I Killed the Player of the Academy

༺ Life of a Man (2)༻

The knights were at the center of the formation charging into the waves of undeads.

Knights were those who could manipulate their aura and use it to cover their swords, and aura was a natural counter to undeads and spirits.

“The knights are at the forefront! Follow them!”

“Wait for the mages to fire! We’ll break through the hole!”

The sheer force demonstrated by the living weapons – that is knights and mages – was remarkable. It gave off the illusion that they really might be able to break through the waves of tens and hundreds of thousands of undead souls.

At the front of all that was Korin.

‘I still can’t see any of them.’

Even though the knights and soldiers at the front were yelling and roaring as they beat those undead souls back into the underworld, Korin was simply running at the lead without swinging his spear.

The reason for that was simple. 〚I do not perceive spirits.〛

His second Precept made it unable for both him and the spirits to interact.

It wasn’t like there was no way around it though.

If he used the Sun, it could annihilate the undeads in less than a second due to their innate nature. The wicked creatures couldn’t resist the strong cleansing ray of light from the Sun, and it didn’t matter whether Korin could perceive them or not.

However, that had to be left behind as a last resort. Although his mana regeneration speed had increased significantly thanks to drinking the water from the Well of Mimisbrunnr, the mana consumption of the Sun was still far greater than the regeneration speed.

He had to save his strength until the ‘decisive moment’ that he had in mind.

‘But the knights and mages won’t be able to last forever.’

Knights and mages were like tanks and jets in modern Earth whose stamina was incomparable to normal soldiers.

However, even the greatest of firearms was limited by the amount of their ammunition.

Currently, the knights and mages were able to overwhelm the waves of undeads, but the moment their aura and mana started to run low, their momentary burst of power would die down.

‘There is a time limit on us. The only way for us to win here is—’

The only way was to beat the wicked dragon, who was still staying low without revealing itself. He had to bait it out and defeat it.

[We have relayed the coordinates to Saint Xeruem Choir. Cleansing Cross coming soon.]

The mages specified the coordinates as the rearguard began firing at the undeads. Due to the nature of the enemies, they needed sacred energy, and there were over a hundred priests and sisters answering their call from a distance.

What happened next was obvious.

In the distant past, back when gods and titans were still living amongst the humans, there was a single bloodline that connected the two divine races.

Those who could use the power they refer to as ‘sacred energy’ were the long descendents of the gods and titans. Although they themselves were unaware of that fact, their prayers and their ‘cleansing’ spells still worked wonders against the wicked undead.

“Remarkable support,” exclaimed Miruam. She, who was staying at the lead to maintain the heated morale of the soldiers despite being a princess, commented in admiration of the beam of light falling from above.

“Thank goodness. It seems they are done with Urdarbrunnr as well.”

Considering the amount of support that was coming their way, Korin deemed that it was safe to assume that the other wells had already been taken care of.

“Who was it on that end again?” Miruam asked.

“Marie-sunbae and Master.”

Both Marie and Erin were one of the top powerhouses of this current generation, and nothing there could have possibly stopped them.

“Then are we going to be done with all the wells when we are done?”

“Probably. The real problem hasn’t even come yet though.”

“What’s left?”

“Well, don’t worry.” Korin shook her worries off. “We have pretty big numbers, so I’m sure it will turn out one way or another.”

At this point, it was meaningless to consider how it was in the original game and whatnot.

The enemy was currently far stronger than expected.

Even though he had been cutting their forces down for the last 3 years, there was no end to what was coming, and Korin couldn’t be certain about the future anymore.

Korin felt instinctively that he had no choice but to ‘re-enact the mythology’.

He had a feeling that this fight would ultimately turn out into a similar example.

After running for who knows how long,

“Huh?”

One of the knights fighting at the front noticed something off.

“The undeads are frightened by something.”

The ranks of the undeads that had already been in a mess was crumbling even more.

They were so frantic that it couldn’t have been simply due to the knights, mages and priests, and it didn’t take long for the rest of them to catch on.

– GOHHHHHHHHHHH—!!

A roar gave them goosebumps.

A chill flashed down their spine like a bolt of lightning.

