Academy’S Gumiho Is A Magical Genius [EN]: Chapter 344

Academy Gumiho is a Magical Genius – Episode 344

Academy Gumiho is a Magical Genius 344

Branches Extending to the World (4)

The sword split the Divine Tree.

Considering how the elves raved about it, calling it the World Tree and their mother, it met a more anticlimactic end than expected. It wasn’t like I used any special technique. I just wrapped a large amount of sword energy around it and sent it flying, and the Divine Tree was cut in half.

“And yet it didn’t die.”

Half of the severed Divine Tree fell to the ground.

Thump!

The ground vibrated with the heavy thud of wood fragments falling. Instantly, thick dust billowed, covering the surroundings. It felt like a massive bomb had detonated nearby.

The aftermath was enough to cause an earthquake, but sadly, it wasn’t nearly powerful enough to kill the Divine Tree. Even though the tree’s body was cleaved in two and its lush branches were broken, the Divine Tree, rooted deep in the earth, didn’t budge.

“It seems to be absorbing nutrients even more ravenously to survive.”

The impact of the sword energy had scattered wood fragments across the ground, and as the earth caved in, many of the Divine Tree’s roots were exposed.

Even with the roots exposed deep into the ground, their ends were nowhere to be seen. The Divine Tree used its deeply extended roots to drain the surrounding forest of life.

“…Ha. This is insane.”

The lush, green forest.

Starting with the areas closest to the Divine Tree, the vast forest withered instantly. I rubbed my eyes, trying to deny what I was seeing.

‘What, what did I just see?’

The vibrant green forest. A scene that turned desolate gray in an instant.

It was a sight I was witnessing for the first time, and one I firmly believed I would never see again. After all, only that Divine Tree could accomplish something like this.

“…It didn’t just absorb the nutrients in the ground; it absorbed the life force of all the plants growing in the forest.”

I analyzed the situation as objectively as possible.

A large-scale energy absorption that defied the capabilities of a single tree. The area of the forest consumed by the Divine Tree was comparable to the combined area of two or three large cities. What’s even more surprising is that.

That was just the beginning.

“Looks like that wasn’t enough.”

Plants that had turned gray, completely drained of life.

The withered plants, cloaked in gaunt death, were gradually expanding their reach.

The roots greedily sought nutrients, and the forest began to wither at an alarming rate. What should I do about this?

Cut it again?

Or just leave it alone?

‘…I don’t know.’

Even if I want to intervene, there’s nothing I can do without information.

‘Luna is asleep.’

Tired Luna is still unconscious.

The system’s voice that I used to rely on is no longer audible.

A situation has arisen where it’s difficult to obtain information. Just then, I felt a presence descending from the sky. At first, I wondered what it was.

‘Here comes what was coming.’

The moment I identified the source of the presence, I knew who it was.

“You’re a little late.”

“Hu. Man. Fi. Nal. Ly.”

“……?”

Thump!

A red object plummeted from the sky.

Taking a step back and preparing to fight, the Red Knight, who had fallen from the sky, spoke in a bizarre, halting voice. What is that? The way he speaks is a bit strange.

It was the same as the other knights, vibrating the neck of his armor to speak, but other than that, the other parts were very different.

‘The voice is a bit annoying, but.’

That wasn’t really important.

I cradled my damaged magic circuit and prepared to launch the next attack.

While preparing, I looked at the Red Knight and mentally mocked him.

“I thought you had already fallen off a long time ago.”

“Do. N’t. Be. So. Cock. Y. Hu. Man.”

“Is that all you can say?”

“Wh. At. Ar. E. You. Say. Ing.”

“Isn’t it ridiculous to keep saying ‘human, human’ like that? I’d be so embarrassed if I said it like that.”

I started talking to divert his attention, but the Red Knight’s manner of speaking, which I was hearing for the first time, is really strange.

Who in the world addresses someone by their race like that? It was like petting a dog and saying, ‘You’re so fluffy, dog,’ instead of saying its name.

“Looks like you haven’t spoken in your entire life. Is it because you’re a spirit after all?”

“Do. N’t. Ca. Ll. Me. By. Th. E. Ol. D. Ap. Pel. La. Tion. Of. Sp. Ir. It.”

“Judging by the fact that you’re denying it, it seems like you admit that your speech is strange because you haven’t spoken much in your life.”

I glared at the Red Knight and said, trying to buy some more time.

“The other knights and squires spoke so well. Seeing that, it doesn’t seem like spirits and squires are inherently bad at speaking.”

“Sh. Ut. Yo. Ur. Mo. Ut. H. Hu. Man.”

I kept needling him, and he finally seemed to lose his temper.

The Red Knight spat out red flames and anger, just like his armor. Huge, viscous flames like hellfire erupted from near the mouth of the armor and headed towards me.

“You can’t even speak properly, and you have no skill in hitting me.”

I easily dodged the flames and provoked the Red Knight even while dodging.

The ability embedded in the mask gradually stimulated the Red Knight’s nerves, and in the end, he couldn’t ignore my sarcasm and was completely baited.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

The armor repeatedly pounded the ground as he charged at me.

The Red Knight’s movement, charging in a straight line, was surprisingly fast.

Bang—!

The Red Knight’s charge crashed into the tree right behind me.

The moment I desperately avoided the Red Knight’s charge.

Crack!

The tree that the Red Knight charged into was uprooted and shattered in mid-air. What did I just see? Does he think he’s a bull?

‘No, even a bull can’t do this.’

Except for the commonality of recklessly charging, there was nothing the same.

