◈ Episode 300 Uncomfortable Accompaniment (1)
A wide cavity in the center of an underground facility.
More than half of the vast space was occupied by huge structures.
It was the root of the dead world tree.
Only the base of the World Tree remained attached to the ceiling, with its ivory-colored roots extending in all directions.
Small roots that had penetrated the common walls spread out and spread throughout the underground facility.
Since the base was attached to the ceiling, the World Tree was floating quite high from the common ground.
A dome-shaped space was naturally formed under the roots.
The empty space was filled with all sorts of magical tools and gadgets.
It had been a research facility equipped by bioengineering black magicians since long ago.
There, black magicians were busy wandering around, and they were still diligently conducting research.
“How is your progress?”
Just then, an elderly man approached and asked.
A haggard man in his mid-thirties, who was in command of the busy black magicians, approached him and bowed his head.
Perhaps it was because he hadn’t seen sunlight for a long time, his skin was white and his eyes were dry, as if he were looking at a living corpse.
The warlock spoke in a very cautious tone.
“Yes, Master. The currently extracted energy can be safely applied up to the second stage. Even in the case of the third stage, it is proceeding smoothly, and it seems possible to go to the last stage if only this part is passed.”
Andrei Semov.
He was a wizard who had the greatest influence in the biotechnology industry and made a significant contribution to the medical development of modern human history.
However, his craving for knowledge flowed to an uncontrollable level, and eventually he touched the taboo human experiment.
In the end, he had to flee into the darkness, losing everything he had.
While being pointed at as a black magician.
However, since he had secretly created a pipeline with the back world before, he built a new force and created a school of warlocks, so he could conduct experiments he wanted without paying attention to others.
The roots of the world tree where Andrei died.
To be precise, he was exploring the unknown power contained within it.
“You mean the third stage isn’t complete yet?”
Andrei frowned at his words, and his student, a man in his 30s, hurriedly lowered his head.
“yes. Maybe it’s a power we can’t easily handle yet… ….”
“I said it was the power of the devil.”
“That’s right. It is a power superior to mankind, which is now only a legend.”
“That’s stupid. There is no power greater than mankind.”
The disciple flinched at Andrei’s scolding.
Andrei didn’t care about such a student and stared at the large incubation facility on one side of the joint.
Inside were people submerged in green liquid.
“Look. those test subjects. In the past, mankind simply tried to reject the power of demons. I didn’t try to understand it at all. But now we are harnessing its power. Why do you think it is?”
“Isn’t that all thanks to Master’s excellence?”
“Stop flattery on your lips. What has changed since then is the development of knowledge. Research, analyze, explore. All fear comes from ignorance and the unknown. If you know it, it is no longer a fearful force.”
For the ignorant, demonic power is a taboo that should never be touched.
If you can handle it, then it becomes a superior weapon than anything else.
“I was lucky. It’s not enough that there is such a facility underground in the capital city, and the dead world tree and the demonic power contained within it.”
Thanks to this, Andrei was able to make great progress in the research he had devoted his whole life to.
The world tree and the power of demons.
Because you can freely use as many as two samples that are difficult to obtain in a lifetime.
I don’t know why the world tree is dead, and only the stump is left in the basement of the capital.
And the same is true of the demonic power contained within it as if it were sealed.
There must have been some reason, but Andrei didn’t care.
Rather, he saw all of this now as an opportunity.
“With this, I can get my revenge on all the guys who made fun of me. And I can surpass even that lunatic Victor who annoys me every time.”
To do so, it was first necessary to continue this research.
The results were slower than originally planned, but so far it was within expectations.
If there is a problem, it must be the uninvited guests who are visiting this underground facility right now.
“What happened to the intruders?”
“Currently, unfinished second subjects have been sent. However, it seems that their skills are not normal, so they look difficult in the second.”
“hmm. Is it difficult even in the second?”
The second was a test subject that was revived with necromancy by injecting demonic power and chimera cells into the liberation soldiers who volunteered to become test subjects themselves.
Just as black magicians divided the results of their experiments into stages, each test subject based on the results obtained at each stage was named First Second Third.
First is a chimera created by mixing animal factors with the life force of the World Tree.
The second was the Liberation Army agents who injected the chimera’s cells and demonic powers and combined them with black magic.
Even the second test subject was a being with a leap in strength, so it was strong enough to gain an upper hand against quite a few knights.