It happened before they could even comprehend what that unknown roar was about. One of the higher-ranked mages, whose role was to light up the battlefield and observe the state using his vision amplification spells, suddenly let out a scream in fright.

“B, barrier at the front! All mages are to activate their shields!!”

Unlike mages under the Tower of Mages or those affiliated with the Guardian Association, a characteristic of those working in the army was that they followed orders obediently.

The moment they were given a command by a higher-ranked mage, all the mages working for the military immediately responded with a barrier.

What resulted was a sight to behold. The military barrier spell researched and perfected through regular and consistent practice created a thick sheet of barrier at the front of the army to magnificently block anything, whatever the threat may be.

– KWAAAAAAAAAAAA…!

But it was then. An ominous aura started to pour out from the darkness.

Like a tidal wave… no – the ray of energy came bursting out in the form of a branch full of thorns, collided with the barrier and… the perfect barrier cast by the military mages couldn’t even last a second.

It left behind devastating remains, and the soldiers were appalled by the sight of it.

“That damn lizard starting off with a breath…!”

Korin couldn’t conceal the irritation on his face.

“Your Highness Miru… Now!”

The rest of the army had yet to wake up from the shock of that dragon breath, but Korin quickly turned towards Miru and asked for her cooperation.

“Are you… sure about this?”

“I’m the only one that can do it.”

“I hope it’s not coming from arrogance.”

Miruam poured her mana into the familiar residing in her staff. It turned into an enormous serpent which woke up the soldiers nearby and urged them to take several steps back.

The Serpent of Infinity rapidly grew into an enormous 50-meter-long snake.

Even this was only the size of a baby compared to the full serpent form Korin saw in the last iteration, but asking for that would be the same as asking Miruam to sacrifice herself.

“Thanks for the ride!”

That was why Korin decided to treat it as a mount instead, since it was much faster and more resilient than a normal human.

“Don’t even think about not coming back alive. If you die… I will bring your corpse back to life and order it around forever.”

“…Why are all the ladies around me like this?”

Regardless, Korin got on the head of the snake as the Serpent of Infinity quickly began to break through the center under Miruam’s command.

An enormous snake reaching 50 meters in length was a living weapon that could crush everything with its weight, and the spirits with no weight to support them couldn’t even last a single second against it.

⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛!!!

The dragon roared at the mortal who dared to charge towards itself.

<Sun Manifestation>

****

After depleting the wells, the expedition squad naturally ended up at the same area.

The goal was to go up the roots and destroy the World Tree. To be exact, it was to cut the tree down by taking advantage of their numbers.

“Chairman!”

Going past the wells and continuing up the roots, Alicia found Erin walking from a distance and ran up with the torch still in her hand.

“Alicia! How was it for you guys?”

“We dealt with it without a problem! We drank up the well and dried it out.”

“Oh… That’s…”

It was a strange but effective method, because the wells still contained the divine rainwater from the mythological days and were great elixirs.

“What about Korin?” Erin asked.

“Korin-ssi went to help the Hvergelmr side.”

“I see…”

She assumed he must have gone alone. After all, due to the Restriction of the Precept that he couldn’t perceive spirits, Hvergelmr full of undead souls was no different from a vast wasteland of nothing for him.

“Chairman~”

That was when the pink-haired saintess walked towards them. After finding Erin, she looked over her shoulders at the army behind her.

“Is my sister not here?”

“Miruam is probably towards Hvergelmr. Who else is with you guys?”

“Professor Josephine, Hua Ran and Alicia.”

The ones from the Academy including Yuel, Kranel, Dorron, Jaeger and Lark had all been in Erin’s group.

“That means…”

It meant there wouldn’t have been enough manpower on Miruam’s side. On top of that, Hvergelmr was the land of the undeads, and the entire area was deadly.

An army without any specialized equipment would find it challenging to beat them.

“But Korin-dongsaeng went there. I’m sure it will turn out fine.”

“Although the undeads are weak to the Sun… that place also has the dragon.”

Nidhogg, the Evil Dragon of Hatred.

The ancient dragon, whom even the gods of the north couldn’t chase away, wasn’t something a single individual could handle.

It was the definition of a living weapon. How long could an individual even last against it?

