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Translator: Vine
Chapter Title: First Phase of the Forest Keeper
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CRASH! THUMP!
On the first floor of the Demonic Palace, in the Gray Forest.
Giant roots, descending from the storm clouds, began to burrow into the ground all over the Gray Forest.
"What—what in the world is that?!"
I heard Seron's shriek of horror.
The others, too, looked bewildered by the scale, which was far grander than they had anticipated.
But the true horror was yet to begin.
I sprinted forward, quietly eyeing the core of the roots.
CRACK!
Soon after, a bud that had sprouted from the root's core began to unfurl.
Drip-drip-drip-
Thick liquid oozed out from between the opened petals.
Inside was a creature, a grotesque hybrid of human and insect, formed from gray bark.
The creature began to unfurl and dry its insectoid wings from its back carapace.
The moment it truly took flight, the situation would become incredibly problematic.
So, our task was clear.
"Everyone, spread out and cut down as many roots as you can, starting now!"
"Are you insane? Cut *that*?"
Seron gasped, staring at the roots embedded in the Gray Forest.
At a glance, the roots were impossibly thick.
Of course, they wouldn't be easy to cut.
But we couldn't leave them be.
The true apostle of the Gray Forest—the Forest Keeper—absorbed all the vitality of the Gray Forest.
A Gray Forest whose vitality was absorbed would, as its name suggested, completely turn gray.
This meant it would essentially become a debuff zone where our HP would drain away in chunks with every step.
"What, lost your nerve?"
This was Seron, who had been talking big about descending the Demonic Palace just moments ago.
When I provoked her, Seron's lips pressed into a tight line, clearly provoked.
"Like I can't do it!"
Seron shouted loudly and charged like a madwoman toward one of the roots.
Hiss!
As she pulled out her axe, a hiss of ignition led to a burst of explosive flame.
Seron, whose explosive power had a natural advantage against the roots, would have no trouble severing them.
"Aisha, you can handle this too, right?"
"Of course."
Aisha had already drawn her greatsword and began to swing it with a powerful hum.
Aisha, the one they called the Greatsword Paragon.
Her strength was more than enough to cleave through the roots.
If anything, Aisha's eyes gleamed fiercely, as if she'd been waiting for a day like this.
"Poara, what fire spirits can you summon?"
"I can summon up to intermediate spirits!"
"That's enough. Don't summon the Lord just yet. Its time will come."
"Understood!"
With a spirited affirmative, Poara materialized a fire spirit.
A massive fire salamander appeared behind Poara, opening its mouth and spewing flames toward the root.
"Saint."
"I am ready."
Meanwhile, Sirmiel finished his prayer and stretched his hands toward the sky.
At that moment, a pure white light enveloped my body, and everyone else's.
A surge of vitality coursed through my veins.
My movements felt far lighter than before.
It was the effect of the Saint's Blessing.
Indeed, true to his title as a Saint, I could feel my stats receiving a massive boost.
'With this...'
Kicking off the ground, I sprinted forward, reaching the root in an instant.
Up close, the roots were massive, reminiscent of a colossal baobab tree.
This must be why Seron had looked so horrified.
'Normally...'
This part of the dungeon would be relatively easy to clear if Lucas and the protagonist's companions were present.
They could easily remove the roots.
Especially Lucas's Flame of Resolve, which was the Forest Keeper's greatest weakness.
But we couldn't rely on what we didn't have.
When the ideal tools aren't available, you make do with what you've got.
I raised my hand, my fingers sharpened like blades.
Thanks to my Steel Skin, my body had become a natural weapon.
With the Saint's Blessing added to that...
My body could now outperform most conventional weapons.
'Though it wasn't quite at the level of an aura blade...'
It possessed the cutting power of a renowned blade.
SHRED!
My swinging hand tore into the root, digging deep.
The roots themselves weren't significantly harder than ordinary wood.
So, maintaining the posture of having my hand embedded, I raised my other hand as well.
My hands began to tear into the root indiscriminately.
Like a mole digging through the earth,
I became an excavator, tearing through all the roots in my path.
As I tore through the roots indiscriminately, before long, I could see through to the other side.
Maintaining that posture, I spun around and continued to tear through the roots without pause.
CRACK, CRACK-CRACK-CRACK!
Soon after, the middle section of the root, connected to the ground, was completely hollowed out.
Shredded root debris was scattered all around.
There was no time to catch my breath.
The moment I confirmed the root was completely torn apart, I kicked off the ground and sprinted again.
And then, I reached out my hand toward the next root.
I used every ounce of strength I had, severing all the roots.
CRACK! THUMP!
The sound of roots being severed echoed from afar.
It meant the others were putting in their full effort too.
We were clearly not the protagonist's party.
But even if we weren't the protagonist's party, what we *could* do was no different.
'If we stop the Forest Keeper, we can bring the most people into the next act of this scenario.'
Though we lacked Lucas, the protagonist and our most valuable asset.
We just needed to bring more students to compensate.
'To twist this bad ending into a happy one.'
I'd use any means necessary.
"Senior!"
The moment I severed another root, Aisha's voice rang out.
Ahead of Aisha's path, a single root remained.
No other roots were visible nearby.
It was the result of everyone desperately destroying the roots.
Kicking off the root, I began to run again.
My arms were strained from such zealous root-digging, but I was still fine.
Aisha began to spin her body, rotating her greatsword.
