#218
Lycanthrope (3)
“Uh, yeah. If you’re busy, you don’t have to come. Then I’ll see you next time. Take care.”
The call from his friend, who had been checking in on him, ended with a brief farewell.
Soon after lowering his smartphone, he turned his head slightly and looked at the bed placed to one side of the room.
“Haa.”
Then, after looking this way and that at the man sleeping on it like the dead—a man who looked exactly like him—he let out what must have been the umpteenth deep sigh.
‘Looks like he’s still got a long way to go before he wakes up. Well, it hasn’t even been a full day yet, so I suppose that’s only natural.’
It was something he already knew, but with so many things happening one after another, it seemed he had grown anxious without realizing it.
Hugo plopped down on the edge of the bed where Han Seonghyeon’s main body lay asleep and rubbed the space between his brows with one hand.
‘As if things weren’t hectic enough already, after Hans, now Harley too…’
Fortunately, Harley had only become a little more willful; it was not as serious a situation as Hans, who would massacre without blood or tears for the sake of his goal.
Even so, with the help of the skill “Tyrant of Madness,” he was controlling the madness itself quite smoothly.
‘But the problem is that he can’t completely escape its influence!’
That was something unavoidable, since he had overcome a wall by turning madness itself to his own advantage.
And that small influence that had begun in such a way…
Had combined with Harley’s savagely primal wildness, his simplicity that hated thinking too deeply, and his violent tendency to solve everything with strength, creating an absolutely maddening synergy.
‘For now, I’ve redirected his attention by satisfying his desires with gourmet food.’
But that method would not last long either.
He needed to hurry and come up with another plan.
‘Since ancient times, the easiest way to deal with a bomb is to just set it off. Somewhere the damage won’t reach you.’
And the place where that bomb was scheduled to explode had already been prepared.
The preparations were already more or less complete, too.
‘The place that concerns me most right now is…’
Heinz II was in contact with the Republic’s Vice President, Kayla McClare, and was smoothly proceeding with the plan to strike Obaifo. Nothing special was happening with the other avatars, so there was only one place that needed his immediate attention.
‘…The Enamel Continent, the Elven Kingdom.’
***
[A giant has appeared in the southern Altalica Forest. They say the Altalica Forest Keeper is leading the Watchers in battle against it. Support has set out from nearby areas, but they are proceeding cautiously in order to minimize damage, so it does not seem it will end quickly.]
[So this makes the third giant, following Bella Canyon and Sorata Swamp? For things to erupt all at once like this right after the lycanthropes pulled their tricks… It’s now certain that they are connected to the Abyss… and to the Immortal King.]
[Tch. They were pitiful creatures, so even when we saw them wandering nearby, we didn’t go out of our way to touch them. To think they were the Immortal King’s minions. I knew we shouldn’t have trusted those bastards!]
‘No, we’re just as flustered on this side too, you know…’
Immediately after dealing with the general-class lycanthrope in the north.
Harris, who had gone clockwise and fought four more battles afterward, swallowed an answer no one would hear.
Perhaps his first encounter with a general-class had been a special case, because the groups he met in succession were led by, at best, knight-class enemies.
Thanks to that, he still had leeway and could keep his network connection open, listening to the situation in real time…
‘Just how many did they mobilize for this? More than anything, it’s even more surprising that such a large number had been hiding right up until the moment they started causing trouble.’
Reports of battles were coming in from every direction.
Collisions not only with giants, but also with numerous lycanthropes.
Because of that, the Elven Kingdom had long since entered an unprecedented state of emergency.
-Harris: So what exactly is that emblem on their chests…? I think this might be the reason they’ve been able to blind the World Tree all this time, and why elves, including me, couldn’t perceive them.
-Hannibal Strauss: Hmm, it feels similar to the prohibition engraved on the members of the Heaven-Defying Oath. Though rather than a prohibition, this seems closer to proof of a contract made with some higher being. Of course, it doesn’t seem like a normal contract, so the price must be anything but light.
-Heinz II: Those bastards have their hands in everything. And it’s already been confirmed that Obaifo itself was their eastern branch.
‘You’re telling me hundreds of them, at least, are all contractors? What is he, some kind of Demon King?’
Faced with the complicated situation, Harris let out a deep sigh and let his shoulders droop.
