The Damn Family Is Back Again

384. The Yggdrasil Project (24)

The removal of the empty World Tree.

Karsein’s signal, it seemed, could mean nothing else.

Though he replayed it countless times, dissecting its intent, that interpretation felt irrefutable.

“According to Rosel Vagrand’s will, the treant fiends are born from Yggdrasil’s seeds, consuming humans from within. That means the most efficient method is to overwhelm and detonate a large number at once.”

Harnier carefully drew back the curtain, surveying the window.

The demon horde was indeed menacing, but even so, the number of treant fiends was not quite as substantial.

“The Westerners should be able to withstand this. It indicates they expedited their plans due to the pressing timeframe.”

And then, the decisive element.

“Bellian has acquired an army, but he lacks a commander.”

The absence of a commander to lead the troops here. The army, devoid of any apparent high command, seemed to have grown merely through surprise attacks and consumption, necessitating Bellian, the leader, to be present.

But Bellian was nowhere to be seen.

His location was likely the Theresia March. Karsein was surely holding him back directly.

“There’s no doubt. Yggdrasil is currently undefended. In that case…”

Harnier cautiously retrieved the five Treasures from within his coat.

-I wish to entrust these to you, Harnier.

The five Treasures, safeguarded by Rosel Vagrand and Karn Vagrand at the cost of their lives.

They suppress the power of the demonic world tree, preventing it from growing, and seal it; they must never fall into enemy hands.

Furthermore, the treant fiends, due to their nature as magical beasts disguised as humans, could easily slip into enemy hands if this trait were overlooked.

For this reason, Karsein had entrusted these vital objects to Harnier.

“…He couldn’t have foreseen this outcome, but perhaps it’s a blessing in disguise.”

Harnier grinned.

An unexpected ease settles over her heart.

“Thank goodness. I was about to wither away, just standing still like this.”

A lifetime spent alone. Solving everything herself, never letting go of her merchant’s resolve, working tirelessly with both hands and feet.

Such treatment as a hothouse flower, or being coddled like a princess safe within walls, was bound to set her teeth on edge.

“But…”

It isn’t easy.

Even if she knows what must be done.

Somehow, she’d deciphered the signal, arrived at the conclusion that Yggdrasil was defenseless, but she cannot simply rush headlong.

─Waaa!

The area around the Vagramd Duchy remains encircled by the treant hordes.

However vulnerable Yggdrasil may be, breaking through that throng would be no small feat.

“Even so, I have no choice but to succeed. It’s the task he entrusted to me.”

Yes. This is the task Karsein entrusted to her.

A signal sent in the belief she could accomplish it, unwavering faith that she would perceive it, and so, he sent this signal.

Therefore, she absolutely cannot betray Karsein’s expectations.

She must succeed.

For the sake of this man she loves.

-Soft rustle.

Harnier secures the jewel back within her bosom.

She opens the door and begins to descend the stairs through the mansion’s corridor.

But, wait.

“Just a moment.”

Abruptly, her legs stilled on the staircase.

“…Come to think of it, wasn’t Yggdrasil’s initial purpose to devour the Vahgrand Dukedom first and foremost?”

According to Roselle Vahgrand’s will, the World Tree Yggdrasil grew by sowing all sorts of seeds.

Endlessly stealing human power, using it as nourishment to grow, and according to Karn Vahgrand’s notes, that power would swallow Vahgrand whole first.

“That…!”

-Clack!

Harnier immediately resumed her ascent.

Why, why hadn’t she realized it?

“That’s right. It’s impossible. There’s no way the World Tree would be outside after using its power to summon an army this quickly!”

Seeds that had sprouted faster than scheduled.

If it intended to nurture them to devour Vahgrand…

Then its location, could not be outside.

Yggdrasil had to be growing inside the Vahgrand Dukedom.

Isabella, Arina, Claire, and even Flora.

Even more so if it intended to absorb the magical power of those four.

It had to be within the manor.

