NOVEL NEXT Chapter 548
Chapter 548: The Starry Sky, The Blooming Flowers
Liliana’s vision was illuminated by the magic power of a guiding “path.”
It led straight to the enemy’s main camp.
It seemed that the commander was stationed in the rear. I had hoped that, being the war-crazed demon race, they would be at the front lines, but it wasn’t that easy.
(…It’s quite far.)
Liliana licked her lips. How many years had it been since she had felt such tension?
(Considering that the opponent is an upper demon, this is rather tough.)
In general, the range of magic isn’t that long.
The farther one gets from the caster, the more the magical power dissipates due to interference from the laws of physics and the world’s own magic.
How can I make it reach just a little further—extending the range of magic has been a theme that humanity has consistently pursued throughout their long history of warfare.
The effective solutions are:
1. Use a catalyst.
2. Enhance the magic power itself.
3. Give the magic power a “shell.”
Those are the three methods.
“—A catalyst is a technique used in curses, right? I’ve heard that mortals try to enhance the effects of spells and curses using hair or nails from the enemy.”
Odigos spoke directly into Liliana’s mind so only she could hear.
(That’s right, something like that. Well, curses that can exert effects even from super long distances are, in fact, exceptions to the concept of range.)
Curses for combat can only travel short distances, yet curses that unleash misfortune or disease somehow manage to work over long distances. By the way, it seems the Holy Church has been cursing the Demon Lord year-round, but due to the vast difference in magical power, there has been no sign of effectiveness at all.
On the contrary, if the Demon Lord were serious about cursing, they could probably curse-kill a human king within the allied territory, but it’s a paradoxical situation where there’s simply no need to go that far.
(In any case, we don’t need a catalyst. Because—)
“There is guidance! No doubt about it!!”
Odigos was delighted, trembling in Liliana’s hand.
“And the magical power is sufficient, isn’t it?”
The second solution: enhancing the magic power itself.
If you throw a stone with all your might, it will fly further than if you toss it casually. Magic works the same; if you unleash it with tremendous magical power, even if it scatters a bit, it will still have considerable effectiveness.
In other words, it’s about brute force.
Overwhelming power can solve most problems.
And if the problem is solved, then that is the correct solution.
(Thanks to Odigos, my magic power has grown astonishingly just in these past few days.)
With guidance after guidance, Liliana’s magic power had developed remarkably. Alexander had also complained, “I was shocked at how my magic power soared right after making a contract with Antendeixis,” and she felt that sentiment deeply.
Liliana was using transformation magic to disguise herself as a regular Forest Elf—but even in her weakened state now, her magic power was already beginning to surpass what it had been eight years ago when she broke into the Demon Lord Castle.
…If the demon race is also developing their magic power at this rate, it’s no wonder the allied forces are struggling.
Thinking of the staff in her hand as one part of that, her feelings were complex, yet that’s precisely why the fact that Odigos was no longer in the Demon Lord Kingdom weighed heavily on her mind.
(Lastly… solution 3 is something we Elves excel at.)
Liliana took a small nut from her pocket.
If curses and magic will scatter in the world’s magic, then all you need to do is give them a “shell” to resist it.
That “shell” can be another spell or object. The spirit magic that Forest Elves use and the voice-magic of the Izanis Tribe or the spectral bodies of necromancy belong to the former, while Dwarf weapons and magical items correspond to the latter.
In extreme cases, throwing a Dwarf weapon with special properties would essentially be the same as making a “spell” reach long distances.
(We Elves do this with arrows.)
Once upon a time, it was a means to safely kill the Dwarf tribe that felled trees.
The Dwarves countered by wearing heavy armor, and the Elves devoted themselves to figuring out how to penetrate that armor for hundreds of years.
Unlike human arrows, the arrows of Forest Elves are meant to pierce armor…!
Let’s show the results of that refinement against the minions of darkness!
“There’s no way we would fall short of any ordinary demon! I have guided countless demons, so I know it’s true.”
Odigos stamped his approval and urged Liliana, “Now!”
“Yeah—this time it’ll be quite tough for you too!”
As magical power surged within her, Liliana smiled, as if to shake off her tension.
—How will she shoot the commander, who is waiting at the enemy’s main camp, from a distance?
The answer is brute force.
After pouring an enormous amount of magical power into Odigos and the arrow, Liliana would also enhance her own body with all her might, drawing back the now super-stiff bowstring to the limits of her strength, and delivering a hyper-powerful arrow guided by her magic.
“I’m going to pull the bowstring back with all my might…! Don’t break on me now!”
“I’m fine! Despite how I look, I’m quite sturdy! I’ve been beaten up plenty of times fighting against Antendeixis…!”
