Chapter 52
Chapter 52
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 52
Chapter Title: The Corrupted Forest
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Divine beasts are special beings.
They are different from the monsters you might see in a nearby forest, and they stand worlds apart from the unseen spirits.
Literally, creatures of fantasy.
Divine beasts are the personification of concepts, miracles, and things that cannot exist in reality.
As such, they possess special abilities that cannot be used by ordinary means, many of which defy common sense.
Usually, they cause natural phenomena like making it rain or summoning thunder…, but the ability said to be held by the young divine beast was different.
『──Trial and Reward.』
An ability that presents an opponent with an insurmountable trial and, should they overcome it, allows them to obtain what they desire.
『──He recalled the events of the original story. For a time, he had to go to the Great Forest, and the half-ruined line…』
The trial varies for each person, and their consciousness is transported elsewhere.
Because each trial is unique, the flow of time differs from reality, and the difficulty is also tailored to the individual.
『──Befitting the protagonist of the original story, he passed the trial and gained a new ability. Because of this convenient, game-like power, readers called the divine beast a hidden boss…』
*Click.*
Allen closed the black book, recalling the passages about the divine beast he had read countless times.
‘An ability to obtain what one desires.’
This miraculous power was the reason Allen had resolved to go to the Forest of the Young Divine Beast.
Not in his past life, nor in his current one, had any rumors of the divine beast possessing such an ability ever circulated.
‘Which means it’s definitely being hidden.’
Then again, if word of such an ability got out, there would be no shortage of factions trying to get their hands on the divine beast. It was only natural.
Allen tightened his grip on the reins, the dreary mountain wind whipping against him.
“Everyone, just hold on a little longer! We’re almost there!”
“Yes, sir-!”
“Don’t lose sight of the person in front of you!”
“Yes, sir!!”
At the Knight Commander’s shout, the knights roared in response, encouraging the soldiers.
Their destination was, of course, the Forest of the Young Divine Beast.
The forest was located west of El Round, midway through a mountain pass in the coniferous forests of the Mikellant Mountains.
It was a place that connected to both the Great Forest of the elves and the family’s domain.
Legally, one could argue it was family territory, but its distance from the city and geographically ambiguous location made it more of a neutral zone.
The party had traveled as fast as possible, taking into account the time it took the elf to reach their domain.
Thanks to this, they had managed to cover a two-week journey in just five days, but… perhaps due to the grueling forced march, the soldiers were not in good condition.
The harsh winter winds and the ominous atmosphere that grew stronger as they neared their destination kept the soldiers from relaxing for even a moment.
At this rate, even if they arrived quickly, they would be in no shape to fight.
Perhaps sensing this, the Knight Commander shouted loudly just as they were nearing their destination.
“Everyone, we’ll take a short break here!”
“Break time! Everyone, halt!”
At his declaration, the soldiers let out ragged breaths and opened their canteens. Even then, they didn’t forget to maintain at least a minimal guard.
“Brother, are you not finding this difficult?”
A reflexive smile touched Allen’s lips as he spoke.
“No, I’m more worried about the soldiers. How about you?”
In truth, Linbelle and Inellia had been attending to him from time to time, and since he was on horseback, he had faced no real hardship. The soldiers had surely suffered much more.
“I’m fine as well.”
“You didn’t look so good when we left the estate. Are you sure about that?”
Turning his head toward the voice, Allen saw Julius approaching, leading his horse.
“Ah, that. Yes. I’m fine.”
Julius’s eyes darted through the air before settling back on Allen.
‘No reflection in his eyes.’
So it couldn’t be seen physically after all.
Pushing aside a small pang of disappointment, Allen continued the conversation.
“Any other discomforts? Your riding skills have improved remarkably. When did you practice so much?”
“It’s tough not being able to wash, but that’s something I have to endure. As for riding…”
Julius answered confidently, as if it were nothing.
“I’ve been practicing in my spare time. My skills improved quickly, probably because my body already seemed to remember how.”
Allen was flabbergasted by his response.
‘A skill… was it?’
Perhaps because he knew Julius was receiving help from something called the [System], his baseless confidence was almost embarrassing for Allen to witness.
It was a concept Allen found somewhat difficult to grasp—[Riding (C)]—but he knew it was what supported Julius’s rapid growth.
‘He must have acquired it in his past life, so he should have it now, too. But still…’
Allen’s expression hardened as he turned his head toward the Forest of the Young Divine Beast.
“Julius, do you feel anything from that direction?”
An elf had arrived at their domain in a wretched state, so how could there be no reaction at all, even after they’d come this far?
‘This is different from what I knew.’