Not somewhere within or near the Duchy, but within this very manor.

“The protection amulet didn’t react. As things stand…”

She must seek.

She must scour the entire Ducal estate, if need be.

“It chafes.”

– *Riiip!*

Harnier tore a strip from her skirt, then began to run.

“Where. Where is it?”

It was certain to be within the Bagrand Duchy. But where, then?

Places to conceal it lay scattered aplenty, yet searching each in turn revealed nothing.

“No.”

Countless storehouses.

“Not here, either… no.”

The maids’ chambers.

“No. Not here. Not anywhere.”

The drawing rooms and the dressmaking salon.

“Not here…!”

The laundry room and the yard, the veranda and the kitchen.

She had ransacked everywhere, yet nothing caught her eye.

When, where, in what form it existed.

Who had hidden it here, and how, she could not fathom.

But then, suddenly, a certain place flew into Harnier’s mind and lodged itself there.

“The Duchy was silent… as if nothing had been found.”

So many places where a person’s eye might fall. Surely someone would have recognized it, would have asked, what is this?

But the Duchy remained only silent.

That was it.

The most dank, the most secluded place.

A place always quietly abandoned, never catching the eye.

Carsein’s room.

There was where Yggdrasil resided.

-BARK!

“…Found it.”

Throwing the door open, something oozing a sinister aura lay beneath the bed.

Immediately pushing the bed aside with magic, it was now clearly visible.

So small.

The size was small enough to call it a sprout.

But…

Drinking in something of a dark red hue, it was growing, its visuals impeccable enough to be called a demonic World Tree.

A grim skeletal structure of human bone-like lines and dark red roots with unsettling eyeballs rolling. And in the place of leaves, droplets of blood were forming.

The edges. Where a pot holding the soil should have been, if it were a plant…

There was a hole, just big enough to fit a heart.

It had the structure of a tree, but it could not be called a tree.

It would never do to call such a thing a World Tree.

It was as if human body parts and organs had been forcibly grafted onto the archetype of a tree.

But now was not the time to dwell on its loathsome appearance.

“It’s not too late.”

Not yet, fully grown.

The nourishment it craved was sorely lacking.

And nothing stood vigil by its side.

If so, then it could be stopped.

– *Swoosh*.

“Just wait a little longer, Karsein.”

A grand magic circle unfolded, ready to activate the treasure.

*

“Ghk…!”

– *Kwaang!*

The earth caved in, leaving behind a crater.

The creeping tendrils of dust swirling up attested to its power.

“Oya, oya. I hardly know what to do with myself. You just figured out there aren’t enough soldiers to guard Yggdrasil, and then you end up facing me of all people.”

Being pushed back.

A frontal assault was impossible.

From sheer strength alone, the disparity was immense.

“Haaap!”

“Oh-ho. Think you’re the only one who can wield mana?”

Even if I tried to counter with mana, it’d be the same.

-Whoosh!

“Exceptional control, I must say? Had you drawn on any more, it would’ve rebounded and injured you severely.”

“Tch…!”

“Ahahaha. This is fun. You. You’re truly fun!”

Tsss…

Smoke curled up from the surrounding earth.

With a single strike, this time the ground was scorched, rendered utterly dry.

The burning heat felt on my lips. The mucous membranes cracking from the dryness.

He wielded power in every conceivable way, completely at ease.

Not just brute strength, nor lacking in mana.

Truly.

This was what it meant to be born with every talent.

However.

-Shlurk!

“Huh?”

-Swish! Splatter!

“Kehk. What is this? Fights dirty, does he?”

Experience held the upper hand, here.

Talented as he might be, that one was but a pampered young master.

On the streets, there were no rules to be found.

Where one fought with every fiber, straining against the void, no regulations held sway.

Every means, no matter how low, was employed to seize victory.

That knowledge, it was absent within him.

The uneven ground, pocked and furrowed, offered slight elevation. And the sand, fine as powdered jade, a consequence of his heedlessly expended strength.

