Chapter 129: Rewards and Suspicious Ones from the Center (1)

The humans cheered loudly after hearing the words of the World Tree. 

The Great Northern War has ended!

The contaminated forest began to turn green once again the moment the words ended. Even without Iron’s holy power, the forest was now emitting holy light by itself. The light destroyed everything unclean and purged them out of the forest. The completely purified root of the World Tree only took less than an hour to purify the entirety of the Northern Forest.

Crack!

Huge tree branches also rose up and began to break down the gigantic dimensional gate in the sky. The root of the World Tree, the tree that used to be the black tree, emitted enormous amounts of nature’s energy and blocked the hole of the dimensional crack.

“That’s… possible?”

One of the wizards couldn’t help but stare blankly at the completely nonsensical scene in front of him.

How many sacrifices did they make in order to prevent the dimensional cracks in the Northeast? How many troops had they deployed and were still deploying in the East to keep the still unclosed dimensional crack in there?

But the root of the World Tree just poured out enormous amounts of energy and forced it close. It was as if it was showing them that the power that the head of the elves had shown them earlier was just some child’s prank. The root of the World Tree showed it’s overwhelming dignity through the enormous energy of nature that covered the entire Northern Forest and forced the dimensional crack closed. 

“Breathtaking.”

Even the Lion Family Head, who had always been silent, exclaimed. 

The grandmaster was the final stage that the humans could climb. But today, they seemed to be able to catch a glimpse of a power that was far beyond that. That was why even the Lion Family Head, who was at the end of the master level, couldn’t help but admire such power. 

All of them realized that the war in the North was finally over after watching the dimensional crack close in a daze. 

While the army was still left in a daze, the users and the chosen ones realized that the war was over through their rewards.

― Calculating your contribution in the World Tree’s Test…

― For your reward, you will be given: Mother Nature’s Blessings 1st Stage. Your affinity with nature will continue to increase from this point on. Your ability to respond to mana will also increase.

― Calculating your contribution in the Great Northern War…

― For your reward, you will be given the Title : ‘Void Being Slaughterer’. The title effects…

One of the users cheered loudly as he felt the effects of the title and Mother Nature’s energy that he had received as his rewards. He felt that it wasn’t a waste to come here with these rewards.

It was just the 1st Stage of Mother Nature’s Blessings but the user felt that everything around him had changed. And it was even a growth type blessing. Considering the fights that they would participate in the future, having a power that would continue to grow was quite important. 

The necks of the ‘Blessed Ones’ began to shine brightly as the seal of the blessing was tattooed on their flesh. The seal gave them a completely different momentum.

This happened simultaneously.

“Yes! 2nd Stage!” 

Someone jumped around and cheered saying that they received the 2nd Stage of Mother Nature’s Blessings. 

On the other hand, the effects of the title that they had received as a reward for the Great Northern War were generally similar.

They received huge additional effects against beings from the void. The title created a synergy with the title that they had obtained after hunting and killing the dark elves and ended up giving them a greater leverage against the beings of the void. 

All of the users that participated in the Great Northern War grew significantly especially after receiving Mother Nature’s Blessings which allowed them to achieve a promotion through the pure force of nature. 

And the same was true for the ‘Chosen Ones’.

The spiritualists' spirits evolved to the next level and the wizards and warriors gained attributed abilities. And although it was weak, they also received the seal of holiness, which laid the foundation that would help them in dealing with the beings of the void in the future. 

“Aaack! How did you get so big?!” 

One of the men was shocked when he saw his spirit. 

“Oh~ I wasn’t aware that I can use fire.” 

Another man had a bright expression on his face when fire bloomed on his sword. 

“If I combine this lightning ability with a water attributed magic then…” 

Some of the women were distracted at the thought of combining their water attributed magic with their lightning ability. 

Each and every single one of them were satisfied that they chose to participate in the Northern War as they admired their newly acquired abilities and strengthened power. 

While the users and the chosen ones checked their rewards, the soldiers, who were cheering loudly for their victory, also felt the effects of the rewards that they had received although it was significantly weaker than the others. Some had a ‘seal’ engraved on their bodies just like the users and the chosen ones while some of them suddenly awakened their abilities. It was as if the world was telling them that what happened in the Northeast was just a trifling matter by giving enormous rewards after they claimed victory in this war.

And since ordinary soldiers also received the reward effects, the concerns of the leaders and executives of the military had eased for a bit. After all, they were worrying about their future especially after each of their armies had lost more than half of their forces in this war. And since they were already looking at the future, they felt like they had gained hope after seeing that their men were given room to grow and become stronger than before. 

While everyone was busy smiling and thinking about the future, Iron went ahead and checked his rewards.

― You have obtained the highest contribution in the World Tree’s Test.

― Rewards : Mother Nature’s Blessings 3rd Stage. Sharp increase in favorability with ???. Strengthened stigmata.

― Your body has become Nature’s Body. With the increase of your Nature’s Energy, your Divine Power has also increased significantly.

― Thunderbird’s recovery has sped up with the rise of your divine power.

― 1st Stage : Slight increase in your Nature Affinity + slight increase in mana sensitivity.

― 2nd Stage : Sharp increase in Nature Affinity + sharp increase in mana sensitivity + able to sign a contract with a spirit.

― 3rd Stage : Nature’s Body ( A body that has reached maximum affinity with nature).

― ※Ring! Signing a contract with a spirit is not possible for you with the divine beast contractor talent, Bird Doctor. As replacement, your Frost Energy and Innate Ability Lightning will be strengthened.

― Your favorability with ??? has increased significantly. There might be a chance that they will visit you personally if your favorability rises even further.

