Chapter 53. Soul Tree (2)
Crack.
The charred branch fell to the ground, crumbling into powder.
The acrid smell brushed against their noses. The adventurers stared blankly, their mouths half open, at the scene unfolding before their eyes.
Among them, the mage's eyes were fixed on Verden.
'Fourth tier...?'
The spell just now, judging by its range and destructive power, was clearly of the fourth tier. And it wasn't just that—it had been cast with magic power filled to the spell's very limit.
Not to mention the enormous amount of magic power visible to the eye, and the wave of mana that had swept past in an instant.
'Did he perhaps spread mana detection over this entire area?'
They had already been told there were adventurers to be rescued.
Yet even so, to use such a wide-area spell meant he had already completed the calculations for its range. The mages were less astonished by the raw force of a fourth-tier spell, and more by the computing ability—and the immense mana—that had made it possible.
A young mage in gray, unknown to adventurers, mercenaries, or even the rumor mill. They couldn't understand where such an existence had suddenly appeared from.
Leira, though she didn't show it outwardly, was deep in thought.
As one of the candidates for the Ark, she had heard nothing of such a mage existing.
'...Could he be another candidate?'
But she soon shook her head.
It didn't matter what he was. The only thing that mattered now was overcoming the trial before her. Nothing more.
"Not going?"
At Verden's words, Leira nodded, then said to the adventurers.
"Let's hurry."
The subjugation, briefly halted, resumed once more.
***
The forest touched by the flare still simmered with heat.
Trents were aberrant species, but in the end, they were still trees, hesitant to draw near the flames. Thanks to that, the subjugation squad could move with greater ease.
The problem was the speed.
'Th-this is what the next mithril rank is like...!'
Just following behind Leira left them breathless.
Her movements seemed to transcend the limits of humanity. Even though she was restraining herself, for the gold-rank adventurers, it was overwhelming. Only one person could match her stride for stride—Verden.
Without a word exchanged, the two pressed deeper into the forest, until they reached the end of a path thick with ash.
The moment they stepped into the dark woods, hidden Trents lunged at them from both sides.
'They are many indeed.'
The entire forest was a den of Trents.
Animals had all been devoured; not a single bird could be sensed. In Verden's hand, a small flame flickered to life as he lightly sidestepped a root.
Fwoooosh!
The magic that burned away the Trent before him shot into those behind. Fire that sought kindling on its own moved restlessly, annihilating nearby aberrant species in a chain reaction before fading.
Verden tilted his head slightly.
A crimson line carved into the Trent's bodies. Was it the mark of a blade? Their trunks weren't shattered, nor were they severed, yet they did not move. They were all dead.
Catching his gaze, Leira said casually,
"Inside a Trent's body, there's a core. Destroy that, and they die easily. Judging by your ignorance, you're not an adventurer, are you?"
"..."
"Whoever you are, do not interfere with my 'trial'."
Their eyes locked.
With that, Verden became certain the woman was indeed a candidate for the Ark. And Leira, seeing the mage show no reaction whatsoever to the word 'trial', concluded he was a fellow candidate.
Leira moved forward first. Verden watched her back for a moment, then followed.
Their focus lay solely on the trial hidden within the forest. They had no time to spare for the adventurers struggling behind.
"...How are we supposed to follow that?"
"We can't. Push yourself too hard, and if you get surrounded by Trents while exhausted, it's over."
"Honestly, I don't even feel confident facing this so-called Soul Tree."
Left behind, the adventurers decided to do what they could.
Namely, dealing with the Trents nearby. Securing a safe retreat route was the wisest course.
The Soul Tree.
No matter if that monster's threat level was said to rival that of the most dangerous special entities—if it was even slightly beneath that, then those two would be able to subjugate it.
After all, there was an adventurer on the verge of mithril rank, one of the rarest on the continent.
'And that mage looks incredibly strong as well.'
With the warrior Bardel joining forces, they surely had a chance.
Assuming he was still alive, that is... Either way, it was certain those two weren't beings they needed to worry about. Adventurers had to chase hope even in despair.
That was the only way to survive long.
"So for now, let's just worry about keeping ourselves alive."
Trents approached, stepping over the corpses of their kin.
The adventurers stood back to back in a circle, each gripping their weapon tightly.
***
Sshhhk.
With a flash of crimson swordlight, the Trents surrounding Leira fell to the ground.
A sword speed nearly impossible to track with the eye, and accuracy without a fraction of error—that was the pride of her blade.
'Strong.'
Her fighting style was completely different from that of the Butcher, though they were the same rank. Leira's swordsmanship allowed no opening whatsoever, sharp and chilling.
So she was one of the candidates chosen by the Ark. Perhaps the Ark was an even more formidable group than Verden had imagined. Thinking that, he rose into the air.
All that filled his sight were countless trees. More precisely, Trents.
The Soul Tree the adventurers had mentioned... Likely the gray tree encountered during the commission. But nothing resembling it appeared, nor was there any sign of Bardel, the platinum-rank adventurer. The forest was simply dark and ominous.
'Perhaps I should spread my mana a bit further.'
From the surrounding area to the center of the forest.
Blue mana surged outward, and Verden's senses caught countless things. Without being overwhelmed by the vast information, he focused his mind.
And then, something struck him.
No—rather, the entire northern section of the forest, where the boundary of the Forest of Demons lay, could not be sensed at all. The same reaction he had observed once before, in the Forest of Demons.
"That way."
Certain, Verden headed north.
A voice behind asked where he was going, but he saw no need to waste time explaining. If suspicious, they would follow on their own.
As he neared the ground, sharp branches shot out from within the forest.
Flames of crimson surrounded Verden, the branches crumbled to ash without so much as brushing against his clothes.
