The Forest Guardian who felt a huge wave of magical power noticed the heavy form of magic heading toward it and raised both arms.
The giant fist aimed directly at its chest was blocked by its equally giant hands.
Boom!!
Like ripples spreading across the surface of water, a gust of wind blasted out in all directions.
The two legs that supported the Forest Guardian’s body were pushed back.
Trees collapsed since along its path. They couldn’t withstand the overwhelming physical force.
“What are you all doing?!”
The adventurers who had been staring blankly at the scene snapped back to attention as Jun’s voice thundered like a bolt of lightning.
“Throw it off balance!”
Following Benjamin’s command, the adventurers all rushed toward the Forest Guardian’s legs.
About a dozen adventurers relentlessly attacked its right ankle.
They swung their greatswords, slashed repeatedly with poison-coated daggers, and widened the cracks with battle axes.
Like a fight between David and Goliath, the adventurers poured every ounce of their strength into toppling the creature.
They instinctively realized it.
This was the crucial moment that would decide the outcome of the battle.
As those few seconds stretched on like an eternity, the adventurers who had been swinging their weapons suddenly came to their senses at the sound of a voice.
“It’s falling!”
The adventurers’ efforts were not in vain since one of the creature’s knees slowly began to buckle.
When its balance naturally crumbled, Jun clenched his teeth and poured more magical power into the iron fist.
Like Goliath who was struck by the stone David had thrown, the iron fist slammed into the creature’s chest at the moment it faltered.
Woooosh——!!
The corrupted Forest Guardian finally sank to one knee completely.
A huge cloud of dust and debris swept over the group as countless trees, no longer able to bear the weight, splintered apart.
The forest seemed to tremble in response to the Guardian’s pain, and Jun clicked his tongue softly.
As expected, I couldn’t break through in one go.
Just before the dust spread, Jun used [Keeb Eyesight], stared at the Forest Guardian, and confirmed that the [Iron Fist] had dissipated right before completely crushing its chest.
“It’s not dead yet! Charge!”
Benjamin noticed the same thing and hurriedly gave the command.
It was their last desperate struggle to survive.
***
Benjamin Briston.
The leader of the Azure Cloud adventurers, and the one responsible for this whole ordeal, understood his situation all too well.
A failed raid, a revealed plan.
As a noble who valued his reputation above all, it was certain that his sponsoring noble would try to distance himself from responsibility for this disaster.
At the very least… I must be the one to finish this raid!
The unexpected arrival of the mage called Jun greatly diminished his role, but for now, it was still okay.
If he could get all the mercenaries here out alive and report everything about this raid to the Imperial Court, his sentence might be reduced.
He could find a new sponsor after that.
While it would be difficult to gain a noble’s support as before, perhaps a large merchant guild would still be possible.
That’s why Benjamin was more determined than anyone to bring down the Forest Guardian.
He wrapped his entire body in magical power, climbed up the Forest Guardian’s body, and charged toward its heart.
His target was the essence of the forest embedded in the creature’s chest.
Normally, it was protected by wood harder than steel, but now, a large crack had appeared.
“Attack!!”
The adventurers were as desperate as Benjamin. They gathered all their magical power.
This was their only chance. If they missed it now, there wouldn’t be a second one.
They had to finish it before the Forest Guardian who was still in a stunned state regained its senses.
Crash! Crack-crack-crack-crack!
The sword, forged from the teeth of a giant beast, screamed under the pressure.
But at the same time, the crack in the Forest Guardian’s chest that was now fully exposed was widening.
Soon, a sinister purple light began to seep out from inside the creature.
When they realized that this was the corrupted forest’s essence, a glimmer of hope appeared on their faces.
At the very moment the Forest Guardian’s chest was completely pried open, Benjamin stepped forward.
A blue aura gleamed as it shot toward the corrupted essence.
“This is the end!”
But then—
“…….!”
His aura which had never been blocked before suddenly collided with a powerful resistance.
“Grr…! Was that mage right after all?”
The mage who devised the strategy for this raid–Jun.
Before the operation to subdue the Forest Guardian, Jun had emphasized something to Benjamin and his comrades.
He warned them that the essence of the corrupted forest was tougher than expected and had a high resistance to magic, which made it hard to destroy. He advised them to conserve their energy, as no matter how difficult it was to break, it would eventually be destroyed after repeated attacks.
