Genius Regressor Makes Mythic Items

Chapter 71. Special Arena – Nature’s Decline (2)

TL: xLordFifth
ED/PR: The reader

In a dark clearing, the only light shone down on a woman sitting in despair. More accurately, she was bound. Entwined with vines covered sporadically with reptilian scales, the beautiful woman struggled to open her eyes.

In her view, much like the vines that restrained her, she saw massive tree roots covered here and there in reptilian scales.

“Is this the limit for our creator as well…?”

Even for our revered creator, there was no overcoming this dreadful corruption. It was not of ordinary existence.

*Creak*

“Ugh…”

Even screaming was an ordeal. As the vines gradually tightened, the beautiful woman felt her consciousness fading. Now, it truly was the limit.

“O Creator… forgive me for my inadequacies…”

With a whisper, the woman slumped down. Across her pale skin, hiss. Reptilian scales began to emerge.

***

“It’s enormously huge.”

The tree was so vast that one had to tilt their head back to see it fully. And that was just a portion. The entirety of it couldn’t be seen at a glance.

Most importantly, “This is truly dreadful. There’s no need to look elsewhere for the cause of the fall.”

The grotesque sight of the tree, dried up and covered in strange scales and tumors. Even without activating Odin’s Eye, the loathsome aura emanating from the World Tree loudly proclaimed itself as the cause of the downfall.

As Shimun stared at the withered World Tree, he frowned slightly.

“But how do we deal with this?”

It was too big. Too vast to capture at a glance. How could one remove a tree that pierced the clouds?

“Even if I spammed Astrape without worrying about achievement points, it would take at least a day.”

Perhaps he should look for another mythological weapon related to fire or something that could deal with trees.

As he pondered, -In oppa’s determination to destroy the World Tree’s main body, I see a toughness I admire. But there’s no need to eliminate it entirely.

A voice rang in the very center of his chest.

It was the Philosopher’s Stone.

“What do you mean?”

-The World Tree has a physical body and a spiritual body, separate entities. Think of it as a body and a soul? The real entity is the spiritual body.

“So, this massive tree in front of me is the physical body, sort of like a shell?”

-Exactly. That’s not to say the physical body isn’t important. It’s needed for the World Tree to exercise its power properly.

The Philosopher’s Stone continued in a cheerful voice.

-However, as long as the spiritual body exists, it can always create such a physical body. Though it would need time to grow.

“Ah, I see.”

As long as the spiritual body exists, shells can be made as needed. This was the case with many monsters.

“So, destroying the shell is meaningless. We need to deal with the spiritual body?”

That would be the cause of this downfall.

-Right. And historically… the High Elves have been in charge of the spiritual body.

“High Elves?”

High Elves. Among elves, they are an extremely rare breed. In his past life, Shimun had encountered various other races and even elves, but he had never encountered High Elves. That was inevitable.

“Weren’t High Elves supposed to no longer exist?”

High Elves were said to no longer exist. Indeed, this was information directly shared by the elves I had encountered in my previous life.

“High Elves have long since vanished,” they said.

“But this is the Arena. Given the state of the World Tree, it’s clear that something resides within.”

“Are you saying there’s a High Elf here?”

Surprised, my eyes widened, and the Philosopher’s Stone confirmed it.

“Yes. Look at that. The main body is actively engaged. Such activity would be impossible without a spirit. Naturally, that means there’s a High Elf managing the spirit.”

With that, I turned my gaze towards the massive tree before us. The tree, befitting its size, was emanating a powerful energy. Though corrupted and deceptive, it was unmistakably energy emanating directly from the World Tree itself. My face hardened slightly at the sight.

“Wait. Does this mean the World Tree is still alive?”

The tree, withered and decayed, appeared no different from a corpse. Yet, it continually spread corruption around it. Wasn’t this an appearance no different from an undead?

“Yes. It’s a disgusting yet cunning method. Corrupting the natural force it wields to pollute the area in return.”

“That’s dreadful.”

I, a returnee, admittedly had little knowledge about the World Tree. Like the High Elves, the World Tree was also said to no longer exist according to the elves from my previous life.

