My Alter Ego’s Path to Greatness

Episode 216 Lycanthropes (1)

Harris, now unexpectedly leading the investigation team, diligently pursued a life of laziness amidst it all.

He had completely entrusted the task of moving to the Wind Spirit Pascal and was hanging limply in the air.

Since he was mentally connected to the spirit, controlling its movements with his thoughts wasn’t that difficult.

‘It’s also good practice for Spirit Summoning.’

The Wind Spirit Pascal was still stuck at the Advanced level.

His only Highest-level spirit was the Lightning Spirit Watt, so this was a good opportunity.

Of course, it might look disgraceful for a High Elf, but who cared when it was so comfortable?

Besides, he had a legitimate excuse.

That was the reason why he was on this investigation in the first place, wasn’t it?

‘Although there haven’t been any results so far.’

He hadn’t felt anything since that day, as if that sensation had been a delusion.

There had been no further revelation from the World Tree either.

But a while ago, while he was diligently practicing laziness… no, “Assimilation with Nature”, floating in the air,

He had sensed a faint dissonance at the edge of the vast natural energy he could perceive.

It was so subtle that he wouldn’t have noticed it without his crazy level of immersion.

Since the other Elves were scattered, conducting their own investigations, he had decided to check it out alone…

And that’s how he had discovered the thirteen Lycanthropes.

They were gathered around a makeshift altar, all with a strange red mark on their chests, staring at a crack in the abyss that had appeared on it.

-Heinz the Second: So those are Lycanthropes. I heard their activity in the Ion Continent has significantly decreased in recent years. It seems they secretly migrated to Enamel.

-Hugo: Wait, isn't that the abyss? That looks dangerous… Isn’t Enamel supposed to be safe because of the World Tree?

-Harris: …Ah, this is annoying…

Harris had learned about the birth of the Enamel Continent during his High Elf training.

It was a mythical legend passed down from thousands of years ago.

In the beginning, all the non-human races had lived together in the Ion Continent, but for some reason, they needed a new home without humans.

A benevolent god, taking pity on those who had nowhere to go, sent his avatar to the world.

And that was the seedling of the World Tree.

That small seedling had transformed the small Enamel Island into a vast continent, large enough to accommodate all the non-human races.

And eventually, various nations were established, led by the Elven Kingdom, which protected the World Tree at its center.

‘That’s why the Elven Kingdom is at the center, and why Elves are respected by other races.’

Of course, it had happened thousands of years ago, so there weren’t many records left, and for some reason, even the High Elves’ legends omitted the details, so it was unclear how much of it was true…

But at least the existence of the World Tree and its influence were undeniable, as they could see it with their own eyes.

And thanks to the World Tree, which was the pillar and root of the Enamel Continent, they had been able to avoid the worst of the two previous Immortal King invasions.

-Hannibal Strauss: Oh ho, so that’s how they’re weakening the boundary with the abyss. I’ve never seen this method before. It’s unique.

At that moment, the ultimate expert in this field,

The Immortal King himself, commented as he observed the ritual through Harris’s vision.

-Hannibal Strauss: It’s not a direct connection. It’s more like the scars that are still scattered throughout the Ion Continent. It seems they’re using parts of the World Tree, like branches and leaves, as sacrifices… And those marks on their bodies are quite interesting.

It wouldn’t be possible with just those people and preparations if it was a real portal connected to the abyss.

It would be impossible to conduct such a secretive operation either.

‘But the problem is their intention. Why are they doing this in Enamel, in the Elven Kingdom’s territory?’

Harris sighed softly, still concealed and assimilated with nature.

It was obvious that their intentions were malicious.

This was something that had to be addressed at the national level.

They had to investigate how they had bypassed the World Tree’s influence and find out if they were operating elsewhere.

‘This is all the information I need. There’s no need for me to deal with this alone…!’

But at that moment,

Sniff? Sniff—

One of the thirteen Lycanthropes, the largest one standing in front of the altar, sniffed the air and—.

Turned his head, his bright yellow eyes fixated on Harris’s hiding spot.

“Oh, no.”

Before Harris could even finish his thought…

Crash—!

With an explosive sound, a ferocious hand closed the distance and lunged at him.

_____________________

Lycanthropes were often compared to vampires, but their nature was completely different, so their situations were also vastly different.

Vampires, with their strong rationality except when experiencing bloodlust, had blended into the shadows of human society and steadily expanded their influence.

But these werewolves were practically all suffering from anger management issues, constantly rampaging, making it impossible to coexist with them.

As a result, most of them were driven to the fringes of society, forced to work as enforcers for criminal organizations or as mercenaries in wars…

And their numbers had dwindled, incomparable to vampires.

The entire Lycanthrope population was smaller than the Ufersh Clan, the largest vampire clan.

“Kihihihik, well, well~ Nothing ever goes according to plan, does it? That Revolutionary guy, he was so confident that it wouldn’t be discovered, but he’s all talk and no action. Tsk, tsk.”

High up in a tree.

A man perched on a branch near the top chuckled maniacally, looking down at a spot in the forest.

He was so far away that it wasn’t even visible from here, but that didn’t hinder him from observing his subordinate.

“It’s a bit early… but since they’ve already been discovered, there’s no time to waste!”

He roughly ruffled his hair and then slid down the trunk, jumping to the ground.

Thump!

And after a brief moment of freefall, he landed softly on the ground.

He was no longer human.

He was a giant werewolf, over three meters tall.

Awooo——

He inhaled deeply and then howled towards the sky.

