Chapter 99

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"You crazy sonuvab*tch!"

The one wearing the wizard's robe seemed furious at the fact that he was the first to be targeted.

And the one with the sword chuckled mockingly at him as he fixed the sword imbued with sword aura in his hand.

“Don’t you know that it's a rule to break the head of the spellcaster first in a battle like this?!”

The sword swirling with the sword aura looked threatening even from a distance.

The wizard, who looked urgent, waved his hand, and suddenly the blade of the sword began to bend in an oval shape.

Realizing that space itself was being crushed, the swordsman quickly backed away, and I tried to move Henir's shadow aiming after him.

However, I couldn't do it as I wanted to because I had to block the arrow that was fired at my heart. 

The person who fired the arrow looked at me, tilted his head, and then laughed.

“Isn’t it shameless to attack at the back?”

“Sh*t.”

I materialized Henir's shadow as a clone and ran as if crossing with him.

Holding his bow, he quickly pulled the string and fired an arrow at the clone, and stretched out his hand toward me.

Immediately, the branches of the World Tree stretched out through his arm.

And as if they wouldn't lose against them, the branches of the World Tree stretched out from me as well.

And as soon as his and my branches of the World Tree were entangled in a mess, I could feel my mana being sucked into him.

It meant that his World Tree was stronger than mine.

I quickly swung the Yado's dagger and cut off the branches of the World Tree.

“Oh, you're a World Tree too?”

The archer grinned and said to me.

“But because you choose both half-heartedly, yours growth is slow. It's better to put everything into one, like me…”

While he was talking, he was hit by something and thrown away.

Where he had been, a spearman with a trident and electric shocks all over the body, the only woman here, stood.

"Oh sorry. You were so defenseless that I kicked you without knowing it?”

She tapped and hit the floor with her toes, and soon swung the trident in the air.

Then the blue lightning cracked and took the form of what looked like wild dogs.

The total is eight.

They split into four and rushed toward the remaining people.

“Kkeuaaaak!”

“Geueuk… !”

The archer pulled out the branches of the World Tree and the swordsman swung his sword to try to prevent it, but it was a completely futile resistance.

The wizard only succeeded in blocking the wild dog's lightning by creating an invisible wall.

Henir's shadow came out as a clone and took both of them for me, but it seemed to be a more powerful art than I thought as he received quite a bit of shock.

“Whether it’s this one or that b*tch, all of them look down on people… !”

The wizard quickly muttered and started to chant a spell, but the spearman who saw it immediately rushed at him.

Because there was nothing more stupid to leave a wizard who is chanting a spell alone.

But he laughed at her who was in midair, as if he had already prepared for it.

“Stupid, if I hadn't expected that much…… Kkeuaak!”

The branch of the World Tree that had stretched out through Henir's shadow pierced his arm.

It was because I had lost more mana than I thought earlier, so I had to recover from my power first rather than let him get killed.

The branch of the World Tree began to devour his mana, who had a vast amount of mana than anyone I had ever met.

“What the hell did you pick up and eat…?”

“Heuaaap!!!”

In the midst of all this, the swordsman, who had shaken off the shock of the lightning, let out his breath and rushed into the middle.

“Aeuk!”

“Kok!”

With a wide swing of his sword, he blew the spearman away with just simple arm strength.

As soon as she flew away with a whoosh, the wizard also flew away with his invisible wall.

He then turned his gaze to me and immediately rushed in.

“The roguelike spellcaster is out first!”

The first thought that came to my mind as I watched him shouting and giggling like a madman was, what the hell kind of life did this guy have to make him like this? 

I knew that he had an overwhelming lead in physical ability and swordsmanship, and that a half-hearted counterattack would not work.

But I didn't need to fight.

I immediately hid in Henir's Shadow.

“Hey, you cowardly b*stard! Get out of there, hey!”

He was a step behind and hit where I was, then yelled as if it was unfair and immediately flew away.

Immediately afterward, I could see with insight that something digging into the place where he was, and also something growing like an explosion in an instant.

Familiar mana.

It was the branch of the World Tree.

Don't tell me he shoots the branch of the World Tree like an arrow and let it grow where it hits?

