Chapter 1056: Shadow of the Star (2)
“H-Headro Warlords’ Overmind… it’s a commander-like, existence that leads the hive mind…”
An underground hollow, artificially formed by massive interwoven tree roots.
Lennok leaned against the cavern wall, fiddling with his terminal.
Lennok silently manipulated the terminal, which seemed to catch a signal only to lose it again. Next to him, a stuttering voice echoed faintly.
“T-they’re monsters c-created when commanders who p-participated directly in f-forbidden rituals became c-corrupted…”
“……”
“T-they usually don’t leave the ‘bathtub’… so why they’ve s-settled on The Veil, I’m not sure…”
At the continuing silence, Lennok turned his gaze.
“Keep going. Why did you stop?”
“Ah, haha…”
The Corpse Ghost Spell Master awkwardly pointed to the Magic Scribe piercing his neck.
“C-could you… could you please just unbind this for me first…?”
After crashing the General-grade entity of the Headro Warlords – a monstrous, transformed aircraft carrier – on the outskirts of the druids’ forest,
Lennok was spending his time in a quarantine facility in a nearby forest, escorted by the druids.
Thanks to Lennok, who had ended the engagement with such aggressive methods, the druids were busy dealing with the aftermath.
It was rather unenthusiastic treatment for someone who had helped the druids, but Lennok had heard that most of Larabelli’s members had dispositions different from humans.
Lennok, too, had much to think about regarding the situation surrounding the Western Front, so he accepted the quarantine without much complaint.
That was why he had the Corpse Ghost Spell Master explain what he knew about the Overmind.
The Headro Warlords occupying The Veil, the existence of an Overmind controlling the monsters’ hive mind,
and even the fact that the druids were moving to kill that Overmind.
“Why are the druids fighting the Headro Warlords all the way out on the Western Front?”
Lennok said, tucking the terminal into his pocket.
“The plant city is located at the very edge of the continent, far from the Western Front. There are easily more than five medium and small cities in between.”
“……”
“There’s little reason for Larabelli to feel threatened by the Overmind’s existence. So, if they’ve gone to the trouble of bringing their full force to sortie…”
Lennok looked at the Corpse Ghost Spell Master and asked,
“Don’t you think there must be some hidden circumstances?”
If it was the Corpse Ghost Spell Master, who had extracted the Headro Warlords’ General-grade entity’s monster manipulation ability as spellcraft, he would surely know something about this situation.
“I, I could look into it for you…”
The Corpse Ghost Spell Master chuckled, his face pale.
“I-if I were to turn about half of these druids who imprisoned me into Corpse Ghosts, wouldn’t they spill the beans…?”
“……”
“A-and besides, you were on the War-Mage Tower with Adamant Thunder, weren’t you? Th-there’s no reason for you to remain here…”
“I’ve finished talking with Lyraiel. She said they just left the airspace of the battlefield,”
Lennok replied.
“We’ve decided where and how to rendezvous. All that’s left is to coordinate our timing…”
With Lyraiel and Olivera, he wouldn’t have to worry about that aspect.
Both were excellent spellcasters and executives leading immense organizations, a Magic Tower and the Cartel, respectively.
Once their tasks were set, they would bend the process however needed to achieve the desired outcome.
The problem wasn’t the War-Mage Tower, but rather—
“…!!”
Suddenly, Lennok’s magic flared, and he snapped his head up.
Kicking his chair back and turning around, he firmly clutched the neck of the sagging Corpse Ghost Spell Master.
The moment a flash of light streaked diagonally from the darkness.
KAAANG!!!
The flash was caught in Lennok’s hand, shattering and flowing away like glass.
“U-ugh, whoa!!”
The Corpse Ghost Spell Master flailed in surprise at the sudden attack, and Lennok glanced at his raised hand.
‘A mix of physical force and spellcraft… if I had to say, it’s closer to severing?’
Severing-type spellcraft that cut through specific targets with magic.
