The Count’s Youngest Son is a Player

Boom!

A ferocious welcome greeted Raul’s group. Dozens of magic blasts soared into the sky, and arrows from knights and soldiers flooded in relentlessly.

Most of them, however, were intercepted by Raul’s weapon legion, and none had the power to break through the psychokinetic platforms he had created.

Then, a commanding shout cut through the chaos.

“How dare you rats creep in here! Don’t expect to leave alive!”

Whirl! Swoosh!

Two axe blades flew in, slicing through the psychokinetic platform.

‘The Imperial Occultist, indeed. Can he easily use Flying Mana Swords like this?’

A technique normally reserved for master-level or higher practitioners. This prevented mages and spirit manipulators from fully exploiting their range advantage.

“Don’t worry about me, go ahead.”

With Rabel’s resolute words, Raul nodded and shouted, “Everyone, attack!”

Flash!

Stepping onto the platforms Raul created, the masters of the First Knight Order dispersed to engage their respective opponents.

“Be careful. I’ll finish up quickly and join you.”

“Okay, you too, be careful.”

Rabel’s eyes were already fixed on the Imperial Occultist. Standing atop the Codex, she looked down at him with cold eyes. Raul kicked off into the air, diving towards the Imperial forces.

‘You’re first!’

Targeting an Imperial master who annoyingly kept launching aura arrows, Raul swung his sword.

*

“Heugh, ha.”

Left alone, Rabel took a deep breath to steady herself. It was evident that the Imperial Occultist was a formidable opponent. But she had a compelling reason to defeat him.

‘I will make you pay for your atrocities.’

Pulling her hair back tightly, Rabel drew a bookmark from the Skill Codex, channeling mana.

“Krahaha! Trying to avoid me? You seem to know your place, but it’s futile!”

Imperial Occultist Hierlik mistakenly thought Raul’s group was dispersing to avoid him. He scoffed and lunged towards the blond youth, Raul.

But suddenly, crack.

“Huh?”

Vines surged up from the ground, entwining around his ankles.

Crash!

Surrounding flora—various flowers, grass, and trees—grew immensely, coloring the surroundings with lush green.

“What’s this?”

He tried to cut the vines casually with his halberd, charged with aura, but even with his master-level strength, they didn’t sever easily.

With a sneer, he finally managed to slice through the vines, shouting into the air, “Which one of you is pulling these cheap tricks?”

But the only response was from the giantized plants. Sharp-toothed man-eating plants snapped their jaws as they lunged at him, while the ground beneath him turned squishy, trying to throw him off balance.

The trees swung their trunks like arms, and vines slithered along the ground like snakes, continually binding his ankles, making it seem as though Hierlik was trapped in a vegetative swamp.

“Hah, do you think you can contend with me with these trifling tricks?”

Whoosh! Slice! Crack!

The two large axe blades whirled around him, and the aura-infused halberd he wielded shattered anything that came too close. Even the few that managed to touch him couldn’t penetrate the sturdy defense of his power armor.

‘Damn annoying. They just keep coming.’

No matter how much he cut down, the surrounding army of plants seemed endless. Moreover, he no longer saw the presence of the knights who had initially stood guard around him; they seemed to have been overwhelmed by the plant horde.

Hierlik suddenly stopped swinging his halberd and closed his eyes. The plants saw this as an opportunity and attacked more fiercely, but they couldn’t break through the rotating axe blades.

“There you are!”

Boom!

With a powerful leap, Hierlik propelled himself tens of meters into the air, swinging his halberd. Dozens of semicircular mana blades shot out from his weapon, filling the sky.

Whoosh. Boom!

From the opposite side, translucent green wind blades formed, intercepting all the mana blades.

“Haha, what’s this? Was it just a little bug outside? You were so small it was hard to find you, hahaha.”

Standing atop one of his swinging axe blades, Hierlik let out a sinister laugh.

“Don’t be mistaken. You didn’t find me; I revealed myself. Until the moment you die, regret deeply whom you dared to provoke.”

Rabel spoke coldly, her face expressionless.

“Ha ha ha ha! Die? Regret? Such cute words from a mere bug. Alright then, I’ll keep you in my collection and cherish you for a long time!”

Flash!

Hierlik launched himself towards Rabel, but she had already moved using Blink magic.

Rumbling.

A massive shadow loomed over the airborne Hierlik.

‘What…?’

Turning quickly, Hierlik found himself face-to-face with something huge.

Whoosh, boom!

A gigantic tree hand, big enough to cover the sky, swatted down at Hierlik like a fly.

*

A nearly 200-meter-tall tree giant stood tall. The ‘Spirit Tree Giant,’ said to be wielded only by the Fairy Queen, had descended upon the land after thousands of years.

‘Ah! Indeed!’

Now, the Spirit Tree’s Nest had significantly shrunk in size. Standing atop it, the fairy princess Cora could hardly contain her trembling emotions.

Around the Spirit Tree’s Nest were robust tree soldiers forming a defensive line. In front of them, thorny vines with sharp spikes formed a barricade, and hardened fruits as tough as rocks were scattered like obstacles.

Man-eating plants with their sharp teeth bared.

Flower pollen mist that obscured vision.

A sap swamp from which escape was nearly impossible.

Leaf traps camouflaged over root spears.

All these legendary techniques of the fairy race, known collectively as 『Fairy Fantasy』, were unfolding right before her eyes.

And near the mighty Spirit Tree Giant, she saw her queen in the sky.

‘Your Majesty!’

She was more noble, majestic, and valiant than Cora had ever heard.

Facing a cruel human whom none of her kin could withstand, the queen’s figure was dazzling.

“Raaah! I’ll kill you, wench!”

Boom!

