The Greatest Warrior of All Time Returns
Chapter 218

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

Chapter 218

As Baril soared into the sky with massive wings flapping, an immense pressure of energy condensed in her mouth.

At the same time, the barrier of the World Tree, unable to withstand the force, was completely shattered as the enormous mucus golem’s breath attack surged toward the World Tree.

Of course, the breath never reached the World Tree.

A beam, like a ray of light, burst from the mouth of the Shadow Dragon Baril, who had risen with overwhelming presence.

It collided with the golem’s breath and twisted its trajectory through some unknown method.

Particles of light, or perhaps fire.

Whichever it was, it was an abnormal phenomenon for their paths to twist simply by colliding.

Dozens—no, hundreds—of fragments of light burst apart, scattering like flaming tails in all directions, but what mattered was that the beam's trajectory had been diverted.

Baril’s original form is a powerful entity.

However, weakened to match my current level as an undead, he couldn't unleash the full power of his true self.

But so what?

The greatest strength of a Shadow Dragon lies in it being a wraith-type undead.

It's largely free from the physical limitations of a living body.

Baril’s body grew even larger in an instant as he flew and collided with the mucus golem, biting and clawing at it, sending them tumbling to the other side of the forest.

Chiiiiiiiik!!

Naturally, the golem’s body, like slime, corroded and oxidized everything it touched.

Even though Baril was a wraith-type, his physical form imbued with strength began rapidly disintegrating and melting, but it didn’t matter.

An undead's advantage is its immortality.

Baril’s collapsing body regenerated its critical parts using my necromantic mana as fuel and reasserted its power once more.

They tangled together in a brutal brawl, but calling it a mere skirmish would be an understatement—the aftershocks spreading out were too powerful.

The result of the clash between these two beings, bouncing across the forest while attacking each other, wasn’t particularly complicated.

Starting with Baril, my other shadow undead slipped in like flashes of light, targeting only the largest of the twisted wild beasts, biting into their necks.

The elves looked at me with confused eyes.

It was true that the undead’s appearance was good news for them, but elves are repulsed by necromancy.

After catching my breath briefly, I released my aura as a pulse through the surroundings.

Startled by the sudden wave, the elves turned their gazes to me.

“Are you all going to keep standing around dazed? Can’t you see the enemies pouring in? Do you want the city and the World Tree to be destroyed just like that?”

The first to respond was Ocelon.

“Guards, nock your arrows!!!”

In response, the flustered elves quickly lined up along the barrier and simultaneously drew their bows.

At the same time, faint light began to charge on their arrowheads, and the elves unleashed a barrage of arrows.

The army, whose advance had been halted by the undead, was soon overwhelmed and swept away by the elves' rain of arrows.

But beyond them, an unimaginably vast army kept coming.

Where had they managed to gather such numbers?

I turned to look at the head of the Romila family, who stood nearby.

“Lord Romila.”

“…Human.”

“Do you know the path?”

He remained silent for a while before nodding.

“I do.”

“Then lead the way. The longer we delay, the greater the damage.”

“And what exactly do you plan to do?”

“As I said—eliminate the root cause.”

After a short hesitation, he moved first.

He had been the elf most opposed to me doing anything when I first arrived here, but he was the only one who seemed to know about the place I mentioned, so I had no choice.

I cast Fly and lifted both myself and Lord Romila into the air.

“Wha—?!”

“Tell me the direction. If we go by land, we’ll be too late.”

“East! It’s to the east!”

BOOM!

Accelerating as if shedding all speed restrictions, I soared toward the direction he indicated.

Then, as if trying to block my approach, a massive number of twisted wyverns appeared from the dark forest.

“And elves have been living around this stuff?”

“They are usually the gentlest of creatures—beasts that bonded with us elves…”

The creatures all flew toward us at once, but what met them was a barrage of thousands of magic missiles I summoned in the air.

[Full Salvo]

Like a rainstorm of bullets, the missiles shot forward and took down the wyverns one by one.

Lord Romila stared at me with a blank expression.

“What in the world…”

“Still east?”

“No, down. It’s here—this area.”

Just as he said, the landscape matched what the World Tree had shown me.

Though it had been greatly polluted.

“One of the three locations—a 33.33% chance. Lucky me.”

Well, good is good.

As I lightly landed on the ground, a natural cave came into view.

“Let’s go in.”

He might not be much help, but the inside looked like a maze.

* * *

A brief encounter, and a somewhat antagonistic relationship—because of that, we never tried to know each other well.

So much so that I don’t even know his name.

