Chapter 547

The guardians, who had lost the option of relying on high-level spirits, now had only the Blessing of the World Tree and their own martial prowess to trust.

Carbios and Pailandria devoured lower-level spirits, filling their bodies with mana, and poured all of it into enhancing their physical abilities. It was a textbook approach to spirit manipulation for close combat.

Facing them, Perrien, instead of radiating pure white light, wrapped himself in crimson divine light and drew his silver sword, slashing with it. Though he had transferred his allegiance to the Elpinel Church Order, the holy power he had accumulated still belonged to Shaulite, so the miracles he could perform were still those of the Shaulite Church Order.

– Kaaaang!

The fairy’s shortsword clashed with Perrien’s silver sword, producing a clear metallic sound.

“Kuh…!”

Despite enhancing her physical abilities with mana, Pailandria was pushed back by the weight difference. Naturally, gaps appeared. But instead of pursuing her, Perrien stood his ground and swung his silver sword twice.

The blue-silver trajectories sliced through Carbios’s arrows, cutting them into pieces.

“A silver sword with a golden hilt and crystal ornaments…!”

Pailandria, regaining her stance, pointed at the sword Perrien held instead of charging again.

“No way…!”

She had heard tales of a sword with such characteristics. The stories passed down by her predecessors, filled with resentment, described a sword that matched the one before her.

“No way, Oathclere…?”

The cursed sword of the twelve slaughterers. Just like Durandal, which her target was suspected to possess, this accursed blade that had brought death to countless fairies was right before her eyes!

“Hmm. You recognize it, huh? Is it the experience of a fairy?”

Perrien affirmed her words and charged.

“Indeed. This sword is the radiant Oathclere. The sword of Olivier, one of the Twelve Knights who saved humanity!”

The golden runes engraved on the silver blade shimmered brightly.

—

The two swords crossed, sparks flying, and the deflected arrows embedded themselves into the forest. The two fairies and Perrien engaged in a silent battle in the darkness.

Pailandria, sweating coldly, deflected Oathclere’s relentless strikes aimed at her vitals with her shortsword.

Her ears perked up. The shock of discovering the sword’s wielder was so overwhelming that it disrupted her breathing.

‘The wielder of Oathclere? There’s another successor to the twelve murderers besides Median?’

An event unknown to anyone in her homeland. Pailandria bit her lip.

The fairies had anticipated that the bloodline of the Twelve Knights might still exist, but there was a vast chasm between a mere descendant and a successor who had awakened the sword. They were on entirely different levels.

The divine artifact of Elpinel, the sword of oaths, held powers of such magnitude.

‘…Should I retreat?’

Pailandria’s ears twitched slightly. In her judgment, if this short-lived race had awakened Oathclere’s power, this was no time for a mere scuffle.

The radiant sword, Oathclere. Its nickname was none other than ‘Death of the Fairies.’

Even if the Blessing of the World Tree had been at its peak centuries ago, fighting with their current strength was too burdensome.

“Radiant? What does that matter! How dare a short-lived race act so arrogantly!”

But to Carbios, the name of the sword meant nothing. The world is seen as much as one knows, and the ignorant are always recklessly brave.

Though he knew of the Twelve Knights, the specific names held no interest for Carbios. Perrien’s words were just meaningless babble to him.

“Tear him to shreds!”

He summoned over ten wind spirits, transforming them into arrows and firing them. Unlike fire or lightning, wind could minimize light and noise.

“Carbios, wait—”

Before Pailandria could stop him, Carbios’s wind arrows flew towards Perrien.

The arrows created whirlwinds upon impact, capable of shredding human flesh in an instant.

Perrien smiled. The enemy’s recklessness was helping him.

“Devour all evil and corruption. Oathclere!”

The silver blade glowed gold. Oathclere revealed its true power. Perrien swung the sword, drawing a massive circle.

– Kwajijik!

The spirit arrows shattered upon touching the blade’s trajectory.

No, not shattered.

“What…!”

Carbios exclaimed in shock.

The fragments of the spirits cut by Oathclere were not scattering into the air but being absorbed into the golden blade!

“It absorbs spirit energy!?”

