I Got a Fake Job at the Academy
Chapter 461: Beast Under the Roots (2)

"Enemy attack! An enemy has appeared in the inner castle!"

"Those guarding nearby areas, move quickly! Lord Bereborn is fighting!"

The inner castle guard moved busily.

Well-trained as they were, they didn't panic at the news of an enemy attack and quickly went to provide support.

However, even these guards couldn't help but freeze in place when they saw the spirit beast shooting blue magic bullets in all directions.

"Wh-what is that?"

"A spirit beast? Why is a spirit beast suddenly in the inner castle?"

It was more than disconcerting that the intruder wasn't a moderate faction or neutral faction elf, but rather a massive white deer with golden antlers and not just any deer, but a spirit beast.

There are several spirit beasts that exist in the Forest of Life where the elves reside.

However, most of them tend to quietly maintain their own territories in areas away from the kingdom.

This situation itself far exceeded the elves' common sense.

"Don't panic, everyone! Don't forget what we must do!"

Nevertheless, they were well-trained warriors.

Even with a massive beast randomly firing seemingly endless magic in all directions, far from fleeing, they rather raised their fighting spirit.

'These guys.'

Hans inwardly gasped slightly at the sight.

While he was creating chaos by somehow thrashing around using what techniques he knew, he was starting to feel a sense of crisis.

The elves who were initially shocked were now quickly evading whenever he tried to fire magic bullets.

While his aim was terrible, conversely, the elves' responses were perfectly coordinated and they were gradually adapting.

For now, he could somehow hold out with his size advantage, but at this rate, he would end up being the one hunted instead.

'Winning a fight is impossible. I need to at least hold out, but even that won't last long.'

Hans aimed to collapse the terrain by sweeping the surrounding area with magic bullets rather than trying to take down opponents.

As the ceiling collapsed, falling debris blocked paths and restricted the elves' movements.

Hans took advantage of these gaps to charge with his antlers trying to ram the elves.

When the surprised elves scattered, Hans seized the opportunity to change direction and move to Sedina's side.

[Get on!]

"Se-senior?"

[Now's our chance!]

Sedina immediately grabbed Hans' fur, climbed up, and mounted his back.

The elves weren't going to quietly watch this scene.

"Don't let them escape!"

The elves realized what the spirit beast-transformed Hans's objective was.

The druids of the inner castle stepped forward and used their magic.

Tree roots moved from various places throughout the castle and grabbed Hans' body.

Tough vines wrapped around his legs, and thick roots blocked his body.

[This much!]

When he twisted his body with his massive spirit beast frame, the vines and roots were torn away with cracking sounds.

Sedina, who had mounted Hans's back, also helped diligently to remove the roots.

Sedina picked up several pieces of fallen root and scattered them in the air.

The roots floating in the air peeled like onion skin and turned into thin paper.

The paper folded several times in the air taking the form of sharp saw blades.

Though they were circular saw blades made of paper, being imbued with magic meant their power was extraordinary.

-Rip. Rip.

Each time the paper saw blades passed by, chunks of tree roots were cut away.

However, there were far more new roots appearing than ones being cut.

As the fight in the inner castle dragged on, reinforcements gradually increased, and they united in trying to stop Hans.

[Let's run for now!]

"What about Senior Alex!"

[Your rescue takes priority! Alex can take care of himself!]

As Hans said, Alex was engaged in fierce combat with Bereborn.

Every time their swords crossed, sword marks appeared in the surroundings as if struck by a cleaver.

Surprisingly, their fight maintained an even balance.

Hans was surprised that Alex, fully armed with artifacts, couldn't take down the opponent in one go.

Conversely, the elves were surprised that Bereborn was evenly matched against a mere human.

However, no one could intervene in their fight.

Their movements were so fast that only occasional blurry afterimages could be seen.

Even with elven eyes unable to distinguish them, if someone rashly shot an arrow trying to help, they might hit Bereborn instead.

Naturally, their fight remained theirs alone.

The elves ended up focusing only on the spirit beast-transformed Hans.

[Stick close to my body!]

Hans shouted this and released magic from his entire body.

The tree roots that were about to climb up his legs scattered into powder as he ended up using the full-body magic release that could only be used once here.

However, he judged there would be no chance if not now, and indeed that was correct.

'First to the hole we came through!'

Hans tried to escape through the hole leading underground, but the sharp elves had already blocked the hole with spirit magic.

"The beast keeps trying to escape! We just need to catch it!"

"Eventually reinforcements will keep coming as time passes! We just need to hold out!"

[Damn it.]

Hans looked around and then raised his head up.

If down wasn't possible, he could just head up.

