I Picked up the Demon King - Chapter 56

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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 56

 

The sound of leaves rustling in the wind, which could be heard anywhere in the Great Forest, was not audible. There were no sounds of insects, nor the cries of unknown beasts howling.

 

I thought quite a long time had passed. But perhaps, not much time had passed at all.

 

It felt like my body was completely submerged in a vast lake. My heightened senses had settled down. The only thing I could hear was the sound of my heart beating.

 

The world was growing distant. My consciousness was growing distant.

 

Would I disappear like this? If so, that wouldn’t be so bad. It was a little cold, but extremely comfortable.

 

-Pull yourself together.

 

From very far away, a small voice reached me. It was such a tiny whisper, but it was enough to awaken my mind.

 

However, my awakened consciousness only maintained a clear state while sinking deeper and deeper down. The voice repeatedly called out to me, but as time passed, it grew more and more distant.

 

The cold grew stronger.

 

In the bone-chilling cold, in the pitch-black darkness, it was there. So very small, so precarious it seemed ready to crumble at any moment. And above all, so dear…

 

A single tree, bearing vivid colors.

 

* * *

 

“Where is…”

 

The first thing Jude saw when he opened his eyes was the blackened night sky and the form of a massive tree covering half his vision. Since the last thing he had seen was the withered and twisted tree wall, he felt a small sense of bewilderment.

 

He reflexively tried to get up from where he lay, but realized his body wouldn’t move.

 

“You’re awake. It would have been better if you had just kept sleeping.”

 

Barely managing to turn his head toward the familiar voice, Jude could see the old Elf King. His face looked several times more tired than when he had seen him before, but his voice wasn’t much different from before.

 

Around the King, other elves were busily moving about, drawing magic circles.

 

“So, we were found out in the end.”

“Well, that’s only natural. It’s hard to find a tree that withered to that extent anywhere in this Great Forest. I’d say the discovery was actually late. Who would have thought you’d be hiding so close to the Divine Tree.”

 

Since the tree that had been hiding them had completely lost its strength, being discovered was inevitable. Jude, who had been quietly accepting this, noticed something strange in the King’s words.

 

“Divine Tree?”

 

Divine Tree was certainly what they called the World Tree. But since the World Tree Branch was inside Jude’s body, there couldn’t be another Divine Tree in the Great Forest. Or could it be that the elves’ obsession continued over the long years had actually managed to create the World Tree again?

 

“That’s right. The Divine Tree. Look at that beautiful form. Certainly it hasn’t yet reached the level of the World Tree, but it’s the result created by the elves’ obsession that has continued since the mythical age. Could there be anything else more deserving of the name Divine Tree?”

 

The King walked behind Jude, stroking the massive tree as he spoke. Jude soon realized.

 

It was the large tree that could be clearly seen from anywhere in the Great Forest. The very tree he had been trapped in until recently.

 

“And…”

 

The King, who had been looking up at the tree, smiled with satisfaction as he spoke.

 

“What was lacking will soon be filled.”

 

Jude suddenly felt cold sweat flowing.

 

He realized that if the elves had set their minds to it, he might have been absorbed and become part of the World Tree while trapped unknowingly in the tree.

 

Even so, he didn’t feel grateful toward the Elf King and the other elves.

 

For them, it was just pushing the time back a little. In the elves’ sense of time, it would truly be just a moment.

 

“Listen!”

 

With the Elf King’s shout, all around became quiet. Only the sound of a few startled birds flapping their wings could be heard.

 

When he forced his head to turn, he could see elves lined up endlessly.

 

Their number was as many as thousands. It was such a large number that it seemed like they had gathered all the elves from the Great Forest, from the entire continent.

 

“Today is a historic day. It’s the starting point that will change not just our race, but the entire Middle Realm.”

 

The King spoke in a low voice. Though he didn’t seem to be shouting loudly, perhaps because all around was quiet, his voice spread widely.

 

“Not long ago, we discovered the World Tree Fragment we had been searching for. Unfortunately, it was in human hands, and we politely invited him as a guest to request cooperation. Unfortunately, he refused to cooperate and ran away.”

 

The Elf King’s appearance, pressing his forehead with one hand as if truly regretful. Immediately after, he turned toward Jude and extended his hand.

 

“That person is right here.”

 

Jude let out a hollow laugh.

 

It was a farce. He felt like the villain in some cheap play. Or perhaps conversely, like a princess caught in the villain’s hands.

 

However, one thing was certain: there was no longer anyone who would appear to rescue Jude from this place. Birutta had already fulfilled her role and taken her own life.

 

“May the World Tree’s blessing be with Guardian Remal, who made the greatest contribution to finding the fugitive.”

 

Remal, who appeared before the Elf King, knelt down. The face that could be glimpsed was filled with indescribable emotion.

 

“May the World Tree’s blessing be with you!”

“May the World Tree’s blessing be with you!”

 

The elves gathered around the Divine Tree shouted.

 

Absurdly, the resonance of that voice sounded like an orchestra’s performance, and Jude felt goosebumps rising up to the back of his neck.

 

From that voice containing no hostility or malice toward him, he felt an indescribable madness anew.

 

“Rejoice! That you can witness the resurrection of a god with your own eyes. Be ecstatic! That you can sing of this glorious moment with your own mouth. Cheer! That we have finally achieved our cherished wish!”

