Ch.63The Forest of Beasts? The Forest of Insects! (5)

The giant bird stared at the butterfly as if looking at a mortal enemy.

And again, it charged.

“SCREEEECH—!!!!”

“Swish—!!”

The butterfly attacked the bird with blades of wind, but the bird dodged all such attacks while flying at incredible speed. The butterfly couldn’t aim properly against the bird’s speed, which left afterimages in its wake.

“WHOOSH—!!”

The bird flapped its massive wings once, creating a gale. Seemingly deciding there was no point in dodging this all-encompassing attack, the bird folded its wings, thrust forward with its beak, and broke through.

The bird pounced on the butterfly with a form reminiscent of a meteor.

“Swish—!!”

“SCREEEECH—!!”

As their battle intensified, I moved Mary, whom I had been protecting in my arms, to a safer location.

“Moooo… (Hide somewhere safe, it’s dangerous.)”

“Okay… I’m sorry. Because of me…”

“Mmmoooo— (I survived earlier thanks to you. And if it weren’t for your healing magic all this time, I would’ve been dead already. Don’t worry about it.)”

“BUZZZZZ—!!!”

Finally regaining its senses, the ladybug that had smashed the stag beetle rose into the sky and began watching me.

Severe injuries to one arm and one leg. After assessing my wounds, the ladybug seemed to think it had the upper hand and charged straight at me.

“BUZZZZZ—!!!!”

As it approached at high speed, I threw an uppercut.

“THWACK—!!”

But with one leg failing to support my weight properly, I couldn’t put enough power into it. Ignoring my weakened attack, the ladybug began to press me.

“GRRRRR—!!”

I desperately put strength into both arms, but blood was gushing from my left arm where the wound exposed bone, staining the ground red.

The same was true for one of my legs, with the hoof dangling loosely. Mary was casting healing magic, prioritizing my leg, but…

Only someone blessed by the gods could immediately heal a wound where bone was exposed and on the verge of amputation.

The ladybug pushed me back with its enormous size and strength, while I blocked it with one foot and both arms.

“BUZZZZ—!!!”

When it could advance no further due to a large tree, the ladybug spread its wings and began shooting beams of light from its black spots, scorching me.

I blocked the attack by raising my arm with exposed bone.

“MOOOOOOO—!!!!”

I maximized the strength in my arm to minimize the wound area, using the light the creature shot to cauterize my arm—a brilliant method! If Hua Tuo had seen this, he would have called me a genius, but alas, he’s not here.

After cauterizing the wound with the ladybug’s power, I ignored the throbbing pain in my arm and grabbed its wings.

“Grrrrrr…”

The ladybug struggled to close its wings, but my thick forearm was already wedged between them.

My forearm was crushed by the pressure of its wings, reopening my wounds, but I had no choice. Due to the injury in one leg, I couldn’t apply proper force or flip the creature over.

To finish off the ladybug, I generated lightning through my arm and began electrocuting it.

“Crackle…!!!”

Perhaps experiencing its internal flesh burning for the first time, it flailed its legs in panic, but already in my grasp, its only means of resistance was to emit light.

The ladybug was ultimately forced to participate in a zero-sum game with me. Would its light burn me first, or would my lightning cook it thoroughly first?

Disregarding defense for offense, my face was burning from its light. With my eyes closed, I couldn’t see how things were progressing, but its light continued to burn me.

Even 8th circle magic could defend against area attacks, but the creature’s attack wasn’t magic but a power like my attribute, Elements.

As the sound of my body cooking alive echoed in my ears and I endured the pain of burning, I continued electrocuting it. Again and again. How long had I been doing this?

-Ding!

-Minotauros ‘Khan’ has fulfilled the conditions and acquired a new trait!

When all the flesh on my face had cooked to the point of smelling like beef, I finally heard the system’s voice again. The last time I heard it was after killing the three, so it had been quite a while.

Just as I heard that pleasant sound, the creature’s strength finally gave out.

“Slump…”

I felt its legs go limp, and I tried to open my eyes, but… my eyelids were stuck together from the cooked flesh.

Unable to see anything, I threw the ladybug aside and called for Mary.