The strange sound, incomprehensible to anyone but his kind, echoed through the forest, and one by one, black shadows gathered around him.

“Is it finally starting? I’ve been waiting for this, King! Let’s move!”

“Grrr— Are we really moving now? There’s still plenty of time left. If we start too early, many of them won’t be prepared.”

“If the King decided, there must be a reason. Grrr!”

One of the three largest werewolves, who were practically his generals, grumbled, but then he quickly understood the situation and nodded.

Once they were discovered, speed was of the essence.

As everyone seemed to agree, King looked at the subordinates gathered around him and slowly nodded.

Three of his eight strongest generals, five knights, and a dozen warriors.

And once things kicked off, the rest, scattered across the land, would immediately join them.

…And above all, he himself was their greatest weapon.

“It doesn’t matter if we’re outnumbered! We’ve endured for far too long! Khahak! Let’s go! We’ll burn the World Tree to the ground!”

Uoooo——

Awooo——

He was the leader of this last ‘wolf pack’ and the last king of the now-forgotten Lycanthropes.

He was Lycanthrope King, the one who had volunteered to be the clown in Oath of Heaven’s Defiance.

_____________________

Lycanthropes were often compared to vampires, and their systems were also similar in some ways.

Vampires were divided into Sacred Blood, True Blood, Pureblood, Fledglings, and the outliers, Servants and Slaves.

Lycanthropes were ranked as King, General, Knight, Warrior, and Soldier.

As their ranks suggested, their identity was solely based on pure combat power.

Unlike vampires, they didn’t have any other abilities or special techniques like blood magic. They were solely focused on physical prowess.

But sometimes, simplicity was efficiency.

Their strength, agility, durability, magic resistance, and regenerative abilities were all superior to vampires of the same rank when it came to direct combat.

…And Harris was experiencing that firsthand at this very moment.

Whether he wanted to or not.

Rumble—!

A blue spark, as bright as lightning, crackled,

“Grrr!”

And a black beast emerged from within, leaping towards Harris, who was floating in the air.

It even kicked off the air to change its trajectory and chase after him as he dodged with the Wind Spirit.

‘Ah, this is annoying!’

The Lycanthrope in front of him was clearly a general… a Master-level individual.

He wasn’t as strong as Staub, the Imperial Guard captain who had given Hesperon a hard time, but he was still a troublesome opponent for Harris, who had only recently become a High Elf.

Crackle—!

“Grrr! You cowardly bastard! If you’re a man, fight me head-on!”

Of course, he wasn’t an insurmountable opponent.

‘What nonsense.’

He had been beaten up for over thirty minutes, so his frustration was understandable.

But this was a forest, in the Elven Kingdom, right next to the World Tree.

And Harris had “Chosen of the World Tree”, “Assimilation with Nature”, “Stargazer”, and “Call of Nature”… skills specialized in affinity with nature, with laziness as a side effect.

He blocked the werewolf’s sensitive hearing, even the vibrations he felt through his skin, with the Sound Spirit Decibel.

He used the Wind Spirit Pascal and the Fire Spirit Callie to block his sense of smell and heat detection.

And with all his spirits, he created light and dust to obscure his vision.

The werewolf, unable to sense Harris, who was assimilated with nature, was always a step behind.

‘And at our level, that one step is fatal.’

After another wave of attacks subsided,

In the slowed-down world created by “Hypersensitivity”, Harris drew his bow, Themis, made from a World Tree branch.

“Whew—”

If Hesperon had moved at this speed, his muscles would have torn, but it wasn’t a big deal for him, a High Elf.

Crackle! Whoosh—!

Whirr! Wooong—

Natural energy gathered around him, drawn in by “Call of Nature”, and his spirits imbued it with their power.

One breath.

The Lycanthrope struggled again, but it was meaningless.

Harris electrocuted him with lightning.

Two breaths.

He gathered more natural energy, compressed it, and added it to the existing arrow.

“Grrr! You bastard!”

The werewolf resisted again, but it didn’t matter.

He repeated the simple process several times.

Crackle!

The arrow, now resembling a bolt of lightning.

Whoosh—

Compressed flames imbued the arrowhead.

Whirr! Wooong—

And the wind and vibrations enveloped it.

“~~♪”

And then, with “Harmony of Melody” and “Fairy Archery”, the arrow—.

———!

Shot out silently, like a beam of light.

And it was more than enough to finish off the already weakened werewolf.

_____________________

Since the Guardians, summoned by the Sound Spirit Decibel at the start of the battle, had already surrounded the area, eliminating the remaining Lycanthropes wasn’t difficult.

They were strong, with two knights and five warriors, but the Guardians were the Elven Kingdom’s elite combat unit, so they weren’t intimidated.

As the situation was being cleaned up, Harris, following Hans’s advice, destroyed the incomplete altar…

《The World Tree gazes upon its child.》

And as soon as the abyssal crack closed, he received a familiar system message.

‘Huh?’

At the same time, the comforting energy he had felt before surged through his body again.

‘…That was a generous reward.’

He had received the same thing the first time he met Hans and awakened as a High Elf.

The change wasn’t as drastic as before, but he wasn’t complaining.

Whoosh—!

Thanks to it, the Wind Spirit Pascal had become his second Highest-level spirit, after Watt.

Harris closed his eyes and expanded his senses as much as possible.

The range he could perceive had also expanded along with his increased natural energy and affinity.

Of course, the laziness that came with it was even stronger…

‘Wait… Is this an experience boost event?’

But then a thought suddenly crossed his mind.

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