The Witch of the Beast

“So you’re saying you’re a bee?”

Caramel answered calmly, “Yes.”

Americano asked her why she looked exactly like a human, and Caramel continued with her explanation.

“I was smaller than the Zeus Wasp you defeated, but that miniaturized form was my original appearance.”

“But why are you human now?”

“I evolved.”

“Evolved?”

“It was the witch’s power.”

Caramel recalled the past.

“She gathered countless Demon Beasts, evolved them to become several stages stronger, and sometimes there were Demon Beasts that became human. I belong to the case where I became human. This ring is a gift that the witch used to communicate with the Demon Beasts.”

The ring on her right ring finger.

It was the [Ring of Contract].

“Can I take a look for a moment?”

“Sure.”

She handed over the [Ring of Contract].

Americano also called Cappuccino.

‘(Why? Huh? Uh? Who’s this?)’

“Never mind. The ring, please.”

She borrowed Cappuccino’s [Ring of Contract] as well.

She compared the two [Ring of Contract]s.

Gusta said that the intaglio engraved on the inside of the ring was carved by the Witch of the Demon Beasts.

The same intaglio was engraved on both rings.

“….”

It was too strange to be a coincidence.

The Tower was the Tower of Trials.

Does it determine the opponent by considering the Hero’s position and situation?

She could have searched on the [Community], but she wasn’t interested enough to search. There was also a lack of information. She just thought, ‘Maybe that’s how it is,’ and moved on.

“Humanization, huh.”

‘(Why are you looking at me?)’

“Can you freely choose your appearance when you’re humanized?”

Caramel shook her head.

“Dream Frog. If this one were to be humanized, she would become a green-haired girl.”

‘Witch of the Demon Beasts, huh.’

Americano booked a House and spent the night. Yesterday, she invested time in buying clothes for Caramel.

She woke up in the morning, reminisced about yesterday, and decided what to do today.

She became interested in humanization.

Whether it would be convenient if Cappuccino became human was secondary; she had a strong interest in the fact that she could become human itself.

“But even in human form, a monster is still a monster, I guess.”

It was a belated realization, but [Zeus Queen Wasp] Caramel became Americano’s pet through the [Ring of Contract].

She’s human.

A former monster.

Still, she was treated as a pet because she was a monster.

‘Then can I take her to the Tower?’

Not that she would.

After becoming a Challenger, the Tower’s movements… she had only experienced three floors, but taking Cappuccino or Caramel was dangerous.

Even if they’re pets, will it resurrect monsters?

If it resurrects them, there was room to take them.

She searched the [Community].

There was no relevant information.

Related posts were still not being uploaded.

‘Should I upload one?’

She posted a thread.

What happens when a monster you tamed dies, and is Resurrection possible?

She uploaded the related post.

When she turned to the side after uploading, she saw the blonde woman sitting blankly. Her expression hadn’t changed at all since they first met.

She was too big to put in the [Pet House], so she brought her into the House pretending she was human.

“Let’s go.”

“….”

She was still taciturn.

They ate breakfast,

And left the city.

The Witch of the Demon Beasts mainly appeared around here.

Caramel evolved after receiving the witch’s touch, so she would know the witch’s dwelling.

“This way.”

Caramel guided the way.

“Did you used to live around here?”

“I did. It was before I was humanized. It was a long time ago, but coming here brings back memories.”

Whenever Caramel saw a distinctive terrain in the forest, she would say what she did here in the past, and what she did there.

At the time, Caramel was one of the queen wasps who had been expelled from the group, and because she was a queen, her combat ability was weaker than that of the worker wasps.

She fought the monsters living in the forest and won, met honeybees and preyed on them. She went through near-death experiences, and then met the Witch of the Demon Beasts,

“It was here. I was subdued by the witch here and dragged away.”

It was an ordinary forest.

Caramel stroked a tree.

“There are no traces. A lot of time has passed.”

“How many years ago was that?”

“It’s been 300 years.”

300 years.

That’s a big scale.

“You’ve lived for 300 years and that’s all you’ve accomplished?”

“My power is focused on growing my forces, so no matter how hard I try, my own power doesn’t increase much.”

“You built up your forces for 300 years and that’s all you achieved?”

“….”

Caramel was still expressionless, but she seemed to have a lot she wanted to say.

The [Ring of Contract] had telepathy. Caramel’s emotional state was connected through telepathy, and she read her dissatisfaction.

“Why don’t you just say it?”

“My kingdom can be compared to what humans call a territory.”

“Is that so?”

