Chapter 24. Wood Revenge V
Episode 24.
Wood Revenge V
As I was doing a final check before the fight, Seigrena spoke up.
"Hey. I have something to ask."
"What now?"
"......'What now,' how rude. Anyone listening would think I only ask pointless questions."
"......."
In a way, that was impressive.
Even in a situation like this, she was still that lacking in self-awareness.
"First...... what was your name again?"
"It's Kaindel."
I did tell her at the start, but she must have let my name go in one ear and out the other back then.
Though I didn't remember her family name either, so we were even.
"Kaindel? What a strange name. Commoner naming sense, I'll never understand it."
"Just tell me what you want. I don't have time."
"......Fine. All right. Kaindel. What should I do?"
I was a little surprised at that point.
I hadn't expected her to ask first.
Of course, surprise aside, my mouth opened as if it had been waiting.
"What can you do?"
"That depends on what you have me do. I'll say this now—talking to souls, raising corpses, that sort of thing is out of the question."
Come to think of it, right before this she'd looked nauseated when she saw Kria raise a corpse.
"Let's get one thing straight. You couldn't do it even if you wanted to."
"That's why I said it's out of the question. And even if I had that kind of ability, I'd pass."
"Is that so. Then here. Take this."
When I held out the thing I'd been keeping hidden, Seigrena gave me a baffled look.
"Th-this—isn't this that ashen branch from earlier?"
"Right."
"When did you even grab it?"
"When we were running away, obviously."
If I'd left it behind, the Woodmen would have torn this lizard to shreds on the spot.
'I couldn't let that happen.'
This lizard might just be the key to this whole run.
"Go up as high as you can and graft this thing on."
"......What's grafting?"
"......Grafting a branch onto a tree. You remember when we first saw it, right? Just attach it to the tip of a branch like that."
"Is that enough?"
"Probably."
Of course, real grafting requires far more specialized knowledge and technique than that, but I didn't have time to teach any of it.
'Even if I taught her, there's no guarantee she'd do it right.'
Whatever the case, we're in an absurdly unfavorable situation right now.
To prepare for the worst, the more thorough our preparations, the better—and the more variables, the better.
"Got it. Anything else?"
"That's it."
"That's it?"
"Why."
"No, I mean—fighting, drawing attention...... wiping out all the Woodmen. I thought I'd be given a more weighty mission."
That's rich. What makes you think I'd trust you with a critical role like that?
......That's what I thought, but with so little time left and no room to bicker, I decided to say something I didn't mean.
"That lizard is the core and key of this operation. Which means your role is the most critical of all."
"Hmm....... Is that so? Well, if that's the case, I suppose I have no choice."
Seigrena preened with a satisfied face.
I felt like I was starting to get a handle on how to deal with her.
"The issue is that this time you'll have to climb the tree alone."
"......Well, that can't be helped either. It's vulgar, but given the situation, I'll manage on my own."
"Don't say you'll manage—tell me whether it's possible or not. How long it'll take, whether anything's in the way. That kind of thing."
At that, she made an indignant face.
"What do you take me for! A tree like that, give me ten seconds and I'll be at the top."
"......Sure."
If only she didn't have that damn bravado.
* * *
Now that I'd secured the <Pyromancer>, the strategy I'd worked out in the past became usable again.
It was a strange feeling.
It felt like a fly sprayed with pesticide, wobbling through the air before landing exactly where it wanted.
'The problem is that there are two fruits on it.'
If there had been only one fruit, securing the Pyromancer alone would have been enough.......
Right then, I still wasn't sure.
Taking everything into account, the odds of winning were maybe fifty-fifty at best.
"Phew."
Still, I'd prepared everything I could.
"......One minute now. Everyone get ready."
In front of the root hole's entrance. The ones waiting there quietly tensed up at my muttering.
I'd explained the rough outline of the operation two or three times.
I was worried about Seigrena, but her assigned task wasn't that difficult, so she should manage.
"Where was I supposed to attach this again......?"
"The very top."
"Ah, right. I-I only got mixed up for a second, okay?"
......Or not?
Unlike the jittery Seigrena, Kria's expression was quite calm.
Honestly, it was fairly surprising.
Both the class change and the process of raising a corpse had gone remarkably smoothly.
'The Pyromancer's condition looked good too.'
I found myself thinking that Kria's aptitude as a Necromancer might far surpass mine from my player days.
If that's the case.......
Rather than splitting up immediately after this expedition, I might need to build a long-term relationship.
'I'd like to check her status window again too.'
Our conversation just now should have raised her trust, so the information may have changed.
[Time remaining: 00:10]
......No time for that either, I guess.
I watched the timer quietly. When it reached five seconds, I held up my hand and folded down one finger at a time.
5, 4, 3, 2.......
[The duration of <Baldi's Cursed Doll> has ended.]
"Run!"
At my shout, we shot out of the hole like arrows.
First, Seigrena immediately started climbing the tree, and the sight of it surprised me a bit.
'She climbs well?'
No, "well" doesn't cover it.
Seigrena was sprinting straight up the grain of the tree, and just as she'd boasted, she reached the top in under ten seconds.
Come to think of it, I'd never even seen her fight directly.
"I attached it! This is right, isn't it?"
