Volume 7, Chapter 54 – Drastic Change

While annihilating monsters, Yisi and Laxy followed the waterway deep into the forest. When they came to a wall formed by tall trees, they finally stopped.

Bending down to inspect the waterway, Laxy stood up.

“Up to this point, the water flow has only been as thick as an arm. Even though we can hear the roar of a waterfall inside, it seems the water source is just past this wall of trees. The problem is at the source, my lord.”

“Yes, but the residents here don’t seem to welcome us.”

The “wall formed by trees” was not a metaphor, but a literal wall. Trees, twenty meters tall, grew tightly packed together in violation of the laws of nature, with no gaps between their trunks, thus blocking the waterway.

It was worth noting that all these trees had lush crowns and branches. Combined with the canopy of the central Water Tree, which covered a radius of one kilometer, the surroundings were dark and gloomy, without a single ray of sunlight, giving a sense of claustrophobia.

“Although we can fly directly over the forest, there may be monsters ambushing us in these trees. I am not confident I can cross safely while carrying you, my lord. I think it would be better to follow this tree wall for now and try to find an entrance. Not every monster has the ability to climb over it. If the residents inside want to command those monsters, they must have left a channel to communicate with the outside world.”

“The path to the Water Tree has been sealed by the tree wall. Laxy, use that spell from before, the one that makes your body burn with white flames.”

“You mean [Sacred Fire]? Understood.”

After a short chant, Laxy’s entire body was engulfed in white flames. Even in this environment, which was right next to a waterfall and filled with abundant water elements, the white flames on her body still burned brightly. The scorching temperature caused the ground to emit a sizzling sound as water evaporated.

Yisi pointed to the tree wall, which was less than five meters away.

“Now walk over and get close to those trees.”

Is she asking me to set these trees on fire?

Laxy pondered the reason for Yisi’s command as she walked towards the tree wall. If Yisi wanted her to destroy the wall, it would be better to have her cut them down with her sword. In terms of just clearing a path, flames were far less efficient than a blade.

However, Laxy soon understood Yisi’s reasoning.

These were not mere trees, but a type of moving monster.

As she approached the tree wall, the trees that formed it actively parted to the sides, as if in fear of the flames. The rustling of leaves began to echo throughout the entire forest.

Laxy frowned.

“A colonial monster?”

“They are one and the same. These are the roots of the Water Tree. The Water Tree is a type of monster.”

On the [Omniscient Map], the roots of the Water Tree extended as far as the west of Gota. The entire city was under the cover of its root system. And the so-called [Water Tree of Taris] was a plant-type monster nearly level 60.

Unaware of all this, Laxy frowned slightly.

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“I was negligent in the important matter of gathering intelligence… The failure of my detection ability is too troublesome. I really must find a First-Rank Angel—” Halfway through her sentence, Laxy’s face suddenly turned fierce. “Tsk, there really is a problem. Be careful, my lord.”

“I know.”

After the roots of the Water Tree had made their way, the interior that had been blocked by the tree wall was suddenly revealed to the two of them.

This was not a picturesque, beautiful landscape, but a disgusting, stomach-churning scene. Even hell did not have such an unsettling scene.

As far as the eye could see, there was nothing but a green, translucent slime. Their sizes and shapes varied; the largest was comparable to the giant slimes Yisi had seen before, while the smallest was only the size of a thumb. These translucent bodies took the form of insects. Just as they appeared before Yisi, she saw one of the beetle-shaped slimes transform into a spider. If she had to find a monster most similar to them, her first reaction would be a slime. But Yisi was certain that these monsters were completely different from slimes. They were more like shell-less snails. Wherever they crawled, they would leave a disturbing, reflective trail.

If there were only a few hundred of them, Yisi wouldn’t have found it troublesome. But there were at least a hundred thousand of these slimy bodies before her. The waterfall formed by the Water Tree cascaded down from its crown, eventually forming a huge lake at its base, and these slimy bodies filled the entire body of water, dyeing the lake a dark green. With a casual glance, one could see them writhing in the water. Even the massive trunk of the Water Tree and the tree wall that had previously blocked their path were covered with these light green slimes. If one looked closely, one could also see individuals preying on monsters—a group of slimes would envelop a convulsing monster, slowly corroding its body with their mucus, causing it to die in extreme agony.

If someone with trypophobia were here, they would surely feel a headache or even have a seizure.

“So this is the reason the waterway narrowed… With such a large number, even I would have a hard time dealing with them. My lord, I suggest we plan this out carefully and let the adventurers handle it together.”

