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Chapter 283

It was more accurate to say that his adversary’s strength and power had increased so much it was incomparable to before.

“Damn… it…!” Ash’s voice was bleak.

The pitch-black sword pressed against his throat. The memories of the past were spinning around in his brain like a kaleidoscope.

‘If I die like this… my people…’

About a hundred years ago, the elves that had lived among the humans disappeared from the world. They no longer had a place in human society. As a last resort, they had fled to the edge of the continent, to what was now known as the Elven Forest, and had remained there hidden and unseen for millennia. But now, they were being told to give up the last of their land.

‘If this guy hadn’t run away with the source of the World Tree…!’

Even in a situation where his life was at stake, Ash’s eyes still glowed with rage.

Yggdrasil, or the World Tree, had existed since the primordial beginning of the forest. It had stood for many centuries, possibly thousands of elven generations, to say nothing of human lives. The secret behind its longevity was unique and had been deeply hidden within the roots of the World Tree. It was no different than the treasure of the Elves.

However, decades ago, someone had stolen it.

It had been Jerath dek Orbis, the man standing in front of Ash right now. He had been the only human being who could go in and out of the Elven Forest. At one point, Ash had even considered him a friend, which was why he had never considered Jerath as the culprit.

Jerath had vanished after leaving his only daughter behind—perhaps because he thought his presence would be bad for the other elves. At least, that’s what Ash had thought in the beginning.

‘Why did I put myself through that?’ Ash\'s expression darkened as he began to question himself the more he thought.

Yggdrasil was, despite having lost its life source, still alive, albeit hanging by a thread. This was possible because of the primordial stone, a godlike artifact. With it, they could replace the lost source of Yggdrasil. But this is where the problem arose.

Contrary to expectations, the primordial stone did not lend its power to anyone as it did not acknowledge. Worse, not a single elf had been picked from among the candidates. Yggdrasil was the only one it would lend its powers to.

‘I served the Evil Dragon Krevas for a long time as a means of subsistence. In the end, all of that effort was pointless.’

A sense of defeat sank in as Ash reached a conclusion. There was just no way out. Even his will to live was gone.

A human mage seemed to be doing something in the background, but Ash was a hundred percent sure that any human method wouldn’t work now.

“Oh? There are intruders,” Jerath noted.

“....”

“Go, now.” Jerath spoke to them.

‘Godda…’ Ash squeezed his eyes shut, bracing himself for the pain of the blade cutting through his flesh.

[Bow your head, servant.]

Impossibly, a new voice rang in his mind.

“No… No way!”

It was a miracle.

***

“How are you here?” Jerath dek Orbis—no, Berber—exclaimed in shock.

The presence was overwhelming. Even in Jerath’s dreams, the sight of that blood-red spear struck terror. After he saw it, the mere thought of it occupied his mind for days on end.

‘After being hunted for so long by the Empire, he really ought to be on the run right now; why is he even in this place?’

“Joshua Sanders!” Berber yelled, his eyes bulging like they could pop out of his head at any moment.

Joshua’s figure disappeared without a trace. After disappearing like a ghost, he reappeared with the child of Elenburs in his arms. He slowly backed away with the same expression he had when he had first appeared.

A thunderous yell erupted from Berber\'s lips. “Do you think it’s going to end so quickly?”

He stretched out his hands and demonic power from the depths of the night quickly collected at the tips of the fingers.

In terms of destructive power alone, the fire was more devastating than any other kind of power. In comparison, the strength of black magic was unparalleled.

“Dark Cannon!”

Booooom!

As Joshua ran with Ash in his arms, a streak of light shot out toward them, plowing through anything in its way. The demonic power was so powerful that it instantly reduced massive boulders to powder.

The question was, why was he even bothering?

Joshua continued running without rest; he simply ran without taking his eyes off his goal.

“Stupid!” Berber said with a smirk.

It didn’t matter that Joshua was a Superhuman. A direct hit from that beam would erase Joshua completely that not even a single bone would be left.

It made no difference whether Joshua’s bold move was meant to demonstrate his self-confidence or it was made to save the elf\'s life. Right now, the only thing Berber knew for sure was that Joshua was making a mistake.

Iceline had her eyes closed as she finished chanting, but the situation was just enough to draw her attention.

“It’s dangero—! Joshua!” she screamed.

Theta, standing next to her, gaped in shock as an overwhelming feeling of doom took over him.

The two had seen Joshua being hit in the back by the beam as he covered the elf’s tiny body with his own body.