That’s why the fact that Second suffered now meant that the enemies were not ordinary.
“If they were attacked, the intruders would probably be gathered only by talented people.”
“Seeing as there aren’t many of them, it seems that they came in a small number of elites.”
“but. No matter how many people are pushed into a place like this, the number of victims increases. An excellent choice.”
“Master. So what will you do?”
“Inject all the seconds. Same goes for First. Even if you can’t kill it, you have to drag the time. And you have to do the 3rd stage experiment perfectly. How is Third now?”
“There is a backlash of power so far, but it is still within the stability zone. If you go to this state, you will open your eyes within the specified time.”
A smile formed on Andrew’s lips at those words.
“haha. I kind of like that. If we’re good, we’ll be able to watch Third wipe them all out.”
Andrei’s gaze turned to the center of the joint.
Inside a culture facility much larger than the others, a man crouched down in a red liquid.
“It is a great desire. I can’t believe that someone who became an officer in the Liberation Army would participate in an experiment in which he could not guarantee his own life.”
“Isn’t that why the hunger for power is so great?”
“okay. And since it’s a cooperative relationship, he should show the best results as he wishes. If the third is complete, the final is the last… ….”
Andrei stopped talking and suddenly turned his head away.
Where his gaze reached, there was a group of chimeras lined up.
Andrei narrowed his eyes and glared at the group of chimeras.
“Master?”
“…A rat is hiding.”
Andrei muttered as he stretched out his hand towards the group of chimeras.
The moment magical powers arose from his fingertips, one of the Chimera’s heads exploded.
“Master, why suddenly….”
“Enemies. There must have been someone over there who was well versed in biology.”
“yes? what is that… ….”
“This Chimera took the initiative and was watching us. It seems that this method has been discovered. Didn’t you know that?”
“then….”
“Accelerate the speed of third-party research. It will be a race against time from now on.”
Andrei said that and left his seat.
As the chimera died, Hans, whose link was severed, lifted his bowed head.
“…crazy. Did you notice this?”
I thought that the Chimera handled by the enemies would never be seen, but I was mistaken.
An elderly man who seemed to be the oldest among the warlocks, I guess it must be Andrei, the head of the biotechnology faction.
He noticed his presence and got rid of the surveillance chimera.
Hans immediately began writing down the information he had seen, with a rather serious face.
“Sedina.”
“Your senior.”
Sedina, who was waiting by the side, immediately responded to the call.
Hans handed the paper to Sedina.
“There is nothing more I can do here. Now it’s your turn.”
“yes…!”
* * *
Rudgar and Chris immediately gathered at Second’s corpse and analyzed the corpse.
“The necrosis of the corpse is very rapid. Is it the influence of necromancy?”
“That’s that, but it’s because I forcibly gave it an inappropriate power. Instead of gaining ridiculous physical abilities, the actual activity time seems to be short.”
“okay. Judging by the rate of necrosis, it probably won’t last more than 15 minutes. You fight in a way that literally burns all your life force at once.”
“But unless you know what they’re doing inside, you can’t pass 15 minutes without doing anything.”
Chris nodded and suddenly looked back at Bellaluna.
“It is more surprising than that. How the hell did Lady Bellaluna know he was going to move?”
“yes? Is that me?”
Bellaluna asked in bewilderment if she did not know that the arrow would suddenly fly at her.
It was because Bellaluna was the one who moved first before the second test subject was resurrected.
“The post-mortem rigor, which should have been there originally, didn’t happen…So that’s what I wanted to do. Warlocks also deal with corpses.”
“okay. Even considering that, he is really quick to judge the situation.”
“….”
Rudger stared at Chris with a bewildered expression.
This human now doesn’t even ask where the elf saw a corpse with post mortem.
‘If I go later, even if Bellaluna did a human experiment, she’ll clap her hands saying it’s great.’
Ludger, who thought so, felt uneasy for a moment.
Surely you haven’t already tried human experimentation?
‘Looking at what he did to Hans, I don’t see any sign of that yet.’
It was just an attempt, but if there was a chance, there would be nothing strange to do at any time.
‘I thought Seridan was the most time bomb, but it turned out that this one was more of a problem.’
Rudger shook his head.
The important thing now was this test subject used by the enemies.
“I think I need to be more nervous. They won’t stop here.”
“Surely so.”
Chris also nodded in agreement with Ludger’s opinion.
