The Bond That Even Gods Cannot Break

The air was dense. Even though they were in a cave, the girls never felt the air to be thinner than on the surface due to the various small holes through which air circulated. However, the chilling pressure that emerged upon crossing the door was palpable to the point where one could feel their body hair standing on end.

A thud sounded, and Sophia shuddered slightly as she realized the door she had just passed through had closed. With no choice but to face the darkness ahead, she saw a shadow even denser than the darkness itself. The colossal shadow seemed to be able to exist even within the darkness. It was large, much larger than a man or even a house. Dozens of threads resembling arms extended from the shadow, which only now was it possible to perceive was releasing a crimson mist.

A red dot appeared. After that, three more emerged. Each of them expanded and transformed into a lozenge with black filaments. Finally, at the top of the shadow, high, so high that it resembled staring at a plane in the sky, a gigantic luminescent fruit ascended like a huge lantern. The glow seemed to give permission for humble mortals to gaze upon their master.

Inside the enormous circular hall the size of a football stadium, a pulse that threatened to touch the soul ran through their bodies, and both girls trembled.

[Lord of the Luminescent Forest]

The warning in red appeared above the four crimson eyes staring at them.

"Lord of the Forest..." Sophia murmured in a low tone as she unconsciously tightened her grip on Melissa. The monster had a body made of dark wood, each of the filaments being filled with a reddish liquid reminiscent of volcano magma.

"On the ceiling, look!" Following Melissa's gaze, the girl noticed that above the huge luminescent fruit, a huge vegetation covered the entire ceiling of the floor. Among the small leaves, it was possible to observe the surface.

"If we climb up, we'll be out of this cave." Unlike the other tight holes, the leafy ceiling would be easily opened with any of their abilities. However, there was obviously a problem with this simple task.

"I can't believe he'll just let us pass..." As if wanting to confirm the girl's words, a part of the wood opened in what seemed to be the creature's face. At that moment, both girls contracted from the deafening scream that escaped from it. The voice was not just masculine or feminine. The sound that resembled both a roar, a growl, and even a cry seemed like an amalgam of hundreds of different voices.

Feeling that their eardrums would burst if this continued, Sophia desperately stomped her foot on the ground, and a thorn-shaped root flew toward the colossal monster at enormous speed. However, upon colliding with its outer bark, the dense thorn shattered into several pieces like a fragile toothpick..

"H-How?" astonished though she was, Sophia knew it was time to start moving, as from the ground, a group of smaller mandrakes emerged.

"So, this is the daddy of these little shits?" Still in the girl's arms, Melissa held tightly to the lantern and pointed her hand in the direction of the Lord of the Forest. A bolt of blue fire headed towards the huge monster, and just like with the thorn, the Lord of the Forest didn't attempt to defend itself. The impact of the flame against the dark wood reverberated throughout the cave, but the strong flame simply extinguished upon contact with the monster's body.

"Is this shit really wood? I put in the same force I used on that little one before." Melissa lamented as she watched her flames being easily extinguished.

Without time to attempt another attack, the girl with green hair focused entirely on defending them. Extending from the walls, two thick mold vines began to circle the girls like serpents, keeping the dozen or more mandrakes at bay as they relentlessly attacked.

"A-Any ideas?" Ducking to avoid the sharp arm that wasn't hindered by the vines, Sophia asked.

"This is probably a floor boss." Clinging to Sophia's clothes, Melissa replied as she watched the colossal body of the Lord of the Forest. "There has to be a weak spot, I know it's dangerous, but try to get closer."

Nodding and trusting Melissa's experience, Sophia darted forward, stomping her foot against the ground. The large hall had a dirt floor, but as she approached the Lord of the Forest, a patch of grass appeared beneath her feet.

"That sound, it can't be!"

Apprehensively, Sophia looked up and noticed an agonizing buzz emanating from the enormous fruit the size of a small house. Memories she didn't want to recall returned to torment her when numerous bees emerged and began to fly in her direction.

Just dodging the lower mandrakes using the vines was overwhelming, but having to worry about the stingers that sought their lives was enough to overwhelm Sophia. Between gasps for oxygen, Sophia got as close as possible to the body of the Lord of the Forest, small scratches spreading across her skin as she tried her best to protect Melissa.

"Did you find anything?"

"The outer bark is too hard to break, we have to find a vulnerable spot."

Narrowing her now green eyes, Sophia almost faltered trying to find a weak point in such a large being. However, she had an idea. After pushing away the monsters around her, Sophia took advantage of the fact that the Lord of the Forest couldn't move and got as close as possible to the large monster that was still attacking them with its branches.

