Chapter 265: Whoosh!
Hwoong! Hung!
The stems were so enormous they might as well have been giant pythons crashing in. Everyone tensed as the attacks whipped toward them from every side—and in that same instant, Yujun's sword moved.
Shhk.
There was no sound. Cleanly severed stems dropped to the ground, new ones rushed in to fill the gaps, and Yujun's blade cut those down too, over and over.
"Huh? These things give experience?"
Yujun said it mid-swing, and Dokgo Minsu and Kim Yohan's eyes went wide.
"They do?"
"Yeah. It's tiny, but if you open your status window, the gauge is climbing."
"Hmm..."
There was a difference between them and Yujun. He had used an item that permanently increased his experience gain, and he held a title that boosted experience as well. He was also cutting down a great many stems at once.
"It's not a meaningful amount, is it?"
"If it keeps stacking like this, we might pick up a level or two."
"The forest would be stripped bare before that."
"It doesn't rise that little. It's more lucrative than you'd think."
At his words, Kim Yohan and Dokgo Minsu's eyes changed. Players and gamers both, they knew perfectly well how much experience mattered. Anyone who liked RPGs was glad to watch the numbers climb.
"Yujun, I'll help!"
"I shall assist as well!"
"Were you planning to just stand around?"
"..."
"O-of course not!"
"Come now. You merely moved too quickly! I had my sword drawn at that very same moment."
"Then that's a relief."
Yujun looked next to the Black Sorceress.
"Show me what you can do."
"No."
"Soul contract. You agreed to act as a comrade."
"...I have not learned a single spell from you."
"There wasn't time. Once this is settled, I'll teach you."
The Black Sorceress let out a deep sigh and drew a wand from her robes. From that moment, the air changed completely.
She possessed a higher Magic stat than even Yujun. The instant she began to cast, the number of stems dropped noticeably. Roaring flame swallowed the incoming stalks without mercy, then swelled and swelled until it started burning the trees themselves.
"That's all right, isn't it, Atradeon?"
"The forest regenerates regardless. As a means of weathering the immediate crisis, flame magic is ideal."
"Then why are you standing around? You're a mage too."
"I am remaining still so that I may answer whatever variable may yet appear."
"For example? The Lord of the Forest?"
"Do you suppose I could stop that thing?"
"Then at least block the stems."
"...Very well."
Even Sage Atradeon could not ignore Yujun's words—least of all because he acknowledged the man's strength. With Paranet joining in as well, the stems were shut out completely. The enormous stalks would seem on the verge of reaching the party, then vanish without a trace.
Paranet's performance, in particular, was a surprise. His movements had changed conspicuously.
Was his swordsmanship always at that level?
Paranet swung as if possessed, and Yujun watched in open admiration. It was not only his swordsmanship that had improved. Speed and strength—the things that mattered most—had surged to an astonishing degree. He had advanced as if he had become an entirely different being. Calling it evolution would not have been wrong.
Yujun knew the cause at once.
The title. It's because of the Transcendent-grade title.
◈ All stats of owned summons increase by 80%.
◈ The effect of all gold-related abilities increases by 100%.
It was the first Transcendent-grade title he had ever obtained, and its effect raised every stat of his summons by a full eighty percent.
So his swordsmanship only looks better because his body moves that much better?
Technique was tied to stats. Raise one's physical ability and difficult skills became easier to use; the body began to move the way the mind intended.
Looks like he's been practicing the Heavenly Demon Divine Art a lot, too.
Paranet was not fighting with a sword alone. He used his fists, his feet, his whole body. The force when he smashed the stems with his bare hands was so tremendous that even Yujun was startled.
No wonder the Heavenly Demon Divine Art is an EX+ skill.
Paranet's growth was dazzling.
The investment was worth it.
Paranet was not a summon one could simply dismiss. He was a companion who had been with Yujun since his low-level days, and that made the pride all the warmer. Watching him grow brought a catharsis greater than growing stronger himself.
The kid's come a long way.
Yujun looked at Paranet with something like pride, all while stroking Harp's head.
"I like that, Dad. More, please."
"You got it."
Somewhere along the way, Yujun had dropped out of the fight and left the stems entirely to the party. He had a reason. The moment the thing called the Lord of the Forest appeared, he had to be the one to stop it. If Paranet was warning them, the creature was that dangerous.
Lately, Yujun's life had not once hung by a thread. That was exactly why he felt he ought to stay more alert.
I have to be careful right now.
He had obtained the Planet Destroyer's Sword, and his arrogance had shot straight through the sky. A weapon capable of collapsing the balance of the world—the Planet Destroyer's Sword. But it was not a blade he had forged himself, nor one he had won by clawing through hardship. He had simply taken an item from No-Pay Casual Gamer's inventory and upgraded it.
No-Pay Casual Gamer might well possess a sword even finer than the Planet Destroyer's Sword. Frankly, some being with items as outstanding as his could exist somewhere in Heaven. The Lord of the Forest might even be that being.
