I Picked up the Demon King - Chapter 40

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 40

 

“Tch, wasn’t it just one guy?”

 

The mages were flustered by the sudden attack from the elves. They seemed to think the new attackers were in league with me.

 

It was a fortunate turn of events. Thanks to the mages being caught off guard and having their feet bound by the suddenly sprouting tree branches, I was able to take down additional enemies nearby.

 

But such a situation didn’t last long.

 

Flames erupted from the mages’ bodies, burning away the tree branches. Though the branches hadn’t been easily pierced even by the Ice Spirit’s attacks, they couldn’t withstand the fierce flames.

 

-The Red Magic Tower’s specialty is attack magic. Fire magic in particular. The compatibility wasn’t good.

 

If it’s flames, then I just need to suppress them with stronger cold. Ignoring the Demon Lord’s mockery, I commanded the Ice Spirit to attack. The Ice Spirit born from assimilating with eternal ice wasn’t yet in perfect condition, but it wasn’t weak enough to melt from that level of fire.

 

-Kiiiaaa!

 

Thud.

 

A massive chunk of ice fell from above the mages’ heads. The mage who had scoffed and ignored it was crushed and lost his life.

 

However, most who had been sufficiently cautious and deployed shields managed to save their lives. Moreover.

 

“Spark. Condense. Explode. Explosion!”

“Ignite. Amplify. Burst. Fire Strike!”

 

As soon as the shortened incantations ended, attacks came flying.

 

Judging by the level of mana I could sense, it was power that the Ice Spirit could sufficiently block.

 

‘But it’s too fast. Can the Ice Spirit react in time?’

 

The Ice Spirit, sensing the threat, reacted. But it was too late. It was because I had just commanded it to attack moments before.

 

I desperately tried to think of available means, but there was no way to block it with the spells I knew. What I ultimately chose was to curl up my body to reduce the damage even slightly.

 

-Tch.

 

I wrapped my body with six arms and surrounded them with mana. Though it was clumsy due to the rush, it was somewhat similar to aura…

 

“Kugh!”

 

A tremendous impact struck me. The wall of mana shattered, and flames pierced through the bone arms, approaching me.

 

* * *

 

“Hmm?”

“Where are you looking!”

 

Six shields deployed at different angles deflected the knights’ swords.

 

Simultaneously, fragments of mana scattered. The shields that had blocked the knights’ aura-filled swords finally shattered.

 

Forcibly disrupted magic was bound to give the caster a powerful backlash. In a situation where an ordinary mage wouldn’t be strange to cough up blood, the Dark Mage only frowned slightly before deploying magic again.

 

“Explosion.”

 

The bone arms hanging behind his back each formed hand seals, extremely shortening the incantation. Count Andril let out a groan at the explosion magic that activated at a speed that could be called instantaneous.

 

‘Each individual magic isn’t that powerful, but there’s no way to approach.’

 

It was like facing a well-trained mage unit. No, it was an even more troublesome situation than that.

 

Moreover, the magic being weak in power only applied to the Count himself. For the knight order members who couldn’t envelop their entire bodies in aura, each spell was lethal.

 

Just now, the upper body of a knight who reacted too slowly had burst apart. Undoubtedly a fatal wound. He seemed to still be breathing, but that would only last a few seconds at most.

 

On top of that, for some reason, magical support had stopped since a while ago. At this rate, he would lose all the knights of his territory. It would be better to use a major technique and resolve the situation, even if it meant accepting some sacrifices.

 

“Gather!”

 

When the lord who had let out a sigh shouted, the knights who had been surrounding the Dark Mage flocked to the lord’s vicinity.

 

“Hold out for just ten seconds…!”

“Yes!”

 

Only then did the Dark Mage turn his gaze toward them.

 

“A Sword Master’s full power. Normally, it would have been quite interesting, but…”

 

At the same time, from inside the robe, not the bone arms but the Dark Mage’s own arm was revealed.

 

A withered and gaunt arm. And a tree branch held in that hand.

 

It was so withered that the tree branch and arm seemed to be one. The knight guarding the lord who was concentrating to gather power suddenly had such a thought.

 

“Devour.”

 

A clear sign of attack. The tense knight drew up his aura to the fullest, but…

 

‘…?’

 

Nothing happened.

 

Now that the ten seconds the lord had mentioned had almost passed, something strange entered the vision of the knight who was about to let out a sigh of relief.

 

In the spot where the corpse of his fellow knight who had died earlier should have been, for some reason only white bones remained.

 

The knight, frozen from not understanding the situation, soon realized that the ten seconds the lord had mentioned had long since passed.

 

The knight raised his sword to illuminate behind him while staying wary of the dark mage.

 

The blade heated with aura flickered, revealing the lord’s figure. The knight could see him. His master, completely motionless, yet gradually withering away.

 

When the startled knight forgot to guard against the dark mage and turned around. He discovered small thorns embedded in his companions’ and the lord’s bodies.

 

‘No, threads…?’

 

Thin like threads, yet sharp, they sprouted from the dry sandy ground. The sight of the threads fluttering in the gentle breeze, occasionally undulating as if sucking something in, was enough to plunge the knight into terror.

 

“Have you seen enough?”

 

A voice reached the ears of the retreating knight. Followed immediately by a stinging, itchy sensation.

 

He wanted to scratch his back, arms, ankles and thighs, neck, fingers, calves, ears and eyeballs right away, but the knight couldn’t move. He couldn’t even breathe.

 

It was natural. Those things were already embedded everywhere in the knight’s body, including his internal organs.

