115. The Deepest Part of the Forest
115. The Deepest Part of the Forest
Once decided, action had to be swift.
I had already packed my bags when I told Andy, and I was running towards the Black Forest.
The reason I hadn't entered the Black Forest even once in the two weeks since the Hunting Festival began was because I planned to check it today.
Since tomorrow was the day of the Hunting Festival, checking it the night before was the surest way.
The shallow parts of the Black Forest were currently covered with alarm magic set up by the academy professors, so I couldn't go in alone.
It was a natural measure, as all sorts of students would have tried to enter the forest if not for the alarm magic, but
"What am I, some kind of living entry permit?! You just dragged me here and left me, what am I supposed to do!!!"
Andy yelled loudly.
He'd been woken from sleep, hastily put on simple gear, and immediately dragged all the way to the Black Forest, so he looked dumbfounded.
But what could I do?
"I'm heading to the deepest part now. Do you want to come with me?"
"No, I meant I'd wait, so have a safe trip."
When I said I was going inside, Andy shut his mouth and waved his arms wildly, telling me to have a safe trip.
I was entering the center of the Black Forest, where the most dangerous magical beasts lived, so if he wasn't going to follow, he should wait quietly.
"Shall we go see how things are...?"
The interior of the Black Forest where the Hunting Festival was to be held was quite well maintained.
Considering they were given only two weeks, it was a miracle.
"I'll clean up the ones near the boundary while I'm at it..."
I cleaned up the magical beasts in positions where students might accidentally encounter them while hunting tomorrow, as they were close to the boundary.
Things like Basilisks and Ogres were all dangerous magical beasts, but only by ordinary people's standards.
Several corpses of magical beasts wandering around the boundary appeared.
I couldn't check meticulously.
Checking the condition of the Black Forest was the priority, so I just took a quick look and had to go deeper inside.
Deeper and deeper, I gradually sank into the depths of the Black Forest, as if into a pitch-black hole.
The deeper I went into the Black Forest, the thicker the darkness that even moonlight couldn't penetrate became, and the danger of the creatures inhabiting it increased.
Then, at some point, I felt I had reached the deepest part.
The feeling when breathing was different.
I didn't know the cause, but the deeper one went into the Black Forest, the denser the concentration of mana dissolved in the atmosphere became.
This was one of the reasons ordinary people shouldn't enter the Black Forest.
Too much of anything is poison.
For Experts or mages, people with special skills to store and use atmospheric mana in their bodies, this dense mana might be considered a blessing, but for ordinary people, if the mana concentration is this high, they can't even breathe properly.
Now that I had fully entered the deepest part, the first thing I wanted to check was the corpse of the Orthos I had butchered while teaching Shara.
I hadn't been able to check properly since then, but with this much time passed, only white bones should remain.
I was moving, thinking I'd be lucky to find even a trace, when suddenly the direction of the wind changed.
-Kwang!!!
A massive explosion occurred where I had been just moments ago, as if hit by a mortar.
I noticed the signs and dodged immediately, but the destructive power was tremendous.
Black soil soared high into the sky, and one of the thick trees was uprooted from its base, falling over with a loud noise.
No one shot magic or fired a cannon.
He had simply stomped his 'foot' with all his might.
[Human... It's a human. To dare enter this place!!]
What appeared was a truly gigantic giant.
The trees of the Black Forest were larger than a typical 3-story building, but this giant was even more massive.
Its shoulders protruded above the trees.
I wondered if it could see its own feet properly from up there.
Even from below, I couldn't clearly see over the giant's shoulders.
Aside from its massive size, it resembled a terrifyingly muscular human, but one thing was different.
Looking closely, its giant face had a single, large eye planted right in the center.
It was a Cyclops, an ancient one-eyed magical beast, far higher-ranking than an Ogre.
"Hey, hey, what kind of rude greeting is that?"
[Heuhahahaha, I'll be eating human flesh for the first time in a long while!!]
The Cyclops laughed heartily and stomped its foot once more.
Soil and debris soared high into the sky, and the forest floor was overturned again.
'Keeps stomping its feet. Should I cut off its legs?'
This magical beast was also one that could speak, like Orthos.
The Cyclops, which had the characteristics of a middle-aged man, continued speaking.
[It's a bit small to eat, but what does it matter, to me it's all the sam...]
-Seogeok
[Kreuaaak!!!]
The Cyclops's leg, far thicker than a building's pillar, was severed at the knee.
Squete was in my hand, though I didn't know when I had drawn it.
It acted rudely as soon as I saw it, so I cut it off.
"Who's small?"
With one leg severed, the Cyclops grabbed a nearby tree, balanced on one leg, and looked down at me.
Its eye, planted large in the center of its face and bigger than my body, was glowing blue.
[Ha... haha!! To be wounded by a human... it's been a very long time! You... what are you, an outsider?]
"What's a guy who's about to die gonna do knowing that?"
One stack when it first attacked, two stacks when it attacked a second time, three stacks when it called me tiny—it's been a while since a guy pissed me off three times as soon as I saw him.