Bang—!

The Red Knight threw himself again.

When I dodged that terrifying charge, something behind me flew away again this time.

The thing that flew away this time was a pretty huge rock. The rock, which looked heavy and solid at a glance, soared high into the air the moment it collided with the Red Knight.

The rock that soared into the air shattered instantly.

Powdered!

The shattered rock fragments fell like rain.

“No, this is a bit…!”

Swish!

I cut down the rocks flying at me with my sword.

Thanks to hurriedly swinging my sword, I wasn’t hit by stray rock fragments, but it’s still a little dangerous. It would be beneficial for me to dodge the Red Knight’s charges a few more times like this and reduce his stamina.

‘Luna, who is asleep under the tree, is the problem.’

Luna, who was very sick from the rough ride, was still unconscious. If stray rock fragments like just now were to fly in that direction, I might lose the most important information I can get from this Divine Tree right in front of my eyes.

In a situation where information is so desperately needed.

‘I can’t lose that child.’

There’s no other way.

That’s it for provoking him and engaging in a war of nerves.

From now on, I’m going to honestly cut him down and kill him. I put strength in my lower body and slightly lowered my stance. A stance that allows me to fully put strength into the sword in my hand.

“Fi. Nal. Ly. Yo. U’r. E. Go. Ing. To. Fi. Gh. T!”

“…Yeah.”

When I took a stance with my sword, the Red Knight, who had been charging with his body and smashing natural objects such as trees and rocks, stopped moving. He surrounded his body with fire. A layer of flame armor added to the red metal armor.

It looks incredibly solid at a glance.

How should I get rid of that?

‘Fortunately, he didn’t seem to know why I was suddenly trying to fight.’

Judging from his bull-like, ignorant temperament and behavior, the Red Knight’s personality is relatively simple and easily manipulated. He is the most difficult to deal with head-on, but once you use tricks on him, he is the type who doesn’t recognize them.

The Red Knight belongs to that category.

‘It’s as I thought.’

The Red Knight’s vision does not see far.

The Red Knight’s action was to respond to the fact that I was taking a full-fledged combat stance right in front of him. Like this, his vision was very short-sighted.

“I’m going.”

I immediately put strength into my lower body.

I’m not swinging my sword. First, I got out of the Red Knight’s sight.

“Wh. Er. E?”

The Red Knight was startled by my sudden disappearance.

Clatter!

Since there is no living thing inside the armor, the Red Knight’s helmet rotated 360 degrees to secure all views in all directions. He secured all the views he could secure, but he couldn’t see his opponent.

Where the hell is he hiding?

“Co. Me. Ou. T!”

The Red Knight screamed loudly, with the sound of metal vibrating.

Immediately after, he swung the flame armor around his body like a storm in a radius of 500m.

The Red Knight, who didn’t need to find me with his eyes, burned all natural objects with the intention of not giving me a place to hide.

The trees and weeds turned to ashes in an instant, and even the huge rocks melted smoothly like ice cream in the summer the moment they were targeted by the Red Knight’s heat wave.

“If. Yo. U. Do. N’t. Co. Me. Ou. T, I’ll. Go!”

His metal vocal cords seemed to be loosening up.

The Red Knight spoke more fluently than expected and quickly increased the range of the flames. Rapidly spreading flames. In an instant, the forest lost its beautiful green color and was engulfed in a hellish red color.

Whirr───!

The flames burn without end.

This was partly because the Red Knight’s fire was very hot, but the biggest reason was that the Divine Tree absorbed all the nutrients from all the plants in the radius to repair its collapsed body, turning the entire forest into a dry hayfield.

‘The environment is very favorable to the opponent.’

It would have been okay normally, but it was impossible to use the same flames as before in a situation where my magic circuit was so damaged. I could use magic, but the Red Knight had no such restrictions.

In other words, the field was in a situation that was too favorable to the Red Knight.

If this continues, it will not be easy to hide my body, let alone protect it. I have fire resistance gained from mastering fire magic, but the Red Knight’s flames boasted a temperature that exceeded my fire resistance.

It’s hotter and more stinging than I thought.

‘This is the first time I’ve touched someone else’s flames like this.’

In the process of moving, the Red Knight’s flames slightly touched the tip of my finger.

My acquired fire resistance was at a level that ignored even the flames of advanced magic, but the Red Knight’s flames were not so easy to deal with. It’s dangerous if I get hit properly. I raised the level of his danger in my head and scanned the surroundings.

The entire area is completely engulfed in flames.

It is impossible to escape.

Fortunately, the flames did not invade the vicinity of the Divine Tree. A big reason was that the sacredness of the Divine Tree did not allow the flames to invade, but the most fundamental reason was that the Red Knight kept his flames away from the Divine Tree.

“A filial son, even in that state.”

Is he trying to be a filial son [a devoted and respectful son]?

He’s already an arsonist, so no matter how you look at it, he seems to have missed the boat on being a filial son.

Hiding near the Divine Tree, I immediately drew my sword from my waist.

I threw the existing sword into the flames surrounding the Divine Tree. I was going to estimate the temperature of the flames by the rate at which the sword melted, but the moment the sword touched the flames.

Fsssk.

The sword became powder.

“!!!!”

That sword powder didn’t last long either.

In the blink of an eye, the black powder was swallowed by the fire and disappeared.

What kind of temperature is this? My head was spinning while I was calculating.

“…I don’t think I should get out of here.”

Should I just blow it up here with the Divine Tree?

Seriously, there seems to be no other way.