Chapter 32: Fierce Battle (3)

The powerless walls and ceiling crumbled.

As dusty haze filled the room, the Vampiric Tree’s roots poured towards Han-seong.

At that moment.

The Collector, which had been standing by motionlessly until now, swung its whip-like arms.

Whoosh! Crack!

It grabbed all the roots and slammed them into a corner, and in that brief moment of reprieve, Han-seong unleashed the Wind Cutters he had loaded in advance.

The effect was tremendous.

“Wh-what?”

The blades, about three times larger than usual.

The flaming wind blades flew and severed the roots gathered in the corner in one strike. Then flames erupted, followed by a thunderous explosion.

Ah, could it be thanks to Magic Field?

There were no other variables besides that.

Crack! Bang! Boom!

The other roots that came flying in intervals also exploded upon being hit by the fire-attribute Wind Cutters.

The hundreds of roots that had poured in from all directions aiming for Han-seong were cleanly dealt with by the Collector in defense stance and just three Wind Cutters.

Truly overwhelming firepower.

But something felt a bit off.

There were no more moving roots now.

No presence could be felt in the surroundings either.

However, the square red dot marked on the map still hadn’t disappeared. This meant the Vampiric Tree was still intact.

‘Moreover, it’s right nearby.’

The gray flag symbolizing the temporary base.

The square red dot representing the Vampiric Tree.

The two markers overlapped almost perfectly on the map. This meant it was hiding its body somewhere in the residence building.

‘Lower floor? Or underground?’

He couldn’t tell just by looking at the map.

Open Map had a top-down, two-dimensional structure after all. He wanted to unleash Wind Cutters on suspicious spots to find its location, but that wasn’t possible either.

Because there weren’t many skills left.

Just then, an urgent cry was heard.

“Ma-Mage!”

“Yes?”

“Something else is coming. This way!”

Ji-hye pointed towards Ttukseom Park.

With an ominous feeling, Han-seong looked in the direction she was pointing.

And was shocked.

He saw the same number of roots as he had just eliminated crawling along the road.

‘This is insane…!’

So that wasn’t the end of what had attacked earlier?

Just how many are there?

Han-seong barely held back a curse at the numbers that didn’t seem to diminish no matter how many he eliminated.

Anyway, he couldn’t just sit idly by, so he was about to unleash Wind Cutters when.

A strange sense of dissonance enveloped him.

‘Wait a minute.’

Roots flying towards Han-seong.

But strangely, the roots weren’t marked on the map. Even mere zombies and man-eating flowers were marked as red dots.

Meanwhile, the Vampiric Tree was still shown to exist near the temporary base. Based on this, Han-seong arrived at one hypothesis.

“Could it be that the Vampiric Tree’s main body…”

Was just one of all the ‘moving roots’, rather than all of them? The rest of the roots were mere illusions, not even minions?

If so, it made sense.

In fact, when he had dealt with hundreds of roots with Wind Cutters earlier, they hadn’t given any Coins unlike other minions.

Rumble rumble rumble!

Just then, the building suddenly shook.

The hundreds of roots that had arrived right in front of them started climbing up the outer walls.

Seeing this, Han-seong furrowed his brow.

‘Then what exactly are those things?’

If not minions, are they some kind of illusion?

No, that’s not quite right. If they were truly illusions, they shouldn’t be able to exert physical force, but those things had clearly broken through walls and ceilings earlier.

‘Is it some kind of skill?’

The Vampiric Tree had several skills.

However, none of its known skills seemed related to this kind of phenomenon.

Meanwhile, the roots had come right up close.

Anyway, he couldn’t just do nothing, so Han-seong responded with Wind Cutters.

Boom! Crack! Bang!

The enlarged blades sliced through the roots and caused explosions.

The roots that barely survived and attacked were dealt with by the Collector.

After successfully fending off the assault, Han-seong glared at the Vampiric Tree’s marker on the map.

‘I need to find the main body’s location.’

At this rate, he couldn’t win.

But how? There was no good way to see the surrounding terrain in three dimensions.

As he bit his lip anxiously.

“…Ah!”

One method came to mind.

A skill that grasps information on all targets within a certain range. Moreover, a skill that makes the targets whose information was read temporarily glow.

Using Detection.

‘The cooldown is…’

Fortunately, it had just reset.

Han-seong unleashed the remaining Wind Cutters towards the approaching moving roots.

