Chapter 78
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 78
Chapter Title: Troublemakers Though They May Be
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The two might be troublemakers, but...
-Whiiiirrr...
-Squish... squelch...
"Hwaaaah..."
In order to sneak out of the ruins for a bit without Eugene noticing, Dry headed toward the entrance, carefully weaving past the [Robot Vacuum Cleaner] diligently cleaning the corridor and the newly joined slimes.
"Jelly!"
"Glurp?!"
...And in the process, she sucked up a bit of the slimes' bodily fluids from underfoot.
After sucking up just enough fluid that they wouldn't die, Dry casually tossed the slimes back onto the floor as if nothing had happened. The slimes, having lost some of their fluids, immediately began gobbling up whatever liquids were nearby to replenish themselves.
"Glurp..."
Having been too busy with other matters to deal with them for a while, Dry ignored the slimes as they devoured the leftover hero blood in the corridor, the cleaning solution, and the [Insecticide] sprayed to keep bugs out. Her thirst quenched, she simply passed them by and headed outside.
"Sky!"
She toddled out on her short legs, and upon passing the ruins' entrance, a blue sky and lush green forest greeted her.
No matter that the sun inside the ruins had been made by Him to mimic the real sun for her long slumbers... it still couldn't compare to the genuine sunlight.
"Hwa?"
For a fleeting moment, a hazy memory surfaced in Dry's mind, but she quickly shook it off and basked in the proper sunbath she'd missed for so long.
-Crunch, crack...!!
From between her slender legs, thick tree roots extended, burrowing into the earth. Though her main body was still inside the ruins, she could summon roots or branches through her avatar with ease.
Having called forth part of her main body's roots, she planted them in the ground, absorbing nutrients while communing with the surrounding trees.
"Hwa......"
Thanks to the elves who had recently joined the ruins and been busily tending the outer trees, shaping the forest, the vibrant, life-filled trees happily communed with her, whispering the forest's secrets.
They told her of underground streams flowing deep below, the chirps of birds nesting between branches. The rustle of leaves underfoot as a high elf approached...
"Hwa?!"
"Divine Tree!!"
Sensing the presence, Dry panicked and hurriedly retracted her roots to flee, but Lil had already closed in and scooped her up in an embrace. Dry wriggled to escape, but Lil grinned and rubbed her cheek against Dry's face.
"Divine Tree! Where are you going alone? Why'd you come out here? Come with me!"
"Hwoo...!!"
Dry had slipped out to avoid Lil, but seeing her follow even outside, she recoiled in horror. Instead of the name 'Dry' that Daddy had given her, she called her by the wrong title 'Divine Tree,' and this pervert-like creature was always clinging to her, burying her face in Dry's hair to sniff or rubbing cheeks.
Even Eugene, watching from afar, had remarked that she seemed like a child predator.
"How...?"
How had she found Dry slipping out of the ruins and caught up so quickly? Though her words were short, Lil grasped the question through the high elf's innate communion ability and beamed.
"I just followed the pull, and there you were, Divine Tree!"
".....!!"
Oh no! Dry hadn't considered something so basic.
A high elf like Lil could sense her presence and track her down, whether Dry was inside the ruins or out.
"Don't be like that, Divine Tree. Try this! I made it just like Mom taught me. It's a nutrient that makes any tree grow like crazy..."
"Eugh!"
Struggling to escape Lil's grasp—which treated her like a doll and tried to force bitter medicine into her mouth—Dry suddenly froze.
"Huh? Divine Tree?"
"........."
Instead of her usual innocent or annoyed expression, Dry wore a grave look. Lil, feeling it through their communion, mirrored the seriousness.
"What's wrong?"
"...Grrr..."
"Eek! Divine Tree, don't grind your teeth like that! Trees shouldn't... wait, trees don't have teeth anyway?"
As Dry suddenly glared in one direction, gnashing her teeth, Lil urgently tried to soothe her. But upon contact, Lil received exactly what Dry was sensing through their communion.
This is...
"This is the forest where the new dungeon appeared! From now on, stay vigilant—the enemy could show up anytime!"
"Awoooo...!!"
Troops dispatched from three different dungeons, plus unaffiliated demons now under the alliance.
