金瓶梅第2部

The man known as King gripped the handles of his swords.

He pointed them towards his immortal enemy.

However... that enemy did not turn and attack.

Slow... and unharried as the sap flowing through his veins, The Tree God turned his green body to face the Elf King.

"I am... injured. And not lightly," He sighed, "The will of the younger races... will never cease to amaze me."

"I come not for myself nor for my children," King raised his chin, "It is my duty to save all peoples of this Realm."

The Tree God raised the wet, green appendages on his back, combining them into two new humanoid arms.

"You risk the livelihood of all beings..." He creaked-- "And for what? For glory you cannot seriously hope to achieve."

King's anger began to spill into his voice.

"I. am. this Realm's. SAVIOR!!"

The Tree God remained quiet, keeping as still as his kin. Just the same, not an inkling of emotion crossed his wizened eyes.

The Elven King swallowed the saliva stuck in his throat, "Yet... should I fail..."

"Then..." The Tree God continued, "Naught but ash and fire will remain."

King crossed his blades in front of his chest. As he channeled his mana, the light from his eyes began to sparkle and crack.

"Worry not for the future of thy children, Tree God. My power... is immeasurable! I will be victorious, both here and against the wing-ed evil you worship."

The Tree God narrowed his eyes, "Thy blades may be sharp, Elf God... but you cannot win with thy level of skill."

"That may be so," King closed his eyes, "But the heavens above shall come to my aid."

"Pah! A weightless boast..." The Tree God's face contorted into a sneer, "Regardless of thy name, Elf God, do you truly believe the heavens will move on account of *you?*"

Black clouds collected in the sky, casting the already-dark forest into a deeper, ominous black.

Observing the changes in the atmosphere, the Tree God lowered his stance.

He had sensed that something was amiss.

...He was starting to believe.

King uncrossed his blades, allowing the metal of one to ring against the other.

Holding them outward at his sides, they sparked.

"No..." The Tree God whispered, "Divine... lightning?"

King inclined his head lightly, "Receive ⌈Heaven's Judgment⌋."

The Tree God leapt to the side, barely dodging the first lightning strike.

Pelted by rocks and dirt, he landed clumsily on the ground before rolling to his 'feet.'

The deafening peal of thunder drowned out the Tree God's cries.

"--by the Thunder God?! Has thou STOLEN his Divine Power??!"

"The heavens smile only upon the strong," King declared.

A second strike of lightning struck the Tree God.

And after that, the third and fourth.

The Tree God may have been screaming.

King layered protective mana over his ears to keep from being deafened... and over his eyes to keep from being blinded.

He muted all of his senses. Without such protections, his half-mortal body would be unable to withstand the divinity of the heavens.

Finally, the barrage of lightning came to an end.

However, the furious clouds kept watch. The torn land seemed to tremble in fear of its continued wrath.

The Tree God's upper torso had split open... his insides aflame.

"Elllf... Godddd..." He groaned-- seemingly more out of frustration than in physical pain, "Ever... insolent. How canst thou use God-Rank magic with thy mortal form??"

King flourished his blades, still blessed by the powers above.

"Cease thy struggles, Tree God. Know that once this King's blades meet thy bark... thy suffering shall end."

"NO!!!" The burning Tree God shot his palm forward, a thick wall of blackened thorns blocking the path.

King ducked and whirled, avoiding the Tree God's lashing vines. In three slashes, he cut down the protective barrier.

Another wall appeared, thicker-- its thorns sharper and secreting a pink sap.

"This too, I will cut down," King raised his chin, "Wind as my blades! ⌈Slaughter Cross⌋! Pride of the Northern Stars!"

A twin-cross slash and another in reverse made short work of the second barrier.

But as he prepared to cut the third and final wall... the thorns withdrew at its center.

King hesitated... for entrapped within the vines... was a young Elven sapling.

She was... but a child-- one of his descendants...

The same ancient blood that coursed through his own veins... spilled upon the dirt.

The Tree God's thorns dug into her flesh.

"Tree God!!!" King roared, "You are a COWARD to hide behind my children!!!"

A line was crossed... one that should have never been.

Vines wrapped around the Elf King's wrists and ankles... but after borrowing the power of the heavens, he was greatly weakened.

The thorns cut into his own flesh, the same pain suffered by the entrapped child.

The pain was NOTHING to him!

He kicked and slashed at Tree God's tendrils... but the wall moved, with the Sapling pushed to his forefront.

"Cut her down, Elf God," The Tree God laughed. "Cut down this descendant of thy *beloved.*"

King stayed his blade. He clenched his teeth to avoid biting his tongue as the Tree God pummeled his body and rent his flesh.

The Sapling's eyes were clouded by magic... a magic not unfamiliar to him.

"Tree God... what... have... you... done?"

"This Sapling came to me," Said the Tree God... "She came here to die."

"Her will is NOT HER OWN!!"

"You hesitate. But art thou certain this Sapling's bloodline is yours?"

"Be silent, Tree God," King growled in a low voice... "I shall warn thee but once."

With a slow groaning creak, a crooked-bark smile threatened to tear the Tree God's face in half.

"Few creatures of this Realm practice monogamy. It is natural for the Lady of Dreams to seek another should her husband prove LACKING!!"

"YOU DARE?!?!?!" The Elf King shouted.

What little mana he had left, he supplanted with rage.

The roots binding him disintegrated to dust, burning away... yet the damage had been done.

He no longer had the mana to fight.

He could no longer defend his still-mortal body...

...And he could no longer escape from the Tree God's wrath.

"Oh, yes, Elf God... I dare."