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chapter 81




It hadn’t been long since Oydin Predickwood became an Apostle. This meant that he hadn’t made Nozdog’s power completely his.
This was natural.
Apocalypses were much stronger than other Demigods. Moreover, even among the Apocalypses, Nozdog’s power was the extremely dangerous and volatile power of death.
He knew that. After becoming an apostle, it was something he kept in mind.
He’d always treated his power carefully. However, there was something he didn’t know.
In order to not be consumed by Nozdog’s power, it was necessary to release the bloodlust that built up over time.
“Kuk…”
Oydin groaned and clutched his head.
His eyes became bloodshot.
‘It’s getting harder to suppress the bloodlust.’
When he was outside the forest, he did not suffer from these symptoms because he could kill someone every day.
However, after returning to the Great Forest, he had no one to kill.
It had only been a few days, but it had already reached this state.
‘I want to kill.’
No, he had to kill.
If he continued suppressing it, he felt like he would go crazy.
His vision became tinted red.
It didn’t matter who it was. He wanted to kill someone.
He wanted to split their flesh, drain their blood, rip out their intestines and smash their bones to pieces.
Oydin scratched his shoulder crazily.
It was so violent that his skin split, and blood began flowing out.
However, the pain cooled his head.
‘Let’s kill someone.’
Oydin left his house the moment he made up his mind.
All he had to do was not use his divine power.
Of course, Oydin had the ability to kill someone and cover his tracks without having to use his divine power.
“…”
Then he saw a woman walking near the stream.
Oydin observed her from the side.
Her beautiful face was familiar, and after a moment, he realised who she was.
She was the girl who used to hang out with Snow a lot before she became the Queen.
“Syax.”
Oydin smiled as he whispered her name.
* * *
“Hoo…”
Syax closed her eyes as she let out a sigh.
She was tired.
She didn’t think she’d slept more than five hours in the last few days.
This was a common occurrence while she was a Mercenary, but she hadn’t expected to do it even after returning home.
Her body demanded rest.
‘I should call it a day.’
It was late at night. It would be rude to visit someone at this time.
Just as she made up her mind and turned around.
“Ah.”
Someone was standing behind her. Syax froze for a moment.
“Did I surprise you? I’m sorry.”
A soft voice was heard. At that moment, the clouds that were covering the moon shifted and illuminated the person’s figure.
Seeing the exposed face, Syax sighed in relief.
It was Oydin Predickwood. He was one of the High Elf Elders and Snow’s older brother.
And he shared a very good relationship with Syax.
“Mr. Oydin.”
“Mm. Hello.”
Oydin gave her his usual bright smile.
At that moment, Syax froze for a moment. For some reason, she felt that something was out of place.
‘…it must be an illusion.’
“What are you doing out here so late at night?”
“Ah, I guess you haven’t heard. But I’ve brought two outsiders into the village. I have to deal with a few things while reporting on them…”
“Outsiders?”
“They’re helping me track down the necromancer that has been operating around the vicinity of the Great Forest recently.”
“…”
“Mr. Oydin?”
“Ah. Sorry. I’m just a bit tired. …so you’re the one who’s responsible for finding the necromancer.”
It was a mission that Snow must have given her.
Syax nodded with a proud expression.
“That’s right.”
“Have you gotten any clues?”
“No. Unfortunately…”
“I see.”
Crunch.
Oydin mumbled softly as he stepped closer to her.
When she saw this, the strange feeling she felt earlier became even clearer.
It was similar to the feeling she had when she was in danger.
‘What’s going on?’
Oydin was one of the Elders who protected the village, and he had the noble blood of the Predickwood family flowing in his veins.
He was one of the Elves who worked harder than anyone else to maintain peace in the Great Forest.
He’d also had a close relationship with Syax for almost one hundred years.
In fact, when Syax was younger, she also considered Oydin to be her older brother. (TL: Oppa!)
She’d been shy, so she never showed it or said anything, but it was a thought that she had.
‘But what is this feeling?’
While she tried to sort through her feelings, Oydin continued to approach her.
Syax stepped back subconsciously.
The cold water of the stream wet her ankles, but her spine was similarly cold.
“Syax.”
Just as Oydin whispered her name.
Splash.
Syax fell on her buttocks into the stream, causing water to splash up.
She hadn’t fallen.
Someone had pulled her by the nape of her neck.
She saw a man’s back.
It was a man with a large and muscular body that she’d notice anywhere.
“Ivan…?”
“Yep.”
Ivan swept his bangs while responding to her. It looked like he had just been washing his body as his hair was still wet.
Syax was confused and couldn’t help but ask.
“What’s this about?”
“What a rude way to talk to the person who just saved your life. Stop whining, and get out of here. I can’t fight while taking care of you.”
