WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Irevi
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Alone Against the Tower ◈
Chapter 93: Racial Traits
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At least a few thousand years old, the mastermind who had been operating in the shadows revealed their identity.
The reason was simple. They thought it would not matter even if they did.
But why?
Why did that bastard think it was fine to reveal who they were at this very moment?
There were two possibilities.
Either they were confident they could silence us completely, or their goal was so close that being exposed no longer mattered.
We knew their identity, but we knew nothing about their true purpose.
If every High Elf king in history had been that one person, why had they tried to make a peace treaty with the Dark Elves?
Why had they suddenly declared war decades after the peace agreement through marriage had fallen apart?
If extending their life was the only goal, there was no need to take control of the World Tree. Elves were naturally an immortal race.
Rumble!
I used the Pendant and activated Mana Enhancement. If that bastard was the mastermind, all I had to do was kill them here.
Just as I gripped my sword and prepared to charge forward, the World Tree released mana once more.
My feet stopped.
It was not because of a magical interference effect. Nor had fear or terror stopped me.
My mind had simply frozen.
The tidal wave of mana I had felt until now was not even all of it.
The gap in power was so absurd that I could not even begin to think of how to win.
What the fuck was that?
The Console floating over the High Elf King’s head was so black it looked like a tiny black hole.
It looked as though a hole had simply opened in the air. It was so dark that my eyes were playing tricks on me.
The sword in my hand felt like a wooden stick, while my armor and shield felt like sheets of paper.
“Oh, I put too much force into that.”
A voice whispered in my ear. A hand touched my shoulder.
I immediately swung my sword.
Whoosh!
But the attack cut through empty air. The bastard had moved behind me in an instant, then returned to the throne.
What the hell was that? Teleportation?
A movement skill with no warning that surpassed my reaction speed even with Mana Enhancement active? Was that even possible?
“Why are you so tense, nameless human swordsman? My purpose is not to devour you.”
The High Elf King, backed by the World Tree’s mana, smiled.
“Now, beautiful shadow. Hand over your crown.”
“Crown...?”
“Yes. With that final piece... there will be no need to harm you.”
The bastard moved in an instant again and appeared before Eleanor. I swung my sword once more, but it did not connect.
“There are three devices needed to take control of the World Tree. The final one is the crown. All you need to do is give it to me.”
Was that why they had revealed their identity? Because Eleanor, who possessed the crown, had appeared right before them.
If that was the goal, forming a peace treaty through marriage would certainly have been the easiest route.
When that fell apart, they started a war to take it by force.
No, the timing was strange.
If they had wanted to start a war, should they not have done it much earlier? With that much power, there was no need for a war in the first place...
“Ah.”
No, I got it.
They had not possessed this much power from the beginning. They had acquired it over a hundred years.
This was not power they had built up themselves. They had simply spent a hundred years learning to wield the World Tree’s power.
And there was obviously a reason they had deliberately drawn us into this room.
“You thought I would obediently hand over the crown after hearing that?”
Crash!
Eleanor swung her hand, and spikes of shadow burst forth, engulfing the High Elf King.
“Yes, I knew you would not give it to me. But why do you still fail to realize that your wishes do not matter?”
The King evaded the spikes with spatial movement and gathered the World Tree’s mana. A grand magic circle unfolded.
“Must I resort to force?”
Even while they stood still, I had felt at a loss over how to fight them.
But now that they were seriously using their power, I could see it.
I could see how to beat this clumsy bastard.
* * *
Mercedes, who had been flustered, activated Mana Enhancement as well. Eleanor raised her shadows and prepared herself.
Hummm!
The magic circle formed in the High Elf King’s hand created glowing spheres and scattered them in every direction.
It was an attack that reminded me of the underground dungeon where the Emerald Wyvern had been.
Each sphere contained as much power as my total mana reserves, but their precision and concentration were not very high.
Boom! Boom!
I activated [Hysterical Strength] alongside Mana Enhancement and barely evaded the attacks.
