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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 37
Chapter Title: Catastrophe
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Chavera Hara.
The nephew of Ras, the previous Grove Master.
And the man who was the most likely suspect in Ras's murder, the one who had thrown the Twisted Tree Grove into chaos.
Dion tilted his head.
"The next lord, you say..."
"Does that seem strange?"
"It does. I've never heard that the Grove Master named a successor before he died."
"That's because no such thing happened."
He was essentially asking if Chavera was falsely claiming the title.
Despite Dion's pointed question, delivered with a faint smile, Chavera didn't flinch.
Instead, he confidently added another word.
"But had my uncle lived, he would have made me the next lord."
"You think so?"
"Of course. The law of the jungle is the absolute rule of Odobaekryeong."
Two wives.
And children.
His family, including himself, consisted of four high-ranking Awakened Ones.
In contrast, there was Rea—Ras's own daughter, yes, but a widow whose only high-ranking Awakened family member was her one daughter.
Chavera was saying it was obvious which of the two was more suited to be the next lord.
"Hmm, you're not wrong."
Dion didn't deny his claim.
He simply asked bluntly.
"So, why did you call me here?"
"It's not complicated. In fact, it's quite simple."
Dion had asked him straight out.
And Chavera candidly revealed his purpose for summoning the boy.
Or rather, he was about to.
Had a woman not suddenly burst through the door.
*Bang!*
"...Rea, what is the meaning of this rudeness?"
"That's not something you get to say, you rat, scheming behind everyone's back while the domain is in crisis."
A middle-aged woman from the Kobold Leader tribe, distinguished by her drooping puppy-like ears.
Rea Hara glared fiercely at Chavera.
Only then did she seem to notice the masked boy sitting across from him.
She greeted Dion politely.
"Thank you for summoning me, White-Masked Young Master."
"Don't thank me. I just sent a message."
"...So it was you, Young Master, who called for Rea."
"Yes. I figured you both had business with me, and I wanted to save some time."
"..."
"You don't mind, do you?"
"Indeed. It's good that we don't have to waste any unnecessary time."
Even though the guest he had invited had taken it upon himself to bring in his cousin, who was as good as an enemy.
Chavera let out a low laugh instead of showing any displeasure.
A high-ranking Awakened One.
Commander of some thirty slave soldiers.
Someone with a close relationship with the Calamity Princess.
And rumored to have the Baekdaesega behind him.
Now, the next Grove Master could be decided by whose side Dion chose.
So, the fact that Dion was openly showing his intention to weigh them against each other was actually good news.
"I'll be direct. Help me become the next lord."
"Hmm?"
"If you grant me this favor, I will dispatch five of my clan's 2-star Awakened Ones to serve you for ten years, free of charge."
"Chavera! Are you out of your mind?"
"If you don't have a better offer, then give up."
"You...!"
It was as if he believed he'd profit even from selling his own children, as long as he could become the lord.
Glaring at the nonchalant Chavera, Rea quickly turned her gaze to Dion.
She bit her lip before speaking.
"...If you show me favor, I will do my utmost to clear up the misunderstanding regarding the Calamity Princess."
The contract Ras had intended to make with Pandora.
She would inherit it and form a feudal contract with the Lord of Nakrang Fortress herself.
As Chavera, dimly grasping the hidden meaning in Rea's words, hardened his expression.
The masked boy tilted his head.
"Is that all?"
"Pardon?"
"Is that all you want from me?"
"...What do you mean?"
As if asking what more they should want.
Dion looked at the two of them, who were clearly confused, and let out a soft chuckle.
"Coming to me with a request to become the lord of a domain that's about to disappear. You two are really foolish."
"A domain that's about to disappear?"
"What in the...!"
"Enough. Come back when you figure out what you really need."
"..."
"I have no interest in meaningless conversations."
And that was the end of it.
As if his business was concluded.
Dion strode away, leaving Rea and Chavera with expressions of utter bewilderment.
***
And so, when Dion returned to his room, Arsha, who had brought Rea, asked calmly.
"Will this be alright?"
"It's fine. They're bound to come looking for me again anyway."
"..."
"More importantly, how are the others?"
"Thanks to my lord letting them rest well until now, everyone is in perfect condition."
"Then starting today, put them on alert. Set up a watch rotation, day and night."
"Understood."
"Oh, and of course, leave Bokdeongi out of the rotation."
Dion turned his head.
And saw the girl from the Lyeopin tribe who had rushed over the moment he returned, rubbing her cheek against the back of his hand.
He smiled warmly as he stroked Orr Kai's head.
"Our Bokdeongi is busy enough as it is."
Hearing this, the boy from the Myoto tribe blinked.
"...She doesn't look very busy to me."
"That's because you have no eye for these things, you little braggart."
"I'm not a braggart! I just had bad luck and a bad situation!"
Regardless of Naru's protests against the false accusation.
Thinking of the Hara clan, busy with their succession struggle, and the participants, their eyes red with greed for rewards.
Dion murmured languidly.
"They could have survived if they'd just run away now... This is why excessive greed ruins people."
In the middle of the Labyrinth.
The meaning of losing their Driver in a domain that had been actively hunting monsters.
When would those blinded by greed finally realize that fact?
He was truly curious.
Truly expectant.
Truly intrigued.
The boy, with a smile mixed with various emotions, quietly watched the situation unfold.
And then...
...the third bell, the one that would plunge the Twisted Tree Grove into chaos, rang.
***
"Monsters! Monsters have appeared!"
*Clang, clang, clang, clang!*
"Monsters appeared?"
"So what? The Hara family will take care of a few of them!"
"No, wait. Aren't those our prey too?"
"What are the hosts doing? Hurry up and resume the hunt."
When the first few monsters attacked, no one took the situation seriously.