“Fight…”
At that moment, Syax was startled as she suddenly felt a stinging pain in her cheek.
Her cheek had been cut, and blood was flowing from it.
“Th-, this…”
“Is that a spirit?”
Ivan raised an eyebrow while asking this.
Beside Oydin was the blurry figure of a woman who had her eyes pointing at the ground.
Syax muttered in a low voice.
“Stonia. A High-grade Wind Spirit…”
It was only then that she understood what was happening.
Oydin had tried to kill her with Stonia’s power.
If Ivan hadn’t pulled her back at that moment, her head would have fallen to the ground.
“Mr. Oydin…wh-…why…”
Oydin was still smiling.
He was smiling so brightly that his white teeth seemed to shine.
“You should be one of the outsider’s that Syax brought. I suppose you are also the Magic Warrior who has been destroying my undead.”
“Hoh. ‘Your’ undead? You’re not even trying to hide it. Even if you’re related to the Queen or whatever, it’s over motherfucker.”
He said what he liked as though he didn’t care that Syax could hear him.
Oydin laughed at Ivan’s words.
“Did I say that? In any case, it’s your word against mine.”
“You don’t seem to be very sane. Well. That’s okay. Let this old man help you with that. You should feel better after I hit you in the head a few times.”
Crunch.
Didn’t look sane?
“Kuku.”
Oydin let out a laugh.
That wasn’t wrong.
He felt strangely excited.
His bloodlust soared.
He had come out to kill someone. He finally saw Syax, but when Oydin tried to kill her, he failed.
It was nothing to be happy about, but Oydin was happy.
Right. He was happy.
He felt an extremely strong sense of liberation that he had never felt in his life.
Oydin felt like the dark clouds in his heart had truly cleared at that moment.
“HAHAHAHA!”
He started laughing like a madman.
He understood why he felt so liberated.
It was because he had finally revealed his identity. And it was even in the place where he was born and lived for hundreds of years.
“Good! Very good!”
He had the blood of the Predickwood family, which made him a noble among High Elves, yet he wielded the power of a Demigod and defiled the world.
The feeling of immorality was so addictive that it seemed to paralyze his brain.
Oydin slowly looked around.
Lilund, the home of the High Elves. It was the most sacred place in the Great Forest as it sat atop the roots of Hruhiral.
“I just got an interesting idea.”
Purple energy began flowing from Oydin’s hand.
Ivan furrowed his eyebrows.
‘This bastard is planning on using his divine power.’
It seemed he had truly decided to stop hiding his identity.
This was what Ivan wished to see, but he couldn’t help the anxiety that filled his heart.
This guy was truly strong.
“Hey, human. Do you know why the High Elves chose this place to start their village?”
“How would I know that.”
“It’s because of Hruhiral. The World Tree that is connected to every tree in the Great Reynols Forest. Therefore, the Queen of the Forest would be able to immediately grasp the situation of the Great Forest simply by observing the World Tree. How many races reside here, if there are any invaders, if the forest is being polluted and to what extent…”
“What are you talking about?”
“What I want to know is… What would happen if the mother of this forest, Hruhiral, were to die?”
“….!!!”
Shock blossomed on Syax’s face.
She knew.
If Hruhiral died, then the entire Great Forest would die.
“D-, do you know what you’re saying?”
Syax’s shock was natural.
For the Elves, Hruhiral was like a mother.
At least Syax had believed all the Elves thought so.
Regardless of whether they were the obvious High Elves or Wood Elves, even the highly aggressive Dark Elves, the seclusive Grey Elves or the Ice Elves who lived all the way in the Frozen Lands.
What was more shocking was the fact that these words had come from the lips of a noble Predickwood.
“Of course I know. I know even better than you do. I’m a Predickwood, after all.”
Oydin’s body slowly began rising into the air as ferocious winds blew around him.
It was Stonia’s power.
“This wasn’t my original plan. I intended to just rest for a while before leaving. But I’ve changed my mind. The Hiralgard are also away at the moment, which means there are no obstacles. Syax, listen to me carefully. Then pass what I say onto my sister.”
Crack! Crack!
The ground began to crack, and undead began crawling out of the cracks.
Cold sweat dripped down Syax’s face.
“Your one and only brother will transform the Great Forest into a land of death.”
A ferocious light shined in Oydin’s eyes.
Syax looked at the undead and bit her lip.
‘These undead are much stronger than the ones we encountered before.’
Could the village stop them?
…No. It was no longer a question about whether they could stop them or not.
They had to stop them.
Even if they had to risk their lives!
“What the hell? There aren’t any bodies here, so how can you make undead?”
Ivan could not help but ask in confusion.
