Limit Breaking Genius Mage Chapter 440

Episode 440 My Little Brother

It was two years ago that Verden first became aware of the entity known as the Soul Tree.

It was when, through Pale's arrangement, I went out to find the missing Viscount Bailon at the request of Count Rodenmeyer.

The ominous grey trees that had been burned down on the Kazerdan Ridge at that time were no different from Trent, except that they dealt with things that had the appearance of the dead.

But that was only a part of the Soul Tree.

After undergoing trials from the Ark's Listener, they were finally able to face the main body, and with Leila in the vanguard and Verden in the rearguard, they were able to successfully subdue it without much difficulty.

Differences in compatibility.

The bastard's last tantrum engulfed the city, but it could not overcome Verden's willpower.

anyway.

As a result, Verden obtained the material called the trunk of the Soul Tree.

Three of the four were used to create the Orient, and the remaining one is currently stored in subspace.

Scenes from the past vividly flash through my mind.

And it wasn't just Verden who thought of the Soul Tree.

“If it’s a white corpse and tree root… isn’t it the alien species that Your Majesty personally subdued in the Duchy of Liviant?”

I finally noticed.

At that time, Linus would have been locked in Leonil's room.

It seems like he's read all the piled up newspapers. He's a platinum-rank adventurer.

But there was one thing to point out.

“It’s the same variant as the Soul Tree we dealt with two years ago, but it’s not the same. If the one in the duchy was immature… then the one before your eyes now could be considered a fully grown adult.”

The bark of a tree is reddish-black, not gray.

In particular, the presence that spreads everywhere is completely different.

That's a special object.

“Quick! We have to run away!”

Marmal, who had barely come to his senses, urged them to run away. He desperately pulled at the hem of Verden’s robe, but he did not budge.

Kkuddeuk.

The tree roots that had been moving slowly suddenly shot up. Soon, they fell vertically, shaking like a whip.

“It’d hurt quite a bit if I got hit directly. Is it okay to avoid it?”

“There is no need for that.”

Berden, who had stopped Gharun, flashed his eyes.

Teardrop!

The curtain of space dampened the impact.

The Soul Tree, blocked by an invisible wall, squirmed and retreated. Its roots contracted and gained elasticity again.

It was certainly a much stronger blow than the Soul Tree of the Principality… … .

'There's something strange.'

Considering its size, it is slow, not to mention its speed. It was not a movement intended to deceive its prey.

It seems like we've reached a kind of limit.

I had a feeling that the Soul Tree was not in a normal state.

'Are you hungry?'

The possibility is high.

Of course, there wouldn't be much to use as nutrients in this barren underground. Eating dwarves wouldn't even be enough to sustain life.

After thinking about it, Verden raised his hand and drew a strong horizontal line.

A purple crack carved into the air.

<Industrial Complex>

A blade formed by magical power rushed forward, drawing a crescent-shaped trajectory.

It is the last chapter of the space magic book obtained from Ark, and is a 7th-tier magic used by the Administrator, who is the clone of the Demon King.

This is the essence of space magic.

Snap.

As the sharp space hit the lower part of the root, purple lines stretched out to both sides.

A clean cross-section.

In the blink of an eye, a portion of the Soul Tree is severed without any resistance and falls to the ground.

“It’ll be a little bright, so be careful.”

Verden ignored the consumption of magical power and forcibly grabbed the space and threw it away.

The roots of the Soul Tree, with their orbits twisted, pushed away the white eyes that had taken on the appearance of a dwarf like an avalanche.

Parts of the residential area collapsed as they could not withstand the enormous impact, and a heavy roar swept through the area, but the area around Verden was quiet.

Lightning flashed at his fingertips.

The transcendental technique, Quinter casting.

<Chain Lightning>

The white eyes that had escaped the immediate aftermath were instantly killed by the five lightning strikes that were like an infectious disease and disappeared.

In an instant, high-temperature sparks flew.

I manipulated the spark that was quickly disappearing.

They expanded explosively due to the magical power injected into them, forming pillars of fire and overlapping each other.

Verden clenched his fist.

<Vermillion>

Kwaaaaaaaaaaah!

A huge pillar of fire burned everything.

A red world appeared underground where there had been only darkness.

The white eyes disappeared without doing anything.

Not only the severed roots, but also the connecting parts to the main body of the Soul Tree were burned violently.