Once he made the decision, he immediately put it into action.

His legs imbued with blue magic floated up.

"Stop it! The beast is trying to fly!"

The elves who couldn't have expected Hans would be able to fly were too late to respond.

‘Got it.’

Hans tried to break through the ceiling and escape outside the castle.

"My, that won't do."

Just then, someone's voice rang out right by his ear.

Though he looked around wondering who it was, the owner of the voice couldn't be seen.

"You won't be able to find me even if you look."

The voice was coming from all directions.

Sedina couldn't forget that voice.

"Ve-Ventmin Lifrey?"

"Seeing as you're trying to take that child away, you're definitely not an ordinary spirit beast. Whatever the case may be, you'll have to pay the price for trying to make my work troublesome."

The entire castle shook.

Hans felt a sense of crisis that if he didn't escape right now, it would become dangerous.

It was the survival instinct possessed by beasts ringing an alarm.

'Escape like this...!'

Hans tried to fly up breaking through the ceiling, but suddenly he had to swallow his breath at the massive pressure crushing his body.

Something huge that burst out breaking one wall had struck Hans' body like a tentacle.

Hans crashed to the floor, and Sedina was also thrown off rolling across the ground.

Sedina raised her head with difficulty.

"Wh-what...?"

What had broken through the wall and emerged was a massive tree trunk, with a size different from the magic used by other druids.

"Fascinating, isn't it?"

A voice came from right beside Sedina.

When she turned her head, a small tree root swayed left and right as if greeting her.

The voice was flowing from that root.

"This is the power of the World Tree. It's a unique authority that can only be used by nobles who can connect to the World Tree."

Moreover, the World Tree power that Ventmin was using now was just a portion of its surface, not even 1% of the total.

Yet with just that much, a single branch had subdued the spirit beast-transformed Hans in one go.

At that moment, a flash of light flew in and cut off the end of the branch.

Following that, Alex appeared sliding in and stood beside Sedina.

"Se-senior."

"How's Hans?"

"He's still okay for now, but the situation isn't good."

Alex clicked his tongue.

Initially appearing like an ambush and getting to the point of taking Sedina away had gone well.

They had actually almost succeeded but everything changed when Ventmin stepped in.

She hadn't even appeared in person, just used the World Tree's power from inside the cradle.

Yet even so, the spirit beast-transformed Hans was subdued and the situation turned for the worst.

"How rude of you, human."

New branches sprouted from the cut branch, complaining as if sulking.

Alex wasn't unaware that it was openly mocking their desperate situation.

Bereborn, who had chased after Alex, bowed his head toward the branch.

"Head of the Family. I apologize. I should have handled this at my level."

"It's fine. Who could have predicted they would suddenly burst out from underground? More importantly, this is strange."

Ventmin alternately examined Alex and Hans.

They're humans.

Moreover, until they revealed themselves, she hadn't even noticed their existence.

That's impossible.

How could she, who could detect even a single bug near the royal castle by connecting to the World Tree, miss them?

"Tell me. Which one of you—"

Ventmin's voice trying to speak through the branch crackled like it had noise interference.

Ventmin was startled.

She, who was using the World Tree's authority, was being interfered with by someone.

"Now's the time!"

Bellaruna, who had been watching for an opportunity from below, suddenly burst out.

Bellaruna, who momentarily connected to the World Tree and disrupted the control authority, opened a path blocked by massive roots and shouted to her companions.

"Everyone this way!"

The elves weren't ones to miss this, but Bellaruna craftily closed the opened roots again blocking their path.

Bereborn threw his sword toward the gap in the roots just before they closed.

The sword flying in a straight line was aimed at the back of Bellaruna who was leading Sedina away.

The sword throw was faster than the path being blocked.

However, that sword was blocked midway by Alex.

"A-Alex?"

Alex smiled beyond the gradually closing roots.

"I'll hold them off here so go ahead first. And who else would help that friend if left alone?"

Finally, the roots completely sealed off the passage.

Staying alone against those many troops was essentially suicide.

Sedina bit her lip at that sight.

What awakened her from her thoughts was Bellaruna's urgent grip pulling her hand.

"The jamming won't last long! We need to escape underground while we still can...!"

Having caught their breath for a moment, they needed to escape below the roots right away.

However, Bellaruna's plan was thwarted by flower buds that burst up through the floor.

Pink flower buds that had drilled up through the solid marble floor bloomed.

Through the gorgeously scattering flower petals, a smooth leg flew in and kicked Bellaruna's side.

Distracted by the scene before her eyes, Bellaruna couldn't avoid it in time.

"Kyaak!"

