Great Forest (2)
Endless green sea. Beneath a towering 200-meter giant tree, soldiers huddled together, their haggard faces nodding off in exhaustion. They looked just like remnants of a routed army.
“Commander Bowga, we can’t hold out any longer.”
“He’s right. Our supplies are running out.”
Bowga’s head throbbed at the Gigant pilots’ words. He knew they couldn’t endure much more. But abandoning this place would mean losing most of their Gigants and troops, so he hesitated to make the call.
“Damn it! Of all places, we had to stumble into Gravoid territory. The gods have forsaken us.”
“Watch it! The men will hear you.”
The area around the giant tree they stood on was safe, its roots plunging deep underground harder than rock. But the surrounding ground was all soft soil. The real problem was that this mushy terrain was the hunting ground—and territory—of the C-rank monsters called Gravoids.
Gravoids detected even the slightest vibrations on the surface, bursting upward to seize their prey and drag it below. Once pulled underground, it was over. And the clever beasts waited until their prey was fully inside the territory before striking, so by the time you noticed, you were already dead.
Just two days ago, while moving a single tree, they’d lost one 3rd-class Gigant and thirty soldiers to the depths. Escaping the Gravoids’ domain entirely would cost who knew how many more lives.
“Why not just keep running in one direction without stopping? Our odds of survival would go up, right?”
“There aren’t just one or two of those monsters. Most of us wouldn’t make it—especially the Gigants. Their vibrations are too strong; not a single one would escape. Can we cross the Great Forest on foot without Gigants? In the end, we’d all...”
Bowga couldn’t finish the grim thought. They’d been isolated in this region for ten days already, with no real solution in sight. And as if that wasn’t enough, D-rank bat monsters lurked above on the tree branches, eyeing the soldiers hungrily.
The bats weren’t huge—their bodies measured about two meters—but with wings spread, they reached six meters. They couldn’t take on Gigants, but snatching a single human and dragging them up into the canopy? Easy.
These bats waited for the humans to scatter before pouncing.
“Even so, we have to try something now. Time’s running out.”
“Sigh! I know. Gather the men for now.”
“Yes, sir!”
Seven 3rd-class Gigants and twelve transport Gigants took the lead, while the four hundred soldiers clustered tightly before the massive trunk. Bowga, the knight commander, stepped forward.
“You all know it—we’re in dire straits. Over the past ten days, we’ve lost seventy comrades and two Gigant pilots. But now, even more of us will die.”
The soldiers’ faces darkened at Bowga’s blunt honesty. So far, it had been others dying. Now it was their turn. And most would perish here.
“But we’re soldiers of Lorenne! We won’t give up until the end! At least one of us has to make it back to see our families, right?!”
The word “families” ignited a final spark in the men. In a moment like this, on the brink of death, it held magical power. If your feet wouldn’t move, you died. If you couldn’t run, you died. So run to survive—for your family.
“From now on, no breaks! Run until you hit solid ground!”
“If a comrade falls beside you, don’t look back—keep running!”
“Yes, sir!”
Bowga nodded at their resolve. “Thanks. Let’s all make it out alive!”
He turned toward his own Gigant.
Screeeech!Thud!!
“What’s that? What the hell was that sound?”
They’d just psyched themselves up to run when the monstrous cry rang out, plunging the soldiers back into fear.
“Commander! Look over there!”
Thud! Thud!
“Monsters are falling from the trees!”
A bat monster, wings severed and body wounded, crashed to the ground. Instantly, a red Gravoid erupted from below, snatching it and vanishing underground.
“What in the world is happening up there?”
“Maybe another monster showed up?”
“Another monster?”
As over a dozen bats plummeted, silence fell around them. Of course, the fallen bats had been devoured by Gravoids, leaving no trace.
Rustle! Swish!
The giant tree’s branches began shaking violently.
“Up in the tree! Something’s coming down!”
“Everyone, stay alert!”
They had nowhere else to flee. When they spotted something black descending from above, the soldiers panicked, and even the Gigant pilots swallowed hard in tension.
“Wait... isn’t that a Gigant?”
“No way! Why would a Gigant come from up there?!”
The soldiers finally recognized the descending monstrosity. Four legs, four arms—an eerie design, but unmistakably a man-made Gigant.
Artemis slowly descended to the base of the tree. The hatch opened, revealing Wayne.
“Hey! You guys from Lorenne territory?”
The soldiers were too stunned by Wayne’s casual question to respond. They could hardly believe this man who’d appeared so nonchalantly in the deadly Great Forest...
***
“That kid who doesn’t even have blood dried on his head is a Gigant pilot?”
“Shh! He came to save us at Lady Alicia’s request!”
“But this is ridiculous!”
The moment Wayne gave a brief introduction, the soldiers shook their heads and whispered.
Wayne suddenly scowled and snapped, “So, which idiot led troops into monster worm territory?”
Bowga the knight commander and the Gigant pilots flushed red. First, this much-younger pilot was speaking casually to them. Second, he’d stabbed right at their sore spot.
