Chapter 271

***

***

High Elves.

For humanity, they represented an insurmountable barrier.

In his past life, even the Sword King, the strongest warrior of humanity, had suffered a one-sided defeat after being struck by just a wooden sword.

And thereafter, even Seong Jihan, hailed as the most potent warrior, struggled against High Elves when he met them.

However,

"Were they always this slow?"

Swoosh!

Not one but three were charging at him.

The High Elves, who seemed to have repeatedly synchronized their attacks, swiftly surrounded Seong Jihan, their swords sharply cutting through the air, aiming to sever his limbs.

In his past life, these attacks were too fast for the eyes to follow.

But to Seong Jihan, who had dueled with Dongbang sak, these assaults appeared incredibly slow.

"This is..."

As soon as they entered Seong Jihan's realm, the High Elves slowed down.

In that moment of widened eyes, his dark blade quivered.

Then.

"...!"

Thud! Thud!

The heads of three High Elves rolled on the ground, cleanly severed.

Three warriors vanished in a single clash.

-The Je Galheon channel showed the People's Association warriors falling like that...

-But here it's the opposite. Seong Jihan is cutting down their heads in one go.

-He even caught a dragon, so High Elves are nothing for him LOL🤣

-I didn't expect them to fall in one hit;

-Bring out the Constellations! Everyone, come at us!

The viewers, amazed by Seong Jihan's equal retaliation, thought the High Elves were dead.

But he did not cease his attack.

"Seems only decapitating isn't enough."

Swoosh!

Even with their heads decapitated, three High Elves continued to move unaffectedly.

The severed heads on the ground still eyed Seong Jihan aggressively.

From the cut necks, flesh twitched as if something were about to burst forth.

-Are these crazy elves for real? LOL

-Are they worse than the undead?

-Could humanity also become like this if we maxed out our vitality?

-Ah, to live like that is a bit...

-By regenerating anew, isn't that ultimately 'not me'? Even if they survive, the being that is ' current me' is ultimately gone.

-The consciousness of the high Elves' heads rolling down there, it's already eradicated, isn't it...

-What kind of nonsense is that ㅡㅡ

While the viewers were aghast at the grotesque regeneration spectacle of the elf, a race often seen as the embodiment of beauty,

Seong Jihan, anticipating this, scattered the darkness with his sword.

Then,

Swish!

The entire bodies of the High Elves were bisected, leaving only three wooden swords that landed heavily on the ground.

Seong Jihan had utterly obliterated them, not giving a chance for regeneration.

'These are spoils of war I should take.'

The wooden swords made from the World Tree's branches might prove useful if studied.

While Seong Jihan thought this and pulled the three swords towards himself using the force of the void,

[So there was a reason for your cockiness, Low rank being.]

As the voice of the Ancient Elf resounded from above,

[Let the roots of Yggdrasil bind him.]

Krrrk!

The wooden swords stuck in the ground split, transforming into long chains.

And infused with the blood and flesh left from the High Elves,

the chains, with their ominous blood hue, flew towards Seong Jihan.

'Is this related to Heavenly Tree Descending Spirit?'

The final form of the Destruction technique and wood-attribute martial technique, Heavenly Tree Descending Spirit.

It was somewhat akin to what happened during the golem fight, where life force was granted to the golem, and chains burst forth.

Initially, one of the abilities of Heavenly Tree Descending Spirit was regeneration similar to an elf.

And since its attribute was also wood, it seemed likely there was a connection to the World Tree Elves...

'I should try being bound once.'

Curiosity flaring, Seong Jihan opened the void and outstretched his arm.

Then out of three chains, he sealed the movement of two and allowed one free.

Whirl!

The blood-colored chain rapidly wrapped around Seong Jihan's arm.

And it dug into his flesh, attempting to absorb everything he wielded.

Not just flesh, blood, bones...

But every ounce of power he possessed.

Nevertheless.

'One is bearable.'

The chain only wrapped around Seong Jihan's arm; it couldn't take anything away.