“Just absorption? That would hardly be worthy of the name ‘divine artifact’!”

Perrien pointed Oathclere at Carbios.

– Uuuung!

The blade, brimming with mana, vibrated and revealed its true power. Streams of pure white light surged forth, forming dozens of swords that lined up behind Perrien.

The ‘Radiant Retribution’ of Oathclere, absorbing energies like mana, magi, and spirits—deemed corrupt by Elpinel—and converting them into pure white light.

That was the true power of the radiant sword, Oathclere.

“Behold the radiance of Olivier!”

At Perrien’s command, the light swords shot towards the fairies.

—

Pailandria dodged and deflected the living light swords, gritting her teeth.

‘So this is why Oathclere is called the ‘Death of the Fairies’…!’

Though the exact mechanics and limits were unclear, it was evident that it absorbed mana and spirit energy to use as its own weapon.

In other words, most of the fairies’ tactics were nullified against Oathclere’s wielder!

‘Not just lower-level spirits, but even summoning high-level spirits would be meaningless. The moment they’re cut by that sword, they’ll be absorbed and turned into the enemy’s strength. That means we have no choice but to rely on the Blessing of the World Tree for close combat…’

Unfortunately, engaging in close combat with humans was not a wise choice. Fairies were lighter than human children.

While this gave them superior agility and speed, their strikes were too light, often causing them to be flung back upon clashing with human weapons.

In such situations, they were often killed in an instant.

“Kuh…! Pailandria, what do we do!?”

Carbios, barely dodging the light swords, urgently sought advice.

He too realized that using magic or spirits was out of the question, but without their primary tactics, they had no way to defeat a human of their level.

At least, Carbios couldn’t think of a solution.

Unlike Pailandria, who had thought of one viable method.

“What do we do? We’re in a forest, aren’t we? Let’s use the terrain to our advantage!”

Pailandria smeared the blood from her wounds and scattered it around. The blood of the guardian and hero splattered on the trees and bushes crushed in their battle.

Carbios, realizing what she was doing, did the same with his own blood.

‘What are they planning? Using the terrain? Spreading the scent of blood to mask their presence and hide in the forest’s darkness?’

Perrien attacked them with nine swords, using the remaining three to protect himself and survey the surroundings.

The fairies, inexplicably gifting their bodily fluids to the trees. He pondered the meaning behind their actions.

The answer came swiftly.

“God rooted in the earth, great tree of life, protect your children!”

Pailandria shouted, deflecting two light swords with a flurry of shortsword strikes.

To teach the wielder of Oathclere, who had reappeared after centuries, what it meant to fight fairies in a forest.

The Blessing of the World Tree bestowed upon the fairies was not merely about enhancing their physical abilities and senses.

If it were only that, they wouldn’t be called the forest’s race.

A fact little known, as most who witnessed it became forest compost, but the blood of those blessed by the World Tree contained its power.

The power of the tree god who ruled all vegetation.

– Kurururu…!

The forest awoke.

—

“This is…!”

Sensing the anomaly, Perrien instinctively pulled the remaining nine light swords close. Everything around him had suddenly turned hostile.

And the instincts of a hero-level paladin were rarely wrong.

– Kurururung!

An earthquake-like tremor. The surrounding trees shook violently, their leaves rustling.

Birds perched on branches took flight with sharp cries, and small animals screamed as they fled.

The once cozy nest had turned into the maw of a predator.

“What did you do!?”

“You’ll see.”

With Pailandria’s reply, dozens of tentacle-like roots burst from the ground. Their speed was astonishing.

Writhing like snakes, rough like tree roots… no, they were tree roots themselves.

Roots that should have been quietly buried in the earth now thrashed about like enraged beasts!

Not just roots. The towering trunks whipped like lashes, and branches and leaves turned into thorns, shooting forth.

Literally, the forest itself had turned against Perrien!

“Is this the power of the World Tree…!”

Perrien cut through the flying roots with his light swords, splitting tree trunks with Oathclere like an axe, groaning. He couldn’t fend them all off.

Leaves slipped through the gaps between his slashes, embedding themselves like arrows, and tree trunks, split in two, continued to strike his body.

It felt like being trapped in a siege of hundreds of spears and swords.