“Damn it…! Break! I said break…!”
His sword which was imbued with aura and desperation struck the essence of the forest again and again.
Crack—
At the same moment a crack appeared in the forest essence,
-Kiyyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh!!
A terrible shriek echoed and the sky began to darken immediately after.
***
A cry of the forest.
Unlike the dungeon where they had first heard the Fairy Queen’s scream, this time the cry felt different.
The sky slowly darkened into a deep purple-black, and soon, nothing could be heard besides the wail of the Fairy Queen.
In the midst of the long silence.
What finally broke that silence were the adventurers who climbed atop the fallen Forest Guardian.
“Leader!!”
“No!!”
Jun was able to see what was happening above through [Keen Eyesight].
A red branch protruded from Benjamin’s back.
The branch was red because it had pierced through Benjamin’s heart.
“This fucking shit…”
Jun’s face twisted in fury.
Benjamin’s meaningless death was one thing,
But what he saw through [Keen Eyesight] was another.
A being that revealed itself solemnly above the sky which turned a deep purple.
“The Fairy Queen…”
A woman appeared. She was glowing with a light nearly indistinguishable from the color of the sky above.
At the same time, the whispers of the forest began to reach their ears.
-You will die.
-You will hang from a tree branch and die.
-You will be torn apart alive by a beast’s fangs and die.
-You will be bitten by a viper and die, paralyzed.
-You will die from thirst, you will wander and never find water.
-You will die poisoned, bleeding from every orifice by a toxic mushroom.
-You will die as goblins strip the skin from your flesh.
-You will die as your insides are devoured by Steel Bugs.
-You will die, horribly dismembered by the undead.
These were the visions that appeared the moment the corrupted queen of the forest laid her eyes on the humans gathered there.
This is why Jun was extremely reluctant to see the Fairy Queen. This was the majesty of a true raid boss.
The skill [Cycle of the Forest] started to activate.
The first phase was a state of “Fear” induced by hallucinations.
The mercenaries dropped their weapons and fell to their knees. Their mental resistance was nowhere near enough.
Their limbs began to tremble, foam bubbled from their mouths, and they sank deeper into the visions of their own deaths. Like they were drowning in a swamp.
“A-Ah… aaahhhh…!!”
Next were the adventurers.
They had some resistance, but the despair of seeing their leader meet his end shattered the last of their mental defenses.
Just like the mercenaries, they dropped their weapons and ended up in the same pitiful state.
“Grr… ugh…!!”
The only reason Jun could still hold on was thanks to [Steadfast Will] and [Unwavering Heart].
But even those weren’t foolproof.
They only increased his resistance, not provided full immunity.
Jun was caught in the repeated visions of death and struggled desperately to break free from the status effect.
Damn it…!
The light in his eyes was beginning to fade.
Fear was starting to weaken, but what came next was a crushing sense of emptiness.
Death leaves nothing behind.
All that remains is endless darkness.
Once you begin to realize that, you’re in danger.
Jun who knew this well desperately forced his magical power to circulate.
In the overwhelming void that made even moving a finger feel impossible, his faint will to survive flickered like a small dying flame.
He couldn’t use any powerful magic.
Even the spells that popped out like a habit were impossible to cast.
His limit was simply recalling the most recent spell he had cast, purely out of instinct.
The earth beneath him slowly began to tremble and clump together, then became coated with magical energy.
[Iron Fist]
Though its size was nothing compared to the one that had struck down the Forest Guardian, it was enough.
No, it couldn’t be any bigger.
This spell wasn’t aimed at the Fairy Queen.
“Ugh——!!”
Every ounce of oxygen was forced from his lungs, and a sharp pain in his abdomen spread throughout his body.
An iron fist had slammed into Jun’s stomach.
A man could die from being hit by a glass ball falling from the second floor, but this was an iron fist driven into his gut.
His internal organs were probably ruptured, though he wasn’t entirely sure.
Still, this was a process he couldn’t avoid if he wanted to break through the hallucination.
“Kuhuh…”
The excruciating pain pounded in his head, but even so, a laugh escaped Jun’s lips.
Unlike the hallucinations, this pain reminded him that he was still alive, here in the present.
“Bleh!”
