Reborn as a Useless Noble with my SSS-Class Innate Talent
Chapter 257 - 257: Ch 257: Foolishness- Part 3

The forest around the world tree twisted with malevolent energy, warping the air and saturating it with corrupted mana.

Kyle narrowed his eyes as grotesque monsters emerged, their forms twisted and bubbling as though barely held together by flesh.

He struck down one with a swift blade of condensed mana, but for every creature that fell, two more crawled from the shadows.

Silvy fought by his side, breathing heavily.

"These things… they look like the forest beasts near the village!"

Kyle nodded grimly.

"The world tree's corruption is influencing the local wildlife. We need to seal it—fast."

Another creature lunged. Silvy threw a mana spear, piercing its eye, then turned to the tree, her voice laced with urgency.

"You two! Get away from the tree!"

The two remaining elves, faces pale and clothes torn, flinched at her voice. For a moment, they seemed frozen, then they turned to run toward Kyle and Silvy, relief flooding their features.

But it was too late.

The ground beneath their feet crumbled like dust, revealing thick, gnarled roots surging up like serpents. With a wet snap, the roots wrapped around the two elves and dragged them into the earth.

"No!"

Silvy shouted, stumbling forward.

Their muffled screams were short-lived.

A pulse of energy rippled through the ground, and Kyle could see their mana being sucked into the roots, disappearing into the vast system that fed the tree.

The glowing bark of the world tree flickered erratically in response.

Silvy stood frozen, mouth agape.

"It… it devoured them. I thought it was sacred—how could it…"

Kyle's voice was sharp.

"Don't freeze up. If you want to mourn them, survive first. The tree's gone mad. It's feeding on everything."

Snapped from her shock, Silvy grit her teeth and nodded.

"Right."

They fought on, shoulder to shoulder, moving in sync as more corrupted monsters poured from the forest edge, drawn to the tree like moths to flame.

The tree's roots shifted constantly beneath the soil, a living trap that threatened to drag anything near it into the depths.

"Every time we kill one, the tree eats the energy. We can't hold this line for long."

Kyle growled.

A sickly red light pulsed from the heart of the tree, and the sky answered with rolling thunder, the clouds stained crimson.

The ground shuddered beneath them again. The very forest was beginning to fall apart.

Silvy shot Kyle a look, sweat clinging to her brow.

"Do you have a plan?"

Kyle didn't respond immediately. He slashed down a creature that had lunged for her blind side, then took a breath.

"We need to trap the tree's core—cut it off from the mana it's feeding on."

"You mean you need to do that. Because let's be real, you're the only one who can."

She offered a bitter smile.

Kyle offered her a small smirk in return.

"I'll do the sealing. You buy me time."

Silvy groaned.

"That sounds suspiciously like you're giving me the hard job."

Another monster leapt from the trees, and she blasted it apart with a mana-infused arrows.

"Fine! But if I die, I'm haunting you."

"You'd never leave me alone anyway."

Kyle muttered with a grin as he sprinted toward the base of the tree, weaving through the chaotic battlefield. He knew what he had to do—but time was running out.

Every second they delayed, the tree's power grew stronger, and the land around them weaker.

The divine mana surged like a storm from the world tree, and the air warped from the sheer pressure of its presence.

Kyle narrowed his eyes and stepped in front of Silvy, whose body trembled beside him.

She tried to summon mana again, desperately willing her power to respond, but nothing happened. Her face paled.

"It's not working. My mana—it's gone…"

The divine light gathered above the world tree burst outward like a wave, targeting them directly. Silvy froze, her feet rooted to the ground, eyes wide in disbelief.

"Silvy!"

Kyle shouted and grabbed her by the waist, yanking her to the side just in time. The ground where she stood moments before was scorched clean by divine energy, blackened and cracked.

Kyle landed hard, Silvy in his arms, and glanced down at her.

"You're not dying on me today."

He muttered.

Silvy blinked and shook her head, trying to find her voice.

"What… what is that power? It's not from this world."

"No. That's the power of something trying to descend here—through the tree."

Kyle said grimly, setting her down behind a slab of cracked bark from the tree.

"What do you mean?"

Kyle's eyes turned toward the glowing trunk. The once-pure mana of the world tree was now tainted by divine interference. He could feel it—deep within his bones.

The tree had become a bridge. A god, or something close to it, was trying to cross over, to claim dominion.

"I can feel it. The presence trying to reach through this tree… it's ancient, and it's angry. The elves called this their holy place, but something used their faith to turn it into a gateway. If we don't stop it now, there won't be an elf village left—maybe not even a world."

He said.

Silvy clutched his sleeve.

"But if you destroy the tree… the elves will never forgive you."

Kyle's gaze hardened.

"They'll be alive. That's more important."

He turned to Lysander, who was already growling at the divine energy. The dragon cub sensed the danger, its scales bristling as it crouched low on Kyle's shoulder.

"Lysander. I need everything you've got. Absorb the mana—purify what you can, and give me the strength for one clean strike."

The dragon whined softly but nodded. A moment later, its tiny jaws opened wide, and a spiral of mana began to flow toward it from the air itself.

It drank in the corrupted power like a starved beast, its body glowing with surging energy.

Kyle took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment, synchronizing his body with Lysander's mana flow.

The air around him crackled, his own power swelling dangerously. Silvy watched, heart thundering, as the unstable energy swirled around him like a storm.

The world tree reacted violently. Its roots rose like spears, and divine tendrils of light lashed outward, desperate to protect itself.

Kyle didn't flinch. He stepped forward, every footfall heavier than the last.

"This world belongs to us. Not to gods."

He whispered.

Then he moved.

Silvy had never seen Kyle like this. He was fast—faster than her eyes could follow—and as he moved, the divine attacks curved and bent, missing by inches, unable to strike their mark.

He jumped, propelled by a blast of mana at his feet, and raised one hand.

Lysander, glowing golden now, released all the mana it had absorbed into Kyle in a final surge.

Kyle's arm pulsed with energy as he brought it down.

A single strike.

Clean, precise, and aimed straight at the base of the corrupted world tree.

The divine power screamed—an ear-piercing sound that made Silvy cover her ears and fall to her knees.

The world shook. The roots writhed violently. Light exploded from the strike point, and then—

Silence.

The tree's light flickered… and went out.

The air, once thick with divine pressure, eased.

The roots fell limp.

The red sky began to fade, the blood hue retreating into softer tones.

Silvy looked up and gasped. The world tree still stood, though part of its trunk was split and scorched where Kyle's blow had landed.

The connection had been severed, but the tree itself—somehow—had survived.

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