The Druid Who Devoured the Great Nature

“Vincent, you dog of the bat queen.”

Just as Vincent had recognized Lugar, the head of Shadowfang, Lugar also recognized Vincent.

“The Blood Alliance has made a move. Did we displease you that much?”

“That’s what we should be saying. What kind of aspiration do you have that our clan has to take a risk… ugh!”

Vincent’s weighty reply was cut off. Lugar’s sunken eyes sank deeper as he felt the enormous presence descending on Vincent.

“……Sonia.”

“It’s been a while. So you were holed up in a place like this?”

Her tone was cheerful, but each syllable was filled with a thick killing intent. Amidst the strong smell of blood, the vampire queen, Sonia, grinned.

“If you’re an old man who’s just waiting to die, you should just live quietly. Why cause such a troublesome thing? Or did you think I was a joke because I stopped trying to discipline you, since we’re in the same organization? Huh?”

“A monster that has been with the Brotherhood since its beginning. In your eyes, our aspiration must seem absurd. You must think we’re foolish for clinging to something that has been lost in the long years, unable to give up.”

Even without the possessed appearance, if you were to ask people who looked older between Sonia and Lugar, a hundred out of a hundred would choose the latter. Vampires are a long-lived species.

They did not age and did not die. I think there was a setting that they maintained their youth by swallowing blood and absorbing the vitality contained in it, but that’s not important.

Even without the bad blood between vampires and werebeasts, there was a big difference in their innate positions. Their actual age did not matter.

Lugar was an old man who had reached the twilight of his life, and Sonia, just by her tone, was not mature.

“I know that I don’t have much life left. That’s why I want to leave behind even more and restore the lost glory of my clan.”

The instinctive fear that comes to a living being when death approaches, that one’s life will end like this. And just then, the opportunity to fulfill the clan’s aspiration was right in front of him.

The reason Lugar had overdone it was not just his longing for pure blood, but also his personal desire.

“I cannot understand you, who has the power and authority accumulated over the years, and yet you hide in the roof of the Brotherhood and live in seclusion.”

“You talk a lot. Is it a desire for beast bastards to be treated like humans? You guys, when it really matters, you move your mouths first, not your hands, unlike usual.”

Of course, to Sonia, who could be called a true monster, it was a story she had heard so much that she was sick of it. She showed her firm will with a gesture that she hadn’t even listened to it.

“You know it with your shabby head. It’s already too late to turn back by talking. It’s a dead end. Do we need to say more?”

“……”

It was an answer that could not be more effective in shutting the opponent up. As much as Lugar’s madness, which was buried in the aspiration of his clan, Sonia’s madness, which had lived for a long time, was also formidable.

It was a conversation that had only confirmed their positions that they could not yield to each other. Lugar, who had ground his teeth, had bloodshot eyes.

“You are just afraid of our clan! You’re just scared that the werebeasts will regain their pure bloodline and threaten you!”

“Puhaha, are you trying to make me lose my temper before we fight? As you said, there is such a reason. But what’s wrong with that? Is it wrong to trample on a sprout that will become a nuisance later?”

Provocation is also a respectable technique. The direction itself was not bad, but unfortunately, the one who had the psychological advantage was Sonia.

Whatever Lugar said, it just felt like the desperate struggle of the weak, so it could only be treated as entertainment. It seemed that their pride fight was also coming to an end, so I casually brought up my business.

“Let me ask you one thing.”

“……Contractor.”

Lugar, who hadn’t even gotten his money’s worth, glared at me. His killing intent was so thick that it seemed he would flay me with just his gaze.

“What’s the connection between the restoration of the pure bloodline and the spirit’s cocoons?”

“……!”

Lugar’s eyebrows twitched from anger to surprise. Seeing his reaction, it was worth directly mentioning the spirit’s cocoons without beating around the bush.

‘It was strange from the beginning that the World Tree felt an attraction when I was looking for the underground research institute.’

This was a phenomenon that was generally seen when the World Tree sensed a spirit’s cocoon. The suspicion turned into a conviction at Lugar’s reaction.

‘As expected, this request also had an inside story.’

I was glad I hadn’t pulled out. The spirit’s cocoon, a keyword that I, a druid, could not pass over.

I was surprised at how often the World Tree and spirits were involved in the inside stories of the incidents that occurred in each city. As if they were telling me to dig them up.

“You know about the spirit’s cocoons… You knew you were at odds with the Blood Alliance, but the purpose of putting your name on this was that.”

“……”

It was just now that I had found out that the spirit’s cocoons were involved. I didn’t need to kindly correct his misunderstanding.

He wouldn’t believe me anyway.

“Do you also wish to fulfill your aspiration through the spirit’s cocoons?”

“First of all, I see that the spirit’s cocoons play a key role in the restoration of the pure bloodline.”

Well, the spirit’s cocoons with engraved circuits had also modified humans. It must be a miracle achieved by the specialness of the pure mana report and the sleeping spirits.

“Then is the data on the whereabouts of the spirit’s cocoons what you were trying to demand from the city government by causing all this trouble?”

“……”

Silence was the answer. The map of the distribution of the spirit’s cocoons that the hacker Lucien Beauport had stolen from the city government and had fallen into my hands.

Shadowfang was also aiming for this.

“……You know too much.”

Lugar’s gaze, which had been on his adversary Sonia at some point, was no longer there. Now, he had completely fixed his gaze on me and was spewing out a menacing killing intent.