It wasn’t aimed at Lennok. If anything, it was a strike targeting the Corpse Ghost Spell Master, who Lennok was holding.
Lennok looked into the darkness and asked,
“Doesn’t seem like a druid. Who is it?”
At that moment, a low voice echoed from the darkness.
“You’re far younger than the rumors suggested.
When the Alliance Leader spoke of you, I imagined a very seasoned spellcaster.”
“……”
“I thought it might be fun to play the role of a secret patron, but I have a task to fulfill for now.”
A smiling young man, whose age was impossible to guess, sat cross-legged in the darkness.
“Please understand me greeting you in this manner.”
“You are…”
“It’s a pleasure, Van.”
The young man smiled.
“I am the Harvester Spell Master, here to assist you on your journey to Kundara.”
Harvester Spell Master.
The name of the spellcaster the Alliance Leader himself said he would send to help Lennok.
But Lennok remembered hearing the name Harvester Spell Master long ago, at a Pandemonium meeting.
‘Was he one of the Order Alliance’s envoys who visited Machina?’
After Lennok returned from destroying Yorta’s Memorial Tower, he attended an interim meeting of Pandemonium in his Victor identity.
There, he had heard from Maiya Lonsdale about the Order Alliance envoys who had visited Machina.
Maiya didn’t seem to think highly of the Harvester Spell Master, but she had mentioned his name with a wary expression.
If an Enforcer like her remembered his name and kept an eye on him, it was highly likely that the Harvester Spell Master was also a formidable individual with considerable skill.
Ancient script densely carved on his face like tattoos.
He sat relaxed, cross-legged with his arms folded in the darkness.
Despite his polite tone, his demeanor didn’t suit it, yet no remarkable magical power emanated from the Harvester Spell Master himself.
“You’re not his true body.”
Lennok, immediately realizing that the Harvester Spell Master had sent a phantom here instead of his true self, asked,
“Did you come here in the form of an illusion just to babble a greeting?”
“Indeed, it was hardly proper etiquette to meet a wizard comparable to a Grand Spell Master.”
The young man, sitting cross-legged, offered a languid bow.
“However, the druids of the forest are so sensitive that if I had come in person, it would have caused a headache.”
“……”
“It seems you intend to cooperate with the druids, so my presence shouldn’t get in the way.”
Instead of replying, Lennok shook the Corpse Ghost Spell Master by the neck.
If this man was truly a Spell Master of the Alliance, then the Corpse Ghost Spell Master would naturally know him.
“O-oh, dear…”
The Corpse Ghost Spell Master, belatedly raising his head while still held by Lennok’s hand, slightly opened his mouth.
The man also smiled at the Corpse Ghost Spell Master and waved his hand.
“Long time no see, Corpse Ghost Spell Master.”
“W-why are you here…?”
“Well, perhaps because you didn’t properly handle the task assigned to you this time?”
The man said with a smile.
“I asked you to bring a piece of spellcraft from the Western Front, but you shouldn’t have dragged in a big shot like Adamant Thunder. Do you know how much loss the Alliance has suffered because of this?”
“Th-that’s…”
The Corpse Ghost Spell Master protested with an aggrieved expression.
“W-who would’ve known Adamant Thunder was on the W-War-Mage Tower…? I, I didn’t want to get involved in this sort of thing—”
“It’s a joke. Don’t worry.”
“……”
“I see. If we absolutely must pinpoint whose mistake it was…”
As the Corpse Ghost Spell Master fell silent with a pale expression, the Harvester Spell Master stroked his chin and smiled.
“Wouldn’t it be the mistake of the Alliance’s controllers who failed to grasp the War-Mage Tower’s movements when it resumed operations?”
“N-not a mistake…”
“That’s why I’m a little late, I had to kill all the controllers.”
“……”
“Hasn’t it been over 20 years since the Western Continent Inland Route Control Tower was built? It seems it’s time for a purge.”
At the chilling message, unsuited to his gentle tone, the Corpse Ghost Spell Master momentarily tilted his head.