The biggest problem is that No-Pay Casual Gamer is probably furious with me.
In a sense, Yujun was the one who had created No-Pay Casual Gamer. At the same time, he might as well have been a vicious employer—or a boss—sucking the man dry. And since he only ever took the good items, how bitter must that feel? He could only be sorry.
Even so, I can't give up on obtaining Synchronization Marbles.
Carrying Synchronization Marbles around was itself a gamble that bore a certain risk. He did not know where No-Pay Casual Gamer was, but the man might try to find him. The odds of that were high.
I have to get stronger, faster.
Looking at the caliber of items No-Pay Casual Gamer possessed, Yujun could not call himself the stronger of the two. He had to work to grow stronger as soon as possible.
A barrier lay over the forest, restricting the senses, but Yujun forced his way through that restriction.
This actually works...
It was possible thanks to the Grain Finding trait. More precisely, Grain Finding and Super Concentration had synergized, letting him locate even the grain within the barrier itself. It was the moment he realized Grain Finding was truly all-purpose.
From the instant the restricting barrier was nullified, the range of his senses expanded to an absurd degree. The feeling of the world opening wide. It felt good to be alive. Having his senses constrained had been thoroughly unpleasant.
Yujun searched for the Lord of the Forest first. There was one being radiating a mighty presence. In a forest this vast and dense, only a single existence gave off an aura like that; pretending not to notice would have been harder.
It's moving.
As expected, the thing was not asleep.
"Everyone, get ready. It's not far."
At Yujun's words, Atradeon's eyes widened.
"Has the Lord of the Forest awakened?"
"From what I can see, it woke a while ago. And it feels like it's searching for something."
"Searching?"
"Wait. There are others approaching it. Celestials."
The party stopped. The stems that had been crashing in had long since been cut down to the last.
"Are you certain? There are celestials besides myself?"
"Yes. They're walking right up without a shred of caution. Is the Lord of the Forest usually docile?"
"Hardly. It is ferocious beyond ferocity—more a malicious spirit than a beast. It would never leave anything that approached it alone."
"But they're not attacking each other."
"..."
"Five celestials have surrounded the Lord of the Forest and used an item."
"What kind of item?"
"I'm not seeing it directly, so I can't say. Only that it contains magic."
"...We should hurry. I mislike the feeling of this."
"Same here. They look like Moderate Faction celestials."
"So they have succeeded in controlling even the Lord of the Forest."
"Was that possible?"
"I had thought it impossible."
"The Moderate Faction pulled it off, though. They must have a lot of celestials over there whose heads work in that direction."
"It will be Ukria's doing."
"..."
Ukria. A familiar name. Ukria's Holy Spear. She had probably crafted that item herself.
"Is she an item craftsman?"
"She makes items, practices alchemy, brews potions—a woman of unmatched genius who can do anything. She even fights well enough to have stood at the very front of a war."
"Then there's a good chance she's the one who woke the Lord of the Forest this time, too?"
"Most likely."
"The Lord of the Forest is already obeying the celestials."
"That is a grave matter."
"You seem awfully calm for something so grave."
"I trust you will resolve it all."
"Right now the Moderate Faction has taken the forest and the Lord of the Forest as a package deal. You're not telling me you mean to sit on your hands and just trust me, are you? Do something."
"I have already made my report. But do you believe calling for support here would mean anything?"
"...No."
Atradeon stroked his beard and smiled.
"We must end it here."
"Then I'll set exactly one objective. Kill the Lord of the Forest. That settles it, right?"
"It does. And I am told that if this matter is resolved successfully, Sertiphs will give the three items he promised."
"Those feel like things I should have received a long time ago... but I suppose I should be glad he gave a definite answer."
"I added a word of my own—that if he tried to gloss over it again, you would not sit quietly. You may credit me a little as well."
"You know me well. Thank you."
If Sertiphs had withheld the items, Yujun might well have gone to the Hardline Faction and raised hell. He was not the sort to watch someone play games with his reward.
The objective was set.
"The forest isn't touching a hair on the Moderate Faction celestials. We're the only ones being attacked here."
Yujun stared straight through Atradeon's face.
"Why do you look at me so?"
"Can't you do what Ukria does?"
"...I am merely a trifling celestial who studies peculiar things. I cannot be compared to Ukria."
"So you're only good at theory? No help at all in a real fight?"
He had said it on purpose to scrape at Atradeon's pride, but the sage paid it no mind and nodded.
"Just so."
"...You're so confident I don't know what to say."
"Confidence is one of my virtues."
"Wait here."
"You mean to go alone?"
"Yes."
"I'll go with you, Yujun."
"It's dangerous."
"Then I guess I can't."
Kim Yohan gave up far too easily. It had probably been courtesy from the start. The Lord of the Forest was simply too dangerous a being.
"If that's what you say, we'll keep cutting stems."
"Right."
Then Yujun took Manuela's hand.
"Give me a blessing."
"...H-huh? Okay."