Chapter 679: The Oldest Bloodline (1)

An unfathomably deep underground, where one couldn’t even guess how far down they had descended.

A narrow elevator, hundreds of layers of security and barriers passed using the Senator’s authority, finally led to a dark corridor.

Senator Leisen Azamaha.

A criminal incarcerated for embezzling the Central Council’s slush funds, a being no longer human, consumed by the power of an Outer God, trapped in this prison.

Only the countless, unknown tree roots filling the corridor ahead proved that everything Meyer had said was true.

“……”

Emaciated, twisted tree roots.

They burrowed through the corridor, an anomalous presence greedily devouring even the faint light sources.

They dug into the alloy walls, which contained no nourishment, subtly writhing, making gestures as if to suck up even the slightest bit of something.

Lennok’s eyes narrowed as he silently gazed in the direction the tree roots spread.

“If the instructions I received earlier are correct, Leisen should be waiting at the end of the corridor.”

Meyer said, slowly rubbing his neck.

“Looking through the reports, the time when he can speak and the time when his sanity returns are different. Apparently, it’s so hard to communicate with him unless those two timeframes overlap.”

“……”

“The Chairman wouldn’t be unaware of this, so I suspect he ended the meeting with the exact time in mind, just to send you here… He’s a truly thorough person.”

A thorough person.

That statement was largely Meyer’s personal impression, but Lennok agreed to some extent.

The colossal tree roots surrounding this corridor, and the vast investments made to preserve them in this basement.

And despite being directly informed of all these matters, the Chairman had not uttered a single word until Lennok was ready.

It was undeniable that the Chairman had, to some extent, intended this very moment of sending Lennok down with Meyer.

“Whew, it’s hot…”

Meyer wiped sweat and shook his head weakly.

“Maybe it’s because we’re underground, but it feels poorly ventilated… All in all, it’s an draining place.”

Lennok looked at Meyer and asked.

“You look tired even without that.”

“I’ve had too much to deal with lately.”

Meyer replied, wiping away cold sweat.

“I thought I’d be freer once I entered the Senate, but it’s the complete opposite. At this rate, I’ll die of overwork without even seeing the Mayor’s face…”

John Meyer was working tirelessly in his old age, with the goal of becoming Mayor and uncovering the secrets of the Black Consumer Project.

Perhaps that’s why his talk of overwork didn’t sound like a joke.

“If needed, I could send you some elixir.”

“I appreciate the thought, but I’ll decline.”

Meyer chuckled and waved his hand.

“At my age, you have to be careful even with medicine. My body can’t handle it.”

“……”

Indeed, it wasn’t as if Meyer lacked the money or connections to obtain medicine.

He likely knew that abusing elixirs in his old age would lead to severe repercussions.

Lennok briefly considered this, then pulled a small business card from his pocket.

“What’s this?”

“There’s a pharmacist called Yakson living among the hidden paths of District 55.”

“……”

“Due to circumstances, I can’t personally introduce you, but it might not be a bad idea to pay them a visit.”

Yakson, Janusika Greenway.

A pharmacist who reached Level 7, an elder whose skills were further enhanced by a Geas, granting her unparalleled pharmaceutical abilities.

The person who had dramatically cured Lennok’s chronic mana addiction.

However, bound by a Geas that made her forget memories of treated patients, she lived in seclusion in a remote area.

Lennok, having gained some proficiency with Geas himself, had been looking for a way to treat and recruit Janusika Greenway.

But given the dangerous Geas Yakson possessed, he was biding his time.

She wouldn’t remember Lennok, but introducing Meyer should be fine.

Meyer accepted the business card Lennok offered, a strange expression on his face.

“If it’s a pharmacist you recommend, I don’t need to ask about their skill. I’ll go visit as soon as day breaks tomorrow.”

“No.”

Lennok shook his head.

“It would be best to go visit right now.”

“What? What in the world…?”

Meyer instinctively replied, then realized Lennok’s intention and his face hardened.

“……I see. Did I step into a place I shouldn’t be?”

He immediately realized that Lennok’s advice was akin to telling him to leave this place and flee right now.

Instead of answering Meyer’s question directly, Lennok silently turned his gaze and stared at the tree roots.

The moment he brought the lit tobacco stick from his mouth to a root.

Hiss…!!