The human, who had been crushed by the giant’s hand, displayed immense strength, pushing the palm away and leaping into the air, but

Whoosh, crash!

The hand was not alone. Seeing the human crushed back to the ground again made Cora’s heart soar.

Bang! Crash! Crack. Boom!

The cruel human kept pushing, kicking, and breaking the giant’s hands, but to no avail. Time after time, he was pinned to the ground, intermittently struck by the queen’s spells, and rolled around on the ground.

And all the while, the queen looked down at him with cold, captivating eyes.

Crack!

Finally, the shroud surrounding the human’s black armor shattered, and the lashes of the vines and the giant’s palms directly hit him.

Cora, who had been watching the battle with her hands clasped in prayer, widened her eyes.

‘It’s not over… What is this eerie energy?’

Rumble.

From the spot where the human stood, an overwhelmingly dark, ominous, and chilling energy, unlike anything from this world, erupted.

“Graah! How dare you! How dare you, you damn pest! I will not forgive!”

Boom!

The giant’s hand exploded with a massive detonation.

And in its place appeared—

‘A half-human, half-beast? What on earth is that?’

It seemed like a mix between a bear and a human.

The human’s form had grown into a giant, over three meters tall, and fierce black energy burned from his body.

Whoosh, bang!

The giant swung its fist again, but this time, the outcome was different.

The bear-like human simply raised a palm and stopped the giant’s punch in its tracks.

‘Oh no! What shall we do?’

While Cora was frantically fretting, her queen, label, remained completely unfazed.

‘He finally activated his seal?’

The reason an imperial demonologist was called a warlord.

It was because they could activate a special seal directly inscribed by the Emperor.

Rabel knew that the strength of individuals who had merged with monstrous beasts exceeded that of superhumans of the same level.

And facing it directly now, she could feel the overwhelming power firsthand.

The relentless force of the fairy domain 『Fairy Fantasy』, which had been pressuring him without rest, hadn’t worked as effectively.

Even the enormous strength of the Spirit Tree Giant was matched, with the warlord’s basic physical abilities greatly enhanced.

‘But.’

Rabel had not yet revealed all her power.

During the ancient war.

Amid the bloody and powerful storm that swept across the entire continent, the fairy race had survived to the end.

It wasn’t because they received help from their allies, the elves, nor because they submitted to someone.

The fairies dwelling in the Spirit Tree’s forest remained untouchable.

Not by humans, orcs, elves, nor even the mighty races of dragons and demons.

‘In this place….’

Even if it was not a bountiful Spirit Tree’s forest like back then, it could still meet the minimum conditions.

Rabel gracefully landed on the Skill Codex, knelt, and clasped her hands together in prayer.

‘I, Rabelina Eriote Meridiane, a forest fairy who loves harmony and order, and Queen of the Dasos Forest, earnestly summon you with the collective wish of my race. Dear old friend, answer my call now.’

Flash.

Fragrant green mana flowed from her body, carried by the wind, and spread throughout the gate.

Whirr.

The energy of the Spirit Trees and spirits that touched her mana began converging toward her.

What started as a faint breeze gradually intensified into a gale and eventually became a storm-like force by the time it reached Rabel.

“What, what is this?”

“It’s time! Let’s escape!”

While the immense flow of power caused the superhumans to hesitate for a moment, knights and soldiers fled in all directions.

“Wow, is that Rabel-nim? Whatever it is, it’s astounding!”

Jake rested his greatsword on his shoulder, marveling at the power converging around her.

The other masters of the First Knight Order felt the same.

Though they respected her for reaching a different pinnacle through magic, they had never felt such intense power before.

As for Raul,

‘Rabel, are you alright?’

As the immense power she gathered increased, so did the amount of energy Rabel channeled from Raul. To support her, Raul fully unlocked Regnator and gulped down special potions, infusing mana into the Skill Codex.

This was evidence that she wielded a dangerous power. Another person who sensed the urgency was Hierlik.

“Move aside, you wooden piece of rubbish!”

Imperial Occultist Hierlik Denver wildly swung his halberd, drawing in immense dark energy. The aura blades extending from the halberd’s tip and axe blade were already over 5 meters long.

Every black slash left gouges and punctures in the Spirit Tree Giant’s body. Though the tide had turned and Hierlik was now relentlessly beating down the giant, that wasn’t the important issue.

The Spirit Tree Giant was using its massive size strategically to prevent Hierlik from reaching Rabel. But nothing lasts forever. Whether it was because Rabel was absorbing the spirit tree’s energy or not.

Finally, Hierlik managed to pierce the giant’s body and soared into the air.

“Die!”

Like a black comet, Hierlik hurled himself at Rabel, shrouded in dark energy. Just as he was about to swing his halberd with his blackened eyes glaring wide.

Flash.

A small gleam flickered, and then everything fell silent. The overwhelming power rushing towards Rabel. The immense mana she had amplified multiple times through the Skill Codex.

Even the dense, sticky mana surrounding the gate disappeared without a trace. And standing there was a woman clothed entirely in a translucent, soothing green aura, smiling warmly.

“This can’t be happening!”

Hierlik shouted in shock, seemingly in denial of reality. His ultimate strike, with all his power. The tip of his halberd was lightly caught between the green woman’s fingers.

“It’s been such a long time, Rabelina. To think you’re still alive! I couldn’t be happier to meet an old friend. It’s just sad that our time together is short.”

Exhausted, label could only look at her with tear-filled eyes and smile.

“And to think there are still beings emitting such vile energy. They must be really tenacious.”

As the green woman slightly furrowed her brows and turned her head, Hierlik screamed desperately.

“Who the hell are you?! What trick are you playing!”

Swish.

A cold, sharp wind lightly swept through the area.

(To be continued)

TL’s Corner:

Imperial Occultist -> Imperial Occultist