The pressure, experience, and charisma of a big shot who led a faction of the Brotherhood. All that presence was focused on me.

“The one I really have to kill was you.”

It was in the blink of an eye. The old man’s figure, which had been far away, had come close to a distance of just one step.

The change that occurred in the old man’s weakened body was close to a transformation. No, it was a transformation.

Lugar, who had transformed into a burly bear, held a mana that seemed to overflow in his huge palm.

“It’s your fault for getting involved in this without knowing your place.”

Even a fly can’t kill a person, but it can be annoying. It was a rational decision to eliminate a bothersome element before the battle with the vampire queen, regardless of whether I knew about the spirit’s cocoons.

So, it was understandable that Lugar would aim for me first.

He had just swung his palm, but the wall that had not been touched collapsed from the wind pressure. A vibration that shook the entire underground space followed.

The body weakens as time passes. And for a werebeast, whose body is a weapon, aging was an unavoidable disaster. Lugar, who had aged and was close to death, was long past his prime.

And yet, it was a blow that contained an irresistible power. It must be thanks to the awakening of the pure blood.

It was best to avoid a direct confrontation. It wasn’t my job to deal with him anyway.

“……A cheap trick.”

The body, which had been blown away by half above the waist, fluttered like a piece of cloth and scattered into ashes. A trick using the ability of the fraudulent wolf.

“You did well.”

Sonia smiled so wide that it seemed her mouth would tear.

“You looked away from me, you insolent fool. You have to pay the price.”

Suddenly, blood flowed like a wave from her. A bright red color painted over all the colors that met the eye and spread out.

The blood flowed like a river. The smell of blood paralyzed the sense of smell, and the blood mist of a strong primary color even blocked the view.

“Domain Declaration.”

A domain deployed through the body of another person who was possessed. No matter how much she was the ancestor of blood magic, she needed time to concentrate.

As a result, Lugar had missed me and had even given Sonia time to deploy her domain. And yet, Lugar, although he had been thwarted, did not have a frustrated expression as if his calculations had gone wrong.

“You will regret not coming in your main body.”

It was a show of confidence that he was sure he had a chance of winning.

“The power of the pure blood that you bats fear is within me.”

Lugar warned me, who was standing outside the domain.

“You’re next, contractor. It won’t take long, so wait in fear.”

“I told you I talk a lot, but you’re still moving your mouth. Are you that relaxed?”

The blood that was flowing back isolated the space, and as a final act, I moved my feet again, which had been stopped.

Deeper. Towards the center of the underground research institute.

***

“……”

Seeing the huge experimental facility in front of me, I realized that I had reached the center of the underground research institute. Should I say it was a structure like a large cave?

As I had come down the last stairs deeply, the ceiling was high. Inside the several laboratories, which were made of glass and showed the inside clearly, there were full of restraining devices, as if to tie something up.

They must have tied up the subjects inside and conducted experiments for the awakening of the pure blood. My brow furrowed at the traces of cruel pain that filled the inside.

「The World Tree feels a deep displeasure.」

That wasn’t all. There were many corpses. The cross-section of the wounds was rough and cruel, as if they had been cut by something sharp and torn by the teeth of a beast.

Judging from their clothes and the name tags on their chests, they were the researchers of the research institute. Seeing that the glass wall was broken, had the subjects gone berserk?

A dead end with no way to escape. It could be seen as an unfortunate accident, as the forces that should have stopped the subjects’ rampage had all gone outside to block the enemy’s invasion.

‘Is it a relief for them?’

They were lives that had to die anyway. If they had met the forces of the Blood Alliance or a contractor with a nasty temper, they would not have died cleanly.

Since werebeasts have a habit of aiming for the vital points first, they would have died without even feeling the pain. It could be called a peaceful death.

「The World Tree leads you!」

But the fundamental reason the World Tree felt displeasure was far from the corpses that were being kicked by my feet.

「The World Tree retrieves the spirit’s cocoons.」

It was anger at the fact that the spirit’s cocoons had been used. The circuit engraved on the surface of the cocoons was familiar.

And at the same time as the familiarity, there was also a strange side.

‘A circuit… it has developed to the point where it can be called a magic circle now.’

From the level where it had caused side effects even in a mere goblin and had turned him into a monster, to the level where it could assist in the awakening of a werebeast’s pure blood, it was a development that would turn the world upside down.

‘If there’s a common point, it’s that it acts on the human body. Is there a reason why it has to be bound to that?’

If they had this much technology, there would be endless ways to apply it in other areas.

‘First of all, the existence of the group that has been studying with Shadowfang has become certain.’

The Brotherhood, a mere criminal organization, could not have developed such a technology on its own. And judging from the circuit engraved on the surface of the spirit’s cocoons, the culprit was…

“Uwoooo!”

Just then, a werebeast that looked like a monkey fell from the ceiling with a loud shout.

“I was wondering how long you were going to hide.”

The researchers were just prey in front of the rampaging werebeast subjects. If all the researchers were dead, then of course the subjects who had killed them should have remained.

Had they been clinging to the ceiling? It was a surprise attack from a blind spot, but I was not tense at all.

It was a gap that I had deliberately left open.

The werebeast subject was pierced like a skewer in the empty air before it could even reach me.

“Why don’t the rest of you stop showing your useless patience and just come at me?”

It wasn’t just one. Only then did the subjects begin to reveal their presence one by one.

“Let’s finish this quickly.”

If I just dealt with these guys, it was one step closer to achieving the request.

(End of Chapter)