Some participants even demanded that the hunt continue amidst the chaos.
The Hara clan was no different.
Rea ordered the monsters to be killed.
Chavera commanded they be captured alive.
As they debated back and forth following the two potential lords, their response to the monsters was delayed.
They ended up capturing the monsters as the participants demanded, but by then, the creatures' claws and teeth had already thoroughly sullied the outer walls of the grove.
That included the blood, tainted with corrupted mana, that they'd splattered as they died.
Normally, it should have been washed away immediately with purifying water, but the Hara clan, busy with their succession dispute, failed to take even that obvious precaution.
It was a mistake made out of carelessness, born from being too accustomed to hunting monster hordes and moving on during the hunts.
The result was another weight on the scales, pressing down on the Twisted Tree Grove.
"More monsters have appeared!"
"Great!"
"This time, they're all my prey!"
The second time, dozens of monsters attacked, but they were repelled.
"They say there are more this time."
"Tch, would've been nice if they'd come out like this sooner."
The third time, a hundred or so monsters appeared, but they were hunted down.
"...They appeared again?"
"No, wait."
"This is a bit..."
The fourth time.
It was only when over two hundred monsters descended upon the grove that the participants' faces began to harden.
The ones who finally realized the gravity of the situation were the Hara clan, who were at least familiar with the Labyrinth thanks to the hunts.
"Mana corruption...!"
"Is the corrupted mana from the monster corpses attracting other monsters?"
"It's not just the mana; the smell of blood and corpses is spreading. We need to move the domain, quickly."
"...Move it? How?"
"...!"
Not only was Ras Hara, the grove's only Driver, gone...
...but it was also unknown when Daedalus, who had fallen into a deep slumber from the shock of suddenly losing its contractor, would awaken.
Only after remembering that fact did they realize it anew.
This was the middle of the Labyrinth...
—that they, along with the entire Twisted Tree Grove, had become castaways.
"We need to call for help as soon as possible."
The more they fought the monsters, the more blood, corpses, and above all, corrupted mana spread, attracting even more monsters.
And as the monsters increased, so did the corpses and the mana.
Realizing this vicious cycle, the Hara clan finally felt a sense of crisis and belatedly tried to respond.
Whether by finding a new Driver.
Or calling another domain.
It was clear they had to resolve this situation somehow.
"No, we have to hold out for as long as possible."
"What kind of nonsense is that?"
"Daedalus is merely asleep from the shock. When it wakes, it will move to a safe place on its own."
"There's no guarantee Daedalus will wake up soon, is there?"
"But it's clear what an enormous price our clan will have to pay if we call for help."
The problem was one thing.
Even in this situation, their opinions were divided.
Rea, who insisted they must save the domain first, no matter the cost.
And Chavera, who argued that stalling for time until the Divine Beast awoke was the best course of action.
The arguments of the two lord candidates ran on parallel tracks, throwing the Twisted Tree Grove into even greater chaos than before.
All the more so because both sides had a point.
*Clang, clang, clang, clang.*
"More monsters..."
"How many times is that just today?"
"Those damn things must not sleep."
In the meantime, time flowed on.
The monster attacks continued.
Even the participants who, just a few days ago, had been desperate to catch even one more monster, now showed signs of weariness.
But even so, no one felt fear or anxiety.
Because no matter how numerous they were, the Twisted Tree Grove was too sturdy for mere low-level monsters to breach.
Even the few who felt a sense of unease dismissed it as just a feeling. The monsters kept charging the grove, fighting the retainers, and dying.
The bodies piled up.
The bodies piled up.
The bodies piled up.
More monsters died in just a day or two than had been hunted in all the time before combined.
And just as quickly, the corrupted mana built up, thick and fast.
Spreading beyond the vicinity of the Twisted Tree Grove.
Enough to change the very air of the entire Labyrinth.
And so, the moment the rapidly accumulating mana corruption—caused by the deaths of thousands of monsters—reached its limit.
—the anomaly began.
*Rumble-rumble-rumble-rumble!*
"Wh-what?"
"What is this...!"
The earth crumbles.
Trees shoot up.
Branches entangle.
The forest spreads.
Dense foliage covers everything.
The monster corpses that rained down are swallowed by an abyss.
The Twisted Tree Grove, which had nearly fallen with them, is barely supported, caught in the tangled branches.
When the violent transformation ended, there was no ground, no walls, no ceiling left.
No up or down.
No front or back.
No left or right.
Only hundreds, or perhaps tens of millions, of trees covering everything.
"This is...!"
Rea, who had been in the middle of a heated debate in the meeting room until she saw the anomaly and rushed out to the balcony.
And Chavera, who was beside her, contorted his face at the sight.
It wasn't because he didn't understand this sudden turn of events.
Quite the opposite.
The problem was that he understood it all too well.
"A Dungeon Break?!"
[Wanderer's Forest]☆
→[Wanderer's Forest]★(Rampage)
→[Hunter's Forest]★☆(Rampage)
1. Hunting Bonus↑(Slight)->(Medium)
2. Maze Effect↑(Slight)->(Small)
3. [Blessing of the Bountiful Forest]->[Curse of the Bountiful Forest](New)
4. Named Bosses Added
[Starving Giant Serpent 'Kaa']★☆☆
[Ruthless Blood Wasp Queen 'Heda']★☆☆
[Cunning Stone Monkey 'Moru']★☆☆
[King of Hunters 'Rashanta' ]★★☆
5. Clear Conditions
1) Defeat all named bosses
6. Clear Rewards
1) N~R-Grade Unique Traits [List]
2) Un~R-Grade Items [List]
3) SR-Grade Special Reward [???]
—Excessive bounty is both a blessing and a curse. The beast, grown fat and lazy on its riches, shall be reduced to prey before the true hunter.
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