Kugugugu… … ! Kugugugugugu… … !

The thing that had been struggling with all its might retreated and disappeared under the black rock.

The remaining severed roots turned to ash and scattered as soon as they were released from the Soul Tree's control.

At one time, the Soul Tree was something that Verden had to exert all his power to conquer.

If the Soul Tree of the Principality had reached maturity and become a special entity, it might have died because it couldn't handle it.

But that's a thing of the past now.

'You've made your nest quite deep.'

I already had a rough idea of where the Soul Tree was using my magic and insight.

But I have no intention of dealing with it right away.

First of all, it was because of the distance… … but also because the very existence of the Soul Tree was questionable.

I couldn't understand why they chose this place, where there was almost no nutrition, as their territory, and why they didn't leave even though they were starving.

'There's something here.'

Maybe the black volcano wasn't a natural phenomenon.

It was pure intuition.

For that reason, I decided that going to the dwarf village where Marmal lived was a priority.

[Safety assured.]

Verden looked back as he heard Alpha's whisper.

“There are no more threats. I would like you to guide me to the village now.”

"ah……."

Marmal nodded with a blank expression.

The sea of flames that I had never seen before was completely captured in my eyes.

Swish.

Even though his ill-fitting robe flowed down his body, the young dwarf felt no cold.

* * *

The Soul Tree, having lost one of its giant roots, lets out a silent scream, the pain spreading through its trunk in all directions.

It was an unbearable pain for the Soul Tree, which was weakened by the continued hunger.

This was the first time in hundreds of years that the damage had been this severe in an area so deep underground that not even sunlight could reach.

Taang. Taang.

The hammer rings.

It can't be a dwarf search party.

The opponent was short. It felt forced, but he must have been a powerful being.

Taaang! Taaang! Taaang!

The hammer roars.

“It’s been a long time since I fulfilled my duty…….”

He swung his arms more vigorously.

The remaining muscles were squeezed so that the vitality of the Soul Tree, which had been badly damaged, could be drained even a little more by an unknown outsider.

Even though it was just a speck of dust, it was also work that I had been doing out of habit.

“……I can finally die.”

A golden-bearded dwarf with slender tree trunks piercing his body let out a long laugh.

The metallic sound of the golden anvil and hammer clashing resonated.

* * *

The Black Volcano Clan has collapsed.

But it did not perish.

They desperately struggled to survive in the depths of the underground, untouched by outside influence.

Many dwarves died from crises such as hunger, cold, aliens, and the Soul Tree, but there were dwarves who endured.

The only safe zone located at the highest point of the current structure of the black volcano that has disappeared underground, that is, the top floor.

There was a haven for underground dwarves with a population of just over 200.

All of the inhabitants, except for 'one', were dwarves born underground.

“This is our village!”

Marmal smiled and pointed to the village.

The first guest arrived in about 260 years.

* * *

The village where Marmal was born and raised was once the entrance to a fortress.

An iron fortress with durability second only to the central facility, which must block external attacks and invasions.

Although it had been largely destroyed by tectonic shifts in the past, the wall itself still remained in its original form, and even the fragments could be recycled with some special dexterity.

They literally used everything they had to build a new wall to protect the dwarves. They built a building to block out the cold, even just a little bit.

This place was created solely for survival.

Linus scratched his head.

“Um, it’s burdensome to look at.”

The dwarves they encountered were startled and stared at Verden and his party.

Verden and Linus occupied most of the attention because they were human.

Although Gharun was a dwarf, so he received less attention, many people focused on him because he was an old dwarf that had never been seen before.

It's a completely understandable reaction.

The dwarves of the village have never met anyone other than the neighboring dwarves.

“Marmal brought a dwarf……!”

“Oh, that dwarf over there kind of looks like the village chief. Doesn’t he?”

“But are those two dwarves too? They’re incredibly tall, unlike us.”

A murmuring voice.

Although there was a lot of caution, no one stopped Verden and his party.

Instead, he followed along from a distance.

After a while, we arrived at Marmal's house.

"mom!"

“Marmal!”

Marmal was held in the arms of a dwarf.

Female dwarves are relatively tall compared to males, and are on average about the same height as a human in their early teens.

He has almost no beard.

Although physically strong, they are not as extreme as men.

At first glance, he looked like a dwarf, but he was no different from a human.

