Glintstone, Glintstone, Glintstone, Carian Greatsword!
A gigantic longsword formed entirely of azure magic swung down, coordinating with the Lightless Greatsword transformed from Lefiya's staff, and in the blink of an eye, they sliced the incoming monsters in the distance into several segments.
Instant magic without chanting—that really is a bit overpowered, isn't it?
Added to that were the finishing blows from Ais and Tiona, and in a flash, another wave of monsters was wiped out.
What is going on?!
Heith stood to the side watching. Seeing the young man clad in pitch-black wolf armor skillfully casting magic, she had the illusion that perhaps there was something wrong with her own brain.
No.
Weren't you a vanguard who swung a greatsword in melee combat with monsters before? How did you suddenly turn into a Mage?!
And why are several people casting the same magic?!
This is fundamentally impossible, right?
Before, Heith only thought there was something wrong with the Dungeon, but now the woman felt that perhaps there was something wrong with her teammates too!
Where exactly is this?
Is it still the Dungeon? Is it still Orario?!
Has a major problem occurred in my world?!!
Amidst her confusion.
The woman found it difficult to ask. After all, an adventurer's Skills and Magic are their secrets. For example, although she could guess that the changes in the Dungeon were definitely because Isagi possessed some Skill, it was just a guess.
Unless...
She glanced at Ais beside her. The golden-haired Sword Princess obviously didn't know it before. Could it be some Skill or Magic unique to the Astrea Familia?
You get it just by joining?!
Although this thought was strange, why was her heart suddenly fluttering a little?
It is very difficult for Healers to level up.
Among the same class, the city's strongest, Miss Amid—although there is the reason that she almost never goes to the Dungeon and is thus only Level 2—even someone like herself, the "Healer with the highest level in the city," is only Level 4.
The reason is simple.
That is [Excelia]. A Healer's [Excelia] is naturally related to "Healing," but the problem lies there.
The more arduous the battle, the less likely victory becomes; conversely, the easier the battle, the less a Healer is needed.
Just like when she participated in Isagi's adventure before, her contribution was quite limited, resulting in neither an increase in ability scores nor the acquisition of any [Excelia].
This is a paradox.
Those situations where things are suppressed to the limit, relying on the Healer to keep teammates alive, followed by a counterattack and victory in the instant between life and death—those are simply far too rare.
And the reason Heith has a Level 4 status is entirely because she wasn't a Healer before.
The woman watched the magic constantly being released by the boy and the girls without chanting.
A "bold idea" that she had never dared to think of before, but which was now solidly appearing before her eyes, emerged in her mind.
That is:
Since she cannot level up as a Healer, wouldn't it be fine to participate in battle as a Mage or some other identity to obtain [Excelia]? Anyway, after leveling up, the power of healing magic will also become stronger as her Strength grows.
[That might actually work!]
Although it felt strange just thinking about it, the more she thought, the more reliable it seemed!!
But would that still count as a Healer?!
Why does she feel an inexplicable sense of immorality?
Thinking about such complex issues, Heith simultaneously and conveniently cast a continuous healing spell on Tiona. This was the only thing she needed to do along the way.
They continued to climb upward.
After they stopped flying, Isagi decided that everyone would use grappling hooks to continue climbing between the great trees.
The result was a discovery.
The constantly ascending passages between these great trees were much more complex than what he had seen before.
Not to mention the large patches of dense spikes that always landed between the branches, there were also thorny vines hanging down from above, intersecting with the spikes on the ground to form quite a three-dimensional trap obstruction.
And in the distance, monsters capable of ranged attacks would launch assaults at the group from the ends of patches of thorns and spikes.
This was all still manageable.
Lefiya's magic shield, combined with magic attacks from himself and Ryuu-senpai, could easily solve them.
But every now and then, monsters would suddenly drill out from within the branches of the great trees. While they launched raids, those flying monsters would also hang far away in mid-air, coming to harass them from time to time.
Having to play "grappling hook jump king" while dealing with monsters made this section of the journey incredibly torturous.
Moreover, looking up.
That sky, like an azure ocean, didn't seem to have gotten any "closer."
Exactly how long do we have to climb?
Isagi found it hard to imagine how the Pale King had led the Goblin expedition army to reach the site of the miracle back then.
On the way.
They really did see quite a few camps left behind by Goblins.