The flame and filter of the tobacco were instantly absorbed by the tree root, as if sucked in, and vanished.

Lennok withdrew his hand from the instantly vanished tobacco filter and said.

“It’s not even burning; it’s absorbing and sucking up the heat itself.”

“……”

“With this level of absorption, there’s a risk of losing even your breath, nutrients, and mana floating in the air, beyond just the contact surface.”

Lennok nodded.

“I assume you have some artifacts for self-protection… but there’s no need to take unnecessary risks.”

From the moment he saw the tree roots stretching throughout the corridor, Lennok roughly guessed what kind of entity Leisen was possessed by.

The Central Council must have known this too, which is why they invested such vast security and resources to confine Leisen deep within this basement.

Meyer, too, likely carried means of self-protection, but this type of environment itself was draining.

There was no reason to endanger a Senator who currently viewed Lennok favorably within the Central Council.

Meyer understood Lennok’s intention and immediately nodded.

“I understand. If you say so, then it must not be an empty threat.”

He accepted Lennok’s advice without any further comment.

Perhaps he thought it was right to fully follow the judgment of an expert who had reached the pinnacle in this field, especially since such an expert was by his side.

In that regard, Meyer was a flexible person, unbefitting his greed and ambition.

“However, even if it’s not me, perhaps you should have a guide assigned to this place…”

“It’s fine.”

Lennok said, quietly observing the endless dark corridor.

“It seems they’ve already become aware of me from their side.”

After sending Meyer up via the elevator, Lennok walked slowly down the corridor alone.

The sounds of tree roots writhing and a staff tapping reverberated, overlapping throughout the corridor.

The light from a freshly lit tobacco stick was the only illumination in the dark corridor.

Shhh, shhh, shhh…!!

The tree roots quivered and gathered around the light of the tobacco stick in Lennok’s mouth.

Attracted by Lennok’s mana seeping through the tobacco smoke, the living tree roots writhed uncontrollably.

They would slither towards Lennok, then hesitate, blocked by an invisible shield, and retreat, only to repeat the motion.

Creak, creak, creak!!

As he walked deeper into the corridor, the number of tree roots increased exponentially.

The floor beneath his feet was so densely covered that the corridor’s surface was no longer visible.

Finally, as the entire corridor transformed into the shape of withered ancient trees, Lennok discovered a single tree beyond an open hill.

“……”

For consuming an entire corridor several tens of meters long, the tree’s size wasn’t particularly large.

Its height was several meters. Its thickness was about two human torsos stacked together.

But veins pulsed on the surface of the tree trunk, and bloodshot eyes rotated ceaselessly between its bark.

Squeak, squeak…!!

Just standing before the tree, his throat felt scorched, and he felt as if moisture and nutrients were being sucked away.

If Lennok were an ordinary human, he would have been completely drained of all vitality and absorbed just by staying here for a short time.

Even now, an ominous will, not bothering to hide, clearly approached, seeking to penetrate his shield and devour his mana.

“I heard you wanted to meet me.”

Lennok asked, silently observing the writhing tree.

“If you have something to say, come out and say it. Or should I wait until you can speak?”

At that moment, the tree roots quivered violently, and the branches overhead swayed greatly.

As if squeezing out all the embedded energy, dark-red fruits began to form among the twisted branches.

Crackling!!

As the fruits slowly grew, reaching a size slightly larger than a fist.

Lennok realized that it wasn’t a fruit, but the form of a newborn baby.

“……”

While Lennok was silenced by the unimaginable sight, the baby born from the branch grew rapidly.

From a boy to a young man, from a young man to a middle-aged man. From a middle-aged man to an old man.

The fruit, transformed into an old human, then dropped the old man’s body as if severing it from its place.

Thud!!

The naked old man, drenched in an unknown liquid, writhed and opened his eyes.

“Ah…”

Lennok watched silently, then asked in disbelief.

“So, the separate times for being able to converse and for regaining sanity meant this.”

“……”

“Do you have to completely create a new human body just for communication?”

The main body was completely consumed by the power of the Outer Sea, and it was a being that formed a human body from a tree fruit to express its will.

Was this the fate that befell Senator Leisen Azamaha, once known as the City Council’s Mouthpiece?

He had expected him to have shed his human form, but this was beyond imagination.

It wasn’t just transcending humanity; it was a grotesque anomaly, as if its very species and manifestation had been twisted and split.