Oydin laughed.
“You are misunderstanding something. I am not a necromancer. I am an Apostle with the power of death. Don’t compare me to a simple necromancer.”
“Th-, that.”
Oydin laughed and turned to Syax again.
“I will slowly kill Hruhiral in this way. If I use all of my power, it will take about a week. Do your best to stop me.”
“Do you think we will just let you do as you please?”
“You can say that after you’ve defeated my friends.”
Ivan laughed as he watched the undead, lust for battle practically flowing from his pores.
“After playing with them for so long, these guys even became your friends.”
Ivan clenched his fist before he froze for a moment and smiled.
“My friends are better looking.”
“What?”
Fwoom!
At that moment, a powerful firestorm appeared in front of Oydin, causing his expression to become stiff at the surprise attack.
“Kuk!”
Oydin shook his hand violently.
The nearby skeletons all hastily threw themselves to block the fire. But they were unable to block it completely.
Oydin threw himself back using Stonia’s power, his body rolling across the dirt floor.
Ivan laughed at this scene.
“Am I late?”
“No, your timing was perfect.”
“That’s good.”
Frey said this as he came to a stop beside Ivan.
He looked at Oydin with a sharp gaze.
“I thought he was smart, but it turns out that he is quite stupid. Otherwise, he would never summon his undead in the middle of the village.”
“Well he certainly has a few screws loose. Are all Apostles like this?”
“I think so.”
Lukes also didn’t appear to be completely sane when he met him.
“…anyway, if I knew he was such an emotional guy, I would’ve provoked him from the start. Or maybe sneak attack him.”
“Well, it doesn’t matter. We can just attack him now.”
Ivan smiled viciously as a red haze seemed to rise up from his body. This was proof that he’d entered full combat mode.
“…”
Oydin got up.
There were no injuries as he’d only rolled across the dirt, but he looked at Frey with an expressionless face.
“I see. So there were two outsiders? A First Class Magic Warrior and a powerful Wizard…very powerful indeed.”
“Oh oh. You still have time to run your mouth. It seems I’ll have to fix that. Frey, I’ll kill him.”
“No, wait.”
“Why?”
Ivan was a little annoyed as his body longed to fight.
On the other hand, Frey was calmly observing Oydin.
By revealing himself in the Elven village, this showed that he had the confidence to win even if the entire village became his enemy.
Moreover, despite knowing how powerful Frey and Ivan were, he was still quite calm.
Paat.
Frey released the Great Sage’s Staff from its bracelet form.
This was an opponent that he needed to go all out against. Just as he’d done against Lukes.
Then Oydin began to mutter.
“I originally had a contract with the Wind Spirit King.”
Although this was information that Frey had already received from Camille, it was still strange for him to bring it up here.
However, Frey still listened to him.
“But the proud Spirit King could not stand the power dwelling in my body. As soon as it felt it, it terminated the contract. Kuku. Well, if your spiritual power is strong enough, you can take control of a Spirit and use it like a puppet.”
‘Spirits have consciousnesses.’
Frey knew this because the Darkming, the Spirit contracted to him, had its own distinct personality.
“Mental domination. Oydin…you actually used the forbidden contract.”
Anger was clear in Syax’s eyes.
It wasn’t a contract between equals. Instead, it was a slavery contract.
Spirits were creatures that were born from and dwelled in nature. In a way, they could even be considered as nature in itself.
Naturally, Elves who loved nature would also love spirits.
It was unthinkable for them to use Spirits as tools. Furthermore, the act of forcing them to sign a contract and controlling their minds was considered extremely revolting.
At that moment, Syax realised that Oydin had truly thrown away his Elven nature.
“The power of death is extremely powerful, but I still felt that it was lacking something. So I learned a new skill.”
Oydin removed a dagger from his pocket and cut into his own palm.
Blood flowed from the injury and fell onto the ground.
Frey immediately realised the skill he learned.
“A contract. You signed a contract with a Demon?”
“They’re less resistant to the presence of Demigods. Unlike the spirits. Fortunately, I’m talented with contracts.”
A blood colored seal appeared on the ground.
Frey’s eyebrows furrowed as he saw this because the seal was familiar.
Seals’ shapes were not fixed and instead were dependent on the Demon being summoned.
And Frey knew the seal that Oydin was using well.
“Are you going to summon Asura?”
Oydin froze.
“…it seems you know a bit about Demons. But knowing won’t change anything.”
Frey lowered his staff as a weird light shined in his eyes.
Asura.
One of the three Demon Grand Dukes contracted to Iris Phisfounder.
If Oydin intended to summon him, then Frey would not stop him.
This could be an opportunity.
(TL: The length of these chapters recently really scares me ㅠㅠ)