It wasn’t so much astonishment at the Harvester Spell Master’s words as a reaction of not understanding why he would do such a thing.
But Lennok easily understood from that single remark that the Harvester Spell Master was quite a twisted individual.
‘Typical of an Alliance Spell Master. Is he infatuated with the act of severing itself?’
In the case of Severing Spellcasters, once they reach a certain level, they become literally obsessed with the act of severing itself.
It’s not unusual to delve deeply into acquired spellcraft, but the problem is that the mental image of severing is too simple for humans to truly comprehend.
The mental image and will-thought of Severing Spellcraft are extremely simplistic, causing spellcasters of that lineage to either go mad or become deeply obsessed, unable to fully process it.
It’s akin to a renowned swordsman being seduced by the demonic nature of their blade and becoming a bloodthirsty fiend. One might say it’s well-known suffering among Severing Spellcasters.
“The message I received from the Alliance Leader was to cooperate with your journey to Kundara, so it seems there’s nothing for me to do directly right now.”
The Harvester Spell Master said nonchalantly.
“I just made some time because there’s one piece of advice I wanted to offer.”
“Advice?”
“Larabelli’s Elder Druid, Azelan, is an excellent spellcaster but a commander with a blind spot.”
“……”
“If you intend to cooperate with him, you should be careful about mentioning the Overmind he’s targeting.”
The Harvester Spell Master leaned his head back in the darkness, and his presence rapidly faded.
A strange sensation, as if his own presence was being sliced into infinitely small pieces, making it indistinct.
“It didn’t settle on the Western Front to pollute The Veil, you see.”
The Harvester Spell Master, turning with a smiling face, vanished instantly with his last words.
CRASH!!
At that moment, the door woven from tree roots burst open, and druids stormed in.
An elderly man with deer antlers on his head stared expressionlessly into the hollow within the facility.
The Corpse Ghost Spell Master lay awkwardly prone, with Lennok standing silently beside him.
“The Elder Druid seeks you.”
The silent man finally spoke.
“Follow me.”
Lennok walked silently through the heart of the dense forest.
Below the Western Continent Inland Route, the vast woodland where druids and the Headro Warlords fought.
Lennok’s eyes subtly changed as he followed the druid walking ahead.
‘Nature Spellcraft… indeed, it’s a power fundamentally different from other types of spellcraft.’
Druid Nature Spellcraft was a power whose activation and changes were slow, but left absolutely no trace or prelude.
Lennok himself had once borrowed the principles of Nature Spellcraft to stabilize his mana for controlling an Incarnation Body,
But the Nature Spellcraft used by Larabelli’s druids far surpassed merely imitating such principles.
‘The entire forest feels like it was always here. Can they erase the artificial feeling to this extent when they reach a certain level?’
Even knowing that the forest was created with Nature Spellcraft, Lennok felt no sense of incongruity from the surrounding flora and fauna.
An artificial naturalness. A natural artifice.
Just as he realized that the druids’ spellcraft freely traversed these two boundaries,
In the distance, a colossal tree rising in the center of the forest began to come into view.
Flutter…!!
The sound of leaves rustling in the wind. The sound of branches swaying and rubbing against each other.
Beneath the massive tree roots that dominated the central area of the forest, a structure woven from leaves and branches could be seen.
A colossal structure, with dozens of druids bustling in and out even at this moment.
Was that serving as the headquarters for all the druids gathered here?
And guarding the roots of that giant tree, a colossal deer lay asleep, its front hooves tucked in.
Lennok, gazing at the deer emitting a faint, shimmering light and an ethereal presence, asked,
“A spirit, then. Is there a spellcaster among the druids who has a contract with it?”
“It’s a nature spirit living in Larabelli, not the Spirit World,”
The druid said, glancing at Lennok.
“It guards the forest not through a contract, but through coexistence.”
“……”
“This way.”
As if intending to answer no more questions, the druid moved towards the giant tree.
Lennok, leaning on his staff, glanced around.
