Chapter 305: Hell Tree (1)

Chapter 305: Hell Tree (1)

The giant tree that swallowed up the Colosseo Academy.

It was of such enormous size and height that it was impossible to imagine its diameter.

It could be seen from cities far away from the Imperial Capital.

The roots hanging around the academy grew like teeth along the outer wall of the academy, giving the appearance of a gigantic monster lying down with its mouth open 180 degrees.

And at the center of the roots was a gaping hole that seemed to lead directly to Abyss.

The Abyss. The Hell. A grotesque pit at the center of its teeth, like a throat.

"What the hell is this! What have you done to my son!"

"My daughter! Give me my daughter back!"

The roots didn't budge, even when the most powerful men in the world, Cervantes the Spear King and Roderick the Archon, attacked with all their might.

They were even more helpless against the deep hole in the center.

A hole of unknown depth and unknown identity. And a giant plant filling it.

No one knew the identity of the giant plant that had swallowed the entire student body of Colosseo Academy.

...None. Except for one.

"It's a Hell Tree, isn't it?"

Morg Camus asked. She stared at the dull roots before her.

"Lady Morg. Do you know anything about it?"

Osiris asked from beside her.

He looked unusually urgent.

"Four of my brothers have been taken from before my eyes. If you know anything, please help me."

Osiris was followed by Cervantes and Roderick.

"My son! My son has been taken, too! Uh-oh! This can't be happening!"

"My daughter! I must save my daughter! What the hell is that!"

Camus waved her hand in annoyance.

"I don't mean for you to get all worked up. No, but now that I think about it, why didn't it catch me? Is it because I'm not registered yet? Oh, I should have gotten the bracelet when the admissions office gave it to me."

Whether anyone else cared or not, Camus had her own pace.

at that time.

"If you know anything, I would appreciate your cooperation..."

There was an awkward semi-response.

Where Camus turned her head, she saw a very familiar face.

Morg Banshee. Vice Principal of Colosseo Academy. Current acting Principal.

Seeing his cold face, Camus immediately straightened up.

Morg Banshee, Morg Snake's younger brother.

His appearance, voice, and accent were in many ways reminiscent of his dead master.

" ....Yes. Well, I don't know that much either."

Professor Banshee sighed in relief when Camus, who was known to be stubborn and self-willed, obediently complied with his request.

Though he had no idea why she had suddenly become so cooperative.

Well, whatever. Camus's words were quite surprising.

Then Camus replies, so nonchalantly as if it was natural.

"Who is it? my fiance."

* * *

Vikir opened his eyes in a black room.

A black room. That was the only way to describe it.

This empty space seemed to be used to store something, and now it was fulfilling its role of imprisoning Vikir.

It was like being inside a giant seed chamber.

'...It's just like I heard.'

Vikir had never experienced this space firsthand, but he knew it indirectly from the memoirs and journals of former Academy heroes who had gone through it.

The Tower of Babel stretched underground.

It is the result of the extreme development of Amdusias's power to 'steal the firstborn'.

'Normally, he's only supposed to take the first born, but... in this case, he's just taken all the 'children'.'

Vikir thought to himself in the small space.

This is an underground tower built by Amdusias.

The lower you descend, the more vicious the ecosystems, traps, and bizarre prehistoric creatures.

An interweaving of worldviews. That's what this creepy tower is all about.

Vikir closed his eyes and imagined the internal structure of the Hell Tree in the memoirs of great heroes.

'The ghosts of ancient civilizations captured and enslaved long ago, the undead in ruins where they lost their minds, the beasts that roam the void, the tribes armed with golems and magic weapons...A place where the worldviews of deserts, seas, volcanoes, and snow fields coexist on each floor.'

Common sense and the rule of law do not apply here, where so many multidimensions are layered, distorted, and refracted, such as in the Magic Tower or the Grave of Swords.

'It would be difficult to crush all of the Academy's brightest young sprouts, so they must have tried to trap them in here.'

Indeed, when the Hell Tree appeared at Colosseo Academy before Vikir's regression, many young heroes nearly met a miserable end.

If they died or retired within this tower, they would immediately become nourishment for the demon.

However, if even one of them is able to leave the tower alive, all those who have died or retired will be resurrected.

Before his regression, Amdusias also built this tower and was confident that no one would leave this place alive... but the demons' plans were ruined when an unusually genius individual escaped the tower in his previous life.

In fact, Vikir knew the future and could have prevented the tower itself from ever appearing....

'There's a reason I didn't do that.'

Vikir was thinking to himself.

-Ting!

There was a strange sound in the darkness.

A sound that seemed to echo not through his ears, but directly into his head.

Then, something suddenly appeared in front of him.

It was a piece of meat with twisted features, oozing flesh and internal organs, and flapping ugly, dried wings.

[Hell o, am I the 'fairy' wh o is in cha rge of the to wer?]

Vikir nodded at the bizarrely shaped lump of flesh that called itself a fairy.

'...Because of this.'

The creature spoke with a bizarre pronunciation and tone, accompanied by an unpleasant flapping of its wings.

[Fr om no w on, fir st co me, fir st ser ved ?]