Fighting against a demon god sounds wildly impressive! Liliana couldn’t help but laugh, not just putting on a brave face.
—Let’s do this. Let’s make it happen.
“Grandpa! Help me!”
“I understand!”
The proud Orderju behind her hummed a leisurely melody while generating a sparkling magical harp in his hands. Other soldiers on the wall looked puzzled, asking, “What is he doing?” but she paid them no mind.
Liliana joined in humming along to Orderju’s tune. Several Forest Elf Archers opened their eyes wide in disbelief upon hearing the melody.
“[Myth Reenactment—]”
Liliana breathed life into the nut she pinched between her fingers.
“[—Divine Abundance]”
The nut sprouted.
It grew in front of her eyes. The sprout turned into branches, spiraling outward as it extended straight up. Branches became the shaft. Leaves became fletching. Roots became the sharp arrowhead.
The nut, filled with tremendous power, transformed in an instant into a living arrow.
“[Myth Reenactment]…!?”
“I can’t believe it sprouted so easily…”
“Even controlling magic is no ordinary feat!”
The surrounding Forest Elves were astonished. Normally, [Divine Abundance] is a technique that blesses allies and dispels curses, creating a “field” that can turn barren lands into flourishing territories of the Forest Elves.
But Liliana sealed that power into just a single nut.
Once unleashed, it would grow explosively—
“Grandpa, support me.”
She nocked the living arrow. Vines wrapped around the bow, bending it. Orderju quickly placed a hand on Liliana’s back, channeling healing power into her.
Strength flooded into Liliana’s slender arms, her veins visibly bulging as she tightened the bowstring— the tension was incredible, and her fingers felt like they might tear apart!
“Haha! This is quite the load! But I have a premonition, a magnificent guidance awaits at the end of this!!”
While Odigos endured the strain with cheer, Liliana forced a smile through the pain.
“[Myth Reenactment—]”
Into the clear, starry night sky.
“[—Dawn’s Light Cry]”
With all her strength, she released the arrow.
A bright sound echoed as a beam of light shot up into the sky.
The Demon Lord army, advancing toward the entrance of the Berkeley Gorge, looked up in confusion.
The light arced across the night sky—
“Huh?”
Sekihankus mistook it for a shooting star.
But it was something different.
Whoosh!
With a sound like slicing through the wind, the light filled his sight.
“What!?”
Reacting instinctively, he unleashed the magic of [Acceptance] to catch it. A heavy impact slammed against his chest, nearly knocking the breath out of him.
(What… is this! An arrow!?)
Amidst a branch gleaming faintly and quickly sprouting leaves, Sekihankus’s eyes widened in disbelief.
The scorching light burned against his skin, but it seemed his defense had held up, as he only sustained a minor scratch on his chest.
(Could it be that they shot at this from the ramparts?)
What an impressive feat. The magical power contained in that arrow was substantial; it definitely wasn’t fired blindly. It could only be interpreted as a well-aimed shot at him, Sekihankus…!
However, the immense magical power backfired. With Sekihankus’s powers of [Acceptance], the embedded magic was becoming nourishment. If this had been the shot of a bow saint, it wouldn’t have turned out like this.
(But how did they pinpoint my position? While being a threat to hit me is unnerving…)
—How interesting.
Sekihankus grinned savagely.
“Very well… I consider this a challenge to me!”
A new opponent, a fresh trial.
Sekihankus readily accepted it.
“Fufufu… This will surely yield exceptional merit for my ascent to the Duke!”
This archer, a master of both bow and magic, must be a high-ranking Forest Elf. It was unexpected that he would be engaging in Forest Elf hunting in the Dwarf Kingdom, yet he posed no shortage of a challenge.
He pulled the arrow from his chest, feeling invigorated, and prepared to charge forward—
“….?”
It wouldn’t budge.
He tugged hard, but the arrow’s shaft remained lodged in his chest.
“What…the…?”
There was no pain. I thought it merely pierced my fur clothing and caught against the chainmail beneath, but…
Could it be that something sticky was affixed to the tip…?
As he pondered, Sekihankus opened his chest with suspicion and was left shocked.
“No way…!!”
—The arrow had taken root.
The branch was embedded deeply in Sekihankus’s chest, sending roots deeper into his body!
“What the hell is this?! Don’t mess with me!!”
Even though he could clearly feel his flesh being gouged, there was unnervingly little pain.
That’s why it took him so long to realize!!
Panicking, Sekihankus tried to yank it out, but no matter how much force he used, the terrifyingly sturdy branch did not move.
(What nonsense!? I am a marquis…?!)
And yet, he was further strengthened by the power of [Acceptance]! To think that he couldn’t pull out a thin branch much less rip it apart?!
“Damn it.”
He deployed a portable Dwarf-made spear, intending to cut it away.
