Chapter 31: Fierce Battle (2)

“Whew.”

Immediately after passing through the Warp Gate,

Han-seong exhaled heavily.

Unlike the officetel, the temporary base hadn’t been attacked by the Cannibal Flowers. Just as he was feeling relieved at having bought some time,

“M-Mage-nim. Where is this…?”

A trembling voice reached his ears.

Alchemist Lee Ji-hye.

Of course she’d be bewildered. Being suddenly pulled by the hand and dropped in an unfamiliar place.

Han-seong calmly replied.

“This is the temporary base.”

“…A base?”

“Yes, like an outpost.”

It wasn’t a lie.

After all, the main reason for setting up a base here was to attack the Vampiric Tree. But he never expected it to launch an attack first.

‘Moreover, it pinpointed my exact location.’

Even though he hadn’t done anything that could have revealed his presence, like Detection or Precise Observation. This fact filled Han-seong with strong suspicion.

Especially since none of the Vampiric Tree’s skills seemed to be related to detection abilities.

‘Unless someone told it…’

Such a thing should be impossible.

Who on earth would have told the Vampiric Tree about his location? Not many people even knew he was living in the officetel.

At most, only Ji-hye living on the floor below, and Ha-eun’s group at the shopping mall. Among them, the person who might have a grudge against Han-seong was…

“…Ah.”

Suddenly, one candidate came to mind.

Necromancer Kim Tae-min. The person who had confined and exploited Ji-hye. Someone who could be assumed to have strong resentment towards Han-seong regarding the Alchemist.

‘But this is close to speculation.’

Even if, for argument’s sake, Tae-min and the Vampiric Tree could communicate, there was no evidence.

Only suspicion existed. As he frowned, pondering these unresolved questions,

Suddenly Ji-hye spoke up.

“Um, Mage-nim.”

A face clearly showing signs of anxiety.

Looking around nervously, she asked while staring at the wheelchair:

“That appearance, what…?”

“…I’ll explain later. Right now, defeating the Vampiric Tree comes first.”

“Ah, yes! I, I understand.”

Ji-hye nodded.

Han-seong inwardly sighed.

‘I wanted to hide it as much as possible, but…’

It couldn’t be helped. He couldn’t throw her into danger just to hide this fact.

But then,

A strange sound was heard from outside.

─Wooooong!

A bizarre noise that sounded like a whale’s cry.

The sound echoing at short intervals originated from where the Vampiric Tree was.

And shortly after, the Cannibal Flowers that had been near the officetel could be seen flocking towards Jamsil Bridge one by one.

‘Emergency Muster?’

One of the Vampiric Tree’s skills.

It seemed to be an action to summon all nearby Cannibal Flowers to the colony. Seeing this, Han-seong shook off all the idle thoughts in his mind.

‘Right, the Vampiric Tree comes first.’

That’s the most important thing right now.

Han-seong took out the potions he had stored in his inventory and divided them into two. Four bottles each in a reachable position and in the Collector’s pouch.

He placed the remaining bottle on his lap.

With this, potion preparations were complete.

‘Next…’

Time to check usable skills.

Excluding Detection, which had a 10-minute cooldown remaining, all skills were available for use.

Next, he looked at the bracelet.

The skills pre-stored in the bracelet were Tinder, Wind Cutter, and Call Lightning. Except for Tinder, the other two skills could be used without mana consumption.

‘Perfect.’

With this, preparations were complete.

Han-seong looked at the Vampiric Tree outside the window.

It had stopped abruptly about 30 meters above Kangil Girls’ High School. Other than that, no particular abnormal behavior or anomalies were observed.

‘And the Cannibal Flowers…’

They were just crossing Jamsil Bridge, heading towards Ttukseom Hangang Park. Then the timing to start the attack would be when the Cannibal Flowers gathered in the colony.

Han-seong’s eyes grew serious.

“Ji-hye-ssi.”

“Yes…?”

“Don’t leave my side.”

No matter what happens.

As he emphasized with a voice devoid of any humor, Ji-hye nodded with a stern face.

[Replica: Collector – Auto Mode]

[Stance Change: Defense]

[Please select the escort target.]

A right hand glowing blue.

Han-seong touched his own body and Ji-hye’s hand in turn. The setting was quickly completed.

[Escort target setting complete]

[All other targets will be recognized as enemies.]

The Collector blocked in front of the two.

With this, the escort was taken care of.

Just as all preparations were complete, the Cannibal Flowers could be seen almost fully gathered around the Vampiric Tree.

