Abandoned Mine, Monster Colony Attack Operation (3)

“Stop hiding behind those small fry and come out!”

Ethan was quite perplexed.

Originally, priests of the Holy Spirit Realm are the counter to demon worshippers in terms of compatibility.

Since the primary mission of the Holy Spirit Realm is to block beings from other worlds with the help of the gods.

That’s why demon worshippers gnash their teeth at priests.

But.

‘I’m not even a priest, so why is he acting like this?’

The World Tree Root item has no relation to the gods that demon worshippers hate.

‘That demon worshipper called Slaua was the same. Why are they so obsessed with the World Tree?’

As far as Ethan knew, there’s almost nothing related to the ‘World Tree’ in the game other than the ‘World Tree Root’ item which is both equipment and crafting material.

At most, there’s a quite old World Tree at the center of the city called Serdin.

Other than that, it’s related to the elves living in the Great Forest in the eastern part of the continent.

But even to them, it doesn’t have much meaning beyond being their habitat.

‘Is there something I don’t know?’

There was no way to know for now.

Even if he asked the root, it wouldn’t answer this question.

“I am Targan. A faithful disciple of Lord Poarissar.”

Poarissar.

The name of an aggressive demon famous for liking war, slaughter, and blood came up.

“If you won’t come out, I’ll come to you.”

Pitch-black wings spread wide behind Targan’s back.

And then.

-Swoosh!

He flew low and broke straight through the front.

“Aaaagh!”

Like a large crossbow had been fired, Targan pierced through the center of the formation and burst out.

Blood and flesh splattered explosively around him.

‘The damage can’t get any worse here.’

They haven’t cleared the third colony yet.

If the mercenary group and the count’s forces collapse here, it will become uncontrollable.

Ethan had no choice but to grip his sword tightly.

“Levi, Hwaryon, Ponya.”

“Yes, Ethan-nim.”

“Just say the word, big brother.”

“We’ll be fine. We’ve already taken down one of them before, right?”

“He’s stronger than the demon worshipper we faced then. So don’t overdo it no matter what. Understand?”

“Yes!”

The children’s skills had improved a lot too.

There’s an experienced mercenary captain and an expert-level knight with them.

‘Let’s do this.’

It won’t be easy, but it’s just one demon worshipper.

Taking advantage of the moment when his mind was focused on Ethan, Levi gave instructions to Hwaryon and Ponya.

‘Circle to the right.’

The two quickly understood and decided to look for openings in the demon worshipper from a distance away from Ethan.

Surely Ethan-nim would be able to withstand a mere demon worshipper.

Conversely, the Douglan exploration team and Sir Rashid circled to the left.

Dusty’s judgment played a big role in this.

“It would be meaningless for us to intervene.”

Sir Rashid agreed too.

They decided to keep their distance and look for opportunities to counterattack.

Likewise, the Sharian Count’s knights and the Aporia mercenary group decided to approach cautiously.

Ethan is a VIP who must be protected as the Serdin mayor’s special envoy, but.

The performance shown by him and his wards so far could be described as nothing less than next-generation heroes.

‘It would be a nuisance if we get in the way by intervening unnecessarily.’

But ready to help Ethan at any time.

That was their mindset.

Though the intention itself was good.

As a result.

Ethan was left alone.

‘???’

“The time has finally come.”

The guy muttered that they were a nuisance and threw off his robe.

Then an upper body that was twisted and burst as if burned by fire in places was revealed.

That appearance looked precarious, as if it would crumble at any moment like charcoal that had served its purpose.

“My body has long since reached its limit. Therefore, I shall offer you to Lord Poarissar today and achieve holy ascension.”

When demon worshippers succeed in demonization, their physical abilities surpass humans, but it’s not all good.

Just as mana or holy power doesn’t originally come from humans, evil energy is the same.

Overflowing evil energy is a double-edged sword of ‘powerful strength’ and ‘physical collapse’.

And to solve this, the only way is to be recognized by the demon they serve and ascend as a demon.

As far as Ethan remembered, there was no demon worshipper using the name Targan.

‘Seems you couldn’t ascend.’

He seemed more powerful than the demon worshipper called Slaua, but that’s all.

If he’s a demon worshipper who couldn’t even ascend, it should be doable.

[The first root of the World Tree shows strong hostility towards evil.]

[Increases the user’s resistance ability against evil.]

[Items ‘Armor of Earth’ and ‘Sword of the Divine Tree’ have been strengthened.]

Receiving the root’s support at the right timing.

A bright light burst from the blade.

That pressed Targan’s trigger button.

“You’ve shown your true colors!”

-Swish!

He approaches quickly using the wings on his back.

Against this, Ethan utilized <Thought Acceleration> to the extreme.

In the relatively slow-flowing time, Ethan sent signals to various parts of his body based on quick thinking to make them move in advance.

Every moment his brain tingled and his whole body’s muscles screamed as they twisted according to the enemy’s expected attack paths being adjusted in real-time.

All of this happened almost every 0.01 seconds.

Extreme fatigue rushed in before even clashing once.

-Clang!

A clear metallic collision sound echoed throughout the tunnel.

And Ethan and Targan pushed each other away with their swords.

“Not bad.”

“Your tongue is long. That bitch Slaua died that way too.”

“Stop with the clumsy provocation. Did you think we had something warm like camaraderie?”

“If not, well, you’ll have to be beaten and hunted alone.”

-Whoosh!

Levi, seizing the opportunity, aimed her whip at Targan’s left leg.

Targan tried to dodge as soon as he sensed it, but thanks to that, his ankle got caught properly.

“!”

