episode_0020

A wolf had reached right beside me.

Without even checking my hand, I use any card immediately.

[Slash]

A powerful slash cuts the wolf in half.

It seems the wolves’ durability isn’t as good as I thought.

The moment I try to use the next card.

Luca slashes the wolves that were coming towards me.

Watching the wolves being eliminated in an instant, I soothe my surprised heart.

“It’s unsettling, let’s quickly go up to the safe zone.”

As Luca says, we need to move to the safe zone quickly now.

Because we need to face whatever was summoned, sticking together with as many surviving explorers as possible.

『Deck has been switched.』

『Current Deck: Sorcerer’s Deck』

『Time until next possible switch: 0:59:59』

“I’ll take the lead, follow me.”

With those words, Luca dashes out.

I quickly follow behind her.

*

All the monsters have disappeared.

The sea of poison is also still, without moving.

Even the black mages are no longer visible.

Black mana that I can’t even find, even when reading mana.

The black mages disappeared so cleanly, as if they had already achieved their purpose the moment they summoned something, leaving no trace.

Should I say this is good?

Now, all that’s left on the 2nd floor are the black wolves.

These things are very weak compared to their appearance.

Of course, they pour out in droves at once, but it wasn’t a problem for me.

[Tidal Wave]

The wolves are swept away by the waves pouring from the air.

It’s a shame that even though I caught so many, I didn’t get a single card reward.

Then it’s right to think that I’m currently in a combat situation.

From the moment something summoned by the black mages was created until now.

I was going to somehow catch wolves to farm and get stronger, and then face it, but that became impossible.

In the end, it means I have to solve this problem with only the deck I have now.

…Can I do it?

“Road’s cleared.”

Luca, who was far ahead, was waiting for me.

I was worried because she disappeared from my sight for a moment, but it seems she cleared the way.

Stagger.

At that moment, I staggered momentarily. Fortunately, I regained my balance quickly.

“Haa, haa…”

I calm my rough breathing for a moment.

“Are you okay?”

I’ve been climbing for a long time, so I’m slowly reaching my limit.

It’s okay to rest for a while, but I can’t sleep.

Because of these wolves that keep appearing.

I can’t let Luca fight alone for hours while I sleep, can I?

The opposite is also the same.

Luca also knows that, so she can’t bring herself to say let’s rest and sleep this time.

Still, should I be grateful that she didn’t abandon me?

“…Give me your luggage.”

Luca, who had approached me, took my luggage.

Of course, most of the party’s luggage was carried by Kyle and Hans, so my personal luggage isn’t much.

But it feels a little better to have even this gone.

“I’ll clear the way.”

Luca says, and rushes ahead.

I just check if there are any wolves following behind, and then climb up again.

1 hour.

2 hours.

3 hours…….

After that, it was a difficult situation where I couldn’t even check how much time had passed.

As time goes by, I get slower and slower, and my breathing becomes rougher.

Still, I thought I had gained some stamina in the Maze City, but it seems like that wasn’t enough.

I’m slowly climbing, thinking that I should do stamina training with Kyle when I go out next time.

Then, my vision went black for a moment.

When I opened my eyes again, I was already on Luca’s back.

Blood and sweat were on her body. She must have been fighting alone while I was unconscious.

“You woke up?”

“…Thanks.”

Still, I can move because I slept for a while.

As soon as I get off Luca’s back, she collapses as if she’s run out of energy.

“Haa…”

Luca’s face is pale.

I pour potion on where it looks like she has a wound.

Cheeeeek!!

Looking at Luca, who is half out of her mind, I look around.

A group of wolves is starting to come here.

I’ll stop them here.

[Whirlwind]

This is perfect for weak guys with only numbers.

Swaaaaaaa!!!

Watching the black wolves being cut off by the wind, I get rid of all the useless cards in my hand, such as [Smash] and [Shield].

What I want is [Blink].

I check the draws given by [Butcher’s Gloves] and wait for [Blink] to come out.

『[Butcher’s Gloves] is eating blood.』

『Energy increased by 1, draw 1 card.』

[Tidal Wave] [Force Field] [Lightning] [Freeze] [Earth Wall] [Burning] [Splash] [Charge] [Blink]

Finally, Blink was drawn.

I immediately hugged Luca and threw 2 cards.

[Charge]

[Blink]

Flicker!!

In an instant, I broke away from the group of black wolves and headed upwards.

Fortunately, there were no wolves around there.

“…….”

It’s not easy.

I’ve reached a location where I can slowly see the top, but I haven’t seen a single explorer who’s still alive.

Does this really mean that most of the explorers are dead?

Of course, even if I think rationally that it’s not, I’m getting more and more anxious.

I don’t know if we’re unlucky and can’t meet the other explorers, or if they’re really all dead.

