Star-Embracing Swordmaster (Full)

Rumble-!

With a heavy sound, the wooden fences of Ausurin rose again, their massive forms standing tall once more.

Count Vitskaya's eyes widened in disbelief as he watched the shadows of the trees grow taller and taller, almost reaching the sky.

"...Have they taken root again?"

When it fell, it was just a felled tree, but when it rose again, it was a tree with proud roots.

Not only Count Vitskaya but also the nearby sorcerers could not hide their confusion as they looked at the wooden fence of Ausurin, which had now turned into a small forest.

[Those fuckers.]

And there were green eyes watching them with fury.

With his sharp sword and his right eye burning intensely, Vlad watched the broken bodies of the elves, feeling his anger flare up fiercely.

[They killed them.]

Green energy began to form in the sharp sword.

And the same was true for his right eye.

The young World Tree, which had finally entered this world through Vlad's sword and body, clenched its teeth as if it could not contain its rage when it saw the corpses of the elves who had tried to protect it.

[They were all good people!]

Rumble!

The young World Tree's anger erupted with a borrowed dragon's roar.

Recognizing its fury, the green ocean surrounding Ausurin began to surge violently.

"What the hell is this?!"

Seeing the violent movement, Vitskaya's soldiers began to panic greatly.

"The trees are moving!"

Because the trees around them were writhing and moving.

The trees, which could only move with the permission of the forest's owner, were raising their roots that had been buried underground towards the sky, in sympathy with the young World Tree's anger.

Kwaaaaaaaaa!

They were slow, but impossible to dodge due to their massive weight.

The formation of Vitskaya's army immediately began to disintegrate as the tree whips filled the sky.

"Aaaah!"

"What the hell is going on!"

The exploding bodies and the soldiers' resounding screams suddenly began to fill the green forest.

The trees that were supposed to stay still were rising on their own.

Even Ramashthu, who was watching from afar, lifted her veil and opened her eyes wide at the shocking scene.

"...Hmph."

And there was a breath that took advantage of this moment when the enemies were confused.

This moment, when a single move could gain momentum on a battlefield that had been heavily tilted.

Vlad, who had sensed the optimal moment to step forward, shot out like an arrow, his eyes shining.

"Haaah!"

With a powerful swing of Vlad's sword, the heads of the corpses began to explode in countless numbers.

It was a black wave that had seemed unstoppable just a moment ago, but the green world at the tip of Vlad's sword no longer allowed their advance.

Screech!

Argh-!

The golden beacon that leaped into the black sea began to sway back and forth.

The white, vacant eyes of the corpses finally opened, but the forest, in tune with the World Tree, was now Vlad's domain.

"Vlad!"

Baradis urgently raised his bow as he watched Vlad, covered in black, wolf-like corpses.

But it was only for a moment; Vlad had already risen into the sky, stepping on the corpses around him.

"...What?"

Kyu-!

The knight of the World Tree ran down the steps made by the glowing mole.

Vlad, riding down the stairs created by the glowing mole, charged towards the giant corpse that had broken through the wooden fence.

"Haah!"

It was too large to be cut down in a single strike, but it didn't matter.

Because the World Tree's world I now hold is bigger than that.

The world of the World Tree that he now held was much vaster than that being. The sword he wielded, though just a blade, contained the very essence of Ausurin, and it quickly pierced the giant corpse.

Crack! Crunch!

Is this how it would sound if it were crushed by a massive rock?

The head of the ragged corpse, pierced by Vlad's sword, began to be miserably crushed.

Kuueeek!

Though there were hundreds of corpses piled up, the weight of the sword was impossible to bear.

The ragged corpse flailed its ugly arms wildly, as if it hadn't anticipated its weight at all, but Vlad's sword was driven through without the slightest hesitation.

"…Joseph."

Because he could see Joseph's black eyes watching him from beyond the overflowing corpses.

A man who always smiled at me in a room filled with sunlight.

But now, seeing him among those he hated most, Vlad let out a fierce roar.

"Joseph Bayezid!"

