Episode 69: Night of the Decisive Battle
Time flew by, and today was the tenth day of the decisive battle.
Filled with extraordinary fighting spirit, I moved silently through the forest.
“(〖Night Vision〗, good.)”
The time was deep into the night. It was the hour when even the plants were asleep… or so I’d heard, anyway. It was a pitch-black time of night.
The moonlight was blocked by the trees, so the forest was shrouded in deep darkness, and without 〖Night Vision〗, I wouldn’t have been able to walk at all.
By the way, there’s a moon in this world too.
Its color, size, and shadow patterns are subtly different from those of Earth, and every time I look up at it, I’m filled with a faint sense of nostalgia, thinking, “This is another world.”
But, such things don’t matter.
What’s important is to launch a surprise attack during this night.
If the enemy is asleep, the activation conditions for 〖Assassination〗 can be met, and even if they aren’t, it’s easier to meet the conditions in this darkness.
Also, without sunlight, the Forest Turtle’s automatic recovery 〖Skill〗, 〖Solar Heal〗, will have its effects drastically reduced.
It could be said that the conditions were perfect now.
“(It starts here.)”
I arrived at the outer edge of the 〖Great Forest Sea〗, where I had been before.
The Forest Turtle should be in the center of this place.
From here on, it’s impossible to avoid the plants. So, I trusted in the silence of 〖Stealth〗 and forcefully entered.
Then, I felt a change in the air with my skin.
“(I didn’t feel anything like this when I entered the 〖Poison Swamp〗… Did my senses become sharper after I became able to use 〖Zone Control〗?)”
While harboring such doubts, I crushed the bushes.
However, there was hardly any sound. The effect of 〖Stealth〗 was clearly evident.
“(Alright, it’s over there.)”
Pushing through the plants, I headed towards the center of the 〖Great Forest Sea〗—towards the base of the Great Tree that soared as if piercing the sky.
I had come to challenge it once after defeating the Chaos Spawn, and at that time, the Forest Turtle was at the base of that building-like Great Tree.
In this area of abnormal overgrowth, there were no trees only around the Great Tree, and instead, grasses and flowers grew luxuriantly.
Seeing the Forest Turtle lying there, feeling its extraordinary 〖Mana〗, I had lost my will to fight that day.
“(Oh, good, good, it’s there.)”
Now, back to the present.
Even seeing the Forest Turtle sleeping at the base of the Great Tree, I didn’t feel the same sense of overwhelming power as that day.
It might be because I’ve grown to be on par with its size. There was a sense of intimidation, but not the despair that I couldn’t win no matter what.
“(…Let’s do this.)”
I made a small decision in my heart, and my body suddenly felt lighter. It seemed 〖Folly〗 had activated.
While harboring a feeling of dissatisfaction, I quietly approached the Great Tree, taking a route that wouldn’t wake the Forest Turtle.
When I reached the base of the Great Tree, I then clung to the trunk. Then, using 〖Climbing〗, I smoothly climbed up.
I also focused my awareness on the Forest Turtle below, but it didn’t seem to notice.
Eventually, I reached the top. From there, positioned directly above the Forest Turtle, I used 〖Air Jump〗, 〖Air Jump〗, 〖Air Jump〗 towards the night sky.
When the remaining number of uses reached three, I jumped downwards.
Due to the corrections of numerous 〖Skills〗, I soared at a speed like a streak of lightning.
At the tip, I mimicked the Hydra’s poison spear, and I was fully prepared to use 〖Heavy Thrust〗.
I was rapidly accelerating with 〖Falling Attack〗, but suddenly, the Great Tree tilted as if to protect the Forest Turtle.
“(〖Kodama’s Devotion〗…!)”
It was a 〖Skill〗 that, once every twenty-four hours, would automatically move the surrounding trees to defend when a crisis approached.
Since it would be counterproductive to wake the Forest Turtle by eliminating the Great Tree first, I had concluded that I would leave it alone.
Besides, there was a possibility that 〖Kodama’s Devotion〗 wouldn’t be able to react to my 〖Speed〗, and there was also the possibility that it had already used up its number of uses during the day.
It didn’t go that conveniently, though.
…Well, it’s fine. I have a special secret plan prepared for when this happens.
“(—A frontal assault it is!)”
I charged with even more spirit.
My ultra-high-speed charge, which I myself couldn’t even keep up with, broke through the shield that the Great Tree had made by bundling its branches without me even being aware of it.
The next thing that stood in my way was the trunk.
The strange sound of wood breaking, as if struck by lightning, echoed incessantly.
“(It’s hard!)”
My momentum was greatly reduced by the trunk.
The monstrous tree, which was easily a hundred meters tall, was further strengthened by the Forest Turtle’s 〖Skill〗. Its strength was incomparable to that of ordinary trees.
However, I broke through the unusually hard trunk and finally saw the Forest Turtle.
Had it woken up from the strange sound of the trunk breaking? The Forest Turtle looked up at me—this is bad, isn’t it?
“Gryuuu!”
In an instant, the trees growing on the Forest Turtle’s shell all stretched out at once, spreading out as if to block my spear.
“(〖Heavy Thrust〗! Guh.)”
I thrust out the poison spear with a 〖Weapon Skill〗.
The tip pierced through the makeshift tree shield and reached the Forest Turtle’s shell, but… that was it. Due to repeated attenuation, it couldn’t penetrate the shell.
“(What reaction speed!)”
While cursing, I made my next move.
I mimicked two defense-ignoring greatswords and slashed at the Forest Turtle’s shell with them.
A double activation of 〖Compact Slash〗.
The greatswords carved two lines with a “Gyaririi” sound, and I was blown away by the trees that grew from the shell at the same time.
“Gyuaaaah!”
“(Ouch, does 〖Sprouting Rockfall〗 also apply to the trees on the shell?)”
Now that I think about it, the shell is also part of its body, so it’s natural, but this is troublesome.
I used 〖Leap〗 to create some distance.
“Guurururu…!”
The Forest Turtle, standing up on all fours, glared at me and let out a growl that seemed to echo from the depths of the earth.
From that gaze and voice, I could feel a boiling rage even without 〖Will Comprehension〗.
“(Damn it, my calculations were off.)”
I muttered such things to myself.
Ideally, I should have inflicted a serious wound with the initial falling attack and also applied 〖Poison〗.
Well, if it doesn’t work, I’ll just have to break through with a head-on fight.
And, now that I’ve been noticed, there’s no need for me to hide anymore.
“(Let’s go, 〖Territory〗!)”
~Unidentified Information Recording Area~
…
>>War-Inducing Weapon Creation, Fue Toukouya, has activated 〖Territory〗.
>>〖Zone Control: Armory〗 has come into contact with The Forest Shackle Wielder, Dwazov’s 〖Zone Control: Great Forest Sea〗.
>>A Kai-Geki Phenomenon has occurred.
…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The impact that occurred at our center shook the entire forest.