― You have received the World Tree’s Blessings. Since the Blessing’s Seal will be engraved near your stigmata, the effects of your stigmata will be strengthened further.

The rewards for receiving the highest contribution in the World Tree’s Test was enormous. However, there were still rewards that Iron had received. 

― You have earned the greatest contribution in the Great Northern War!

― Rewards : You have acquired the Title : ‘North’s Hero’. All achievement effects will double.

― You have received additional rewards for your overwhelming performance. You have received the achievement ‘Northern Saint’. In the future, before you become a full-pledged Hero, you will be known as a Saint all throughout the continent. Go beyond being the Hope of the North and become the Hope of the Empire, the Hope of the Continent!

― The achievement ‘Northern Saint’ will give you an effect that will double your damage once you attack beings of the void. You will also be able to boost the vitality and courage of your allies whenever the light of your stigmata shines on them. In addition, all of Baepsae’s power will double.

The rewards were extremely enormous. 

However, unlike before, there was no shred of happiness on Iron’s face. All he did was bow down blankly after looking at the effects of his rewards and achievements. A new seal with a unique pattern was created around his stigmata. But he did not care about them at all. He just repeated one thing in his head. 

‘I have to become stronger.’

His mindset was now completely different from before. And the reason was…

The bodies of his colleagues that were lying in front of Iron. 

“……”

Iron stared at the Ghosts’ bodies in front of him in silence. He could barely straighten his expression as he looked at them.

Some would cry in front of the bodies of their colleagues, some would criticize them for being ugly and some would be angry asking them why they went ahead first. But Iron did not do any of that. He just stared at the bodies of his comrades. 

At first, some thought that Iron was extremely cold-hearted when they saw him standing there in silence. However, their thoughts immediately changed.

He continued to stand there after 1 hour, 3 hours, 6 hours, half a day. They saw the great impact and shock that he received as they watched him stand in front of his comrades blankly for a long time. 

“Let’s stop now.”

Half a day later, when the darkness of the night fell once again, Crimson approached and spoke quietly to Iron. 

“Shouldn’t you go and see your comrades who are still alive and living?”

Iron turned to look at Crimson with his blank gaze after hearing his words. 

“Let’s go. They’re waiting for you.”

Hearing Crimson’s urging, Iron nodded blankly and followed behind him. He left the bodies of his comrades and moved to visit the surviving Ghosts.

After following behind Crimson, he saw that all of the Ghosts, except for Lintel, were unconscious. Lintel was also breathing heavily as if he had just woken up.

“…Are… you alright?” 

Lintel forced himself to smile and nod lightly when he heard Iron’s question. Iron sighed when he saw Lintel like this. 

‘If I were just a bit stronger then…’ was just the usual thought that flitted through the minds of the people left behind and regretting. And it was also the thought that lingered the most in Iron’s head. 

‘Would it have been different if I did not feel satisfied with just the 5th Stage?’ 

This thought flashed in Iron’s head as he looked at Lintel. 

During his early days in the Northern Academy, he thought that it would be nice if he just reached the 5th Stage.

Maybe he could have reached the master stage by now if he had aimed for it right at the very beginning? Or maybe a better situation would have come if he had moved more actively than before? 

Many questions flashed in his head. But he also knew that he was only able to produce the results that he had made so far thanks to his great luck. Achieving the current state that he was in now was already almost close to a miracle. 

“Hoo…” 

“…You’ve…worked…hard…” 

Lintel spoke with difficulty when he saw Iron sighing. 

Just like he said, he truly did his best. The result that they achieved now was made only after overcoming countless death crises.

Nevertheless, he still kept on feeling sad whenever he saw that many of the Ghosts had died to protect him. He felt that it would have been a bit less heartbreaking if his comrades died while they were fighting together. However, they trusted him to move forward by himself even just a little bit by throwing their bodies and making a path for him. And since he saw it with his own eyes, his regret kept on flooding in his heart. A deep regret wishing that he could do better. 

“You’ve done a good job already.” 

Crimson patted Iron’s shoulder when he saw his eyes filled with regret. 

Iron was still young and he needed words that would allow him to hold his heart and protect it well. However, even if he was regretting things, he was still not shaken. He had seen the deaths of his allies countless times in his previous life. And there was something that he swore each time he saw it happen.

‘I will never waver!’ 

If he wavered, then more people would die. No matter how much criticism he received and how many fingers were pointed at him, he would survive and maintain the front. To fulfill his oath, he studied the monsters and learned tactics and strategies. He did everything that he could to make up for his body’s lacking force.

But in this life, he was equipped with that force. And there were even more powerful forces that believed in himself compared to before. Even though the enemies also got stronger than in his previous life, it did not matter.

‘I won’t fail anymore.’ 

Iron’s eyes slowly regained the determination as the regret that colored them receded. He would not allow any failure in this world that had become his reality anymore.

So, he made an oath to himself again. 

I will become the winner of this God Game even if I have to put everything on the line.

A much more determined oath had taken root in Iron’s mind. Something that was far more solid than before. He did not know how things would develop but there was one thing that he was clear about. He would no longer waver and be shaken by anything. 

And just like that, the final day of the Great Northern War passed by after being witness to Iron’s determination. 

The next day…

The troops in the Northern Forest were transferred with the arrival of the support troops and supplies. Since most of them were injured, large-scale wards were created in the rear of the root of the world tree with the help of the support army for their treatment while some were transferred back to command. 

And finally, the bodies of their dead comrades had been moved to coffins and were ready to be transported.

***

TL’s corner!

Who opened the damn faucet? (இ﹏இ`｡)