“Cough, cough! Blast it. Why the sand, you madman!”

A momentary blindness, the world engulfed in a stinging cloud.

Belian, unprepared for such a crude tactic, swung his blade, attempting to dispel the grains with the force of the wind.

And that, that sealed his fate.

-Clang!

“…Huh?”

Two swords arcing through the air, detached.

With a burst of concentrated mana, he had parried the other’s weapon.

He might already know how to imbue his steel with mana, but he wouldn’t be adept at this kind of brawl.

In this dance of fists and feet, Belian tried to respond with brute force, but his movements were clumsy.

And it was in this close-quarters combat that the art of yielding truly shone.

-Thwack!

“Gak!”

He hoisted him in a single motion, executing a shoulder throw that slammed Belian into the earth.

A clatter marked the fall of two weapons.

Immediately seizing his sword, he swung, managing to land a telling blow.

– *Fshuk!*

A crimson geyser erupted.

But.

“Kuh…! That stings, you b*stard.”

“…Damn it. So it was like that.”

He hadn’t died.

Taking a step back, Belian rose, clutching at his slashed neck.

“Well, well. To be pushed this far when I have both power and mana on my side, I truly hadn’t imagined. You’re the first to land a hit on me, Karsein. But.”

Belian grinned, a flash of white teeth.

“None of it matters. It’s all in vain, you see.”

The area around his neck had already healed.

The wound had vanished without a trace.

‘…No lingering wounds, huh? So that’s how it is.’

This might be the first time he’d landed a truly effective blow, but he’d had such experiences many times before.

Belian, brushing against sharp corners, colliding with blunt objects, his bare skin coming into contact with places that might well have an edge.

The number of indirect attacks he’d delivered wasn’t insignificant, enough to cause at least a bruise or two. And when they’d been fighting in the room and had fallen here, he’d fallen into thorny plants that should have scratched him up good.

*That* was the odd thing.

Because there isn’t a single wound.

Even if the body is reinforced with mana to such an extent, if you were human, you’d expect at least a few minor scratches from something like that, yet not a single blemish marred her flesh.

“Why else would Yggdrasil be the World Tree? Wounds are simply out of the question. And even if they did appear, the nutrients it’s absorbed all this time would be put to use healing them.”

The power of the World Tree.

As long as she possessed it, Bellian would endlessly recover from any injury.

‘Against something like that…’

▶EX EPISODE. True Enemy In Progress.◀

▶Eliminate Bellian Theresia.◀

■Enemy Entity Information

[Bellian Theresia]

▶Lv. 999◀

▶HP ???◀

▶MP ???◀

…

…

To fight and win, is it?

Truly, a daunting prospect beyond compare.

However.

It’s not necessarily so.

“…Ugh? Ck, cough!”

Belian vomited a handful of blood.

Realizing the viscous liquid coating his hand was regurgitated life force, panic began to bloom within him.

“What. Why is my power…?”

-Woong.

The Oath Orb pulsed, a resonant hum.

Belian’s eyes narrowed, a venomous glare fixing upon them.

“The Oath Orb…? No. No way…!”

▶The first treasure’s power suppresses Yggdrasil!◀

▶Belian Theresia’s power is weakening!◀

■Enemy Unit Information

[ Belian Theresia ]

▶Lv. 799◀

▶HP 80%◀

▶MP 80%◀

[ Undying Skill Deactivated! Damage can now be inflicted! ]

…

…

As expected.

Harnier must have succeeded.

“Unbelievable. Just, just that one thing – how can *all* the signals be passing through it!”

Belian cried out, as if such a thing were utterly impossible.

Likely.

His mind was forced to deliver that verdict.

No matter what equations he fed it, it simply didn’t compute.

It was an equation that could never possibly hold true.

But, that was precisely his weakness.

“I told you. Lovers understand each other perfectly, like glue?”

He possessed no feelings.

And through that, I was able to create a variable.