“Ah!?”
It hurt! Somehow, when he injured the branch, a sharp pain shot through him. It was as if— it was as if it were part of his own body—!
“~~~~!!”
Chilled with terror, Sekihankus’s face twisted. He felt a strange sensation deep in his throat, and upon coughing, leaves appeared.
“Don’t… get silly!!”
I can just think of this pain as if I’d sliced my own hand! He forcibly snipped the branch off in frustration and slammed it down to the ground, but in that moment, he realized he had made a grave mistake.
—Even if he cut the branch, the roots that had penetrated deep into his body would remain untouched.
And merely cutting the branch would not stop its growth.
“Ha—huh—huh!!”
Breath became labored. A fierce discomfort gripped his lungs and heart. The branch and roots began to curl around him. Scratching at his chest brought him no solace; the only way for Sekihankus to survive was to rip open his own chest, pulling out the roots along with his organs — it was the only escape route!
“Aaaaaaaah!!”
But by the time he came to this realization, it was far too late.
(Not possible! With something like… like this, I—!)
To be devoured from within, and to perish because of it—
Such an end, I absolutely cannot—
(—No, dammit!! Don’t think about it!!)
Desperately trying to drown out his thoughts, he suddenly coughed up a mass of petals and leaves.
—There’s no way I could accept this!!
He instinctively rejected it.
At that moment, the grace of [Acceptance], the enhancement, lost its effectiveness.
“Gah… Aaaah—!!”
Sekihankus’s magical power diminished in an instant, and the miracle that could no longer be resisted exploded with its effects.
Branches burst from Sekihankus’s mouth, rapidly growing. With a loud, bizarre sound, branches shot from every part of his body—
[Divine Abundance]. Originally a technique to dominate a large area, it had been sealed within a single seed, and now it aimed to sprout, blooming using Sekihankus as nourishment.
“Aaaah—!! Aaaah—!!”
He could barely breathe, his throat and lungs filled with branches and leaves, leaving him to utter only faint, rasping cries. As Sekihankus “rejected” the sprouting, pain like being gouged from within seized him at last.
Burning from the inside with pure, radiant light, gouged flesh and bone, he writhed in a half-mad frenzy.
“My lord…? My lord!!”
A nearby night elf maid, noticing the anomaly, poked her head out of a tent. Upon seeing Sekihankus’s gruesome form, and the light grilling his skin even from a distance, she shrieked, “Kyaah!”
The young commander revered by the Sauroe tribe was being systematically torn apart by young trees sprouting from within him.
“Ah…! Ah!… Aaaah!!”
Tears of blood flowed from Sekihankus as he reached out a hand toward the night elf maid. That hand too was covered in vines, leaves sprouting between his fingers, transforming his “arm” into a “branch.”
“Do… something…!”
Like a drowning man grasping at straw, Sekihankus rasped for help from the wooden maid—his eyes were enveloped in bright green leaves.
—They sprouted.
With squelching sounds, the sacred tree pierced through the demon’s body, absorbing its rich blood and magical power, growing rapidly.
“Ahhh! Hot, so hot!!!”
Burned by the light emitted from the sacred tree, the night elf maid’s face was stripped of its mask, and as she rolled away, smoke rose from her skin.
Under the clear night sky, the young tree, glowing with phosphorescent light, firmly rooted itself in the earth, swiftly extending branches and buds.
And soon, numerous beautifully shining flowers began to bloom.
The petals danced in the night breeze, creating a fantastical and beautiful scene—
“……”
If one closed their eyes to the roots gnawing at the demon’s body—
Marquis of the Demon Lord Kingdom, Sekihankus Sauroe.
Killed by a single arrow from the Forest Elves.
†††
“…Did I hit?”
On the castle wall, Liliana tilted her head.
(Odigos, where is the enemy commander?)
Once more, the guiding magic power surged.
That “path” led directly to the group of demons below—closing in on the Berkeley Gorge gate.
It wasn’t at their main camp; the “commander” was at their feet.
Ah, it appeared she had secured a hit.
“The Demon Lord army is said to have a solid command system, after all!”
The commander was dead, and authority was passed to the vice commander—at least, that’s how the ability of [Guidance] had judged it.
“Grandpa, we did it!”
“Impressive, my lady—Lily!!”
Though Orderju accidentally called her “Princess,” he quickly corrected himself. It wasn’t like him to be so flustered; indeed, it seemed he couldn’t help but revel in the unexpected success.
With a chuckle, Liliana reached into her chest pocket.
—Taking out another nut.
“Then, onto the next one.”
After that last strike, her stamina and magical power had been considerably depleted.
But.
That could only be compensated and surpassed.
Liliana had grown.
—The nightmare for the Demon Lord army was just beginning.