#220
Lycanthrope (5)
How could one express this sensation?
It was simply boundlessly vast, endlessly remote.
The universe spread out like a grassland, stars flowing like a river.
From dizzyingly high places, they looked down upon the continent, quietly observing all that occurred on the ground.
And Harris, who was peeping at that scene, was like an absolute being looking down upon a miniature garden….
“Kuk!”
But the omnipotence lasted only a fleeting moment.
Ejected from that sensation in an instant, he clutched his pounding head, staggering before collapsing directly atop the World Tree’s branch.
Without even realizing it himself, at some point he had been gasping roughly for breath.
Swoosh—
A gentle breeze swept past as if to comfort him, drenched as he was in sweat.
His heart, which had been racing madly from a tidal wave of information surpassing the limits of his mind in an instant, gradually calmed, and only then could he fully assess the situation.
‘Wow, that surprised me.’
Harris took a deep breath and slowly looked around.
This was high upon a branch of the World Tree.
Below, the spectacle of Drasha in the midst of war was still unfolding.
‘…Right, I don’t have time for this.’
Harris grabbed his still-trembling legs and stood up.
The shock had been so great that even being in contact with the World Tree didn’t allow for quick recovery, but the current situation was far too dire for him to relax and complain about his physical condition.
His glimpse through the World Tree’s eyes had been extremely brief, and lacking the capacity to process it, only fragmented abstractions remained in his mind now.
However, the first portion he had seen, he could comprehend fairly well.
At least the area of Drasha where the World Tree stood.
‘Thanks to that, I think I roughly know what they want.’
A plan of such scale that a transcendent leader personally led all the elites of a race to invade.
It was to ensure the World Tree could no longer intervene in this Enamel Continent, and beyond that, in Auterika itself.
‘Though I still don’t know what they gain by going that far.’
The World Tree created a continent through its avatar and protected heteromorphic races including the elves, making excessive interventions on the surface and shouldering ever more restrictions.
The avatar body rooted here in Drasha was the proof of that authority, and simultaneously became its weakness.
‘I can’t let things go their way.’
The World Tree was the root and pillar of the Enamel Continent.
If things went as they intended, everything except the central region that had originally been an island would slowly crumble into the sea.
An entire continent that had existed for thousands of years would be utterly destroyed.
“Huu—.”
Harris took a deep breath and used [Observer of the Milky Way].
At the same time, as if analyzing satellite observation data, all information about the Drasha area flooded into his mind.
From the battle between the Lycanthrope King and the High Elves to the numerous skirmishes in the city, infiltrating units quietly approaching amid the chaos, and….
‘Shall I start with that place over there first?’
Screech—
Temis, the bow made from a branch of the World Tree, bent, and natural forces flooding in from all directions converged into a single arrow.
Perhaps due to the still-faintly-connected influence of the World Tree, spirits’ power began to dwell in the arrow with greater momentum than usual.
‘Come to think of it, I should probably give this skill a proper name by now.’
As that thought suddenly came to mind, suggestions like “Elemental Sniper” or “Divine Punishment of Silence” flooded the conference hall in his brain, but….
‘…Hmm, now that I think about it, that’s annoying. Let’s just conveniently call it Spirit Arrow (精靈矢).’
With so many things to worry about already, agonizing over a cool name would just waste energy for no reason, so he lightly ignored them.
And the moment such idle thoughts ended.
A silent arrow, buried beneath the World Tree’s overwhelming presence and noticed by none—
shot toward a single point like a ray of light.
***
“Kuhk.”
“Haa, haa… what the hell….”
Just five seconds.
That was how long it took for the spirits Syapiron, Timereu, and Kyuri had summoned to be torn to shreds and unsummoned, and for the resisting trio to be struck down one by one.
They were top students even at the academy, but mere intermediate spirits weren’t enough to offer meaningful resistance to a Lycanthrope General.
“Hmm, I was going to kill them at first… but wouldn’t fresh elf blood be better?”
That they were still alive despite the overwhelming gap in power was solely because their opponent was holding back, leisurely pondering what to do.
‘A way… I have to find a way…’
Was it because it was a life-or-death moment?
Syapiron’s thoughts began to flow faster than ever before.
