CH 595

“Is that so?”

The Golden Emperor of the Clowon Empire had created the Brushel System using the World Tree, but if one asked who was the rightful owner of the system, it would naturally be the emperor’s daughter and the princess of the empire, Lyla. Although Lyla completely separated herself from the Clowon princess, there was no need for Zich to hesitate if she also wished for the Brushel System’s destruction. Yet, there was one more question Zich wanted to ask.

“If I free this guy, what will happen?”

With just a bit of its mana, Glen had been able to overwhelm Zich at the peak of his power while holding Estellade and being supported by his formidable companions. Furthermore, even while Glen sucked away its mana, the tree could still send an enormous amount of mana to Zich. What would happen if such an existence acted against the world? Truthfully, even Zich wasn’t confident in going against it.

“It’s fine. The World Tree doesn’t have intense emotions like a human. Thus, it doesn’t feel hate or resentment. Once it attains freedom, it will leave this world, since it didn’t belong to this world in the first place.” When Lyla was trying to send mana to Zich with the World Tree’s collaboration, she was able to understand a bit more about its existence. “Above all, you must also know in your heart that the World Tree won’t do anything bad.”

“That’s true.” Zich swiped his hands down Windur’s handle again. It was his coy sword and the World Tree’s other self.

“Is our just hero perhaps worried that the world could fall into danger again?” Lyla asked.

“Fine. Let’s release it immediately.”

Lyla chuckled, but Zich ignored her and stared at the World Tree.

Even though Zich never outrightly advocated for ideas such as, ‘Everything in this world has the right to freedom,’ he at least had the decency to pay back an existence that had helped him on many occasions. Furthermore, Zich had no lingering feelings about an ability like regressing.

“What do I need to do?”

“First, I will free up the World Tree’s mana as much as possible from the restriction device. However, the World Tree won’t be free from just that.” The Clowon Empire had placed heavy binds to prevent the World Tree from becoming free at any cost, and thus, even the restriction device couldn’t unwind itself. Thus, the only remaining method was to forcefully break its bindings.

“It will be very difficult. It’s a bond that was made to repress the World Tree. It’s impossible to break with just any normal strength, but it’s possible with our current group. The World Tree will continue to lend us its powers.” The enormous mana that was transferred from Windur to Zich was still waiting inside his body to be used.

“Leave it to me. It’s my expertise to destroy things.”

“How trustworthy.”

Lyla gave Zich several commands and headed to the restriction device. Zich jumped down to the bottom of the World Tree. The intense heat of the pool of lava beside him failed to inflict any sort of harm on him. Zich then touched the World Tree and felt enormous mana moving inside. Yet, this mana was twisted and tangled up somewhere.

Zich looked up at the World Tree. This was the base of the Brushel System that had messed up his life, but Zich didn’t resent it much because he was satisfied with his current self. Moreover, Zich knew that the World Tree was simply a tool whose will had been stripped away from it.

Ziing! 

‘Did it start?’

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Mana fluctuated around the World Tree. Simultaneously, the World Tree’s mana started to move irregularly as Lyla began to officially unbind the shackles on the World Tree.

Rumble! The ruin began to shake. With this level of vibration, the whole island could be shaking.

Pop! Pop! Pop! Mana exploded around the World Tree, and the mana that poured out of it intensified. The Brushel System started resisting.

Boom! The mana that extended wildly out into the air stopped just like that. Like an animal trying to escape a trap after falling prey to it, the World Tree’s mana resisted, but the existence blocking it didn’t even budge.

The mana wall.

It was a barrier that utilized the mana flowing out of the World Tree in reverse, and the more power the World Tree used, the stronger the wall.

Zich raised Windur. Perhaps happy that its freedom was right around the corner, the tree trembled.

Ziing! Mana brimmed up inside Windur. The World Tree’s mana coupled with Zich’s mana flowed inside it, and Zich sensed the World Tree’s mana and the system’s mana that repressed it. Though both sources of mana far surpassed Zich’s, there were still disparities in strength between the two. The stronger one was the World Tree’s mana, while the system’s mana was weaker. Yet, the system’s mana was intricately designed through the Brushel System to effectively restrict the wildly fluctuating mana belonging to the World Tree.

Zich focused his attention and searched the system’s mana. The sophisticated and powerful mana was fighting the World Tree’s mana. Furthermore, although it couldn’t compare to the two’s mana, the mana that Zich wielded was also powerful and Zich could use it very skillfully.

‘There’s no need for me to destroy it completely. I just need to make a slight hole.’ The system’s mana was a dam, while the World Tree’s mana was a lake. If he made even a tiny hole inside the dam, the lake’s water would crush through the hole and destroy the entire dam.