Albeit the chain ferociously attacked when he safeguarded his arm with the void's power,

when the void's energy was added, the chain's force visibly waned.

'Let's get entwined further.'

Seong Jihan, noting the chain currently had no power around his arm, released the other sealed chain.

Krrrk!

Another chain grabbed his right arm.

Being bound by two, the chains became much more potent than just a single one, starting to substantially restrain Seong Jihan.

'While it's easy to keep them off, they're quite powerful once bound.'

Still, as Seong Jihan began to use the power of the void in earnest, the chains shrank again.

'It feels like I'm about to learn something...'

He gazed at the chains around his arms and released the third.

Krrrk!

The final chain wrapping around his torso.

Three chains tightly bound Seong Jihan, attempting to swallow him whole.

But...

Ssssshhh...

When he operated his purple energy and amplified it with Crimson Divinity Art, the originally blood-colored chains staining the grappled parts turned purple.

And

'Once the chains are imbued with the void, I can begin analysis.'

After being wrapped by the third chain and withstanding the deepened pressure,

Seong Jihan was able to grasp the operational principle of the chains to some extent.

"So this is how it's done."

Fundamental Divine Arts, Annihilation God's Secret - Heavenly Tree Descending Spirit.

Krrrk!

Opposing the chains that had wrapped his arms and torso, newly rising purple chains surged.

[No...!]

Seong Jihan's generated Heavenly Tree Descending Spirit chains swallowed those that appeared from the wooden swords,

just like when the golem dissipated, reaching towards the heavens and the ends of the earth.

However, Seong Jihan didn't proceed further and began to retract his power.

'The consumption of life energy is excessive.'

Chains emerged from extreme destruction of life energy within.

While being bound, he managed to assess their composition.

But because it's not yet fully understood, he couldn't use the power efficiently.

If he extended chains to the heavens and earth,

all life force Seong Jihan had would be depleted, advancing further,

it appeared that all power he possessed would be spent as fuel and perish.

'I can't commit suicide just to use Heavenly Tree Descending Spirit.'

Ssssshhh...

The purple chains retracted back towards Seong Jihan.

[You've obtained 4921 Planet Points.]

[You've obtained 5644 Planet Points.]

[You've obtained 6821 Planet Points.]

Only after that, confirmation of the death of the High Elves appeared, and Planet Points came in.

High Elves, whose death is not declared unless all blood and flesh have vanished.

Elves were known for their regenerative ability, but these surpassed all comparison.

'Considering the strength of High Elves, these Points feel lacking.'

While they gave reasonably somewhat 5000 Points each, it felt insufficient compared to the power the High Elves possessed.

'Nevertheless, I got an excellent hint about Heavenly Tree Descending Spirit from an unexpected place. It won't be long before Gilgamesh could be awakened.'

Seong Jihan, who hadn't been able to grasp how to activate Heavenly Tree Descending Spirit despite extensive training,

having properly entwined with the roots of 'Yggdrasil,' he finally discovered the onset of martial technique forms.

Although he couldn't consider it complete due to excessive consumption of life force,

He was confident to finish it now that he'd found the starting point when,

[Even standing against the roots of Yggdrasil was not enough... but also mimicking it? And imbuing it with void? This one. He's more dangerous than I thought.]

The Ancient Elf spoke with a serious tone from the sky.

"If that's the case, then don't just speak from above, come down."

[I'll be there soon, wait.]

Then...

Rumble...!

A great tremor began to emanate from the distant giant tree.

Then, in an instant, the size of the tree diminished.

[Elves of Unit 99. Cease the experiments and construct the Altar of Descent.]

Listening to the Ancient Elf's command, Seong Jihan thought,

'The Altar of Descent, that building was available only if the defense tech tree was fully upgraded...'

Did they completely change the development tech tree of the base camp so they could directly descend?

For Seong Jihan, who had imitated the roots of Yggdrasil with the Heavenly Tree Descending Spirit, this was a rather shocking development.

-Altar of Descent? Even the name sounds ominous. Is a constellation going to descend again?