“Monopolizing land and mountains with abundant resources requires that much power. And it takes power to maintain that power as well. If I could have accumulated power for 300 years, the entire continent would have been in my hands.”

“Hee.”

She’s comparing herself to a lord?

That was unexpected.

Was it that much?

The [Zeus Wasps] gathering together and shooting lightning was certainly annoying for people who were vulnerable to electricity.

And the [Zeus General Wasp].

She thought of that wasp.

And she thought of Losfelt’s knight, who was slightly more skilled in swordsmanship than that wasp.

If they used lightning, the [Zeus General Wasp] would win, but there were many other knights.

‘If what she’s saying is true, then the knight who appeared at that time was quite a strong knight?’

Otherwise, it wouldn’t make sense to compare her to the [Zeus General Wasp] of the [Zeus Wasp Nest], which is on par with a territory army.

The knight she saw back then.

He didn’t seem that great.

Americano didn’t know the political structure and world settings of Full Dive well.

She had become strong in a short period of time, so she didn’t have a proper grasp of the standards of strength. The standards of what was strong and what was weak were ambiguous.

She was aware of that part, but she needed more experience to get a grasp of it.

And she couldn’t buy experience with money.

‘Well, I’ll figure it out as I go.’

“You were easily defeated by just me, and you have such great confidence?”

“You were ridiculously strong. Although Electrical Ability doesn’t work at all, the General wasn’t someone who would be easily defeated. It was too shocking for me that he went down so easily.”

“….”

The [Zeus General Wasp] was black text at level 33.

Converted to level, it’s level 58.

To be exact, level 58~62.

It’s in the ranks of Sword Master.

Is that true?

There was too much of a gap between the strength of the Sword Master she imagined and the strength of the [Zeus General Wasp].

Is the fact that lightning attacks were sealed off that much of a difference?

‘Lightning is dangerous, though.’

The reason why she felt it was boring after using that ability directly was precisely because the ability of electricity was that effective.

“That…”

She said formally.

“Sorry?”

“It’s fine.”

At that moment, Caramel stopped.

“We’re here.”

“It’s just an ordinary forest?”

“You don’t have any knowledge of magic, do you.”

It was an ordinary forest.

Most of the places she pointed out as she recalled memories had landmarks.

A spring, a stream, red flowers, a fallen thick tree, etc.

But here, there was only a forest near the mountain. It was such a common landscape that it wouldn’t be strange to say there was nothing even though there were trees everywhere.

“Well, I don’t have any connection to magic, so I didn’t learn it.”

Caramel fiddled with her ring.

“The contract is broken, so it doesn’t seem to let me in. Originally, this ring should be the key. But it doesn’t work.”

“Then can’t you go in?”

“It seems so.”

Silence.

They came all the way here, but it ended with just looking back on memories without any gains.

But there’s still a way to end it.

She took out a sword from her Inventory.

“It’s useless. It’s not a barrier that can be physically harmed.”

“We’ll see once I try.”

Full Dive is a game with perfect freedom.

If you think, ‘Will this work?’ then it works.

Chapter 6, Form 1.

[Execution Sword]

The blue Magical Power greatsword that had grown was split from top to bottom in the air. The space split from top to bottom.

The split space.

A hole was created in the air.

A forest shaded by shadows and sparsely populated with trees.

But inside the hole, the trees were densely packed and the vines were lush, shining with a fresh green light.

“It works.”

The hole shrinks.

And soon disappears.

She counted the time it took to recover in her mind.

She split it again with the [Execution Sword] and went inside.

Witch of the Demon Beasts.

The reason for meeting.

That thought suddenly came to mind.

‘Why do I want to meet the witch?’

Because a [Sub Quest] popped up.

That’s also a reason.

But the [Sub Quest] only appeared after hearing about the location where the Witch of the Demon Beasts appeared.

There was no request to solve anything, and there were no rumors that the Witch of the Demon Beasts had done anything wrong.

[Quests] are requests. They are problems that need to be solved, but the [Sub Quest] called [Mother of the Demon Beasts] didn’t have any content asking to solve anything.

‘Then why did it appear?’

Witch of the Demon Beasts.

She came into the barrier that the witch had set up.

As soon as she entered, the tree roots wriggled and grabbed her ankle.

[Trent’s Servant Tree]

Gray text.

That information window popped up on the wriggling tree roots.

She raised the sword she was holding high and sent out the [Moonlight Sword], cutting the tree that was the owner of the roots horizontally.

“It’s quite a sinister place.”

When the [Trent’s Servant Tree] died, the entire forest changed its atmosphere.

The trees all wriggled at once, and the fresh forest of midsummer transformed into the maw of a monster.

