I Got a Fake Job at the Academy
Chapter 467: Clash of the Storm (1)

Chapter 467: Clash of the Storm (1)

The moderate faction's army could neither retreat nor advance.

Approaching the rampaging World Tree after the inner walls collapsed meant certain death, yet retreating was impossible as the World Tree's branches blocked the surroundings like a giant cage.

The elven soldiers were at a loss, bewildered by the current situation that resembled a natural disaster.

Just as panic spread like an epidemic, a light green radiance emanated from the World Tree.

"The, the World Tree..."

The elves felt dizzy from the intense fragrance that brushed their noses.

It was an intense aroma that seemed like a mix of fresh forest scent, the fragrance of flowers from a vast garden, and the fresh smell of a stream.

Immediately after, night descended around them.

The World Tree absorbed all light within a radius of over ten kilometers with its leaves.

As the scenery grew darker, the World Tree shone even brighter as if a white tree was gleaming in the darkness.

From the World Tree, which glowed white as it absorbed sunlight, enormous energy gathered in one place.

Gathering and condensing it created was a mass of destruction.

It was the World Tree's authority that would bring despair and death to everything and that destructive gaze was fixed in this direction.

Everyone watched the scene as if their breath was caught in their throats.

It was overwhelming, so overwhelming that even the instinct to shout "run" humbly accepted death upon facing it.

Eventually, the crouching mass of destruction shot out in a long beam toward the moderate faction's soldiers.

A streak of light flashed, tearing through the darkness.

"Run..."

Darish Floheim opened his mouth to say something but before his voice could come out, the white flash was faster in swallowing him and his guards and royal guards.

────!

Without even the pain of burning.

Without leaving even ashes from the burning.

Darish Floheim and the elven army were completely decomposed and annihilated at the cellular level.

The moment the light hit the ground, the condensed energy spread in all directions, causing a massive explosion.

Like a volcanic eruption, the massive energy that burrowed into the ground burst out in all directions.

The ground was overturned.

There were no bright red flames, nor the black smoke that would result from them, just a white explosion expanding in a dome shape, swallowing everything.

Yet this alone was enough to bring the moderate faction's forces to near annihilation.

The aftershock came belatedly.

The heat-laden storm spread throughout the Forest of Life like a rushing tide.

As the air combusted and created a vacuum, the air pushed outward was sucked back inward like a whoosh.

After the aftershock passed, a mushroom cloud formed as a trace of the explosion.

Watching this scene from atop Steel Raven, Rudger felt his hair stand on end.

An attack containing light so intense it made the surroundings seem like night for a moment.

Its scale and power far exceeded levels that could be avoided even if one noticed it.

'Is this the power of the World Tree?'

From its sturdy roots to its ability to monitor and manage the surrounding area, that much seemed possible because it was the World Tree after all.

But absorbing and bestowing life, and even absorbing light to shoot it like a strategic weapon far exceeded common sense.

Now it seemed almost eccentric that Ella Plante tried to increase such World Trees 500 years ago.

'The elves didn't worship it like a god for nothing, I see. If something like this fully awakens, it might truly overturn the flow of world affairs.'

The scale difference made even Leslie's plan to twist and destroy all the veins of the Kasar Basin seem insignificant.

Rudger looked down at Ventmin Lifrey, who was laughing maniacally.

"Ahahahaha──!!!"

She had annihilated the moderate faction that had irritated her with a single strike and could feel those who survived despair before that omnipotent power.

What joy could be greater than this?

But Ventmin quickly reminded herself of her purpose.

She had merely cleared away a stone lying on the street but still had many bugs to catch.

"Bugs? Ah. Right, that was there."

Ventmin grinned.

Just as one wondered what she was trying to do now, the underground where the World Tree had rooted shook with a great boom.

The ground shook greatly like a wave passing, and the inner walls that had barely maintained their form completely collapsed with this.

And as the ground collapsed in various places among the debris, passages connected to underground cavities were created.

-Scratch scratch.

Just as an eerie sound came from the dark, deep hole, bugs as big as bears burst out in droves.

Ground bugs that lived eating roots and sap in the World Tree's underground cavities.

The black and hard-sensed ground bugs moved in perfect unison as if being controlled by something, rushing like a tsunami toward the surviving moderate faction forces.

"What, what is that!"

"Everyone, regroup!"

"Where, where is the commander!"