-Do we really need to wait? Something feels off about the opponent...

-Yeah, should we just log out and bail?

-No, what about the vitality enhancement??

-Is that really important right now? If Seong Jihan loses here, humanity is doomed.

-If you put it that way, dying in the game just means logging out, so what's the big deal about vitality enhancement?

-They kill people in weird ways and prevent them from logging out. What if they keep that up?

-Seong Jihan will surely resist and fight back!

With a formidable enemy constructing the Altar of Descent, opinions on whether to retreat or not clashed with those insistent on the game's mandate to increase vitality.

Previously, the majority would have chosen to flee,

but this time, people highly valued the benefits of increased vitality.

And Seong Jihan, analyzed the words spat by the Ancient Elf,

'In the end, until the Altar of Descent is made, the Ancient elf can't intervene, right?'

He decided to take the situation as an opportunity.

"It seems the elves are trying to upheave the tech tree to precipitate a constellation's descent... I'll go and interfere with full force."

Swoosh!

Knowing the Ancient Elf was absent, Seong Jihan moved southward at much greater speeds than before.

Disaster loomed for the elves.

* * *

=Viewers, hello! Today marks the 8th day of planet colonization.

=Christopher, how are you enjoying the effects of enhanced vitality?

=Truthfully, I've always been healthy and had no ailments... but I've noticed my muscles seem to grow better than usual when weight training. Muscle recovery is faster, too. I wasn't aware that life vitality enhancement could have such boundless effects.

=Exactly. Today, there's extraordinary interest in what resources our dwarves' bio-robots will bring. Last time, they obtained a unique resource that granted humanity an increased chance of receiving gifts!

=That's right. It's a shame this only lasts for two weeks!

With the league competition 'Planet Colonization' and the resources it draws garnering widespread interest,

The 24-hour planet colonization broadcast on Channel 0 was breaking viewership records day after day.

Among these, the resources obtained by humanity drew significant attention.

The battle between Seong Jihan and the World Tree Elves was also gaining substantial focus.

=Ah! Player Seong Jihan defeats the World Tree Elves again!

=Where has the majestic appearance of the giant tree gone? Everythings seems to have been hidden!

=No one can stop him! Player Seong Jihan is definitely a suitable candidate for humanity's Constellation!

=Although guerrilla attacks from scattered Elves can be challenging... other players are managing to counter them well if they're not of High Elf caliber!

In Christopher's remarks, Seong Jihan, realizing that the Ancient Elf had not yet descended, charged forward.

He was currently gaining momentum with resounding victories. The High Elf trio were so overwhelmed that their heads flew off in an instant.

Seong Jihan had already gone to the enemy's base on the first day of the expedition, burning down the giant tree and sweeping away the Elf players indiscriminately.

By now, their main base was in ruins, bordering on destruction.

'These guys are quite persistent.'

The Elves didn't perish as easily as the other races.

Even though the giant tree wasn't their base camp, burning it down didn't wipe out their race. Surviving Elves, escaping Seong Jihan's attacks, engaged in guerrilla warfare on the outskirts, causing trouble for humanity.

'And they managed to destroy the other races in the process...'

In the league competition involving five races, while humanity annihilated the other races and pressed the World Tree Elves unilaterally, the remaining two races were destroyed by the World Tree Elves' rogue units.

On the 8th day of the planet colonization, only humanity and the World Tree Elves remained, with the possibility of the Ancient Elf descending looming.

'If this continues, the Ancient Elf might actually descend.'

What else could be the reason they pushed on despite a one-sided defeat by Seong Jihan but to gain points and build the Altar of Descent?

'While I can still resist against him, if I fail to enter the Hall of Fame due to clashes with him, it's my loss.'

Rather than confronting the Ancient Elf, it was more beneficial to prevent the descent and securely enter the Hall of Fame, enhancing his void.

Holding that thought, Seong Jihan attempted to locate any elf remnants when

-Customer. The Thunder God is creating a space to enter the game as an avatar! So please, just meet him once!

A new proposal arrived from Artemus.