Eat The World Tree

Nausea rose in my mouth.

-Bang!

The occasional one-versus-many raid that happened in the dungeon.

Saku, wearing gauntlets, emitted pinkish magical power and struck the Maehwa tree vigorously.

-Whoosh!

One clash.

Fist met fist.

If it doesn’t connect, Saku lowers her center and leaps into the air, striking the side of his head with her leg, slowly like a hound driving a boar.

Swiftly circling around him, she continued to strike.

Above the night sky, a fox ascended along the path made by the cherry blossoms.

-Clap!

She spun and drove her heel into her opponent’s forearm. Maehwa countered it.

It was like a scene from a game. So beautiful, it’s mesmerizing.

“Keep at it.”

If the situation hadn’t been so dire, it would have been admirable.

-Ding.

The sound of a bell meant everyone present must tense up.

Because you never knew when it would disappear, or who would appear in front of you.

A mistake could mean immediate disqualification.

If declared unfit to fight, automatic disqualification followed.

My healing powers couldn’t shine in this place.

‘Still.’

While long periods of focus and strategy were necessary, it’s not yet time to disconnect the status window.

-Boom!

Maehwa countered Saku’s kick, and the rough sound of clashing forces sent Saku flying back a distance.

Taking advantage of the gap, Soo-yeon and Sansuyu intervened.

The sharp sound of their resonating magic swords was supported by Banya’s magic.

A flawless combination that could work against S-ranks.

Without dividing further, they trust in each other’s skills and synchronize perfectly.

Sansuyu also played her part well.

“Kh…”

Maehwa smiled amidst the accumulating fatigue.

I, too, entered the fray and swung my sword.

-Boom!

His eyes whirled bizarrely, then he grabbed my sword.

His face arrived right before my nose.

“When will you fight properly?”

Despite being somewhat sloppy, did he see through it in the chaos?

After all, there was less than 30 minutes left.

It was much more beneficial to drag out the time than to try beating the opponent.

“Well…”

“…Then.”

Maehwa’s fist aimed for my solar plexus.

“I’ll make you fight properly.”

I dropped the sword and clenched my fist, maintaining the stance.

I blocked the punch with my elbow. The pain was numbing.

Maehwa snatched the sword back.

It turned to liquid and returned to my grasp, reforming into a sword shape.

-Bang!

Soo-yeon and Sansuyu pushed back against Maehwa’s rushing attack, and he turned to attack me again.

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I wrapped my whole body with bright blue magical power as I dodged the attack.

I landed a punch on his jaw.

-Crack!

“Kh.”

Despite being hit, his body didn’t falter. His eyes were fierce.

‘This guy… is he a pervert?’

I figured it out after a few exchanges.

He had been enhancing his body just enough to barely handle the fight.

Though I hadn’t seen such a fight-loving freak before, his sincerity was rather startling.

-More?

His eyes seemed to say that.

-Ding.

The speed increased again.

The weight behind the punch and the body’s signal to leave the spot.

I dodged and counterattacked without any gap to retaliate.

A close-combat situation where a momentary decision could create a big variable.

-Smirk.

A smile formed on his face.

‘Let’s see you dodge this.“’

His thoughts were clear in his eyes.

Ding. Ding.

The speed doubled for a moment. I must adapt to the new pace.

A rift formed in space, and Maehwa’s figure vanished.

White magical energies burst out from his body like blossoming flowers.

I chased after the remnants of those flowers.

-Boom!

Maehwa appears in the air, swinging his fist.

-Boom!

The speed was too fast to see. Cherry blossoms fluttered before my eyes.

I couldn’t keep up.

But my body’s senses, sharpened in battle, could detect even the slightest flow of magic, and I lowered my sword to block his attack with one arm.

The world slowed down like slow motion.

I somehow blocked his ferocious strike.

Maehwa and I distanced ourselves.

-Thud.

Maehwa’s eyes narrowed menacingly.

“What the…”

He glared at me with twinkling eyes.

His eyes briefly scanned to the side where Soo-yeon was.

“I came to see that woman, but there was more.”

What?

“What are you talking about?”

He didn’t answer my question.

With that, Maehwa received another attack from Saku. He recovered his mental energy, having distanced himself sufficiently.

Was it just my imagination that Maehwa’s eyes lingered stickily on me?

-Throb.

My arm throbbed with pain, the impacted area turning bright red.

Despite all the magical enhancement to my body, if it was this strong, he was indeed formidable.

-Thud!

A distant sound.

Maehwa’s movements drew nearer.

Dodging and blocking relentless attacks, the sound of the bell signaled the closing distance.

‘Hold on.’

I felt a chill at the back of my head.

‘Is this guy targeting only me?’

His gaze fixed on me. Sad premonitions were seldom wrong.

