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Chapter 25: Human Bomb

Mini Forest Keepers sprouted from the scattered seeds.

Well, "mini" was a misnomer.

Each was at least a head taller than the average adult male.

This was the Forest Keeper's second phase.

It marked its revival pattern.

If all the Forest Keepers born from the seeds weren't defeated within the allotted time,

the Forest Keeper would revert to its first phase.

This was effectively considered a failure to defeat the Forest Keeper.

Having already expended their strength in the first phase, the party had no chance of defeating it again.

Therefore, the second-phase revival pattern had to be stopped at all costs.

"Listen carefully, everyone."

I pointed to the scattered seeds.

"The more Forest Keepers we defeat, the stronger the remaining ones become.

So, we’ll prioritize taking down the ones on the outer edges first, and then finish off the one at the center together."

Given the urgency of the situation, I kept the instructions concise.

Everyone nodded with understanding.

"Foara, focus solely on healing. We’ll need another burst of firepower later. The same goes for you, Saint."

"Understood!"

"Got it."

I, Seron, and Aisha would handle the rest of the Forest Keepers.

"Hey, how do you know so much about dealing with an Apostle you've never seen before?"

Seron asked, gripping her axe tightly.

Was this really the time for such questions?

"I studied."

In moments like these, boldness was the best approach.

"…I studied at the Academy too, but I’ve never heard of this."

"Then I guess you didn’t study enough."

Before Seron could complain further, I rushed forward.

As the battle wore on, more gray zones appeared.

Stepping on one of those zones would cause a massive loss of stamina, so I had to proceed cautiously.

This was precisely why I had ordered everyone to start from the outer edges.

If we started inside and the Forest Keeper fled inward, it would create an even bigger problem.

Fortunately, I didn’t need to explain this part—everyone already understood.

In the distance, Aisha and Seron launched surprise attacks on the Forest Keepers.

Aisha’s skill was beyond question, and even though Seron grumbled, her abilities were top-notch.

After confirming their engagement, I looked ahead.

I saw a Forest Keeper waving its vine-covered limbs.

It had sturdy four-legged support and two arms,

wrapped in vines that dripped with venom.

Touching those vines would cause the skin to melt, but—

Swish!

Slick!

Such things didn’t apply to me with my steel-like skin.

With a swift hand strike, I sliced the incoming vines and gripped my shield tightly.

Boom!

At that moment, rock bullets fired from the vines struck my shield.

This was the Forest Keeper’s basic attack pattern:

poisonous vine strikes followed by rock bullet fire.

The Forest Keeper’s movements matched my memories perfectly.

This meant I could proceed with the standard strategy.

I steadied my breathing, loosening my muscles to avoid any stiff mistakes.

This was my first real fight.

In the future, I would face countless Apostles to prevent bad endings.

This battle was the first step in that journey.

‘To be honest…’

I was scared too.

I was charging directly at a monster a head taller than me.

The pressure was entirely different from mock battles,

where professors and teaching assistants were always ready to save us.

Now, this was real.

There was no one here to save my life.

I had to protect my own life.

This was the Dungeon.

All the more reason not to be afraid.

Fear would shrink my muscles, narrow my vision, and push my mind into panic.

I had to be bolder, surer.

I brought every strategy I knew to mind and executed them to secure victory.

I sliced another incoming vine with my hand and used my shield to block the rock bullets.

Before I realized it, I was just 2 meters away from the Forest Keeper.

The Forest Keeper seemed to notice the shrinking distance,

ceasing its vine attacks and swinging its muscular, gorilla-like arms instead.

The ends of its arms were equipped with massive, axe-like blades.

If those hit, even I wouldn’t escape unscathed.

As I lunged forward, I quickly lowered my body.

The countless drills I had done with Aisha paid off.

My lowered stance allowed the Forest Keeper’s arm to brush just above my head.

I dodged its first melee attack. But I didn’t let my guard down.

‘One more.’

Bang!

A bursting sound came from the end of the Forest Keeper’s arm.

It was the explosion of a heat fruit attached to it.

The heat fruit’s blast sent the Forest Keeper’s arm hurtling toward me again.

This was its signature two-strike combo,

launching a second attack even if the first missed.

Its massive arm swung toward me, aiming low this time.

Using my forward momentum, I pushed off the ground hard.

Boom!

The arm smashed into the ground where I had been, but I had already leapt into the air.

Landing on the Forest Keeper’s shoulder, I clenched my hand into a blade.

The Forest Keeper turned its head to look at me,

realizing its mistake—but it was too late.

Crack!

My hand blade pierced through its thick outer shell and into its head.

I felt a disgusting texture inside as my hand dug deeper.

I twisted my hand inside its head, stirred its insides, and pulled out my hand.

Purple blood and brain matter coated my hand.

There was no time to be grossed out.

As the Forest Keeper’s body collapsed, I jumped away and landed safely, avoiding the gray zone.

“Phew.”

I let out a short breath.

I silently thanked my Vikamon body.

I couldn’t have executed my plans so perfectly without this agile and powerful form.

Of course, I had contingency plans in case of failure,

which let me act so boldly in the first place.

Always be prepared for anything.

‘That’s just one down.’

There are still plenty of forest keepers remaining.

No time to stop.

Keep going.

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* * *

Thanks to the efforts of Aisha, Seron, and myself, the number of forest keepers in the fruit grove decreased rapidly.

However, as we passed the halfway mark, the pace slowed significantly.

