Chapter 68

Wooong!

As Helrn resonated with the surrounding nature and stirred his magic power, the earth vibrated subtly, and soon trees and bushes began to sprout from the ground.

Nature’s Will! One of the Druid’s ultimate skills!

The skill, which covers the surrounding field with bushes to maximize natural magic power and create an advantageous environment for oneself, was activated.

As Nature’s Will was activated, Helrn’s body rapidly filled with magic power, and he immediately broke the chains of fire that bound him.

“The wrath of nature will descend upon you!”

Overflowing power!

With this power of nature, he will punish the outsiders who dared to violate the sanctuary.

At that moment, as Helrn was making that pledge.

“Great Inferno.”

Ignis uttered these indifferent words, ruthlessly crushing Helrn’s expectations.

Hwarurururuk!

And with that, the vegetation began to burn!

Helrn’s eyes lost focus as he watched nature burn.

“Th-This, what in the world…… what a disastrous event!”

Nature’s Will!

To think that they could so easily break the Nature’s Will cast not just by an ordinary Druid, but by the Master Druid.

Just how powerful is the enemy?!

Helrn felt despair.

Hwarururuk!

While everything around him was burning, the enemy’s attacks continued to fly in.

Ice and fire, two opposing magics continuously struck Helrn’s body, and the occasional exploding potions, like grenades, grated on his nerves.

He was barely holding on by using his immense vitality and defensive skills, but Drakan’s party had no intention of giving Helrn a chance to counterattack.

A completed DPS cycle! The relentless attacks from Drakan’s party continued to nullify Helrn’s casting.

“You despicable bastards!”

The moment Helrn roared in rage from the continuous attacks, a man in black armor appeared amidst the blazing flames.

It was Drakan.

Helrn’s gaze turned to the blue flame sword in Drakan’s hand.

As soon as he saw the sword, forged with death and wraiths, exuding an aura diametrically opposed to the power of life and nature that Druids primarily wielded, Helrn realized.

“Levateinn! Undead King! You, you were the Undead King’s minions!”

Levateinn!

The legendary weapon that the Undead King was said to be creating to counter Mistilteinn.

That weapon was now in the hands of the outsider.

Helrn finally realized his mistake.

The undead cannot enter the Winter Forest, which is brimming with life force.

Even the Undead King’s gaze, which oversees the entire North, cannot reach the Winter Forest.

For that reason alone, they, the Druids, had been complacent.

Because, as far as they knew, the Undead King and the undead never cooperated with the living.

But that common sense was shattered today.

The Undead King!

He had infiltrated the living into the Winter Forest, violated the Druid’s Sanctuary, and finally reached the Snowflower World Tree.

Helrn’s eyes filled with venom.

“Minions of the Undead King! I will k*ll you here!”

He didn’t yet know why they were targeting the Snowflower World Tree, but Helrn could easily guess that their purpose was not beneficial to the North.

The expeditionary force, which had set out with the goal of completely conquering the North and slaying the Undead King, a long-cherished dream for two thousand years since the sacrifice of Archdruid Kazan, had yet to achieve its objective.

The expeditionary force!

For their sake, this minion of the Undead King had to d*e here.

“Nature’s Wrath!”

Helrn squeezed out all the magic power in his body and used the Druid’s second ultimate skill.

Nature’s Wrath!

As befitting its name, a massive amount of green magic power gathered and surged, and then a giant spear made of trees shot out from Helrn’s chest and hurtled towards Drakan.

At that very moment.

“Steel Wall Shield.”

Queen Honey, the knight in iron armor, landed in front of Drakan and used her skill.

Chwachwachwak!

With that, a translucent silver shield dazzlingly unfolded, blocking Drakan and Queen Honey, and Helrn’s final blow collided directly with the Steel Wall Shield.

Kwagwang!

A roaring explosion that shook the entire cavern where the Snowflower World Tree stood!

But the victor was the Steel Wall Shield.

There was no reason for a defensive skill that had even blocked the Pirate King’s ultimate skill, Cursed Magic Bullet, to be pierced by a mere Druid’s attack skill.

Of course, Helrn was no ordinary Druid, but Druids are hybrid healer classes, not pure DPS.

Compared to the attack of the Pirate King, who was a pure DPS, the power of Helrn’s attack was only about half.

“Ah, Aah. Aaaaaah!”

Despair clouded Helrn’s eyes as even his ultimate skill was thwarted.

Kwagwang!

Meanwhile, the DPS cycle continued relentlessly, pounding Helrn’s entire body.

Drakan grinned and swung the flame sword Levateinn in his hand towards Helrn.

“Berserk Sword!”

An explosion of crimson aura engulfed Helrn’s entire body.

▄ ▄ ▄

[You have leveled up.]

A monotonous but always pleasant level-up notification!

I smiled as I heard the level-up notification.

