The Druid Who Devoured the Great Nature

Magical engineering.

In short, it was the study of imbuing objects with magic and controlling them. The Juggernaut school was deeply authoritative in related technologies, and I too had benefited from it. The special bullets I used were a product of enchantment.

Jordan didn't stop there. He stored weapons in his body and imbued them with magic. For an ordinary person, it would have been no different from just having a sharp weapon. For a mage, the meaning was different.

In short, it was a change in perspective. If the flexible manifestation of magic was difficult, then one would decide on the magic to be used. And then, imbue it into a machine and utilize it.

A normal artifact simply discharges a specific magic or function, regardless of the user's will. It was designed that way, so it didn't matter whether a mage or an ordinary person used it. However, magical engineering, unlike that common sense, controls the magic of an artifact according to one's will. Even if there was an instinctive rejection, it was also true that the machine implanted in the body was one's own body. Thɪs chapter is updatᴇd by NovєlFіre.net

Thanks to that, the flames from the flamethrower could make movements that were beyond common sense. This was because the flames spewed from the flamethrower were both the machine's own flames and a type of magic. In a way, it was one of the goals that the technology of magical engineering, enchantment, aimed for. The only drawback was that it came with difficult conditions and required a great price.

"Many things about the city government are contradictory, but their insight is worth acknowledging. Magical engineering, the technology they encouraged, is the flow that the times desire."

Jordan caressed his arm as if stroking a treasure.

"If a mage from the Mage Tower heard that, they would laugh until they couldn't breathe."

"Magic is an unprecedented power. Who can decide what the right way to learn magic is? I don't care for the cries of those who have been left behind, unable to keep up with the times."

"Usually, the street riffraff mages who couldn't get into the Mage Tower say that. That the Mage Tower, which didn't recognize their excellence, was wrong."

Cognitive dissonance. The story of the sour grapes in Aesop's fables was a prime example. It was also the final destination of the vulgar jealousy of an ordinary person who admired the elite.

"You will realize with your own body whether it is nonsense or not!"

Swiiik!

From the tip of his foot, which he had kicked out as if kicking a ball, dozens of needles poured out. No matter how sharp the needles were, they didn't have the weight or impact to pierce the thick Terminalia stem. The needles couldn't even touch a single hair on my head, which was hidden behind it.

However, the true value of the level of magical engineering he had reached was just beginning.

Pupupupung!

The needles swelled up and then exploded. The Terminalia, unable to withstand the impact, collapsed and fell below the building.

Tatatat!

I fired through the acrid smoke spewed out by the burning plant. It was too short a time for the shield, which had been torn once by my aura, to be restored. One of the three bullets dug into his shoulder.

Before, I had chosen the thorn bush, assuming he was a person of flesh and blood. Now that I knew he was a modified human, the plant I chose also changed.

Pududuk!

"This is…!"

The guy, who was about to burn it with fire just like before, flinched as if he had felt something strange.

"If you want to get rid of it, you'll have to break your arm this time."

A short bundle of roots dug into the alloy muscles of his arm. The roots of a silver grass. A plant with a root structure that cannot be pulled out by human strength. There would be no answer unless he burned the deep insides of the machine with fire.

"Don't think you've gained the upper hand with this!"

Jordan focused his mana on his legs.

Shik!

Immediately after, his figure disappeared like a phantom and rushed before my eyes in an instant.

Chwaaak!

The other arm. The transformed blade cut through the whip-like stem that was wrapped around my body like a shield. The crushed plant juice and sap splattered on each other's faces.

Our eyes met. His veins bulged around his eyes as if he were squeezing out every last bit of his strength. On the other hand, my face reflected in his eyes was calm.

Was he aiming for a close-quarters battle since long-range attacks weren't working? Logically, it was a foolish decision. Jordan's mobility and physical durability might be decent for a mage, but not to the extent of engaging in close combat with an opponent who handles aura. Of course, the opponent was not a fool who would be confused by such a basic judgment.

Wiiiiing!

The chain wrapped around the outside of the blade vibrated and rotated back and forth. It was a chainsaw disguised as a blade. The vibration of his arm was unusual. Even my body, connected to the whip-like stem, trembled.