Realizing the secret behind the World Tree’s demise, I moved forward.

“So, eliminating the spirit inside would eradicate the source of this decline?”

“Right. But, are you sure it’s going to be alright? If someone’s gone through the trouble of doing this, they wouldn’t leave the significant spirit unguarded.”

“That won’t be a major issue.”

The Arena, even being a special one, only had a limit rank of gold. For me, already among the top ranks of platinum, this wasn’t going to be a challenging difficulty.

Trudging along, I navigated through the World Tree’s uneven roots. The further I went, the thicker the vile energy became.

“This would be unbearable for average players to even breathe properly.”

At least upper gold rank, or with the aid of quite skilled healers’ support magic, would one be able to enter without feeling overwhelmed by the malicious energy within the World Tree.

Utilizing my demonic ki, I walked inside the World Tree. It wasn’t long before I found it.

“This is the place.”

I reached the center of the unpleasant energy, a wide clearing. Surrounded by twisted roots of the World Tree, this place resembled an old prison. At the center, walking towards the only source of light that seeped into what looked like a cave, I had a simple thought.

‘That must be a High Elf.’

Pointed ears and faded hair, even the visible lower part of the face showed undeniable beauty, exactly like the elves I had seen in my previous life. However, ‘Bound by vines?’

For elves, known for their affinity with nature, to be restrained by vines was quite unnatural. Then, softly, the elf, who had been hanging her head like a prisoner, lifted it.

“That is!”

My eyes widened at the sight of her face. It wasn’t because of the elf’s inhuman beauty.

‘Why does a High Elf have scales?’

Scales characteristic of a reptilian species covered half of the beautiful elf’s face. One of her eyes also bore the slit pupil characteristic of reptiles.

Then, with a sharp sound,”Ah, I see.”

With Odin’s eyes activated, Shimun could see.

“Is this the work of the main culprit of this calamity?”

The same aura that emanated from the corrupted forest could be felt emanating from the dark green scales covering the half-elf. And then, “This is the work of the dragon clan.”

He realized that the source of this aura was Dragon Force.

“Intruder…” A voice resonated softly. Before he could be intoxicated by the voice as beautiful as its owner’s appearance. Dragonification. With a crackling sound, Shimun activated his Dragonification, channeling Dragon Force to its fullest, and thrust his transformed right arm forward. Boom! A powerful explosion transmitted a heavy impact through his right arm. Shimun had already enhanced the circuit flowing with Dragon Force with his own demonic ki. Then, the high-elf’s rapid strikes, incomparable to that of a cockatrice, were effortlessly parried like flowing water. The superior bodily transformation into a dragon and the divine martial arts technique, Heavenly Demon Divine Art, created a spectacular scene.

Regardless of the reality, “As expected of an elf. Their movements are no joke.”

Shimun inwardly marveled. Elves, being one of the superior races among all races. The woman before him, fitting the name of a high-elf, poured out an offensive full of skilled technique. However, “The attack patterns are too simple.”

Shimun wandered through the torrent of violent attacks with ease. This was not just due to his overwhelmingly superior specs, Heavenly Demon Divine Art, and Dragonification.

“It must be because they’re not in their right mind.”

The high-elf, having lost its sanity, had been attacking purely on instinct, making it easy to dodge.

“If I just find an opening and finish it with a annihilation blast, that should be the end.”

By dealing with the high-elf holding the essence of the corrupted World Tree, the cause of the Special Arena’s downfall could be eradicated.

“Easy.”

Was it because his specs had increased? This Special Arena felt disappointingly easy despite its name. Hum, sneering, Shimun was concentrating his demonic ki when, “Wait.”

He hesitated as he was about to unleash his annihilation blast. Taking advantage of the momentary pause, the high-elf’s leg darted in but Shimun easily dodged it and quickly put distance between them.

-What? Why did he suddenly back off?

-Was the elf lady trying to use a one-hit-kill move or something?

-Doesn’t seem like it. Looks like he just backed off.

