Chapter 221

Chapter 221
## Chapter 221

Transcendence (1)

Timer, who had been sprinting with every ounce of his strength, finally came to a halt once he was certain that the pursuing foe had perished. He carefully set down his two companions onto the dirt and fell backwards onto the plush grass.

“Ugh! I am completely spent!”

Fatigue had utterly claimed them.

The remaining two women collapsed beside him, fighting to stabilize the chaotic energy rampaging through their bodies.

“That marksman, that was Harris, wasn’t it? I’ve heard countless tales about his skills, but witnessing it with my own eyes… He is truly incredible!”

“…Indeed, it is the exact same aura.”

A devastating, distant strike had completely vaporized the Lycanthrope general’s entire torso in a mere pair of shots.

They had received absolutely no warning before the impact and subsequent detonation.

Anyone possessing lesser strength than their own would have perished without ever understanding what had occurred.

“He has already attained such power…? Then again, he was remarkable from the very start! I can still recall the melody he performed during the celebration. I suppose we won’t get another opportunity to make music together…”

“He has ascended to a High Elf now…”

Timer gave a sorrowful nod of agreement.

He had served as a drummer for numerous musical groups since the trend of ‘band music’ swept through the Elven Kingdom, yet no experience had ever matched the exhilaration of his initial performance alongside Harris.

“Even so, Shapiron, your performance was incredible as well! Conjuring a Higher-level spirit under those conditions! I never imagined… Wait, what is happening? Your skin is completely drained of color. Are you alright?”

“…I am fine. Merely… pushed my limits a bit too far.”

“You look nowhere near alright!”

His alarm was entirely justified.

Though her perilous gamble had secured their victory and allowed them to survive, the backlash was now taking a heavy toll. She lacked the strength to stir a single digit.

“At the very least, you are breathing. A bit of rest should have you mending shortly…”

Splatter—

A fresh torrent of crimson erupted from her lips.

Her countenance was now as pale as a corpse.

“We must transport her to the medical tent immediately. Remaining here any longer will cost her life.”

“Her internal trauma is far too deep… My restoration spells will not suffice.”

With dark expressions, Timer and Curia frantically moved to bear Shapiron away to a safe haven.

Just as they prepared to depart, however,

Whoosh—

An unusual whistling noise reverberated from above.

It drifted down from the massive limbs of the World Tree that cast a shadow over their positions.

“Huh?”

“…?”

While such sounds were common to Elves who made their homes among the boughs, this particular noise carried a peculiar quality, a distinct disharmony.

…In truth, it was not entirely unfamiliar.

The trio, along with a handful of other Elves originating from Drasha, experienced a sudden flash of recognition.

Yet before the recollection could fully surface,

~♪

A melody commenced drifting from the boughs of the World Tree,

A strain of music that appeared to envelop the entire Elven Kingdom… and perhaps reached even further beyond.

It carried no words.

There was only an exquisite arrangement of notes.

~♪

No instruments accompanied it; instead, the environmental sounds of the wild rose up in perfect accord.

~♪

Yet that celestial arrangement, descending from the heavens…

Intertwined with the whistling breeze, the rustling foliage, and the creaking wood… forging a hymn born of the wilderness itself.

“Could this be… is it possible…?”

“…Yes.”

The identity of the performer required no confirmation.

They had been speaking of him mere moments ago.

“…Harris.”

Shapiron, still spitting crimson, murmured his name.

The turbulent energy within her began to quiet as the music washed over her.

‘I sensed a trace of this once before… ’

Unadulterated natural power, vibrating in tandem with the World Tree, was actively soothing her trauma.

The performance directing this miracle was vastly superior to anything she had previously witnessed.

Nor was Shapiron the sole individual to experience this grace.

“Ugh, intercept the retreating forces! Do not permit them entry into… Wait, what is that?!”

“That melody… it descends from above…”

“…Ah, I can perceive the heavens… I intended to reveal my feelings to her if I made it through… but my life is fading… Wait, what?”

The sound reverberated across the entire theater of war,

Reaching every single Elf and High Elf, regardless of whether they held the front lines, aided the casualties, or fell back in retreat.

The momentum of the conflict instantly began to alter.

—

The “Harmony of Melody”, magnified through the World Tree, rippled across the territory.

~♪

Utilizing the majesty of the World Tree, the potency of the effect was vastly amplified beyond its standard parameters.

‘…Yet this is extracting a heavy toll.’

Harris, his eyelids lowered and his palms pressed against the colossal bark, employed “Chosen of the World Tree” and “Assimilation with Nature” to align his vocalizations with the Great Tree.

This was a technique unique to him, made possible by his exceptionally potent bond with the entity.

For reasons unknown, the World Tree refrained from taking direct action on his behalf, yet it gently steered his endeavors, rendering the process far smoother.

‘It must stem from my origin, being brought forth from one of its very limbs… That is likely why my synchronization with the wild is so absolute.’

Naturally, he felt immense gratitude for this rapid advancement.

He was harvesting the fruits of that growth at this very moment.

His vocalization vibrated through the World Tree, expanding without limit before traveling down its infinite limbs.

Because it was no mere loudspeaker, he could not project articulate speech, forcing him to settle for a wordless melody…

‘Nevertheless, the sheer magnification far outweighs the absence of speech.’

He could perceive the ongoing conflict below by tracking the currents of power surging through his form.

The “Harmony of Melody” not only invigorated the Elves locked in combat with the Lycanthropes and the gargantuan foes, but it likewise mended the broken.

As the tides of war reversed in a flash, the World Tree bestowed a reward upon Harris for his monumental intervention.

Whoosh—

A sudden surge traveled upward from the limb beneath his feet, racing through his frame and bursting from his crown.