One thing had become certain: they had not prepared this attack over any short period of time.
When he had brought the succubus Siana under his command, he had at least heard roughly which officers remained in which regions.
‘Known as the Clown. Active in the Heaven-Defying Oath for over twenty years. His main areas of activity were the eastern empire, the entire republic… and the Enamel Continent.’
The thought of what kinds of tricks that bastard might have busily laid during those more than twenty years made his vision go dark.
‘Ah, I hate this. I really do. I’d rather not have things become even more of a mess here. The rewards are blander than I expected too.’
Whether it had been a special service because it was the first time, or whether there had been a premium attached for defeating a general-class enemy, the rewards from the World Tree he received after destroying altars afterward did not match the first one.
Even that was better than nothing, but he couldn’t help feeling unsatisfied.
‘On top of that, I didn’t even get a reward for the last altar I destroyed. …Well, since the ritual had already ended and I couldn’t completely eliminate the rift, I suppose it can’t be helped. Don’t tell me all the rituals are already over?’
As he was lamenting to himself like that.
‘…We’ve run into each other again. But it looks like that side has discovered me too. Is it a general-class this time?’
He sensed a ferocious presence rushing precisely in his direction.
It was unlikely that, from such a distance, it had sensed Harris while he was assimilated with nature. Apparently, it had caught the scent of the summoned spirit.
‘Thanks to Harley, I was able to learn more about their characteristics.’
The one he first encountered had only been a bit slow to notice him because it had been in the middle of conducting the ritual.
A general-class lycanthrope’s senses could detect not only physical phenomena but even the remnants of mana, so it was not easy to conceal one’s tracks through the use of spirits.
Unless, as when he had fought that one before, he openly disturbed its senses and confused it for a moment.
‘It does seem stronger than that guy back then…’
But Harris himself had become far stronger than he had been then as well.
This time, he had not one but two highest-grade spirits, Watt and Pascal!
‘First strike wins!’
Harris took out his bow, Themis, and immediately concentrated his energy into a single point.
Only a few seconds remained until the enemy arrived.
But that amount of time…
Was enough to start by feeding it one sure-kill technique.
***
Not all of the giants that appeared on the Enamel Continent clashed only with the elves.
Before they set the plan fully in motion, security was the top priority, so at first they had no choice but to open rifts step by step, starting from regions far from the World Tree.
No matter how much the lycanthropes could block the World Tree’s influence through their contract made via the Revolutionary, it was not one hundred percent perfect, so they had needed to be as cautious as possible.
[———!]
Kwaaang—!
“Into hunting formation! Don’t overdo it! Just stall for time until support arrives!”
In the northwestern part of the Enamel Continent, an outer hunting unit made up of all kinds of ferocious beastmen from the Wild Land clashed with a white giant.
“Kahaha! This is the first time I’ve seen prey this big! Gives me the chills!”
“So those guys on the Ion Continent were hogging all the fun with things like this?”
“If you’re going to bluff, straighten out that tucked tail of yours first! Focus! Dozens have already died to this thing!”
“…Tch!”
There were also cases where, even if they did not face them head-on like that, those nearby came to support the battle between elves and giants that had broken out at the boundary.
Like in Sorata Swamp, the eastern border with the lizardman community known as the Central Wetlands.
“Tsssss— We shall join you. Forest Keeper.”
“…I will gratefully accept your help, Kerich. I was just thinking that I might truly die at this rate.”
“Chiiit—? For a Forest Keeper to say such a thing. First, I should pull back the lesser ones and request additional support. Siiit— The swamps are connected, so it will not take long.”
In the first place, the relations between the different races were not that bad, and on top of that, the danger of the giants had been spread at the continental summit held not long ago, so it was not strange.
It would be unfortunate for the one who had caused all this, but because they had responded swiftly from the beginning, the incident was entering a phase of calm faster than expected.
However.
“Oh! This is better than I thought, isn’t it? I never imagined we’d be able to summon those giants I’d only heard about exactly as we wanted! That Revolutionary fellow deserves a second look, doesn’t he?”
The Lycanthrope King, Baukalakas, who did not care about such things in the slightest, counted the subordinates connected to him and chuckled lowly.