He could clearly sense the gazes watching him from various spots in the forest.
Due to the nature of Nature Spellcraft, it was difficult to detect at first, but once adapted, detection itself was not difficult.
‘Bears and deer. Sheep and plants… most of the druids weren’t human. In a way, I suppose that’s natural.’
An elderly man with deer antlers on his head. A giant panting, transformed into the shape of a bear.
A Bowman with the head of a sheep. A tall woman with plant stems braided into her hair instead of human hair.
Besides them, beings assimilated with nature, or not even human, watched Lennok from atop the trees.
Their reaction wasn’t hostile towards Lennok, but rather wary, not overtly friendly.
Perhaps it was natural, considering he was a wizard who had smashed a monstrous warship into the ground.
Whoosh…!!
At that moment, an illusion arose as if the trees of the forest were parting to either side.
The forest wasn’t actually parting, but a colossal presence, so vast it felt as though it were, revealed itself from beyond.
Clop.
“……”
At the heavy sound of hooves from beyond the forest, Lennok’s expression subtly changed.
Massive muscles pushing through the undergrowth. A sturdy helmet seemingly woven from leaves.
Long, braided green hair and the form of a Green Spear gripped beneath thick forearms.
“……”
A colossal beast-kin, half deer and half human, stared down at Lennok with indifferent eyes.
An overwhelming physique, nearly twice the size of an average human. Its height easily surpassed 3 meters.
Not merely large in stature, its presence and magic were as heavy and ponderous as a mountain.
An intense pressure weighed down the surroundings just by its standing there.
“Hmph…”
Even the Corpse Ghost Spell Master let out a momentary sound at the overwhelming presence exuded by the beast-kin.
The druid guiding Lennok bowed slightly towards him and stepped aside.
The beast-kin, ignoring the greeting, naturally took a step forward and stood before Lennok.
According to the Harvester Spell Master, this beast-kin would be the druids’ commander, Elder Druid Azelan.
Lennok looked up at Azelan and spoke.
“You were the one who spoke to me earlier. An Elder Druid, you said?”
Lennok asked, leaving the silent Azelan for a moment.
“I heard that members of the plant city do not intervene in continental affairs.”
Azelan did not answer.
He merely looked down at Lennok from between the leaf-woven helmet, silent.
Leaving the unresponsive beast-kin, Lennok leaned on his staff.
“You said you could help me on my way to The Veil.”
“……”
“Explain. What do you want?”
Regarding the current state of the Western Continent, the druids fighting on the front lines would possess the most accurate information.
The druids’ aloof reactions were awkward, but there was still room for negotiation with them.
“I saw what you did from the sky.”
Azelan said, meeting Lennok’s gaze.
A low, deep voice. Its timbre resonated profoundly yet was as clear as a bell.
“You seem very skilled at hunting monsters.”
“……”
“I wish to borrow your hunting prowess.”
“Hunting prowess, you say.”
Lennok let out a small chuckle at the truly druid-like choice of words, then shook his head.
“Because you killed a General-grade entity and spread its destructive impact across the terrestrial battlefield, a void has been created in the warlords’ forces,”
Azelan said in an indifferent tone.
“A part of the Western Front is currently occupied by an entity calling itself the Harvester Spell Master, blocking the way.”
“……”
“Now that one carrier and the front line of the tank division have been annihilated, this is our chance. The longer we delay, the more the Overmind will produce and replenish its lost forces.”
“Are you referring to using the shortcut to The Veil you mentioned?”
“It is no shortcut.”
Azelan replied, raising the Green Spear he held.
“For us druids, wherever the forest is, it is our spiritual home.”
CRACK!!
As he plunged the Green Spear into the ground, the spearhead split, and withered branches burst forth.
The branches spread in all directions, traversing the forest with the ground where Azelan stood as their boundary.
“We simply follow the path we are naturally drawn to, with the call of the Mother Tree as our bell of origin.”
“This is…”
Hush…!!
A wind swept through the vast forest.
