The Burning Forest (Complete)
Stepping into the cave, I glanced around and gave it a straightforward assessment.
"It's cleaner inside than I expected."
I'd figured it would be dangerous since the traces of Ma Gi led here.
But the cave interior was just an ordinary cave—rugged, with loose stones scattered about.
Elpinire, apparently not sensing anything off either, had been scanning the surroundings ever since we entered.
"Find anything strange?"
She shook her head.
Nothing.
That meant we had to go deeper.
As Elpinire and I pressed further into the cave's depths, I glanced sidelong at one section of the wall.
Deep gashes, like something sharp had clawed it.
Traces I'd left behind fighting the mutated Bloody Mantis.
We passed those marks and kept going until we stopped at what seemed like the cave's end.
"……."
Or more precisely, at the edge of a pitch-black abyss like an endless ravine.
I peered down into the murky depths.
Dark.
Deep.
Couldn't see a thing.
Maybe we'd come the wrong way?
It was the kind of thought that might cross your mind, but not for me.
Why?
I lifted my gaze and stared quietly at the wall beyond the chasm.
'That's definitely where I broke out from.'
When I woke up in the cave, I was trapped in a sealed chamber with the Bloody Mantis and Earth Bear.
Thanks to Cheori, I realized the space beyond the wall was empty, so I smashed through and burst out.
Yeah.
I shattered the wall and leaped out.
Managed to cross the chasm barely, using Smoke.
But.
'It's gone.'
No sign of the shattered wall anywhere across the chasm.
I checked over and over, but the far wall was pristine.
Weird.
That confirmed it for me.
"Gotta be down there."
Down in that endless abyss.
That's where the man consumed by Ma Gi would be.
Time to head down.
As I prepared to descend—
"……!"
Suddenly, hazy Ma Gi erupted from the chasm below like an explosion.
The concentration was thin.
Not enough to melt skin on contact.
But the shockwave from the burst cracked the ground where we stood.
"Fuck—."
The ledge crumbled beneath us.
Elpinire and I plummeted into the abyss.
"Hoo……."
Scraaaape.
I'd jammed my right hand into the wall just in time, saving us from a fatal fall. I glanced around.
"See anything?"
"No. Nothing."
Her voice came from right below.
Looking down, I spotted Elpinire clinging to my leg with her left hand.
She was using her mana to shield me while peering into the depths.
"I knew it was deep, but not this deep."
We'd come down pretty far.
Yet the bottom was still out of sight.
We descended slowly, scraping the walls, until finally our feet touched solid ground after what felt like ages.
"……Who knew a place like this was down here."
I nodded at Elpinire's words.
The chasm was wide vertically but narrow horizontally.
But the landscape at the bottom was entirely different.
Vertical drop same as above.
But horizontally?
Especially to the right.
Another tunnel stretched out endlessly, vast beyond measure.
And the Ma Gi was seeping from within it.
Anticipating something like this, I'd picked up a branch on the way. I pulled it from my pocket.
"Cheori. Fire."
"Kkung."
Whoosh.
Flames from Cheori on my shoulder ignited the branch.
Elpinire flinched at the sight of fire on wood but said nothing.
Using the burning branch as a torch, I took the lead into the tunnel.
"……."
Step, step.
One step at a time.
The foul, rotting stench grew thicker with every advance.
The cavern floor, wide as a subway tunnel, was littered with monster corpses—impossible to tell how long they'd lain there.
Bloody Mantises, Earth Bears, and countless others I'd never seen.
The deeper we went, the more there were.
"……All of them look like they've been bitten by something."
As Elpinire said, every corpse bore bite marks.
Some torn apart, others cleanly severed.
Further in, the bodies piled up ankle-deep.
Some no longer even had bite marks—just upper or lower halves exploded away, as if they'd burst from inside.
As I passed a lone boulder, my hackles rose, and I froze.
I hurled the torch into the vast chamber ahead.
"Get ready."
The torchlight softly illuminated the chamber.
Revealing.
"Keeek?"
"Keeeeeek!"
Dozens.
No, hundreds of monsters crammed inside.
Still mid-mutation, their Ma Gi levels were lower than the ones we'd fought before.
Low compared to those, sure—but with numbers in the hundreds, it was still a dire threat.
The monsters recoiled from the sudden light.
Forewarned, Elpinire leaped lightly toward them, fist clenched.
Lord El - Primo
Thud, boom—!
Monsters swept away by a single punch.
Landing, Elpinire planted her left foot and swung her right leg in a swift arc.
Lord El - Secundo
Blades of mana shot from her kick.
