Chapter 112
"Hey hey!! If you don't burrow underground quickly, your precious roots will disappear!!"
The scene of a child gleefully swinging a scythe.
And to top it off, an expression that's a little too wicked to be called a smile.
While perfectly embodying the ugly sight of a child bullying the weak, the opponent is an evil monster that has plunged the town into a crisis—so from society's perspective, I've created the contradictory image of being the righteous one.
The roots severed from the main body by the swung scythe-spear turn into black ash, and each time, the human-faced tree tries to eliminate me as if in protest, but—
"Full of openings." "I'm going in too!!"
When the human-faced tree's aggro shifts toward me, a woman and a girl leap in to exploit the gaps left by the reduced roots.
Circling around to flank the tree's main body, the sound of Nell's halberd slicing horizontally and the oddly heavy impact of Claudia's step-in strike echo from the tree's body.
The agonized face on the tree's trunk contorts even further—definitely not my imagination.
"Liberta-sama, the number of root attacks seems to have decreased." "We’ve cut down quite a bit. Once we strip away its means of attack and defense, it won’t have time to attack us."
If, hypothetically, the monster's severed body parts didn’t turn to ash and remained on the ground, there would undoubtedly be roots scattered everywhere by now.
That’s how vigorously we’ve been cutting them down.
Every time Claudia lands a punch or a kick, a defense debuff is applied, allowing my attacks to land smoothly as well.
Though part of it is probably because the roots themselves have low defense.
"At this rate, should we just increase our DPS and finish it off quickly?"
Judging by the damage we’ve dealt, it should be about ready to collapse.
Grinding it down steadily like this is fine, but Satos, the client, requested a swift resolution.
So taking our time isn’t ideal.
"Claudia-san!" "What is it?"
A conversation while fending off incoming roots.
Just moments ago, the roots were raining down violently, but after its own self-destruct attack unearthed the roots spread underground, we ended up in this logging festival.
Thanks to that, we now have enough breathing room to stop, fend off attacks, and even talk.
"Do you have enough mana for a big move!?" "Finally! I was getting tired of waiting for when you’d give the signal. Yes, my body’s warmed up, and I have plenty of mana. Anytime, anywhere."
And because I’d kept her waiting despite saying I’d create an opening, Claudia—who’d built up some stress—grinned with a slightly dark smile, more out of anticipation than joy.
A cold sweat trickled down my back, but I’ll ignore it.
"Which one should I use? If you time it right, I could do both—" "Let’s avoid getting skewered by roots while falling from above, so go with Twin Roaring Dragon Strike." "...Understood."
With a reluctant tone, as if lamenting not being able to go all-out on such a perfect enemy, she turned back to the fight.
For now—
"Ingrid, handle the roots. I’ll keep the aggro on me."
Starting with aggro management.
I spin my spear gracefully to hype myself up.
Cool moves like this are just irresistible.
If I tried this in my original body in the real world, it wouldn’t have been possible with a steel scythe-spear—doubtful even with a bamboo spear.
But with my current stat-boosted body, I can pull it off.
The fingertip sensation of gripping the spear comes from years of gaming experience, while the full-body strength to wield it was honed in this world.
After cleanly spinning the spear behind my back, I’m tempted to strike a cool pose, but if Nell and the others see it, the moment will be ruined—so I just dash forward.
"Getting close is a no-go, huh?"
Treant-types hate close combat.
Naturally, since they specialize in mid-range combat—if you get too close, all they can do is create a thicket of roots to fend you off.
Or swing their branches around.
Either way, just closing in builds aggro nicely.
"But I *have* to get close."
Since our tank, Amina, is singing in the air, I need to attack a bit more aggressively to draw aggro.
"Alright then, let’s do this."
Damage is secondary—what matters is—
"*Haaah…*"
Hit count.
I take a deep breath and sharpen my focus.
"*Hmph!*"
Holding my breath, I move explosively.
A single thrust as I step into spear range.
Magic Edge extends the spear’s reach, widening my effective distance.
Before I even feel the impact, I retract and chain into a combo, chipping away at the tree’s body.
Of course, I know it won’t just stand there and take it.
The ground swells beneath my feet.
A fraction of a second later, roots burst out—I know that too.
But I don’t need a big evasion.
I shift my feet, lean right, ease my attack slightly, then accelerate again.
One root is severed by the returning scythe blade, turning to black ash and vanishing—then I resume my assault.
This time, I sense three roots coming from below.
Because I can predict the enemy’s pattern, I position myself at the center of the attack zone and, the moment they emerge, slash with my scythe.
Pivoting on my feet, the mana-forged blade cleaves through the roots, scattering ash around me.
**"■■■■■■■!!!"** "Get mad, get mad—your enemy is right here."
I exhale sharply, then inhale again.
That breathing rhythm is just right.
Right after, a swinging branch comes—I duck under it, sliding forward and carving an X-shaped wound into the trunk with my scythe-spear.
In protest, the trunk shakes, and a branch from the opposite side swings down.
"Not happening!"
Nell severs it.
Because the tree focused on me, its attacks on her became sloppy—another precious means of attack lost to her battle-axe.