This allied force arrived at the new dungeon's forest. Werebeasts howled in battle anticipation, insect demons scattered bugs into the woods for intel, and one half-demon grimaced from intensifying headache.
"Sniff sniff... I smell it... this way!"
Werebeasts with keen noses detected distant blood and faint gunpowder, leading the group.
-Rustle. Rustle.
In the process, they trampled grass and snapped obstructing branches.
"Grrrr..."
"That..."
And in the process, the plants' screams reached Dry—who communed with the entire forest—and Lil through her.
"Bad!"
"Insect demons and werebeasts... and that one... Mom warned me about something creepy like that? Hmm..."
Though Dry's intelligence was childlike, she wasn't stupid. She'd overheard Daddy and the other elves whispering in the garden, so she could identify these intruders slowly advancing toward the ruins from one side of the forest.
And Lil—dim-witted and oblivious but packed with knowledge from the elf queen's desperate training—also sensed and identified the approaching presences.
"Divine Tree! Those guys—they're from the alliance, right? Those ones!"
"Bad guys!"
"Yes! Bad guys! They came to our house not long ago and threatened Mom!"
Confirming the alliance that had invaded her old dungeon demanding she join, Lil bared hostility.
Dry, who knew from Daddy that the bugs chewing her roots were alliance-sent, also confirmed them and bristled with enmity.
"Lil! Song!"
"Ah! Divine Tree, you finally said my name... wait, song?"
Even while hostile, Lil first tried pulling Dry toward the dungeon's interior for safety, but Dry scowled fiercely (though her childlike form made it cute) and grabbed Lil, demanding a 'song.'
"F-First, shouldn't we report to Master? If we go back and tell her, Mom will send reinforcements..."
"Song!"
"A-Alright!"
Though trained as successor and a bit angry herself, Lil rationally thought to report immediately, but yielded weakly to Dry's demand for a 'song.'
She pestered Dry relentlessly despite her dislike, but as a high elf, Lil couldn't defy a sincere command from the dryad Dry.
"Aaah...♪"
At Dry's order, Lil began singing a beautiful, clear soprano beside her. Dry rummaged through her pouch for the item she'd brought.
'I'll protect Daddy!'
The daddy who fed her delicious meals and water till her belly burst. She wouldn't stand by quietly for these scum upsetting him.
Of course, with her current power—main body absent, recently spent gifting fruit to Daddy—she couldn't take them all down.
But instead...
"Lala...♪ Huh? Divine Tree, what's that..."
"Keep going!"
"O-Okay. Lalala..♪"
Dry pulled out the 'bento' Eugene had packed before. The one meant for Dry if they borrowed her power against the heroes later.
A total of five foods. All purchased from the [Shop], buffed meals. And for Dry...
[Big Eater]: Can acquire up to 5 buff effects from 'meals'.
Dry had the [Big Eater][Talent], allowing up to five meal buffs. Of course, she didn't know her system-listed talent, but instinctively knew what eating this bento would do.
-[Salmon Salad]: Upon consumption, movement speed +50% for 2 hours.
-[Grilled Eel]: Upon consumption, all action speeds +20% for 5 hours.
-[Ice Cream Cake]: Upon consumption, fire damage taken -90% for 3 hours.
...
Carefully selected for Dry, the five meals. Devouring them all in one go without savoring, Dry drove her roots deeper into the earth and issued a 'command' to the entire forest... no, to commune...
Punish those bad guys targeting Daddy.
-Rumble...!!
"What is it?"
"Earthquake?"
The alliance force bulldozing through the forest halted as one, feeling the ground—no, the entire forest—shake.
"No demonic or mana reactions... just a real earthquake?"
Suspicious demons checked for enemy magic, but sensed only the thick, vital natural energy from dense trees.
"Ugh... dizzy."
As the shaking worsened vertigo for one demon, he steadied himself against a nearby tree.
-Shlick!
"...Huh?"
But in that instant, the trunk writhed like a snake, instantly coiling around his arm.
Then...
-Crunch, snap!!!
"Gaaahhh!!!
"W-What?!"
The tree squeezed viciously, pulverizing the demon's arm.
-Groooan!!!
"The trees...!"
The forest's trees swayed and mobilized as one, lunging at the demons.