The sharp crescents felled only one monster, unfortunately.
"Tch."
Ma Gi.
The thick haze rising from every monster blocked the mana onslaught.
Elpinire clicked her tongue.
I dashed to her side, slashing my right hand upward from below.
Black Dragon - Mist Blade
Shwick!
The horde Elpinire missed was sliced apart by the black mist blade.
Her eyes widened.
"Human. You can do that too?"
"Call me by name."
"……Sorry. Force of habit."
Whatever.
I shrugged past her and drove my fist into a massive wolf-like monster charging head-on.
"Hup!"
Splat!
The monster exploded, unable to withstand it.
Thanks to my robe, even direct Ma Gi contact didn't faze me.
Close range was fine.
Grinning, I stepped forward at an Earth Bear lunging with Ma Gi trailing, pulling back my fist.
Smoke
Black mist bloomed from my right hand.
No need for finesse.
Just pack it full.
I compressed the black mist onto my right hand to its limit, supercharging it, then thrust at the charging Earth Bear's face.
Synchronization Rate 2.3%
Tap.
My fist lightly touched the gaping maw of the charging Earth Bear.
And then.
Compressed Smoke detonated on impact, generating a massive shockwave.
Smoke's derivative technique Fury has been created.
An explosion of absolutely devastating force engulfed the area.
Ears ringing from the deafening blast, surrounding monsters were swept away.
Distant ones survived unscathed, but those nearby vanished without a trace.
"Ngh……."
The recoil sent my body flying backward the moment I punched.
The first use of Fury was that powerful—it pushed even me back.
I quickly regained my footing and compressed Smoke over my right hand again.
Smoke - Fury
Boom!
Another black mist explosion erupted.
Monsters scattered.
Recoil flung me back again; I gritted my teeth and steadied myself.
'……This one's taxing.'
After two uses, my shoulder throbbed.
Damn.
Since only my right hand transformed with the Black Dragon, the connected shoulder screamed in agony.
Fury wasn't for repeated use.
But right now, I had to.
'Monsters keep pouring out.'
Over a hundred already in the chamber.
Even after wiping them, more crawled from the depths.
Hesitate even a moment, and they'd overrun us.
Escape the chasm and rampage above.
It wasn't just me.
Elpinire fought relentlessly, fists and kicks flying without pause.
Move.
Kill one more instead of wasting time.
No words needed—we reached the same conclusion.
So I clenched my teeth and punched again.
Smoke - Fury
Something snapped inside, my right shoulder trembling nonstop.
Power wouldn't flow right, but I ground my teeth and forced the arm up.
"Raaagh!"
Booom!
Fist connected again.
Massive explosion swept the chamber.
No more lift from the arm.
Natural Healing kicked in, but accumulating damage outpaced recovery.
Grinding my teeth, I reached into my pocket.
Rough vial texture under my fingers.
Already time for this?
Short deliberation, about to pull it out—
"……Huh."
The pain in my right arm eased somewhat.
Eyes widening, I glanced sideways.
Elpinire had come up beside me, panting hard as she channeled mana into me.
"Save that for later."
"……Thanks."
Thanks to her, I could move again.
Move meant punch again.
"That's enough."
More than enough.
I didn't need the pain gone completely.
I clenched my fist roughly as my right arm stirred, thrusting forward.
Smoke - Fury
How much time passed?
How many punches?
Mana depleted, shoulder bursting, rags of flesh hanging—
Finally, the monster wave halted.
"Human. Come here, I'll heal you."
"Nah."
I shook my head.
Healing? Sure, it'd be great.
But Elpinire was exhausted too.
Healing wasn't her forte; treating my arm might drain her mana completely.
Better to trust Natural Healing.
Besides.
Synchronization Rate 2.5%
Slaughtering the horde had bumped it to 2.5%.
Higher sync boosted Natural Healing; recovery sped up noticeably.
Five minutes, and the bleeding would stop—no need for more.
Blood trickling from my right arm down to the floor, I stared ahead.
Mountain of monster corpses—no exaggeration.
Where the hell did they all come from?
To find out, I clambered over the corpse hill.
A slope.
Waiting for us: a hill.
We climbed slowly upward.
And so.
By the time Natural Healing stanched the blood and my arm moved a bit—
We arrived.
End of the hill, end of the tunnel.
And.
"……."
The spot where I'd opened my eyes upon re-entering the Evergreen Tower.
"E-Elpinire. D-don't cry, don't cryyyy."
"……."
"W-we can meet agaaain—."
Before a man whose lower body had melted into the wall amid thick Ma Gi, one arm missing.