“I didn’t mean to take it lightly, but it’s much more serious than I thought.”
“What’s even more terrifying is that they’re preparing something worse inside.”
“I thought I just needed to analyze the world tree, but how did this happen?”
“Do you regret it?”
“no. No regrets. Still, I had a good relationship when I came here.”
“…You don’t even think about hiding it anymore.”
“What do you mean?”
“…That’s it. We can’t retreat since we’ve come this far, so we’ll break through as quickly as possible. Are you ready?”
“joy. You don’t even have to ask, it’s already been enough.”
“That’s good.”
Chris and Rudgar are ready for battle.
From afar, I could see the liberation troops approaching this direction.
Chris immediately pulled out the magic number behind his back.
Chris usually didn’t care about the number of magic, but when Bellaluna praised him, he started to draw the number of magic from the beginning.
It didn’t stop there, but rather looked at Ludger and asked.
“Don’t you summon magic beasts?”
“No. There is no need for that.”
This magic number was a very unusual case, so there was a great fear that his identity would be discovered if he made a mistake.
So, as a teacher, Ludger had to refrain from using magic water as much as possible.
“You are arrogant.”
Chris understood what Ludger said by saying that he was confident in his own skills, so there was no need to use magic tricks.
“Let’s put it that way.”
Rudgar did not intend to correct the misunderstanding, so he responded lightly and activated his magic.
* * *
Terryna Lionhowl pulled out the swords hanging from her hips.
Holding sharp swords in each hand, she showed movements like a flash of light and sliced through the first and second test subjects.
Chimera was not Terrina’s opponent.
It would be quite threatening to normal soldiers, but a Master who transcended humans could easily wipe out any number of them.
What was bothersome was the second to launch a surprise attack among those chimeras.
“Terrina! behind!”
“Know.”
A sharp blade stabbing through the back of the head.
Terina tilted her head slightly to the side to avoid the attack, then rotated her body like a top.
The blade with centrifugal force swung in a half moon.
Evasion and counterattack were done almost simultaneously.
Terrina’s sword slid lightly over Second’s chin.
A blow that even a second with a reaction speed that transcends cognition cannot avoid.
The head, severed obliquely, fell to the floor.
Terrina swung her sword again, not even looking at the corpse.
The thorns shot by the chimeras from afar were cut off by the blades and fell powerlessly to the ground.
Terrina did not lose a single breath even in the continuous attack without giving her a chance to breathe.
Sue’s disadvantage did not exist for her.
Such was the strength of the Master.
“Terrina!”
“i get it.”
At Casey’s signal, Terrina quickly stepped away.
At the same time, countless droplets of moisture formed in the air and became sharp thorns, sweeping away all the first and second test subjects.
“The situation has been sorted out.”
“not there yet. It won’t be long before they come pouring in. Besides, are you feeling it too, Terry?”
“okay. The Chimera doesn’t matter, but the Liberation Army’s test subjects… …It gets stronger as time goes on.”
The Seconds, which first appeared, were resurrected with powers beyond humans after they died.
Terrina and Casey were surprised by it, but managed to knock it down without difficulty.
However, the seconds that appeared later were stronger than those that appeared before.
He finished his body transformation without dying, and he maintained his reason to some extent, so he didn’t just attack recklessly.
“The performance of the test subject is gradually becoming more sophisticated.”
“that’s right. And if we go on like this, there will probably be a guy that we will have a hard time dealing with.”
“It means we have to break through quickly before that.”
“That’s not good either. As soon as they see an opening, they immediately change the terrain.”
“The ever-changing terrain and the attack of increasingly stronger specimens. It’s a blatant buying of time, but it’s hard to do anything about it.”
It’s quite annoying for someone who doesn’t even know the geography of this place.
If you trace back the roots of the World Tree, you will find your stronghold, but in the meantime, the terrain will keep changing while looking for gaps.
Then, Terrina sensed a presence and fixed her eyes on one side.
Casey was about to ask why, but belatedly, she also felt something and shut up.
Kwaaang!
Immediately after, a wall exploded on one side and a thick cloud of gray dust rose.
Is it an enemy attack?
Terrina and Casey prepared for battle.
However, the fighting spirit of the two quickly faded as the dust cloud settled.
“hmm?”
The other person also looked at the two people with a concave gaze.
Rudger Chelsea.
Originally, I came face to face with him who would have come here as an analysis team.