As I hid in the shadows and let the sound flow, I felt the archer click his tongue as if it were a waste. 

“Oh, you're dodging that.”

“You bow b*stard!”

As soon as I saw them getting tangled in a fight, I sneaked out of the shadows from afar.

They were all so unique and threatening in their abilities that they didn't match well with me, who was at a disadvantage in large-scale battles.

On top of that, the moment I use Nidhogg's fang, I would be their top priority in an instant, so I couldn't use it thoughtlessly.

First, I'll have to gnaw at their power little by little like this, and then at once...… .

Beep.

While I was thinking like that, a text message arrived on my cell phone.

When I quickly checked, I could confirm that it was from Lydia.

[Close your eyes immediately.]

I immediately closed my eyes.

And after a while, I could feel someone touching my body.

When I opened my eyes, Lydia was looking at me with a look that seemed to say, what the hell is this mess?

“… I definitely had one, but why do you have four?"

“I’m sorry, but I've already killed one. And I was one at first."

She had no wounds on her body, but she had a gun in her hand that she had unexpectedly picked up.

So, she shot her dead with that.

“But how are you fine? Honestly, I was a little worried.”

“Because both of us had little combat ability. And our abilities don't work on each other, so I was able to win by just shooting a few times. By the way…… .”

She looked at the other side, still with a complicated expression.

There were my other selves, the four of them were fighting fiercely with each other as if they had forgotten my existence.

Lydia.

Her ability was nothing other than Suggestion.

If one was aware of her abilities in advance, Suggestion wouldn't work, but if one wasn't aware, her abilities belonged to a fairly strong axis, so much so that it could even make a person instantly forget who they had been fighting with earlier like that.

Of course, it was only a Suggestion, so it was not omnipotent.

She and I quietly hid ourselves and I explained the situation to her.

“So, you've met Margo, the boss of the Red Case?”

Lydia nodded with a hardened face.

“When I met him, he made a fuss and ran away. That reminds me, you came here after defeating …… the other one, didn't you?"

“Yeah, that's why the road opened up."

“Then I need to kill those four quickly…… .”

I muttered in a small voice.

It was a thought I hadn't been able to get out of my head since earlier.

“… My friends are here too. I have to go help them as soon as possible."

"What?"

"I don't know how the hell they got here, so don't ask me why."

Saying that, I took out the pistol that I kept in my pocket and handed it to her.

It was something she needed more than me.

“The pretty wizard girl with red hair and black eyes is Han Soo-young, the swordsman boy with blue hair and gray eyes is Choi Hyun-Woo, and the long black hair and the slightly purple eyes is…… Jin Ye-Seul, she is a somewhat scary girl. Have you memorized them?”

She nodded.

“… If you go and say my name, they won't attack you blindly. I can't get out of here because I can't move to another place unless I defeat my other selves."

"Does that mean you're going to stay?"

"Yes. And you go and help my friends even if it's just a little. … Please I ask you of that.”

If it was her ability, it would definitely be of great help.

Lydia looked at me for a moment and then she nodded as if she understood.

“… I'll use Suggestion on them again. It'll be hard for them to notice you unless you get close and show yourself or attack them. Of course, it's only temporary, so the Suggestion won't last long. Keep that in mind."

She muttered quietly.

I don't know how the hell you were aware of my ability and this place, but it doesn't matter now.

For now, we're colleagues with the same goal of killing Margo, so it's fine.

“Because it would be better to have as much strength as possible. And if the main body falls...... the other side may interfere with us.”

With those words, Lydia immediately disappeared somewhere, and when I put my hand around the place where she disappeared, I felt nothing.

‘Well then…… .'

What should I do now?

I glanced over and saw that the situation had tilted the balance quite a bit.

The swordman and the spearman were working tenaciously to take out the wizard and the archer first, one by one, as if an unspoken agreement had been made to take them out first.

At that, the archer was using the branches of the World Tree appropriately and escaping as if he was performing a strange trick, but the wizard quickly gave up his escape and was fighting with the swordsman.

In the midst of this, a bolt of lightning passed through one of the archer's arms.

Likewise, the arrow he fired exploded on its way, inflicted small scratches on the spearman's body.