Even after the Revolutionary had disappeared, they had opened the rifts according to prior agreement not because he trusted him in particular.
It was merely because it would have been a shame to abandon the plan they had prepared for such a long time: to reduce the World Tree’s influence while supplying madness to strengthen their fighting power…
‘Was that fellow watching us from the beginning? Well, I’ll gladly accept the gift! Thanks to it, the losses we took getting here were smaller than expected.’
Although two of his generals had died in the process and one seemed likely to die soon as well, even that was not particularly great damage compared to what he had expected.
The fact that the master-class elves protecting each region, the Forest Keepers, had their attention stolen by the giants must have played a large role.
“Kikikik! Well, with those infamous giants swarming in from all directions, what can they possibly do?”
But no matter how well things were going, there was nothing good about dragging things out any longer here.
If the elves were not fools, then not only would they have already noticed something was wrong and begun preparing, they would also have requested support from neighboring nations in case of an emergency.
In order to protect Drasha, where the World Tree stood at the center of the Enamel Continent.
Yes, the very place visible before his eyes right now.
“Kihihihit!”
Pashk—
Fssss—
From the bushes around him, as he burst into laughter he could no longer suppress, beasts standing on two legs began to rise one by one.
At the same time, mad blood-red light began to burn at the center of their yellow eyes.
Crack!
Crrrunch—
Their bodies swelled to their limits, and the madness mixed with the dark mana flowing within them burned their life force, granting them tremendous power.
There were not even half as many here as there had been at the beginning, but with this, their combat power itself had, on the contrary, risen above what it had been at first.
‘It won’t last forever, but it doesn’t matter. Everything will be over before then anyway!’
His eyes burning red like those of his subordinates, the werewolf king Baukalakas slowly increased his speed toward the target before him.
Grrrr—
Gwoooak! Bark—!
Thus, one king who had reached transcendence, five generals who had surpassed the ultimate realm,
And hundreds of knight- and warrior-class lycanthropes supporting them
At last invaded Drasha, the capital of the Elven Kingdom.
***
The lycanthropes had spent a truly long time making many preparations for this infiltration.
The ritual to open the rifts of the Abyss and the contractual emblems engraved on their chests were only a part of it.
The king, with the help of the Revolutionary, had personally shaken the World Tree’s causality over a long period of time, and in the process, they had also hidden themselves and mapped out routes into the interior of the Elven Kingdom.
On top of that, they prepared additional measures to avoid the surveillance network of the spirits, and even trained to detect the lingering traces of spirits first and take detours.
It was truly a plan into which they had ground time, capital, effort… and even numerous lives wholesale.
“Move quickly, quickly! Inside!”
“Bring out every arrow from the storage!”
“All those who can fight, to your positions!”
However, no matter how thorough one might be, there were limits to preparation.
If their numbers had been few, it might have been different, but there was no way hundreds of invaders could approach the capital without being noticed.
The elves of Drasha had already been busily preparing for war before the lycanthropes arrived.
[How are the preparations?]
[For now, all defensive preparations are complete. The commander of the Watchers and the Head Gardener have already finished their preparations, and the Forest Keepers in the vicinity who have leeway are heading here as quickly as possible.]
[Haa… This is a mistake. The best option would have been to intercept them before they reached Drasha. We realized too late that the number of approaching enemies exceeded our estimates.]
They had been discovered along the way, but that did not mean the invaders’ efforts had been completely wasted.
From the beginning, this was exactly the level of result they had wanted.
Because their goal was to limit the battlefield to the capital, where the World Tree that the elves had to protect was located.
And so, after time passed amid tension.
As the lycanthropes gathered nearby began their advance toward Drasha, full-scale war finally began.
And at that moment.
“……!”
Harris, who had just defeated one general-class enemy at a considerable distance away and was catching his breath, suddenly lifted his head and blinked at a strange sensation he felt.
“…What is this?”
It was intuition.
An intense premonition transmitted through his bond with the World Tree, which was exceptionally strong even compared to other high elves.
‘…Double? No, triple?’
For some reason, no direct will was conveyed to him even now, but he understood the meaning well enough.
His gaze slowly turned in one direction.
The place where Drasha, the capital, lay.
Gulp—
A place that was clearly in crisis, yet for some reason carried the scent of a jackpot.