‘If Korin was enlightened about the profound truth it might be different but…’

In that case, it might be possible for him to confront the dragon. Although it would be impossible for a single individual to handle the dragon, Korin Lork wasn’t some random individual, after all.

“Even though we haven’t dealt with all three wells yet, the World Tree stopped growing thanks to the two depleted wells.”

After saying that, Estelle struck the small root next to her with the Magic Club of Dagda.

The roots, which used to grow rapidly and regenerate in the blink of an eye, withered and wavered instead.

“In other words, we can start chopping it down.’

There were at least 20,000 soldiers at the base of the tree, and each of them had been required to carry an ax.

“Let’s cut this horrible tree down.”

The World Tree would devour the planet and expand its branches across the world if left alone. Cutting this down would put a stop to Tates Valtazar’s plan and with 20,000 men, even a tree as big as this wouldn’t stand a chance.

“How much of a waste would that be? This is one of the few remains of the mythology we have left.”

That was when someone uninvited joined the conversation.

Hearing his voice, the army turned around and found someone standing in the air next to the tree.

“Eochaid Bres…”

The man in golden plated armors was looking down from above while defying the laws of gravity.

“Korin Lork is probably fighting the dragon… This is a stage for the minor actors it seems.”

A man with a brilliant golden face slowly approached them while brightening up the area. He spoke nonchalantly but his eyes told a different story.

His eyes were cold and merciless… as if he was looking at some harmful insects instead of humans.

“Hmm… So that old man is the previous previous previous Ard Ri, a former King of Gods, right?”

Estelle muttered while observing the man with no regard to his cold look of disdain.

Certainly, it didn’t seem like an overstatement for him to be called a ‘god’. Although she had seen it beforehand from Erin, the sheer amount of divine energy in him was still shocking.

She was envious.

She wanted to be like him.

No – it was going to be a destined future for sure.

“Hello, my very far-away ancestor.”

“Hmm~ so you’re the one from Balor and Dagda’s bloodline, huh. I see. Like a mutant indeed.”

“Please call it atavism instead, thank you.”

Meanwhile, the army readied themselves for battle. Estelle and Erin weren’t the only ones present.

Alicia, Hua Ran, Marie, Josephine, Dorron, Yuel, Kranel, valkyries including Brunhild and the great northern warriors – all the named characters of <Heroic Legends of Arhan> had gathered at one spot.

Their manpower advantage seemed more than enough – in fact, it was excessive to the point of being incomparable.

“Loosen up your shoulders,” said Eochaid Bres. “Though I am rather frustrated by the fact I am a supporting actor and not a major role, neither of us can deny who the true major actors of this generation are.”

“We don’t care. We can just break through by sheer force.”

Even without Korin’s help, anything would be possible with an army of this size. Estelle thought they had more than enough of a chance to win considering their numbers advantage but—

<Connecting to World Tree. Wicker Man Creation>

The roots of the World Tree and the barks morphed into a distorted state, and quickly created a smaller version of the Yggdrasil Wicker Man. That wasn’t the end.

<Come forth, Elemental King. Highest-grade Elementals>

Lights began to emerge from the roots and branches. They, who were supposed to stay in the spirit realm, heeded to the call of the Great Sage and manifested themselves to punish the living.

At the center of all that was an old druid.

“I admit it. We are being pushed back more than I was expecting. Korin Lork definitely has the right to be called a contender of Sir Valtazar.”

Lawmaker Dumnorix.

Surrounded by the World Tree, a miracle of mother nature, he was no different from a god himself.

At the same time, Shadow Demons began to appear from the darkness. Despite being without a shape or form, they approached from all sides to surround the army.

– Kugugugung…!

Following that, the earth began to shake and the skies started to tremble.

“W, what is happening?”

“H, huh? Look! The World Tree is growing again!” shouted Alicia while pointing off into a distance.

There, white branches were starting to expand. Like cobweb they expanded through the dark world, and despite being far from it, everyone was able to see them clearly for some odd reason.

It was both mysterious yet frightening.

A tree big enough to cover the entire sky was growing even bigger without the wells… What was it using as energy this time?

“The energy from the earth… It’s eating up the nutrients of the continent.”