He vomited violently and the contents of his stomach spilled out, but Jun managed to regain some focus.
His body still felt heavy, but the searing pain gradually brought his living body back into survival mode.
Hastily, he pulled out a potion from his pocket and downed it.
“We’re screwed…”
Jun roughly wiped his tear-stained eyes from the pain. He struggled to his feet, only to find the situation as bad as he had expected.
“Aaah…”
“Hic…”
“No… death is right in front of us…”
Mercenaries and adventurers alike, all had been completely disarmed and they just kept looking blankly into the void with hollow eyes.
This happened the moment the Fairy Queen appeared.
It made sense.
The fully awakened Fairy Queen now merged with the Forest Guardian and was no longer a monster designed to be hunted at this stage.
Hidden pieces within <Blackout> didn’t always lead to favorable outcomes.
That’s why I wanted to finish this before she appeared…
Even the awakened Forest Guardian could still be dealt with by level 3 players, though just barely.
Of course, even that possibility was now a lost cause.
What should I do?
He racked his brain desperately.
The only bit of good news was that the Fairy Queen didn’t start her massacre yet.
This was thanks to the critical blow Benjamin had dealt to the forest’s essence right before his death.
But time was running out.
The forest’s essence was basically a reservoir storing all the power of the forest.
Even now, the forest was desperately trying to recover its damaged essence, and the Forest Guardian was slowly shaking off its stunned state.
The gaping wound in its chest was gradually closing. This was clear evidence of its recovery.
Where’s Priestess Eleanor?
Eleanor was the only one who could potentially undo this widespread status ailment.
But like the others, she too was on her knees with her hands clasped together and reciting some words.
It looks like she’s resisting to some extent… but it’ll be hard for her to break free quickly.
He couldn’t wake her up with pain the way he had done for himself.
Pain inflicted by someone else would likely be no different from the hallucinations.
What about Aiden?
Should he consider it fortunate in this misfortune, or was it simply expected?
Aiden hadn’t fallen like the others.
Thanks to the [Beast Body] skill he had learned from Pride, whom they’d met in the Hidden Piece.
Although he wasn’t completely free, he was clearly aware of the current situation and was resisting.
He won’t be of use in battle for now, but…
At that moment, something unexpected happened.
“Sir Mage!”
It was Luke Markner, the twin adventurer.
He was approaching Jun.
***
“How…?”
“Well, I’m not sure either. I think it’s because of this.”
“What is that?”
What Luke showed him was a cubicle shining in a rainbow of colors.
The light from the special material of the cubicle was protecting Luke’s body.
Immunity to status effects…?
Of course, at higher levels, artifacts with similar effects did exist.
But for Luke who was only level 3 to possess something like this was astonishing.
“…It’s a family heirloom that got passed down for generations. I didn’t know it had this kind of power, though.”
“Family?”
“Haha… It’s not from some great family. It’s just a talisman passed down from the Jinrang race. But that’s not really important right now, is it?”
Just like Luke said, those details didn’t matter.
In this situation, having any additional strength was a positive thing.
On top of that, Luke was an aura user.
Though he fell short compared to Benjamin, what mattered was that he could deal a blow to the essence of the forest.
“So, Sir Mage, what do we do now?”
“…We need to finish this. Luckily, the Fairy Queen isn’t in perfect condition.”
Back when she first appeared, she had been critically wounded by Benjamin and his comrades.
And now, having just awakened, the Fairy Queen was still in a stage where she couldn’t properly adapt due to the power of corruption and the essence of the forest mixing together.
That’s why her recovery was delayed.
She had only rushed here because the Forest Guardian was going to get killed.
Of course, we can’t kill the Fairy Queen.
But if they were just destroying the essence of the forest, there was still hope.
“…I’ll draw her attention. You climb on top of the Forest Guardian and destroy the forest’s essence .”
“Are you sure? Against a monster like that…”
“There’s no choice. It’s the only way. Hurry! We don’t have much time. Even now, the Forest Guardian is recovering.”
“I understand…!”
Eventually, Luke quietly began to move and Jun placed his hand on the choker once more.
[Deciphering the spell…]
[Deciphering complete.]
[The influence of the spell, ‘Odyssey of the Lazy Pilgrim’, is reduced by 13 percent.]
