READ NOVEL ONLINE Chapter 23
Chapter 23
Huff… Huff…
Dale runs away, gasping for air.
“Damn it… Son of a… Son of a biiiiitch!”
He doesn’t even realize he’s shouting, as he runs backwards.
He can’t believe what just happened. No, what he just did.
Beyond the fairy’s blue flame, he locked eyes with the forest troll, who was flickering with madness.
He was paralyzed with overwhelming fear, losing control of his body.
In the midst of that, his body moved on its own.
Thwoooosh-!
Thud…
Two women fall to the ground, pushed away by his hand.
“…Dale?”
“No way?”
Craaaack-!
Dale ran without looking back.
He didn’t want to know what happened next.
After hearing the sound of the club, there was no scream or groan of pain from the women. They must have died.
Guilt? Sin?
Those high and mighty emotions didn’t come to him in this bloody situation.
Only fear, fear alone.
* * *
‘I missed him. …I have to catch him fast.’
The magician who had enough attack power to threaten the forest troll’s regeneration was shattered by the first strike.
Even if they were rookies, if the vanguard had come to their senses, they would have avoided the situation where two of them died by the first strike.
‘I intended it all, but…’
He delayed the moment they realized the situation as much as possible, and as a result, he made them make instinctive decisions.
Human nature is… mostly ugly and selfish.
“Aaaah! Son of a biiitch!”
He was almost at his desired destination.
Now, if he kills Dale for the last time, the probability of his plan collapsing will be infinitely low.
‘So, I must do it here…’
Dale seemed to be startled by the sight of the flesh stuck to the club of the forest troll chasing him.
“Stop right there!”
“Eeeek!”
It seemed like the chase was going smoothly, but it wasn’t.
‘Damn.’
More than five minutes had passed since the first strike. Dale was constantly escaping from the forest troll’s range without any crisis.
The fairy was chasing Dale with him and telling the forest troll his location, but there was a problem.
‘The forest’s terrain has changed, limiting the movement.’
The forest troll’s huge body had to crush all the dense trees as it passed, so the chase couldn’t go well.
‘If this goes on…’
He instinctively sensed that this was the last chance, as he knew the whole situation of the forest.
‘Drive him in, over there!’
“Damn it! Go away! Go away…”
Thwoooosh-!
Dale tripped over a tree root and fell.
“Ugh!”
Whirr-!
The tree root that tripped his foot moved alive.
[★★★ The meat-eating tree reveals its identity.]
The cannibal monster disguised as a tree opened its mouth wide and tried to swallow Dale.
Gulp-!
Hooeek-!
The tree root that was wrapping around Dale was cut off by someone’s sword.
‘Damn!’
It was Mawen, who had lost track of him for a while as he moved to the foggy area.
“Dale!”
Ma-Mawen.
Squelch-!
The meat-eating tree was sliced into pieces by the sharp blade. This demon was like a mimic, whose combat ability itself was poor.
If he had invested growth resources steadily, it might have been different, but he had no room to invest resources in a 3-star fixed-type demon, which was already scarce.
“What about Freya and Roem?”
“Mawen… save me.”
“…What are you talking about?”
“I don’t want to die… I… I…”
“Why would you die! Explain it properly. Why are we going to die?”
“He-he killed them all. We-we’re all going to die…”
“…That can’t be.”
Kwoooong-!
While they were talking, the forest troll arrived.
“Mawen, behind…”
He grinned and reached out his hand. If he caught him with that hand, he could crush a human body in an instant.
But at that moment, nothing he expected happened.
Mawen joining here meant that Marus was also with him.
Pwoooosh-!
Wooooo-!
The forest troll’s arm was cut off, spewing blood.
“Are you alright?”
“Ma-Marus sir!”
“Pull yourself together.”
The enraged forest troll swung his club on the other side.
Whooosh-!
Marus climbed on his arm.
Tap tap…
He leaped forward with two steps and spun around.