The party *should* have been intermittently hindered by undead and monsters on their way to the Forest of the Young Divine Beast.
That was what was supposed to happen, the future Julius had experienced.
That was why Allen had been constantly checking the scouts’ reports while also extending his senses to survey the surrounding area, remaining on high alert.
But what about now?
Where were the attacks?
The monster ambushes?
Where were the traps, and what were the black mages doing?
“…Um, what are you referring to, Brother?”
Julius didn’t understand what Allen was talking about. Allen suppressed his rising frustration.
“Think about it. Have we encountered anything on our way here?”
“Huh? Nothing… Wait, why haven’t we encountered anything…”
Just as Julius, who had been looking puzzled, opened his mouth with a look of realization.
“Stop right there!”
“You humans!!”
“Don’t tell me you’re using this chance to invade…!”
A commotion erupted from the direction where the scouts had been sent. Allen immediately roused his senses and headed that way.
“Brother!”
Ignoring Julius’s shout from behind, he followed the feeling and found them there.
A race possessing unfading beauty, long ears, jade-like skin, and youth that never withered with time.
“Speak! What is your business here!”
The elves were there.
* * *
The commotion was quickly sorted out.
The soldiers already knew they were here to help the elves, so no fight broke out.
Only the elves had reacted so vehemently.
Even after Allen explained they had come as reinforcements, the elves did not lower their guard.
However, when Knight Commander Basil and Julius also appeared to corroborate the story, they looked at them with disbelief before returning to report.
And then.
“…I truly did not expect you to come.”
Princess Natasha Ermanoff, the first princess of the Elven Kingdom.
The daughter of the queen who ruled the Great Forest had come here herself. And with only a few elves at her side.
Her official name was longer and more elaborate, but she introduced herself as Natasha Ermanoff.
“First, my apologies. I truly… did not expect you to accept our request for aid.”
She wore a sour expression, as if she still couldn’t believe it.
The fact that she maintained a certain distance and kept her hand on her weapon proved she did not trust them at all.
‘Wasn’t she one of his women?’
Countless women had flocked to Julius’s side, so she must have been one of them.
“So you made a request for aid, but didn’t inform the other elves of that fact?”
“To put it bluntly, yes, that is correct.”
She admitted to Julius’s words with a surprisingly calm face, then explained why they were here.
“There’s an important matter in the kingdom at the moment, so it’s taking time to dispatch troops… As a stopgap, I, being nearby, was mobilized.”
An affair so important it took precedence over the danger to their precious divine beast…
‘What could it be?’
It was frustrating to know Julius’s path but not the crucial secrets intertwined within it.
It seemed that even Julius didn’t know at this point in time, so there was no way for Allen to find out.
“It wasn’t an official delegation sent from the Great Forest, and since it was just survivors who fled the forest informally calling themselves a delegation, I didn’t have high hopes… but thank you, truly.”
Natasha said, bowing her head.
But no one present believed her gratitude was sincere.
How many people would genuinely accept help from someone who was their enemy only yesterday?
“…For now, since you’ve offered your help, please follow me. We are on standby near the Forest of the Young Divine Beast.”
At that moment, Julius’s eyes briefly sparkled as he looked at Natasha.
‘Orange?’
It was the first time since seeing Anya’s talent that he’d found another orange one. Julius quickly took a step forward and opened his mouth.
“Perhaps we could talk on the way…”
But the moment he took a few steps forward.
“Do not come any closer. Beast, brute, half-goblin. I am well aware of your reputation. Please do not approach me for any personal reasons.”
The princess, who had been trying to maintain her composure, spat out a scathing tirade.
“…What?”
“I would appreciate it if you did not approach me unless it is for official business.”
Julius’s face went blank.
The knights were momentarily struck speechless, and Allen looked at the ridiculous scene with a pathetic gaze.
‘He never changes.’
To think he had been so swayed by a man like this.
But looking at it another way, it meant the power of the [System] and the world’s favor were great enough to mask Julius’s flaws.
The knights belatedly showed their displeasure, but they couldn’t express it openly.
They couldn’t risk ruining an effort to improve relations.
But they couldn’t remain completely silent in the face of this insult to Julius, either.
As the knights struggled to decide how to act, Knight Commander Basil, who had been silent, stepped forward.
“Lady Natasha. Why were you waiting here instead of entering the forest first? You arrived before us; you could have already gone inside.”
Are you hiding something?
At the openly accusatory question, Julius looked back at the Knight Commander with surprised eyes, but the knights seemed somewhat mollified by Basil’s action.
“That is…”
Seeming to realize his intent, she looked at him, then answered the question with a strange smile.
“You’ll understand when you see for yourself.”