As the command system had completely disappeared with the previous strike, the soldiers couldn't respond properly.

The ground bugs invaded that chaos.

Screams of elves and blood flew everywhere as the ground bugs' sturdy jaws easily tore through the elves' armor but the elves didn't just take it either.

They somehow swung their swords to kill the bugs, but the difference in numbers was too obvious.

The ground bug army didn't just head toward the moderate faction.

Even more ground bugs rushed like a surge toward the neutral faction's soldiers.

"Druids, step forward!"

However, the neutral faction responded calmly without panicking at that sight.

As the druids stepped forward and chanted spells, thorny trees burst through the ground and became a huge barrier blocking the surrounding area.

The ground bugs collided with the barrier, breaking, crushing and tangling with each other.

"Archers!"

The archers waiting in the back fired their bows.

Arrows containing spirit and life energy pierced the ground bugs' shells but the ground bugs didn't stop.

The bugs that had drunk the World Tree's sap closed their wounds with tremendous regenerative power, and began crossing the thorn barriers one by one, stepping on their comrades' corpses.

Waiting for them were shield bearers wielding huge trees as big as torsos.

The bugs charged at the shield bearers, but the shield bearers in tight formation didn't budge backward.

The shield bearers that the Burke family prided themselves on were those who had protected the forest throughout long history.

That history of protection wasn't weak enough to be pushed back by mere creatures controlled by the World Tree.

As a force equilibrium formed between the shield bearers and ground bugs, the swordsmen waiting in the back stepped forward.

"Aim between the eyes! Other parts are useless!"

"If that doesn't work, at least cut off their legs!"

The nimble elven swordsmen stepped on the bugs' backs and heads as they passed by, cutting off their necks or slicing through the gaps in their leg joints.

Green bodily fluids sprayed and the ground bugs fell screaming.

However, no matter how many they killed, their numbers just wouldn't decrease.

'Burke and Dentis' soldiers are holding well. But that won't last long either.'

Rudger assessed the battle situation and stared at Ventmin.

Perhaps sensing this gaze, Ventmin also looked up at Rudger.

"You. Why don't you stop looking down here already?"

With those words, the World Tree vibrated with a woong.

Just as one wondered what it would do next, something shot from the World Tree toward Rudger.

It was an attack like the golden arrow that Ventmin had shot at Rudger from the ground but this was bigger and faster.

If one had to describe it, it could be called a golden spear.

The power had increased, but the numbers were even more serious as close to thousands of those spears rained down above Rudger's head.

"Dodge!"

Rudger immediately ordered Steel Raven.

Steel Raven, shrouded in shadows, burned them like flames and entered into evasive maneuvers at high speed.

Wherever the trajectory of black shadows brushed past, golden rain poured down.

However, no matter how much they tried to dodge and escape, being already trapped in the cage now, they couldn't completely escape from the World Tree's range.

While blocking some of the golden attacks with defensive magic, Rudger didn't stop dropping artifacts toward Ventmin.

"I told you it won't work?"

Ventmin tried to grab the falling artifacts with roots but the artifacts exploded faster than the roots could fully grasp them.

Spherical explosions of various colors occurred in mid-air, tearing through space.

Ventmin frowned in annoyance at the aftermath.

"Advancing the critical overload time to explode before being absorbed? Useless effort."

After all, it couldn't affect the main body and only erased some endlessly regenerating roots.

The one who would lose in the end of that war of attrition was Rudger, who had a limited number of artifacts.

Thinking that she should first take down that annoying bird, Ventmin launched a stronger attack.

The golden spears raining down on Rudger decreased in number, but now became bombardments striking down toward the ground.

Each time pillars of white light brushed past, Steel Raven precariously continued its flight.

Like a child playing with a dragonfly, a cruel smile formed on Ventmin's lips.

At that moment, sensing something strange, she surrounded her body with a solid wooden barrier.

Simultaneously, a sword as big as a person fell down.

-Bang!

Ventmin, surrounded by the World Tree's solid membrane, smiled brightly at the opponent who had swung their sword at her.

"Oh my. Ambella, how long has it been? Did you enjoy your exile?"

Ambella, wearing an eye patch over one eye, wore a fierce smile across her face.

"Yes. I enjoyed it so damn much that I came to bring you a present, you bitch."

Ambella put strength into her arms.

The muscles in her scarred forearm writhed densely, and Ambella's greatsword sliced diagonally through Ventmin's upper body.