Kagagak!

The strength of the whip-like stem alone could not withstand it. Only after adding lignification did the blade stop an inch from my nose.

"I've got you!"

Jordan smiled with a crazed look. His aim was not the chainsaw that transformed with a single switch. A magic circle appeared on the surface of the blade and soon discharged the stored magic.

Pzzt!

Kwarreureung!

With a white flash, electricity was released like a skein of thread and poured into the area. The formidable electric power, close to a lightning strike, soared vertically, touching the sky and turning the ground inside out. It was a power that could violently shake even the building, which was already half-collapsed.

Kwang! Kwaaang!

The electronic devices scattered in the office couldn't handle the power and exploded. It was a crude method that would have engulfed even himself, even if he was a modified human. But the electricity had a direction and was focused solely on me. No matter how it was designed, it was not something that could be done with ordinary control. I could feel on my skin how much he had honed his skills.

Pajik! Pajik!

The electricity that had been pouring down like rain finally subsided. My vision, which had been exposed to the intense light, flickered, and my limbs intermittently bent against my will. An ordinary person would not have been strange to have their brain melted and turned into a charred lump of meat.

And yet.

I survived.

Bang!

"Kkeuaak!"

Jordan's smirking face contorted. Had he replaced even his eyeballs with machines? Blood, not oil, splattered.

"You don't seem to be used to pain, do you?"

Although he had attempted close combat, it seemed he hadn't been able to overcome the innate weakness of a mage. He grabbed his face with one hand and swung the blade. He was a guy who supplemented his lacking physical ability and sense with a machine imbued with magic. The movements he swung wildly in agony just drew meaningless slashes in the empty air.

Ppeok!

Avoiding the clearly visible path of the sword strike, I approached and delivered a kick. The sensation of crushing muscle and shattering ribs. A thrill ran down my spine.

Jiiiik!

Jordan's collapsed body slid across the floor. He broke through the dust cloud and hit the wall. The broken debris fell from the dizzying height of the 10th floor. If I hadn't instinctively fixed my fingers to the floor, I would have fallen with it.

Whether it was because of the excruciating pain of a broken bone, or because he had barely escaped a life-threatening crisis. His face was pale, without a single drop of blood.

Kkigigik!

The building, having lost its support, screamed and tilted even further. I felt my own balance tilting. All the objects in the area were in a precarious balance, on the verge of sliding.

[The system will be restored soon.]

Beta's notification. It was a short but long time. I felt that the end of this request was approaching.

"How… cough! are you alive…"

Jordan asked, coughing up blood. Through his torn robe, his bruised, dark purple skin was visible. At that level, his internal injuries must also be severe. It was a detail that would fester inside if not treated immediately.

I spat out the stuffiness in my mouth. Every time I exhaled, black smoke mixed with my breath.

"Have you ever heard of a tree struck by lightning?"

"I've never heard of such a thing…"

"You haven't studied enough. When a tree is struck by lightning, it discharges the electricity through its roots."

I clicked my tongue and looked down at him. Jordan bit his lip hard.

"Keup! What does that have to do with you."

Although the World Tree had taken root in my body, it didn't mean I had become a plant. I was still a person. I was not yet a monster who could survive being struck by lightning. If it weren't for the newly awakened ability, I would have turned into charcoal long ago.

‘Lignification.’

It was an ability that the spirits had awakened after I had consumed another seed of the World Tree. It seemed to be an ability that literally transformed my body into something like a tree. Discharging lightning into the ground probably wasn't all there was to it. But for now, that was enough.

The Totem of Healing.

I felt my cooked internal organs and skin gradually recovering and said.

"I'm just saying."

Bang!

As expected. The last bullet in the chamber was blocked by the lightning barrier surrounding his entire body. I had tried to catch him off guard by saying something random, but Jordan had reacted quickly. He had not yet given up the fight.

Kwaaaa!

He shot up and stomped his foot, and the floor rose and surged like a wave. The electronic devices exploded, and the objects were a mess from the aftermath of the battle. A chaotic scene where data recovery was unthinkable.

‘…A pity.’

Considering the original purpose, the mission was as good as failed.

Pasasak!