After burning the incoming enemies with all but one Wind Cutter, he immediately used Detection centered on his current position.

[Activating skill.]

[Remote: Detection]

Like ripples spreading on a calm lake, a faint wave swept outwards in a wide area.

Soon after, a single enemy hiding nearby revealed its information.

[Name]: Vampiric Tree

[Skills]: Colony Management, Parasitic Sporeworm, Emergency Muster, Vampiric Thorns, Myriad Flower Rain, Independence, Ambush, Proliferation, Division, Mana Detection, Skill Analysis

[Weak Spot]: Root Core

Han-seong’s expression hardened.

Understandably so. The Vampiric Tree’s information had changed drastically compared to 30 minutes ago.

Its name and grade had changed, several skills had been added, and even its weak spot had been altered.

Why did it suddenly change like this?

‘Could it be because its grade increased?’

That was the most likely speculation.

But that wasn’t the important thing.

Right after activating Detection.

He discovered a faint light seeping out from under the collapsed wall beyond the living room floor.

Targets whose information was read by Detection emit a light that only Han-seong can see.

The moment he realized the nature of the light.

Han-seong moved his wheelchair as close as possible to the edge of the bedroom. And almost simultaneously.

Crash! Rumble!

The living room floor caved in and collapsed. Soon, moving roots from the floor below revealed themselves.

“That’s…”

Nine roots in total.

Their appearance was completely different from the ones he had faced earlier. The roots themselves were a light brown color, and their surfaces were covered in sharp thorns.

Most notably, there were numerous protrusions like the mouths of living creatures on the stump where the nine roots connected.

【Kyaaaah!】

It let out a bizarre scream towards Han-seong. The moment he faced this, Han-seong instinctively knew.

That this was the Vampiric Tree.

They spread their nine roots in all directions like a hunting octopus. Then they immediately charged at Han-seong.

“Da-danger…!”

Ji-hye cried out with a pale face.

But there was no need to worry.

Because the Collector was by his side.

Boom! Crack!

The Collector swung its arms to deflect the attack.

But unlike before, the Collector couldn’t absorb the impact and was pushed far back.

Evidence that the Vampiric Tree’s strength was considerable, unlike the other roots that had attacked the base earlier.

‘But thanks to that, we’ve bought time.’

Meaningful time needed to respond.

Han-seong unleashed the last remaining Wind Cutter at it. The flaming wind blade accurately sliced one of the nine roots.

But it only inflicted a wound, unable to completely sever the root.

‘Damn, it’s ridiculously tough.’

As expected of the main body.

But that’s fine. The strength of the fire-attribute Wind Cutter isn’t just in its slashing power.

Bang! Whoosh!

Flames erupted with the explosion. Fire spread to the wound inflicted by Wind Cutter. But then something unexpected happened.

Another root beside it transformed into a blade and cut off the burning part.

Thanks to this unhesitating action, the root that had caught fire was preserved by half. Witnessing this scene in real-time, Han-seong furrowed his brow.

‘…This means Tinder would be useless too.’

Even if he successfully set it on fire, it would just cut off that part.

But this confirmed one thing.

‘That is indeed the Vampiric Tree.’

Unlike the other moving roots, it chose preservation over expenditure. Just looking at that was enough to tell.

He wasn’t sure if all the roots were the main body, or if just one of them was. Anyway, if he eliminated them all, he should be able to end the fight.

Han-seong took out the skills he had stored in the bracelet.

[Equipment: Memorizing Bracelet]

[Activating stored skill.]

[Remote: Wind Cutter]

After seven blades were loaded.

Han-seong unleashed Wind Cutters at the Vampiric Tree. The high-speed wind blades hit the roots with pinpoint accuracy.

Slash! Crack! Bang!

Slashing followed by explosions.

The roots once again cut off the burning parts, but they couldn’t preserve everything. Because Wind Cutters kept pouring down.

‘Seven roots left.’

Four Wind Cutters remained.

At this, the Vampiric Tree seemed to decide on a temporary retreat and backed away slightly.

On the other hand, Han-seong had no intention of letting it go, so he was about to unleash Wind Cutters again.

Crunch!

Suddenly, the roots merged into one.

Like braiding ropes together. Judging this as an opportunity, Han-seong unleashed Wind Cutters.

But it didn’t even try to dodge, instead boldly charging forward while taking the attacks. Aiming not for Han-seong or Ji-hye, but straight for the Collector.

‘Don’t tell me…!’