A single branch floats in the air.
Slowly turning to ash after being severed.
But it’s not the only one.
As if to say *there’s more*, the tree twists its body, gathering momentum to slam another branch—
"Won’t let you!"
Ingrid leaps in without hesitation, precisely deflecting it with her broom.
After having three attacks blocked, the tree shakes its trunk in frustration, but—
"You took your eyes off her, didn’t you?"
I was waiting for this.
Once aggro crosses a certain threshold, it’ll ignore her.
Even a treant, skilled in area attacks and multi-target combat, prioritizes me over Claudia, who’s been keeping her distance without attacking.
But hey, Claudia—just because you’re a dozen meters away doesn’t mean you’re any less dangerous.
If anything, you’re *scarier* with that running start, you know?
A crackling sound, like static electricity, fills the air.
I know exactly what that means.
Next will be the earth-shaking stomp.
The mana concentrated in her hands glows ominously, as if symbolizing the sheer weight of her strike.
Wait, Claudia-san.
Were you seriously about to hit me with *that* when we fought?
Hands at her hips, poised to thrust, Claudia uses Thunder Step to close the distance instantly.
Though the skill allows for blinding speed, it has the drawback of only moving in a straight line.
But with the tree’s attention locked onto me, she seizes the perfect moment—
"*HAAAH!!*"
A high-speed step-in, releasing all the built-up mana into the tree’s trunk with a devastating strike.
The impact sounds like a dragon’s roar.
"*Uwah*, I’m really glad Nell stopped her back then." "*Seriously*."
Seeing the aftermath, I thank Nell from the bottom of my heart for intervening that time.
I can feel my lips twitching.
"Well, if we get to sightsee in Norridge, I’ll treat you to something sweet." "Will there be anything? With the town in chaos, I doubt many shops are open."
Me, Nell, and even Ingrid behind us cover our mouths in shock.
"That was... quite satisfying."
Claudia slowly relaxes her stance and turns back toward us.
Her smile is oddly refreshing.
The expression of someone who’s just toppled a powerful foe—radiating the same euphoria as an ice-cold beer in midsummer.
"Hmm, maybe we should incorporate more treant battles when we return to the central continent."
The reason for her expression lies behind her.
A massive crater where over half the trunk used to be.
For a human, it’d be like losing most of their torso.
The slowly collapsing tree is already turning to ash.
But the body itself doesn’t vanish immediately.
The sound of its weight hitting the ground echoes as it falls.
**Subjugation complete.**
The phrase flashes through my mind, but what truly stuns me is the sheer power of her ultimate move.
If I’d taken that head-on back then, wouldn’t my upper body have been *obliterated*?
The thought sends a chill down my spine.
"Ah, the mist is clearing."
As I ponder this, the visibility gradually improves.
"Hey! Is it over!?" "Yeah! You can come down now!!"
Now that Amina in the sky can see us, once the tree fully turns to ash, she’ll wave and descend.
"*Phew*, it’d have been trouble if I couldn’t see anything from above. Could you hear my song?" "Yep, loud and clear. Thanks for the buff." "Really? That’s great!!"
With everyone regrouped, it’s time for the fun part.
"Alright, let’s check the drops. Treants drop a ton of useful materials, so this should be good."
After sprinting through the mountains and fighting right after, I’m hoping the rewards match the effort.
"Treants mostly drop plant-based materials like lumber and herbs, but—" "Claudia-san, anything you want? As the MVP, you get first pick."
Honestly, this subjugation relied entirely on Claudia’s firepower.
Without her, we’d have had to retrieve the golem and figure out how to maneuver its slow bulk to the treant without getting hit.
Doubt we’d have won so easily—might not have even taken the job.
The ash clears, revealing a decent haul at the bottom of the crater.
"Human-faced tree lumber makes great staves and spears. A debuffer could use one well into mid-game."
First up is the standard treant drop: lumber.
No idea why it’s so neatly cut, but it’s surprisingly straight for something from that twisted tree.
"Four of them. Will they fit in the Magic Bag?" "Not all of them. One or two at most."
Good for staves, spears, and the like.
"These are herbs. What kind?" "Let me see—oh, lucky. High-grade potion ingredients. How many?" "One. There are three others, but—" "Those are for a special potion. The Duke would love these." "Love them?" "They’re for curse-breaking potions."
Next are herbs.
One’s for high-grade potions, the rest for curse-breaking ones.
Both are in demand, but we have no use for them right now.
We lack the equipment and other ingredients to brew them.
"And lastly—"
The remaining drops are standard, but the quantity is impressive.
Way more than the swamp dragon.
Classic treant trait.
"Liberta! There’s a key here!" "Huh? Nell, why would that drop?" "It was just here."
Nell holds a wooden-looking key, making me question her absurd drop luck yet again.
And of all things, from a human-faced tree’s dungeon.
"Let’s just stash it in the Magic Bag for now. We’ll decide whether to use it later."
Knowing what awaits in that dungeon, it’s tempting but dangerous.
I push the thought aside and glance at the now-clear sky.