3 bar menu

Chapter 77 – Part 1

While my body double was fighting the Niezheg in the Great Demon World, my actual body was still with my familiar, the lamia Selina, and the Black Rose Spirit, Diadora. Together with the two of them, we were running at full speed through the city of Deep Green.

Above us, the three Great Spirits that I had summoned were fighting, using their powers to their heart’s content. Countless numbers of demons were destroyed by their hand.

The demons and the magic soldiers weren’t just fighting off the citizens of the city. They were also facing the three Great Spirits, and said spirits were rampaging wildly, causing the demons to fight desperately and frantically.

If these demons were able to fight in the demon world, then they would have access to their full, original power. But since they had appeared on earth, their power was being suppressed. But on top of that, even if they did have their original strength, the difference in power between them and the three Great Spirits being supplied magical energy from me was still too great of a gap to fill.

Hmm, at this rate, even if a high class demon on the same level as the fallen god Georg showed up, we could safely rely on the spirits to handle it. Well, no, maybe a Georg-level enemy might be a little too tough for them.

「Dran, what exactly is going on inside of Yggdrasil right now?」

Crawling onward at full speed next to me was Selina, and I answered her question while I was also running.

Selina seemed to be assuming that I was completely aware of the current situation inside of Yggdrasil, without even a hint of a doubt toward me.

Well, she wasn’t wrong, I do indeed know, so I couldn’t complain, but that just goes to show how much Selina trusts me, and I suppose I should accept that faith.

「The soldiers consisting of many races from Ente Forest should be together with the Priestess Princess, engaging the demon soldiers inside of the tree.
For now, there haven’t been too many heavily injured people or casualties, but the core of Yggdrasil’s consciousness is not doing too well.
Most likely, the mastermind behind this attack will show up there. If we can stop them there, then the situation will start to calm down for the time being」

「So it’s not just out here, it’s a mess inside as well」

Selina’s expression grew even more grim, as her face tightened from cautious wariness towards the threat we were about to face, waiting for us within the tree.

With my protection and through her connection to me as my familiar supporting her, Selina should be able to hold her own against a high class demon in a head on fight.

「Dran, I don’t believe we have much time left, but what is your opinion?」

After Selina, the next one to ask a question was Diadora.

During the attack on Cywest back then, the number of comrades we had lost hadn’t been a small number. Based on that experience, it seems she had become quite nervous about this attack, and was experiencing acute feelings of uneasiness.

「It’s true that our soldiers on Yggdrasil’s side are high quality fighters, but it is a little rough not having a share of Yggdrasil’s strength, since it is still holding off the demons’ boss, and has no extra power to spare.
Moreover, our enemies are not only demons, but they also outnumber us.
If the situation does not change, then our forces won’t be able to hold out for much longer. That’s we’re going to go in there and turn the tides in our favor」

「It’s a difficult situation. If you weren’t here, then I’m sure we would have all despaired.
I’m sorry, Dran. I’m relying on you and Selina once again, even though you aren’t residents of this forest」

This current situation was starting to turn out similarly to the fight with Georg and his army, so Diadora truly looked apologetic from the bottom of her heart, as her eyelashes lowered. However, neither Selina nor I ever considered her to be an annoyance, not even close.

「A danger to Yggdrasil means disaster for the rest of the world as well.
So you don’t have to think so hard about whether we’re from this forest or not.
Besides, if we save Yggdrasil from this threat, then that will probably leave a good impression on the many species of Ente Forest.
On top of those self interests, we’re also just purely angry that the festival we’d been looking forward to has been interrupted. We have a mountain of reasons to fight, just like all of you」

「Fufu, I see, that does sound just like you. Strong willed, cunning, bold; you’re certainly all of those things.
So I shall obediently accept what you have said then, and let go of my concerns」

「Well, if we don’t get something out of this, then we’d be working at a loss after all. However, hmm, it seems the situation has started to change a bit」

While I was talking with Diadora, I was closely monitoring the situation inside of Yggdrasil, but somehow things had gotten bad enough that we would have to hurry up.

I had been running at top speed until then, but I slowly lowered my speed, until I finally came to a stop. In response, Selina and Diadora looked toward me with anxious eyes.

「Dran?」

「Dran, did something happen?」

「We can’t take our time running over there anymore. Let’s fly directly into the inside of Yggdrasil」

Selina and Diadora showed a little surprise toward what I said, but neither of them raised any objections. That is probably due to the wholehearted faith the two of them had in me.

＊

The head of Yggdrasil, the Priestess Princess Ryuryushii, was an elf with the most spiritual energy out of all the elves in Ente Forest, and also holds affinity with Yggdrasil leagues above everyone else.

A member of the highest class of elves, the High Elves, she was one of the few High Elf children born in the past few hundred years, which could be counted on one hand. Among the High Elves living in Ente Forest, she was also the youngest girl of them all.

According to the images humans outside of the forest have of elves, she… definitely did not match them; she far exceeded them. Ryuryushii had an extremely ephemeral and beautiful appearance, with a slender body drawn in elegant lines, clad in priestess clothing made from Yggdrasil’s leaves and wood.

Her clothes were designed like a dress, with many layers of robes made of a see-through, light green color. Her feet were covered in shoes made of ivy and tree bark layered on top of each other.

In her hand, she held a staff that had the crystallization of Yggdrasil’s magic embedded into it. She had long, green colored hair that reached down to her waist, and on top of her head, was a crown made from cutting the branches of Yggdrasil.

Ryuryushii was inside of the trunk of Yggdrasil, where the tree’s consciousness was said to be located, a place called 『The Space of the Oracle』. She was holed up in that place together with her bodyguard soldiers, fighting off the demons who were trying to break in.

This inside chamber of Ente-Yggdrasil wasn’t just large. It was so big, that even though the so-called Space of the Oracle was filled with pure air and spiritual energy, there was room for the over three hundred demons and magic soldiers inside, with plenty of room to spare still.

Ryuryushii and her soldiers were standing along the wall opposite the entrance, letting the wall keep their backs covered. The demons were attacking them from the front, the sides, and even above too. They fought back bravely.

The soldiers tasked with guarding the Priestess Princess were selected from various species of Ente Forest, and were the elite of the elite.

And even among that elite group, there were five people in particular who stood out above the rest.

Moving on all four limbs and using claws and fangs to gouge out the flesh of the demons was the werewolf with gray fur, Urga. The one running with brown fur that had black, lightning bolt shaped stripes in it was the tiger person, Tegel.

And the ancient resident of the forest, the Wood Elf who was wearing light clothing that emphasized ease of movement, was Latanta.

Apart from Latanta, there were two other young women who were wearing priestess robes similar to Ryuryushii’s clothes.

One was a female Wood Elf that appeared to be the same age as Ryuryushii, a spirit user who served as both Ryuryushii’s attendant and her bodyguard.

Her name is Quel. And applied all over her thin cheeks, her neck, and her arms and legs, were complex patterns. Around her, she had summoned some wind and water spirits to her side.