Just as an ominous premonition flashed through his mind.

The unified root struck the Collector.

Wham! Crack! Boom!

Overwhelming force poured down.

The Collector was helplessly pushed back, unable to absorb the impact. As a result, it crashed through the cracked outer wall and fell down the building.

Of course, even if it fell, it would quickly climb back up the outer wall. But the real problem was that the Collector had left the battlefield.

Rustle!

The unified root separated back into seven roots. No, six roots excluding the one that had been completely burned by Wind Cutter.

They charged at Han-seong as if they had been waiting for this moment.

Han-seong grimaced and was about to unleash all two remaining Wind Cutters.

Slash! Bang!

One for now.

Slashing followed by an explosion.

The explosion occurred quite close, momentarily obscuring his vision. Han-seong ignored this and was about to unleash the last Wind Cutter.

But at that moment.

The wheelchair suddenly tilted.

“What…!?”

Crash!

Han-seong lost his balance from the sudden impact and toppled over. In that moment, one of the Vampiric Tree’s roots pierced through his right earlobe.

After being thrown down, he immediately turned his head and soon realized why the wheelchair had suddenly tilted.

“Ji-hye?! Why…”

It was because Ji-hye, who had been standing behind him all along, had knocked over the wheelchair. Han-seong shouted with a shocked face, then his expression hardened.

He saw that the wheelchair he had been sitting in until just now had been pierced through by a Vampiric Tree root that had flown in from behind.

One of the roots must have taken advantage of the explosion to change course and ambush from behind. However, the real reason he was surprised was different.

“Cough, cough!”

Ji-hye staggering and coughing up blood.

She was slumped down lifelessly while gripping the wheelchair’s handle. Her shirt was dyed bright red, and something was lodged in her stomach.

“Mage… Cough!”

It was the Vampiric Tree’s root.

The moment he saw this, Han-seong understood the situation.

The Vampiric Tree’s root that had flown in from behind had pierced through her back and stomach before finally making a hole in the wheelchair.

“Th-thank goodness… you’re safe…”

A large amount of blood pouring onto the floor.

Han-seong’s face turned pale blue.

In that brief moment of distraction, the Vampiric Tree was about to unleash another attack when.

[Activation conditions have been met.]

[Magic Castle: Dimensional Isolation]

A sudden notification.

Just then, the Collector that had belatedly climbed back up the outer wall was about to ram into the Vampiric Tree, and at that moment, a pure white light enveloped Han-seong, Ji-hye, and the Collector.

And…

Whoosh! Thud!

The Vampiric Tree’s roots struck the wall.

Because the figures of Han-seong, Ji-hye, and the Collector it had been aiming for had vanished without a trace.

The moment it blinked.

The scenery had completely changed. An all-white space.

Opening his eyes in a place reminiscent of a snowy field, Han-seong muttered with a bewildered face:

“Wh-where is this…?”

As he was swallowing his confusion at the suddenly changed scenery, an additional notification message appeared.

[Magic Castle: Dimensional Isolation activated]

[You have entered an isolated dimension.]

[Time flows differently here compared to reality, and the difference is as follows:]

[Isolated Dimension: 1 minute] → [Real World: 1 second]

[Time remaining until termination: 04:59]

Seeing this, Han-seong realized.

The defensive skill he had acquired in the past when promoting to 2nd Tier.

[Special Effect: Dimensional Isolation]

-Isolates Magic Castle from reality.

Areas within Magic Castle’s effective range gain immunity to all attacks. Automatically activates when the owner receives damage one or more times.

▷Activation Time: 10 seconds

▷Duration: 5 minutes

▷Cooldown: 48 hours

▶Grade: 2nd Tier

It was the moment the reason why they had suddenly come to this space was revealed. As his confused mind gradually cleared.

The last scene he had witnessed came to mind.

The image of the Vampiric Tree’s root piercing through Ji-hye’s abdomen and the wheelchair.

Startled, Han-seong hurriedly looked around and found Ji-hye collapsed not far away.

“Ji-hye!”

He called her name but there was no response.

With growing anxiety, Han-seong gritted his teeth and crawled towards her.

Perhaps noticing Han-seong’s approach just then?

Ji-hye turned her head slightly.

“Ma-Mage…”

Her condition wasn’t good.

As if to prove what he had seen earlier wasn’t false, there was a hole in her stomach.

“…I’m glad… you’re safe.”