But instead of panicking, Targan stretched out his left leg forward.

Levi, who was about to pull, was dragged towards Targan instead.

“That won’t do.”

-Clang!

Ponya rushed in and clashed head-on with Targan, and from the opposite direction, Hwaryon rushed in.

Targan, amazingly, blocked Hwaryon’s sword with his bare hand.

‘So ordinary weapons can’t even scratch him?’

Probably the only thing that can deal meaningful damage to him is the ‘Sword of the Divine Tree’ Ethan is holding.

Catching his breath, this time he rushed at Targan.

Using <Silent Step> to kill his presence and quickly approach while Targan’s gaze was towards the children.

He attacked like that but.

-Whack!

“Ugh!”

Targan kicked Ethan with his free right leg.

As his posture crumbled from the tremendous pain.

“You’ve fallen for it.”

Targan knocked away Ponya and Hwaryon, then yanked the whip hard to grab Levi and smash her down.

All of this happened within 10 seconds.

“The weak move in groups. Because you’re weak, you go around with companions. That’s what Slaua did.”

Targan slowly walked towards Ethan.

Hwaryon and Ponya were knocked out with just one punch and kick each.

“That bitch had a talent for controlling monsters. But she wasn’t strong. She relied too much on monsters.”

-Wham!

Sir Stanley, who rushed in to buy time, was sent flying.

Mercenary Captain Tron was kicked away.

“You’re similar. You hide behind others to conceal your weakness, and use people to lessen your efforts.”

Sir Rashid was pushed back as his shield shattered from a punch.

Osten’s arrows couldn’t pierce Targan’s hardened skin.

Slan’s sword broke as soon as it touched him.

-Crackle!

The anti-magic formula engraved on the greatsword absorbed Dusty’s magic and then.

-Zzzap!

Spat it back at him.

Smoke rose from the scorched Dusty.

“Blame your weakness.”

The guy raises his greatsword.

It has the momentum to split a mountain in half if he brings it down.

Ethan prepared to block but couldn’t be certain.

‘I misjudged.’

Being on the verge of physical collapse means he’s spent many years as a demon worshipper, as a demon race.

For them, that is an honorable medal and proof of being a faithful servant of the demon.

I judged the measure of strength too carelessly.

[The first root of the World Tree shouts to watch out in front!]

-Clang!

He barely blocked the first strike.

But he was barely managing to block.

Levi could still fight, but the whip given as a weapon was caught on Targan’s leg.

There seemed to be no clever way to turn the situation around.

As increasingly negative thoughts began to arise.

“Hang in there!”

Elyssia’s desperate cry touched his back.

No, it wasn’t just a cry.

A soft and warm energy enveloped Ethan’s entire body, encouraging him.

[The first root of the World Tree warns not to be engulfed by evil energy!]

‘So that’s what it was. No wonder.’

Ethan was having many heavy and dark thoughts uncharacteristic of him.

Shaking his head quickly to come to his senses, he clashes swords with Targan again.

Even if he can’t overcome it with his strength alone, he won’t be defeated shamefully.

If he falls, it was obvious that the fate of the remaining people would be used as sacrifices in a demon summoning ritual at best.

Even if he wanted to give up, he couldn’t.

“I can’t die here.”

He hadn’t even entered the main timeline yet.

He had gathered all the future named sprouts but hadn’t even properly raised them.

He can’t end here, if only out of regret.

“Your persistence is admirable. But, I can’t play with you forever.”

Targan put the whistle hanging around his neck in his mouth and blew hard.

-Peeeeeeee!!!

Then the ground beneath their feet slowly trembled and.

Soon it echoed as if an earthquake had occurred with a tremendous noise.

“Let’s see the end.”

A swarm of stone worms poured in from the passage leading to the 3rd colony.

“Fuck! Fuck!”

“Form a defensive formation!”

“We can’t escape from here anyway!!!”

The knights and mercenaries mustered their final courage to form a defensive line against large monsters.

And then.

“We’ll handle those!”

“Mister! Please take care of that black guy!”

They shouted energetically as if telling Ethan not to worry about the monsters.

-Boom!

A stone worm’s tail struck the defensive line, causing countless more casualties.

-Clang!

“Do you have the leisure to watch such trivial things?”

“Ugh!”

Targan pushed Ethan while their swords were clashing.

‘If I’m pushed back any further…’

Elyssia, Greg, and Borka behind him would be in danger.

Realizing this fact, Ethan tried to push back Targan with all his might, but.

The opponent’s strength was as solid as a 5-ton truck slowly sliding down a slope.

But then.

“<Compression>, <Expansion>, <Heating>, <Reconfiguration>.”

Borka walked forward step by step, holding her staff.

Blue mana gathered into a sphere at the tip of the staff.

From there, mana was projected onto the entire stone wall.

Compress the mana to increase its purity and make it easier to use.

Then expand the mana that can be freely used in the area of use.

Heat the stone to make it melt.

Reconfigure the melted lava to shape it as desired.

Just as Targan, sensing something ominous, was about to jump back.

“<Magma Sphere>.”

Borka slowly turned the tip of her staff towards Targan.

“<Fire>.”

Along with her characteristically languid voice.

A spear of bright red magma was shot precisely at Targan.

-Boom boom boom!!!

At the same time.

-Kuoooooo!!!

Dolly, appearing at just the right size to move inside, blocked in front of the soldiers facing the stone worms’ attack.

“Fuck, we’re saved!”

“Thank you, battle golem!”

A witch who could make the whole continent tremble with a gesture and a word.

Borka finally made up her mind and set foot on the battlefield.