A cluster of flowers bloomed by the World Tree blocked the wave of concrete. Petals and leaves fell from the stems and fluttered about.

With this, he had shown all the weapons on his four limbs. Now that all of them had been countered, the method he would choose would be…

‘As expected.’

I contracted all the muscles in my body. The enemy charged into the myriad of colors created by the fluttering petals. Jordan's entire body flickered with the blue light of mana.

A slugfest.

He, who had enhanced his entire body with mana, and I, who had raised my aura, exchanged fists. For him, it was literally the last resort. It would be more correct to call it a struggle.

‘It’s not for nothing that battle mages are a rare breed.’

Even if one could enhance their physical abilities with mana, controlling it required systematic training and a natural talent for combat. It was the same as how an ordinary person, no matter how physically fit, could not beat a trained martial artist.

Jordan could not control his own speed. It is the case of an ordinary person to just take a high-speed attack. In a close-quarters exchange, controlling one's own body completely is the top priority.

Especially, losing one eye doesn't just mean that half of one's vision is obscured. The center of gravity and the sense of distance also become misaligned with the calculations in one's head.

I could face Jordan as if I were toying with him.

Pak! Kwajik! Jjeong!

His body was now close to a mess. His shoulder was crushed, his foot was stomped on and broken, and his chest was torn, with blood flowing freely. His focus was blurred, and now his body was moving more by inertia than by his own will.

Udeuk!

I grabbed his head with one hand. His body, having lost even the strength to lift a finger, dangled in the air, held by my hand.

“I am…”

Jordan’s chapped lips moved.

“A giant who has ridden the flow of the times…”

“I thought I told you.”

Even in this state, he was spouting incomprehensible nonsense. Well, if he was the leader of a terrorist organization, he was a person with a twisted part somewhere in his head. He was like the leader of a pseudo-religious cult. He would have deluded his followers into believing he was a special person who could reform this city, and in the end, he would have brainwashed himself as well.

“You are just a hunting dog raised by a corporation.”

There was nothing special about him. In this world, hunting dogs raised by corporations were a dime a dozen. Ignorance is also a sin, they say. If this was the end of foolishness, it was a conclusion that didn't even evoke a single bit of emotion.

“In that case!”

From below Jordan’s navel, a single stream of mana shot up like a lightning bolt. It was an amount that couldn’t even fill a single line of a magic circle, but the moment it passed through his chest, it increased explosively. An explosive flow that I didn’t even have time to react to. As the strong wave of mana raged, my body was pushed back.

“I’ll drag you to hell with me!”

The scratch on his head turned red. It was a deeper red than the color of heated metal, as red as blood. I had experienced what that was just a short while ago.

“You’re going to self-destruct?”

In addition to his four limbs, even his head. The magical engineering devices that Jordan had hidden in his body totaled five. This was different from the leash that Bellis Inc. had put on their hunting dogs. The beeping sound of the bomb and the wave of mana surrounding it were unusual.

Soon, Jordan’s head began to swell like a balloon. No matter how many strange things happened in this world, for a phenomenon caused by a human body, it was extremely bizarre.

‘Is this the technology that Boulderveer Industries was developing?’

The expansion of matter. The context was the same as the technology that the military had been supporting with supplies. The method of using one’s own body as a bomb was just vicious. And with that strangely amplified amount of mana… blowing up this one building would be no problem at all.

It was already too late to run away.

‘Is Hazel just playing around?’

Although she had consumed a lot of mana, I had entrusted her with rear support. With a mana concentration of this scale, she should have taken action. There was no reaction from Hazel’s position.

“……”

Jordan’s mouth moved. I couldn’t hear him, but I could understand. It was a mockery, asking what I could do in this situation.

Puk!

I stabbed the needle of a doping agent into my body and absorbed the liquid. The effect of this doping agent was not physical enhancement, but mana amplification. As the drug took effect, my head cleared, and I could feel vitality being added to the World Tree.

‘When I obtained the information from Cromwell, I had already devised a countermeasure for the worst-case scenario.’

I was the one who had refused the support of the Public Security Bureau. It was because I was confident I could take care of myself in any situation.

The past possibility where the World Tree had taken root. That was the last bastion I believed in.

(End of Chapter)