The temperature of the distant wind grew hot, and the fresh scent of grass turned to a metallic tang.
As if the forest where Azelan stood marked a boundary, the landscape before them slowly began to transform.
WHOOSH!!!
The color of the forest behind Azelan gradually turned crimson.
Crimson-black foliage and leaves, withered plants, as if polluted by a monstrous aura.
A sense of unreality, as if facing another forest in a completely different location from the one Lennok stood in.
Realizing this, Lennok walked past Azelan towards the crimson-stained, polluted forest.
WHOOSH!
After a few steps forward, his vision opened up, and The Veil, spread across the sky of the Western Front, became visible.
The enormous, wavering Veil, shimmering with opaque haze, and beneath it, an uncountable swarm of monsters.
The Overmind, clinging to a crack in The Veil, spewing out monsters.
Lennok muttered, realizing he had arrived at the place he had glimpsed using his Mystic Eye’s Gaze Sharing.
“…Remarkable. Is this how a forest moves using Nature Spellcraft?”
They had traversed a battlefield tens of kilometers long, arriving at a spot close enough for The Veil to be seen with the naked eye.
Even if it was due to a forest being near The Veil, to be able to move an outsider like Lennok, who wasn’t a druid, along with it…
Was the potential of Nature Spellcraft truly that extraordinary, or were the druids hiding such secrets?
“The Overmind is currently deeply rooted beneath The Veil and isn’t moving,”
Azelan replied, emerging from behind Lennok while he was lost in thought.
“It’s absorbing a very powerful energy hidden within The Veil, using it as sustenance.”
“Absorbing energy as sustenance?”
“There’s no need to mince words,”
Azelan said.
“What we seek to reclaim is the very energy that Overmind is using as sustenance.”
“……”
“That is the most precious treasure of Larabelli, a possession that must never be leaked to the outside world.”
Azelan’s consistently heavy bass voice suddenly seemed to turn cold.
“If we can reclaim it, we will take you to the other side of The Veil, even if it means sacrificing this entire forest.”
“…I see.”
Azelan offered no further explanation, but Lennok understood the moment he faced the distant Overmind.
Because the energy emanating from the Overmind, clinging to The Veil, was familiar to Lennok.
Through Lennok’s transcendent sensitivity, he perceived and realized the truth the druids had not spoken.
The true identity of the ‘energy’ that the Overmind itself was desperately trying to hide and conceal.
‘The call of the Mother Tree, the bell of origin…’
Lennok’s gaze, fixed on the distant Overmind, turned cold.
‘The World Tree’s leaf that Jutiya mentioned. Was it hidden here?’
A stone tablet containing information about two offerings, which he had heard from Ars Nova’s Scribe, Jutiya Heiberk.
The same energy that was on the tablet was faintly emanating from the Overmind’s head.
The reason Azelan could so easily bring Lennok to the front of The Veil.
The reason Larabelli’s druids were moving with all their might to kill the Overmind.
What the Overmind was sucking up as sustenance was the World Tree’s leaf itself.
“What do you say, wizard?”
Azelan asked, leaving Lennok lost in thought.
“Will you cooperate in purifying the contaminated Veil?”
“……”
Instead of replying, Lennok silently tilted his head.
To twist The Veil and head to Kundara, he needed to clear out The Veil that the Overmind occupied.
But in that process, he had learned why the Overmind was parasitizing The Veil.
Why the druids were hiding that fact, why the Overmind was holding the World Tree’s leaf.
The mysteries multiplied, but the task at hand remained unchanged.
Thinking so, Lennok pulled a small vial from his pocket.
Inside the vial, a mysterious, ethereal golden liquid swirled.
Azelan, too, seemed to feel an unusual sense of strangeness from its appearance.
“That’s…”
“I didn’t want to do it this way, but if it’s necessary, there’s no choice.”
Lennok, pulling out the diluted elixir, nodded as his magic surged.
“If you’re okay with me doing it my way, I’ll start right now.”