Chapter 216

Rumble, rumble, rumble...!

The lava giant—or rather, the stone giant—was sliced into six pieces, his body scattering across the forest.

The Spriggans and treants unfortunate enough to be within range were crushed before they even had a chance to scream. Lava spilled out like blood, setting them ablaze and igniting a forest fire at the worst possible moment.

It was utterly absurd for a fire to spread through Yggdrasil’s domain. This was only possible because a trace of Vulcanus’ power still lingered within the lava.

Leonard, understanding the situation without needing to use his Dragon Eye, scanned his surroundings.

Looks like Vulcanus’ true form survived after all.

Destroying the physical body Vulcanus had manifested, which contained a vast portion of his power, was a serious blow, but it wasn’t the victory Leonard had hoped for. With Yggdrasil still standing strong, there was no way to fully remove the Wraith Kings from the battlefield except by forcefully reverse-summoning them back to where they had come from.

“Did you fail to finish him off?” Grace leaned in and asked, perhaps sensing his dissatisfaction.

Leonard nodded in agreement, adjusting his internal energy. The imbalance within him was instantly corrected as the energies of the Black Tortoise and White Tiger returned to their original state.

With the balance of the Five Element One Origin stabilized, Leonard spoke again, “He escaped. Instead of enduring our combined assault, he used his physical body as bait to let his true form get away.

“I see. Then again, even though my Frost-Blade hit perfectly, something didn’t feel right. There was no impact, and his movements seemed stiff.”

Despite his appearance as a juggernaut, Vulcanus was infamous among the Wraith Kings for being cunning and devious. Despite holding the upper hand from his stored power, he had realized that he couldn’t win against two opponents who possessed elemental abilities that countered him, so he had fled.

As a Wraith King, Vulcanus had no sense of honor, pride, or shame, allowing for swift and precise decision-making.

In the end, they had only managed to drive one of the Wraith Kings away from the battlefield, only momentarily.

Life and Death Sword, Cold Snowfall of Winter, and even Sky Splitting Cross Slash. I used all of them in quick succession, and the only backlash is being slightly out of breath.

The Sky Splitting Cross Slash was practically two simultaneous activations of Sky and Clouds Piercer, meaning Leonard had unleashed his conceptual martial techniques four times in a row.

Had he attempted this before his breakthrough, he would have certainly collapsed, possibly even coughing up blood from the strain and abuse on his meridians. But now, having ascended to the Demigod Tier, he felt fine.

My techniques have grown several times more powerful, and I can activate them faster than before. I can feel that my power in the conceptual realm has also risen.

Seeing how Cold Snowfall of Winter had instantly stopped Vulcanus in his tracks proved it all. He hadn’t even tested all of his new abilities yet, but Leonard was sure they had all been similarly enhanced.

As he recognized this, Leonard finally understood what it meant to have reached the Demigod Tier.

Authority, treated as part of the world’s laws, was distinct from unique traits. The latter, which could be accessed at the Transcendence Tier, were still bound by the laws of the world. To break free from those restrictions, one had to reach the Demigod Tier.

“How does it feel to be a Demigod Tier knight?” Grace asked, as though reading his thoughts. “It’s the minimum requirement for mortals to challenge gods. The Demigod Tier is where martial techniques and authority finally begin to equalize. Everything—sight, hearing, and touch—will change from what you once knew.”

“Indeed.” Leonard nodded, fully aware of the reasoning behind the world’s adoption of Taoist and Buddhist philosophies in martial arts, the imitation of the concept of Metamorphosis, and the ultimate pursuit of transcending the gods.

The desire to become a higher being, more than just an intelligent ape, was the reason martial artists felt a growing sense of superiority with each realm they surpassed.

Even a Third Class warrior, after training in external cultivation, would feel their body strengthening. Second and First Class warriors, who began to control their internal energy, experienced an even more profound change in their senses.

Perception is the true mark of a martial artist’s level.

From Third Class martial artists, who mastered control over their bodies, to Second Class martial artists, who became aware of their internal energy, and finally to First Class martial artists, who discovered the cultivation method, perception continued to expand.

At the Peak Realm, the will of a martial artist would resonate with their qi, indicating they were entering the gateway to the realm of true masters.

Beyond that was the Apex Realm, where one’s will grew stronger and transformed their qi, unlocking the upper dantian with the unification of the essence, energy, and spirit, thereby stepping foot into the Creation Realm.

The beginning to this stage depended on mastering willpower.

I still remember it. The day in my previous life when I advanced into the Creation Realm, realizing that even my will could slightly reshape the world... That feeling of omnipotence.

At the same time, any martial artist who reached the Creation Realm was aware of this truth: those in the Profound Realm and Life and Death Realm could influence the world more profoundly, like immortals who could summon the wind and call forth the rain at will.

Leonard, having now reached the point where he could observe the laws of the world firsthand, realized he had merely been lingering on a shallow mountainside all this time.

“Hmmm.”

Having caught his breath during his conversation with Grace, Leonard now turned his gaze to the ground below. He intended to support Audrey and Uluka, who were locked in a two-versus-two battle.

Although they held an advantage in terms of elemental matchups, winning would be difficult if the enemy focused solely on defense, as their sheer amount of stored power would ensure a prolonged fight.

■■■■■■—!

However, Cybele, who had been constantly fleeing and buying time, let out a sharp cry. In response, Tethis’ body dissolved like morning mist. The countless droplets that scattered could only mean one thing—the true body of the Wraith King Thetis.

They attempted to escape without hesitation.

“Where do you think you’re going?!”

“You think we’ll let you go?!”

Audrey and Uluka didn’t miss the opportunity and charged forward, but Cybele summoned an endlessly vast swamp to block their path. It seemed deep enough to swallow the Mobile Fortress whole, and poisonous fog rose along with the waves of mud.

