The Damn Family Is Back Again

387. Yggdrasil Project (27)

The unease did not cease.

Even as I spurred the horse onward, racing toward the ducal estate. Even at this breakneck speed, tearing across the land.

Cold sweat poured, my throat a desert.

Not only Yggdrasil, but Harnier, too, was vulnerable.

Though it was within the Bagrand duchy’s borders, those who would infiltrate its walls undoubtedly existed.

Furthermore, sealing Yggdrasil’s power using the five treasures would consume a significant amount of mana, leaving me far from a state of preparedness.

The time she could endure… was short.

▶WARNING! Harnier is under direct attack.◀

▶A timer has been initiated. You must reach the ducal residence within the allotted time to protect her!◀

▶Harnier’s survival time◀

[ 5 minutes 00 seconds ]

Brief. Abysmally brief.

Not even fifteen minutes, but five? How could I possibly reach the estate in that time?

Even accounting for the most generous estimate, adding the time to reach the duchy from this blasted hospital, five minutes was nowhere near enough.

…A sudden dread seized me.

What if something happened to Harnier? What if, due to my error, my oversight of that obvious fact, I failed to save the author again?

Such anxieties circled endlessly within my mind.

But, that disquiet was quickly dispelled.

-Ding!

▶Hidden trigger activated.◀

▶By fulfilling specific conditions, Harnier’s survival timer has been extended.◀

[Elongated Time: 10 Minutes]

Ten minutes, abruptly added to the clock.

It allowed me to reach the Duke’s manor, though only by the skin of my teeth.

“…”

A myriad of thoughts flickered through my mind.

This was my failing.

A monumental misjudgment, knowing full well and yet failing to prepare.

But the failing was submerged.

Despite this fatal blunder, I could arrive without being late.

And Harnia, too, was safe.

She looked a little weary, but unharmed, waiting in my room.

…Because someone had protected her.

The person lying in a pool of blood, right beside her.

The situation was repeating itself.

Hadn’t it always been this way?

Flora had been the same, and Claire as well.

I had received assistance.

So, alongside those two, I wanted to say these words, at least, to Isabella.

“…Thank you, for protecting Harnia. I’ll be finished quickly, so please, Mother, rest.”

There was no sound of a voice from behind.

But even without looking, I felt I knew.

She was someone who so desperately wanted to hear the word ‘Mother.’ Wouldn’t she be a little tearful?

Wouldn’t the mouth that had vomited forth blood be curving in a gentle arc?

That’s what I think.

But that thought goes only so far.

Even having arrived on time, even with an opportunity presented, one mustn’t let one’s guard down.

“Ho-how… Ngh. Ngh-ngh…!”

Not yet, it isn’t over yet.

“Gurgle. Hic! Graaah! What is it! Why is this happening! Krgl…!”

A voice, detached from anything human, a terribly thick and gravelly sound, seeped out.

No. Should I even call that a human voice?

“Ngh, Graaah! The Seed. The Seed of Creation…!”

“I suspected as much, but it seems I was right.”

Surely his chest had been pierced through by the silver dagger.

With a vital spot pierced, his life couldn’t last long.

It wouldn’t be strange if he had already collapsed, along with the gushing blood.

But he did not die.

Just like the tenacious Belial, the portion of his body pierced by the silver dagger only turned to ash, it wasn’t an instant death.

It was eerily like the power of Yggdrasil, the World Tree.

“Ngh. Ngh-ngh…! Is it because of that? The Wede罗斯 silver dagger, the power that silver dagger possesses is reacting to the Seed of Yggdrasil…! Ngh, Krlaaah!”

Begins to transform, into a wretched sight.

From the ashen crater pierced by the silver dagger, something gurgles forth.

“Die. You, alone, shall b-be de-stroyed!”

“…!”

-Creak…Crack.

Mana refuses to be read.

Wederos’ silver dagger remains unresponsive.

-Writhing. Seething.

The portion of its body impaled by the dagger swells and pulsates.

Something slowly extends, enveloping the wound, and the hole vanishes in an instant.

It is, furthermore, completely shedding its human form.

Instinctively, I sense it.

This… must not be allowed to continue!

-Ping!

▶Episode VI. Last Desperate Struggle Commences.◀

▶Having received the power of Yggdrasil from Belian, Archseus will resist death and attack you and those around you for a limited time.◀

▶Vanquish it by plunging the silver dagger into Yggdrasil’s Heart!◀

Of course, it would be so!