“…Alright.”

Shall we begin then?

Han-seong entered into battle.

[Activating skill.]

[Enhance: Enchant Fire]

Along with a feeling of his body heating up,

An additional notification message appeared.

[Notice]

-All skills in possession will have the status effect: Ignition added for the duration.

-Skills that were originally fire attribute will be given the status effect: Burning.

Ignition and Burning.

What’s the difference between the two?

[Ignition]: Fire catches on the target’s body.

*Receives fire attribute damage at regular intervals.

[Burning]: The target’s body burns fiercely.

*When attacking a burning target with fire attributes, the damage received by the target greatly increases.

He understood what it meant.

It means using Tinder first, then using fire attribute skills would be effective.

Before that, don’t forget to set up Magic Field to increase magic damage.

‘But I need to save Magic Field.’

Han-seong had realized something while fighting elite monsters so far. That victory could only be certain by destroying the weak spot.

Both the Collector and the Centipede Queen kept moving no matter how much magic damage they took until their weak spots were destroyed.

‘The Vampiric Tree’s weak spot is the moving root.’

So he planned to save Magic Field and Tinder until he could pinpoint the location of the weak spot.

Then there’s only one skill to use now.

[Remote: Poison Fog]

A fog that spreads poison in a 200-meter radius.

The coordinates were where the Vampiric Tree stood upright.

The center of the Cannibal Flower swarm. As the skill activated, a thick fog enveloped the surroundings, and a phenomenon that couldn’t be seen before occurred.

Whoosh!

Right after the fog touched their bodies, the roots of the Cannibal Flowers started burning fiercely.

The Cannibal Flowers, suddenly engulfed in flames, flashed brightly and tried to move away from the fog somehow.

But it was useless.

Because that’s not ordinary fog.

Due to the paralysis effect of the poison fog, the Cannibal Flowers stopped in place, and soon their entire bodies were engulfed in flames.

Bang! Booom!

The corpses that had completely turned into charcoal exploded loudly like popcorn. In the process, sparks spread in all directions, sticking to Cannibal Flowers that were outside the fog’s range.

‘I didn’t expect this much.’

The effect was much better than expected.

Thanks to this, far more Cannibal Flowers than anticipated turned into charcoal. The flood of incoming Coins was a bonus.

But that was only for a moment, as Han-seong, watching the battlefield through the window, soon noticed something odd.

‘That…’

In the scene that had turned into a sea of fire, only the Vampiric Tree wasn’t catching fire. Why? Wasn’t fire supposed to be its weakness? Han-seong couldn’t understand.

Then a sudden speculation occurred to him.

‘Ah! Could it be that only the roots catch fire?’

It was a plausible guess.

Just looking at the Cannibal Flowers, the initial ignition started from the roots. After the roots were completely burned, the fire spread to the stems and leaves.

Moreover, the trunk of the Vampiric Tree looked like it was made of stone-like material. Though the reason wasn’t clear, this complicated the situation.

‘Well, the Vampiric Tree’s roots…’

They’re not even visible.

They weren’t protruding above ground, and above all, none of the skills Han-seong possessed could strike targets underground.

So what should he do?

As he was groaning over this new dilemma,

“M-Mage-nim! From below…!”

An urgent cry broke his reverie.

Ji-hye’s voice. Looking in the direction her finger was pointing, he saw Cannibal Flowers that had begun to surround the vicinity of the residence.

‘Are these the ones from Kangil Girls’ High School?’

Checking the map confirmed it.

More than half of the Cannibal Flower swarm that had attacked Kangil Girls’ High School was now heading towards the residence.

Han-seong’s eyes widened.

“…Huh?”

Just as he was about to close the map, a sudden strong sense of dissonance struck him. And soon after, the identity of that dissonance was revealed.

The location of the Vampiric Tree marked on the map was different from the location of the Vampiric Tree visible outside the window.

“What? Why…”

Han-seong looked out the window again.

The Vampiric Tree leaning from Ttukseom Park towards Kangil Girls’ High School. It was in the same state as when he first saw it.

But on the map, the Vampiric Tree wasn’t in Ttukseom Park, but at an intersection only 300 meters away from the residence.

‘Wait a minute.’

As he was harboring doubts about this inexplicable phenomenon, suddenly a piece of information flashed through his mind.

It was about the Vampiric Tree’s weak spot.

『Moving Root』

The weak spot that changed when he reached level 30.

The somewhat meaningful name that changed to ‘moving’ root. The discrepancy between the actual location and the position marked on the map.