Finally, the last obstacle had been cleared.

The old Druid!

The old NPC Druid, who would have definitely played the role of a boss monster if the Druid’s Sanctuary was a dungeon, was quite strong, but his misfortune was his extremely bad matchup.

The Flame Emperor Ignis!

The compatibility between Ignis, who freely wields flames, and the Druid, who commands plants and beasts, was the worst.

Moreover, our party’s DPS cycle was truly perfect!

So, from the beginning, we had fought a battle we couldn’t lose.

Step, step.

I quietly moved my footsteps and approached the Snowflower World Tree.

The fire caused by Great Inferno had already been completely extinguished.

Despite the fierce battle that had taken place nearby, the Snowflower World Tree still held an immense life force.

[You have discovered the Snowflower World Tree, a sacred treasure of the North.]

[Snowflower World Tree]

[The Snowflower World Tree sprouted from the staff that was embedded in Archdruid Kazan’s grave. It has guarded Kazan’s remains and the Winter Seal engraved beneath them for a long time, holding within it the vast life force accumulated over more than two thousand years.]

[Permanently increases all stats by 10.]

[Temporarily increases HP by 50%.]

[Temporarily increases HP regeneration by 100%.]

[Temporarily increases MP by 50%.]

[Temporarily increases MP regeneration by 50%.]

The Snowflower World Tree, which grants tremendous buffs just by looking at it!

I smiled as I read the description window, which seemed to be appealing with its whole being that it was no ordinary object.

‘So the Winter Seal was here too!’

The Winter Seal!

The fact that the legendary seal that sealed the eternal winter of the North was also slumbering beneath the World Tree was written in the information window.

Strictly speaking, Archdruid Kazan must have placed the Winter Seal here first, and after he died in the confrontation with the Undead King, the Druids must have buried his remains on top of the Winter Seal. This was a reasonable assumption.

I silently raised Levateinn.

[Levateinn reacts to the life force of the Snowflower World Tree.]

After confirming the notification window, I plunged Levateinn into the thick trunk of the World Tree.

Puk.

A stream of blue sap flowed down from the World Tree’s body like blood.

[Levateinn absorbs the essence of life.]

The notification was monotonous, but the changes it brought about were anything but.

The World Tree, which had been in full bloom with snow-white leaves!

Its leaves rapidly fell, and the branches and trunk, which had been shining white, began to blacken and d*e in an instant.

The change wasn’t limited to the Snowflower World Tree.

The lush green grass near the World Tree began to wither and turn yellow, and the clear water that had been flowing with life force also started to turn murky.

Death!

Yes.

Death was literally descending upon the surroundings.

[Levateinn has finished absorbing the essence of life.]

Passsuk.

The moment the notification window announcing the completion of the essence absorption appeared.

The blackened and dead World Tree turned to ash and scattered into the air.

And in the midst of it, a beautiful blue flame sword was suddenly ablaze.

I was mesmerized and checked Levateinn’s item information.

[Levateinn]

[Grade: Legendary]

[Type: Sword]

[A sword created by the Undead King to counter Mistilteinn, forged with the flames of a million souls through the flames of resentment, and finally transformed into a perfect weapon by absorbing the essence of life.]

[There is nothing that the completed Levateinn cannot burn.]

[Effects]

[Fire Attack Power +200%]

[HP Absorption +200%]

[HP Regeneration +200%]

[Dark Attack Power +100%]

[HP-Based Damage +10%]

[Nature Attribute Resistance +100%]

[Random Curse on Hit Enemy]

[Summon/Recall Function]

[Wraith Liberation: Temporarily liberates and commands a portion of the million souls that make up Levateinn.]

[Soul Absorption: Absorbs nearby souls to restore the owner’s HP and MP.]

[Undead Rise: Resurrects the dead as undead and commands them.]

[Life Incineration: Inflicts damage that ignores defense through the inextinguishable flame of the soul. Significantly reduces the durability of ‘Mistilteinn’.]

[Usage Restrictions]

[Undead King]

[Contractor of the Dark G*d]

The completed Levateinn’s options were truly terrifying!

It was indeed the final weapon prepared by the Undead King.

I smiled as I looked at the options.

It always felt good to acquire good items, but now was not the time to simply revel in that joy.

“Summon Levateinn.”

As I uttered the command word, Levateinn, which had been floating in the air, was placed in my right hand.

I looked at the spot where the World Tree had disappeared.

There lay a skeleton, presumably the remains of Archdruid Kazan. And beneath the skeleton, I could see a magic circle intricately engraved and emitting a faint blue light.

It was the Winter Seal.

[You have discovered the Winter Seal.]

Looking at the notification window that popped up as always, I swung Levateinn down towards the seal without hesitation.

[The Winter Seal has been destroyed.]

[Eternal winter will return to the North.]

At that moment, eternal winter swept back into the North.