But no matter how hard she racked her brain, no way out could be seen.
Her opponent was a master-class powerhouse.
The same level as a Forest Keeper revered in elven society.
There was simply no way mere students could face such an opponent!
‘…Aah! Why is such a big shot here!’
She was bursting with frustration at the absurd gap.
If she could have summoned at least an advanced spirit, she might have tried to escape somehow.
‘…Harris is already waiting up there! He said he’d get past it so confidently, and this is how it ends—with me lagging behind so far? This Syapiron Silvesti?’
She touched the ring on her left middle finger and bit her lip.
The ring made from a branch of the World Tree, bestowed upon Father Rapoli when he became a High Elf.
Thanks to this treasure that had aided her growth, she had quickly faced a wall, and lately had been making various efforts to surpass it….
It seemed there was no longer any time to choose only safe methods.
‘Even this probably won’t be enough.’
She calmed her internals, shaken by internal injuries, gathered natural forces as covertly as possible, and slowly pushed them into the ring to stimulate the energy within.
The infinitely stable energy began to stir gradually under her piercing assault like an awl, taking on an aggressive posture.
‘If I draw this into my body and detonate it all at once…’
Her parents would probably scold her terribly if they found out, and even with the best outcome, it was a dangerous method that would leave her internals so ruined she couldn’t move properly for a while.
But wasn’t that better than dying without doing anything?
“…Tch, useless. I should just enjoy the show and finish it quickly. If I really need fresh blood, I can use the gardeners’.”
But her covert rebellion was seen through by her opponent not long after she attempted it.
No matter how different the energy system, when the gap was this great, it was meaningless.
“Then farewell.”
With those words, suffocating killing intent erupted.
She approached right before Syapiron’s party and swung her right hand, filled with sharp momentum.
Behind her own back.
Kwaaaang—!
An intense explosion burst forth in an instant.
However, perhaps because the energy used in the attack was concentrated at a single point, the shockwave spreading in all directions wasn’t very large.
“Kugh! What the hell is this all of a sudden!”
She had reacted just barely—really just barely—before the attack arrived, and she looked down at the cross-section of her own body from her right hand to her right lung, grinding her teeth.
If her reaction had been even slightly slower, her head and heart would have disappeared entirely.
‘A long-range snipe with this much power from a distance where I can’t even feel any presence. A High Elf?’
The ones here were all being handled by the King, so it must be someone who was outside and has returned.
There was truly no time to delay now.
Crunch!
Her body, which had taken human form for covert action, was instantly covered in fur, and in the blink of an eye she became a giant wolfman reaching three meters.
Her right upper body was still hollow, but with her current regeneration, she should recover before long.
A slight imbalance in her posture was no great problem for her.
‘The attack came from the World Tree’s direction. Damn, that means sneaking in stealthily is out the window. Since it’s come to this, I’d better draw attention loudly so the others can approach smoothly.’
Complex thoughts flashed through her mind in an instant.
Truthfully, she had been assigned to this because she was less impulsive compared to the other generals, but covert action was a mission she was so unconfident in that even she had her doubts.
Naturally, a backup plan was already prepared, and if she thought calmly, it was a problem that could be handled.
‘But.’
As the energy mixed with dark magic and madness rampaged through her body to recover from the injury where half her upper body had been blown away.
Uncontainable rage began to boil up in her head.
‘…Yes, I should take care of those elf bitches who caused this situation before I go.’
She, who had been warily watching the direction the snipe came from, turned her gaze to the fleeing elves with a cruel smile on her lips.
They too were elites, so they had each considered countermeasures amid the crisis and moved to action the moment an opportunity arose.
Timereu, whose main field was ranger rather than spirit arts and thus had less internal injuries, quickly tucked the two women under his arms and ran, while Kyuri, trained in magic, supported him with auxiliary magic even while coughing up blood.
In the midst of this, Syapiron merely kept her eyes closed, doing something.
‘They can’t fire rapid consecutive shots at this level! I’ll crush those elf bitches first, then head for the World Tree!’
Moreover, if she dealt with those elves brutally, she might provoke the sniper.
If she could rattle the bastard’s emotions like that, it would help with the hunt.
Her legs swelled greatly as she finished her calculations quickly.
Kwaang—!