Crack-!

The ragged corpse, unable to withstand the presence of the World Tree, began to collapse.

Vlad charged through the corpses, and although it seemed like a dangerous sight, the sword he held shone with a bright green.

[Get out of my forest right now!]

"Everyone, get out of the way! You bastards!"

The dragon's roar echoed in unison with the young World Tree.

With the accumulated fury of the World Tree, the star and dragon's sword finally divided the green forest.

Rumble!

It felt like an enormous mountain-like sword was falling.

The presence of the World Tree, which could not be contained just in the form of a sword, covered the sky, broke the ground, and split the black, wolf-like sea, and even the revived beings began to scream loudly as if in fear.

"...Good heavens."

And from the center of that devastating scene, Ramashthu saw a golden line advancing towards them.

It was a sun that could not rise under Frausen's sky, but in his absence, it emerged in a way that no one seemed able to stop.

-Stop him!

-He's coming towards us!

-Protect Ramashthu!

The Headless Knights quickly began to build a wall to block Vlad's fierce attack.

However, the entity they were trying to stop was not just a swordsman, but the will of the forest itself.

Crunch! Crack!

With the blade of Vlad's sword, the headless knights were sent flying.

They were struck by an enormous world they could not possibly resist, and were only shattered and thrown aside.

"Don't stand in my way!"

Destroying the headless knights, cutting down the fleeing sorcerers.

Vlad continued forward, offering appropriate sacrifices to the furious World Tree. Finally, he found himself facing the woman in mourning black who blocked his path.

"Ah, you're here too."

Vlad's eyes gleamed ominously as he recognized Ramashthu.

The dark circle tainting the green world continued to generate ominous waves, polluting the forest. Seeing Ramashthu, both Vlad and the World Tree felt the same growing hostility.

"…I'm tired of your damn tricks!"

Boom! Bang! Bang!

Before he realized it, Vlad was moving towards her, breaking the sinister words that appeared before him.

Ramashthu's circle, with its reversed divine words, was as terrifying as it was unsettling, but the young World Tree, the master of this land, did not permit its existence.

—Keuheuk!

Even Ramashthu, who was always calm, could not help but frown before Vlad's sharp sword.

Even she, standing outside the world created by God, seemed unable to ignore the presence of Vlad roaring right in front of her.

"Why are you doing all this damn nonsense?!"

Vlad remembered the women who died shedding black tears.

Also the unfortunate prostitute who closed her eyes in a town covered in fog.

They say no one in the world is without a story, but what she did was so cruel that Vlad didn't want to see scenes like that again.

"Damn bitch!"

Clang!

With a furious cry and breaking through Ramashthu's last circle, Vlad finally reached her.

Hundreds of corpses were already lined up behind the path with the World Tree's anger, and none of them stopped Vlad's advance.

"...!!"

For the first time in a long time, Ramashthu felt fear as Vlad's rough hands pulled at her veil.

This was because the dragon's wrath, which even Frausen, who had implanted a perfect piece, could not replicate, was right in front of her.

"I won't forgive you even in death, Ramashthu!"

—Guh!

Anywhere else, Vlad wouldn't have been able to reach her, but this was Ausurin.

The golden dragon running free on the green canvas had all the space it needed to spread its wings.

"Vlad!"

The sight of Vlad holding Ramashthu's hair and raising his sword was the very vision of an angry forest.

Joseph shouted as he saw Vlad trying to thrust all the anger he had accumulated until now into a single point.

"Damn it!"

At the moment when the World Tree's wrath was about to fall upon Ramashthu's neck, Vlad could feel a very familiar energy stabbing into his side.

It was the presence of his master, the man who had guided him into the world of knights.

"You damned idiot!"

A strong aura flowed from the patch Jager wore.

His sword, stabbing into Vlad's side, was truly filled with the ferocity of trying to twist the momentum of the battlefield, just as he had learned.

Crack-!

Jager's familiar and furious onslaught found a weak point in Vlad, who hadn't anticipated it.