***
Thirteen percent.
it was only an additional three percent compared to the usual ten percent he used.
However, to Jun who felt it directly in his body, it wasn’t something that could be dismissed as “just” three percent.
“Grrr…!”
The magical power that swept over him like a tidal wave filled his entire body.
The arrogant sense of omnipotence that seemed like he could do anything only lasted for a brief moment.
His body couldn’t handle such power which quickly reminded him of the consequences of going beyond his limits. The magical power made sure that Jun learned this lesson firsthand.
Just help me out this one time…!!
Jun’s limit was exactly ten percent.
Anything beyond that caused a rapidly increasing overload on his body.
This was the first time Jun had cast a spell while channeling this much magical power.
What changes this would bring to his body, even Jun couldn’t predict.
“Huff, huff, huff…!”
The boiling magical power began to rampage uncontrollably in his body. Casting a spell in this state would be suicidal.
The backlash from the magical power could turn the spell against its caster.
That’s why Jun focused all his strength on controlling the wild energy inside him.
These damn things…!
The magical power rampaged like a wild stallion.
He tried to heighten his sensitivity to the flow of magic as much as possible, but the incantation of the [Lazy Pilgrim’s Odyssey] stood in his way.
Jun struggled to maintain his composure as one repulsive memory after another surfaced.
During his brief time at the Magic Tower, he had learned that magic was a force of nature.
It never flowed according to human will but moved according to the rules set by the world.
The pattern of a spell bent those rules slightly, directing the flow of magic.
The caster’s mental image determined the concentration of that flow.
Ironically, in this situation, the only way to dissipate the rampaging magical power was to manifest a spell.
He had to guide those unruly forces, like wild colts, in the right direction.
In the process, the surging magical power tore through Jun’s narrow circuits, leaving his body scarred.
Due to the frictional heat of the magical power, his circuits shifted from a blue glow to purple and then gradually turned red.
“Huuurgh…!”
Hot breath escaped his throat as the overheated circuits scorched his body from inside.
Finally, the spell pattern was completed.
But it still wasn’t enough.
A significant amount of magical power remained in Jun’s circuits, and only after dispersing it could he refine the spell pattern further.
He imagined it and started drawing it out.
More solid and real than anything else.
Magic was the act of manifesting phenomena.
It involved deriving the process and bringing forth the result.
When was it?
Imagination was closely tied to creativity, but observation played a large part as well.
Jun had never possessed extraordinary creativity.
Since childhood, he had lived a life devoted entirely to studying, and even as an adult, he had been bound to a rigid schedule.
To expect boundless creativity from someone like him was asking too much.
However, Jun was rather exceptional when it came to “observation”.
He saw and remembered.
A scene that once gave him nightmares came to mind.
“……”
It all began with a certain flame.
It wasn’t the small flames he was used to seeing, but a towering blaze as tall as an adult, that struck fear into anyone who laid eyes on it and froze them in place.
It was a scene that seemed to embody pure greed.
And true to that impression, the fire quickly grew in size and began to engulf the small child’s home.
Rumble…
Fire.
Humanity’s greatest discovery, but also a force capable of consuming everything.
Not just the material world, but sometimes even the life of a child…
“……”
[Fireball]
A fireball imbued with emotions and will revealed itself to the world.
A third-circle spell.
But this one burned with a crimson color like blood, displayed firepower far beyond any typical third circle spell, and sought prey to show off its power.
“This is….”
Jun’s eyes wavered as he stared at the spell.
It wasn’t the result he had imagined.
Still, there was no time to think about it in detail right now.
The Fairy Queen had already come to her senses and was glaring at Jun.
I’m not ready yet…!
Although he had completed the form of the spell, he had not yet harnessed the overloaded magical power.
Even if he released the magic now, it would burn out before even reaching the Fairy Queen.
Until it found something to burn, Jun’s magical power had to sustain it.
But unfortunately, time wasn’t on Jun’s side.
The Fairy Queen raised her slender arm.
Despite her frail appearance, the energy gathering inside her was terrifyingly destructive.
The power of corruption that had consumed the forest would disintegrate anything it touched down to the atomic level.
Damn it, if only I had a bit more time…!
Just as he was about to pour all his power into the fireball, a dark purple butterfly shot out from the Fairy Queen’s hand.
Leave a Reply