Shimun’s gaze turned to the unfocused eyes of the high-elf. And a question arose in his mind.

“Do I really have to kill the high-elf?”

The clear goal of this Special Arena was ‘eradication of the cause of downfall.’

The corrupted essence of the World Tree that brought nature to ruin. Therefore, the death of the high-elf holding it seems like the most conventional solution. After all, aren’t they openly attacking? However, “What if I save the high-elf, and only kill the corrupted essence of the World Tree?”

No, even further, “What if I save both the high-elf and the corrupted essence of the World Tree?”

In the end, wouldn’t it result in the ‘eradication of the cause’ of downfall all the same? As if reading Shimun’s thoughts.

-Oppa. It’s a truly novel idea, but saving the corrupted World Tree is impossible.

The Philosopher’s Stone spoke up first.

‘Why?’

-The World Tree, in terms of sheer magnitude, rivals the Constellations, so it would be difficult without a direct descent of a healing constellation. Of course, that’s not to say there’s no way at all.

‘And what would that be?’

-The Tome of XXXX. If we have that, it might just be possible.

Although filtered and not entirely clear.

‘You’re talking about the thing that sent me back in time, right?’

Shimun caught on almost supernaturally.

-Right. It’s an artifact more powerful than the Hourglass of Chronos, so it could be possible with that.

‘So, it’s impossible after all.’

Expending the Elixir, which was the source of the Philosopher’s Stone at the time. It was an object he had forcedly synthesized to such an unstable state.

In a situation where it’s uncertain whether another Elixir can be made. Synthesizing the item that sent him back in time right now was impossible.

‘So the only option is to save the High Elf.’

-That too, has a significant problem.

The Philosopher’s Stone continued as if it had been waiting.

-The High Elf was originally a companion sharing its soul with the World Tree. Even if you were to extract only the corrupted spirit of the World Tree…

‘The High Elf won’t live long?’

-Yes. The corruption has already invaded the body, so probably it won’t last even an hour.

Such a headache. With a slight touch to his forehead, Shimun dodged the High Elf’s spinning kick flying at him.

Whoosh.

A threateningly powerful sound passed by his ears. Regrettably, Shimun created several stone pillars through alchemy, increasing the distance between him and the High Elf.

“Do I really have to kill you?”

He felt an inexplicable reluctance to end it this way. Just as Shimun gripped his fist, hesitating and then reactivating his magic, “Wait.”

Shimun’s eyes sparkled as he quickly dove into the bosom of the High Elf.

Pfft!

He struck a punch right into her solar plexus. Fortunately, since he hadn’t gathered enough mana to perform the techniques of Heavenly Demon Divine Arts.

“……”

The High Elf flew through the air without a scream. Shimun flicked his fingers, and the surrounding ground turned into earthen chains that tightly bound her.

‘The spirit of the World Tree. Can’t I make that?’

-Oppa, do you happen to have a seed of the World Tree that vanished thousands of years ago?

‘Not really, but I’ll make it.’

-Are you saying… oh, wait?

The Philosopher’s Stone voiced its confusion.

After all, -Looking at it, wasn’t the entry item for this arena…?!

‘Right. The shattered seed of the World Tree.’

The shattered Fragment of the World Tree seed.

Although, as the name suggests, it was merely fragments of a seed.

He had already completely understood the structure of the seed.

‘How about that?’

-… Although it’s just fragments, so we’ll need to synthesize them separately, we could save the High Elf.

‘That’s good enough.’

What he felt during the special arena with the Marnel case. Even if just saving this arena’s boss-level high elf, a massive change would occur in the clear rewards.

-But how will you separate the corrupted spirit of the World Tree?

‘I’ve got something in mind for that.’

Shimun said with a small smile.

Click.

He looked at the High Elf who had already broken all the thick earthen chains.

“Trespasser… eliminate…”

A flat voice.

In that moment, facing her as she lunged towards him, Shimun, filling his eyes with maximal spiritual energy, firmly commanded.

“Stop. Right. There.”

Then, thud.

The High Elf’s advance halted as if it were a lie, just an inch away from him.