Seigrena called out with the lizard fixed to the tip of a branch.
The problem was, I didn't have time to answer.
Grooooooan—!
Woodmen began surging up from beneath the ground.
I slashed at them with my scythe before they could fully emerge.
Slice!
When Woodmen are rising out of the ground, their defense is extremely low, making them easy to cut.
Because their inner flesh is soft.
Of course, a trick like that only works the first few times.
Whoosh!
While I was cutting down a few of them, a fully emerged Woodman lunged at me.
I cut them down for a while, then at some point turned my back completely and bolted.
Screeeech!
The Woodman horde didn't chase me to the end.
They followed for a bit, then turned their bodies and looked up the tree.
Grooooan.......
And then they immediately began crawling up the tree, slowly and clumsily.
"Aaaah......!"
Seigrena screamed at the sight.
'So that lizard really is the biggest nuisance to them.'
I needed to pull aggro again, but the Black Tree was some distance away.
It didn't look like I could reach it easily, so I pulled out the Tentacle Whip at my waist and swung it.
Thwack!
A Woodman that had been diligently climbing the tree dropped off with a thud.
Because of the damn item's nature, it doesn't deal damage, but the physical force still transfers.
Which means it's possible to knock down the ones precariously climbing the tree.
Ooooh!
There was an unexpected effect too—the ones hit by the whip went berserk and charged at me.
Does getting hit by the whip feel that disgusting?
'Their movements seem faster now, too.'
I felt a creeping unease, but since the goal of pulling aggro had been achieved, I kept swinging the whip.
Before long, the Guardian horde was chasing me in a dense cluster.
Crrrreeeak!
The sound of wood fragments scraping and colliding was grotesque.
Imagining what would happen if they caught me made my blood run cold.
How many of them are there?
It looked like they'd already passed several dozen.
'Just a little more.'
I drew them in until they were dangerously close, then shouted when I genuinely felt I'd reached my limit.
"Kria!"
Clatter.
I heard the sound of joints—or more precisely, bones—creaking.
Soon a skeleton emerged from the root hole.
The typical appearance of a skeleton mage.
'At this stage, a lich is out of the question.'
It was only at the level of a Skeleton Mage, but that didn't matter.
That thing is a special individual among the undead a Necromancer can raise—a so-called "named."
Whether lich or Skeleton Mage, there's no restriction on using the signature magic of the <Pyromancer> Karen Hogval.
-Wi...... ld...... fi...... re......!
Along with the halting voice of the dead, three massive pillars of fire shot up at once.
Ooooooooh—!
With a shriek that could have been a scream or something else, nearly a hundred Woodmen were sucked into the blue pillars of flame in an instant.
[Experience increases.]
[Experience increases.]
[Experience.......]
The Woodman horde that had been such a nuisance blazed up like dry kindling.
'Fire magic, as expected.'
My experience was filling up steadily, but I ignored the messages and kept my eyes forward.
Crrrreeeak......!
I could still see a few individuals that hadn't been reduced to ash.
The flames made it hard to see clearly, but the letters positioned above their heads were unmistakable.
[Lv.50 'Woodman Avenger']
Right. Those bastards were still left.
The Avengers stopped their pursuit and began climbing the Black Tree.
Even while covered in flames.
'You damn bastards.'
Honestly, it would have been perfect if the flames spread to the Black Tree and burned it too, but that wasn't going to happen.
That scrawny black tree doesn't burn.
In the first place, attacks don't work on it at all.
It's not just because it's a background object—it has an invincibility flag added on.
Probably the type that can't be destroyed unless certain conditions are met.
Thwack!
I struck an Avenger with the whip, but these things didn't fall off the tree easily, and they didn't even pretend to notice me.
Like machines programmed with a single command, they just kept steadily climbing the tree.
"U-uaaah......! Kaindel! What do we do about those things?! They keep climbing up! It's creepy! It's creepy!"
"Do something!"
"Do what?!"
"Kick them or something!"
Seigrena kicked at an Avenger that had nearly reached the top.
Crunch!
The Avenger's head half-shattered and dangled, and since the thing resembled a human, it made for a fairly grotesque sight.
Something between a scream and a shriek poured from Seigrena's mouth as she kicked downward like mad.
"Die! Disappear! Get lost! Dieeee!"
I didn't know where that leg strength came from, but those wild attacks worked surprisingly well.
'The flames lowered their resistances.'
They hadn't died instantly like the Guardians, but mere exposure to the flames had stacked debuffs all over them.
If that's the case.......
I ran toward the Black Tree.
[Scorching flames coil around you.]
[Warning! Prolonged exposure to the heat will inflict the <Burn> condition.]
The heat slammed into me.
I was wearing the rag I'd picked up in the Corpse Den, but I wouldn't be able to hold out long. The protection magic built into the ring probably wouldn't activate against flames like these either.
Tap-tap-tap!
So I needed to hurry as much as possible.
I counted the Avengers clinging to the tree.
'One, two, three, four.'
Four in total. Maybe because we burned so many Guardians? Fewer than I expected.
Just then, one of them couldn't hold on any longer against Seigrena's kicks and fell.
Thud—the moment it hit the ground.
Slice.
I cut its dangling neck with my scythe.
[Your level has increased.]
[A new skill is unlocked.]