NOVGO.NET Chapter 2300: Oda Nobunaga’s Endless Castle [18]
Chapter 2300: Oda Nobunaga’s Endless Castle [18]
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"Who the fuck are you?!"
Alma quickly unsheathed Knife, the Venerable Weapon quickly awakened from its slumber, its Aura flickering due to the atmosphere of this dimension weakening it.
"Huh?! S-Such manners! Is this how the ladies of your world refer to someone else? Such a terrible thing to say! Despite being someone so beautiful, you truly have a sharp tongue, my dear."
The woman had cascading black hair, glowing blue eyes, and fair white skin, and she wore a long dress resembling a kimono in green and pink colors, decorated with cherry blossom branches.
She was sitting on a large wooden branch that emerged from the floor, which had branches growing from it, bearing beautiful pink flowers and pink peaches.
Her presence was strangely very small for some reason, but as she made her own existence noticeable to everyone, it began to grow exponentially.
To the point that even Root flinched when he saw her for a moment.
"Hah?! Are you saying I have bad manners? And why does that matter?! Are you an enemy? You must be... everyone, get ready!"
Alma quickly released her Endless Mana Aura, surging everywhere, but it was quickly suppressed by the curse, putting pressure on her.
However, she simply brute-forced her way, as her Aura fought the atmosphere of the dimension itself...
RUMBLE!
The power she had received from all the Divine Blessings stacked together not only made her body stronger, but also her soul.
This, coupled with her new Soul Heart forged with Drake’s help, and the Soul Gear she had obtained, allowed her to push the limits of her soul several times over.
After all, the only thing limiting Alma from unleashing all the power of her Mana was her own Soul, which was the "gate" to her Endless Mana production.
This meant that the more she released, the more pressure her Soul would endure, until it could shatter into pieces and kill her.
Previously, she had overexerted herself, causing her soul to gain cracks, and Alma had fallen unconscious for days.
However, this time, thanks to all the help she had received, her soul was strong enough to release much more.
"My, it seems you’re like a generator of energy or something, my dear... How incredible."
As the woman laughed, Alma and her friends remained silent, glaring at her...
They didn’t lower their guard just because she was a pretty lady, as Root’s powers surged, covering the surroundings with vegetation.
The vegetation quickly spread throughout the rooms, as the woman found herself surrounded by sharp wooden spears from every angle.
"You’ll answer our questions now. Who are you?"
Root spoke with a strong and intimidating voice, but the woman didn’t even react to it. She looked just as calm as before.
Her gentle, delicate hand touched the wood, as Root prepared to strike.
And yet...
"Hm?!"
Root felt something, as his plants began to turn black, purple, and red, withering.
"What?!"
"You’re asking who I am? I am Toyouke-no-Ōmikami—the Famine Mother, the Shrine of Spoiled Grain. Beneath my smile, hunger sings and harvests weep."
The Kami touched the vegetation, and her hands spread out, causing all of it to wither... and gain crimson eyes, starting to move strangely, groaning.
"Once I fed the divine. Now I consume the sacred. You will not rot from poison—you will rot from praise withheld."
RUMBLE!
The vegetation that Root had created everywhere suddenly started moving on its own, giant black roots and wooden spears rushing toward everyone.
Root tried to fight them back with more of his Vegetation and Magic, but all of it was instantly corrupted, turned against them.
"Prepare your offerings, warriors! Your limbs will make fine rice stalks when the field has no rain."
She spread her hands as giant rice fields surged, shaking and exploding into massive creatures, golems composed of withered vegetation and black stone, groaning and rushing forward.
"Are you kidding me?! Root, your powers...!" Alma panicked, as she suddenly saw Root completely paralyzed. "R-Root?"
"Nnnggh...! G-Get away...! Quickly...! AAAAAGGGHH!"
"Come to me, my beautiful child. You and I are destined to be together!"
Root fought back against the corruption, as Alma and her companions were too shocked to even react to the situation.
Everything was being turned upside down!
Their greatest ally...
"NOOOOO! GET OUT OF MY HEAD, WITCH!"
Root screamed, tearing off his corrupted parts and crawling away, as Alma quickly swung her knife, slicing through the golems and the corrupted, withered nature.
"Stay away from him!"
SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!
Several powerful slashes imbued with Divine Moonlight tore through Toyouke-no-Ōmikami’s powerful Withered Nature, only for her to raise more and more rice fields, firing thousands of rice bullets.
This rice was not pristine white, but black, brown, or purple, bombarding Alma and her companions with constant poisonous explosions imbued with a corrosive curse.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
"Your Majesty, stay back!"𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞
"We’ll protect you!"
The twins quickly erected a multi-layered psychic barrier with everything they had, using the power they had gained from training their Psychic Abilities with Drake and "cultivating" their Psychic Brains. Their Psionic Energy, even if weakened, was strong.
"Hmm~ That won’t be enough, my dears."
Toyouke-no-Ōmikami laughed loudly, as more and more withered nature surged everywhere!
Even worse, from the rotten half that Root had broken off from his own body, a new creature emerged.
A Nature Dragon, one made of Withered, Corrupted Nature...
With a body made of purple wood and black and red leaves, its body constantly surged with spectral black flames, leaking miasma everywhere.
"OOOOOHHHHH...!"
The cursed copy of Root roared, overflowing with the power she had stolen from him, as she laughed, waving her hand, and commanding the beast to charge at them.
"Go, have fun!"
CRAAASH!
The giant dragon clashed against the psychic barrier, beginning to rapidly corrupt it with curses, causing even more severe headaches for the twins, while slowly spreading cracks through it.
"This won’t be enough...!"
"It’s going to break!"
As the twins struggled, Alma held Knife tightly, with Callon and Hermes by her side.
Root was behind them, still groaning and suffering. Exhausted, he, who had ensured their safety for so many years, was now the one they had to protect.
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