Most had already become ruins—dilapidated wooden fences and tents burned to gray-black ash. Among them, some Insect-man NPCs could be seen.
Unlike the monsters encountered on the way, these Insect-men looked very weak. They wore no armor and even gave the illusion of being stupidly cute.
[Ah... ah... starving... ah...]
[It hurts... it hurts, it hurts, it hurts...]
[How much farther is it? Should we just go back...]
Most of the guys were repeating such unnutritious words. It wasn't until Isagi and the girls passed by similar ruins of Goblin camps for the third time that they finally ran into a guy they could talk to.
It was a tiny beetle, crawling on the ground, saying it was about to starve to death and asking if they could give it something to eat.
Lefiya quickly took out a piece of dried meat from her large backpack and gave it to it.
The little beetle blinked, looking at the dried meat thrown in front of it, seeming somewhat at a loss.
"You won't eat it?"
"Idiot Lefiya! Why would a bug eat meat?!"
Tiona hummed, then summoned several vegetable leaves and a large radish from the Elf girl's backpack.
"Eat this!"
Silence.
The little beetle still blinked, remaining indifferent to the vegetables before it.
"Eh? You won't eat this either? You can't be picky eaters; vegetables are very nutritious. If you don't eat, you won't grow tall or big..."
"I know!"
Seeing Isagi's appearance of about to take something out, the girls instantly realized something and screamed internally, 'Oh no!'
"It wants to eat this, right?"
Watching the small clay pot Isagi held in his hand, Lefiya and the others felt their vision go dark.
As expected, it's a dung ball!
Speaking of which, why does Isagi always think monsters will eat this stuff? What they want should be that liquid from the food storage, just like what the Goblins ate before.
However.
After receiving the clay pot from the boy's hand and opening it, the little beetle's eyes immediately lit up. Immediately following that—
You're actually eating it!
The girls revealed terrified expressions, then subconsciously took a few steps back, putting some distance between themselves and the little bug before them.
Regarding this, Isagi only felt that compulsory education in the other world truly had a long way to go.
The little beetle before them.
Isn't this undeniably, one thousand percent a dung beetle?
"Thank you, adventurers!"
After eating its fill, its strength recovered significantly, and the tiny beetle even spoke much louder.
"Pilgrim Nick sincerely thanks everyone for your help. It is truly a rare sight to see adventurers coming for the pilgrimage. I wish you success in reaching Paradise. Aem!"
At the end, it uttered a strange syllable.
The little beetle calling itself "Nick" bowed respectfully to everyone; it actually looked quite cute.
"Are you also going to Paradise, Nick?"
"Yes, all the bugs here are the same. From birth, everyone wants to head to Paradise. There, one is carefree and has endless dung balls to eat..."
"..."
What kind of paradise is that?
A sea of dung?!
Nick's words startled the girls once again.
Regarding this, Isagi remained expressionless and simply asked:
"Can we reach Paradise just by keeping walking up?"
"Yes, it's just that the vast majority of bugs can't do it. Even completing this initial path of pilgrimage is already exhausting... Nick too. If not for the help of you adventurers, Nick would probably have starved to death here."
"Initial?"
Isagi frowned slightly, looking down beneath the great tree to the side. The layers of forest leaves had long since obscured the grass and flower fields originally at the bottom. And raising his head, that azure "dome" was still unreachable.
"After passing through this boundless journey of pain, there are still tribulations of poisonous fog, extreme cold, scorching heat, and so on. Finally, one can arrive at the Paradise where the Church established the Holy City."
"How do you know so clearly?"
Tiona leaned in and asked.
"Because Nick almost reached Paradise, but as a result of a moment of carelessness, I fell down."
"?"
Seeming to verify the little beetle's claim.
To the side.
Suddenly, a bug fell from the sky, passing through everyone's line of sight in the blink of an eye and heading further down.
"Sigh, poor fellow. It has to start from the beginning again."
"..."
"In any case, thank you very much, adventurers! Nick is setting off. I wish you all a smooth journey too!!"
The tiny beetle curled into a ball and rolled away directly with a rumble-rumble, disappearing without a trace in the blink of an eye.
Holy crap, so fast!
Is that worthy of a guy who once climbed almost to the very top?
"Let's continue too."
Heading upward again.
The various traps along the way became even more diverse.