Landing on the ground, Verden slammed his staff down.
Fwoooosh!
Waves of flame spread across the forest. The firepower was weak enough to barely singe leaves, let alone burn trees, but the Trents flailed desperately, struggling to extinguish the flames clinging to their bodies.
'With mana detection blocked, finding it directly is impossible.'
Of course, there was a way.
If he burned down the entire forest, it wouldn't be able to stay hidden for long. With that thought, Verden acted immediately.
Even with Verden's calculating ability, the spell required ten full seconds of mental and magical concentration.
'Target only the Trents.'
Five streams of flame converged and intertwined at the tip of the staff, flickering.
Fwoooosh!
The fire surged outward in all directions, spreading uncontrollably. The nearby Trents were unable even to approach, dying one after another, their numbers multiplying exponentially.
As its name implied, the plague of flame spread among the Trents.
'There's a reaction, after all.'
Gathering momentum, he unleashed even more spells in rapid succession.
Only after nearly driving the nearby Trents to the brink of extinction did a hidden tree reveal itself.
Unlike the others, it was gray, at least three times larger than the ones he had seen before, and it radiated an indescribable, sinister aura that brushed against the skin.
'But this feels different from before.'
The white eyes he had encountered previously were nowhere to be seen.
As suspicion stirred, an adventurer bound by roots groaned in pain beneath the tree. Judging by his features, he was unmistakably the platinum-rank adventurer, warrior Bardel, whom the adventurers had mentioned.
It wasn't too late to save him first.
The Soul Tree.
Verden immediately thrust his staff forward.
***
Bardel alone could not withstand the endless swarm of Trents and the white eyes.
The constant screams of the dead pierced his mind, shattering his will before his body gave way, until he was captured.
'Damn it, my strength...!'
Though confident in his might, even focusing his aura, he could not move.
Bound by roots, it wasn't just his stamina, but his very life force that was being drained away.
Now that he was caught, Bardel was nothing more than nourishing prey for the Soul Tree.
It had been a long time since the Soul Tree had captured such a powerful lifeform, so it intended to savor the moment, keeping its prey alive while draining him completely.
The leftover corpse would be used to summon more victims.
The roots tightened, forcing air from Bardel's lungs.
The adventurer once called warrior was slowly dying. Even he felt death drawing near, ready to surrender, when—
Whoooosh!
A sharp gale tore through the roots.
Though not severed, the pressure eased slightly. Bardel seized the chance, forcing the roots away with all his strength.
Barely escaping, Bardel quickly put distance between himself and the Soul Tree.
'Hah, I barely survived....'
"Are you the platinum-rank adventurer, warrior Bardel?"
Turning his head, Bardel saw a man he had never met before.
Judging by his garb, he seemed to be a mage, perhaps reinforcements from the city.
Bardel nodded.
"I am. You've saved my life. I'd repay the favor right now if I could... but I doubt I'll get the chance."
Even the ground trembled faintly beneath their feet.
The Soul Tree, angered by the interruption of its feast, exuded a menacing presence. Bardel quickly assumed a stance, but the ragged rise and fall of his shoulders betrayed his exhaustion.
And having lost his weapon, he could no longer serve as a significant force here.
'He'll only be a hindrance.'
Verden stepped forward.
"There are adventurers behind us. Go, join them."
"...Are you planning to face it alone?"
"That's why I came."
At the firm reply, Bardel gave a faint laugh.
"You're young, yet so confident.... But you didn't really come here alone, did you? Is Leira with you, perhaps?"
Surely, Leira was cutting through the Trents, making her way here.
At that, Bardel let out a sigh of relief.
"Hah, thank the heavens. If it's Leira, I can entrust this to her. She's the strongest adventurer I know. And this, I'll tell you as well—if you meet Leira, pass along this message: that Soul Tree is a fake, the true body is hidden underground. And those cursed white eyes too."
'Underground?'
Craaaack! Gray roots burst from the ground.
Even without Verden's aid, Bardel staggered but managed to evade the roots, kicking off the earth to put greater distance between them.
"She'll understand if you say that. So hold out until Leira arrives, don't overdo it, just buy time. I'm counting on you."
Leaving those words behind, Bardel vanished into the forest. Soon after, his footsteps faded completely.
'Buy time? Do I look that weak?'
Well, regardless, now there was no need to hold back the spell's power.
Drawing in mana, Verden struck his staff against the ground.
Rumbleeeee!
The earth quaked, the ground split open. The Trents within the range were dragged into the fissures, shattered into unrecognizable fragments.
But around the Soul Tree, the ground cracked yet showed no signs of collapse.
Perhaps its roots anchored the earth, but for it to withstand the destructive force of an Earthquake enhanced by a magic tome—
'So the true body lies underground.'
Verden peered into the fissures.
He saw only darkness, yet at the edge of his sight, guided by suggestion, he glimpsed something unnatural.
A cavern filled with shadow.
At its center loomed an enormous gray tree, its size beyond measure, hundreds upon hundreds of corpses hanging from its branches.
That, surely, was the true body of the Soul Tree Bardel had spoken of.
'Enormous. The tree outside was but a fragment of its countless branches.'
If such a thing reached the city, it would unleash hell.
Undoubtedly, this was the true trial the Listener had mentioned.
Evading the surging roots, Verden soared into the sky, thinking.
'Hidden beneath the earth, my attacks are limited. Even Earthquake has no effect.'
He made his decision.
There was no need to waste effort breaking through a shield of earth. With greater force, he would seize the shield itself, and drag the creature onto ground of his own choosing.
It wouldn't be easy, but Verden had the confidence.
For he now possessed the power to do so.
For the first time since reaching the fourth tier, Verden unleashed a full-scale spell.
In that instant, the entire forest began to tremble.