Star-Embracing Swordmaster (Full)

The gaze I feel around me is sharp.

Jager, who was drinking liquor from a leather canteen alone, closed the cap as he felt the stares of the headless figures beside him.

"Why not offer them a drink?"

Although it was a warm spring day, the area where the headless knights stood seemed covered in frost.

However, Jager, indifferent to the cold atmosphere, merely mocked the chilly looks surrounding him.

"Ah, right, you don't have mouths to drink with. I hadn't noticed."

Jager was the only warm being among the dead.

His presence, so out of place in this landscape, seemed like a painting with a different texture, but he didn't retreat even a step while standing among the dead.

"Jager."

As the atmosphere grew increasingly hostile, a hand gesture carefully called Jager over.

It was a gesture from Joseph, who had just finished speaking with Count Vitskaya.

"How did it go?"

"He agreed to cooperate. It seems the count sees Ausurin as his last hope."

Count Vitskaya's obsession with Ausurin was already burning with rage and desire.

Joseph, who had come to confirm the Count's obsession under Ramashthu's orders, looked at the scene before him and continued speaking cautiously.

"We will move along with the count's soldiers. After all, it's only right that the living move with the living."

The place Joseph was looking at was filled with sinister things.

There were headless people resurrected from the dead.

Even cursed beings with all their limbs twisted.

Cursed spirits floating like shadows and even large corpse bodies with limbs everywhere.

All these beings were evil creatures created by dark sorcerers drawn to the great darkness of Ramashthu.

"…Looking at all this, it really is an impressive sight. How did all these beings manage to stay hidden for so long?"

Even Joseph, usually unshaken, couldn't help but frown at the infernal camp that seemed to recreate hell on earth.

Usually, these were beings you couldn't find no matter how hard you searched, but now they were everywhere you looked, making it difficult even for Joseph to remain calm.

"Who could possibly clean up all of this?"

It was too much darkness to take in with just one glance.

These were shadows that even he, prepared to face them, could hardly bear to see.

However, all those cursed beings now on display had been ignored for too long by those who should have fulfilled their duties. Now, someone would have to face the poison they produced.

"Let's go. If we stay here any longer, I'll suffocate."

"Understood."

Joseph, making an effort to turn his head, began crossing the death-filled field, heading toward Vitskaya's garrison.

All of this was, ultimately, the result of accumulated sins.

Nobles should have duties instead of just power, and people should have responsibilities instead of just faith, but those in power today weren't doing that.

That's why Joseph was convinced that the wounds they had created would eventually erupt in their generation.

***

It was a dense forest.

Seen from above, it looked like a green sea, so thick that trees filled every corner.

In the middle of the forest, a young World Tree stood tall, peeking above the green sea.

"…What's the current status of Count Vitskaya's troops?"

However, even in this peaceful scene, Baradis's face was completely frozen.

Since it was spring, the outside landscape was quite realistic, but it seemed difficult to find any sign of relaxation on Baradis's face.

"They number about a thousand soldiers. It seems Count Vitskaya is putting everything on the line with this gamble."

"They are fully prepared. According to scouts' reports, they could advance at any moment."

After the serious question, came hurried answers.

The current situation was so urgent that even the seasoned rangers were nervous, and they could be certain that the start was not far off.

"I see."

After hearing the report, Baradis sighed softly.

In addition to the nearly thousand human soldiers, those who are resurrected continue to join even now.

Even if it was a human army, the existence of the resurrected who had invaded right in front of the World Tree was slowly gnawing away at Baradis's nerves.

"When do they say the barrier will be restored?"

"They say it will take at least a month, even if they speed up the process."

After hearing the report, Baradis slightly turned his head and looked out the window.

"A month."

Below the young World Tree visible beyond the window, it was still full of elders who were writing something while bowing with difficulty.

Since elves are long-lived, the elders of the Council of Elders have lived longer lives than the trees in the forest.

But now, regardless of their aging bodies, they were trying to restore the forest's protective barrier that had been previously destroyed.

'The situation is anything but easy.'

The current situation demands that all capable people move quickly, regardless of their age or position.

The situation was perhaps even more severe than when Nidhogg, the most cunning dragon, attacked, but the reality the elves now faced was that they had no one to turn to for help.

Knock, knock, knock.

"Hmm?"

Suddenly, a knock was heard at the door of the office where Baradis was with the rangers.

Baradis, knowing that no one would come to visit at that moment, looked at the elf who opened the door and entered with puzzled eyes.

"What's happening?"

"…Well."

The elf who now entered through the door was someone who shouldn't have been there.

Because he was an elf who had to guard the World Tree at all times.

But now he was standing here with a pale complexion, looking at Baradis.

"I'm sorry. Lord Baradis."

