The Floor Guardian (2)
“If only everyone else would just die… except me.”
It was a lament laced with genuine feeling. As if in response, the illusion of the World Tree began to glow with a vibrant green light.
Whoosh—!
A massive presence surged from the World Tree, even though it had no physical form—it was merely a projection of its lingering wish from life. The divinity of the World Tree blanketed the entire area. And then the surrounding environment started to change.
In the plains, nameless grasses sprouted and bloomed with tiny flowers. In the nearby forest, trees grew at an explosive rate, their branches stretching out in every threatening direction. At a glance, they looked like they were raising thorns toward the sky.
This was no minor authority performed through human divine power, like what Those Who Swallow the Twilight or Karen had shown. It was a true miracle that reshaped the world—the fragment of a real god had descended upon this place.
“Yona! It’s dangerous!”
“Senior Elly, I’m counting on you. I’ll go check on the hostages.”
“Th-this is… this is exactly….”
Elly reached out to me in a hurry, as if snapping back to her senses. Rydia dashed toward the thicket where Lemon and Apple were hiding. And Karen just stared blankly up at the World Tree, like her brain had short-circuited.
Well, I suppose it made sense. It was far too powerful to be called the strength of a dead god. In fact, that was only natural.
Why else would the Floor Guardian, which first appeared in the labyrinth, drop an authority with absolute certainty?
The Floor Guardian was the last will left behind by the god of that floor. So while the respawned versions twisted through space and time might be different, the very first one observed would carry the lingering thoughts the gods left in their final moments.
In this case, it must have been a heart that worried about the safety of the elves until the very end. If they ever suffered unjustly, or if an event threatened the survival of their entire race, the World Tree would lend its strength even after death—for the sake of its children.
That was the hidden setting behind the summoning conditions on the first floor.
“Ah… aah….”
What had been nothing more than a few lines of text to me was now reality, pressing down on my body and soul. It was so overwhelming it made my chest tighten with emotion. For a moment, I even thought that this very instant might be the true miracle.
Of course, to Elly’s eyes, it probably just looked like I’d frozen up from the sudden change and oppressive pressure.
“Snap out of it and get over here! I don’t know what’s going on, but it’s clearly the final desperate struggle of Those Who Swallow the Twilight, so just give up on the corpse and….”
“No. That’s not it, Elly.”
I corrected her misunderstanding.
“This has nothing to do with Those Who Swallow the Twilight.”
“…What?”
“Elly. Don’t you get it? This is the precursor to a Floor Guardian being summoned.”
“S-summoned?”
“Yeah. You just saw it, didn’t you? My prayer.”
My face still wouldn’t form a proper smile because the afterglow hadn’t fully faded, so I forced it into a twisted grin and continued.
“So please, don’t tell me to run away. Instead, just watch. Watch me fight. Watch how the World Tree answers my prayer. …Of course, if it gets dangerous, I’ll need you to help me out!”
“…….”
I added that last part with a sly grin, but Elly’s face didn’t relax one bit. She simply nodded with that same serious expression.
“Alright. I promise. No matter what, I’ll always be right behind you, Yona. So go ahead and do everything you want to do, everything you can do, without worry.”
“Thanks, Elly. You know how much I like you, right?”
It was something I said dozens of times a day, nothing special. But maybe because of her small stature, the usually stoic Elly looked momentarily dazed today. Then she gave a soft smile and nodded.
“I know. And I’m even more grateful.”
Her voice and aura carried genuine relief. I stood there in a daze for a moment, captivated by Elly’s unusual reaction. But by then, the preparations seemed complete. The World Tree’s divine power began to gather at a single point within the overgrown greenery.
Crack—
Along with the sound of something breaking and being crushed, the green light grew denser. The egg-shaped orb of light developed a single crack.
Crack.
Once it started, the fractures spread uncontrollably. In an instant, the surface of the orb was covered in cracks, and a piece of the light mass fell away.
Clang—!
A high-pitched shattering sound rang out. Taking that as its cue, the green egg shattered into pieces, revealing its contents to the world.
A height of about two meters. Abnormally thick and long limbs. And thorns densely covering its entire body.
It looked like a thornbush carved into human shape… no, a thornbush that had grown into human form. It stared at me with hollow eyes. Though its gaze seemed strangely unfocused, as if its body wasn’t fully formed yet.
First strike wins!
“Die…!”
I fired the wrist crossbow I’d prepared in advance.
Whoosh—!
It could still only shoot one bolt at a time, but its destructive power had increased to a level incomparable to before. The arrow, carrying that full force, pierced through the air.
The moment its sharp tip touched the creature’s eye—
Fwoosh!
Green flames erupted from the empty eye socket. Flames hot enough to melt the arrow completely.
“What the hell is this….”
