The Druid Who Devoured the Great Nature

The handling of the rampaging subjects was nothing more than repetitive simple labor. They were guys who had lost their reason and relied only on instinct, jumping around like beasts. It was not difficult to turn them into corpses one by one, as they would immediately rush in if I just showed them an opening.

While I was at it, I destroyed the space that looked like a control tower and boldly smashed the experimental facilities. Since Beta had confirmed that this was the central system, it was safe to say that I had completed the goal given to me.

I removed the circuit engraved on the surface of the spirit’s cocoons and finished the retrieval. Unfortunately, I had failed to secure physical evidence of which faction had supported Shadowfang, but that was something I could just make the Brotherhood do.

‘I can find a connection from the identities of the researchers.’

The Blood Alliance would be desperate to chase them, even if I didn’t ask them to. Come to think of it, it was as if they had instigated Shadowfang.

They were enemies to the Blood Alliance.

‘But that’s a story for after Sonia defeats Lugar.’

A werebeast who had passed his prime and was in decline, and the queen of vampires who had reigned for a long time and maintained her youth. It was understandable that Sonia would show confidence that she could win even without her main body.

But I didn’t know if things would go as planned, now that Lugar had awakened his pure blood. I had given him a gap so that he could fight with all his strength from the beginning, but would it go as planned?

Honestly, I wasn’t that optimistic.

‘If it seems really dangerous, I can just intervene.’

Lugar was not my responsibility, but he had drawn a lot of aggro by mentioning the spirit’s cocoons. Dealing with him here would be a choice that would not leave any future trouble for me.

‘And before that.’

I moved forward, pushing aside the corpses and debris.

‘Shall I deal with the real remnants first?’

I pulled the trigger at the corpse wearing a white gown over a suit. The man, who must have been a corpse, flinched, and the bullet aimed at his heart was blocked by another corpse that had been lying next to him, which had suddenly stood up and blocked it with its body.

“Kkeung… I thought my heart was going to drop. To think you caught this.”

The man, who had pushed aside the guard who had sacrificed himself, patted his chest and said with a playful tone. He seemed to have given up on pretending to be a corpse and was slowly moving away from me, dragging his butt.

The man’s guards, who had also been pretending to be corpses, gathered around him.

“When did you notice?”

“From the moment I discovered that there was more than one rampaging subject.”

His corpse imitation was quite good. It was at the level of a skill, as even the rampaging subjects had been deceived.

But the fact that there were multiple rampaging subjects was suspicious. Even if they had no intellect, they were enough of a force to be used as a breakwater to block the enemy.

It wasn’t like they were planting an apple tree before they died, and it was a bit contrived that they had continued the experiment, risking death in a precarious situation.

That’s why I thought that the story that the subjects had gone berserk and killed all the researchers was a setup. They must have been trying to make a surprise attack, waiting for me to let my guard down.

“We have nothing to do with this situation.”

As the plan went awry, the man’s attitude changed in an instant. It was a lie that he spewed out fluently without even batting an eye.

“Are you telling me to believe that?”

“We just happened to be here for a business agreement with the Parchene Research Institute and got caught up in it. We’ll keep our mouths shut about what happened here, so we’d be grateful if you just let us go.”

If you just listened to his words without the context, it was a persuasive tone that made you wonder if that was really the case. I was so dumbfounded that I shut my mouth, and perhaps thinking that he had succeeded, the man continued to speak without a break.

“After all, the content of the request you received as a contractor probably doesn’t include us. Let’s not make things complicated for each other, since we both know what’s what.”

“……”

“Besides keeping our mouths shut, we will also pay you a separate price. I think this is a good deal, don’t you?”

It was true that dealing with outsiders was not specified in the content of my request. It was also a general tendency of contractors not to touch things outside the scope of the request.

And if they were even willing to pay a price, it was a tempting offer.

“Agent Alfonso.”

If the spirit’s cocoons hadn’t been involved, I might have done the same.

“Was it your client who provided the spirit’s cocoons to Shadowfang?”

“……You knew who I was.”

The man, Alfonso, slightly lowered his sunglasses.

“I’m disappointed, we’ve met before.”

“Did we?”

“Didn’t you see me at the scene of the deal with Malay Krekter?”

“Malay Krekter… Aha, so that was then.”

Alfonso, who was practically an exclusive agent for a large corporation, and Centream in particular, I had first met when I had received a request from Hatig and was carrying it out.

At that time, I had a feeling that our eyes had met, so I had casually brought it up, and as expected, he had remembered it right away.

“It’s a similar situation to then, isn’t it?”

At that time, I had let him go obediently, thinking that I didn’t need to make more enemies. Malay Krekter alone was a tricky opponent, so it was a correct judgment in the end.

“It’s similar, but there’s a big difference.”

“What’s that?”

“The fact that I’ve become a big shot who can handle you even if I’m hostile to you.”

I aimed the muzzle of my gun at him. Realizing that I was serious, Alfonso stopped his playful act.

“Are you really going to do this?”

“You still haven’t answered my question. Was it your client who provided the spirit’s cocoons to Shadowfang?”

“I’m sure a contractor knows about the confidentiality obligation of a contract. An agent cannot talk about his client.”

“So I have to force you to open your mouth.”

“Even if I die, I will never open my mouth. It’s a basic skill of an agent. Do you think I’ve only been through one or two crises to get to this position? My client trusts me because I have thoroughly fulfilled my duties as an agent.”

“Then you can open your mouth after you die.”

It wasn’t that information could only be extracted while alive.