“Ji-hye! Why on earth…!”

“Because if something happened to you, Mage… Cough, cough! …Everything would be over.”

Rough breathing. Trembling eyes.

With her brow furrowed in pain, she uttered an answer that seemed about to fade at any moment.

“I made… the best choice.”

“That’s…”

Han-seong was at a loss for words.

Because he couldn’t deny what she said.

If he had been the one lying here, there would have been no chance of victory after escaping dimensional isolation.

Meanwhile, her complexion grew increasingly pale.

Realizing this was no time to be dazed, Han-seong hurriedly took off his t-shirt and tried to stop the bleeding from her abdominal wound.

‘Please…!’

Fortunately, the bleeding gradually slowed.

The problem was that Ji-hye’s condition was still deteriorating despite this. Her breathing became irregular, and her eyes grew increasingly unfocused.

“Haa, haa. Mage…”

“Don’t speak. Your wound will open!”

“…I’m cold. Please… hold my hand.”

Ji-hye raised her left hand, covered in blood. The moment he grasped it tightly, Ji-hye’s status window suddenly unfolded before his eyes.

[Name]: Lee Ji-hye

*Status Effect: Infected by ‘Parasitic Sporeworm’

*Infection Rate: 1% (Temporarily Paused)

▶When the infection rate reaches maximum, the body will be mutated by the parasitic spores.

▷Infection rate will not increase until dimensional isolation ends.

‘Parasitic Sporeworm…!’

One of the skills possessed by the Vampiric Tree.

On the other hand, there was no message about being infected by Parasitic Sporeworm in Han-seong’s status.

This meant that the root that had pierced Ji-hye’s body was the Vampiric Tree’s main body.

In other words, if he could find that specific root and concentrate fire on it, he could win.

‘The odds are sufficient.’

Magic Field is installed outside.

There are two skills stored in the bracelet too.

And Magic Arrow’s cooldown has almost reset. Now all he hoped for was that Ji-hye would hold on until then.

‘After defeating the Vampiric Tree…’

Let’s find the Healer Kang Eun-ji living in the shopping mall and ask her to treat Ji-hye.

Then she can surely be saved.

I absolutely won’t let her die. Han-seong repeated this to himself like a self-hypnosis. But then, Ji-hye slowly closed her eyes.

“Ji-hye?”

“Ji-hye! Stay conscious. Hey! Lee Ji-hye!”

Perhaps thanks to his fierce shout?

Ji-hye’s closing eyelids momentarily stopped. Han-seong stared into her eyes and shouted with a desperate expression.

“Don’t close your eyes! You can’t fall asleep!”

“…Mage.”

“Didn’t you say your family is waiting in Suwon?! You can’t die without even meeting them!”

“Family…”

Ji-hye’s eyebrows trembled faintly.

A tiny light formed in her eyes that had been darkening like deep night. Then a weak strength could be felt from her hand that had been losing power.

Han-seong spoke with a determined voice.

“Just hold on a little longer. I’ll definitely save you no matter what it takes.”

“…Okay. I’ll… trust only you, Mage.”

Ji-hye smiled faintly.

Han-seong carefully laid her down.

Then he took out a mana potion from the Collector’s pouch and gulped it down.

[Time remaining: 00:44]

After recovering his mana, he kept his eyes on the timer while tapping the Collector’s back. This was to change its control mode.

[Replica: Collector]

[Switching to Manual Mode]

Han-seong controlled the Collector to take a prone position. Then he carefully embraced Ji-hye and hid under the pouch.

Some time later.

[Time remaining: 00:00]

[Dimensional isolation is ending.]

The time to settle this had come.

The interior where all presence had vanished.

The Vampiric Tree watched with bated breath the space where its prey had disappeared.

With its mana detection skill, the Vampiric Tree knew that its prey hadn’t completely left, but had only temporarily vanished.

Crunch! Crack!

When they reappeared, it would unleash attacks to end them in one go. So the Vampiric Tree aimed its remaining roots at the spot where the prey had vanished.

Some time later.

Presences were felt along with a bright light. The prey had returned. The Vampiric Tree poured all its roots as if it had been waiting for this.

Thud thud thud! Thwack! Wham!

The sensation of piercing through flesh.

The Vampiric Tree was certain of victory.

But something felt a bit off.

The attack had definitely hit its mark.

But the only being that came into view was the monster called the Collector that the Mage controlled. The most important targets, the Mage and the woman, were nowhere to be seen.

