Chapter 249: The Bear Fights the Parasite

Chapter 249:
The Bear Fights the Parasite

 

OTHER WOLVES AND VOLKROWS were drawing near the sacred tree as though they were attracted to it. Once they got close, the parasite’s vines ensnared them. It wouldn’t be good if they gave more nourishment to the parasite, so I fired wind blades at it and made myself known.

The wolves and volkrows moved away from the sacred tree and headed directly for me, but I quickly dispatched them. Next was the sacred tree, but would it really be okay to fight against it?

Fire was the best way to deal with parasite-infected plants, but it wasn’t like I could just burn down the sacred tree. For starters, that’d mean big trouble for Mumulute and the elves, but also, I just didn’t feel great about torching such a majestic tree.

If I left it alone, though, the tree would keep attracting monsters. The wolves and volkrows that’d been weakened by the parasite weren’t moving now, as if they were just normal, docile animals. It was kind of terrifying.

Maybe that was how I’d turn out if I were caught.

 

Anyway, I left the sacred tree and headed back out of the cave to check in with Mumulute on whether I could fight the tree.

“Yuna!” Sanya and the others rushed over, looking concerned. Behind them I could see Arutul. I guessed that they’d told him about all of this already. If Arutul was here, he probably couldn’t get inside either. I explained the situation to the three of them.

“I slayed the monsters,” I said, “so should I also slay the parasite?”

“You make it sound so easy. Can you actually slay it?”

“It would be easy if I could burn it down,” I said. Trees are famously fantastically flammable.

“I’m not so sure about that...” Sanya muttered.

It was an important tree for the elves. I was definitely putting them on the spot by even suggesting that we burn it. “I understand. I won’t burn it. There may be another way, so I want to give it a shot.” After all, burning it down wasn’t the only way of handling things.

“Yuna...” said Sanya with a sigh.

Still, the parasite was regenerating itself by using mana. If it was absorbing the sacred tree’s mana, it basically had an infinite supply to snack on. The tree powered the barrier surrounding the elves’ forest. That had to be enough mana to last hundreds of years. My white bear onesie couldn’t hold a candle to that.

Still, I had a way of fighting it.

“Well, then,” I said, turning back to the cave, “I’m off.”

Mumulute called out to my back. “Girl, if you find it is impossible to fight off the parasite, you may burn down the sacred tree along with it.”

“Grandfather?!”

“Father?!”

Sanya and Arutul were both shocked.

“We do not know what will become of the sacred tree at this rate,” said Mumulute. “I do not know why, but the girl is presently the only one capable of entering the barrier.”

Thanks, god-given bear gear.

“If, later on, even the girl can no longer enter the barrier, then there would be no one capable of dealing with the tree.”

“But someone other than Yuna might be able to get inside,” Sanya said.

“Would that person be able to burn down the sacred tree?” Mumulute asked. “All elves know the importance of the sacred tree. The person would also need to be strong. Would they be able to kindle the fire while fighting the parasite?”

“Well...” Sanya didn’t have an argument against that. She’d fought the parasite a few days ago, so she must’ve known how impossible that would be.

“Furthermore, elves do not excel in fire magic,” he said. “Many cannot even use it. Even if they attempted such magic, it might not be strong enough to burn the sacred tree. We cannot even fire flaming arrows at it from a distance, as the parasite’s vines would block it.”

“...”

“Attempting to burn down the great tree…it is a great burden indeed.”

Sanya shook her head. “If everyone found out that Yuna was the one who burned down the sacred tree, all the villagers would...”

Even if I had a good reason for doing it, the optics would be terrible. At worst, they’d hold it against me. I wouldn’t be able to come to the elves’ village ever again. I could forget about the bear house.

“I’ll leave the village if that happens,” I said. “You can tell everyone you banished me.” That’d be the best resolution to things.

“Yuna...” Sanya said.

“I will take responsibility when the time comes,” said Mumulute. “I will bear that blame.”

“But Grandfather...”

