Chapter 246: World Tree (3)
ENuC13SThere were tons of armors across various myths and legends with resistance to magic. The silver plated armor crafted by Goibniu, the Danann of Smithing, was at the pinnacle of magic resistance.tQaWkF
4obD“Hmm~”UzQJ1J
d2K6CYXEochaid grinned as he stared into the darkness.gL7MhA
Z6RDlbThat attack at the level of a grand spell was certainly intimidating, not to mention the fact that it contained a bleeding curse.yPtYZw
PKOFNRoThey had to be quite skilled to pull that off… and Eochaid assumed they were mages from the Tower who had recently been enslaved.FCDC
a32v“Anyway, I wasn’t expecting him to run away like that. Should I say he’s too shy, or too devious.”1BBpy
lSfEven Eochaid couldn’t move straight after getting hit by that bombardment, and Korin Lork used that time to escape with the soldiers and knights.wncE
fKe‘Should I go after him?’ he pondered, but decided not to after hearing the echoing footsteps of an entire army coming his way.Wb9O4
vDL“Quite a lot of people they’ve brought.”nqErT
Q4Q18t3Although he wasn’t afraid to be put against a large number of foes, there was still no reason for him to play according to the cards of the enemy.Swcmz36
B5uR88c“These aren’t going to be enough to fight against all of them. I guess I will have to go back and scrape up everything in my arsenal.”6iOszV5
Dl4EupRetrieving his weapon, Eochaid carried his feet away.KDnYCtt
yf1Defending the wells wasn’t his mission in the first place. His job was that of the final gatekeeper, and defending this place was what the druid had to do.amqo
Ptd“But Valtazar though. Using me as a gatekeeper huh. Can’t believe it.”RJoR6Xe
mVv5qHowever, it’s not like he couldn’t understand what he was thinking.4IJbaII
0Jf8GEverything was for the final war.xFi
yhzIf he had to become a cornerstone of the new world… Eochaid felt kind enough to fulfill that role for him.DvVvC
W7wiyf****jHH
VKYWe immediately ran away after shooting missiles at Eochaid.1Y3X
xnNThere was no reason for me to waste my energy going against him by myself. All we had to do was simply break through with sheer force.bHVF9D
Hm9kHe would have soon retreated as well, because he wouldn’t be that inclined to go against an entire army.sxz
ghu“The enemy is nowhere to be seen!”HhSC
BU7XiN“He seems to have escaped!”pqUaY
7UhShAs expected, Eochaid was gone by the time we arrived at the scene with the main army.r3YJs1z
1qOXp“Fuu… What a shame, dongsaeng. I would have given him a slap for hurting you.”So8
qZ6FK“I know right. I was hoping he would have his ego fired up and fight us head-on.”RTi83U
IdIO6epWe would have smacked him together.El0Up
fgUjdy6However, Eochaid Bres was not stupid, and he obviously wouldn’t try to fight against an army of this size by himself. Especially now that he no longer had the Sun.beM
tWXi“Why did he show himself so soon, I wonder?”jjNS
1nf2kzz“Probably to buy time,” I replied. “The World Tree was not supposed to grow this fast. I’m sure they had to push themselves a lot to make this happen.”WRAuk22
mdLeThis fight was happening much earlier than how it went in the original game. It was faster by around 6 months, so it was safe to assume that they had to take on some amount of risk.2VcKH3y
hsW“He’s not even the biggest threat here though.”lByNt
ntXIns“Really? Eochaid Bres? Isn’t he a King of Gods like Chairman Erin?”YoduP9
b7KEV“As an individual being, he is one of the top powerhouses just below Valtazar but… it’s a bit different with the World Tree.”AkPUGq
cSO1rHThe one, who had been quietly doing his work behind the lines, was what we really had to worry about. Supported by the enormous field of nature, that is the World Tree, that old man was not to be looked down on.HHAez
i2ESLawmaker Dumnorix.P9Qg
QEWOne who seeks balance with mother nature.JUwe
TtcoeVCThis was the most dangerous time to be fighting him.akDjW
4Bl4C“Let’s keep the scouts to a minimum. How many do we have on our side right now?”QCoP
TZwl“Except for the backline, we have about 3,500 that can fight.”yJiZiJ
QHh“That’s not as much as I thought.”TCldJ
qXu9CP“But we have a lot of knights and mages instead. It’s around 20% of that number.”1g3aKay