As I mentioned earlier, the resurrection pattern of the forest keepers grows more challenging as their numbers dwindle.

The remaining ones become stronger.

Thus, as their numbers halved and the strength of the keepers doubled, it naturally took more time to deal with each one.

Their patterns started to diversify.

The last keeper we’d face would encompass all these patterns.

It was wise to experience and grasp them thoroughly during the battle.

“Haah, hey, don’t you guys ever get tired!?”

After taking down one of the keepers with her explosive axe, Seron shouted at Aisha and me.

If she still had the energy to shout, I wished she’d put in a little more effort.

Aisha and I ran toward the next forest keeper with calm expressions.

“Compared to daily physical training,”

“This is nothing,”

Aisha said, and I replied.

I’ve grown stronger thanks to Aisha and the endless hellish training.

And, of course, there’s no need to even mention Aisha, who designs those training regimens.

“Hmm, should we call you the Iron Greatsword and the Iron Hand?”

Sirmiel, who had been watching us from a distance, chuckled kindly.

At this rate, we might actually end up being called by such nicknames.

“Senior Hannon! The roots are moving again!”

Just then, Foara pointed to the roots above the dark clouds.

As he said, the roots had started moving once more.

It was a sign that the resurrection phase was progressing.

‘This is tighter than I thought.’

Dealing with the forest keepers while avoiding the gray zones was taking up more time than expected.

Unlike in a game, this was reality.

We had to watch the ground beneath us while fighting the keepers.

Splitting our focus this way consumed a lot of time.

‘Should I have saved some of Foara’s firepower after all?’

It was better to use our ace in the hole, the Spirit Lord, during the first phase than to risk injuries.

But the resurrection phase was proving to be more of a headache than I anticipated.

“Seron, no time to rest! Get up and take down at least one more!”

“Ugh, I know already!”

Though groaning, Seron got back up and charged at another forest keeper.

"Senior,"

Meanwhile, Aisha approached me quietly.

“At this rate, we’ll be late, won’t we?”

“…Yeah, if we’re not careful, we might be.”

Aisha nodded.

“Senior, isn’t the main reason we’re delayed in taking down the apostles because of the gray zones?”

She was right.

Taking down the forest keepers themselves wasn’t particularly difficult.

But keeping an eye on the gray zones beneath our feet was costing us too much time.

“Just this once,”

Aisha gripped her greatsword tightly.

“I can take care of the gray zones for you. Can you handle the rest?”

My eyes slowly widened as I realized what Aisha was planning.

“I’ll leave it to you.”

I immediately distanced myself from her and ran toward Foara.

Meanwhile, Aisha lowered her stance, holding her greatsword.

Just then, I grabbed Seron, who had just defeated another forest keeper.

“Hey, hey, what are you doing?!”

“Foara! Can you attach a low-level wind spirit to me?”

“Y-Yes! That much is doable!”

Ignoring Seron’s complaints, I shouted to Foara.

Foara quickly summoned a low-level wind spirit, which attached itself to my back.

A tiny butterfly-like spirit fluttered its wings gently.

I threw Seron toward Foara and Sirmiel.

“Holy one, a storm is about to break loose.”

I looked back at Aisha, who had crouched even lower.

“Can you avoid getting swept away?”

“Of course.”

Sirmiel began to chant prayers, preparing a blessing of protection.

Meanwhile, Aisha began spinning in her crouched stance.

Whuuum, whuuum, whuuum, whuuum—

Her spinning grew impossibly fast, and soon, winds began to gust fiercely around her.

The wind was so intense that even the forest keepers were lifted into the air, being pulled toward her.

“…Is she really one of us?”

Not a Spirit Lord, but a single human causing such a wind... Seron looked on, visibly shaken.

It was true—Aisha was beyond human.

But that made her the most reliable ally in moments like this.

Sirmiel’s protective blessing shielded us from being swept away by the winds.

“Foara, get ready!”

I shouted as I began running toward Aisha, who was now at the center of the storm.

Here it comes.

The wind.

As the fierce wind spiraled outward from Aisha, she raised her massive greatsword above her head and brought it crashing down into the ground.

Boom!

And with that, a storm erupted across the ground.

Crackkk—

In an instant, everything on the surface was lifted into the air by the raging storm.

The forest keepers, caught off guard, were flung about and tangled together, completely swept up in Aisha’s winds.

Seeing this, I positioned myself with my palm forward and shouted to Foara.

“Send me flying!”

At my shout, Foara used her wind spirit to launch me into the air.

My body shot upward.

But simply charging forward would make me no more than a steel projectile.

At this moment, I had to become a bomb capable of taking out all the keepers.

I activated my trump card.

On my skin, magical runes inscribed with spells began to glow.

Magic Engravings.

A technique I had learned from Sharin.

Normally, magic engravings are meant to be inscribed on objects, not human skin.

But what is my skin, if not tougher than most armors?

I had etched these engravings directly onto my skin and hidden them with Veil Bandages until the right moment.

Heat radiated from my body as flames ignited.

This was the ultimate move I had painstakingly prepared for a day like today.

The magic engravings on my body were explosive spells.

Spells Sharin had personally helped me inscribe.

“I’m a human bomb.”

As my body, engulfed in light, reached the cluster of forest keepers, their desperate struggles were futile.

“Take this.”

BOOOOM!

An unprecedented explosion erupted on the first floor of the Gray Forest.

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