* * *
“Lady Natasha!”
“Princess Natasha!”
“Are you all right!”
No sooner had Allen’s party arrived near the Forest of the Young Divine Beast with their soldiers than the nearby elves rushed over.
The elves blocked her path, their eyes clearly wary of the humans.
Looking at them, one could see faint traces of hatred and disgust mixed in, a testament to how their reputation had spread among the elves.
‘Stepping up to restore relations with the elves…’
It was a ridiculous excuse, even to himself.
This was an animosity that had built up over generations.
He realized the charade that their relationship could be redefined simply by offering aid was just that—a charade.
In a situation like this, how comical must Julius have looked in his past life, boasting that the elves would surely repay their debt?
‘They’re all just a ragtag bunch.’
Was her claim that she had hastily gathered nearby forces true?
Natasha likely wouldn’t refuse their support because her own forces were somewhat lacking.
The knights, save for the commander, looked dumbfounded by the elves’ reception, openly showing their displeasure.
Sensing the atmosphere souring, Julius quickly intervened.
“So, what’s the reason for waiting here?”
Natasha silently pointed a finger somewhere.
“What’s over there…”
*Gasp.*
Julius’s eyes trembled as he looked where her finger was pointing.
“Huh? Huh? Is that…?”
“By the time we first arrived, the forest had already been transformed like this for some time.”
A colossal brown cliff—no, a massive wall of tangled, intertwined trees—filled their vision. Even Allen looked quite surprised by the sight.
‘I thought it was a cliff…’
This was the Forest of the Young Divine Beast? Is it even possible to forcibly grow a forest to that extent?
‘Completely…’
Things had changed.
He wasn't afraid of the future changing.
So many things had already been altered; it would be strange to think the future would proceed as it had before.
What was important was guiding the changed future in a direction that benefited him.
‘For my brother.’
And for myself.
Allen’s gaze deepened.
Just then, Julius’s eyes widened as if he had discovered something.
“…What’s that?”
Following his gaze, Allen saw reddish-black tentacles wrapped around various parts of the tree wall. Julius unknowingly blurted out the thought that came to his mind.
“…Demonic corruption.”
“Yes, that’s right. The Forest of the Young Divine Beast is in the process of demonic corruption.”
She nodded at his words. A knight beside her let out a low groan.
“Then the elves inside are…”
“We rushed here after hearing the testimony of our brethren who escaped… but it’s likely already too late.”
At her words, Allen asked with a cold gaze.
“Then, the reason you came here is for the divine beast?”
“Yes, to subjugate the black mages trying to corrupt the divine beast, and to rescue it.”
“I see.”
“With the forest halfway through its demonic corruption, we were in the middle of a heated debate about how to proceed.”
They weren’t debating how to proceed, but rather whether to retreat or not.
The truth was, it was a daunting prospect to enter with only a temporarily assembled force.
Allen paused to think, staring at the wall of wood.
And then.
“My lord?”
He looked back at Linbelle.
She tilted her head. Her hands fidgeted nervously, and her eyes trembled. Allen could see the emotions she was trying so hard to hide.
Only now did he see them clearly.
Anxiety. Doubt. Fear. Frustration. Despair. Obsession.
Allen gripped Vestla tightly. It might be a little late to say this.
Even so.
‘To prevent it from being too late.’
Allen shook his head at her as if it were nothing and called the Knight Commander’s name.
“Sir Basil.”
Even if her future had changed, nothing else had to.
“Yes.”
It doesn’t take much for a person to change.
“Can you do it?”
A single catalyst.
One turning point.
A single word of advice is all it takes for a person to change.
“I can.”
Allen hoped that she could overcome this trial and move forward.
The Knight Commander was not so unperceptive as to not understand what Allen was saying.
He walked toward the thick, towering wall of trees that resembled a cliff.
“Then I’m counting on you.”
*Thud, thud.*
“Wait, what are you talking about…”
Natasha hastily spoke up as they exchanged cryptic words and one of them moved forward.
“…!!”
But as a powerful wave of energy began to surge from Basil’s body, she summoned a spirit and quickly retreated.
“…Hoo.”
He stopped at a suitable spot.
The stages of a warrior are not standardized like those of a mage. Some use mana, some use prana, and in extremely rare cases, some use divine power.
It’s impossible to classify them as uniformly as mages.
But even without a formal classification, some things were self-evident.
‘He has no equal, at least in the western part of the kingdom.’
He couldn’t compare to the Eight Strongest, but on the scale of all humanity, he would be considered quite powerful.
‘I need to show this to Linbelle.’
The heights she would one day surpass.
A different form of the power she would obtain.