Upon confirming the message, I immediately charged towards it.

▶Remaining HP: 15%!◀

▶WARNING! The wound has split wide open!◀

▶You haven’t much time left standing. Take care not to let your HP deplete and meet your end!◀

A mess doesn’t even begin to cover it.

The wounds, a gradual accumulation from fighting Belian whilst simultaneously sealing Yggdrasil’s power, had been compounded, and to make matters worse, I’d run all the way here with the wound gaping open; it wouldn’t be strange if I collapsed at any moment.

-Whizz! Whish! Whish!

Whether sensing a threat instinctively, tentacles sprouted from the beast.

-KABOOM!

“The power…!”

The floor was carved away, shaped by the tentacles.

Just once.

The moment I allow a hit, it’s all over.

*

-Swooosh! Bang!

The room has become a scene of carnage.

Furniture shattered, meticulously arranged objects scattered to and fro.

Fortunately, its eyesight doesn’t seem to be too sharp; they provided cover. The only one being targeted was me.

“Haa. Haa…”

But though I’ve managed to deflect and evade dozens of attacks, I haven’t been able to break through.

To pierce through those things and sever Yggdrasil’s life force… Impossible. Alone.

Fortunately, there *is* someone here who can help me, but even that, I cannot rely on.

“Ugh… Hngh…”

– *Ting!*

▶Isabella Bagrand’s condition has become critical.◀

▶She sustained internal injuries from overexerting her magic to buy you time against the enemy.◀

▶Harnier Theresia’s mana is depleted.◀

▶Having poured everything into activating the treasure, she is incapable of casting any magic.◀

▶The death of either of them will result in a bad ending.◀

Harnier groaned, clutching her heart with her hand.

Isabella had just collapsed, spitting up blood to stall for time.

Neither of them were in any condition to assist me.

Could I, then, call for help from outside?

No.

The Ducal Estate was still locked in mortal combat.

The sounds of battle, of treant-kin and humans clashing, echoed both inside and outside the manor. Even with Belian, that existence beyond measure who had single-handedly served as their command, gone, the fighting showed no sign of ending.

Of course, there was no one to call.

I alone was the one who had to eliminate the enemy before my eyes.

‘Must I endure until Harnier’s mana recovers even a little? Or…’

When I had reached a point where removing that thing was all that mattered.

– *Fshhh-ack!*

Yggdrasil spewed forth an enormous cloud of gas.

It was impossible to know what it was.

Yet, the feeling bloomed that I couldn’t simply leave it be.

– *Fshhht!*

With what little mana remained, I carved a line across the floor.

Precise between myself and her.

A diagonal slash that severed the space.

– *Shhhlurrkk.*

The edge crumbled, giving way.

The floor slid downward, as if taking a ride on a slippery slope.

“Karstein…? What are you doing…!”

Harnier, realizing I was leaving her behind, widened her eyes in disbelief.

“Don’t worry, just go down. I’ll be done soon.”

“What are you talking about? I can still cast magic a few times, at least. I, I can help…!”

– *Shhwwwooshh.*

Before the words could fully form,

The section of floor where Harnier and Isabella stood plummeted below.

Beneath, I suspected, was soft earth, so they would be alright.

…And.

From within that inky, gaseous cloud, something wretched emerged once more.

“What makes you think you’re family, when you share no blood with us?”

“Not once have I ever considered you family. Not someone like you.”

“Why is it that you, so utterly base, are my elder brother?”

“…We should never have brought someone like you into this house.”

Again, that wretched past.

*

A haze clouded his mind.

He couldn’t recall what he’d been doing. Memories flickered like a dying flame, leaving a strangely unsettling feeling.

Then, something erupted.

From it poured an endless torrent of abuse.

Words of scorn and loathing, dripping with sincerity, hammered into his ears.

No distinction was made between face-to-face and behind-the-back.

Every conceivable insult, every vile fabrication was dragged out, expressed and re-expressed.

…What is this?

These filthy scenes.

His head grew numb.

Around him, not a single kind word.

Persecution and blame a daily occurrence, torment a permanent fixture.

No one offered a helping hand.

And yet.

The ones to reach the apex of this were those closest to him.

“Shall I sweet-talk her, then abandon her somewhere? They wouldn’t find her if we said she was just a stranger.”