“Mm…moo (Ma…ry.)”

“Yes! We need to treat you quickly… Khan… your face has completely melted… The bone is exposed, so even with my treatment, it will take days of constant care to return to normal.”

“Mmm (That’s fine, do it.)”

“Okay. And… your eyelids have fused shut as the flesh melted… I’ll need to make an incision before using magic. If I heal you in this state, they’ll be permanently fused.”

“Mmm (Location.)”

I used lightning to search for my axe that had fallen somewhere.

Even extending the lightning to 10 meters, 15 meters, and 30 meters, I couldn’t find it, so I asked Mary to guide me to where the axe had fallen.

“CRASH…”

But forgetting that I couldn’t see and that my leg was injured, I fell after taking just a few steps.

“Khan!”

“Mm… (I’m… fine.)”

Apparently my flesh had completely melted, making it difficult to open my mouth properly. Normally it wouldn’t hurt, but when my face met the sand, I was overwhelmed with extreme pain.

But… staying like this meant possible death at any moment. I didn’t know why the giant bird was fighting the butterfly, but… there was no guarantee it wouldn’t attack us after killing the butterfly.

As I walked one step at a time, carefully following Mary’s guidance with limited vision, I heard the bird’s cry from far away.

“SCREEEECH—!!”

That sound was unmistakably a victory cry. Hearing the bird’s triumphant cry after killing the butterfly, I grew increasingly anxious.

Fighting a swift bird when I could barely see would be impossible, and from what I glimpsed from the sky, it was quite large.

“Khan! Over here, over here!”

Following Mary’s guidance, I finally managed to retrieve my axe, but…

*Flap flap*

The sound of the giant bird’s wings came from right nearby. Fortunately, it seemed to have no intention of attacking us, merely flapping its wings near me…

While I remained vigilant, unsure when it might attack, the bird spoke first.

“Chirrup”

“Yes! Thank you!! If it weren’t for you, Khan would have died this time! We survived thanks to you!”

“SCREEEECH!”

“You came because you heard my scream and saw a demonic beast being attacked, so you tried harder? Don’t demonic beasts usually not cooperate?”

Their conversation reached my ears clearly. Apparently, this bird had come to help after hearing Mary’s screams and seeing me being attacked.

“Chirrup!”

“I see. So recently there have been many insects attacking demonic beasts, causing their numbers to plummet, and the remaining intelligent demonic beasts are joining forces to repel the insects…”

“Chirp chirrup!”

“You came here alone because you were scouting after hearing about a demonic beast that’s been attacking insects recently. You saw me being attacked, but you also thought Khan could help fight against those controlling the insects?”

“Chirp chirrup!”

“Thank you! Khan, this one says it will show us a hiding place and introduce us to its companions after you’re fully healed. What do you think?”

I nodded toward where Mary’s voice was coming from. In my current condition, I couldn’t put up much resistance if the bird attacked anyway, and since we had insects as a common enemy, joining forces with the demonic beasts seemed like the better option.

When I nodded, the bird flapped its wings joyfully.

“Chirruuuup—!!”

The bird flapped its wings in the air as if telling us to follow, and I was able to follow it with Mary’s guidance.

* * * * *

“Rumble…”

The sound of massive footsteps echoing through the forest. Just by walking, it shook the forest, causing all beings except the forest’s master to tremble in fear.

The being called the Challenger.

It surveyed its subordinates, its black carapace gleaming in the reflected sunlight. It had sent five of them days ago to repel outsiders who had invaded the center of the forest, but not a single one had returned.

This meant its subordinates had been defeated. But the outsider must have also suffered great damage, as none of its other subordinates had died, the Challenger thought.

Should it find and eliminate this outsider, or should it conserve strength for challenging the forest’s master?

The Challenger decided to conserve more strength.

Whether the outsider had died or been severely injured by its five subordinates was unclear… but if they could be handled by just five, they wouldn’t be a match for the Challenger itself.

With that thought, the Challenger ordered its subordinates.

Capture all beings except those in the center of the forest.

The Challenger, having accumulated strength to challenge the forest’s master, entered its final preparations.