"Iris, take Pai and head to the World Tree to check on the elders."
"Giving me the most annoying job."
"You're the fastest."
"What about me? How can I help?"
"We'd prefer guests not get involved, but... most of us are long retired. It's risky to send anyone else to the World Tree. Pandel!"
Pandel, who had been panting heavily in the back, looked like he was about to collapse but had no choice but to come when the chief called.
"Huff, huff!"
"An elf panting like that running through the woods..."
"I'm only half-elf!"
"Still a young guy, though."
In the human world, no one would object if you called this old man ancient. But in the elf forest, Pandel was treated like a kid.
"Like when our village chief in his 60s went to the regional elder council and ended up being the water boy because everyone else was in their 70s or 80s."
These folks were over five times older than Pandel, so he probably didn't mind too much.
"Pandel and the human knight will go with Iris and Pai to the World Tree. If this is a human attack, they might be able to explain."
"Yes."
Mollang clung to my side, signaling she wanted to come, but I patted her head and gave her my answer.
"No. Mollang, go back home."
Shake shake.
"If neither Pandel nor I are around, only Shuru and Bella will be left. The elf rangers are leaving too. If something happens, we need you there."
Bella has no combat power. Shuru can fight, but due to her size, she can't handle powerful enemies.
But Mollang once temporarily subdued her dormmates in a surprise attack. If she really attacked seriously, she could be a threat, so she was the only one I could trust to protect others.
Mollang seemed unhappy she couldn't come, but understanding the reason, she slid off me and returned to the village in her pure slime form.
"Alright, so the team heading to the World Tree is... Iris, Pai, Pandel, and me."
That was fine. While Iris and Pai gathered their gear, the problem was Pandel.
"Are we dragging him?"
"Not carrying me on your back, at least... Fine!"
Grumbling about sore muscles and collapsing, Pandel cast Improved Haste and Increased Stamina on himself.
Haste speeds up the body but greatly increases fatigue afterward, often resulting in severe muscle pain. Increased Stamina induces a runner's high, forcing the body to keep moving through a flood of endorphins. If overused, it can lead to heart failure.
A trained warrior or knight could minimize side effects, but Pandel, a scholar, was risking a lot. Still, he understood his own limits well enough not to die.
"Can you keep up, Ban?"
"Yes. As long as we go straight down the path."
"Then let's move."
Iris jumped onto a tree lining the path and sprinted forward. Pai followed her, while I ran straight along the cleared trail.
"But this strike... it wasn't aimed directly at us."
There was no killing intent.
Even with long-range bombardment, you can usually sense the caster's intent and trajectory. This time, the strike felt different.
"Like a stray shot..."
"Watch out!"
Iris shouted. Another bombardment spell came flying.
Swoosh!
Pandel had already leapt aside at the warning, and I dived away from the path just in time. Another bombardment hit the exact same line.
"What is this?"
"A path to maintain the World Tree's barrier. It splits the burden with the dryads' barrier to increase durability!"
Realizing how dangerous the path was, Pandel and I stuck close to its edge while moving. Above, Iris and Pai leapt from tree to tree.
"Impressive."
Even running full speed with mana-enhanced bodies, I might catch Pai, but Iris was untouchable, darting through the treetops.
She could easily outrun us to the World Tree, but it felt like she was pacing herself to stay with the group.
"I see it!"
Iris, the elf ranger, spotted the World Tree first. Soon after, Pandel and I saw the barrier surrounding the tree.
"No way! The barrier's been breached?"
While Pandel and the rangers focused on the broken barrier, I looked beyond it, at the massive shadow moving through the heat haze.
"Fast-moving shadows... elf rangers? And in the middle... that huge shadow..."
The heat shimmer made it hard to see, but I could tell the elf rangers were fighting something.
"Why are they fighting up close instead of shooting?"
"An intruder...!"
Iris aimed at the silhouette beyond the haze, then frowned in confusion.
"Why... here?"
Ssshhh!
Pai used water spirit magic to cool the boiling ground and clear our vision.
Finally, Pandel and I saw the elf rangers clashing with something—a white horse rampaging in the middle.
Unlike Jake's horse, this one had an older look, or perhaps was just born that way. It had a pristine, cloud-like coat, pale blue mane, and most notably, a horn on its forehead.
[You bastards~! You can't lay a finger on my sister~!]
"A unicorn?"
A legendary creature stood before my eyes.