Mushrooms that looked perfectly fine in the middle of the road but would explode upon contact; bubbling poison pools that were incredibly wide, extending beyond the range of sight;
And fierce hurricanes that would suddenly blow in from who knows where!
"Yah!"
Tiona, who had just grabbed a tree trunk with her grappling hook and was preparing to cross a poison pool below, was swept away by a sudden gale. It looked like she was about to return to the "starting point."
Fortunately, Isagi quickly spread his golden wings and hurriedly chased after her, finally catching that fellow.
That was close!
He couldn't imagine at all—if they couldn't fly, how exactly were they supposed to reach the Paradise at the very top on this "Road of Pilgrimage"?
Cautious all the way.
They would have Ais or himself fly ahead to find footholds, then draw the intermediate area into a simple map, thinking about how to dodge those spikes and poison pools using grappling hooks. Occasionally, they also had to detonate those exploding mushrooms with magic in advance, while solving the monsters existing along the path.
It was simply like level after level of puzzle-solving jump games!
The cycle repeated. After everyone swung themselves over with grappling hooks, they continued forward to find new footholds.
During this period.
They could also see various bugs falling from the sky from time to time.
Accompanied by screaming sounds, they plummeted downward.
Whenever they saw this scene, Isagi and the girls would feel it was quite pitiful, inevitably feeling a bit of sorrow.
Fortunately, their side wouldn't fall down, because they could fly, hehe—
"It's not like that! Pilgrimage isn't done like you guys!!"
Suddenly.
An aged voice came from behind.
Just as they swung their grappling hooks and arrived at a branch platform extending from a certain great tree again, Isagi and the girls heard this heartbroken voice.
The speaker was a very old bug.
It looked like a green caterpillar the size of a puppy, but its head was highly anthropomorphic, even sporting white eyebrows and a beard that almost dragged on the ground. It looked quite horrifying.
"Young people, everything on the pilgrimage road is a miracle and a test for us. If you cheat and slack off, you cannot reach Paradise."
"?"
No, bro, who are you?
"Pain is merely a sensation; hunger is just an illusion of the body. As long as you have strong willpower, anything..."
The Old Green Caterpillar spoke while crawling toward the poison pool ahead.
As if wanting to prove something.
Completely without dodging or avoiding, it simply submerged directly into that dark green, viscous pool water.
Glug glug glug.
Before long, all sound ceased within the poison pool.
"Hah?!"
What is this NPC here for? Is there something wrong with its brain?!!
Isagi and the girls were dumbfounded.
But just when everyone thought it was here to be funny.
Suddenly, at the end of the poison pool, the Old Green Caterpillar from just now actually crawled out from within.
Holy crap, is this guy that badass?!
Or is this poison pool actually fake and completely useless?
"Did you see that, young people! Pilgrimage relies on indestructible willpower! As long as you have willpower, you can conquer anything!"
"Dishonest fellows will only receive punishment! Just you watch, the miracle will inevitably bring down wrath upon you—"
The Old Worm's voice grew more distant.
Because suddenly.
The great tree it was on shook violently, then collapsed with a crash.
??!
Amidst a sound like the earth shaking and mountains swaying, the giant tree smashed down toward a certain direction. Accompanied by dust and vibration, the Old Green Caterpillar from just now was nowhere to be found.
Perhaps it went back to the "starting point."
Or maybe it died.
Just like a tall building collapsing suddenly—in that situation, it was impossible to survive no matter what, right?
Isagi and the girls didn't have time to think about this, because very quickly, the great tree beneath their feet also began to vibrate.
What is happening now?!
"Go, quickly!"
At this moment, they couldn't care about much else. Grappling hooks wrapped around distant branches again.
With Miss Ais flying ahead to lead the way.
The girls continued climbing upward in a scattered but orderly fashion, dodging the crashing sounds behind them that seemed to be chasing them relentlessly.
Isagi was at the very back of everyone.
This was to avoid the worst case; if someone fell behind, he could fly over to catch her.
At the same time.
Using the corner of his eye to look back, amidst the noisy dust and swaying branches below, a massive dark brown body seemed to appear intermittently—
Unknown when.
The crashing sounds that always came from behind ceased.
The boy and girls finally landed on a tree trunk platform, all looking somewhat bedraggled.
Isagi even dispelled his armor, and his whole person suddenly vomited a mouthful of blood clots. The side effects of his body being pushed to the limit appeared again, causing an unbearable burden. It wasn't until he drank several mouthfuls of Crimson Tears that he improved a lot.