“Even if you say that, Laxy, they don’t seem to have any intention of letting us go.”

When the slimy bodies discovered the opening Laxy had created, they immediately swarmed towards it. Although they looked like slugs, their movement speed was comparable to that of a snake.

“Tsk, [Cross Slash].”

Proactively stepping in front of Yisi, Laxy caused the sacred fire on her body to adhere to her rapier. Then, she drew a cross in the air. The sacred fire instantly shot out and collided with the swarming slimes.

Tssssss—

A series of sounds of liquid evaporating.

All the slimy bodies that came into contact with the sacred fire were instantly turned into white steam. But the problem was not their individual strength, but their numbers. Ten of them would be vaporized by the sacred fire, but a hundred could neutralize it.

The sacred fire only slowed their advance for a few moments, and then they surged forward with even greater speed.

The sound of the writhing slime was bone-chilling.

If I were to be swallowed by that, my skin would probably feel the burning pain of strong acid.

“My lord, they’re coming!”

Kaka-kaka-kaka—

And just as the slime surged out of the tree wall encirclement, as if to prevent them from emerging into the outside world, the roots of the Water Tree that formed the wall began to close in again.

“Gaga—don’t… imprison… us… again…”

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It was a sharp and piercing voice, as if a small man were squeezing his voice to its thinnest.

The voice came from the surging slimy bodies. To be precise, it came from [them].

In order not to be imprisoned by the Water Tree, when the tree wall was closing, a large number of slimy bodies, in the hundreds and thousands, madly poured into the only exit. The closing tree wall, blocked by the force of countless slimes, slowed to a crawl. When it had closed to a certain extent, the roots finally reached their limit and were slowly pushed open by the subsequent wave of slimes.

Leading Yisi backward step by step, a hint of tension appeared in Laxy’s expression.

“They’re intelligent monsters… What on earth are these things?”

“I don’t know.”

Yisi answered honestly.

Whether it was because no one had named them, or because no one in the Marquisate of Taris knew their name, on the [Omniscient Map], the name of these slimy bodies was displayed as [???]. It had to be said, the level of these monsters was not as insignificant as Laxy had thought. Each one had a strength of level 5, and the larger individuals were close to level 40.

“Stop—them.”

Following the sharp voice, a female voice reached Yisi’s ears. But compared to the slimy bodies, the female voice was clearly weak, as if coming from very far away.

Yisi couldn’t help but look up at the crown of the Water Tree in the distance, where a green light was shining.

A dryad?

No, it’s better not to think about other things right now. If these slug-like slimes were to surge into the outside world, it would definitely cause a disaster.

“Laxy, I’m going to annihilate these monsters. Can you please wait here? I’ll be right back.”

“Even if a Fourth-Rank Battle Angel, who is stronger than I am, were to come, it would be impossible to eliminate so many monsters. There are at least a hundred thousand of them. A whole army of judgment angels would have to be dispatched to guarantee success. Please stop joking!”

Seeing that Yisi still wasn’t moving, Laxy raised an eyebrow and forcibly pulled her back. And thanks to Laxy, in just a few seconds, nearly four hundred slimy bodies had poured out of the tree wall. All the plants that came into contact with them withered and turned yellow at a visible rate, as if their life force had been sucked away, eventually turning into a pile of dirt. And the slimy bodies that had devoured the plants grew a size larger in a very short time, their movement speed also becoming much more agile than before.

Life force absorption.

Although the enhancement effect only lasted for a short time, it would be troublesome if she continued to let them be. Yisi patted Laxy’s shoulder.

“I’ll leave these stragglers to you, Laxy. I’ll be back soon. Trust in my strength, and don’t act rashly.”

[Blink]

Yisi instantly disappeared from Laxy’s sight.

“My lord!?”

The feeling of grasping at empty air made Laxy quickly turn her head. Through the tree wall that was being slowly pushed open by the slimy bodies, she could see Yisi flying in the air, heading straight for the place where the green light was shining in the center of the Water Tree.

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“The ability to fly… My lord is only level 20. How is that possible… No, now is not the time to talk about this. Other than Lady Trino and the other ninety-nine top-tier First-Rank Angels, no one can eliminate so many monsters alone. It would be bad if this drags on.”