“Dragging her out by force is a deathly bother. I’d rather she wandered off on her own two feet, keeled over in some roadside lodging.”

“Let’s starve her to death! Sew her mouth shut so she can’t eat a thing!”

“She’s an unwanted child. Do with her as you please.”

Those bound by the ties of family.

They were the ones uttering the harshest words.

The funny thing was, this situation didn’t feel so alien. It somehow felt familiar.

And then, someone requested a conversation with me.

-Don’t you want revenge? On them.

“Revenge?”

-Yes. Revenge. You don’t deserve to be treated like this. Why should you suffer unjustly?

“…”

-Isn’t it just and right to repay them in kind? No. To repay them many times over.

The owner of that voice pulled out my experiences and emphasized them again and again.

-How many times has your blood run cold? How many times have you been subjected to abuse, how many times have you been ignored? And how many times have you nearly died? You can’t even count them all, can you?

…I couldn’t deny it.

-But why should you be the one to suffer such things? Frankly, you could make them suffer in return, couldn’t you?

…Make them suffer in return, you say.

-Don’t you want to watch them break, to see them utterly ruined, and laugh at them?

…Watch them break and laugh at them, you say.

– You’re going to ruin that goddamn family with your own hands. They tormented you the worst, so torment them back even worse. Take everything, shatter it all!

“…”

– You can do it. I can help you. I’m on your side. Even if no one else is, I can help you get your revenge.

*Creak.*

A bright door opened.

– Revenge isn’t that hard. It’s just taking one step over the line. Just take that one step, and nothing will stand in your way afterwards. It’ll come naturally, I tell you.

The owner of the voice reached out a hand.

– Come on. Let me help you. Let’s get revenge on this godforsaken family together. And let’s ruin this damned world entirely. Take my hand and just take one step. Then everything will be over.

Just one step.

The beginning of something called happiness.

A new path could be forged, all the past erased, through the road of revenge.

What a sweet temptation this was. It wouldn’t have been strange to take that hand as if bewitched. Especially given the vile and dreadful experiences he had just witnessed.

But.

The voice of a woman echoed endlessly in his head.

– Min-hyuk.

In the same voice, she spoke another name, once more.

– Karsein.

Yes. This voice… it could never be forgotten.

Every time he heard it, his dazed mind cleared.

Thanks to her, he never, not even once, felt tempted.

“So, this is how you try to ensnare a soul, is it?”

A sensation of something grasped in my hand.

Yes. It is a blade.

– *Shlick!*

“Luring and devouring human souls like this, then dominating the body… truly a hopeless situation. A demon in the flesh, one might say. But, against me, it’s futile.”

A voice laced with disbelief questioned.

“H-How…?”

“Even if the world turns its back on me. I always have someone unconditionally on my side.”

Yes. That beloved person exists.

From the past, until now. A friend who has always been by my side. A most precious girlfriend who always breathed warmth into my frozen heart.

“And, you see, unlike what you hoped, I’m rather good at making peace. I don’t really fancy sharpening the blade of revenge? Ah. What meaning does revenge hold, to begin with? It’s disgustingly inefficient. I’d rather use that time to think of how to live more interestingly.”

“…M-Mad… man.”

“Indeed. I’m a madman. So be gone. You are of no use to me.”

Slicing once more at the hand that sought to grasp, the door vanishes.

The pitch-black backdrop is swept away in unison.

From the vile illusion, reality returns.

“Ah. Right. I was injured.”

My head begins to grow numb.

I feel my body stiffening.

My senses, fading little by little.

I still hadn’t unearthed a method, not one worth a damn.

But now, strangely enough, my head felt… keen.

“Un, believable… Die, you—”

*Thoom! KUGWANG!*

The destructive force, certainly unbelievable.

Approaching it was as good as impossible.

My stamina, leaching away.

These sluggish movements… eventually, they’d be my undoing.

How… How in God’s name am I supposed to do this?

Just as I wracked my brains,

My eyes flicked to the status window.

▶Episode VI. Last Desperate Struggle Commences.◀

▶Akshes, having received the power of Yggdrasil from Belian, will endure for a set time, attacking you and those nearby.◀

▶Pierce the Heart of Yggdrasil with the Silver Dagger to defeat him!◀

The status window… it instructs me to plunge the silver dagger into his heart.

But… he *doesn’t* have a heart, does he?

That’s what I stabbed when I entered this room.

There was nothing inside. Only some ashen remnants of what was once tissue.