But just as Jager's sword was about to strike, a root emerged to block it.

"Jager!"

"...!"

Jager had an expression of disbelief as he looked at the root that blocked his sword.

However, this was the moment when knights were racing against time, and Vlad seized the opportunity once again, and this time, the original golden light began to seep from Vlad's left eye.

"That defiant look hasn't changed."

Vlad quickly released Ramashthu's hair, which he had been holding, and quickly gripped the sword with both hands.

The knight I met named Jager was not a knight strong enough to be defeated with just one hand.

"Why are you stopping me?"

The tip of Jager's sword was sharp as he charged at me.

Able to conceal numerous intentions in just one step forward, he managed to stop Vlad, if only for a short time.

"Because it's still not possible."

Jager saw Joseph fleeing while supporting Ramashthu and began to advance towards Vlad again.

Seeing them moving further and further away, Vlad gritted his teeth and swung his sword, but the man named Jager who blocked his way was a master of counterattacks and a swordsman with mysterious steps.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

"Argh!"

Though the momentum far exceeded his expectations.

"What kind of bastard sword is this…"

Although Jager tried to joke as usual, his arm visibly trembled from the intensity of the combat.

Vlad's fury was something he couldn't handle with just one sword, but the reason he had no choice but to endure it was probably because he was also a knight who followed his lord's will.

"Move aside! Please!"

"I can't!"

The few surviving sorcerers began to disappear into thick smoke along with Ramashthu.

Seeing Joseph vanish with them, Vlad gritted his teeth and swung his sword, but the knight named Jager blocking his way was a master of counterattacks and a swordsman of mysterious steps.

"It's not time yet, Vlad... not yet..."

Jager's voice, whispering softly as if only for Vlad to hear, lingered at the edge of his ear.

But unfortunately, his words didn't seem to reach Vlad, who was immersed in his own world.

"Aaaah!"

Vlad began to scream in fury as he saw Ramashthu and Joseph disappear before him.

Though the young World Tree did not allow it, the sorcerers who had opened the breach seemed to have found an exit from the forest.

"Please, move aside!"

Faced with an inevitable choice, Vlad had to remember the oath he had made.

Do what you need to do where you need to be.

Even the young will have their potential taken again.

He knew he would have to pierce through his respected master to fulfill his duty.

Crack!

The tip of Vlad's sword, which he could no longer resist, pierced through Jager's body.

Though his body, unable to control its weight, was thrown against the tree right behind him, Jager was still smiling.

"Ugh! Agh!"

Though it was only for a short time, Jager managed to block the forest's fury with his entire body and finally gave Joseph some precious time.

"…You, kid, now I have a nosebleed."

The knight who had completed his mission could now only see his disciple crying in front of him.

"Open your eyes quickly. I don't know, but it seems like a huge burden."

Seeing Jager hanging from a tree after being pierced by Vlad's sword was pitiful.

But even in that situation, his only thought was for his disciple.

"Jager."

"I knew this day would come."

Vlad finally opened his left eye, which had been closed, and saw Jager growing paler as the blood drained away.

As the world, which no human could dare to endure, crumbled, Vlad's entire body felt intense pain, but Vlad still tried to hold Jager.

"You're an insolent kid... you've grown too fast..."

Vlad, his vision growing blurrier from the pain, saw Jager smiling at him.

Vlad opened his eyes wide, trying not to lose sight of his master, but even with a dragon's body, the existence of the World Tree was not something that could be easily contained.

"…You could have told me."

Vlad could only speak those words he had been holding inside all this time before he collapsed.

"At least to me."

"I'm sorry."

In the darkness that enveloped him, Vlad's last vision was of Jager patting his head.

Vlad, who was clutching Jager's clothes, slowly lowered his head and leaned towards him, as if pleading with him not to leave without saying a word this time.

[Thank you.]

The sky was clear, and the wind blew gently.

Although there were angry elven shouts and someone's screams coming from one side, the only sound Vlad could hear as he collapsed after finishing his task was the whisper of the young World Tree telling him to rest.