Lennok immediately understood why the Central Council hadn’t disposed of Leisen immediately but kept him preserved.

Such a being, so deeply infused with and twisted by the power of the Outer Sea, would surely be helpful in some way for exploring the secrets of the outside.

The Chairman had, to some extent, helped Lennok meet Leisen, expecting just that.

Lennok met the gaze of the naked old man, who was slumped forward with his head bowed.

Meeting Leisen’s eyes, clouded by a hazy mist, Lennok asked.

“How does it feel to be a tree that grew by feeding on civilization?”

Myeongmok Arcrootrinia.

An Outer God from beyond the Outer Sea, who extended its roots into countless civilizations and ultimately became a part of their demise.

The black wizard Craig Tillian, with the help of the cult, had succeeded in summoning a part of its avatar through necromancy.

And if Leisen, who had allied with Craig, was consumed by the Outer Sea’s power, it could only be the power of Myeongmok.

From the moment he saw the tree roots spreading everywhere in the corridor.

From the moment he heard the Chairman speak of Leisen’s final state, Lennok had already guessed the existence of Myeongmok.

“The Central Council’s capabilities are also beyond imagination. To think they would imprison and isolate an Outer God’s encroaching entity beneath the city…”

Lennok chuckled and shook his head.

“Even a slight mistake could lead to tens of thousands of casualties; did they truly have the confidence to manage that?”

The old man reacted as if to his words, slowly lifting his hazy gaze.

A parched, cracked voice emerged from his throat.

“I haven’t slept in decades…”

“……”

“I spend sleepless nights, watching the universe drift forever… I, I… I… didn’t want this…”

Although a considerable amount of time had passed since the black wizard Craig Tillian died and Myeongmok’s avatar was subjugated.

Even calculating that time precisely, ‘decades’ didn’t add up.

Especially considering that the power of Myeongmok, which consumed Leisen, was discovered relatively recently.

But Lennok knew that Leisen’s lament was not a lie.

“The perception of time felt while drifting through the universe with the end beyond the Outer Sea must be vastly different from what humans feel.”

Lennok replied.

“With that much time, it wouldn’t be strange for one’s mind to be completely worn away… In fact, it’s miraculous that you haven’t forgotten language yet.”

“I… I… I once received… the cult’s baptism… during a diplomatic event…”

Leisen stammered, answering with difficulty.

It wasn’t a human voice vibrating vocal cords, but an irregular timbre, as if the cracking sound of the tree fruit was being converted into language.

Yet, even amidst that, Leisen was desperately struggling to speak to Lennok.

“Reciting… the scriptures… praising… worshiping… that… that way…”

“You maintained your sanity by reciting the cult’s doctrine?”

Lennok questioned, yet deep down, he understood to some extent.

Though some might not admit it, the cult was one of the experts who most accurately understood the dark sea.

They were fanatics, consumed by worship and praise, who despite their abuse of human sacrifice, could handle and manage its power from a realm of reason.

Or perhaps, it was only possible by using such methods.

“K-k-k-kill me.”

“What?”

“I… I can’t… last much longer… I can’t anymore…”

Grab!!

Leisen, caressing Lennok’s shield with both hands, muttered vacantly.

His pronunciation was slurred and fragmented, as if he couldn’t maintain his voice for much longer.

“It… it has to be now. When His consciousness… is focused on the o-o-o-oldest bloodline…!!”

The old man’s body split apart, and beneath his skin, muscles and bones disintegrated, melting like a jellyfish.

Leisen’s desperate plea, his bloodshot eyes staring at Lennok.

“You can do it… you… you did it before…!!!”

“……”

“No… it’s coming back… it’s c-c-c-coming baaaack!!!”

Thump-thump!!

Leisen’s body instantly exploded into nothingness, and the colossal black tree writhed, moving greatly.

In place of Leisen’s vanished flesh and consciousness, something returned to this spot, its presence seemingly staring intently at Lennok.

[…….]

It wasn’t complex, fierce emotions like malice or hostility.

It was the will-thought of pure gluttony, like invisible drool dripping, gazing at a delicious prey.

Leisen, consumed by Myeongmok’s power, could not even be human.

The Outer God, according to its fundamental desires and instincts, simply regarded Lennok as nourishment to be faithfully absorbed.