Simultaneously, the obstacle that had restricted his progress shattered completely, allowing external forces to inundate his consciousness.

It felt as though the crown of his skull and the soles of his feet had been linked in a direct current.

…Immediately following this, a sensation of complete oneness with the wild, with the cosmos, and with reality itself saturated his being.

“Ha—”

Whirr—

A simple exhalation invoked a sudden gale.

Pure environmental occurrences, completely devoid of spellcasting components, were now tied to his every motion.

Hans had achieved transcendence by claiming the ‘Immortal King’s Heart’ alongside the gathered weight of sin, merging directly with the concept of demise.

Heinz the Second had broken past the boundaries of lineage by consuming the essence of thousands of nosferatu, transforming into the fountainhead of their authority.

Harley had shattered the constraints of mortality by unceasingly pursuing adaptation and the ultimate state of being.

And Harris, following endless endeavors to merge with the wild, had finally broken past the boundaries of existence, becoming one with the world itself…

‘Ah, this is troublesome… Quite suddenly, everything feels incredibly exhausting… ’

Yet concurrently, a profound wave of lethargy washed over him, far eclipsing any laziness he had ever known.

He had slipped past the boundary of willpower that permitted him to compel his physical form into motion.

Had his primary consciousness been fully alert, he might have reallocated his cognitive focus and gathered supplementary reinforcement… yet presently, he stood alone.

Heinz the Second: Indeed, merging with the cosmos is merely another variation of mental degradation. It is entirely expected that he experiences this torpor, given the extremes to which he has pushed himself.

Hubert: A consequence of utilizing that particular attribute to force rapid advancement, is it? Then again, not every High Elf is capable of such a feat. Were that the case, the World Tree would have elevated their entire species to transcendence long ago.

Howard: Hold on a moment! What becomes of my lumber provisions?! I cannot function without them now! Hey, snap out of it! Return my lumber to me!

Harley: Khahaha! I am departing! For the wastes! I shall demolish that High Chieftain!

Heinrich: Hold your ground…!

Hannibal Strauss: Tsk, I shall…

The mental commune dissolved into utter pandemonium, yet Harris remained far too drained to offer any regard. He directed his focus entirely toward the immediate crisis.

‘Even so… ’

The natural world remained perpetually motionless, yet it was in constant transition.

Foliage and trees merely expanded, while currents and breezes moved according to their intrinsic design.

Their fundamental purpose was to occupy their appointed domain, adhering to the dictates of reality…

‘Nonetheless, those entities must be eliminated.’

Harris experienced a sudden spark of hostility piercing through his immense lethargy, and he deliberately hoisted his bow, Themis.

He recommenced his vocalization, resuming the melody precisely where it had lapsed.

Rumble—

The ambient power surrounding the World Tree converged upon his position.

He concentrated his remaining clarity, identifying his objective and meticulously managing his power to obliterate it.

The wild was not exclusively kind and compassionate.

It possessed the capacity to unleash catastrophic fury, erasing whole societies from existence.

Such was the reality of environmental cataclysms.

Very shortly,

The cataclysm forged by Harris manifested into a tangible shape,

And discharged toward its objective like a concentrated beam of radiance.

—

“Kihihihik! Ah, this is dreadful! Extremely dreadful! Kihihihik!”

The Lycanthrope King Baucalacas let out a frenzied laugh, his features twisted in a grimace.

He could perceive the bonds linking him to his underlings snapping, one after the other.

The most devastating blow was the realization that his ‘Exile’ detachment, tasked with infiltrating the World Tree, had been utterly annihilated before making any meaningful progress.

They comprised his vanguard trackers, explicitly conditioned to bypass elven detection and mentally insulated for this specific objective…

‘Even Supellia, whom I dispatched as reinforcement, was the very first to fall! Khaha!’

He had retained absolute certainty of triumph when the White Giants were summoned… yet it appeared he had gravely miscalculated the defensive preparations of the Elves.

They possessed far greater readiness than either he or the Revolutionary had anticipated.

“Kihihihihihik!”

Even as his every endeavor to dismantle the Enamel Continent crumbled into dust…

He found himself unable to cease his laughter.

His forces were perishing, enemy reinforcements were arriving, and he was currently reduced to supporting himself on his palms, his entire lower half completely erased…

Rumble—

The sound of thunder rolled down from the direction of the World Tree.

He commanded astonishing recuperative properties, sufficient to completely mend such catastrophic harm within mere moments, yet for some inexplicable reason, the trauma dealt by that distant marksman mended at an agonizingly sluggish pace.

Naturally, even at this diminished rate, he would achieve full restoration in under sixty seconds…

“Khihihik! Witness how they swarm forward!”

Yet the Elves closing in on his position had no intention of granting him that window.

One of the High Elves was already being borne away from the fray with life-threatening trauma, and the remaining combatants bore numerous wounds… yet their positions were instantly occupied by a fresh influx of reinforcements.

He understood with absolute certainty that if he lingered any longer, another shaft of radiance from that concealed marksman would tear through his form.

A strike originating from an adversary occupying his exact tier.

‘That Revolutionary fool, he invariably miscalculates the most critical elements! He swore with absolute certainty that no transcendent Elf would emerge for several years at least… ’

Flight was no longer an option.

“Kihihyaha! Advance, you swine! Let us engage in another round!”

Nonetheless, he refused to meet his end passively.

Kaboom—!

He slammed his palms against the earth and propelled himself forward at his adversaries.

~♪

Yet mount a proper defense he could not, stripped of his lower limbs and facing foes empowered by that enigmatic melody.

Rumble—

“Kihihyaha!”

In this manner, the final Werewolf King, overwhelmed and swallowed by a natural cataclysm…

Departed from the world, leaving behind nothing save a solitary gemstone.