"It's like medieval armor."

"What!?"

Analyzing the tree trunk for a brief moment before needing to keep running to avoid the constantly emerging mandrakes, Sophia began to explain.

"Just like armor is made up of various interconnected metal parts, this big guy has its vital parts protected by the outer bark, but just like warriors in war, it also has a weakness."

Stomping her foot on the ground, Sophia sent a thin but dense piece of vine towards the red filaments circulating the Lord of the Forest's body. Upon impact, small red crystal-like fragments scattered in the air, emitting a faint scarlet glow before evaporating.

"Wait, what did you do-!?"

Before finishing her sentence, Melissa felt her soul freeze from a cry of pain from the Lord of the Forest. The hundreds of voices that didn't sound human protested against the pain. Not even Sophia escaped having her feet frozen to the ground by the cold that sent shivers down her spine. All the air left her lungs when a branch struck her from the side, hurling her toward the cave entrance.

"Arrgh..."

Feeling her mind falter, all the girl could do was spit blood from her mouth. She didn't even need to check her status to notice she had at least a few broken ribs.

"Don't you die on me, you idiot!"

The blue fire spread around them like a protective wall, and soon something soft met Sophia's blood-stained mouth.

Slowly, the agonizing pain invading her brain began to dissolve, allowing her mind, which was on the verge of fainting once again, to regain strength.

"Melissa...?"

Parting her lips from the beautiful girl when she noticed she had improved, Melissa furrowed her brows again.

"And who else would it be, snow curls?" Being careful with mana consumption to keep the monsters at bay, Melissa helped Sophia to her feet. "I don't know what you did back there, but it really pissed him off."

Even as the girls were on the opposite side of the cave, their ears still hurt just from hearing the Lord of the Forest's furious screams.

"But it worked!"

"What worked?"

Wiping the blood still dripping from her mouth, Sophia pointed a trembling finger in the direction they had been before. In the spot where she hit, the red filaments disappeared, and the dark bark had turned into a light gray.

"Like armor has joints, that guy has exposed parts we can attack. Did you see those little red crystals? He only attacked us when they were destroyed."

"So the crystals are his weak spot? But that just makes everything worse for us; we can't destroy them all!"

Melissa wasn't wrong, the small partition they managed to injure didn't even reach 1% of the Lord of the Forest's size. If they had to destroy all the filaments individually, it was almost certain they would die before accomplishing that.

Noticing that the number of monsters around them was increasing, Sophia placed Melissa back in her arms and began to run through the crowd of monsters.

"Melissa, do you know why the taste of milk changes when it's heated?"

"Huh?"

Confused by the random question, Melissa's gaze soured as she watched Sophia force her tired body to dodge the stingers of two bees with a leap. Landing on the ground, the girl with sweat dripping down her face kept running.

"The Pickering Effect occurs when solid particles are dispersed in an immiscible liquid, whether by temperature or pressure, just by changing the energy level of the system."

Creating a helical ladder made of mold on the walls, Sophia began to climb the large circular hall.

"When we heat milk, the proteins unravel and begin to interact with fat, creating a homogeneous mixture."

"Did that thing hit your brain? Why are you giving me a chemistry lesson!?"

"The cream of the milk!"

"What!?"

Although she was climbing the wall, the bees that could fly didn't interrupt their attack. Using vines and roots to block the stingers, the girl didn't stop creating the ladder of mold.

"When milk is heated, fat particles also clump together and rise to the surface. Do you understand? This also happens with tree sap. It doesn't matter if this is another world; if that monster is a living being, it has proteins and water, The mere fact that he lives underground right next to the rivers proves it. If those little crystals are scattered in his sap, we just need to make most of them accumulate!"

"You want to boil that thing!?" Doing her best to keep up with the explanation, Melissa asked with absolute dread in her eyes. "It's impossible! We don't have enough mana to make that much fire."

Facing the girl in her arms, Sophia used the intertwined hand to point towards the immense fluorescent fruit atop the Lord of the Forest. A frightening bloody smile adorned her disheveled green hair.

"Honey is flammable!"

Leaping, Sophia reached the monster's upper branches. The surface that shook was made of the same dark wood with veins resembling magma; they were now about 15 meters from the ground.

Being on top of the Lord of the Forest didn't mean the attacks would stop. With a shrill cry representing its anger, the monster sent dozens of sharp roots towards the girls.

Using her body as a shield, Sophia wrapped Melissa and crossed through the wall of attacking thorns. Numerous cuts formed on her clothes and skin as she tried her best not to slow down.

