After taking a break, Rest and Ula walked through the forest for another hour… and eventually, they arrived at an open space deep within the forest.
“Is this… a plaza?”
The trees were cut down in that area, the grass was mowed, making it look like an artificial plaza.
Several stumps were lined up in a circle, as if it were a meeting place.
“It’s clearly an artificial space… Ula, do you know anything about this?”
“Black one.”
“Black one…?”
“Black one, there.”
“What are you… !?”
Rest was puzzled by Ula’s words, but… immediately after, a chill ran down his spine.
“This is…!”
There was nothing that was caught by his 【Life Search】 magic.
It was an unknown feeling. His skin was sensing an anomaly, yet the magical power detection wasn’t picking up anything unusual.
He intuitively felt that something was lurking within the dense trees, but the presence he felt with 【Life Search】 was slimy, vague, and unpleasant.
“Could this be the ‘Presence Killing’ magic…!”
He had heard about it from Dibble, his magic teacher.
There was a way to disrupt and slip through 【Life Search】 magic.
It was a secret technique, an ultimate skill that only a very small number of people… those in special forces who were skilled in stealth, had mastered.
(There are various methods… they said they could create a barrier only around their own body, or apply chemicals that repel other people’s magical power to their clothes or body, methods that only they know…!)
“Ula, step back…!”
Rest activated his Barrier Techniques.
A barrier to defend against physical attacks. With this, it wouldn’t matter if he couldn’t sense the opponent’s presence.
With maximum caution, he prepared to face the unidentified enemy that was likely lurking around.
“Good, okay.”
But… Ula pulled on Rest’s sleeve and shook her head.
“Ula…?”
“Enemy, different.”
She was saying it wasn’t an enemy.
Ula stepped in front of Rest and spoke towards the depths of the forest.
“Master.”
“Yes.”
“Follow.”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
“Yes.”
Then… as if responding to Ula’s words, there was a short reply from the depths of the forest.
It was a low voice, with a tone that was hard to determine if it was male or female.
Rest’s confusion only deepened at the exchange, which sounded like they were saying a password.
“Diamond Bear.”
“Yes.”
Finally, after that exchange… something that made his skin crawl disappeared.
“Ula… explain. What on earth…”
“Black one.”
“The black one… are you talking about whatever that was just now?”
It spoke, and it was clear that it was a human, not a monster.
“The black one living in this forest… could it be that it’s not a monster, but a human…?”
“Came.”
“…………!?”
The thought of what had come only lasted a moment.
Immediately, there was a single presence rushing towards them.
“GugaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!”
What appeared, crashing through the trees, was a giant monster about three meters tall.
It was a giant bear with crystal-like, sparkling fur.
“That’s the Diamond Bear…!”
He reflexively released a spell.
Wind Blades slashed at the giant bear, but they were deflected by its fur and dissipated.
“It’s tough…!”
“Gauuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!”
“Tch…!”
“Hmm.”
He grabbed Ula and kicked off the ground.
He jumped into the air and used magic to fly. He escaped from the attack range of the charging Diamond Bear.
“This is a stronger opponent than I expected…!”
The next spell he cast was 【Icebolt】.
The intermediate-level attack magic slammed into the Diamond Bear’s body.
“Guga!”
“What… it deflected that too!?”
However, the Diamond Bear deflected the ice that had struck it and shook it off with its thick arm.
It didn’t seem to have taken any damage and looked completely unfazed.
“Could it be… that fur has a strong resistance to magic… !?”
Just like dragon scales, some monsters’ scales and skin could drastically weaken the power of magic.
The Diamond Bear’s crystal-like, sparkling fur… it might have a similar effect.
“Hah…”
A painful breath escaped from his chest.
He had been flying while holding Ula, so it must have been painful for her.
“Are you okay, Ula?”
“Hmm, more…”
But then, Ula had a look of ecstasy on her face.
Her face was flushed red, her eyes were moist, and she had an expression as if she were drunk.
“What do you mean by ‘more’… more importantly, we need to do something about that thing.”
“Guga! Gaaa!”
The Diamond Bear was rampaging.
It glared at Rest, who was flying in the air, and tore at the trees with its claws as if threatening him.
“If it was just about killing that thing, it wouldn’t be that difficult… but I’d be in trouble if I burned down the forest.”
If he used too powerful magic, it would cause major damage to the forest. He couldn’t destroy the forest just to kill a single bear.
“In that case… it’s a little pitiful, but I guess I’ll go with this method.”
Rest created a Water Sphere in his palm. He poured magical power into it, making the Water Sphere grow larger.
“Go…!”
“Guru!?”
The Water Sphere engulfed the Diamond Bear.
The Diamond Bear swung its arms to try and peel off the water, but it wouldn’t come off.
“One more push.”
He landed on the ground and activated the magic 【Earth Control】.
The rising earth surrounded the Diamond Bear along with the water, forming a dome that covered it.
“Sorry, but just drown in there.”
No matter how tough its fur was, it would eventually die if it couldn’t breathe. It was unavoidable for any living creature.
For a while, there was a sense of the Diamond Bear thrashing around inside the earth dome… but eventually, it stopped moving.
When he checked with 【Life Search】, he found that the Diamond Bear had completely died.
“It’s over.”
“Hah…”
In Rest’s chest, as he calmly declared victory, Ula, who was being held close, was once again letting out hot breaths.
―――――――――
I have posted the next episode in the limited recent status notes.
If you like, please read that as well!