Chapter 278
Chapter 278
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 278
Chapter Title: Entry (2)
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BOOM! RUMBLE! ROAR—!!
Dave kicked off the ground, and roots and mounds of earth erupted like a fountain in front of the McCluskey Security Company building, engulfing half of it.
"Damn it!"
Arthur stared at the building that had been sealed off in an instant and couldn't help cursing under his breath.
He'd heard that a druid's power multiplied several times over in a lush forest, but this seemed excessive.
To deploy such a massive ritual even while taking laser fire. It was beyond imagination.
'Hearing about it and seeing it firsthand are definitely different... And they commanded over twenty druids like this?'
Arthur was newly astonished by Seamus's forces as he glanced at the druid Connor, who had been driven into a corner.
Cracked bark encased him like armor as he leaned on the ground.
"One... no, two got away."
The two in question were none other than Dave and Albert. The moment Dave sensed an ominous aura, he hoisted Albert, gathered strength in his legs, and kicked off the ground, vanishing into the building in the blink of an eye.
'At least that's lucky? It's not going according to plan, but the net navigator made it inside anyway. If he hadn't, we'd have lost a lot of time...'
A sudden thought flashed through his mind.
The forceful sealing of the building with such power seemed less about repelling enemies and more about buying time.
"No way... Reinforcements on the way?"
Arthur asked Connor, who was rising to his feet and stretching. The superhuman displayed his characteristic leisure.
"Obviously. You attacked without even knowing whose turf this is? Think our boss wouldn't have prepared for that?"
The druid spoke with annoying confidence, but it didn't sound like a lie.
"Fast travel... Teleportation... Scrolls, huh."
"Oh, you're not an idiot."
Arthur's guess was immediately confirmed by the druid.
Teleportation scrolls were magic items crafted by the spatial magic school—even the cheapest ones cost tens of millions of rand.
And their maximum range was a measly two or three kilometers.
To extend it further required auxiliary devices and magic circles several times more expensive than the scrolls themselves.
Installing just one cost hundreds of millions, with expenses scaling linearly with distance, not to mention the maintenance fees.
In short, they were exorbitantly priced vehicles with nothing but speed to recommend them.
"I knew they raked in cash, but I didn't expect them to blow it like this."
"Our boss always says you gotta spend when you gotta spend. Especially against thieves... Anyway, what're you gonna do? My buddies will be here in a few minutes—if you run now, they'll chas—"
—BAM!!
Mid-sentence, Arthur rocketed forward using the propulsion from his golem arm and delivered a Superman punch straight to the druid.
Thanks to that, the druid couldn't finish his words and had to block Arthur's fist with both arms.
The straightforward, devastating punch shattered half the bark armor that even mana lasers hadn't been able to crack.
"Guh...! No manners interrupting a guy while he's talking...!"
"What manners from a Greenland beggar scum selling out his own kids!!"
Arthur seized Connor's arm and hurled him with all his might.
In sync, the watching agents charged in unison.
"Finish him quick and follow... Should be fine anyway!!"
"I'll walk from here."
Albert, who had been slung over Oliver's shoulder like a sack of potatoes, spoke up.
Oliver had slipped inside just before the dirt swallowed the building and instinctively carried him straight to the center where the world tree stood.
"Ah, sorry about that."
Oliver apologized as he set him down. Albert brushed it off and began sprinting down the corridor littered with corpses on his own two feet.
Oliver had worried his legs might be slow, but fortunately, they weren't.
'Gotta reflect on that... Thought net navigators would be slow, but that's not always true.'
Oliver chastised himself for his prejudiced assumption. Albert addressed him as they ran.
"Impressive. Slipping in right before the building got sealed like that. Thank you—you saved me big time."
Oliver, not grasping the point, asked back.
"Pardon? What do you mean?"
"When we entered earlier... We almost didn't make it."
The entry in question was right before the druid buried the entrance in dirt.
"Ah... No, no. It's just my job anyway. Don't worry about it."
Oliver spoke plainly, without false humility.
Bringing Albert inside was simply his mission—nothing to be thanked for.
'Plus, I get to watch the hacking up close... Opportunities like this don't come often.'