Whoosh! Zich raised Windur. Mana focused on the tips of Windur’s blades.

Twang! Mana poured out from the tips of the sword, and it appeared to be a very light attack. Yet, the mana imbued into it was beyond imagination. The attack made a hole inside the system’s mana. It was a very small hole but the World Tree’s mana rushed fervently toward it.

The system’s mana shook and continuously tried to block the World Tree’s mana, but the hole that Zich made continued to grow bigger. However, it was still possible for the system to block this hole. Zich wasn’t going to let this happen, and he didn’t stop after just piercing one hole.

Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Windur’s continuous attacks made numerous holes in the system’s mana. Then the World Tree’s mana dug in and widened the holes. Soon, the system’s mana was literally in tatters, and there was only one end to a damaged dam like this.

The system’s mana exploded, and the World Tree’s mana extended outward as if it were rejoicing its freedom. However, the tension on Zich’s face didn’t disappear.

Baaaam! The lava that surrounded the World Tree suddenly soared, and at the same time, the surrounding temperature shot up. Tremendous fire mana also swept through their surroundings, and the World Tree’s mana faltered once again.

‘Is this a secondary control system? Those Clowon people really must not have wanted to lose the World Tree.’ The secondary control system utilized the massive amount of lava that boiled under the land as an energy source to suppress the World Tree. It was also a force too great for the World Tree to handle, since not all of its power had been released yet. However, even this was already expected.

Zich ran sideways. After passing through the solid island where the World Tree was rooted, he stepped on the lava.

‘It’s hot.’ Since the secondary control system was activated and the lava and fire mana greatly increased the temperature, even Zich felt extremely hot. Soon, even he wouldn’t be able to withstand the temperature either. Thus, he didn’t have much time. Zich stopped on top of a section of lava that was a short distance away from the World Tree. He stretched out Windur and injected mana into it; then, the mana spread in all directions.

Sweat poured out all over his body, and his clothes burned. However, Zich continued to pour out his mana, and his mana vibrated regularly. He synchronized the World Tree’s mana flowing from Windur with the fire mana running wild around him. It was almost impossible to find a rhythm in the fire mana that wildly flowed in all directions with the World Tree’s mana, but Zich managed to accomplish this astounding feat.

The next part was Lyla’s turn. With the power of the World Tree’s mana, the tremendous amount of fire mana, Windur’s location, and the power of the Brushel System, Lyla summoned a huge tree.

Rummmble! A tree suddenly appeared from the sky and fell into the lava, and the lava splashed in all directions due to its huge mass. It seemed as if the tree would disappear and melt as it fell into the lava. However, that wasn’t the case; instead, its vitality seemed to increase as if it had found its perfect match.

Lyla had summoned one of the World Tree’s clones: the Tree of Fire.

‘Alright!’ Zich clenched his fist. The fire mana ran wild in the lava and suppressed the World Tree, but the Tree of Fire grew stronger as if it was right on home ground. As the spirit of the Tree of Fire increased, the World Tree’s mana next to it also increased.

Zich stepped on the lava on the other side of the Tree of Fire. Then, he synchronized the World Tree’s mana and the Tree of Fire’s mana this time.

Swisssh! A slight wind seemed to flow around Windur’s surroundings. It grew enough to create huge storms around it and began blowing the excess heat out. The blazing temperature dropped significantly.

‘Second one!’ It didn’t matter if the Tree of Fire rooted itself in the lava, but the other trees would likely lose their power if they took root in the burning, hot lava. Thus, they chose the Tree of Wind floating in the air as the second one to summon. Honestly, Zich was a little worried. The Tree of Fire had been relatively easy to summon due to the enormous amount of fire mana in their surroundings, but it was different for the other trees.

‘As long as the main body and two trees are here, the other trees would probably be able to endure it here.’

Then it was clear what tree they should summon next.

Swoooosh! A third tree appeared. At the same time, enormous steam soared everywhere. The third tree to appear was the Tree of Water. It began to pour huge amounts of water from its branches all at once. The hot steam escaped outside through the storms created by the Tree of Wind. The lava began to harden slowly. At the same time, the power of the secondary control system also gradually decreased.

Baaaaaam! The last tree, the Tree of Earth, fell over the hardened lava. It made the lava that had turned into stone even harder and blocked the heat. The secondary control system was greatly weakened, and the World Tree’s power significantly increased. At the same time, the power flowing into Zich’s body grew stronger. With this amount of power, there was no need for Zich to wait any longer. He swung Windur toward the secondary control system, which was still desperately trying to hold down the World Tree.

Crassssh! A huge shockwave spread outside the island.