rH4Following the roots all the way up to the wells was important, but it was also crucial to regroup with all the soldiers scattered about this place.9erhwXs
U28y“Let’s group with the valkyries or barbarians and increase our numbers.”S9R
4iu8aTraveling in a large group would allow us to freely pass by most of the enemies. In turn, that meant we could save our energy unlike the player party of the game, where they would have to take breaks and waste potions after encountering every single group of enemy.rHnXs
1C9“Sure. We never know when Eochaid might show himself again so let’s not waste our energy.”LcI05
jQb“Saintess…!”IIy
YOHpThat was when a soldier ran up and kneeled towards Estelle.f1Ce0Mc
eL3nA3“U, urgent news! A group of enemies has appeared, but it’s unclear whether they are demonic beasts or spirits! The vanguards have started fending them off!”lLbK
AFUIlM“…About time huh.”273454y
ObsIt was true that we had a large number of manpower in our army, but that didn’t mean Valtazar didn’t have any himself.0UmKCXI
ti0j“Let me go up.”60K6v
eyJaIFy“Are you sure? Don’t you have to save your energy?”p1j
SHA8k“I don’t even have to worry about that against Shadow Demons. I’ll stay at the front for the time being as well.”td02Wn
Q8itiXHeading to the front, as I expected I found some of our soldiers fighting against Shadow Demons.SHb
nJHmaBiIt seemed like they were defending without an issue, thanks to the large number of soldiers on our side.18qqbT
VhW9We had several more skirmishes after that, but I started seeing more and more corpses on the side.lzEO
cBFjThey were either soldiers of the kingdom or northern warriors.iRn
TtcyN“It appears they died very recently. It’s most likely the demons we were fighting just then.”kw6hul
s4k“They died fighting these monsters, so I’m sure the lord will look after them.”7kbwZGG
6GeCA“Of course. They died a valiant death for a sacred purpose.”P6zsJ
XS5“Fuu… Yeah.”mvaX
MiiI didn’t deny their faith as that would further instigate their uneasiness. Instead, I agreed with them.Dfsv
GXwB4“We unfortunately don’t have time to bury them so let’s have a minute of silence. I’m sure they will understand.”fby4cW1
i2s5Drawing a cross with my finger, I prayed for their afterlife. It was funny of me to be doing this despite knowing the truth about the gods of this world but… it had to be done for the mental wellbeing of the ones alive.NUv
fLZshPraying that their souls were headed somewhere peaceful.c6lHZ
LnnPraying that the lord will find mercy in their courage.xx3e8
kuVThe living prayed for the dead and found peace. Hoping that the souls of the dead were heading to a place better than this world, at the same time they hoped that their own deaths would also be received with prayers.uRsylK
8U2GltHReligion was a shelter in which people could find peace during tension and urgency.WYn6wey
LpT1gDRAfter that, we led the way once again before coming across a new group.G3wx
Uts– Crunch crunch!S3J
FwSHearing the sound of thick leather shoes stepping across the snow, we came to a stop. It definitely wasn’t a sound that the kingdom’s military boots would make.N7u9Y5w
0xtgE“Hmm? Southerners?” said the one at the lead.E6JKC
4jwGbWhat appeared from the front was a group of approximately hundreds of northerners.KkoZtl
CiMz“Barbarians, huh.”H93
jf2GQy“Shh. Don’t provoke them for no reason.”pzSxs
dRrxzHIReproaching one of our soldiers who blurted that out, a small group of us slowly approached the group.4dg
xecg2i“Which tribe are you from?”JV98
HpHa“We’re from Axehead! Don’t you remember fighting together at the wall?”33oln
Gur“Kuhum… You see, it’s a bit hard to see everything.”73UmX
uIk3With the light gone from the world, we had to rely on torches and light magic to see around us. It was hard to tell the tribes of the northerners in the darkness because the only way to tell were the small symbols on their armor.lqU
9WmmmOur troops appeared delighted to come across allies after several long and arduous battles against demonic beasts, but I flinched when the group of northerners came a bit closer.SC1G