Even amid the mission, Oliver planned to satisfy his curiosity.
Unaware of Oliver's ulterior motive, Albert continued chatting amiably, with a hint of his own scheming.
"Just as I heard—humble."
"...As you heard?"
"Ah, I looked into Dave a bit. Don't take it the wrong way. Wasn't stalking—just picked up some rumors from the scene. My school's all about gathering prior intel to scratch that itch."
Albert belonged to the Moiarai School.
Unlike other schools that pursued raw power, they researched the unknown realm of world trees, prizing knowledge and information above all.
Oliver nodded in understanding.
"Got it. Not offended, so no worries."
'Straightforward as rumored too. Then, mind if I ask a favor?'
Albert rummaged in his pocket mid-stride.
Oliver wondered if he was being too casual, but it made sense—they were almost at the building's center where the world tree awaited.
He could tell from his mana detection and black mage's eyes.
'Doesn't mean I can let my guard down. Anything can happen on a mission. Like a druid popping up out of nowhere when you thought the coast was clear.'
As the thought crossed his mind, Oliver yanked back Albert, who was digging in his pocket.
Caught off guard by the sudden move, Albert let out a "Gack!"—just as a druid lurking in a side corridor lunged, slashing razor-sharp claws through empty air! SWISH!!
"You noticed?!!"
"Yes... Finlay."
Oliver replied upon confirming the ambusher's face.
If memory served, beastman transformation was his specialty—and true enough, he sprang off the wall like a beast, using the rebound to hurl himself at Oliver without a moment's delay.
Oliver's response was a beat slow as he shielded Albert.
"Minion."
Hate Bullet
Fired from minion at foe's face
A minion hidden in his pocket shot out swiftly, spitting a hate bullet at the foe before them.
Any normal opponent would have their head pierced before reacting, but Finlay lived up to his druid name with beastly reflexes, blocking it.
THUD—!
Finlay was pushed back by the impact. Oliver braced for another charge, but he retreated instead.
The reason soon became clear.
A long, pointed wooden spear hurtled down the distant corridor, too fast for the naked eye to track, condensed with the druid's green mana—unlikely to be stopped by any ordinary shield.
'Good thing I prepared ahead.'
Oliver had already cast black magic using the emotions and life force from the corpses along the way.
Three black magics activated simultaneously. Corpses scattered throughout the corridor merged into a mass, intercepting the incoming attack in place of Oliver and Albert.
THUD THUD THUD—!!
As Oliver predicted, the druid's spear was no ordinary throw—it pierced halfway through the barrier fused from emotions, life force, and corpses.
A sloppy shield would have meant major damage.
"How'd a druid get in here?"
Albert panicked at the situation clashing with his intel.
"He appeared out of nowhere. Seems like spatial magic."
"Bingo!"
Druid Finlay swung his arm, now even more beast-like, in response.
Proportional to his altered form, the power had surged; he shredded the meat shields that had blocked the spear with a few swings.
Simple, but overwhelming.
Whether it was the forest heart boosting them was unclear, but it wasn't something one or two layers of black suits could stop.
'The silver lining is this environment favors me too.'
Oliver extended a hand toward the half-torn meat shield.
Minced Meat
Corpse flesh gathered in hand
With the incantation, chunks of the meat wall folded into mincemeat, gathering in Oliver's palm.
Hot blood, bone chunks like pebbles, and moist flesh filled his hand.
Anticipating a counter like before, Finlay cast a ritual on himself.
No visible change, but Oliver confirmed his skin had hardened and toughened immensely.
Enough to shrug off ordinary attacks.
Of course, what Oliver prepared was far from ordinary.
Finger Gun
Flesh, bone, blood, and emotion fired as bullets
Oliver mashed the flesh, bone, blood, and emotions in his hand and fired them like bullets.
A black magic once used by puppets in the contaminated zone—it demanded ample materials but delivered reliable power, piercing the ritual-enhanced druid flesh in one shot.
THUNK! THUNK! THUNK!
Dull explosions of bursting flesh echoed as the druid bled and staggered.
Seizing the opening, Oliver moved for the finishing blow—but a massive beanstalk shot from behind, snatching Finlay away.
