The Greatest Warrior of All Time Returns
Chapter 224

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Chapter 224

“Run… away… The World Tree is now…”

She spoke in a dying voice.

Though they had escaped the reach of the red mist, and she wasn't dead yet, she was already dying.

At that moment—

“No. Without the power of the World Tree, we can’t deal with that thing.”

At his response, Triana let out a bitter laugh.

“It’s too late. The World Tree is already… And besides… not even that sword can heal anymore…”

“Ordinarily, yes.”

Leon lightly tapped the blade of Falling Blossom.

Then, something strange appeared in Triana’s eyes.

A brilliantly pure and clear energy began to flow from Leon’s body into the sword.

“Normally, this would be a workaround. But since I’ve gained a few new tricks, I might as well take the easy way. Falling Blossom.”

“What… are you trying to do?”

“The cancerous corruption has already spread throughout its body. Normally, we’d have to consider the World Tree dead.”

“…”

“But some things have changed on this side too.”

Speaking as if to the sword, Leon raised the massive claymore with one hand, spun it gracefully, and held it in a proper stance.

The guard of the sword aligned with his collarbone, and the hilt touched his chest.

The blade stretched upward past his face, scattering a faint bluish aura.

No, it's impossible.

Falling Blossom may be a miraculous sword, but with just that, healing the ruined World Tree is—

She stopped thinking the moment she heard what Leon said next.

“Blossom.”

Leon’s voice carried an air of mystique.

At the same time, Falling Blossom, the claymore in his hand, began to disintegrate into fragments of light.

Before, the sword had at least maintained a physical form, but now it was as if that form had completely dissolved.

Like an egg cracking open to reveal its true form.

It was as though everything Leon had shown with Falling Blossom so far had merely been a child’s play.

The scattered light began to form a massive flower bud in the air.

And when the bud slowly began to bloom—

An astonishing event occurred.

* * *

Even after Leon had left, the elves continued to fight desperately at the barrier, putting their lives on the line.

The massive monster had paused under the force of Leon’s strike, but once the will imbued in that blow faded, it would surely begin to move again.

He must have given the order to retreat.

But none of the elves fled.

Perhaps because they knew that losing their foundation itself was worse than death.

Though they had initially panicked at the sight of the enormous being, Leon’s sword aura had given them a faint glimmer of hope.

The great High Elf families—Romilla, Trigard, Iprita, Demetea, Luoshid—all acted with one will.

And yet, they all knew.

That they would likely meet their end here.

For some time, though unspoken, the faint vitality they had sensed from the World Tree had completely vanished.

In other words, the World Tree had died.

Leon had gone, but was it already too late?

Just then, as such complicated thoughts filled their minds—

Something miraculous began to happen.

Particles of blue light filled the dark night sky and began to gather toward the World Tree from all corners of the forest.

What was that?

The number of light clusters was beyond counting.

Slowly, gently, they converged upon the World Tree.

Whoooosh!

At the same time, the red mist that had filled the passage leading to the heart of the forest scattered instantly, and a pure, clear energy was felt by all the elves.

Ocelon realized instinctively.

This power, which hadn't been felt before, was familiar.

It was the same as Falling Blossom, the sword Leon had used.

But the density and scale were of an entirely different level from what they had previously witnessed.

“Th-The World Tree!”

Just then, the head of the Iprita family opened their eyes wide in shock and pointed at the World Tree.

“Haah!”

“My gods…”

The World Tree, once completely corrupted and shriveled like a dead husk, began to regain its original form.

Restoring at an incredible speed, the World Tree seemed to release all the suffering it had endured, pouring out an immense vitality across the forest.

Simultaneously, the once-dull blue leaves of the World Tree began to shimmer faintly, and above its colossal form, a massive, mysterious magic circle started to form.

Whether it had consciousness or not, this divine, sacred tree had supported not just the great forest but the entire continent for eons.

A sacred and inviolable being—so revered that even the dwarves, humans, and countless other races, despite warring with the elves, had never dared to harm it.

That was the World Tree.

Woooooom…

Now fully restored and purging the corruption within itself, the World Tree began channeling its immense power into the magic circle.

At the same time, the monstrous entity, briefly incapacitated by Leon’s will-infused strike, began to recover and move again, having adapted to that will.

KRAAAANG!!

But it could not move further.

The magic circle created by the World Tree shattered in an instant into fragments of light, and the air around it changed.

It wasn’t that the World Tree’s power had been broken.

The countless branches of the World Tree all at once began to emit a white light.

Drip… drip… drip-drip-drip-drip-drip—SHHHHHHHHH!!!

A rain began to pour over the entire great forest.

“This rain…”

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“My gods… it’s washing away the corruption!!”

Amazingly, the rain summoned by the World Tree cleansed all it touched.