mWyThe axehead of the barbarian at the front was dripping with blood.KZIxw1D
ULFANWas that from a demon? No – Shadow Demons were monsters who couldn’t form a proper shape and unlike demonic beasts, it was impossible for them to bleed.Ef7iv
Vi0aZOf course, you could come across other demonic beasts and monsters from mythologies later down the line, but for some reason, I couldn’t erase that hint of uneasiness.kRJ
0CG1f“Wait.”axs3qp
DnjFirst off, I told them to stop their feet.75ZLZU
fFCbThe northerner at the lead stopped his feet and looked at me with a scrutinizing gaze. Similarly, I carefully observed them in deep thought.6RnxIsB
z5fllIndeed, there were symbols on their leather tunics and helmets representing their tribe, but we couldn’t be certain that those belonged to them. They could have massacred the actual Axehead Tribe and stolen their armors.UbDRX
oqK“What’s wrong, Sir Korin?”rUiH43u
W6v8VPI whispered back at the knight who asked that question.oWBB
UZJ“There are a lot of northern tribes following the enemy leader. There’s a chance they are one of them.”98YwZ
XBMb7CB“…!”vQQVJZ
Os2KAfter realizing what I was worried about, the knight carefully scrutinized the northerners just like me. However, seemingly unhappy from that gaze, the Axehead Tribe started to grumble among themselves.101A
ic5FpqI“Are you doubting us?” the leader of the group asked.A5Q7
osRTHP“We have to be careful of everything in times like this.”E2864L
bUNrLa“We are participating in the war because you asked for our cooperation! We risked our lives and fought on the walls!”iW9S
c2adX“Now now, let’s calm ourselves down and introduce ourselves just in case. I’m Korin Lork.”5uba
Oe5W“Korin Lork?”iKM
lhnQYxThe warrior in the lead titled his head.Rqb5J
zoPq9B“You know me, right?”no6iMQc
RFSKK“Hmm… So you’re the warrior chosen by Skjaldmaer Brunhild. You look like a young man though…”ikx
NGtTHolding onto his horned helmet, the man greeted with respect.tJtf
LT8e2N“Berik Jogerson.”CLPgE
P1v2IdpIt was a name I wasn’t familiar with, but I couldn’t reject them just because of that. After all, I couldn’t possibly remember the names of the 150,000 northern warriors on our side.P7PD
nYZJ2V“If I may ask, can you tell us how you got all that blood on your weapons and your armors?”jYpFT
Jyy“You mean this?”HAJeGk
11PlHe replied after casually brushing off the blood from his ax.npMa
S1a74“We were attacked by our kindred.”Hepies
MdUern“Your kindred?”ddDhi
1M70bm6“But they were those who sided with the enemy. We had no choice but to kill them.”cJmRy
7KO“You killed your kind, but you don’t seem very sad about it.”k4Q
RbFeAX“Huhahaha!”aHxm2B
oG4IpBerik let out a hearty laughter in response.d2B
TWQj“Unlike southerners, we lack everything in the north; whether it be food, water or women! It’s common for our tribes to point our axes at one another. Well, they died like warriors so I’m sure they’re headed to Valhalla.”Zgd3xHF
9aVh1nzThat made sense. Although we were grouping them as one by calling them the ‘Northern Kingdom’ and such, the northerners moved around in tribes. There was no concept of a ‘country’, and they only formed a group around the biggest tribe when something dire was happening to them.07Qr9TH
fyNYEven the Valkyries seemed to encourage fights between tribes for the purpose of raising esteemed warriors, and it was something difficult for me to understand as someone from modern Earth.WX6Q7
QMK“By the way, where were you guys going?”OYHkmp
FqFkLrxI threw in a trick question.3js
qHkDisw“We were following up the roots. Wasn’t our goal about finding the wells?”hETht
bjlukARIt seemed they knew that too. That was the objective we had previously mentioned to everyone in our army before we had to separate. We had told everyone to travel up the roots, find wells and destroy them if they came across the roots of the World Tree.g8qzNk4
jVGHZpJudging from how they knew that, were they really on our side? It was still hard to tell. Basically every soldier was aware of that objective, and even just one or two spies would have been enough for them to find out about it.miI
46r“Oi, first off, let go of your weapons.”7l7rCbE