"Don't be reckless, you idiot!" Looking at the various bloody cuts forming again on the girl's body, Melissa sat in Sophia's arms and wrapped her arms around the girl's neck.

Sophia's eyes became confused for just a second before her lips were captured, and a tongue entered her mouth.

Jumping to avoid the next wave of attacks from both the mandrake and the bees, Sophia realized that Melissa's face was tilted while kissing her to not obstruct her vision.

After the first minute passed, the ability's effect closed her most severe wounds, but as she continued to receive damage while climbing the large monster, their mouths didn't separate.

As they approached the huge fruit serving as a hive, the attacks from the moss bees intensified. Moreover, realizing that their attacks wouldn't work while the girls were on top of it, the Lord of the Fluorescent Forest sent a squadron of lesser mandrakes.

They were completely surrounded.

Unable to influence living creatures, Sophia couldn't use the Lord of the Forest's branches to attack. The rocky walls were already too far to attract any roots or moss. However, there was still one thing that could be influenced.

Separating her mouth from Melissa's, the girl extended the palm of her open hand upwards. Using mana was akin to manipulating an invisible limb of the body. The knowledge may have been etched in her mind, but unlike automatic actions like breathing or moving, to shape the natural order of the world, an effort proportional to her desire had to be made.

Blood trickled from her nose, and she felt her head pounding as if she had been run over, but the girl didn't stop. Closing her open hand, a single word escaped her thin lips.

"Shatter."

The enormous rumble echoed throughout the cavern. Like a dam being breached, the massive honeycomb barrier began to crack, and in moments, what could be called a small deluge began at the top of the Fluorescent Forest Lord. The honey, much like the fruit it was in, was bright and resembled a radioactive substance. Despite being viscous, it wasn't dense, causing it to rapidly descend down the branches, dragging everything in its path.

Jumping with all her might to avoid the same fate as the bees and mandrakes, the girl shouted.

"Melissa!"

Alongside the girl's words, a spiral of flickering blue flames trembled. Twirling in the air, the flames condensed into a single point; the now-blue sphere shone like a small sun and increased in size each time more flames were absorbed into it.

"Bang."

Gesturing as if a weapon had been fired, the sphere of blue flames collided with the Forest Lord, following Melissa's will. The moment the fire hit its huge black wooden body, the glowing honey ignited like fuel and exploded.

The Lord of the Forest's shrill screams echoed throughout the area, its flaming arms trying to rid itself of the scalding fire.

Creating a soft mold bed to cushion the deadly fall, Sophia felt a sharp pain course through her entire body. Gritting her teeth and rising with Melissa's help, both girls watched the hall engulfed in flames.

From the floor to the walls and ceiling, the entire place was beginning to resemble what could be called hell on earth. Moss bees and lesser mandrakes began to be killed by both the ever-increasing fire and the disoriented cutting arms of the Forest Lord.

Notifications that they were gaining experience were arriving in their minds, but with no time to observe the panels, the girls continued to stare at the Forest Lord. The fire wouldn't kill it; if their conclusion was correct, only by destroying a good portion of the crystals acting as its heart would it continue to live.

Where is it, where is it!?

Sophia began to desperately scan the huge tree; the entire place was so hot it felt like her blood was boiling.

"There!"

Just as her assumptions, exactly between the four crimson eyes of the enormous sentient tree, dozens or even hundreds of crystals gathered into a single larger crystal. The huge glowing rock resembled a prism and was approximately one meter wide.

"4/270." Seeing the remaining mana on the floating panel, Sophia murmured.

"It's all or nothing." Wiping the sweat from her face, Melissa responded.

There was no way to send a powerful enough attack to destroy the crystal from this distance, the girls knew; they would need to go there.

With all the remaining mana they possessed, a small greenish sword made of twisted roots appeared on the ground between the girls, and both placed their intertwined hands on it. For the first time, a gap opened between the connected hands, and the sword's handle slid between them. Ripping the sword from the ground, side by side, the girls pointed the blade at the Forest Lord.

This was no longer a matter of strategy, logic, or probabilities.

Each girl entrusted her life to the one beside her, and both ran through the hall engulfed in flames.

When the Forest Lord noticed the girls amidst the dense layer of soot, it was already too late. Putting their strength and agility to the test, both girls leaped.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh!!"

A unified scream stood against that of the Forest Lord as the sword collided with the crystal.

A shrill sound like metal hitting metal echoed for just a moment before a colossal red light engulfed everything.

In the vast hall where two groups faced each other to death, the announcement of the absolute winner appeared.

[Congratulations. You have completed the secret mission "Defeat the Fluorescent Forest Lord"]