"Why?"

He was one of the elves who guarded the World Tree.

More precisely, he protected both the World Tree and the priestess, Baradis's younger sister.

The elf was now standing in front of Baradis, shaking his head and speaking as if he was ashamed.

"The priestess has left."

"…"

It was a moment when security was more important than ever.

But hearing that the priestess, who was supposed to be protected along with the World Tree, had left, the faces of the elves in the office quickly changed.

"Why? She must have had a reason."

"I don't know. She said she had to receive a guest and left without listening to reason."

"A guest?"

The priestess of the World Tree, who had never left, now did so, saying that a guest had arrived.

Baradis felt a strange sense of déjà vu as he left dangerously with the mysterious words that a guest had arrived.

"A guest…?"

Though she was a priestess who had never been outside in her life, there had been times when she stubbornly tried to leave the forest, like today.

With the news that an important guest was coming, one that had to be greeted personally.

Baradis remembered that it was probably the first time he had met a human knight named Vlad.

"Send the rangers immediately. Protect the priestess."

With those words, Baradis stood up, walked to the window, and looked at the young World Tree outside.

The green leaves seemed to tremble even more today.

Though there was no wind, among the moving leaves were small spirits jumping with joy.

***

Even though the Elven forest was densely populated with trees, there were occasional clearings where the sunlight shone brightly.

In one such clearing, covered with green clovers, something suddenly poked through.

Boing-!

In a place where only butterflies fluttered in search of flowers, a boy's head suddenly appeared.

The creature, who had been wandering underground just a moment ago, squinted his eyes and waved his short arms as if the sunlight shining down on him was too bright.

"Are we here? Can I come out now?"

Kyu kyu-!

"If we've arrived, get off my head. How long are you going to stay up there?"

It was the voice of a man who seemed to be containing his anger.

The butterflies hovering around the flower petals were startled by the eerie voice coming from beneath the ground and began floating up into the sky.

"…"

A human head cautiously emerged from beneath the mole that had stuck its head out.

Though he was dirty from all the soil, the man had impressive blond hair that gleamed under the sunlight.

"Where are we?"

Vlad, who had just stuck his head out of the ground, tensed at the sight of the lush green landscape.

Just a few days ago, Vlad had been in the middle of a wasteland, so he couldn't quite adjust to the scene now before him.

Kyu kyu-!

"How far have you brought us, huh?"

Despite Vlad's question, the mole, who seemed to have completed its task, simply flopped down, exhausted.

The mole, which had dug a tunnel from underground to bring the group here, collapsed and started to stick out its tongue, worn out.

"…It's fine, rest. Anywhere is better than back there."

Vlad, looking at the exhausted mole, carefully placed it on the ground and began to crawl out of the hole.

Vlad's cautious posture, as he sharpened his senses, was reminiscent of a wolf emerging from its den.

"It's a forest."

Using his heightened senses to confirm that no one was around, Vlad could tell he was now standing in the middle of a forest.

He was in the middle of a field of flowers full of vibrant colors.

"Was there a forest of this size a few days away?"

Vlad murmured to himself, puzzled by the landscape around him.

Several days had passed since they walked through the tunnel dug by the glowing mole, guiding the refugees from the Ruga tribe.

However, no matter how unfamiliar Vlad was with the geography of the central region, he knew there wasn't a forest like this just a few days away.

"It's because you followed the path shown to you by a spirit."

"…!"

Suddenly, a voice sounded next to Vlad, who was still disoriented.

Vlad, who had just confirmed there was nothing nearby, was startled by the voice coming from right beside him.

"…Who are you?"

"It's a pleasure to see you again."

However, the person who surprised Vlad simply waved cheerfully as if nothing had happened.

"Did the images I sent you help?"

There was a girl looking at Vlad, standing in front of a field of flowers swaying in the wind.

She wore a wide-brimmed hat and stood in front of the flower field.

The image of the girl, who looked as natural as the flowers around her, didn't seem out of place at all.

"Why are you here?"

With Vlad's surprised question, the refugees from the Ruga tribe began to emerge one by one from the underground cave.

Everyone, from children to the elderly, was initially blinded by the bright light and covered their eyes with their hands. Soon, their mouths opened in amazement at the sight before them.

"…Where are we?"

Not in a dirty alley or a desolate wasteland, but in an Elven forest full of green waves.

The children of the Ruga family, who had finally regained their sight, let out loud shouts of wonder upon seeing the great tree in the distance.

"A tree!"

"Wow, that tree is huge!"

They had arrived in the forest on the eastern edge, Ausurin, following the path shown to them by a spirit.

The young World Tree, which looked out over the forest, shook its leaves as if happy to see the young beastmen who were awestruck at the sight of it.