He looks to be in his early-to-mid twenties, but elves age slowly, and he’s the head of one of the elf high houses, House Romila, so he must be quite old.

“Are you sure it’s in here?”

“Yes. It is. Even if it tried to hide, the stench is unbearable.”

At my words, he sniffed the air in confusion.

“This natural cave was once the sanctuary of spirit trees. Countless spirit trees were born here and lived in this place as their haven. Yet now, nothing remains.”

“Well, if two- or three-meter cockroaches moved into your house, even the owner would flee in terror.”

If it were just a demon tree, the situation wouldn’t have gotten this bad.

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

The path inward was eerily quiet.

So quiet that the sound of our footsteps felt like the loudest noise.

There were no signs, no resistance—it almost felt like we were in the wrong place.

But the farther in we went, the more certain I became.

The demon tree was in here.

It was about time to tell him.

"That’s enough. Step back."

"What?"

"This place is dangerous. I’m telling you to wait outside."

"Don’t be ridiculous. I’d gladly give my life to protect the World Tree."

He didn’t seem like someone who would listen.

"Can I ask you something?"

In the still silence, I asked him as he cautiously scanned our surroundings.

"What is it?"

"At first, weren’t you hostile toward me? But now, you’re being quite cooperative."

He averted his gaze, as if avoiding the question.

And after a long pause, he slowly opened his mouth.

"Humans have always deceived us."

"Well, I can’t deny that. There are all kinds of people in this world."

I didn’t pry into what kind of trouble he had with humans in the past.

"But let’s make one thing clear."

"What is it?"

"Will saving this place truly save the World Tree?"

"The World Tree is already being treated. But the Demon Tree is resisting. If we eliminate the Demon Tree, the World Tree will naturally recover."

He frowned slightly.

"But where the hell is that monster hiding in this place?"

"You still don’t trust me, do you?"

"One of my ancestors from House Romila trusted a human and was gravely betrayed. So, of course, I can't easily trust outsiders."

Even though elves interact with humans somewhat these days, history shows that they once followed an extremely isolationist policy.

There’s a theory that this distrust began when elves who once trusted humans were betrayed.

It seemed to be true.

"Well, I’m not here to judge the past. But please, listen carefully to what I’m about to say."

"What is it?"

"Stay alert. If you let your emotions take over and stray from my side, I won’t be able to protect you."

As I said that, the walls around us split open, and grotesque corpse golems began crawling out.

Things that provoked an intense sense of hostility just by being seen.

I’d seen them before.

Like deep-sea anglerfish using their light to lure prey.

Corpse golems that evoked extreme disgust and hatred.

As the monstrous beings appeared, Lord Romila’s eyes widened and his whole body began to tremble.

—KIIIIIEEEEEEKKK!!!

A horrific wail pierced the air.

The corpse golem’s jaw split open, revealing an absurd number of teeth.

Between them, glistening eyeballs had sprouted.

And all over its body, grotesque shapes resembling elves’ agonized faces could be seen—like they were desperately trying to escape from within.

The horrifying, writhing form screamed with fear, pain, and despair so overwhelming that even those without combat training would be driven to attack.

"How dare it… How dare it… How dare it violate the children of the forest!!!"

Such mental fortitude meant little to me, but it didn’t seem to be the same for Lord Romila.

The moment he attacked that corpse golem, a trap would trigger, pulling both of us into a warped space.

Of course, I intended to use that fact to my advantage...

But if Lord Romila acted on his own and triggered it prematurely, everything I’d planned would unravel.

I grabbed his shoulder, forcefully pushing him down to stop him as he drew his silver sword, ready to charge in.

"Let go!! That accursed monster…! How dare it… my kin… the children of our forest…!"

"Pull yourself together, old man."

He was breathing heavily, resisting like he had lost his senses.

The taunt effect of the corpse golem was far stronger than expected.

It looked like Lord Romila was about to throw everything away, but in truth, he was enduring far better than most would.

“Haah… haah… Damn it, what is this…?”

“This is what happens when the Demon Tree goes hunting.”

“You mean it’s using that thing to lure us in?”

“Yes, something like that. It provokes intense hostility to make us attack.”

“And if we do… what happens?”

He still hadn’t completely shaken off the taunt, gripping his own arm tightly to restrain himself.

“The Demon Tree emits a spatial distortion field when the bait is touched. Everything within its range gets transferred to a separate space.”

“…”

“So don’t leave the range where I can protect you.”

He gave me a complicated look.

Understandable.

To him, I was still just a young human.

Summoning the undead, flying at high speed—just the abilities I’d shown so far far surpassed normal standards.

“You… what are you really?”

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.