If there was a difference, it was that the archer could continue to heal.

Perhaps that's why, unlike the swordsman, the spearman didn't seem to actively rush in.

“…… .”

When I saw him, something immediately flashed through my mind.

I silently hid into the shadows and pulled out Nidhogg's fang in one hand.

With the insight turned on, I run through the shadows as it is.

There was a vast amount of similar mana scattered here and there, but there was only one mana that I could clearly see.

It was the mana of an archer who had the same branch of the World Tree as me in his body.

He hadn't noticed me because of the Suggestion, so now was my only chance.

I immediately grabbed his body from behind like a snake coiling around him and shoved the Nidhogg's fang right into the middle of his back.

“Aak!”

He immediately struggled violently.

However, he could not shake me off because my strength was temporarily strengthened by the Orc Chieftain's bracelet and I was holding him tightly with Henir's shadow.

“Ko, hoeuk… !”

“Shhh…… .”

I covered his mouth with my hand, but he bit down on it and blood spurted out.

However, I didn't stop him because it was an intentional act.

“Aa, keugeu…… .”

“As expected, the effect is amazing. How are you feeling?"

I whispered in his ear, who was instantly dyed black up to the back of his neck.

And the spearman, surprised by the sudden situation, stopped dead in her tracks.

Was she surprised by my sudden appearance, or was it because the archer's whole body immediately turned black and dry?

I don't know which one it is, but it was a good flow for me anyway.

“The problem with the World Tree is that it has two big weaknesses…… Have you ever thought about that?"

“No, wayy… !”

“Looking at the situation, it seems you were late, weren't you? But I wasn't.”

Nidhogg was an event monster that grew stronger as time passed.

I didn't know whether he yielded to Lee Ye-Eun, or he could not afford it because the timing was wrong.

What I did know was that the difference now determined whether he lived or died.

“Come on, keep drinking. You can't die now.”

Nidhogg's poison is as extreme as a counter for the World Tree.

Normally, the fang piercing right next to his heart would have instantly spread the poison throughout his body, and he would have died.

But I was forcing him to live by pouring my blood, the only antidote, into his mouth.

There was only one reason for that.

“Honestly, you're right.”

In my right arm, the branches of the World Tree were wriggling fiercely as if they could not hold on.

“I didn’t put everything into one thing, so my growth was a little late."

And immediately, the branches of the World Tree were lodged all over his body and began to suck his power without mercy.

The branches of the World Tree were filled with joy like never before as they fed on the energy of the other World Tree.

“Eu, aaaa… ! st, op! Stooop!”

“…… .”

At his pained scream, before I knew it, the wizard and the swordsman were also looking at us.

I alternately looked at the three people looking at us with an indescribable expression and checked the notification window in front of me.

[The branch of the World Tree absorbs a tremendous amount of energy!]

[Another energy of the World Tree begins to take root in your body!]

[The branch of the World Tree commits the mortal sin of predation of its own kind…… A certain being will never tolerate this cruel and horrific act.]

[Karma value has increased by 5.]

[The branch of the World Tree begins to grow. A new seed begins to sprout.]

[As the branch of the World Tree grows, all stats have increased by one level!]

Name: Yoo Ji-Hyuk

Gender: M

///

Stamina: C (+)

Strength: B

Agility: B (++)

Mana: D (++)

Arts: C (++)

Luck: C (-)

Karma: 15

“Whoo…… .”

Before I knew it, all of his power had been taken away, and I threw his corpse away, which had dried up like a mummy.

And as soon as it was thrown on the ground, it turned into sand and started to scatter in the wind.

I felt like I knew what it meant to have the whole body overflowing with power.

I muttered, looking at the three who were looking at me warily.

“I've got more pressing things to do than you, so I can't afford to be reserved.”

Even at this time, the situation of the three may be worsening.

Especially Han Soo-young, she may have already...… .

“So let’s finish it quickly. Haven't you become sick of seeing each other's faces?"

“…… .”

“…… .”

“…… .”

At my words, the wizard silently raised his hand and began to cast a spell, the swordsman spat on his palm and fixed his sword, and the spearman glared at me with sharp eyes.

This time, I was the one to rush first.

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