Dodging traps along the way, fighting monsters, and maintaining upward movement continuously to avoid falling from the great trees.
It was simply difficult to the extreme.
The girls also looked like they had lingering fears. Especially Heith and Lefiya, the two fellows whose athletic ability wasn't very good (having relatively low [Dexterity] and [Agility] stats). Several times, for various reasons, they almost fell.
It was Ais and Isagi who hurried over to catch them.
They decided to rest for a while.
Heith, having sipped some water, also began to cast her group healing magic.
"Named Gold, the arm of the goddess who swore an immortal oath, burned three times by flames, body pierced until eternity, standing in the purgatory of flame spears, the radiance is still born, healing death and saving the wounded—Blessing, Blessing, Blessing, I am Gold, summoning the endless strife here with the light of revival."
"[Spirit · Gullveig]."
Golden, warm light fell. Simultaneously, Isagi also used a Golden Prayer, manifesting a phantom of a small Golden Tree within the platform where everyone was resting.
Incantation—[Minor Erdtree].
It was gold that possessed only gentleness and no Order, continuously recovering the life force of everyone around it.
Heith, seeing this scene, was suddenly stunned. She looked at the boy in disbelief, thinking, 'How do you know healing magic too?!'
Awkward laugh.
Does this mean that I have no meaning for existing in the squad?
No way, am I going to be fired on the first day of work?!
That's too embarrassing... No, that way I won't be able to complete Goddess-sama's orders!!
By the way, I already cast healing magic; why did Isagi cast one too? Is he admonishing me?
Or is it...
Isagi naturally didn't have such complex thoughts; it was just in passing.
At the same time—
"Have you noticed anything wrong?"
"Poison."
Ais followed Isagi's words, suddenly speaking a single word. This made Lefiya and Tiona, who were preparing to put down their large backpacks and camp to cook, freeze involuntarily.
"?!"
Flower petals drifted all around.
Unknowingly, in the same forest interwoven with giant trees, the surrounding environment was completely different from just a moment ago.
Isagi remembered that just now, looking out, everywhere was lush green.
Massive clusters of branches and leaves were incredibly dense, even blocking the line of sight, making it difficult to see into the distance.
But now.
The branches and leaves had quietly disappeared. Replacing them were colorful flowers growing on the branches and the surface of the great trees. The flowers were incredibly beautiful, bathed in that pale blue radiance, looking like a boundless flower field under the moon.
It gave people a dreamlike trance.
Swaying slowly with the breeze, like drifting falling snow, colorful petals constantly fell from the sky, endlessly covering the platform underfoot and the roads connecting branches to branches with a thick layer.
But it was poisonous.
Lefiya, who didn't have the [Abnormal Resistance] Development Ability, was already the first to feel her head becoming somewhat dazed.
The symptoms were very mild, but the Elf girl could feel her physical strength slowly draining away.
But she was the only one like this.
"Are you all okay?!"
"Yeah."
Including Isagi, everyone had the [Abnormal Resistance] Development Ability. Only Lefiya didn't choose it. After leveling up to Level 4, she struggled for a long time but finally chose [Magic Resistance], an ability that increases one's own defense against magic.
Because when controlling magic with spiritual force, one could easily self-destruct if not careful. For Mages, this was indeed a very necessary ability.
As for Isagi, he chose [Abnormal Resistance] because he thought it would be useful no matter what. At least, it was definitely better than that [Bad Luck] which appeared again.
Still the same saying.
The account hasn't been built up properly yet; there's no need to increase the difficulty for himself.
"Drink potions first."
Ryuu took out the antidote she carried and handed it to Lefiya. At the same time, she was trying her best to draw a map of the route everyone had taken.
Simultaneously, she said:
"This must be the area with poisonous fog that the little beetle mentioned just now, right?"
"How much farther do we have to go up?"
"Could it be we have to endure this and keep climbing up?"
That would be too difficult, wouldn't it?!
Everyone indeed had [Abnormal Resistance], but having it didn't represent being able to completely ignore the poisonous fog; it only slowed down the rate at which it took effect.
In the end.
Poisoning would still happen. They couldn't just keep drinking antidotes and forcing their way up, right?
Although Heith's healing magic and his own Golden Prayer also had the ability to dispel abnormal statuses, that would consume a lot of Mind.