It pretends to try talking, but a guy who attacks to kill as soon as he sees you can't have a proper conversation.
Since it didn't seem like we could communicate, I thought I should butcher and bury him like 'Orthos' right away, but then I felt a new presence beside him.
[Shiiiik.. You have guts..] [It's been a while] [since a human came this far.]
This time, another magical beast appeared.
A giant snake with nine heads crawled up, flicking its tongue.
The sound was bizarre, as the multiple heads spoke in turn.
It was a Hydra, the most representative immortal magical beast from legends.
'Huh? There's a lot of them?'
That's when I noticed something strange.
I thought for sure I killed one and that was it, but there were two more?
It was a good thing I came in advance after all.
Cyclops and Hydras weren't ordinary magical beasts, but rare, powerful ones that only appeared in myths and legends, with few individuals.
No matter how I thought about it, it was strange for such creatures to be in this forest.
They were originally individuals who would claim an area this size as their territory and reign alone.
[Grrrr... Human... Strong human... You've come again!]
"What, you were alive?"
Orthos, the giant two-headed fierce dog, walked out from a deep burrow.
I clearly butchered it last time when it was licking its lips at Shara, but now there wasn't a single wound like that anywhere.
[This Orthos won't die from just that..!!]
[What is this, Orthos.. Was he an acquaintance of yours?]
It seemed its regenerative power was extremely strong, unlike its appearance.
The Cyclops had also reattached its severed leg to its knee before I knew it.
I knew Hydras had excellent regenerative abilities, but I didn't think they would be this good at regenerating.
Because there were no records of individuals found elsewhere displaying such regenerative power.
Were the individuals here something special?
"Just perfect."
I was surrounded by legendary magical beasts hundreds of times my size, but I wasn't worried.
I simply held Squete and manifested my Aura Blade with all my might.
A blinding flash of light filled the forest where deep darkness had settled.
"I'll just stuff all three of you and sell you to the mages."
Who knows?
Maybe these three ancient magical beasts that look somewhat special hold a clue to my growth?
[W-wait..!! Don't tell me you came all the way here just to kill us...!!]
I was about to cut off the Cyclops's neck when Orthos shouted, panicked.
"He attacked first, so aren't we fighting?"
[That old man... is a bit of a difficult elder, so he acts like that sometimes... I apologize..]
[Shiiiik!! Orthos!!] [What kind of] [way is that to talk to an elder!!]
The Hydra and Orthos spoke as if Cyclops was much older than them.
[Strong human.. Why do you break the promise? We made a promise with humans.]
"A promise?"
[Yes, a promise. We are keeping the promise not to leave this forest. We promised a human who came before that as long as you don't invade our territory, we will pose no threat to humans. We haven't gone out, so why have you come all the way here to attack us..!!]
Orthos expressed his dissatisfaction, asking why we came barging in and causing havoc when they were living quietly in their designated place.
It didn't seem like something a monster who talked all arrogant at our first meeting and ended up with its head split in two should say.
"That wasn't me. Who did you make that promise with a few years ago?"
[How many years ago... I don't know. But the human who made the promise with me was a knight named Reiner from the Fierce Tiger Knights Order.]
"Reiner..?"
Reiner of the Fierce Tiger Knights... I didn't memorize all the names of the old knight order seniors, but I knew the Fierce Tiger Knights were a knight order that also protected the Imperial Family.
They were rough people who often rolled around in the field, so I met them frequently.
If the promise was with the Fierce Tiger Knights, there was a high possibility that records remained in the Imperial Family.
If it was a promise kept within the Imperial Family, as a member of the Imperial Knights, I couldn't completely ignore it.
"Hmm... How far does this 'territory' go?"
[From the point where the atmospheric mana concentration sharply increases.]
Using that as the standard, the shallow parts... that is, the area where the academy would hold the Hunting Festival tomorrow, were unrelated.
I swished my brightly glowing Aura Blade once and spoke again.
"...If that's really the case, I'll withdraw too. But tomorrow, a lot of humans will enter this forest. They'll only play around in the shallow parts and won't come inside here, so don't you dare touch a single hair on those humans."
[Shiiiik!! This forest] [is sacred ground] [to us. Are you telling us] [to just watch] [as you brats mess it up...!!]
"Then die, all of you."
The Hydra's nine heads flicked their tongues and threatened me, but I just held my sword and stared straight at the Hydra.
The Aura Blade was already manifested.
If the Hydra attacked in this state, I could cut off all nine heads in one strike.
According to legend, if a Hydra's head is cut off, two heads sprout from the wound.
I wanted to test how far I could cut them down.
[It is not a difficult condition. I accept.]
[Shiiiik!! Orthos..!!] [Are you saying] [you'll allow humans] [to defile our father's grave!!]
[The shallow parts aren't the grave or anything! If we fight that human here, this place will be ruined..! Are you saying you'll destroy our father's grave?!]
'Father's grave?'
I wondered for a moment who the being they could call 'Father' was, and the answer came to me immediately.
The father of all magical beasts.
The god of magical beasts.
"This is Typhon's grave..?"