“We are the only ones able to enter the barrier. Not a soul would know, so long as we do not speak of it.”

“But if they thought you did that, as the head elf, they would...” Sanya trailed off.

“If that should come to pass, then Arutul would take my place.”

“Father...”

I guess the sacred tree was just that important to the elves.

“So please, girl, do not worry,” said Mumulute. “Burn down the sacred tree if you must.”

After that whole conversation, there was no way I could just burn down the tree. If I were the one taking the blame, that’d be one thing, but I couldn’t let Mumulute take the fall like that. Burning it down would have to be my absolute last resort.

Mumulute, Sanya, and Arutul’s expressions brimmed with a grim resolve. I had to do everything I could, up until the very end then.

“I’ll try not to burn it when I slay the parasite,” I said, then headed back into the cave. Kumakyu followed after me, as always.

I stood before the sacred tree. If I were going to burn it down, bear flames would’ve made things real easy. My bear magic sure packed a punch. But that meant that things could go really wrong if I misused it.

I fired a wind blade to start and tried cutting the swaying vines at random, but they immediately regenerated. It was definitely using the sacred tree’s mana to heal itself. Hmm…the next best thing would be if I could find the origin of the parasite, but that’d be difficult. What if it was inside the sacred tree?

I circled the sacred tree, far enough away that the vines couldn’t reach me. The vines stretched from the trunk all the way to the branches, and I couldn’t tell where its core could be because they were in the way. In times like these, you’d usually find the target by looking for a heavily guarded spot, but the whole thing was covered in coiling vines. If there were lots of places where the core could be, I’d have to check them all.

I hoped they’d overlook it if I damaged the sacred tree a little. I faced the most suspicious location where the vines were ensnaring the trunk and fired a vertical wind blade. The wind blade opened up a vertical line right in the middle of the tree. That sliced the coiled vines, but those immediately fused back together where they were cut.

Next, I fired multiple wind blades. That cut the vines just like earlier, but (of course) they regenerated. But…wait, the tree didn’t look damaged at all under the vines. Maybe the sacred tree was hardier than I thought? Maybe I could be a little rougher with it?

I whipped up a small whirlwind and fired it at the trunk. The whirlwind wrapped around the trunk and tore apart the vines. I still couldn’t find the parasite’s core around the trunk.

The level of magic I was using wasn’t harmful to the sacred tree…which meant I could totally go harder. But how? I could think of a couple ways, but did I have enough mana for my plans?

I was facing a parasite that sapped mana straight from a sacred tree. Frankly, it was cheating. And if that was how it was going to be, then I’d need to play hardball.

 

I checked my surroundings. Kumakyu gave me a look that basically said, “What are you doing?”

“Don’t worry about it.” I went to a nook in the mountain and took off my bear onesie. No one could get in here, so I didn’t need to worry about anyone seeing me change. Apart from my bear house, this was probably the safest place in the world for a change of clothes.

I changed into my white bear onesie. Kumakyu gave me a happy look that practically said “We match!”

Now I’d regenerate mana quicker…just like my opponent. When in Rome...

 

I stood in front of the sacred tree in my white bear outfit and launched tons of wind blades at it. I swung my right hand, then my left—wind blades flew from my fingertips. The blades minced the parasite’s vines, but they regenerated over and over again. I’d thought I’d be the only one attacking, until the vines turned their full attention toward me.

Wait, would they reach me?! I’d thought I was pretty far away. I leapt back, but the parasite fired the leaves right off its vines, and straight at me. Whoa, yeesh—if I’d known it could do that, I would’ve been more careful during my wardrobe change!

“Get back, Kumakyu! If anything really bad happens, cover me.”

I had Kumakyu fall back and then aimed to slice at the root of the vines, but they were regenerating quick. C’mon, nobody likes a cheater!!!

I made a dome-shaped earth wall to block the leaf attack. The sacred tree was fighting dirty and firing leaves at me from above. The roots stretched toward us and the leaves hurtled in our direction. They didn’t have a lot of power behind them, but the constant assault sure was annoying.