It looked like he was showing a very neat dance.
Squeak…
Pwoooosh-!
The forest troll probably didn’t know what had happened until his head floated in the air.
‘My plan went wrong.’
He had a backup plan, but choosing the second best instead of the best always left a flaw in the plan.
Tsk.
The result was bitter.
The situation now looked like a scene from Marus’ heroic saga.
Is it that everything can’t go so well?
‘Marus is stronger than I thought.’
“Marus sir…”
“The others… are they dead?”
“…Yes.”
Mawen’s pupils became dull at Dale’s answer.
“How… why… Dale!”
“I couldn’t protect them… it’s all my fault… I…”
I couldn’t help but laugh at the play, knowing the whole truth.
Marus, a born actor, put his hand on Dale’s shoulder and said.
“It’s not your fault, Dale. I know how you feel better than anyone.”
“…”
“Shake it off. And by the way, have you not seen the demon since you came here?
Mawen was surprised by Marus’ words and asked his uncle.
“Uncle? Roem and Freya are dead!”
“That’s why I told you to go back before we came here. It’s just the result of their choice. It’s no time to mourn.”
“Uncle!”
“Then, what are you going to do after coming this far!”
Flinch…
Mawen was taken aback by Marus’ scolding, who had never been angry before.
“Let’s go back, uncle. Dale and I… we might all die.”
“That’s not possible.”
“…Why?”
Marus gritted his teeth and answered.
“I’ve been chasing the demon for decades. And now I’ve finally reached it. Can you understand this frustration?”
“…I don’t understand.”
“Mawen. If I give up and retreat here, I’ll come back with an irreversible regret next time. That’s the same for you.”
“Me too… the same…”
“Can you live well after losing your comrades to the demon here? With the stigma of a coward and a loser.”
“…”
“And that’s probably what the demon wants.”
Mawen asked doubtfully.
“Do we have a chance?”
“We do. I think I’ve figured out the secret of this forest.”
“Is that true? Marus sir?”
“Is that true, uncle?”
“He’ll probably show up soon.”
He was right.
The aftermath of the black fairy queen Ariel forcing the forest’s terrain to change soon came.
Dududududududu…
The trees nearby dried up quickly. No, all the trees in the forest except for the surroundings of Marus’ party lost their vitality.
‘Oh my…’
“You finally showed up.”
“…You’re an unpleasant human.”
Dark elf!
* * *
“Huh, dark elves… Weren’t they the ones who sided with the demons in the power war and were annihilated?”
Marus nodded at Mawen’s words.
“I heard that some of them survived by using tricks… but that’s to parasitize as demons in the dungeon. How disgusting.”
“Call it symbiosis. You humans who only know plunder and destruction can’t understand such a noble way.”
“You’re quite eloquent for someone who crawled to the demons like a dog. I feel like yawning.”
“Do I need to talk more with an unpleasant human?”
Squeak…
Marus drew his sword and said.
“Are you confident? If you used that much power, there must be a price.”
“Whatever the price is, it’s not hard to deal with you.”
“Hmph, I followed the smell of the demon and saw an interesting sight.”
He said that, but Marus was anxious and said a word to the two rookies.
“Save your lives, he may be hiding his strength.”
“Yes, uncle.”
“I understand, Marus sir.”
[The boss battle begins.]
[The dark elf queen Ariel blocks the retreat.]
Marus grabbed the rosary around his neck and infused his power.
[Marus uses the protection of the lion spirit.]
[It increases the defense of himself and nearby allies slightly and reduces the damage received by 10%.]
Whirr-!
As Ariel gestured, spikes made of wood appeared around and headed towards Marus.
[Ariel uses the green spear.]
[The green spear deals forest attribute damage to the target it hits.]
[The green spear can increase the number and speed depending on the ratio of magic power that Ariel has.]
Currently, there is only one wooden spear.
He wasn’t sure, but it also meant that Ariel’s magic situation was not good.
Squeak-!