She instantly caught up to them from behind, though they had put considerable distance between them.
“Hegh! No, what did we do wrong for you to chase us like this!”
Timereu, running frantically, cried out in ashen terror, but the giant wolfman merely glowed with blood-red eyes and pounced fiercely.
“Kuahaha! Die, you worms!”
And then, it was at that moment that Syapiron’s eyes, which had been carried like luggage, snapped wide open.
Ignoring the blood gushing from her throat as she opened her mouth, she screamed as if possessed.
“Anemos!”
The name of the intermediate wind spirit contracted to her… which should have been unsummonable for a while due to the connection being shaken by the reverse summon.
But the World Tree’s ring shining on her left finger lightly ignored such trivial matters—
Hwiing—!
and summoned an advanced wind spirit shining like an emerald to that spot.
“Blow them away!”
Hwaak—!
And the fierce wind that arose at her will surged toward the wolfman who had stuck close behind them.
“Kuhah! Is that all?! Eot?!”
Not an attack, but purely a display of physical force to obstruct movement.
Even an advanced spirit was far from enough to deal meaningful damage to a general in a frontal confrontation.
The best it could do right now was shake her stance and lift her into the air briefly.
But in the current situation, that brief moment.
“Huh? W-wait! How is it this fast…!”
To her, floating awkwardly in a disordered state.
The beam of light that had started from the World Tree—that silent reaper—had more than enough time to arrive.
Pueeeong—!
This time, accurately enough to blow away her head and heart for certain.
***
“…What? Is she an idiot?”
Harris, who had been tracking the enemy in real time with [Observer of the Milky Way], lowered his bow with a displeased expression.
To think he would kill a general-class enemy with just two attacks.
Having received a snipe of this power, she should have done her utmost to conceal herself and perform evasive maneuvers; he hadn’t expected her to be distracted by something else in that situation.
‘…Well, she is a Lycanthrope.’
Their anger management disorder tendencies were famously well-known.
Even if she were dying, she probably couldn’t stand letting the prey before her eyes escape.
This time she really died because of it.
‘It would have been difficult to finish her off this easily without Syapiron’s help. To think she would summon an advanced spirit.’
If he hadn’t finished her off with this attack, his fleeing academy classmates over there would have been in considerable danger.
Fighting while protecting others at this distance was still difficult for him.
‘For now… that is.’
Feeling the World Tree’s grace burrowing into his body immediately after dispatching the enemy, he could instinctively tell.
That it was truly near now.
‘Let’s deal with the dangerous elements approaching stealthily first.’
Those sneaking in with something fatal to the World Tree merely by approaching it.
They were so thoroughly prepared that even he might not have noticed without his synchronization with the World Tree.
He could have informed the gardeners guarding this place and left it to them, but he couldn’t hand over a triple merit points event to others!
Harris felt the energy within his body recovering rapidly thanks to the World Tree’s influence, and fired Spirit Arrows in succession.
‘Ah, but I think I’m still slightly short.’
Firing arrows so enthusiastically, he had cleanly intercepted all the approaching foes, but it still seemed slightly insufficient to satisfy the merit needed to cross the wall.
‘Then I’ll steal… no, I should support the others and take care of the generals. The faster we deal with the strong ones, the more favorable the war situation becomes.’
Harris, having made up his mind, used [Observer of the Milky Way] once more to analyze the chaotic battlefield at a glance.
The four High Elves who were now being pushed back dangerously, the master-class powerhouses of both sides fighting evenly, and the continuing damage to the elves.
‘…I have to hurry before the High Elves completely collapse. Since they’re highly mobile, area attacks using spirits won’t be very effective, so sniping and taking them out one by one is surely the best—huh?’
At that moment, a sense of incongruity suddenly flashed through his mind.
Until now, he had considered himself a simple spirit archer, but didn’t he have a skill that would truly shine on a battlefield of this scale!
[Melody of Harmony], which he had consistently used for self-strengthening whenever he fired Spirit Arrows.
‘No, wait. Could this actually work? If I could amplify this just a bit more…’
In less than a second, having quickly analyzed the situation, his gaze slowly turned to the side.
Toward the giant amp… no, the World Tree that covered this entire battlefield, this entire Drasha.