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Chapter 20

Seriously, talk about getting carried once in my life, sigh. Finally grasping the situation, Ian shifted his gaze.

"First, catch the horses that are left behind, Miguel."

"Huh...? Oh, alright!" Miguel reacted reflexively, grabbing the reins of the fleeing horse, and then looked back at Ian.

"Got it! And now?" Miguel asked.

Ian recalled the source of the contamination entrenched in the center of the forest. The one who had caused him to face game-over at least ten times, making him throw his mouse in frustration. He already knew what he needed to do to avoid experiencing that anger again.

"Get the oil out of the baggage. A lot of it," said Ian.

Miguel, who had stuck the torch next to the saddle, began searching the bag. Meanwhile, Ian retrieved his sword and approached.

"You follow Philip," said Ian.

"Understood... by myself?" As Miguel placed leather pouches filled with oil one after the other, he looked up. Blinking, he added. "Where are you going to use all this oil?"

"Where do you think?" Ian, holding a torch from the saddle, looked down at him.

"Well, obviously..." Miguel\'s gaze naturally drifted to the torch in his hand. "...but even for you, such a crazy act seems unlikely."

Well, let\'s see. Ian nodded slightly.

"Tell Philip to just protect Sir Riurel. Do nothing else. You too," said Ian.

"That\'s easier said than done... Ah, damn it. Are you really not going?" Miguel asked.

"Then, would you like to fight in my place?" Ian asked.

"I\'ll definitely deliver the message. Come back alive." Miguel sprang up, pulling the reins of both horses.

Can I really leave Mev to them? Ian shook his head and started picking up the oil pouches one by one.

Leaving only one, Ian put the rest in his pocket dimension and slowly poured the oil from the last pouch onto the torch, turning his gaze. Beyond the darkness of the forest. The surviving hosts were running toward Mev. Their numbers had decreased, but it was only a matter of time before they increased. Since the group had already stepped into the contaminated forest.

Monsters that establish their own territories typically show no mercy to intruders, regardless of the reason. Those who prey on humans are even more ruthless, and the culprit behind the forest\'s contamination was of this sort. An attack was surely imminent. That\'s why Ian planned to eliminate it before returning to his group. He would have to fight alone, but this was far better than protecting the group and fighting all night.

"First, I need to redirect their attention to me... Ah, fuck, it\'s hot." Muttering, Ian quickly withdrew his hand holding the pouch. The torch had caught fire, burning fiercely, and even looked like it was threatening to consume the handle.

"Why does it burn so well?" said Ian.

Almost got burned while trying to conserve magic. Ian threw the pouch aside, drew his sword, and activated his magic. His eyes turned to ash gray, and a breeze swirled around his entire body. Lower gray magic, Wind Blade.

Whoosh!

The falling torch was caught in the wind and rose high. In one hand, a sword, and in the other, a fiery mace.

"...This should be noticeable enough." Ian spun his wrists and stomped on the ground.

Swoosh!

The rearmost host cut through the darkness and rapidly approached.

Crack!

With a downward slash, Ian split the host\'s head down to its chest. Slowed down by the collision, Ian struck another host with the torch in his left hand and leaped forward again.

There was no need to check if they were alive. They were just creatures that didn\'t even yield experience points. As long as they were incapacitated, they couldn\'t reach his group.

Squeal! Screech!

Several more were sliced and burned before the nearby hosts reacted. But Ian was already cutting through others at the front.

Slash! Crack!

Almost simultaneously, a carnivorous tree\'s mouth fell, but Ian lightly dodged it by leaning back. Thanks to his Wind Blade and his innate skill, Concentration, his movements and perception were sharpened. To him now, everything seemed a bit slower.

Rip! Roar!

Hosts were consecutively sliced and burned. Ian fought through carnivorous trees and other creatures for a while.

Crunch!

After killing another host and reflexively turning, Ian paused. Suddenly, everything around him was silent.

"Huff... Huff..." Only his own heavy breathing echoed.

Ian finally retrieved his sword and looked around. He had fought almost mindlessly, but he had splendidly achieved his goal.