‘Which means…’

It was as if… a heart existed separately from him.

The doubt lingered, unexpungeable.

Belial had been the same, hadn’t he?

Killed, yet never truly dead. Endlessly recovering, resurrected.

Archseus, too, was akin.

Even with a blow struck precisely at the vital point, that area became ash, nothing more. He did not perish.

As if there existed some separate…heart.

“…!”

-Drrrrr.

My gaze snagged on a tentacle, stirring.

“The tentacle…”

Not poised to strike.

More like, indicating something…directing me.

Following the line of the tentacle, I looked back. Only then did I notice the drastically altered position, and understood what lay behind.

“…Ha. So that was it?”

I had been preoccupied dodging attacks, my position shifting greatly.

So engrossed in the menacing assaults of Yggdrasil that I hadn’t realized.

…Yes. The heart.

From the beginning, the heart had been designated.

The position of the tentacle, almost brazenly obscuring one location.

Behind that, impossibly small, beneath the bed, there was a sprout.

It bore the shape of a tree, yet it was fragile, so very fragile. Only some intangible barrier prevented it from being physically severed.

But when the ceiling threatened to collapse upon that spot, Yggdrasil had struggled to protect that sprout, come what may.

That meant it had become susceptible to physical influence then and there.

In short, that sprout was the very heart of this Yggdrasil. No matter how many times a human heart might be pierced or a head cleaved, it wouldn’t die, for *that* was its true form.

He swallowed hard, settling into a stance.

Focusing solely on severing the sprout behind it, he began his analysis.

‘Eight tentacles at most. But subtract the one anchoring it, and that leaves seven.’

Each one was powerful, but unlike the Treants, it couldn’t divide itself.

‘Due to Harnier’s activation of the treasure’s power, it could barely use the abilities of the other Treants.’

Therefore, ranged attacks were presumed impossible.

‘It’s only focused on blocking my approach. Its movements haven’t changed a single step since reaching that spot.’

Conversely, it repelled and filtered out anything threatening to that sprout.

‘Then…’

It was possible.

To drive a blade into that heart.

His feet moved without hesitation.

-Thwack!

He sprinted, flinging a wide cloth and covering over Yggdrasil.

It had no eyes, so it was meaningless, but even so, the movement of the tentacles became instantly visible.

Cloth and sheets, pierced and torn apart this way and that.

The area was vast, however, and it birthed forth more tentacles, cleaving them asunder.

At that precise moment, I hurled my silver dagger skyward and leapt.

Vaulting deep along its flank, I snaked along the wall’s embrace, tentacles reaching, unerring, to intercept.

But their grasp found only empty air, not the wall.

They lunged skyward, driven only by the glint of steel, the threat embodied in that lone blade.

And then. Surprise, perhaps, gripped them, confusion blossomed across the flailing limbs.

“Of course. An empty dagger, devoid of mana, is but a tin can!”

-CRACK!-

I fell from the fractured wall.

The confounded tentacles, overwhelmed, were crushed under the crumbling remains.

I seized my moment, snatching the falling silver blade behind me.

And plunged it down, into the core.

-SHPLOOSH!-

“Krrrrrrrr…!!”

The sprout vomited forth crimson ichor.

A scene akin to blood spewing, accompanied by the shrieking death throes of the possessed.

Then, rot began.

They crumbled to ash, a pale grey dust, vanishing slowly from this world.

▶Episode VI. Final Throes Cleared!◀

▶You have thwarted Yggdrasil’s desperate gambit!◀

“—The beasts… their state is peculiar. As if they’ve suddenly ceased their assault…”

“—The Arborian Ghouls are vanishing, just like that!”

“—Uh, uh-oh! Over here too!”

The raucous din rising from beyond the barricade told me it was over.

But…

Breath comes in ragged gasps.

So much blood lost; the world swims.

Senses grow hazy, distant.

I could collapse any moment.

Then.

The face I most longed to see arrived.

“Hah, hah…! Carsein…!”

“…Harni, eh.”

The sight of her washed over me with a profound relief.

*‘I’m in for an earful, now.’*

Perhaps that was why.

I relinquished all strength, leaning heavily upon her.

“Just for a moment… allow me this.”

Harnie embraced me wordlessly, murmuring so softly it was nearly lost.

“Yes.”

Comfort.

Snug, and warm.

I succumbed to the tranquility, my eyes slipping shut.