The thing tilted its head, molten iron dripping from one eye, and plucked out the shaft where the flames hadn’t yet spread. It examined the arrow with a curious tilt of its head, then clenched its fist tightly.
The arrow I thought would shatter was instead absorbed into the Floor Guardian’s body. And from its form, a single new sharp thorn sprouted.
Its entire body was covered in thorns, but the most striking one was naturally the one on its head. Staring at the thorn that could have been a horn or a crown, I muttered without thinking.
“Thornbush King….”
— A Floor Guardian born from the World Tree’s lingering wish.
— It carries the resentment and fury of one who once prayed for vengeance.
—…….
Did my description please it? The flames that served as its eyes flared violently for a moment. The Thornbush King slowly extended its index finger and pointed it at me.
What burned in those fiery eyes was boundless hatred and rage. Someone once said that the eyes are the windows to the soul. Even though we hadn’t exchanged a single word, I could tell what it wanted to say.
Surpass me and claim that power.
I see. So this was my revenge. My anger. My resentment.
It was something that didn’t belong here, something I’d forced into existence, but the emotions I’d felt back then were no lie. The accumulated bitterness of my entire life now stood before me, its body clad in thorns.
“Yeah. You want a one-on-one fight, huh? What a coincidence. So do I.”
I chuckled and took a step forward. I didn’t particularly enjoy straightforward one-on-one brawls like this. Part of it was because my skills were optimized for the complete opposite—ambushes and stealth.
But right now, I couldn’t back down. It wasn’t just because I needed to deal a certain amount of damage to the Floor Guardian to secure contribution points and obtain its authority….
More importantly, the fact that the Thornbush King had been born from my prayer was the biggest reason. It was a creation born to embody my trials and carry my emotions.
In that case, didn’t I at least owe it a fair fight, face to face?
…And yes, there was a tiny bit of calculation that someone else would help if it got too dangerous.
“Let’s do this.”
My voice was a little better than before but still rougher than usual as I gripped the dagger. The blade, now cleansed of blood and returned to pure white, sparkled under the sunlight.
I tilted it slightly, reflecting the light toward the creature.
Flash!
Even though its eyes were flames, did its sensory organs work like a human’s? The Thornbush King flinched at the glare. I kicked off the nameless wildflower at my feet and charged into that opening.
“Haste!”
My mana was already low after activating all my magic tools earlier. Nearly half of what remained was sucked into my boots. In return, an exhilarating sensation surged from my feet and filled my entire body. The flow of the world slowed down. No—my body and mind were accelerating.
Bang!
The Thornbush King closed in rapidly. A half-beat late because of the blinding light, it swung its arm wide. Thorns sprouted instantly, swelling its arm to massive proportions. It was too late to stop, and even if I twisted my posture or dodged sideways, a direct hit was inevitable. I’d be turned into Yona kebab, full of holes.
“Not a chance!”
I forced strength into my thighs and leaped high. Whoosh! My spinning vision from the forward momentum created an opening. I threw the rope I’d pulled from my subspace ring. Having practiced this several times while hunting Iron Wolves, the rope wrapped perfectly around the Thornbush King’s neck.
It was humanoid but not actually human, so strangling it was probably impossible… but it was more than enough to regain my bearings in midair, where up, down, left, and right had lost all meaning.
“Haaah!”
My flying body came to a sudden halt as I corrected my posture. This time, I was yanked toward the back of its head. I swung my dagger at a distance close enough for my weapon to reach without getting impaled by its thorns.
Slice!
I severed nearly half of the largest, most beautiful thorn on its head. The startled creature twisted its body at a grotesque angle. Its oversized arm, which had been facing forward, was now swinging backward.
“Tch!”
I planted my feet on the ground in time and jumped backward, but I couldn’t avoid a slight graze from a thorn across the tip of my nose. Still, I congratulated myself on a successful trade and steadied my stance—only for a moment.
“Whoa…?”
My vision suddenly blurred. Did the thorns have poison on them? Just a light graze and this much effect? I calmly reached into my subspace for an antidote potion, but right as I was about to drink it—
Whoosh!
The Unicorn Dagger suddenly erupted with pure white light. My shaking vision returned to normal in an instant. As a bonus, the wound on my nose that had been bleeding half-healed.
“Oh.”
Come to think of it, the Unicorn Dagger was supposed to have healing and purification powers. I quickly ran the numbers in my head.
My strength and stamina were obviously pathetically weak compared to the Thornbush King. But I was faster. With Haste, I could even overwhelm it for a short time. The poison in those dense thorns that interfered with close combat could be cured by the Unicorn Dagger.
And if, at the critical moment, I squeezed out the last of my mana to activate the invisibility cloak one more time….
“Huh?”
Wait, if I play this right… I might actually be able to solo it?
The Goddess of Love really did think of everything!