Hosts lay scattered around, twitching. The waves of magic filled with hatred and madness, and the contaminated roots. Ian had eliminated all the enemies targeting his group and had successfully drawn their attention. Eventually, Ian\'s gaze stopped beyond the darkness of the forest. The darkness, thick with malice, seemed to ooze evil.

"...So worked up over this,” said Ian.

It was just the beginning, and already it was disappointing. Ian brandished his torch like a signal and leaped into the darkness.

***

The torch cut across the forest like a meteor.

Squeal! Screech!

Chilling howls echoed behind Ian as he dashed forward. The hosts, awakened after he passed, were in pursuit. However, Ian didn\'t stop. He just kept running forward.

Skipping minor mobs is the universal rule. This was actually Ian’s strategy for when he would return to this place alone.

A so-called speed run, targeting only the boss in the shortest time possible. Even though he came with Mev, he hadn\'t expected it to turn out this way, but the efficiency of the plan remained unchanged.

The cleanup will be a problem... but well, it\'ll work out somehow, thought Ian.

The situation couldn\'t get much worse than it already was. Ian glanced around at the passing scenery. The forest itself had grotesquely transformed, indicating he was nearing the center.

Roar!

The monsters blocking his way appeared more terrifying than ever.

Tap-tap! Whoosh!

Dodging the attack of a giant host, Ian leaped upward. The figure, a fusion of several goblins entwined in vines, slowly came into view. Ian stepped on the creature\'s shoulder and vaulted again.

Roar!

A scream and the sound of cleaving air followed. The creature\'s reaction was no better than that of a carnivorous tree.

A named creature, but hardly worthy of the title. Ian spun like a windmill, altering his trajectory. The vine-wrapped arm barely missed him.

Crack!

Just another named monster, Ian thought. He spun his body like a windmill, narrowly avoiding a vine-wrapped forearm.

Crackle!

Instead, the torch in his hand snapped, scattering embers everywhere. Ian rolled on the ground, tossing the handle away. His vision darkened.

A chill ran down his spine, and his nerves tensed. It wasn\'t because of the giant host. Without looking back, he could feel it had fallen, unable to withstand the centrifugal force of its own swing. What truly alarmed him was something beyond. It had awakened his instincts.

Lifting his head, Ian realized his vision had completely changed. Despite the lack of light, things he couldn\'t see before were now clearly visible in front of him. The rhythmically spreading waves of magic, the wriggling roots underground—everything was vivid, as if within reach.

And beyond, where all these converged, he felt something dark rising. To Ian, it appeared like a pillar writhing with numerous tentacles. The reality wasn\'t much different.

This pillar was the source of the forest\'s corruption, the boss, the Twisted Ancient Tree.

"Why is it so big...?" Ian\'s brow furrowed as he gazed at the silhouette.

The creature was larger than he had anticipated. He had expected it to be smaller since the contamination in the game was less advanced.

“Never allows me to put my guard down.” Grumbling, Ian resumed his run without much change in expression. He, too, was different from before.

The plan isn\'t ruined. Ian opened his left hand. A white orb suddenly appeared in his grasp. The essence bead of magic. He immediately gripped the essence bead and activated his magic. There was no need to force it; the magic naturally flowed into the essence bead as if drawn by magnetism.

Swoosh!

The essence bead, resonating with the magic, emitted a burst of white light. The condensed magic inside the essence bead seemed visible. It was not just a simple concentration but overlaid in a geometric arrangement. Although not artificial, it clearly functioned like a magical formula.

So this is how the magic is amplified, thought Ian.

Feeling an itch, Ian spread his hand, and the essence bead began to spin and levitate as if waiting for this moment. The rotation slowed as it gained some distance from the palm and then stopped in mid-air as if finding its position. A strange sensation, as if the hand and the essence bead were connected by a magnetic field.

"This is how it works...!" As Ian was astonished by it, he suddenly rolled on the ground, astonished.

Swoosh!

That was because the next moment, something tore through the air and crashed down.

Boom!