Bellaruna was helplessly thrown sideways.

However, she didn't take it meaninglessly.

In that brief moment, she had taken out a vial from her pouch and thrown it at her opponent.

The poison liquid contained in the broken vial poured over the attacker's head.

"My. Using such a harsh thing even in this situation?"

However, the opponent's voice was calm.

Bellaruna gasped for breath while staring at her opponent.

The enemy who had burst out from the flower buds was an elf who looked noble at a glance.

She casually wiped the poison liquid that had soaked her body with her finger and lightly licked it.

"But how unfortunate. All poisons made by extracting plant materials are meaningless against me who receives the World Tree's blessing."

Ventmin Lifrey, who should have been in the cradle, had directly come here in that brief moment.

"More than that, I'm surprised. To think there was an elf who could connect to the World Tree. And so skillfully as to deceive my eyes at that."

Ventmin's gaze examining Bellaruna was as chilly as fallen leaves on a moonlit night.

"So it was you. The one who encountered me through the dead World Tree roots in the human world. You survived the tracker I sent, yet don't know to value your life and dare come here?"

"H-how did you come here..."

"The World Tree's abilities aren't limited to simply being eyes that watch the surroundings. If it's a place the roots reach, quick movement is possible like this. Just like moments ago."

Complete immunity to poison.

Mobility allowing quick movement anywhere the roots reach.

Authority to see opponents from afar and give commands.

This much power from just scooping one cup of water from an endless lake.

This was the power of the World Tree.

"I thought about how to tear you to pieces when I saw you, but now that I see you like this, I hesitate because my heart is too soft. Still, I'll give you praise. For a mere wandering elf who isn't even of noble birth to connect so smoothly to the World Tree is an achievement no one else has accomplished."

Ventmin mocked Bellaruna and snapped her fingers.

The roots that Bellaruna had desperately blocked opened with a creak revealing the scene beyond.

"Se-senior."

There was the figure of Alex fallen and covered in wounds.

He was still breathing, but barely enough to feel he was just hanging on.

"An excellent knight and a spirit beast of unknown identity. Plus a wandering elf who can connect to the World Tree."

Ventmin shook her head looking at the inner castle guards who belatedly bowed to her.

"That John Doe fellow. He really did something interesting. To think he'd escalate things this far with so few people, though I should say I see him in a new light."

Ventmin tapped her lips with her finger, and suddenly as if having an interesting thought, wore a vicious smile.

"You're lucky. Originally I was going to kill you right away, but I've changed my mind."

The tree roots receiving Ventmin's orders picked up the fallen Alex, Hans, and Bellaruna.

"I'll personally invite you to the cradle. You can watch John Doe die there. It will be really fun."

The companions caught by the roots were all dragged to the cradle, a massive cavity covered in tree roots all around.

What could be seen in the center was a pond formed from collected World Tree sap.

Sedina trembled at that sight.

The central point for connecting to the World Tree and place for conducting ceremonies.

She had ultimately come to a place she should never have come to.

Ventmin roughly tossed aside the unconscious three and turned her head toward Sedina.

"Now shall we finish our business?"

Sedina stepped backwards, but there was no escape route in this dead end.

Even if she ran, she wouldn't be able to escape from Ventmin who wielded the World Tree's power.

"Now fear shows on your face."

Ventmin couldn't contain her joy at seeing through such inner thoughts of Sedina.

"Since it's come to this, I'll show you too. What John Doe is doing and where right now."

When Ventmin lightly gestured, the inside of the cradle filled with a soft light.

When exposed to the pale yellow light like fireflies, a completely different scene was reflected before Sedina's eyes.

It was elven soldiers who had begun a siege in front of the inner castle walls.

Sedina could spot Rudger's figure hidden among the crowd.

"He probably thought to draw attention by sending subordinates first, while trying to do something to me by infiltrating separately himself."

Ventmin couldn't hide her mockery watching such a figure of Rudger.

"Not knowing that I can see everything like this. And if I want, I can even do this."

Ventmin extended her hand toward Rudger and clenched her fist.

Then tree roots burst out from under Rudger's feet and wrapped around his body.

It happened without time to react.

"N-no."

"Farewell. John Doe."

Despite Sedina's pleading, Ventmin strongly squeezed her clenched fist.

-Crack.

Such a sound seemed to come from the scene before her eyes as bright red blood sprayed between the roots.

"Ah, ahhh."

Sedina collapsed in her spot.

Ventmin opened her mouth while watching that scene with a face full of ecstasy.

-Stab!

"Ah?"

However, her words couldn't come out because of the sword stick blade that had pierced through her chest.

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