I cross my arms and pull up my power again. After resting for a few hours, I used the slightly replenished power to heal my arm.

The speed was abnormal.

He seemed intent on scouring whatever he could from me.

One foot forward, I extended a fist clad in a black glove.

A man approached, scattering pristine white flowers into the sky.

“Ssshh.”

Inhaling the night air, I elevated my black magic power. Wrapping the power around his arms, he assumed a stance. With flowers accompanying him, he threw a punch.

-Boom!

A circular current emanated from my arm, blocking the attack. He stepped back on the gravel path.

I flexed my wrist and cracked my neck.

-Crack.

A weary wrist creaked, and with a slight soreness, my hand tingled as if going numb.

I stretched out my fingers one by one.

There seemed to have been excessive force in my strike, painfully aware of the difference in strength.

The man, still emitting petals, offered another punch toward me.

‘…This guy isn’t normal.’

His eyes were certainly sharp.

It’s nearly impossible to discern his true skill hidden beneath three layers: the status window, Black Path, and magic power.

Perhaps…

It’s his reaction speed or the completeness of his martial skills. He probably judged it based on his own standards.

Champi, who I encountered before, was similar.

Notable figures each had such stubbornness. Anyone I pinpointed as strong turned out to be just that.

After exchanging a few blows, I realized this guy was different.

He was worth fighting.

…It’s surprising how such predictions were seldom wrong.

And I didn’t dislike such fights either.

Looking around, the majority of cameras were filming us.

Using my normal strength here would be like advertising to Flower that I had gotten this strong.

‘It must be somewhat known already.’

No helping it.

As Cheondo said, I had already become too strong to simply extend my renown slowly.

Was that arrogant?

If I were wrong, then Maehwa wouldn’t be charging at me like this right now.

‘Forget it, Master… Ah, screw it.’

I shook Cheondo’s words from my mind.

As I regained my posture, the slowed world accelerated again.

The opponent, filled with arrogance and pride in his skills.

That bitter look in his eyes clearly intended to scrape me clean.

People who enjoyed fighting, the emotions in their eyes were usually complex.

The pleasure felt upon winning. The deep, tingling sense of achievement in proving one’s growth.

Those who were driven by such desires rarely entertained the thought of losing.

Those who had never lost a duel as a National Tree felt it even more so.

【 Connection with the World Tree will be temporarily suspended. 】

…Of course.

My stubbornness was no less.

When the thought to break Maehwa’s arrogant expression crossed my mind, I had already disconnected the status window.

Having become somewhat well-known. The realization that Flower and the Association were watching me.

What was happening now was just another rumor spreading. This time, however, I’d push the opponent thoroughly yet imperceptibly.

An intangible power never seen on screen.

-Boom!

I grasped Maehwa’s fiercely colliding fist.

“…Interesting.”

He remarked.

-Ding.

As the bell rang, large plum blossoms soared around us.

A movement previously shown by Saku. He circled around me, seeking an opening.

I tracked his movement softly with my eyes.

A team that joined late tried to stop him, but it was insufficient.

That speed was initially hard for even me to follow.

“Si-eon, are you okay?”

“Huh? Yeah, yeah.”

Responding to Sansuyu, I stepped forward.

A way to suppress this swift speed.

The best strategy I could think of right now.

“…!”

“…”

Each conversation carried on the wind, and rugged feedback exchanges in dealing with Maehwa.

I didn’t really hear it well. I wasn’t focused on listening.

I took another step forward.

-Squish.

Ripples spread from my toe.

A colorless magic filled the entire lake, gradually dominating this space.

One of the powers I could barely learn when I was a blank slate due to lack of strength.

Invisible.

-Crack!

Suddenly, Maehwa’s body dropped from the air.

-Crash!

Petals fell like rain.

White plum blossom stars rained down, decorating the lakeshore and the gravel. The entire nearby space distorted in an instant, like the illusion of space folding as when Maehwa moved.

-Crack, thud, bang!

I moved my foot as if crushing a cockroach. The more I did, the more Maehwa’s body settled to the ground.

“Uh…”

“What?”

The women around were clueless about what’s happening.

They couldn’t catch on.

But Maehwa is glaring at me with twinkling eyes.

“…Haha.”

He laughed.

I exerted force on my foot, and his head slammed into the ground.

-Bang!

Given that the opponent was Maehwa, the magic appeared momentarily on the ground. Without using Black Path, it seemed it couldn’t be manipulated like water.

My technique varied too greatly.

I looked around once more, appreciating the beautiful spectacle.

The plum blossoms spread on the ground. Gravel and petals half-covered this land.

Each petal was flattened, trembling as if it could turn to dust at any moment.

It was about time they wilted after blooming for a week.

Feeling the magic drain from my body, I lifted my foot.

-Ding.

A mechanical sound echoed in the sky.

It was the signal marking the end of the first trial.