I Picked up the Demon King - Chapter 59

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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 59

 

The Elf King is a monster who has lived for nearly a thousand years.

 

Naturally, the depth of his schemes was so profound that Jude couldn’t even imagine it, and it was right to assume that every single action carried meaning.

 

In Jude’s judgment, the Elf King’s principle of action was interest. Having lived long enough for his senses to dull to external stimuli and his emotions to wear away, the Elf King would find it hard to resist the interest that had bloomed after such a long time.

 

But was that simply all there was to it?

 

Those with excellent cunning embed dozens of intentions into a single action. Because of this, it’s nearly impossible to grasp all their intentions, and even if things don’t go according to plan, they can still gain benefits in other ways.

 

“….”

 

In Jude’s assessment, the Elf King was the same.

 

Twitch.

 

The Elf King’s finger, who had clearly been dying with his heart pierced through, moved again. The movement spread from his arm throughout his entire body, and soon he began to rise.

 

The hole in his heart had already disappeared without a trace.

 

Resurrection.

 

A scene that could only be called a divine miracle, surpassing even mystery itself. Countless mages had researched ways to revive the dead, but the result was always destruction.

 

But now, the Elf King had clearly been resurrected from death. Even though his breath had stopped not long ago, it was an impossible miracle.

 

His eyes, which had lost their light, regained focus. The Elf King felt around the spot where his wound had been and marveled.

 

“Amazing….”

 

Though he appeared completely defenseless, the strange sense of intimidation emanating from the King prevented Jude from moving.

 

The King remained calm even with Jude before him, who had just attacked him and inflicted a fatal wound that led to death. As if the rage from moments before had been a lie.

 

“Dryad, receiving life force from the spirits we created to heal the body is a method we’ve been using for a long time. I too have been prolonging my life through that.”

 

From the Elf King’s mouth flowed the secret of the altar where he had been lying.

 

Just as the wounded Birutta had received life force from the Mother Tree to heal her body, he too had been extending his lifespan with life force received from other trees.

 

“But something this radical, is it because of the difference in thinking between humans and elves? Yes. I hadn’t thought of it. The power of several trees was consumed at once. Amazingly inefficient. But amazingly effective.”

“Several trees…?”

 

Jude looked around, recalling the ‘Mother Tree’ that had completely withered. But he couldn’t see any trees that looked the same.

 

The King didn’t answer Jude’s question. He simply smiled and stretched out both arms.

 

Then the trees moved.

 

Elves are beings naturally born with higher senses and mana affinity than humans. Among them, the King, who had exceptional talent and had built up his power with obsession over nearly a thousand years, had strength that was far from being all there was.

 

A massive vibration spread. Countless trees growing in the Great Forest moved to form a magic circle.

 

“…What is this.”

 

Jude, whose senses had been enhanced by absorbing Birutta’s soul, noticed. The magic circle being created now was on a larger scale than any magic circle he had ever seen. Large enough to cover the entire Great Forest….

 

No, the entire Great Forest was transforming into a single magic circle.

 

It was truly a situation that deserved to be called a disaster. Even if he deployed Deception at full power, he would die without being able to escape the range of the magic circle.

 

-Calm down.

 

Just as helplessness and despair were about to overwhelm Jude, the Demon Lord’s leisurely voice awakened his mind.

 

-You know well the characteristics of magic circles. That guy isn’t you. Though he’s skilled, it will inevitably take quite some time until activation.

 

The characteristic of magic circles was that while they had better mana efficiency and superior power compared to other methods, they took a long time to prepare.

 

Unless one had the ability to instantly draw mental images with magic power like Jude, even the Elf King would need time to activate dozens of magic circles.

 

But such phenomena were occurring from the preparation stage of forming the magic circle. That meant the magic the Elf King was preparing was that powerful.

 

‘Once the magic activates, there’s no turning back.’

 

He had to defeat the Elf King before that.