“That is exactly right, youngest one.”

Eochaid acknowledged Erin’s speculation and talked about their plan of utter destruction as if it didn’t have to stay a secret no more.

“That tree is going berserk. It will continue to drain out the entire energy of this continent and this world. In a world with neither light nor the mercy of mother nature, humans would inevitably die out one day.”

“What a horrendous plan. That is not ‘Justice’.”

“Then try to stop us. Put a stop to our plans – stab my heart with that spear, but all of your efforts will be futile.”

“If that’s what you want.”

Erin immediately climbed up the tree with the spear in her hand.

She accelerated at a speed only permitted to gods. Despite going against gravity, her speed was unhindered.

Erin was the master of spear.

The two greatest spearmen of this generation were both her disciples.

In other words, she had been the strongest spearman for thousands of years until their appearance.

‘Even the God King won’t be able to beat me in close combat.”

Eochaid Bres.

He was the only one she had to defeat to break through the stalemate. Since the enemy had yet to fully prepare themselves, Erin used the opportunity to deliver a meaningful attack.

“Oh dear. Looks like I made you quite upset.”

Despite seeing that, Eochaid nonchalantly grinned without even preparing himself for a fight.

“But if you only have your eyes on me,” he said. “Your back will be open to the undeads that crawled up from the depths of hell.”

“What…?”

It was right when her spear was about to land on Eochaid Bres.

[ ᚱ ] — Raidho

Goosebumps crawled up her skin. Her instincts picked up a cold metallic fist heading straight towards the side of her head at the last minute.

“Kuht…?!”

Her Spinning Heaven changed its trajectory to the side. The profound control of her spear allowed Erin to parry the attack, but right as she was about to strike back, she was stopped by the shock from seeing the enemy’s face.

“Been a while, Chairman Eriu.”

Steel gauntlets. Afro hairstyle.

“Professor… Fermack Daman?”

Didn’t Korin kill him a long time ago?

Catching her off guard, Fermack struck once again with his fists.

“Kuhk…!”

Erin flung back and somehow managed to regain her footing on the tree trunk, but that wasn’t the end.

– HISSSS!

Hundreds of snakes pounced out from the gaps between the barks of the World Tree. They immediately attacked Erin, and she therefore had to rely on the power of gravity to fall back down.

“Chairman!”

The pink-haired Saintess supported her before she fell all the way down to the ground, but both of them were soon shocked speechless by the sight before their eyes.

“…Dun Scaith?” Estelle muttered under her breath.

Dun Scaith, the King of Beasts – the monster that was supposed to have been eradicated by Korin reappeared out of the toads and snakes that came together.

“How? Weren’t they both killed by Korin-ssi?”

The enemies that had been killed by Korin, Fermack Daman and Dun Scaith, were back. It was surreal to believe the dead could come back to life, but Erin soon saw through what had happened.

“…I see. Valhalla.”

The paradise of dead warriors – Valhalla was where the Valkyries collected the ‘divine warriors, Einherjar’ by collecting their souls.

“Is this one of the reasons why Tates brought the Valkyries under his wing?”

“That is exactly correct. Well, it’s like a midsummer night’s dream,” replied Eochaid. “Unless the era of mythology comes back in full, they are nothing but corpses that will soon rot away.”

“What a mean thing to say, Sir Bres.”

“Hihit… I’m okayyy~ Hihihit!”

Upon a closer inspection, they realized that neither Dun Scaith nor Fermack Daman were in a normal state.

Their body was routine away, and their eyes weren’t gleaming from intellect as much as they used to. Over time, they would turn into skeletons like the other Einherjar.

However, that was a future that wouldn’t affect the current situation.

“Looks like we have all the actors ready on the stage.”

A hammer sparking with thunder and a radiantly gleaming sword of victory appeared in Eochaid Bres’ hands.

He truly appeared like a great god or a majestic hero straight out of mythology, but he surprisingly spoke down about himself.

“Compared to the main act, our fight might be nothing more than a minor scene. That was how it was destined to be in the first place. No matter how many times you fight or kill, it will be meaningless. That’s just how it is.”

Regardless, the final battle was about to begin.