The troll’s agonized screams echoed through the forest. Its dark blue blood kept pouring from its body.
Anais was exhausted but she continued to face the troll in their final standoff.
The troll’s hide, slashed and pierced dozens of times, had long since turned to shreds.
Even so, it had repeatedly regained its strength with its innate healing ability.
But perhaps because it had healed too many times and for too long,
The weary troll, both physically and mentally drained, could no longer recover from its wounds and soon fell to its knees.
Meanwhile, Anais’s condition was far from good.
Marks of rolling around were evident all over her body, and the troll who was thrashing violently until the end was extremely fierce.
Especially at the end, when the troll swung its club with what seemed to be its dying breath, Anais appeared to have sustained internal injuries and was unable to completely evade the blow.
However,
Despite this, a smile remained on Anais’s face.
A fight to the death.
Although it was a monster, facing the troll with purely human strength and no magic other than body enhancement felt like confronting a wall.
To Anais who had finally broken through that wall, this pain also brought joy.
Just as Shane had instructed her to swing the sword without a moment’s hesitation, Anais never stopped moving throughout this battle.
And that was against such a monster for nearly an hour.
The troll’s final attack which marked the end of the fight brought a small revelation to Anais.
The troll’s attack, burning its last bit of life, had slightly twisted Anais’s “foresight”.
Although it was merely a glimpse, if Anais kept reliving and honing this sensation, it would undoubtedly yield significant results.
“…Thank you.”
If it weren’t for Shane, when would Anais have experienced something like this?
Anais accepted that this small realization was thanks to Shane and honestly expressed gratitude.
“You achieved this yourself. Take pride in yourself rather than in me.”
“…Are you embarrassed?”
“Nonsense.”
“Heh.”
At Anais’s smile, Shane turned to look at the remaining team members.
Klein as a fellow swordsman offered sincere congratulations on Anais’s enlightenment, while Dilaila who was bleeding from rolling around was initially scared by Anais’s smiling despite her injuries.
But soon, Dilaila too broke into a wide smile.
The troll just now had been the final opponent in this dungeon.
“Ugh, it’s finally over.”
The party sat down and took a moment to rest.
Earlier, Dilaila and Klein had also faced goblins and kobolds, and among them, a group of war boars that boasted muscles as hard as rocks had exhausted them.
After resting for a while, Shane approached the fallen troll and cut the leaf necklace from its neck.
As planned, we got this too.
This was the reason they had entered the dungeon. While honing the team’s skills was part of it, Shane’s ultimate goal had been the leaf the troll wore around its neck.
It appeared very ordinary and indeed, no special magical power could be felt from it. However, Shane knew the true value of this leaf.
The entire forest and the troll’s fierce protection had been all about this leaf.
The leaf of the World Tree. This is my second time eating this.
Having gained the only means to communicate with the elves, Shane chewed and swallowed the leaf while avoiding the eyes of his party members.
***
“Ah! I thought I was going to die.”
After completing the dungeon and returning to the academy, the party decided to disband and head to their respective lodgings.
While they thought about having a celebration for successfully completing the team’s first dungeon raid, no one had the energy left for it.
The dungeon raid that was conducted with minimal use of magical power had been physically and mentally exhausting.
However, Shane had more tasks to complete.
He had to submit return documents to the Adventurers’ Guild and the academy, convert the loot from the dungeon into cash, and distribute it.
“Big brother, let me help you. Aren’t you busy enough already?”
In addition, Shane still had paperwork related to his collaboration with Raviata that needed to be sorted out.
He was expecting busy days ahead, but Shane shook his head and said,
“No, it’s fine. I’m not that tired. Instead, go back and review the battles from this raid.”
“Well… still.”
“I said it’s fine. Go on now.”
“…Alright, I’ll see you later.”
After Klein left, Shane who was left alone to finish the remaining tasks slipped into a nearby alley and hid in the shadows.
“It’s really going to be a busy day.”
The real hunt was about to begin.
“Wha-what is this? What the hell is this!! Say something, you bastard…!”
Shane once saw an old and decrepit slime.
Unlike a healthy slime, an unstable core caused the old slime to lose its shape and become a mere blob.
“Wh-what do you want? Just tell me! I’ll give you all my money, everything. So, please, just say something…!”
Seeing the nameless nobleman in front of him, Shane recalled that scene. The difference was that, unlike the old slime, the blob of flesh in front of him talked a lot.
“Please, please… spare my life…”
In his extreme terror, the noble wet himself as he begged desperately.
The presence before him was something else.
The contrast between the white mask and the black mist shrouding this being made it impossible to discern what he wanted.
From the moment he had broken into his villa, he had killed his bodyguards without uttering a single word.
He did not kill them in an ordinary way, either.
Some of them went mad and swung their swords at empty air without even putting up a fight, while others were chewed up by mysterious teeth that appeared on the walls and floor.
Despite this, the masked being did not utter a single word, and the terror of his silence was consuming the nobleman’s mind.