Eleanor used a shadow movement skill, while Mercedes simply dodged through sheer speed.
But the spheres did not stop. They kept firing. We would run out of stamina if we did nothing but evade them.
Then I had no choice.
“Hup!”
I tensed my abdomen, raised my Durability stat with [Hysterical Strength], and finally used [Iron Wall].
Boom!
Instead of evading the incoming sphere, I took it head-on.
The impact of the explosion sent a numbing shock through my entire body.
The attack pierced through my multiple resistances, and a storm of mana raged at the point of impact, violently churning my insides.
Fuck, it felt like someone had removed my organs and put them in a centrifuge. Blood rose in my throat.
Still, by accepting the injury, I succeeded in pushing through the magic attacks and closing the distance.
“The World Tree draws its mana from the star’s ley lines.”
Clang!
The King casually created a barrier that blocked my sword and began rambling.
“Like every tree, it steals power from the land to grow. Therefore, that power is never infinite.”
The High Elf King’s eyes shone, and bizarre heat beams shot toward me. I quickly raised my shield.
Pshhk!
But the beams effortlessly pierced through my shield, my arm, and my chest, searing the wounds with heat.
“Even the star’s ley lines will someday be exhausted. In fact, this star has already begun to reveal its limits.”
A massive shadow axe fell toward the rambling High Elf King. It was Eleanor’s attack.
But the King once again used teleportation and easily dodged it.
“Let me make this clear. Do not take that to mean my power has limits.”
Mercedes swung her sword at the King’s back, but it missed as well.
“Oh, is that so?”
I drank a potion and tossed aside the sword I was holding.
It was time to use my specialty.
The sword naturally missed, but I already held a new spear in my hand.
The spear missed too. Then the axe I swung was blocked, and the shield I threw missed as well.
Clatter!
But without caring, I poured the contents of my inventory out and charged at the King.
* * *
It did not matter if my attacks were blocked. It did not matter if they missed. It did not matter if I was injured.
No matter how wildly I fought, none of my attacks landed. My wounds only widened, and blood kept flowing.
But it did not matter.
The more desperately I charged at them, the more that idiot would underestimate me.
Boom!
The weapons I had spilled out shattered into pieces and scattered. The High Elf King raised a hand as if annoyed.
“You are hastening your death.”
As the hand filled with immense mana approached, I shouted.
“Break the door! Get out of here!”
Mercedes and Eleanor immediately reacted to my shout.
While I had drawn their attention, the two of them had gained far more freedom of movement. The High Elf King turned their head too late.
That bastard had only closed the door after we entered this room, then revealed their identity as if they had already won.
And their power depended on the World Tree. They could not use another being’s power without restriction.
Otherwise, they would have gone to the battlefield themselves, wiped everyone out, and taken Eleanor’s crown.
Then the restriction I could infer was this.
They could only use that power inside this room, where the throne connected to the World Tree stood.
“You thought you could escape?”
The High Elf King used spatial movement to block Eleanor’s path as she tried to flee.
It seemed my guess had been right.
Outside this room, they could not freely wield the World Tree’s power. That was why they were rushing to stop her.
Too bad for them, escape was never actually my goal.
I had let myself get beaten to a pulp to draw their attention, then shouted for us to escape.
Of course they would think that was my plan.
Getting drunk on power, underestimating your opponent, then getting fucked over. Is that your race’s trait?
[Lightning Charge]
[Sensory Amplification]
[Weakness Insight]
[Hysterical Strength]
I activated every buff skill I could use, grabbed one of the weapons I had repeatedly thrown, and hurled it again.
The reason I had charged at that bastard so recklessly, and the reason I had shouted for them to escape, was all to keep them from realizing this was my true aim.
The thrown weapon was targeting the High Elf throne connected to the World Tree.
Boom!
As I watched the spear I had thrown with all my strength shatter the throne to pieces, I thought:
They called you the father and king of all High Elves, right?
That certainly seems true.
You have tremendous power, but when it comes to actual skill, you are no different from that prince bastard.
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