 

And judging by the Demon Lord’s calm tone, if he stayed calm and looked for a method, there would surely be a clue for Jude to resolve the current situation.

 

‘I have to believe that.’

 

The Demon Lord was someone utterly untrustworthy, but one thing he could believe was that he wouldn’t let Jude die.

 

“…I thought other elves only handled about one tree.”

“That’s right.”

 

The Elf King, who had been absorbed in deploying the magic circle with an ecstatic expression, smiled and answered.

 

“But how is this kind of thing….”

“What I did was simply weave all the trees of the Great Forest into one.”

 

In Jude’s mind, memories of the day he first visited the Great Forest came back. The strange trees that looked as if several trees had become tangled together in one place. But even those were at most three or four trees….

 

“…!”

“You’ve noticed. Yes. The roots.”

 

Old trees spread their roots widely. It wouldn’t be strange if the countless trees growing in the Great Forest had at least one point where their roots touched each other somewhere. The Elf King had connected them, recognizing all the trees as a single entity.

 

Whether it was possible or not didn’t matter. For a mage of the Elf King’s caliber, such symbolism alone was sufficient to produce results.

 

And at the center, the core of it all, was precisely….

 

“The Divine Tree.”

 

The Divine Tree didn’t refer to just one giant tree. It was an expression that collectively referred to all the trees existing in the Great Forest.

 

At this moment, Jude couldn’t agree with the Demon Lord’s words. The obsession of the Elves that had continued for countless ages was absolutely not something that could be dismissed. Even if it hadn’t achieved divinity, wasn’t this truly worthy of being called a World Tree?

 

“Yes. This is what carried the seed of divinity in its body a thousand years ago. My Mother Tree. It’s more than qualified to become the core of the Divine Tree.”

 

There was no time to feel any sentiment about meeting the Hero’s companion who had been a character in fairy tales.

 

The vibrations were gradually subsiding. Anyone could guess that the magic circle was racing toward completion.

 

“Just in case, let me ask, that magic circle right now is….”

“Stop.”

Jude could feel the hard wooden branches binding his limbs. Soon they burrowed into his mouth as well, silencing his words.

“I have so much to thank you for. A plan that was half-gamble now has significantly higher chances of success, and we’ve gained an unexpected new divine power.”

Where the Elf King looked, there was an ice spirit bound to a tree trunk. Having apparently expended considerable energy, it had shrunk to the size of a fist but was still struggling desperately to break free.

“But that too ends now. I’ve gotten everything I can from you. Be a good sacrifice for the ritual.”

Consciousness.

Only through those words was Jude finally able to realize the true nature of the magic circle.

“Rejoice in being part of this glorious moment. What will be born from now on is the World Tree… or perhaps something that will even surpass it.”

The elves’ secret art that sought to melt Jude and absorb him into the ‘Sacred Tree’… The Elf King was trying to make everything in the great forest truly ‘one’ in the deepest sense.

The Elf King’s behavioral patterns that Jude had figured out. His desires. It might have all been an act. Or perhaps his mind was simply addled from living too long.

‘The important thing is…’

If things continue like this, he’ll inevitably turn into a tree. But the Demon King still shows no particular movement.

‘What am I missing…?’

A desperate situation. There seemed to be no way to solve it at all. In Jude’s eyes, as he couldn’t even turn his head and could only roll his pupils….

I could see the thin wooden stems connected to the Elf King’s body.

That’s something that sprouted from the sacred tree.

To bestow infinite power and vitality upon the Elf King.

The Demon King said that Jude could do it. That there were materials scattered around to make up for the lacking life force.

Deception isn’t just magic that hides your appearance.

-So you’ve finally noticed.

Jude moved the branch that extended behind his back and drove it into the tree trunk that was binding him.

He doesn’t doubt that it’s possible. Sevian used an incomplete branch to drain the life force of thousands of humans.

Then it’s possible.

“You bastard, what are you…?”