EV3pCOOne of the knights who had similar concerns as me suddenly commanded the northerners to disarm themselves.okCp
V5bbNnP“What?”6Kh8r
aNDYAs if they heard something unimaginable, the Axehead Tribe began to tremble in fury. Paying little regard to that, the knight continued with a condescending gaze and a commanding tone.oX4Qi9v
d2gWNA“I told you to drop your weapons. Let go of your weapons, and then we will confirm your identities.”RwDsVp
iXvvw1“These bastards…”TCv3OJo
s9f“Weapons are like souls for warriors! How dare you tell us to let go of them!”QXIS6QS
AfBK4nyNaturally, the northerners weren’t going to let that slide.gyj1
6AfG“Wait. Calm dow—”x7r
0ejWEven the same meaning could be portrayed in very different sentences. Why was he saying it like that? Of course they’re gonna be mad!iTz
FsXZ“These damn barbarians. Just do what you’re told and stop talking back!”PSai
VAyI9c“What? This fucking southerner trash!”jzf
kS6Q– Clink!208US
lqcdxiThey immediately unsheathed their swords and axes.uXF
SNQAhh, it turned into a war of ego.rgLSIv
q6BBNThe northerners and southerners glared daggers at each other with swords and axes in their hands. Although we were on the same side right now, they had been confronting one another for a long time. It was hard for that long conflict and discord to go away after a short truce.KuPWIG
pzqlEC‘…We would beat them in a frontal fight but…’nmqs7
hixtCoThere were hundreds of enemies, but they were all simple warriors. On the other hand, there were thousands on our side with quite a few knights.oq912R
C6P5FDYIt would be a massacre if we did fight, but what if they were on our side all along? That would make us the most stupid people in the world, who killed allies just because of a heated debate.P7viAI
jhl9For now, I had to step in and calm them down. There was no way that northerners, who would rather die than bend down and swallow their ego, would back off so—32wOoC
FlDfcRt“Wait, calm down, southerners. I understand where you are coming from but there is no need for allies to shed blood.”W7Qwu
NVsiTV“Huh?”KXiP
Y0cWeFHe was swallowing his ego? A northerner? Really?wYA
ayoAWas he really taking a step back instead of chucking an ax at our faces?9nPFG
T6Hi“Let’s first calm down and get to know each other.”bNx2
smzDBSHe was… trying to talk it out!inLtsP
6fEBut there’s absolutely no way you guys are this civilized!W7ZsG
Q9TB6PIt’s impossible that you guys, following valkyries who try to cut off people’s heads from behind whenever they have a chance, could be this cultured!9tHEkZ
dJDqThis was strange.Hl77VFw
0DWhVery very strange.ndz
8OD6His attempt to talk this out amplified my suspicion even further than before.w6lQd3v
i1fEFuIf he was indeed hiding something… Was there a secret strategy that could immediately make them reveal themselves?YPVh
OkPzxThere was still a hint of uneasiness lingering inside me. Besides, this was a serious problem because I would have to doubt them every time I came across northerners.vcDI0W
y25Confronting every single group of northerners like this would eat up too much time.lUdJhV
9V7TUSkWas there a strategy… a quick and swift one that could magically tell apart allies and enemies…UQ5p
sgu5w“There is one.”8thhvYc
bFrn“Huh?”bZLu0n
aMGI“Sir Korin?”w6UX
21RmYR3“E, Eureka…”ODTOY
vvLyIf it was that strategy… in a world with its citizens aware of the existence of gods and divinity… there was a taboo that they definitely could not break!aWYc
FNM0zF3“Fuu… Are you still harboring doubts against us? How can we—”13TCHM
YNvy0w“…Say it.”FxUtsG
DAs“Huh? What did you say?”rUpXG6
6yOThe leader of the Axehead Tribe tilted his head as if he didn’t catch what I said. Walking closer, I urged them in a loud voice.tfbv4v8
XfE“‘Tates is a son of a bitch.’ Say it.”cwhGp
SSatwvCome on! There should be no problems unless you’re a communis… I mean, someone on our side!GlAo7Ef
0tVi[TL NOTE]0TG3t
FndA* Referring to an old meme in South Korea where they would tell people to say ‘Kim Jong-il is a son of a bitch’ to see if they are a spy from North Korea or not.TJbn
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