Who knew what was up there? What if there was still a Boss battle or something?
Furthermore.
In the flower sea before their eyes, the danger was not just that omnipresent poisonous fog, but also—
[Hee hee~]
In a trance, laughter came from who knows where.
Isagi and the girls all felt the vision before their eyes suddenly turn deep crimson. Subsequently, a pair of slender and brilliantly beautiful eyes appeared.
The head buzzed!
The pain was only instantaneous, but everyone felt their Mind had been "shaved" off by a small chunk just now. It couldn't be recovered; even after drinking potions, they could realize that a part of their Mind seemed to have been permanently lost.
It was a "debuff" that directly slashed the Max MP cap.
Dungeon, you are invincible.
Truly badass.
We can't stay here forever!
"Let's go back first."
Although they might encounter that tree-destroying fellow again, this "Garden" before them truly wasn't a place they could stay for long.
He led the girls back down.
Until within their line of sight, there were no more colorful clusters of flowers, replaced again by the forest full of lush branches and leaves from just now.
After resting for a while.
That "permanently" lost Mind finally began to recover slowly.
It seemed the "debuff" had disappeared.
They decided to camp first and then eat something. Up to this point since entering the Dungeon, more than ten hours had passed. During this time, everyone had only eaten some Potato Snacks and dried meat.
"Isagi, what do we do now?"
Ais and Tiona were responsible for guarding the surroundings to avoid monster attacks. Lefiya and Miss Heith were gathering firewood, preparing to cook.
He and Ryuu were discussing countermeasures on the side.
Currently, it seemed staying here wasn't a solution either. From a distance, they could still feel the vibrations coming from the collapsing trees.
There was a monster down there constantly destroying great trees, and even subjugating it wouldn't solve the fundamental problem.
Because no matter what.
To continue upward, they had to pass through that poisonous "Garden."
"We can't possibly go back to the city first to carry a few more bags of antidotes, then forcefully rush through..."
That was a stupid method when there were no other options.
"Or, we could explore the surroundings a bit more."
Ryuu-senpai suggested.
Just now, they only cared about running upward. In reality, the area before them was quite vast.
The crisscrossing branches between the great trees connected into an incomparably complex labyrinth. Although generally speaking it went constantly upward, there were also numerous branch routes.
In fact.
In the entire Dungeon, among the floors encompassed by the [Great Tree Labyrinth], hidden rooms and areas were the most numerous because the terrain was simply too complex.
"That works too."
Isagi nodded, thinking that they weren't lacking time anyway. They could beat up some monsters along the way and increase some ability scores.
The firewood ignited with faint green smoke.
Lefiya took out her iron pot from her backpack like it was a treasure, then began putting dried meat, cheese, and vegetables into it for a hodgepodge stew.
She even put in noodles.
During this time, no monsters came to harass them.
Everyone gathered around the boiling iron pot, happily eating a large pot of hot noodles and stew. Then, after resting for a while, they packed up their things and began to explore this dense foliage according to the plan Isagi and Ryuu had just agreed upon.
Following the map the Familia senior had just drawn.
Heading toward areas they hadn't walked before, the journey was another very painful "jump king" time—and they had to fight monsters along the way!
Until—
"Yare yare, it's actually adventurers. Truly a rare sight!"
Within the trunk of a certain giant tree, strangely, there was a fist-sized hollow. From within, many, many eyeballs squeezed together were revealed, just like a honeycomb. It gave Tiona, who discovered this place, a fright.
If the other party hadn't spoken up.
The Amazon girl estimated she would have used the large blade in her hand to stab directly into it.
"I am the Priest of the Great Tree. Adventurers, you wouldn't also be fools deceived by the Church, hoping to head to that Paradise, right? Heh heh heh..."
"Of course not."
"Ah, you aren't that stupid. Very good, very good. I am very happy that there are still fellows who can see through the Church's superficial deception."
"Look, just look. All the suffering is caused by them single-handedly. There is fundamentally no trial. Paradise is a paradise for every monster; go if you want, leave if you want."
"It's just that such a place isn't enough to be called Paradise, heh heh heh heh heh..."
The eyeballs in the tree hollow squeezed into a ball, trembling, and thick green liquid even seeped out from within.
"If it weren't unreachable, how could it be the perfect, ideal Paradise?"
"You say, am I right, adventurers—"
____
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