Could this truly be called a tree? Lennok shook his head with a bitter smile.

At that moment, a human face popped out from between the tree’s trunk, smiling brightly at Lennok.

[Delicious.]

Shrieeek!!

Hundreds of tree roots, covering the entire colossal basement, collectively coiled around Lennok and began to violently rotate.

The moment Lennok’s form was covered by hundreds of tree roots.

Hundreds of people watching the scene beyond the transmitted screen shot up from their seats.

“D-damn it…!!”

“Leisen Azamaha is trying to devour Adamant Thunder!”

“Activate the spell barrier! Prepare the drug injection!”

“Inject the plant growth inhibitor!”

“86 types of conceptual magic curses are ready to be deployed!”

Wizards gathered within a colossal magic circle raised their mana from all directions.

Researchers in gowns frantically ran around, activating drug injection devices.

Immediately after, colossal arrows emerged from various parts of the basement and pierced into the trunk of the massive tree.

Thwack!! Thwack!!

The growth inhibitor embedded within the colossal arrows forcibly suppressed the tree’s energy activity.

Wizards on standby to monitor Leisen, as if they had been waiting, poured out dozens of magic curses.

A collaboration between scholars who had worked in the Greenbelt, researching various plants and long-lived species, and Beollyeon, the City Council’s direct wizard unit specializing in suppressing and restraining mana receptors.

But despite this, the tree roots wildly thrashing in the basement did not stop.

They only swung the tree roots like waves, as if further agitated by the pouring curses and drug injections.

Barriers made of metal and insulators were absorbed and sucked in, and the sealed basement space began to shrink.

Instantly, red warning lights flashed everywhere, illuminating the pale scholars and wizards.

“It’s no use. It’s not listening at all!!”

“It intends to completely devour an 8-level Archmage. It’s already pushed its output to the limit!!”

“There wasn’t even a premonition… Was this its target from the very beginning?!”

The suction power of a single thin tree root was enough to completely drain a living human of their moisture and more.

If hundreds of such roots simultaneously gripped a single person, it wouldn’t be strange for their mana and even soul to be absorbed as nourishment.

What would happen if the target was an 8-level Archmage with immense mana?

The team leader, sensing the worst-case scenario, immediately reached for the emergency communication network.

“Everyone stop work and evacuate. I’m declaring an emergency and requesting help from above.”

“It’s impossible to deal with unless it’s a special force beyond Hierarchy. Unless it’s reinforcements like Purity…!!”

Snap!!

At that moment, the movement of the tree, which had been ceaselessly moving, coiling and gripping Lennok, suddenly stopped.

As if burned by hot fire, it flinched and pulled its roots away, then began thrashing wildly out of control.

[……!!!]

As if unheard, tumultuous screams echoed, the ends of the violently thrashing tree roots burst and festered.

Zzzzzzt!!!

The electrical mana seeping from between the tree roots ruptured cells and severed tissue bonds.

Human faces, contorted in agony, appeared and vanished dozens of times across the surface of the pitch-black colossal tree.

[Pain pain pain pain pain!!!]

Each face let out a desperate scream and roar before disappearing.

Immediately after, the tree roots surrounding Lennok snapped and turned into a handful of ashes.

The basement, once filled with colossal tree roots, was completely cleaned, leaving only a small, withered tree sapling.

Before that small sapling, a wizard leaning on his staff stood with an expressionless face.

The scholars stared blankly at the screen, clutching it with dazed expressions.

“……It decided it couldn’t be eaten and severed its own roots.”

“It decided it had to stop here, even if it meant being unable to self-regenerate for a while?”

“No, it must have been a purely instinctive reaction. But…”

“It won’t wake for a while, so it’s best not to provoke it.”

Lennok, who had disappeared from the screen, was now standing next to the scholars.

“I merely replaced your intended growth suppression with my mana.”

“Whoa!!”

“W-when did you…!!”

The scholars stumbled backward and fell off their chairs in fright.

Lennok stared at them expressionlessly, then turned and walked away without lingering.

“The oldest bloodline…”

Leisen had only mentioned that keyword, without revealing what needed to be done.

But Lennok had already acquired the means to investigate the meaning of those words.

“……”

The wizards stared with horrified eyes at the small, withered piece of wood in Lennok’s hand, sneaking glances.