“E-Eeek! Th-then how about this? An elf! It’s an extremely rare race I obtained with great difficulty. Even most nobles would find it hard to see one!”
At the noble’s words, Shane turned his gaze to a woman bound hand and foot nearby.
Even though people were being killed before her eyes, her emerald eyes were filled with hostility.
However, in contrast, her body was already a wreck.
Her left hand with its severed ring and little fingers was covered in a mysterious foam. As if it had not been properly treated.
It looks like they tried to give a potion to the elf.
However, potions were made for humans and did not work the same way for other races.
Instead, they could act as a poison with unknown side effects and cause such reactions.
Meanwhile, as Shane turned his gaze toward the elf, the noble’s face lit up.
“I’ll give you that! So please, just leave. I promise I won’t order anyone to chase you. I’ll live quietly for the rest of my life!”
“…”
However, as Shane continued to silently stare at the elf, the nobleman who was driven mad by fear acted on his survival instincts.
“Y-you bastard, I told you to say something!!”
The nobleman let out a scream and drew a dagger from his bosom before charging at Shane.
But the dark spirit would not stand by and watch.
The darkness enveloping Shane restrained the noble’s hand and lifted his heavy body into the air.
[Krrr… Master.]
The spirit asked respectfully, and Shane gazed at the nobleman who was writhing like a fish caught on a hook hanging in midair.
“Maybe I was just drunk by the brief moment of peace.”
Then he turned his gaze back to the elf.
“Or maybe I was too complacent.”
Originally, he had intended to capture and interrogate the nobleman, but now it all felt futile.
It was the same when dealing with Salier.
In retrospect, the Shane before he regressed had been more ruthless and merciless in crushing his opponents.
Especially if it was for the sake of humanity, no sacrifice was too great for that.
However, since the corruption had vanished, Shane wondered if he had been too lenient with his enemies.
Merely capturing and interrogating them.
What a human way of thinking it was.
“I don’t care if the soul gets damaged or not.”
With that, Shane scanned the fleshy nobleman up and down.
“Consume it.”
[Yes, Master.]
“Leave not a piece of the soul.”
At those words, the spirit whose mouth flickered with darkness hesitated.
[But my power is still not enough…]
“I will lend you my strength.”
[Ah…!]
Until now, the amount of Origin had been just enough to exert a material influence.
Like a trickle of rainwater turning into a raging river.
The quality and quantity of Origin flowing from Shane increased dramatically.
[It’s so, so delicious. Exquisite, Master…!]
“That’s enough, now consume this.”
[Yes!]
“Kkuek, kkiiiik!”
As the dark spirit which now had a much clearer form approached with its gleaming teeth, the nobleman shivered.
Then he soon went limp and his limbs grew slack.
He fainted from excessive fear.
But it didn’t matter.
The dark spirit opened its mouth and swallowed the nobleman whole, and only then did silence descend upon the place.
Shane closed his eyes and merged with the dark spirit.
It seemed like he could hear the nobleman’s screams being devoured by the spirit.
What Shane had just commanded the spirit was not simply to eat the nobleman.
It was to consume the soul.
However, even as a dark spirit, consuming a soul was not an easy task so Shane transferred his Origin power to it.
Such tasks were as easy as breathing for Shane. He had done them so many times in his previous life.
However, Shane had not used that method unconsciously until now.
Back then, when he was full of corruption power, he had no qualms about such actions.
Because a spiritual death, not just a physical one, was unnecessarily cruel.
But.
There’s no need to be concerned about dealing with these kinds of beings.
After all, what Shane faced now were not innocent and noble souls like in his previous life.
They were just leeches or mites that preyed on humanity.
“I was drunk on peace.”
With that, Shane gathered the pieces of the nobleman’s soul and used them to extract information.
The nobleman’s name was Liam Alchin.
A viscount from the Kingdom of Haiel.
Entered the coalition six years ago.
Sexual preferences that derive superiority from the suffering of other races.
“Not very useful.”
Shane then pulled a thick book from his chest.
“It’s going to take time to find all of these one by one.”
The well-worn book in his hands was a ledger created by the late Count Salier during his lifetime.
The ledger was meticulously detailed, listing the names and dates of the transactions, the items involved, and even where, when, and through whom the deals were made.
Did those who traded with Salier know about the existence of this ledger that held their secrets?
They probably couldn’t even imagine it.
But unfortunately, the information Shane most wanted wasn’t recorded in this ledger.
That’s why he had examined Liam Alchin’s soul, hoping to find some relevant information, but all he could read were useless and filthy memories.
“Continue examining his soul. Memorize anything related to the slave trade of other races.”
[Understood, Master……!]
Perhaps because it was satisfied with a fulfilling feast, the dark spirit responded with more energy than usual.
“Then now…… shall we get to the real business?”
[This body is already desecrated, just kill me and be done with it!]
This insane elf spewed such nonsense, but in any case, she was the most crucial part of Shane’s strategy for conquering the Great Mezaiya Forest.
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