Also, if I were to shoot a flare or something, a lot of wolves would flock to it, so that’s not an easy task.

“…I’m okay now.”

Luca got up again.

I took my luggage from Luca and started climbing again.

After climbing again for 2 hours.

I arrived in front of the uphill road leading to the top where the light was pouring out.

I gave [Tidal Wave] to the wolves that were still chasing me, and slowly went up.

I finally reached the top.

This place where the branches are intertwined to create land where you can set foot.

There’s nothing blocking the view, and the flat land continues endlessly beyond the horizon.

But there’s only one thing.

There was something eye-catching on this flat terrain.

A huge white tree.

A small town is built on it, and that is the safe zone.

“It’s quite far.”

As Luca said, this seems to be the outer edge of the Forgotten Forest, so it seems we have to walk quite a bit to get to the safe zone.

But there was a reason why I didn’t give up hope.

That’s thanks to the explorers who were slowly appearing.

Explorers heading to the safe zone just like us.

The number wasn’t large, but surviving means they have at least minimal strength.

By the way, it seems that the wolves don’t come up to this top, and not a single one is visible to the end of the horizon.

This was a fortunate thing.

I would have felt wronged if I had become wolf food after coming all the way here.

“…Shall we rest for a bit?”

Now that I knew that the wolves weren’t coming up, there was no need to go quickly.

Thanks to that, I was able to take a nap for a short time.

*

The safe zone was completely chaotic.

Numerous injured people.

A devastated atmosphere.

A place where even hope is not felt.

I heard that there are quite a few explorers who are usually stationed on the 2nd floor, but there are only about 200 people left here.

If you exclude the 12 knights among them and the people who originally stayed in the safe zone, there are only around 100 people.

Even though it’s increasing in real time, the number of survivors is still small.

“Ivan!! It’s a relief!”

Kyle, who found us, approached us.

Kyle, Hans, and Grace said they reached the safe zone much easier and faster than us.

It’s a bonus that they rescued many explorers on the way.

Thanks to that, the number of people following Kyle has increased quite a bit.

That’s a relief.

Still, I’m glad that things didn’t turn out as badly as I thought.

I wish we could just go outside like this.

Unfortunately, that didn’t happen.

Because the portal leading up to the 3rd floor suddenly closed.

The turning point is when the black wolf appeared.

It was when ‘something’ was summoned.

So, while all the explorers with real skills have gone up, only explorers with ambiguous skills are left.

If you exclude the Knights, the maximum is at best the 3rd~4th floor.

Can we stop it with just this many people?

Moreover, considering that there aren’t many people among them who can fight right away, it will be difficult.

While resting for a while and looking around, I hear the voices of some explorers talking.

“Still, should we look forward to the maze being reset and going outside?”

“There are more than 20 days left until the maze is reset, do you think that’s possible?”

“We have to do something!! The Knight is here, so it will work out somehow!!!”

As they say, in the end, we have to stop ‘something’ that caused this phenomenon and survive until the maze is reset.

It’s definitely hopeless.

I wish there was at least information about that ‘something’ in the guild.

Ding!! Ding!!!

Then, suddenly, a bell rings.

The bell in the center of the safe zone.

The explorers who heard the sound started gathering near the bell.

Next to the bell was a man wearing a guild guide uniform.

Numerous crowds were chatting while waiting.

The guide soon confirmed that everyone had gathered and shouted loudly.

“Please pay attention!!!”

When the noisy surroundings became quiet, the guide quietly looked around and opened a ledger.

“What the black mages summoned is a monster called [Witch of the Forest]! It is written in this document that it can be summoned by offering the corpses of 1000 people to the sea of poison!!”

[Witch of the Forest]…….

Just hearing the name, it doesn’t feel like it would be very strong.

“It is said that it chases the closest human reaction! It is said that you can’t escape……!!”

The guild guide was about to continue speaking, but the place became noisy again.

Countless explorers asked the guide questions about the monster that they had never heard of before, [Witch of the Forest], but the voices overlapped and they couldn’t hear properly.

It was a truly chaotic situation.

What broke that was the voice of only one person.

“Stop!!!!!”

As a huge roar echoed, there was a moment of silence.

Clang.

Clang.

A knight wearing full plate armor arrived next to the guild guide.

“K, Knight-nim?!”

“So, the Witch of the Forest will come here someday?”

“Yes! I don’t know when that will be….”

“Is it written how strong it is?”

“No. No accurate information is provided.”

“Seeing that it created the maze like this, it won’t be an easy opponent.”

As the knight says, if it’s a monster that can change one floor of the maze like this, it’s not something you can easily catch at least.

In the worst case, it could be really, really strong.

The explorers who were embarrassed and shocked by this news began to panic.

In the situation that was becoming noisy again, the knight rang the bell loudly again.

Ting!!!!!