I attacked where there were opportunities, but the regeneration made every attack moot. So annoying! I needed to make sure it didn’t have time to regenerate. As for the annoying leaves, I’d need to get rid of ’em. Still, if I went through with my plan, I wouldn’t just strip the parasite’s vines. I’d probably strip the leaves right off the sacred tree, probably even snap its branches.

I hoped I’d be forgiven for some minor sacrifices.

I had to believe that the sacred tree was stronger than the parasite. I gathered mana in my right bear puppet and swung my right hand down at a diagonal from the top right to bottom left at the sacred tree. Wind swept around the ancient tree. The wind steadily grew, widening its range. It swirled around the tree, transforming into a whirlwind.

 

All right, parasite, ready to start the competition? Would my mana run out? Would the parasite regenerate fast enough? Could the sacred tree stand up to the power of the whirlwind? Would the sacred tree run out of mana and take the parasite down with it? Odds were one in four. But if the parasite ran out of juice…I’d win out.

The vast whirlwind spun with the sacred tree at its center. It chopped away the parasite’s vines and tore at the sacred tree’s leaves. But every time the vines were cut, they regenerated.

If I made the whirlwind too strong, I’d damage the sacred tree. Hopefully, the elves wouldn’t mind me sacrificing a couple of branches.

I adjusted the strength of the whirlwind and we entered into our endurance match. Cheat versus cheat. Mana regeneration skills versus mana regeneration skills. An all-out assault against an ever-growing defense.

I didn’t know who would prevail.

 

The deadlock continued, but my whirlwind gradually chipped away at the parasite. It chopped away the vines, blast away the leaves, and snapped off the branches. The sacred tree’s branches were breaking, but the trunk was fine. At this rate, I could slay the parasite.

When about half of the leaves on the sacred tree were gone, I saw something glimmering above us. At first I thought it was my imagination, but it gleamed once again…something green and shining through the gaps in the whirlwind. The moment I cut a vine, something sparkled, but then the vine would regenerate and the glimmer would vanish. A whirlwind cut and another glimmer, over and over.

I squinted—was this the parasite’s mana gem? Or was it the sacred tree’s mana gem? Did sacred trees even have mana gems? Which was it?

Hmm…even if the sacred tree did have a mana gem, it would probably be inside the trunk. And it was showing up when I was cutting the parasite’s vines, so no way was it part of the sacred tree. As for the sacred tree…thankfully, it was firmly rooted in place, standing strong against the whirlwind. I hadn’t damaged the trunk.

Yeah…This had to be the parasite’s mana gem!

I gathered mana and strengthened the whirlwind. The sacred tree shook heavily, its leaves scattering and its thinner branches snapping. There it was, the parasite’s mana gem—a green mana gem resembling a large seed, right there in the center of the upper branches. If I could destroy that mana gem, the parasite would die.

“Cwoom!!!” Kumakyu cried out in concern.

It’d be okay. I took out my Kumakyu knife from my bear storage and held it firmly in the mouth of my black bear puppet. Then I dispelled the whirlwind around the sacred tree. At that instant, I threw the Kumakyu knife at the parasite’s seed-like mana gem.

The whirlwind roared. The vines of the parasite and the leaves of the sacred tree caught up in the whirlwind and fell, and the Kumakyu knife glinted silver as it soared straight into the mana gem.

The moment the whirlwind vanished, the parasite regenerated around its mana gem to protect its core. So sorry, parasite, but this isn’t some normal, everyday knife. It’s pure mythril, forged for me by Ghazal. The top-notch edge of the Kumakyu knife dug into the parasite’s core and destroyed the mana gem.

The vines wrapped around the sacred tree stopped dead—no more moving, no more regenerating. I’d won by changing the rules of the endurance match.

They say history is written by the winners, and…okay, actually, I don’t know if that makes sense if you’re talking about a literal plant, but. Uh...I’d won.

So, y’know, whatever.