Marus, who was about to split the tree in half, flinched and swung his buckler to deflect the wooden spear.
Boom-!
“What a tremendous power.”
“I’m sorry. If I had met you on a better day, I would have shut your mouth in one shot.”
“Hmph, don’t be cocky!”
[Marus’ firm will is activated.]
[When successful in defense, the damage reduction rate of the next defense increases by 20%.]
Sizzle…
Green energy gathered in Ariel’s hand.
Crash-!
As she pointed her hand to the ground, the green energy hit the ground and the tree roots spread over a wide area.
The range covered the ground where Marus’ party stood and more.
[Ariel uses the planting of saplings.]
[After 3 seconds, spikes that rise up over a wide area are formed.]
[The spikes deal forest attribute damage and have a chance to make the target poisoned.]
3…
“This is… everyone, climb up the trees!”
There was no doubt.
As soon as he shouted, Marus’ party jumped onto the nearby trees.
2…
And 1 second.
Pshhhhh-!
The rising spikes.
And as if nothing had happened, they quickly returned to Ariel.
“Huh…”
“Huh…”
Mawen and Dale had to shiver in cold fear even after avoiding the attack.
“Pull yourself together!”
Squeak-!
Marus deflected the green spear flying towards Mawen.
“Roooaar!”
Marus dug into Ariel’s gap and swung his sword.
Slash-!
Blood splashed from Ariel’s shoulder.
“Your blood is not as black as your heart!”
“Shut up, human!”
Whirr-!
Ariel formed a green spear and swung it directly at Marus.
But, Marus, who was good at fighting, only suffered losses.
Moreover, since he shook the forest’s terrain, his power was weaker… he couldn’t fight for long.
“Then…”
Ariel bit her lip.
Whooosh-!
After pushing Marus away with a shock wave, she immediately wrapped her body with a tree trunk.
Sizzle…
“That is…”
[Ariel uses the mother of the forest.]
[The mother of the forest form of Ariel reduces all damage received by 90%.]
[During the mother of the forest form, Ariel recovers 1% of her lost health and magic power per second.]
[During the mother of the forest form, wooden soldiers are formed. The wooden soldiers mimic the shapes of all living things that died in the forest terrain and have 30% of the target’s health and attack power.]
[The mother of the forest form is released when Ariel releases it herself or when all the wooden soldiers are removed.]
The ultimate power that Ariel had.
It could change later with weapons or growth, but the mother of the forest was her original power.
Sizzle…
Goblins appeared everywhere.
“Hurry up! We have to cut them down!”
“Yes!”
Marus was also in a hurry, and he even helped Mawen and Dale.
Squeak-!
Squeak-!
They were originally weak races, but they were reborn in a weaker state, so they were cut down like straw in an instant.
Sizzle…
This time, it was the shape of an orc.
“I’ll take care of them!”
As Marus ran towards them, Mawen and Dale had to cut down other soldiers.
“Why… why us…”
“Here…”
The resurrected wooden soldiers were the sacrificed Roem and Freya.
“Aaaah!”
Dale was startled as if he saw a ghost and cut their throats frantically.
It was hard once, but easy twice.
“Dale! Calm down!”
“Aaaah!”
Meanwhile, Marus cut down the forest troll’s clone.
“It’s over, dark elf.”
At that moment, Ariel’s face turned pale.
Whirr-!
Ariel, who escaped from the mother of the forest form, formed a green spear.
As Marus raised his buckler as if it was obvious, Ariel smiled.
“…What?”
The green spear was two in total.
They were headed towards Mawen and Dale, not Marus.
He couldn’t save them all, and Marus headed to one side.
Boom-!
The green spear that was shot at one side was blocked.
Crack-!
“Cough… Cooough…”
One side hit.
Dale’s chest was pierced.
“Daaale!”
“Roooaar!”
Slash-!
Marus’ sword severed Ariel’s head, which floated lightly.
Ariel was smiling until that moment.
“I tried a little harder.”