Chapter 398: Sacrifice [4]

Had he stalled long enough?

That was the only thought going through the elf's head. It was like his own body condition hadn't registered in his mind at all.

It had only been a few minutes, but a few minutes meant a great deal with the speed of battle that beings at their level could reach.

He didn't know the location of the Ancient Battlefield where the alliance Demigods were, but he didn't think it was so far away that a Divinity couldn't reach here by now.

But the fact that nobody had come to stop him meant that something had gone wrong. It meant that, perhaps, they wouldn't be getting the reinforcement they had placed all their hopes in.

'Which means it's up to me.'

His body condition was terrible. Even the outward appearance didn't do it justice. Actually, if it wasn't for his astonishing vitality as an elf, he'd have already succumbed to his wounds.

'I don't have much blood vitality left to sacrifice. If I do any more, I won't have the strength to fire another arrow.'

Looking at the causal gait of the Demigod in front of him, it was only natural for him to lose hope. But he refused to do so. That simply wasn't his style.

As he gazed upon the surrounding hundreds of kilometers of destruction, his eyes landed on the single tree that had withstood the impact of their battle.

The aura that tree was radiating, it was at a similar level to that of the man he was facing.

'If I could acquire the aid of that tree, I might be able to solve this problem.'

His figure flashed away. He was taking a gamble. While the Demigod was still distracted by his curiosity, he would find a way to end things.

His remaining blood vitality was used to boost his speed. When he arrived at the trunk of that tree, he placed his hand on it and sent his awareness within, attempting to communicate.

But all he got in response were incoherent feelings of curiosity and anguish.

'Its spiritual intelligence hasn't matured yet. At most, it is on par with a three or four-year-old child.'

What kind of miraculous tree could enter Godhood without developing its intelligence at all? Or maybe it was due to the rapid pace at which it achieved Divinity that the Heavens limited its consciousness. Whatever it was, it didn't matter to him.

'DAMMIT!'

His gamble ended in failure. He didn't have the time to coax the tree into following his will, and he couldn't negotiate with it since it couldn't even understand his words.

'I must find a way.'

He couldn't give up here. He thought of everything he was trying to protect, the memories of his life flashed before his eyes.

He was already a dead man. His body collapsed against the trunk of the tree. And as he did so, there was one regret that trumped all others.

It wasn't that he couldn't be a hero, it wasn't that he couldn't protect everyone. If that was all, then he needed not to regret. To hold off a Demigod for as long as he did was already a heaven-defying feat that had been achieved through both sacrifice and luck.

The thing he regretted most was dying in vain. Even with all the effort he put in, he died a dog's death.

'If one day I am able to reincarnate, I hope I won't live the same kind of life I did this time.'

He drew his last breath. His feelings of futility and anguish resonated with the will of the great tree he died leaning on.

And a miraculous phenomenon took place.

But was it right to call it a miracle?

That tree that had barely developed spiritual intelligence felt sympathy for the first time in its life. And perhaps it was due to an elf's inherent affinity towards nature, but the brave elf warrior's spirit seemed to merge into the tree.

His soul wasn't allowed to dissipate on death. It was sucked into the tree, resonating deeper and deeper with the tree's own spiritual intelligence, until they became one and the same.

He opened his eyes again. Or rather, he was once again able to see.

But things were different. He felt an unbridled level of power running through his body, but he wasn't able to properly mobilize it.

'W-what is happening...?'

He clearly remembered dying. But the scenery he could "see" around him was the same as what he saw upon death. No, he could even see his own dead body being covered in roots and vines and dragged into the ground.

'This is...!'

The second he sent his awareness through his body, he was able to grasp the situation.

'Ha...hahaha...to think it would end up like this...'

He had...become the tree that he was trying to seek aid from only moments ago. Not too far away, that Demigod was looking at him with interest.

'But perhaps he doesn't know what happened here. This situation is too strange for one to grasp so easily.'

He waited patiently as the Demigod made his way over to the tree and looked at the corpse that was being dragged into it.

"You were quite the interesting man. Not giving up hope even in the final moments of your life, I must give you my respect for that."

He spoke indifferently. The elf hated that casual indifference that didn't seem to put anything in its eyes.

'But if it's now...'

He couldn't kill the Demigod. He didn't have enough control over his new body's strength to do that. Not to mention, his soul hadn't completely settled and been accepted by this body yet.

'But...if it's that, then it might be possible.'

It was a secret technique that all 4th classes in the alliance were forced to learn. It was so that, when they died, their legacies would still be left for future generations to continue the war.

It was a technique created by a genius spatial master, one that allowed one to create a small world to store their legacies.

But he would use it for a different purpose.

The vitality of the great tree suddenly flared. Waves of spatial essence and pure mana flooded the atmosphere to the point when it was palpable.

The Demigod's eyes widened in shock, but it was too late for him to act.

After all, this power was on the same level as his. He didn't have the absolute advantage anymore.

A hole opened in the trunk of the tree, radiating pure white light that aimed to eradicate all evil. And in the next instant, that Demigod was sucked in.

'Hahaha...let your own arrogance be your downfall, scum bastard.'

The realm he was forming had yet to be completed, but the rampant spatial tears and molding that contained traces of Divinity within them were able to tear apart the Nox Demigod's body.

The fact that he had been forced into an incorporeal space also helped a lot in the process.

And due to the fact that both beings were now on similar levels, their souls were stuck in a stalemate.

'The fact that the process is automated after it has been started is probably the most groundbreaking part of the technique. It's the reason why even non-spatial practitioners like me can use it, and the reason why I can hold out against this scum bastard without diverting my attention.'

Due to their current circumstances, no words could be exchanged between them. It was likely that the Nox Demigod was still unaware that his opponent was the elf who he had been playing with until recently.

And so their stalemate continued.

Until the secret realm within the tree finished forming.

And a separate space was formed to confine their battle.