“Ahem! Our guide lacked experience and didn’t know.”
Bowga, the eldest and leader, answered politely. Seeing this, Wayne responded courteously.
“You should cut the guide loose.”
“No need. He died two days ago.”
“Then here’s a tip: Take a good look around. Nothing but giant trees—no bushes, no small rocks. Nine times out of ten, that means monster worm zone. You never enter a place like this.”
“Sigh! Understood.”
Wayne knew from his python monster experience, but humans couldn’t easily grasp the Great Forest’s dangers.
I made a deal with the baroness’s wife, so I can’t just leave...
Wayne pondered how to lead this many people out.
“Couldn’t we move across the treetops like your Gigant, Sir Wayne?”
If they could climb trees like Artemis, escaping this area seemed feasible. These giant trees were enormous, their branches several meters thick, so even tree-climbing monsters used the canopy as paths.
But Wayne shook his head. “Climbing’s tough enough, but crossing from tree to tree? Impossible.”
Artemis could navigate branches thanks to its four arms and four legs that functioned like extra limbs. Plus, it couldn’t protect humans from bat attacks up there.
“Then we’ll have to use another method.”
“You have a way?”
“If you trust me and wait for the signal, I’ve got one...”
Wayne gave Bowga a quick explanation, told them to await his signal, and boarded Artemis. Propping itself with its four arms and pushing with its four legs, Artemis began crawling up the giant tree like a spider.
“Holy hell! A Gigant climbing a tree like that?!”
“Four limbs on a Gigant was crazy enough to begin with!”
Lorenne’s Gigant pilots and soldiers gawked at the bizarre sight.
***
A day passed, then two. The soldiers grew increasingly anxious. By the third day—past the promised time—and into the fourth, the pilots worried.
“Commander Bowga, he’s way overdue.”
“Wait it out. He didn’t strike me as a liar. And he came alone into this forest to find us.”
“But he didn’t say what the method was, just to wait for a signal. What does that even mean?”
“He said we’d know it when we see it. Hold on a bit longer.”
A scout was vigilantly scanning the surroundings when—
Boom! Crunch!
Something crushed with a sickening sound. They whipped around.
“L-look over there!”
Wayne’s Artemis raced on four legs, with four dead bat monsters dangling from vines behind it.
“Gasp! What’s that behind it?”
“M-monster! A massive one!”
A body four meters thick and fifty meters long—an A-rank monster. An adult python pursued Wayne’s Gigant from 100 meters away.
Taking down a disaster-class beast like that required at least a full armored battalion including 2nd-class Gigants.
“Wait, it’s heading this way?”
“That’s the signal! Everyone, prepare to run!”
Artemis barreled in at terrifying speed, leaping onto the giant tree right beside theirs. The pursuing python plunged into Gravoid territory.
Suddenly, the ground caved in, swallowing the massive serpent.
“Kieeeaaah!”
“Kuaaaah!”
Horrific monster shrieks echoed as the giant tree and earth shook like an earthquake.
Looking down, Wayne saw the python tangled in combat with multiple Gravoids.
[Now! Run the opposite way!]
Wayne descended and shouted as he ran.
“The signal! Everyone, run!”
The waiting Gigants and soldiers followed Wayne’s lead.
C-rank Gravoids were no match for an A-rank. And pythons digging burrows gave them no underground edge here. But this was Gravoid territory! Dozens surged in to defend their kin, swarming the python.
In the chaos, the humans escaped to solid ground unharmed.
“Huff! Huff!”
“Ugh! My chest’s gonna burst!”
[Not safe yet! Keep going!]
Wayne didn’t let them stop. If the Gravoids won, fine. But if the python triumphed, they’d face a brutal fight.
After running far more, Wayne halted beneath another massive tree.
Hiss! Artemis’s hatch opened.
“Phew! Rest here for a bit!”
“Urk!”
“Heave... ho...”
The soldiers vomited or collapsed in exhaustion. The Gigant pilots trailing behind were half-dead too, having burned through their Odd.
“You two in the 3rd-class Gigants—no rest! Stand guard!”
“Y-yes, sir!”
The two pilots obeyed without complaint, remounting.
“Sir Wayne, what in the gods’ names just happened?”
Bowga asked, his face a mix of shock and joy.
“Phew! As you saw—using one monster to drive off another.”
Wayne felt a rush of satisfaction inwardly.
I avenged you bastards!
The python he’d lured was the one that had fiercely contested territory with the red-Odd python Wayne once absorbed. After Wayne vanished, it had claimed the domain—as expected. Thanks to the monster’s memories, Wayne’s gut twisted at the sight. So he’d deliberately gone to its nest and baited it.
No mere bait would work on it, but it sensed the red Odd of its old rival in Wayne and charged after him.
As Wayne caught his breath with a satisfied smirk, his expression darkened.
Persistent bastard!
Wayne sensed the python approaching.
“Soldiers, hide! Gigants, ambush behind the trees! Monster incoming!”
Wayne, aboard Artemis, unleashed red Odd and drew Hongyeom from his back.