The object that burrowed into the ground was a giant maw with black bark scales, large enough to swallow Ian in one bite. Its stem was as thick as a carnivorous tree\'s trunk. Ian had unknowingly entered the attack range of the Twisted Ancient Tree. The maw shot upward clumsily.

Is this its maximum range? Ian wondered.

Ian got up and changed his path, starting to run in a large circle around the Ancient Tree.

Crunch! Boom!

The Ancient Tree\'s maws fell in a line behind Ian. They weren\'t as agile as carnivorous trees but were much larger and numerous. What looked like wriggling tentacles were actually all part of the creature\'s maws.

It\'s even worse in person, Ian mused.

Memories from the game overlapped with reality. As Ian got closer, more maws fell, and at a certain distance, roots also emerged. A combined attack from above and below. Soon, hosts from all directions started to swarm in, endless killing.

If not an expert in this game, this boss wasn\'t designed to be defeated by a mere onslaught. Like several other bosses, to kill it, one had to find and exploit its weaknesses. Of course, now he could probably kill it head-on.

But why make it hard when I know its weaknesses? Ian never chose the hard way when an easier path was available. He pulled out oil pouches from the storage space and started to scatter the oil while running. He didn\'t care about the maws tearing up the ground; in fact, it was better as they too would be soaked in oil.

Ian kept repeating the process of emptying and discarding pouches. When he had used up all the pouches from his pocket dimension, a large pit appeared in front of him, the mark left by the first maw. Leaping over the pit, Ian threw the last oil pouch behind him and extended his right hand, conjuring a fireball. Basic red magic, Fireball.

Boom!

The Fireball hit the pouch and exploded, scattering flames everywhere.

Whoosh!

The oil-soaked ground caught fire, quickly spreading in all directions.

Crunch! Boom!

The falling maws also caught fire and retracted. Amid the brightening surroundings and flames, Ian briefly ran.

Hoooom!

A horn-like howl resounded, and the falling maws suddenly stopped. Ian finally slowed down.

"Its weakness hasn\'t changed...” said Ian.

Catching his breath, he looked around. His gaze settled on the true form of the Twisted Ancient Tree. It looked more like a giant black sea anemone than a tree, with holes oozing tar-like slime and branches wildly flailing and spreading the fire.

Predictably, the fire was the first weakness of the ancient tree. If it caught fire sufficiently, it would stop attacking and focus on extinguishing the flames. The same applied to the incoming hosts.

The guide he read back then when he played the game, suggested carrying enough kerosene to set it ablaze, treating the maws in the same way to access its second weakness more easily. Back then, Ian didn’t have this tip and had chosen a simpler, brute-force approach, investing more skill points in red magic.

Now that I think about it, that\'s when I started to go on the ruined character path... Found it. Observing around the ancient tree, Ian\'s eyes lit up. Among the holes in the trunk, he spotted a faint violet light. Although he didn\'t know its exact name, it was the second and most lethal weakness of the twisted ancient tree.

So high up for no reason, of course. Shaking his head, Ian ran toward the Twisted Ancient Tree, which grew larger as he approached.

The howling ceased abruptly as Ian, holding his sword upside-down, leaped toward the trunk.

Fwoosh!

Gray steam burst explosively from all the holes in the trunk.

The steam swiftly engulfed the branches and enveloped Ian as he rolled on the ground. Ian sprawled on the ground and had no time to retrieve his dropped sword as he lifted his head.

Beyond the steam, several maws bent like bows, signaling their imminent fall. However, instead of evading, Ian extended his left hand upwards.

Finally, time to shut this down. Ian had been anticipating this moment.

Whirr!

The orb in his palm began to spin. The magic he intended to use was predetermined. Basic red magic, Fire Beam. A simple spell that shoots fire in a straight line, its simplicity meant less variability and more reliability.

The range might be a limitation, but with the essence bead, it should be enough... Huh...?! Ian\'s eyes widened in shock.

Whoooosh!

The layered magic within the essence bead began to spin fiercely, pulling in his magic. He couldn\'t even stop it.

What the...? thought Ian.

In an instant, an overwhelming amount of magic was drawn out.

Boom!

From the reddened orb, a yellow flame burst forth, resembling a dragon\'s breath.