Oliver's gaze followed the sudden vine, landing on three druids at the corridor's end.
Jeffrey, Catal, and Carlin, as seen in the briefing.
Jeffrey reeled Finlay in with the beanstalk, while Catal kept Oliver pinned with thrown spears.
They seemed to value their comrades, at least.
'Fellow druids, anyway...'
Though he'd handled the ambush admirably, Oliver wasn't satisfied.
He'd inflicted a mortal wound on one, but three remained—and enraged, they were on high alert.
If they coordinated seriously, it could get dicey. Especially while protecting Albert.
"Albert."
"Don't use my name in front of the enemy."
"Ah, sorry. Mind if I borrow you for a sec?"
"Pardon?"
"Thanks."
Without waiting, Oliver extracted a massive load of emotions and life force, then thrust his hand toward the path they'd come.
Doll Making
Corpse golem improvised from minced remains
Oliver combined two black magics.
Minced Meat to break corpses into ground flesh, and Doll Making to weave them into an instant golem.
The key here was Doll Making—its size and shape could be freely manipulated by the caster's skill.
For instance, a massive, amorphous monster.
"Oh, what in the world is that horrific...?"
Net navigator Albert gaped at the writhing mass of flesh-blobs crawling up behind him.
Oliver reassured him, then commanded the golem to swallow Albert whole.
Albert's safety was now secured.
Oliver sent the corpse golem charging ahead and mounted it himself.
First, deliver Albert to the world tree—then deal with the druids.
"Where do you think you're going—!!"
The druids shouted, blocking his path.
No matter how tough druid bodies were, could they stop a golem of dozens of corpses? As if answering, they pulled handfuls of beans from their pockets, sprouting a massive beanstalk wall.
A wall not easily broken.
However, it was a fatal mistake.
The moment the wall rose between him and the druids, Oliver focused his eyes.
Through it, he spotted Finlay being supported—corpse-bullets still embedded in him.
Oliver invoked a new black magic.
Biobomb
Corpse fragments in foe's body detonated via life force
A twist on the 'corpse bomb' using bodies—it turned embedded corpse shards into fuses, forcibly exploding the target's life force.
In theory, the stronger the foe providing the materials, the greater the power. Being his first try, it didn't fully meet expectations.
But it was fine. Too strong, and the corridor might collapse.
'Still, that'll punch through. The druids took damage too.'
Oliver charged the corpse golem at the cracked beanstalk wall, regripping the weapons in both hands.
One was a quarterstaff, the other the druid's wooden spear.
——BOOM!!!
The corpse golem smashed into the beanstalk wall with a building-shaking thud, splintering the vines with cracks.
The three wounded druids charged at Oliver, bleeding from the blast.
'Picked up their emotional states, but didn't expect them to actually charge... Impressive resolve.'
Oliver sized up the oncoming druids.
Jeffrey and Catal flanking with massive wooden clubs and spears. Carlin straight-on with beast claws and fangs.
In response to their spirit, Oliver swung his black-armored quarterstaff and hurled the wooden spear coated in black javelin.
The blast-damaged druids couldn't match Oliver's golem-mounted speed—their heads caved under the staff, chests impaled by the spear.
"Die—!!"
Carlin lunged like a beast. Despite heavy damage, his base abilities made him terrifyingly fast.
"Minion."
Hate Bullet
Targeted both eyes
Oliver summoned another minion from his pocket. It darted out with signature agility, spitting hate bullets into Carlin's eyes.
PEW! PEW!
"Kyaaargh!!"
Carlin swatted away the ambush with his arm and burst the minion.
He'd prepared after seeing Oliver use it earlier. That exhausted his pocket minions.
Oliver should have panicked—but he didn't.
He'd prepared for this too.
"Polls."
At his call, Polls in the test tube in his pocket reacted and emerged.
Simultaneously, the shrunken corpse doll—Rag 2—from his bosom launched forward on preset mana.
"Release shrink magic."
The spell lifted on cue, restoring Corpse Doll-Rag 2 to full size and blocking Carlin's path.
Startled, Carlin slashed to shred it with his claws—but Polls entered the doll, resisting.
In midair, the druid and Corpse Doll-Rag 2 tangled fiercely.