Rumble, rumble, rumble—!!

Undeterred, Audrey stepped forward, with Uluka following closely behind as they rushed headlong into the wave.

Extermination

A sphere of black energy enveloped the two, protecting them as they entered the muddy tsunami. No matter how powerful the force was, it could not match Audrey in density over a given area.

True to form, the sphere imbued with the power of Extermination tore through the mud, allowing the two commanders to close in on their target. At this distance, there was no escape.

“It’s a pity we can only catch one, but sacrificing herself to save her comrades is at least commendable.”

With those words of acknowledgement, Audrey brought her glaive down, shattering the mud woman’s form, whose eyes remained filled with malice and hatred until the very end.

And just like that, the Wraith King of Decay was reverse-summoned.

As Thetis withdrew and Cybele disappeared, the bottomless swamp returned to its normal state. The Mobile Fortress began to roll out of the swamp, recovering the layers of walls that had been sucked in. Although it had only been a matter of minutes, the walls, gnawed away by both Decay and Poison, were hideously distorted.

———————!!!

Just then, a ghostly wail echoed from beyond. All the Demigod Tier knights, Leonard included, turned toward the source of the sound. His perception, which had already been extraordinary back in the Transcendence Tier, expanded even further, allowing him to sense things from dozens of kilometers away.

The aura of Boreas, the Wraith King of the Razor Wind, had completely vanished.

...Boreas has been reverse-summoned.

It was impressive that Boreas had managed to hold out this long against Wade. No matter how much the Wraith King excelled in mobility, it was meaningless before a monstrous man who could twist the very fabric of time.

Although Boreas had probably conserved his strength in preparation for the final battle with Yggdrasil, not fighting at full capacity, the power difference was still absolute.

Cybele and Boreas—with the reverse-summoning of these two Wraith Kings, Yggdrasil had lost two of her key pieces.

“But we can’t assume the enemy’s strength has been halved just because two Wraith Kings are gone, right?” said Leonard.

“Exactly. In fact, things might get even more dangerous,” Grace replied, her brow furrowed in irritation. “The power that was split between the four Wraith Kings will now be concentrated on the remaining two. If their power output increases, their status will rise too. They might even achieve divinity, or at least get close.”

“The ideal outcome would have been reverse-summoning all four of them... but I guess the enemy was aware of that,” Leonard mused.

Cybele had sacrificed herself to allow Thetis to escape. It wasn’t a display of camaraderie, but a calculated move to avoid both of them being killed or critically injured by trying to escape together. As Leonard thought this over, he spotted Wade in the distance, returning with victory in hand.

Even without using Flamberg, Wade moved with a speed far beyond what the treants and other creatures could keep up with.

“Sir Wade is back. Shall we go join him?” Grace suggested.

Leonard nodded silently, sheathing his sword in response. Grace lifted her hand, issuing commands to the Aeroship fleet.

“Halt. Ascend to the maximum altitude at your current position. Autonomous movement is prohibited except for self-defense purposes.”

Upon receiving the command, the Aeroships halted and soared toward the clouds. Though thirty percent of the fleet had been wiped out by Boreas, its combat capability remained largely intact. Had they been fighting humans instead of Spriggans, these Aeroships would have turned the tide of the war.

“Ugh, I guess using them any further will be difficult,” Grace muttered under her breath.

Curious, Leonard asked, “Why is that? Is there a problem with the power source or functions?”

Grace shook her head. “No. If that were the case, we could just use them for a suicide bombing.”

She then went on to explain, “The closer we get to Yggdrasil’s main body, the more malfunctions will occur in the control magic arrays of the Aeroships. I’ve managed to control them up to this point, but if we go any further, I risk losing command rights altogether.”

Leonard frowned at the thought of the Aeroships turning against them, and he couldn’t help thinking of the worst-case scenario. If these war machines, with their immense firepower, turned hostile and began bombarding from above, even the Mobile Fortress’ defenses wouldn’t hold.

If they crashed and self-destructed into the fortress, it would spell doom for everyone except the Demigod Tier knights.

“That would be a disaster,” Leonard said grimly.

“Well, I guess we’ll have to leave them behind. At least we can use them for transportation when we come back. There’s no guarantee the Mobile Fortress will survive this,” Grace concluded.

“That’s true.”

Yggdrasil’s influence had long since surpassed the recovery speed of the Mobile Fortress’ defense barrier. Although the power source would last for a few more hours, the closer they got to Yggdrasil, the shorter that time would become.

Although the Mobile Fortress and the Barricade Train were the masterpieces of the Jehoia family, their sheer size and vast capabilities required magical assistance. If the internal magic systems failed, they would be reduced to useless junk.

“Let’s go.”

“Yes.”

Grace and Leonard soared through the air, landing near Wade, who had just touched down. Audrey and Uluka also arrived at the same time, gathering around him.

Now there were four—no, five Demigod Tier knights assembled.

“We’ll rest for thirty minutes, then continue forward,” Uluka declared.

The others nodded in agreement. Considering how exhausted the expedition team was, thirty minutes was far from enough, but it was

them

running out of time, not Yggdrasil. The more time passed, the more disadvantageous it would be for the expedition team.

The powerful figures of Cardenas all gazed out toward the horizon, their instincts aligning with one thought: there would be no rest until the battle was decided.

“I heard she was once called the Cosmic Tree... I can see why,” Wade remarked.

He wasn’t wrong. The upper branches of Yggdrasil stretched beyond the limits of their sight, even for those at the Demigod Tier. It truly seemed like Yggdrasil reached beyond the atmosphere and into the cosmos itself.

The Divine Tree radiated an overwhelming presence.

From this point onward, the five Demigod Tier knights knew that there would be no respite until victory—or defeat.