She knocked down the trees around her at once with [Slash].

The soil boils below the ground.

There is no change on the ground yet, but something is coming from the underground below.

She repeatedly swung [Slash] at them as well, leaving square scars on the floor.

“What are you doing? Not guiding me.”

“…Follow me.”

Americano followed Caramel.

When she looked at the sky as if to see the name of the forest, an information window appeared.

[Demon Beast Garden of the Demon Beast Witch]

Monsters that could be called Demon Beasts appeared sporadically in the forest, and she cut them down. They appeared and she cut them down. As soon as they appeared, she cut them down.

There weren’t any particularly strong monsters, so she didn’t bother to remember them.

Strong monsters evolve and graduate from here.

‘It’ll be difficult to expect strong monsters.’

“It’s over there.”

They crossed the mountain.

As they were going down the mountain, they saw the foothills, and there was a House there.

It was a three-story garden House, and the red roof was impressive, giving it a nice atmosphere.

Caramel pointed to that House.

“But it’s strange.”

“What is?”

“The witch doesn’t raise them aggressively. She teaches them to avoid conflicts with humans as much as possible and to survive for a long time.”

“So?”

“Demon Beasts that have lost their way and are wandering around come to the witch’s forest. So many Demon Beasts live in the forest and are managed by the witch. But there is no interference from the witch, and all the Demon Beasts are aggressive. Then what do you think will happen?”

“….”

“I thought we were unwelcome guests, or that the witch had changed her policy, but it doesn’t seem like that either.”

The forest didn’t just attack Americano.

She saw scenes of monsters fighting each other, eating, and being eaten.

She saw corpses that had already finished eating, plants eating those corpses, and even the remaining bloodstains.

The freshness of midsummer?

Vivid survival of the fittest.

Caramel calmly concluded.

“This is neglect.”

And the garden House was getting closer.

But what blocked the way was vines.

Very dense vines blocked the way.

Wind gathered in front of the vine wall. The leaves that came on the wind gathered and took the shape of a person, becoming one entity.

[Dryad]

Green text.

It was a Dryad.

“[Stop. Any further intrusion…]”

She had already cut it down.

She cut down the Dryad and the vine wall all at once, and the road opened.

She said to the [Trent] who was listening somewhere.

“Don’t interfere. If you interfere, I’ll erase the entire forest. I didn’t come to harm the witch, so stay still.”

“[…Understood.]”

A new Dryad was created and answered her words.

[Trent] understood quickly. Even if it blocked her evenly, the damage would be great.

“….”

“What’s wrong?”

Caramel looked back at the Dryad.

Americano asked why, but Caramel seemed to have realized something and quickened her pace.

The gate opened, she opened the front door, and went straight up to the second floor.

Americano, who was chasing Caramel, followed silently, but inside the House, Dryads were cleaning the House in the middle.

Nevertheless, an undeniable oldness permeated the furniture and walls.

The stairs were also precarious, so she carefully went up the stairs, and among the corridors and doors that could be seen to the left and right, one door was wide open.

Caramel was in front of that door.

She gestured for her to come this way.

There was a witch in the room.

A witch who had become a skeleton.

Wearing a pointed hat and a cloak, she was sitting in a chair, and her corpse had rotted away, leaving only bones.

She went into the room and lifted the cloak, but there were no traces of being murdered.

“Wasn’t she killed by someone?”

She asked Caramel.

“Was she Frail from the start?”

“She was Frail. I didn’t think she would live long, but I never thought she would die without even creating a successor.”

Americano picked up a book placed in front of the witch.

It was a thick book made with a hardcover, and she confirmed that an information window popped up and flipped through the pages.

“Huh?”

They were all blank.

Flipping.

Flipping.

She quickly flipped through the pages back and forth, but they were all blank pages.

But in the information window,

[Grimoire of the Demon Beasts (Legendary)]

It was written.

There’s something there.

Even when she showed it to Caramel, they were all blank pages.

She was thinking hard about what kind of trick was hidden, but she got a headache.

She called Cappuccino and borrowed the witch’s wisdom.

She summoned the [Pet House] and took out Cappuccino.

“How is it?”

‘(Can’t you explain? How is it…)’

She was about to show her the grimoire and add an explanation that she could see the information window but couldn’t see the contents, when.

Cappuccino said.

‘(It seems to be a grimoire that researches the evolution of Demon Beasts? Win told me to open it from the first page. Huh? What are you doing? Hurry up and turn the page.)’

“Huh? Okay, okay.”

She turned to the first page.

Cappuccino read the introduction.