The slimes and twisted beasts melted upon being struck by the raindrops, and corrupted wild animals writhed in agony before scattering in all directions once the corruption vanished.

And the one most affected—

Was the translucent, massive entity.

The enormous being—its name still unknown—let out a strange, unearthly scream as it was struck by the rain.

But as if it had been struck by something immense, it staggered multiple times and became powerless again.

Even the power of the World Tree couldn’t kill it.

But that alone was enough.

The World Tree had done all it needed to by creating an opening—an opportunity to land a decisive blow by incapacitating the creature.

Something rushed through the city at tremendous speed, leaping over the barriers.

All the elves turned their gazes in that direction, and soon realized—it was Leon.

As Leon soared high into the air, a bluish aura around him briefly turned crimson.

[Will Manifestation – Strength]

[Red]

A massive aura blade, veined with red lightning, surged from his sword.

And then, the moment Leon swung his blade in midair—

There was a brief illusion, as though the world itself had twisted and split apart.

CRACK!!

The sound of something shattering rang out clearly across the chaotic battlefield.

What happened next was nothing short of miraculous.

The massive, monstrous creature—whose form had begun to solidify—faded like a hallucination, slowly disappearing as if it had never existed.

With its vanishing, the corruption also faded away.

The twisted beasts and slimes that had been attacking the city vanished, and the corrupted wild animals scattered in all directions, signaling the end of the battle.

“We… we survived…”

“We’re alive! Damn it, we’re actually alive!!”

The elves, gasping for breath, hugged one another in sheer joy at the fact that they had lived.

As he looked around the battlefield in a daze, Lord Ocelon of the Ocelon family saw an elven girl running toward him.

“Father!!”

“Triana!”

Ocelon instinctively caught Triana in his arms.

His hands trembled slightly as he realized his daughter appeared unhurt.

“You’re not injured…? Are you hurt anywhere?”

“No. Lord Leon and the World Tree… they protected me.”

“Thank goodness… Thank the heavens…”

Holding his precious daughter, Ocelon turned toward the barrier, where he saw Leon muttering something to himself.

The elves cheered for both the World Tree and Leon, who had defeated the monster.

Had there ever been a time when elves cheered like this for a human?

Thinking back to the time when most families, excluding the Romila clan, looked upon humans with distrust, it marked a remarkable change.

Now, ironically, it was the Romila family that showed the most caution toward humans…

The massive assault that had stained the Great Forest violet—seemed, at last, to have come to an end.

* * *

The attack had stopped, but the aftermath still remained.

Many had died, and among those who had been completely corrupted, some could never return.

In fact, certain parts of the Great Forest were still tainted with remnants of the corruption, making them completely inaccessible.

Although the World Tree had been healed, it was still recovering its strength due to the power it had expended to counter the Red Moon phenomenon.

Regardless, the important thing was that the elves had survived the assault.

It was said that when the head of the Romila family arrived late and saw the now-safe World Tree, he stood in stunned silence.

He merely gazed up at the World Tree blankly, then began leading his clan in tending to the wounded and managing the aftermath.

Rumor had it that during the high council of the elves, he also supported the efforts to clear Triana’s name.

Though her innocence hadn’t been completely proven just yet.

“Mmm. This does taste better when eaten fresh.”

Luna, munching on a snack popular among the elves, had quickly gained a strong presence among them within half a day.

Though the corruption had been cleansed, many elves were injured.

Luna didn’t simply stand by—she healed them all.

The elves were deeply grateful for her kindness.

Moreover, the high elves instinctively treated her with great respect.

They likely sensed something about Luna, though they couldn’t say exactly what.

While the elves cleaned up the battlefield and dealt with the aftermath, Luna and I were treated with great hospitality.

After all, I had healed the World Tree and driven away the forces trying to devour it.

Furthermore, the Romila clan head, who had been the most wary of me, now supported me publicly after his return—causing public opinion to shift rapidly in my favor.

Because of that, when I walked through the city, elves now greeted me warmly.

Ocelon even mentioned that once the post-battle cleanup was complete, he would formally arrange for the Cascadia family to be supplied with elven timber—Fairywood.

Apparently, external trade in Fairywood required the agreement of all elven houses.

Yet I heard that in the recent council, the motion passed unanimously.

I never would have expected even the head of the Romila family to vote in favor.

He had always been an elf who distrusted humans.

Now, I stood at the place Triana had said she encountered Isna.

Though, being considered a benefactor, I was unexpectedly assigned a few elf guards from the Romila clan to accompany me as guides.

“This should be the place Lady Triana mentioned.”

“Thank you.”

“We’ll look around for any traces of that human woman.”

“I appreciate the help.”

Honestly, it’s not really necessary, but since they insisted…

I quietly looked around the area.

Isna had only passed through here, so the chances of finding any meaningful trace were slim to none.

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