Humans were different from God-Forged Angels. After a God-Forged Angel died, their soul would return to the core crystal of the Kingdom of God. As long as a First-Rank Angel found it, they could be revived in a new body after a period of time. But humans did not have this advantage. A human’s body and soul were closely linked. After the body died, the soul would also perish. Although there was the miracle of resurrection magic, the success rate was abysmally low, and there were many harsh conditions for its use. The time of death could not be too long, and the body could not be too damaged. If only a skeleton remained, no one but a true god could resurrect it. And Laxy did not think that this highly corrosive monster would leave a complete corpse.

I must get Yisi out before her magic power runs out.

Realizing this, Laxy bit her lip hard.

“I will definitely teach you a good lesson when we get out. Be prepared.”

First, the surging slimy bodies.

In the time she had been thinking, the number of monsters that had poured out from the tree wall had grown to nearly six hundred. If it were a battle angel of the army-angel level, a single spell could probably eliminate them. But she was a guidance angel and had not undergone special combat enhancement.

“Even so, a God-Forged Angel is not an existence that can be stopped by dregs like you. 『 Hymn of Holy Light – Sacred Liberation 』.”

The sacred fire covering her entire body, with Laxy at its center, instantly ignited all the slimy bodies that had poured into the outside world. In less than five seconds, nearly a thousand of them were vaporized by the sacred fire.

As a price, Laxy’s magic power was reduced by twenty percent.

Feeling the magic consumption, Laxy’s anxious heart calmed down a little.

“It should have consumed thirty percent of my magic power, but now it’s only twenty percent. To think that the core my lord created could reach such a level. In that case, I can be a little more forceful.”

Her maximum magic power was 382 points. Her original power core could recover 2 points per second, but now it was 3. In other words, her sustained combat power had been greatly improved. And against these monsters, whose advantage was their numbers, the most important thing was sustained combat power.

[Wind’s Blessing]

After dealing with the monsters that had poured out, the tree wall formed by the roots of the Water Tree finally managed to close, re-imprisoning the slimy bodies within the circle of the tree. As a cyan glow wrapped around Laxy’s body, she spread her white wings, the symbol of an angel, and leaped from the ground, crossing the wall formed by the roots and heading straight for Yisi’s previous position.

But Laxy soon discovered a new problem.

Yisi was gone.

Laxy thought that the time she had just spent was negligible. Even she herself could not have disappeared from this airspace in such a short time—unless Yisi had plunged headfirst into the lake below, which was swarming with a large number of green slimes.

“My lord!”

She called out tentatively.

Her voice echoed throughout the sea of trees.

“Despicable… outsiders…”

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The sharp male voice sounded again. The only thing that answered Laxy was the green slime. Unable to reach her flying high in the sky, the slimy bodies could only merge into a humanoid creature over twenty meters tall and lunge at her with a grasping motion.

“You’re courting death!”

With just one sword strike, Laxy cut the humanoid creature formed by the slimy bodies in half at the waist. But apart from the sacred fire eliminating a considerable number of them, the slash had barely caused any damage. They quickly re-formed into a humanoid shape. Not only that, but in the time it took Laxy to slash, the slimy bodies had even formed a second and a third giant individual, nearly seven stories tall.

“Devour… grow…”

“Tsk.”

Realizing that the enemy was not something that could be easily eliminated, Laxy clicked her tongue heavily and once again held her rapier vertically in front of her.

[Sacred Liberation]

With Laxy at its center, the white sacred fire encompassed an area with a diameter of thirty meters. But unlike the scattered slimy bodies she had dealt with at the breach, the evaporation speed of the slime giants was much slower. By the time the duration of [Sacred Liberation] had ended, the sacred fire had only vaporized half of the giant’s body.

Only half of her magic power remained.

I can’t waste time with them. My mission is to find Yisi.

Taking advantage of the fact that the slime giants had not yet recovered, Laxy beat her wings and flew around the Water Tree. To her delight, she soon discovered Yisi’s presence.

Trapped in the lake, being treated as food by countless slimy bodies.

From Laxy’s perspective, she could only see a dark mass underwater. “I told you not to be reckless…”

Glancing at the slime giants chasing after her, Laxy dove towards the surface of the water.

Author Note

Illustration · Pepe & Yisi

This scene is unlikely to appear in the main story. At the request of friends in the group, here is Yisi (left), being teased and “conquered,” and the more assertive Pepe (right). Though honestly, I think in reality it should be the other way around. Pepe is still very cute.

Using up this month’s SF illustration quota—may as well make use of it~

Also, for the next three days there will be three updates each day, otherwise I won’t be able to make up for this month’s extra chapters.