“If I hand you over to the Public Security Bureau, they’ll cook you up well.”

McDonald, the executive of Al-Raid, had been successfully interrogated by the Public Security Bureau even though he was just a head. And now, the Public Security Bureau was on standby in District 10 in case the Blood Alliance failed.

“You’re naive. I have a personal relationship with the Public Security Bureau. My client won’t just stand by either. Why would the Public Security Bureau touch me?”

“Do you think the Public Security Bureau will hesitate even if I claim that your client was the mastermind behind the commotion that Shadowfang caused, aiming for the city government?”

“……”

In the first place, self-defense is only possible when you can open your mouth. A corpse is silent.

Alfonso would not be able to use legal deals or connections.

“This incident is not a military protest by a criminal organization against the city government, but a terror attack led by your client. The city government does not tolerate any act that threatens their power. If you want to save your life, wouldn’t it be better to just confess obediently?”

“……Haa, I have no choice.”

Alfonso slowly hid himself behind his guards.

“Let’s have a go, as you wish.”

And he gave the signal.

“Kill him!”

The guards pulled the trigger. They were not ordinary bullets.

They were special bullets imbued with magic, and they were fired at me with various effects, such as splitting, exploding, or changing shape.

“Keep firing!”

But they couldn’t break through the barrier I had deployed. The lignification, which had been strengthened by the increased nature affinity, was firm even in the midst of the special bullets that were pouring down like rain.

I knew that special bullets were expensive to waste like this, but they didn’t take their fingers off the trigger.

‘They’re trying to buy time like this.’

Alfonso’s trump card must be Lugar. It wasn’t that he trusted his skills that much, but that he had no other choice.

And it was worth believing in. Even I couldn’t judge who would win between Lugar, who had awakened his pure blood, and Sonia, who was not in her main body.

It was the best choice Alfonso could make to just tie my feet and wait for Lugar to join.

“You’re looking down on me too much.”

The very thought that he could buy time in front of me was an overconfidence.

“……!”

The shimmering earth. Since it was underground, I had minimized the power, considering the risk of the facility collapsing.

They probably hadn’t imagined that the ground beneath their feet would shake in this underground space. Just the vibration caused in a localized area was enough to effectively shake their aim.

And then, huge thorns that had shot up from the floor pierced their bodies. Alfonso was an agent who was called a specialist in large corporations and had a reputation and track record that was counted on one hand in the industry.

The guards he had brought with him were also of a high level to match. Their skills were a given, and their equipment was also state-of-the-art, as they had invested money without sparing it.

But that didn’t mean they were as strong as the Mad House. I had overcome numerous bloody battles.

In the first place, the level was different. They had suffered near-annihilation in an instant, let alone buying time against me.

Among them, a small number, the guards who had protected Alfonso to the end. Their agility was so fast that they could dodge the thorns that had shot up from the floor, and their strength was so powerful that they could break the stems of the World Tree.

It was pure physical ability, not that they knew how to handle mana precisely.

‘Body modification using the spirit’s cocoons.’

It was a field that had been applied before the awakening of the werebeast’s pure blood. If Alfonso’s client had provided the spirit’s cocoons and technology, it would not be strange if his guards, who were his agents, had become the beneficiaries.

Suddenly, one of them’s right arm swelled up. The expansion of the body, a symptom that had previously appeared as a side effect.

This time, it was different. As if he had completely controlled it, his skin did not sag, and he maintained his enlarged form.

It was a technology that had developed enough to contribute to the restoration of the pure blood. It was a big mistake to think that it was at the same level as before.

As much as its huge size, its power was also destructive. A foolish attack that seemed to crush the shield made of lignification.

The other guys also changed the shape of their bodies and joined in. Was it that they could not only expand their bodies but also control their shape?

They beat me from all directions, not just from the front, with their whip-like arms.

“Keuk!”

But at some point, their hands and feet began to get tangled. A white mucus was sticking to them and entangling them like a spider’s web.

The sap of a rubber tree. Its sticky viscosity and tough elasticity had succeeded in entangling them, even if only for a short moment, despite their struggles.

But it was meaningless to just cut off their limbs like this. They would just regenerate their body tissues soon.

It wasn’t difficult to win, but their characteristic of regenerating their bodies as if they were immortal was a tricky opponent. And if I wasted time meaninglessly, that was what the opponent wanted.

Alfonso’s composure must have come from such a calculation. That’s why the method to deal with them had to be something extraordinary, far from the standard.

I stuck the stems of the World Tree into the enemies’ bodies.

「The World Tree secretes the accumulated medicinal properties!」

The guys had finally broken free from the restraints of the rubber tree sap, but it was already too late. The medicinal properties derived from the essence of the elixir had long been absorbed into their bodies.

“Keuk!”

“My body, why is my body…!”

The medicinal properties accumulated in the World Tree are similar to the doping agents I use. It has beneficial effects such as improving physical abilities and increasing mana aptitude.

But even medicine can be poison if taken in excess. I had made them fail to control their bodies and had forced them to go berserk.

“……”

The guards, whose bodies had expanded and even proliferated, turning into monsters, just as I had seen with the side effects. Alfonso, whose last bastion had disappeared, had cold sweat forming on his forehead and trickling down.

“……!”

It was right after that that a loud noise was heard from the entrance. It seemed that the battle between Lugar and Sonia had been decided at some point.

The moment Alfonso, who had confirmed who had won, had a look of joy spreading across his face.

*Tang!*

I shot a hole in Alfonso’s heart without hesitation.

(End of Chapter)