It was a clean strike however Ventmin's collapsed upper body was still alive and moving.

"Indeed, this level of defense is nowhere near enough before the head of the Burke family."

Countless vines burst like groundwater from the cross-section of the severed lower body, trying to swallow Ambella.

Then Vierano, who had followed, stepped forward.

As he, with wind power contained in both hands, unleashed twin strikes, the vines were ground up as if put in a blender and scattered in all directions.

The cut vines regenerated immediately, but Ambella had already pulled back her body.

"The heads of both Dentis and Burke families are coming on their own. This is quite helpful. You've saved me the trouble of having to find and kill you one by one."

The severed upper body melted away, and from the cross-section of the lower body, the original Ventmin emerged as if regenerating.

Blue magic shells rained down above her like rain.

It was Hans' surprise attack in spirit beast from.

Ventmin snorted and stretched out her hand to catch the magic shells directly.

The blue magic disappeared as if being absorbed into Ventmin.

Hans, having cut down all the small branches, landed behind Ambella and Vierano.

Though Vierano was surprised by the sudden appearance of a spirit beast, looking into Hans's eyes, he realized he was an ally.

"Mr. Hans, is that you?"

[...You recognize me right away?]

"Yes. It's in your eyes. Though I don't know how you ended up in that form, it's somewhat reassuring in this situation."

[Well. I'm not sure if I'll be of help against that opponent.]

Hans let out a sigh looking at Ventmin who had completely absorbed his attack.

The intense magic possessed by the spirit beast was nothing more or less than nutrients for the World Tree.

This meant they would have to fight a purely physical battle, but from his position of never having done such a thing, it was just daunting.

Still, there were the elite forces of the Burke and Dentis families who had come this far, but even so their numbers were only 10.

At that moment, a strange bird's cry was heard in the air, and Rudger landed nearby, touching down.

Then Steel Raven also settled down next to Hans, flapping its wings.

Rudger asked the reinforcements:

"No more?"

"Who else would come here?"

Ambella snorted.

Come to think of it, it didn't seem like anyone else would come here either.

If that was the case, they would have to defeat Ventmin, who had merged with the World Tree, with just the personnel present.

'Is it possible?'

Ambella, Vierano, Hans, and himself.

Honestly, they were overflowing with fighting power but the opponent was far from easy.

Though he didn't want to admit it, Ventmin unified with the World Tree was far stronger than the four of them combined.

Just look at how she completely erased the moderate faction with a single strike.

'But we can't back down either.'

Already trapped in a cage called the World Tree now, fighting was the only option left to them.

'Alex seems to still be fighting down there.'

Helia came to mind, but with just the dragon's breath that burned the World Tree earlier, she had already exceeded expectations.

Considering her temperament, she would have either fled after observing subsequent events or hidden herself.

Is it truly impossible to hope for any more support?

As Rudger thought this, Ventmin's expression, which had been grinning at them, suddenly hardened.

"What's this now?"

While everyone was puzzled by Ventmin's reaction, Ventmin turned her head to stare in one direction.

Through the World Tree, Ventmin could control and see all situations in the surrounding area.

She detected a presence approaching this direction at tremendous speed.

It was not an ordinary elf.

Rather, this presence was...

"A human?"

A single human was approaching in this direction at high speed.

Ventmin, feeling it might become unnecessarily troublesome, swung roots toward that human due to an intuition that it would become troublesome if not eliminated now.

One of the World Tree's main roots rose up and struck down at the approaching human head-on.

At that moment, something amazing happened.

The human drew their sword and lightly thrust it toward the root.

This was an ultra-large root 50m thick and 800m long.

The overwhelming mass that came with that size and the World Tree's own hardness were beyond comparison to any metal.

-Crack.

Nevertheless, the root that met the sword tip twisted in a spiral shape before shattering into pieces.

"What?"

The World Tree isn't just hard, it also has excellent tensile strength. Yet it shattered, unable to withstand the force.

"Just what is that human...?"

While Ventmin was shocked, the human who had jumped up using the shattered fragments as stepping stones finally arrived at the halved cradle.

"So everyone was here."

Rudger recognized the newly arrived man and opened his eyes wide.

"Why are you here...?"

Luther Wardot, the continent's greatest swordsman and strongest knight protecting the Imperial family, appeared alone in the Elven Kingdom.