Combining these two clues led to one conclusion.

“Could it be…”

At that moment, Han-seong’s expression hardened.

Because he discovered the Vampiric Tree marked on the map slowly moving towards the residence.

The moment speculation turned into certainty.

Han-seong examined the surrounding area with Precise Observation while simultaneously activating a skill.

[Remote: Magic Arrow]

Flaming magic arrows flew towards those coordinates, unleashing a concentrated barrage. Suddenly, the ground below shook violently.

Soon after, the uneasiness became reality.

Crack! Craaaack!

A massive root rising from underground.

Reminiscent of a vine plant, it spread dozens, hundreds of roots in all directions.

The roots moved like living snakes, widely encircling the area around the residence, and observing this, Han-seong finally realized.

‘That’s…!’

The main body of the Vampiric Tree.

He wanted to unleash all his skills right away, but it was impossible now. The Cannibal Flowers were climbing up the building before it.

Crash!

With the sound of breaking windows, Cannibal Flowers entered the living room. Han-seong, who had been watching the map intently to predict the attack, responded calmly.

[Remote: Tinder]

A spark clung to the root of the first Cannibal Flower that climbed up. Seeing this, the following Cannibal Flowers all tried to move away from the surroundings at once.

As if they had learned that the fire would spread. But Han-seong wasn’t one to just stand by and watch.

[Remote: Decoy Dummy]

A dummy doll set up between the railings.

The Cannibal Flowers that were trying to move away from the scene flinched and swarmed towards the doll, and meanwhile, the Cannibal Flower that had first caught fire turned into charcoal.

And a chain reaction followed.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

The flames spreading at a rapid pace.

Since the Ignition effect was also applied to the dummy doll, fire clung to it when struck.

Moreover, the fallen corpses coming into contact with the encirclement created even greater damage.

[You have killed a Cannibal Flower.]

[You have killed a Cannibal Flower…]

Now there was no need to worry about that side.

As long as the Tinder skill wasn’t canceled, they would burn and perish on their own.

‘Where is the Vampiric Tree?’

Han-seong scrutinized the map thoroughly.

And his eyes widened.

He confirmed that the Vampiric Tree, which had approached right up to their noses, suddenly widened the distance greatly.

‘What? Why so suddenly?’

A distance of about 500 meters away.

It’s not within the disruption range of the Decoy Dummy. Could it be waiting for the duration of Tinder and the dummy to end?

Seeing how it’s building a dense encirclement while staring this way, that possibility seems high.

‘If that’s what it’s thinking…’

We’ll attack first from this side.

Han-seong aimed at the point where the roots were most concentrated and used an area-of-effect skill.

[Remote: Call Lightning]

The sky instantly turning dark red.

After a few seconds passed, a blazing lightning bolt struck the designated coordinates.

Boom!

“Eek!”

The sound heard almost simultaneously with the flash.

Ji-hye screamed in surprise at the thunderous noise that came from not too far away. Han-seong also frowned and covered his ears.

But in exchange, the effect was considerable.

The roots at the designated spot were pulverized beyond recognition.

‘Since the moving root is supposed to be the weak spot…’

This should have dealt quite a blow.

Now it’s just a matter of picking off the remaining roots one by one. Just as he was about to switch the viewpoint of Precise Observation, a sight that made him doubt his eyes unfolded.

“…What?”

The sight of new roots surging in like waves from the direction of Ttukseom Hangang Park. They quickly built an encirclement, replacing the roots that had just disappeared.

So what appeared first wasn’t everything?

Han-seong’s expression hardened.

‘And what’s more annoying is…’

The fact that they’re waiting for the dummy to disappear from outside its area of influence. But he couldn’t maintain the dummy forever.

Decoy Dummy, like Tinder, is a skill that consumes a certain amount of mana per second.

‘Time is not on my side.’

If he maintains the dummy like this, it will only waste precious mana. Just then, the Cannibal Flowers that had attacked the residence were completely burned and annihilated, and Tinder, having lost things to burn, naturally disappeared.

Han-seong finally withdrew the dummy.

The roots, as if they had been waiting for this moment, began to fly in from all directions. Recognizing this, Han-seong also used the skill he had been saving.

[Remote: Magic Field]

A semi-transparent magical area spread out centered on the temporary base. Following this, he loaded Wind Cutter to prepare for battle, and at that moment,

The roots flying in from all directions broke through the walls and collapsed the ceiling. With a huge vibration and rising dust, fierce flames soon engulfed the surroundings.

As if announcing the second round with the Vampiric Tree.