The wooden branches that had been wrapped around Jude’s body withered and crumbled away. In contrast, the branches extending from Jude burrowed into the ground and spread across a wider area. The immense life force that poured in through his back flowed toward the branches of the World Tree harbored within his soul.

“Gasp…!”

Immense life force poured forth, and Jude was overwhelmed by the sensation that every cell in his body might burst. He felt so dizzy that coherent thought was impossible. Even in the midst of this, Jude had to be careful not to let his body expand into strange shapes.

The balance of the magic circle that had been enveloping the entire great forest crumbles. Under normal circumstances, it wouldn’t have been strange for the accumulated life force and mana to explode in a backlash, but since they quickly rushed toward Jude instead, there were no problems whatsoever.

Only the Elf King, a wielder of magic, would pay the price for failure.

“You, you bastard…!”

For the first time, a sense of urgency flowed from the Elf King. But it was already too late.

His mana circuits must be malfunctioning due to the backlash. Leaning against the wooden stake he had driven into his back to heal his wounds, barely managing to stay upright, the only thing left for him to do was watch his plan crumble.

Of course, Jude wasn’t in great shape either.

From the mythical age to the present day. The life force accumulated as the elves became spirits was by no means small. Could this level be reached by simultaneously absorbing the life force of millions of humans, far beyond tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands?

When Jude’s mentor, Sevian, had ‘coincidentally’ obtained a branch of the World Tree, he had long since surpassed the level he had originally aimed for. Yet the life force that surged into him seemed endless. It felt as though it would explode, having gone beyond the point of saturation.

-That’s the limit. Discharge.

Through a single sharp thorn that pierced through Jude’s fingertip, those life forces were expelled into the air.

“Ah, no….”

If there had been an outstanding archmage here capable of handling such power, he might have been so overwhelmed by this incredible opportunity that he would have cheered in delirium. But all that was present here was a dark mage who had barely shed his apprentice status, a failed king who was out of his mind in a different sense, and the foolish devotees who worshipped him.

Life force erupted like a storm, scattering aimlessly. Beyond the great forest, across the continent… throughout the entire Middle Realm.

How much time had passed?

 

Jude, who had regained consciousness, staggered toward the Elf King.

 

“….”

“….”

“…Kekeke.”

“What, have you lost your mind?”

 

Jude asked the King, who looked wretched and burst into mad laughter.

 

“I know. You’re the one who absorbs souls to enhance your talents.”

“How do you know that…!”

 

Surprised by the unexpected statement, Jude asked. The Elf King didn’t answer, but Jude soon found the answer.

 

‘All the trees of the Great Forest are connected as one…. Damn.’

 

The Elf King hadn’t been unable to find Jude and Birutta. Though he didn’t know the exact reason, the King had deliberately chosen not to search for them despite knowing their location.

 

“And before your eyes, here I am. The King with the greatest talent in the history of the elven race is dying.”

 

The King’s eyes gleamed.

 

“Absorb my soul. It’s good for both of us. You’ll gain talent that transcends racial limitations, and I will become one with the World Tree within you….”

“I told you. I would deliver divine punishment.”

 

Crack.

 

Jude, who smiled while baring his teeth, approached and stood before the Elf King. The King looked up at Jude while kneeling.

 

Behind Jude, the rising sun was blinding, but the King paid no attention. The scythe in his hand seemed ready to pierce his face, but he didn’t care.

 

One of the many plans the King had devised. Its completion was right before his eyes.

 

“You will die as you are, as the foolish king who ruined his clan’s long-cherished wish.”

“It doesn’t matter. I am…!”

“I will not absorb your soul. I won’t even remember your name.”

 

Jude let his arm that had been aimed at the King drop.

 

The King’s movement stopped.

 

“That is the divine punishment I deliver to you.”

 

With those final words, the light faded from the Elf King’s eyes.

 

The countless trees that had grown throughout the Great Forest crumbled to powder and scattered in the gentle breeze.

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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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