As the atmosphere calmed down, the knight said in a loud voice.

“From now on, our Knights will control this place! Follow my orders!!”

Since the knight was speaking, I couldn’t help but listen.

The explorers followed the control without saying anything.

Whether they liked the knight or not, it was necessary to unite under one center, so no one protested.

“From now on, we will divide into groups to prepare for the [Witch of the Forest]. Please cooperate!”

The explorers gathered in their assigned groups.

I gathered in the mage group.

Of course, there were only 3 people including me.

Seeing that there were quite a few warriors and archers, I could see why mages were said to be rare.

The two mages other than me seemed to know each other to some extent and were chatting in a friendly way.

“Oh, Lyla! How is the Master?”

“Haban! Are you doing well! I want to get out of this dirty place and see you soon.”

“No, this kind of thing happened as soon as I entered the maze, I should never enter the maze next time!”

The two of them were chatting like that for a while, as if I didn’t matter.

The two of them greeted each other, then looked at me.

“Ah, which school are you from?”

“…I’m not.”

“Ah, I see, you were a wandering mage? I knew it, I couldn’t see the school insignia! Then, would it be okay if I take on the role of leader among us?”

Their clothes had insignia that seemed to symbolize their respective schools.

I heard that wandering mages without a school are usually ignored.

It didn’t look good to see the contemptuous eyes, as if there was a hierarchy even among mages.

“…Do as you please.”

I ignored them and walked.

“Hey, where are you going? You have to follow my words!!”

There’s no time to argue here.

Now that everyone has decided to fight, I also have to prepare as much as possible.

As I was walking, I reached the entrance to the safe zone.

A beautiful view of the top of the forest.

I sat down in a suitable place and changed my deck.

『Deck has been switched.』

『Current Deck: Paladin’s Deck』

『Time until next possible switch: 0:59:59』

You can change your deck at any time during battle.

But you have to wait 1 minute until the next draw.

During that time, you have no cards in your hand, so this is the most dangerous state.

『Time until next draw 55… 54…』

While waiting for the draw, I was blankly looking down.

I can see a few explorers who are injured and slowly coming up to the safe zone.

“Hey!!!”

The two mages had approached me. Their names were Haban and Lyla, right?

“From now on, we’re going to set up a magic circle. Even if you don’t have a school, you should be able to draw that much, right?”

“Hey, there’s no way he can’t even do that. Aren’t you looking down on wandering mages too much?”

They were playing and cheering themselves up.

Well, it’s true. I actually don’t know how to draw a magic circle.

Either way, there’s nothing I can do even if I join them.

“…….”

When I kept my mouth shut, Haban suddenly seemed annoyed and clenched his teeth.

Then, he pointed a piece of wood that looked like a magic wand at me.

Did the knight see that?

“What’s going on?”

The knight, who had come over at some point, gently lowered the wand.

A gentle voice, unlike when he was grabbing the explorers with his powerful voice.

“I’m trying to draw a magic circle to prepare, but he says he can’t!”

The knight looks down at me after hearing Lyla’s words.

“…Please cooperate.”

“Knight-nim, I will do what I can do.”

“Then quickly help the mages of the Magic Tower to create a magic circle. This is a very urgent situation.”

“I don’t know how to draw magic circles.”

As if he had been waiting for me to say that, Haban laughs loudly.

“That’s why you shouldn’t associate with wandering mages. So, can you even use magic?”

I looked at the status window.

『Time until next draw 25… 24…』

“Please wait about 20 seconds.”

“No, how can it take a mage 20 seconds to use magic?”

“With that kind of talent, he couldn’t join any school and is wandering around! He doesn’t have any money, so he goes in and out of the maze.”

Lyla and Haban put me down and appeal themselves to the knight.

In the increasingly heated atmosphere, the knight sends the two mages inside.

The knight, who sent them away, comes back.

“Then, try to do what you can. If you decide that you won’t be helpful even to yourself, come back and pick up a bow…….”

The knight scolded me and went inside.

“…….”

It’s a good thing.

Either way, there’s no reason for me to waste my time to convince them.

The time given to me now is finite.

And it is my duty to make the most of that time.

『It’s your turn. Draw 5 cards.』

[Slash(1)] [Guardian(3)] [Slash(1)] [Defense(1)] [Baptism(1)]

Fortunately, it came out on the first turn.

If it had been at the bottom, I would have wasted about 5 minutes.

I immediately threw a card.

[Guardian(3) – Power] – Shield lasts permanently.

Light armor forms around my body.

It lasts for about 5 seconds and then disappears.

『Current Status』

『Time until next draw 54.』

『Energy 3/3』

『Guardian – Shield lasts permanently.』

Preparation is complete.

From now on, I will infinitely build up the shield.

Until the [Witch of the Forest] comes.