Marmal's mother, Tali, asked cautiously.

“But who are you……”

“We came from outside.”

“Outside, huh?”

“On the ground, on the ground.”

At Gharun's answer, the dwarven villagers gathered behind him started to chatter. To them, the surface world was a world that was only told in stories.

“By the way, where is the village chief?”

It is more efficient to talk to one person than to hear the whole story from each individual resident.

Even though it is small in size, it is a village, so there must be a leader or a dwarf of similar rank.

That thought proved to be correct.

This was something that had already been confirmed through conversation with Marmal.

“The village chief…….”

“Hmm.”

The residents hesitate.

Verden narrowed his eyes.

'You seem very cautious.'

It just feels like someone is concerned or worried about something. It was so simple to see through the emotions because they were so pure.

The village chief was highly respected in the village.

Marmal, whose vigilance had already disappeared, looked around.

“I don’t see you in the village… You must be farming over there! You’ll be back soon, right?”

“Marmal……!”

Tali belatedly covered Marmal's mouth, but it was already too late.

The unfamiliar dwarf's presence approaches from the direction Marmal pointed to.

A presence that is significantly different from that of the town's residents.

“I’m here!!!”

An old dwarf strode forward with a booming voice.

The village chief, who had brought a basket of crops he had grown, shook the root in his hand, which was full of green potatoes hanging from it.

“The green potatoes are really good today! Can we each eat two for the first time in a while─huh?”

Towering.

The village chief stopped.

His gaze was directed at the group of Verden, and both eyes were fixed on Gharun, making no attempt to move.

'Wait a minute, if you look at it this way… … .'

The village chief and Gharun.

Although their detailed facial features were clearly different, their overall appearances were somewhat similar.

They said that Gharun's family had participated in the second search party, and the village chief might have been a distant descendant of Gharun's older brother.

And the prediction was exactly wrong.

“Gerardine?”

“Gharun?”

The two dwarves spoke at the same time.

We know each other's names.

It only implied one thing.

“Hoo.”

Not descendants, but brothers.

Was unusual longevity a trait not only of Gharun but of his family?

But even so, the reunion with a brother who was thought to be dead after over 200 years… … couldn't help but be surprising.

Verden showed interest.

Alpha was already recording the scene with the memory golem.

But there was no touching reunion.

“……These damn ghosts must have evolved while I wasn’t looking. They even made up the old face of my little brother, whom I didn’t even know. Now that I look at it, they’ve even covered up his white eyes. But do you think I’m fooling you?”

The village chief, with an eerie expression, threw the basket aside.

He took out the axe from his waistband.

“Everyone, bow your heads and step back! Don’t be fooled!”

“Gerardine?”

“I don’t know how the ghosts of the Soul Tree came to the village, but as long as I’m here, no one can take them away!”

"for a moment……."

“Just a moment, village chief!”

“Back off, Marmal! Aaaahhhhhhhhhhhh!”

The village chief, his eyes rolled back, charged forward.

It's more agile than you think.

There was a sense of experience in the body that secretly shook as it ran forward.

The village chief gave him two tricks, then swung his axe diagonally.

“Tsk.”

Oh my god.

Gharun's fist struck the village chief's jaw.

* * *

The village chief's chin swelled greatly.

If Gharun had controlled his strength appropriately, it would have been better. If he had struck with all his might, the impact would have been several times greater than the opponent's speed, and his head might have been shattered.

As soon as Verden poured the highest-grade potion, the village chief woke up.

“These ghosts! Don’t go away…!”

“Oh, a little.”

When he tried to cause trouble again, Gharun slapped the village chief on the cheek. Then he put his hand on his brother's shoulder and spoke in a low voice.

“They say that when you become rich, you’ll throw away your job as a blacksmith and everything and live a life of luxury.”

“……!”

“What on earth are you doing here, Geraldine?”

Geraldine flinched.

There is no dwarf who knows the current story. It couldn't be.

Of course, the white eyes that Soul Tree uses don't know either.

“You, you, surely…….”

“Yeah, it’s me.”

I gave up complicated thoughts.

Geraldine took a deep breath as his thoughts worked in a very simple way.

“My little brother!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

A voice that makes you laugh.

A burst of noise erupted.

“Oh, shit!!!”

Unfortunately, Linus, who was right next to him, fell down holding his ear.