 

This wasn’t judgment for a fugitive. It was a festival.

 

Jude barely suppressed the nausea that rose to his throat. In a completely different place, he recalled the execution ceremony in Belive Territory.

 

As his emotions wavered, he suppressed the Ice Spirit that reacted to them. The Elf King, who had been enjoying the cheers for a while, smiled at Jude.

 

“You will be the same. Soon you will become one with the divine tree. It’s an achievement no human has ever experienced.”

“If it’s such a good experience, how about you go first.”

“As expected, humans are hopelessly foolish. I’m worried you might have a bad influence on the divine tree.”

 

The Elf King shook his head and gestured. The cheering stopped, and murmuring reminiscent of wailing echoed.

 

Light burst forth from all directions.

 

Presumably, it was a magic circle. Moreover, it was the elves’ secret art that melted living beings alive and absorbed them into plants. The magic circle spread to an enormous size, as large as the giant tree.

 

-If you stay like this, you’ll die. You don’t have the power to resist such large-scale magic yet.

“I know!”

 

The summoned Ice Spirit, with a grinding sound, broke the tree that had been binding Jude. Fortunately, nothing seemed to be broken or wrong with his body. Just as he quickly retreated and tried to deploy Deception.

 

“Are you trying to run away again? We’re already well prepared. Dryad.”

 

The Elf King’s mocking voice. Following that…

 

“Dryad.”

“Dryad.”

“Dryad.”

 

The voices of the gathered elves echoed like an echo.

 

Immediately after, countless trees of the Great Forest moved to form walls, and roots rising from the ground blocked the gaps.

 

-Oh no. We’re completely trapped.

 

Hiding his appearance with Deception wasn’t difficult, but he couldn’t break through such high walls.

 

-Hmm. Indeed…

 

To make matters worse, the walls kept closing in. The ceiling was already blocked. Only then could he understand the Elf King’s scheme.

 

“Ha, this crazy bastard…!”

 

That guy planned to absorb Jude into the giant tree called the divine tree, and use the divinity sleeping within to resurrect the World Tree.

 

But that wasn’t all.

 

The plaza that he hadn’t seen before, as if all the elves in the Great Forest had gathered. The walls closing in. The customs of those guys he had heard from Birutta.

 

The Elf King, no, that guy who could no longer be called a king, was now, at this moment… planning to offer all elves including himself as sacrifices for the World Tree’s resurrection!

 

“Mad, you say. I won’t particularly deny it. Rather, I’m delighted.”

 

However, the Elf King laughed as if pleased by the voice condemning him.

 

“Without going mad, how could one achieve their cherished wish? If it can be achieved by me alone going mad, what a cheap price that would be.”

 

When the Elf King gestured, dozens of roots sprouted from the ground and flew toward him.

 

Each root was as thick as a human torso, so when intertwined together, their size reached several meters. The Ice Spirit hastily created a wall, but it shook without properly blocking even one attack.

 

A massive amount of mana drained from Jude’s body. Recalling how it had blocked even the Holy Knight Commander’s attacks several times, this was an absurd level of power.

 

“Fine. You want to try this, right?”

 

Jude, suppressing a feeling slightly different from his previous nausea, shouted.

 

“Ice Spirit! Just hold on for a moment!”

-Kieee…?

 

He closed his eyes. Earlier he couldn’t complete it due to the Demon Lord’s call and the elves’ interference, but now was different.

 

His consciousness quickly sank. A world where surrounding noise grew distant. He ignored the sensation of losing his sense of self and the successive waves of shock that followed.

 

It was something he had tried once before. Something he could do.

 

If so, it wasn’t difficult. This time he wouldn’t fail.

 

However, the situation was slightly different from before.

 

Only pitch-black darkness remained, and he didn’t feel the bone-chilling cold. Therefore, Jude could be certain.

 

Contrary to his initial thoughts, this might be quite familiar. Both the darkness and cold were quite familiar things.

 

Finally, Jude found a small branch too embarrassing to call a tree and touched it.

 

He felt tremendous power from his fingertips. However, Jude intuitively realized. Even if he absorbed this now, he couldn’t resolve this situation.

 

Certainly this would open up great power and possibilities, but there wasn’t enough time to assimilate it. Even though it was just a fragment, it was incomparable to absorbing a knight’s soul.

 

The power his opponent had built up was the same. It was no different from facing the elves’ obsession that had continued for thousands of years. It was on a different dimension from just one Knight Order. But.

 

“I already know the method. Right?”

-Tch. What a boring fellow.

 

What I unleash is Soul Magic. The target is the World Tree branch sleeping within me.

 

Grayish-white chains pierced into my chest, pulling out the withered tree branch.

 

“That’s…! Give it back! The World Tree, our god…!”

 

Ignoring the Elf King’s cry, I snatched the tree branch.

 

Though it’s materialized, this too is a spirit. It’s sufficient to serve as material for Spirit Summoning.

 

Even Master, who had no knowledge of Soul Magic, succeeded in fusing with this, so the conditions should be considered much better.

 

The tree branch in my grip burrowed into my flesh. I felt the pain of living flesh being torn. It started from my palm, traveled up my arm, and spread throughout my entire body.

 

“Kugh…!”

 

Tearing through my back, several strands of branches emerged. I already had a way to control the branches that tried to extend wildly on their own.

 

“Six Arms.”

 

The World Tree branches had fully awakened.

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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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