The cutting power of Steel Skin was once again imbued into my hand.
CRACK!
Aisha's greatsword and my bladed hand simultaneously plunged into the root.
The two of us began to tear through the root with unrestrained force.
The remnants of the ruthlessly shredded root scattered around us.
The greatsword and my bladed hand danced through the roots.
After tearing through it for some time, Aisha and I burst out from between the roots simultaneously.
CRACK-CRACK-CRACK-CRACK!
The remaining root couldn't withstand the force and tore apart, collapsing.
Aisha and I rolled out from the scattering root fragments.
We sprinted, avoiding the gray zones as much as possible.
"Ugh, damn it, my arm's about to fall off!"
From a distance, I saw Seron running toward us, her axe resting on her shoulder.
Her fiery red hair was matted with root debris.
It was proof that she, too, had desperately cut down the roots.
"All the roots are burned!"
Poara shouted, arriving on her fire salamander.
My eyes quickly scanned the surroundings.
Fortunately, the Gray Forest hadn't fully transformed into a gray zone.
It meant we had successfully thwarted the Forest Keeper's emergence phase.
But the battle against the Forest Keeper had only just begun.
GRRRRIND!
The Forest Keeper, which had been at the core of the roots, began to rise, severing the roots that had connected it to the ground.
It should have been far larger, having absorbed a wealth of the Gray Forest's vitality.
But thanks to our surprisingly quick work in clearing the roots, it hadn't grown that much.
Which meant it was weakened.
"Saint, could you focus your blessing on Poara?"
"Of course."
The Saint immediately began to act on my words.
He started to pray.
"Poara."
"Y-yes!"
"Prepare the Spirit Lord. The moment the Saint's blessing is bestowed, fire it at maximum output."
"Huh, can I really do that?"
Poara spoke with a flustered expression.
She meant, was it really okay to use our trump card like that?
Of course, it was.
"Yes. Hit it with everything you've got."
Hearing my words, Poara nodded with a resolute expression.
"What's the plan?"
"Just watch."
I replied to Seron, then tilted my head back to look up at the Forest Keeper.
"Oh, Divine One, please accept the prayer of your humble lamb."
Meanwhile, Sirmiel finished his prayer.
Though this was the Demonic Palace, his prayer reached the heavens.
Soon, a torrent of blinding light poured down upon Poara from the sky.
All of Poara's abilities surged explosively.
The Spirit Lord, after all, was a being ranked just below the divine.
Which meant it could receive divine protection better than any other spirit.
As a result, the divine blessing pushed her into a realm of power she could never have reached on her own.
Due to the overwhelming concentration of power, Poara broke out in a cold sweat, bringing her hands together.
At that moment, a torrent of spiritual energy erupted wildly from Poara's body.
A radiant halo began to form above Poara.
"Whoa!"
"This is incredible."
Seron and Aisha, feeling the surge of power, couldn't help but gasp in awe.
Wind began to blow.
The gale was so strong that we could only brace ourselves, crouching low.
From within the swirling tempest, the master of the Great Spirit Forest slowly began to raise its head.
Sparks danced around it.
A colossal bird, composed of wind and crackling sparks, unfurled its wings toward the sky.
Wings so vast they cast a shadow across the sky unfurled.
The Spirit Lord.
An entity that had achieved enlightenment in the highest domain attainable by a spirit, roared skyward.
The sight was utterly overwhelming.
A Spirit Lord, whose raw destructive power rivaled even that of Arch-Mages.
Before such an overwhelming display of power, everything else felt utterly helpless.
A slow smile spread across my lips.
The Forest Keeper's first phase presented numerous headaches.
It was filled with infuriating patterns designed to wear you down, optimized to drain players' strength and resources.
That's why I used Poara.
'Bypassing Phase 1 with extreme damage.'
It was a 'burst-down' strategy.
"Spirit Lord!"
Poara swallowed a choked gasp, cold sweat beading on her brow.
Then she pointed her hand toward the Forest Keeper.
"Please!"
With Poara's cry, the Spirit Lord flapped its wings.
The wind and lightning that erupted swirled into a maelstrom, hurtling towards the Forest Keeper.
KABOOOOM!
The Forest Keeper, having just opened its eyes, shrieked as it was engulfed by the swirling vortex of wind and lightning.
It thrashed, trying desperately to survive, but it was futile.
The swirling maelstrom of wind and lightning tore the Forest Keeper to shreds, shattering it into countless fragments.
The torn fragments of the Forest Keeper scattered around.
The giant roots that had appeared in the Gray Forest were completely shredded, their form utterly unrecognizable.
"Ugh... H-huh."
Poara, having poured every last ounce of her strength into summoning the Spirit Lord, collapsed to her knees.
She had done well.
Seron, who had been staring blankly, asked,
"So... was all that necessary?"
"Don't worry."
I replied to Seron, tightening my grip on my shield.
WHIZZ!
At that moment, tiny, fruit-like objects spewed out in all directions from the shattered roots.
THUMP! CRASH!
The fruits that plummeted to the ground cracked open like hatching eggs.
From within, smaller versions of the Forest Keeper we had just seen emerged, but without wings.
Seron watched with a look of utter disgust, lowering her axe.
She, too, realized the fight was far from over.
"We still have a lot to do."
We'd burst through Phase 1.
Now it was time to conquer Phase 2.