 

“I’m grateful to you all. Thanks to you, I was able to confirm what this is. A World Tree Branch. I thought such things only appeared in myths.”

 

The dark mage’s voice flowed through his ears as they gradually dried up and lost their form.

 

“Using this, I will become the master of myth. If I can do that, then I…”

 

However, the knight couldn’t hear his voice. He couldn’t comprehend the meaning of the words.

 

Because even the brain that should listen and interpret had long since dried up and withered.

 

“The experiment is over. You may be proud. Your Andril will become the foundation for reviving the World Tree. …But before that.”

 

The dark mage’s gaze turned somewhere.

 

“Let me see my disciple’s face after such a long time.”

 

* * *

 

“Kh, kuk…!”

-Have you regained consciousness.

 

I came to my senses from terrible pain. I tried to open my eyes but couldn’t.

 

My senses were strange. My ears felt muffled, and I had no strength in my body. Even when I tried to move, I couldn’t, so all I could do was make wheezing sounds.

 

-Don’t try to move. You took the Red Magic Tower bastards’ magic twice in a row at close range. It’s a miracle you’re alive.

‘The magic, the people…?’

 

I didn’t understand. If what he said was true, I had almost died just now. That also meant the Demon Lord’s own soul bound to me had almost been annihilated. So how could he be so calm?

 

No, before that, how was I even alive?

 

“Ah…”

 

Soon I realized the reason.

 

It was Master. Master must have saved me. As if my guess wasn’t wrong, I heard a familiar voice.

 

“You’ve awakened, Jude. My foolish disciple.”

“Kh, eh…”

 

Though it had become a bit rougher, it was definitely Master’s voice.

 

“Your mana has grown considerably. And you’ve even learned my secret techniques. What an achievement I never thought possible in the short time since we parted.”

 

Master continued speaking in the same bright, confident voice as when we first met.

 

“But how did you learn it?”

 

However, that voice gradually began to change.

 

“Surely when I stopped by the dungeon not long ago, there were no traces of my grimoire being exposed. You couldn’t have learned it after that. It’s a spell I spent over ten years researching to create. So when did you steal my spell?”

“Eh…?”

“Ah, forgive me. I got a little excited. I’ve been like this sometimes lately. Please understand.”

 

Master came close and stroked my head.

 

A rough hand touched my melted skin. The sensation, like scratching at wounds, was difficult to bear even for me who had experienced major injuries many times.

 

-This won’t do. Summon me again with spirit summoning. I’ll heal your body and get rid of that thing.

 

I couldn’t do that.

 

Spirit summoning seemed to place a great burden on the soul being used. Even the Demon Lord hadn’t awakened until nearly a month had passed since the incident in the Royal Capital.

 

And getting rid of Master.

 

Though his condition seemed a bit strange, he was still my Master. I couldn’t let him die at the Demon Lord’s hands.

 

“My disciple. Why aren’t you answering? Ah, I see. With your body in that state, it can’t be helped if you can’t answer.”

 

Right after, I felt something being embedded in my body.

 

One, two, three… They gradually increased in number, and when I came to my senses, they seemed to be densely embedded throughout my entire body.

 

“I’ll heal you.”

 

Unbearable itching and pain. At the same time, I felt tremendous energy flowing into my body.

 

It wasn’t mana, magic power, divine power, or aura. It was an energy I’d never felt before… yet somehow familiar.

 

-It’s life force.

 

My distorted senses aligned. My motionless body began to move little by little.

 

My eyes that wouldn’t open finally opened, and I could see Master’s face.

 

“Master…?”

“Yes, my disciple.”

 

What shocked me most was his body, which had withered to several times thinner than when I last saw him.

 

“Why, do I look unsightly?”

 

Master asked, bringing his gleaming eyes close to mine. I tried to pull back, but my body still wouldn’t budge at all.

 

I barely managed to turn my head to examine my body and was shocked once again.

 

The thorns densely piercing my entire body were connected directly to Master’s feet.

 

“Master, this is…”

-That is.

“Magnificent, isn’t it? It’s a World Tree branch.”

 

Master answered, cutting off the Demon Lord’s voice.

 

“The World Tree… have you heard of it? An ancient divine tree whose roots rest in the Underground Demon Realm and whose branches reach the Heavenly Realm. You can’t imagine how amazed I was when I discovered this.”

“I’ve heard the name. But why is it…?”

 

Why was it merged with Master’s body? Why did it look to my eyes like it was growing by feeding off Master’s body as nourishment?

 

“Though it’s merely a branch, its essence remains unchanged. If I combine several magic formulas, I might be able to revive this relic from the age of myths. That’s what I thought, and I was right. My disciple.”

“Revive it?”

“Yes. What I needed for that was life force. Since the World Tree itself symbolizes life, I required an overwhelming amount of life force. It wasn’t easy, but thanks to that foolish Lord bringing his troops, my research on the magic formula is complete.”

 

Master was no longer listening to me. He seemed intoxicated by his own story.

 

“Master.”

 

After rambling about his new magic formula for a long while, Master looked down at me with cold eyes.

 

“Ah, yes. Jude. My disciple. You inadequate fool. You stupid fool. You incompetent fool. Won’t you tell me now?”

“…”

“When did it start? When did you steal my magic formula?”

 

I felt a soul-crushing pain. The contract I made on my first day serving Master, sworn upon my soul, compelled me to answer his question.

 

“That was…”

 

I hardened my expression and opened my mouth.

 

“About a week ago.”

 

Master, whom I thought was dead, had become strange somehow.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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