“Hahahaha. Did you think that the pact with the sealed demon would guarantee you an invincible body?”

Berber laughed like a madman as he watched the smoke rise from Joshua’s direction.

“Huh?”

The joy of that moment quickly faded.

Woosh!

A column of fire shot upward with a flash, sending thick smoke billowing in all directions.

“What—?”

Crackle!

A crackling, pristine white current swept at his feet. Startled, Berber retreated without thinking.

“Creation of Genesis.”

A low voice reached Berber’s ears.

Boom!

The ground shook and cracked after the spear struck the earth.

“You—!” Berber gasped as he discovered Joshua apparently unharmed.

Crack!

“...!”

At that moment, the world changed. The sky suddenly went from utter blackness to a brilliant crimson, like the glow of the setting sun. The once-dead land seemed to spring back to life and resume its old appearance.

Berber\'s expression shifted from shock to astonishment as he stared. The ability to revive not just a single object, but bring back nature\'s lost vitality and reshape the ecosystem, was as a whole, the work of God.

“No… there’s no way. He’s not reviving things… he’s…”

Berber gulped as he trailed off. Finally, he understood.

This was a place where the sky and ground could be reimagined; it was a location that was far from reality.

This was a place created by the man in front of him.

“...ughh.”

Berber let out a low sigh as the scorching air brushed across his face. His flesh was marred by a stray ember from the fire that he had made in the void.

Then, suddenly, his senses were assaulted by a cacophony of sensations.

Hundreds of flaming spears stabbed his flesh. Even the most hardened of nerves would feel the sting of thousands of thunderbolt thorns. Berber struggled to even open his eyes in the storm of mana.

“I still have something up my sleeve!”

Light flared between Berber\'s eyes as a look of desperation arose on his face. His attention was quickly drawn upward.

In any case, his life would not be jeopardized so long as his life vessel was not destroyed, but he had no plans to remain idle. He couldn’t die, but he could feel the pain.

“Forces of evil! Now is the time to heed my orders,” Berber said with the voice of the devil. The sound that came from between Berber\'s teeth was bleak and horrible.

The space surrounding them trembled violently as his words echoed around the room.

The five death knights were the first to act. Numerous Dullahan, numbering in the hundreds, soon after, plus thousands of skull knights.

It didn\'t end there.

Hands popped out of the cracks in the ground and humanoid-looking monsters climbed out. Evergrant called this “bio-ghouls.” Their numbers easily exceeded the thousands and perhaps encompassed many tens of thousands.

“HAHAHAHA!”

With a little grin on his face, Berber turned to face Joshua head-on. Joshua may have created a new space, but the existing one had been Berber’s.

Joshua must have been shocked because he hadn’t budged an inch from his spot.

But Berber still had more. He looked up at the sky at his finishing move—the dragon.

“Cremion!”

Krrrrrrr!

In reply to his shout, the massive shadow that was gliding through the air drew back its head, and the air shortly became permeated with a putrid odor.

It wasn’t like the Dark Cannon. This was the Dragon Breath—a death ray in every meaning of the term.

“KWAHAHAHAHA!” Berber seemed to have lost his sanity as he burst out into laughter. He reached out with one hand.

They were two entities that might grow to be significant factors in the grand scheme of things. They needed to be killed and would be killed as soon as Berber gave his final command.

“You can hardly contain your enthusiasm,” a voice intoned from behind him.

Berber broke into a heavy sweat.

“How—?”

The voice seems vaguely familiar, but that was impossible. Joshua was standing right in front of him.

The voice spoke again as if to imply, “Yes, you are seeing it right.”

“I had a hard time locating the life vessel. It was very well disguised.”

Berber whirled to look backward.

“You can’t always leave it with Evergrant. In order to repair the vessel, you would have needed a safe place.”

“You, you, you!”

The appearance of a second Joshua Sanders made Berber\'s jaw drop.

“I\'m going to crack it open like this.”

Joshua gripped the life vessel firmly with one hand and grinned despite the dark, evil force seeping out of it.

“NO!”

“And as for the armies of the undead that are here…”

Joshua glanced in Theta and Iceline’s direction and then turned back to mouth something.

“You bastard!”

Rage filled Berber’s heart as he spat obscenities.

Although Joshua hadn’t voiced anything, Berber understood what he had said. It was as if Joshua was taunting him by mouthing ‘I will be enjoying this meal.’

“AHHHHH!”

Ominous yells in Berber\'s native language echoed across the area as a soft cracking sound penetrated the air.