So it tried to detect mana flow to locate the two, when.

Slash!

Suddenly, a wind blade flew in and cut off one of its roots. Followed by an explosion.

Bang! Bang!

Now five roots remained.

And only then did the Vampiric Tree realize.

Where the Mage was.

Right under the Collector’s body.

The Vampiric Tree retracted all its roots, then tried to unleash an attack in that direction. To find an opening and end it in one strike.

Fire caught on one of the roots.

Whoosh!

The Vampiric Tree knew what this flame was.

Tinder. A flame that doesn’t extinguish until mana is depleted. This skill that seemed threatening at first glance actually had a very simple countermeasure.

Just cut off the affected part before the flames engulf the whole body.

But this time, that wasn’t possible.

The part where the flame had caught was the root closest to the root core.

In other words, it was the Vampiric Tree’s main body.

The Vampiric Tree let out a piercing scream at the excruciating pain it had never felt before.

【Kiiiii! Kigaaaah!】

How on earth? How did he pinpoint which of the five roots was the main body? The Vampiric Tree glared at Han-seong as if asking this.

The same was true for Han-seong.

‘It’s thanks to Ji-hye.’

After dimensional isolation was lifted.

Han-seong had held his breath under the Collector’s pouch and unleashed the one remaining Wind Cutter to draw the Vampiric Tree’s attention.

Meanwhile, he had frantically searched for the blood-stained root. Because he had judged that the root that had pierced Ji-hye’s abdomen was the Vampiric Tree’s main body.

‘And…’

He had finally found his target.

After pinpointing its exact location and coordinates, Han-seong had attached Tinder, the second skill he had stored in the bracelet, to that root.

The plan had succeeded, and it was now writhing and screaming madly in pain. So much that it had even forgotten to launch follow-up attacks.

‘But it’s too early to feel relieved.’

Tinder is useful against multiple enemies, but its power is weak against a single powerful entity like an elite monster.

So he needed to unleash all remaining skills to eliminate it. Han-seong controlled the Collector to firmly grasp the burning root.

【Kiiiii! Kiiiiaah!】

The Vampiric Tree twisted its body violently.

Like an earthworm touching salt water.

Unable to withstand the tremendous force, the Collector was slammed into the wall, and Han-seong was also hit by one of the roots and flung into a corner.

“Kuhak!”

Colliding with the wall, Han-seong felt pain like his spine was being crushed envelop his whole body. He nearly lost consciousness for a moment but gritted his teeth and endured.

‘…Not yet, not yet.’

He couldn’t fall now.

With bloodshot eyes, he focused on controlling the Collector. The condition for victory was to fix the Vampiric Tree’s movements.

So he extended the whip-like arms to wrap around the Vampiric Tree’s main body, then drove the burning root into the Collector’s torso.

Crunch! Thud!

This way it couldn’t escape.

It wouldn’t be able to shake off the Collector either.

Indeed, the Vampiric Tree struggled frantically to detach the Collector, but the more it did so, the more tenaciously the Collector clung on.

“Uwaaaaah!”

With a roar to keep from losing consciousness.

Han-seong poured everything he had.

[Remote: Magic Arrow]

Magic arrows imbued with ignition effects mercilessly struck the Vampiric Tree’s main body.

Perhaps thanks to the added effects of Magic Field and Tinder’s burning, the Vampiric Tree screamed with each arrow that hit its body.

【Kugaaaah!】

The root became tattered in an instant.

Perhaps realizing that death was the only outcome at this rate?

It began its final struggle.

Trying desperately to escape and flee.

The Vampiric Tree reached the rooftop through the collapsed ceiling, with the Collector still attached. Intending to flee this place and recover its wounds.

Rumble! Rumble!

But there was something it didn’t know.

That even its final desperate struggle while enduring the pain was within Han-seong’s predictions.

[Remote: Call Lightning]

The last skill stored in the bracelet.

A fiercely burning thunderbolt struck straight down on the Vampiric Tree’s main body as it was about to leave the rooftop.

With a thunderous roar that seemed to shake heaven and earth, along with violent tremors like the building might collapse, a miserable scream echoed terribly.

Some time later, when the flash subsided, all that remained on the rooftop were the charred Vampiric Tree and the Collector.

And finally.

The awaited notification arrived.

[Subjugation successful.]

[Champion Monster: Vampiric Tree]

The news of victory signaling the end of the fierce battle.