episode_0024

24.

Chris and his party followed Thunder Tiger deep into the foggy forest.

“No, this is!”

The village chief discovered something and ran out.

What the village chief found was a broken axe handle.

The broken axe handle was carelessly thrown onto the dirt floor.

“This pattern… It’s definitely it. It’s the handle of the axe that my son bragged about buying from the neighboring estate. It looks like my son got into trouble around here.”

The village chief looked around with a worried expression.

-Grrr.

Thunder Tiger urged them to go further in.

“Chief. It looks like we’re headed in the right direction. Let’s keep going.”

At Chris’s words, the village chief started walking, holding the axe handle in his arms as if it were his son’s clone.

After walking for a while, Thunder Tiger stopped.

“There are scams all around. Everyone, be careful.”

At Ray’s words, Chris and the two knights became tensed and each drew their weapons.

-Ssss.

The wind blowing through the trees sounded like the wail of a ghost.

Suddenly a tree branch came towards the squat knight.

“Huh, huh?!”

The short knight was lifted into the sky, caught in a tree branch that had turned into a palm.

-Keeee!

A ghostly face appeared on the tree trunk that had snatched the short knight away.

“Watch out, Devil Ents!”

Ray shouted.

Devil Ents were plant-based monsters that looked like trees and hunted while hiding in the forest.

Normally, it just stands in the forest as if it were a tree, but when prey approaches, it snatches it with its branch-like hands.

“Please save me!”

The short knight cried.

The short knight was soon to end up in the belly of the Devil Ent.

“Thunder Tiger, save the knight!”

-Krrr!

Thunder Tiger pounced on the Devil Ents as soon as Chris gave his order.

-Wow!

Thunder Tiger put both of its front paws into the Devil Ent’s mouth and tore it apart mercilessly from side to side.

Devil Ent was killed by the powerful Thunder Tiger as if he was torn from a piece of paper.

Thanks to that, the short knight who was caught in the clutches of the Devil Ent was able to fall to the ground and save his life.

“I survived thanks to you, Master!”

The skinny knight helped the short knight to stand up.

Thunder Tiger devoured the corpse of a Devil Ent.

Countless human skulls and ribs were found inside the Devil Ent’s corpse.

“Maybe this guy is the cause of the missing people. All the missing people became food for the Devil Ents.”

Ray said with a frown.

“Then, are you saying that our son was also eaten by the Devil Ent?”

The village chief asked with a desperate expression.

“At least the chief’s son won’t be among the skeletal corpses in this guy’s stomach. Ents are quite slow at digesting things.”

According to Ray, these skeletal corpses had been eaten by Ents for at least a month, so their flesh was completely digested.

“That would be fortunate, then… .”

Despite Ray’s words, the village chief didn’t seem completely at ease.

“Maybe this isn’t the only Devil Ent that harms humans. We need to look for it more.”

As Ray suggested, I decided to investigate further.

-Krrrr.

Thunder Tiger wandered through the foggy forest again, looking for a place where he could smell blood.

Not long after,

-Krrrr!

Thunder Tiger seemed to have discovered something again.

Thunder Tiger began to quicken his pace.

“Hurry up.”

Chris and his group ran through the forest, trying to keep up with Thunder Tiger’s quick movements.

-Krrr!

In front of where Thunder Tiger was looking, there was a group of oak trees that looked 1.5 times larger than the other places, but upon closer inspection, they were not trees but Devil Ents.

‘There are so many Devil Ents.’

-Kuung!

Thunder Tiger, not fearing the Devil Ent, raised its forelegs without hesitation and began to attack by scratching.

-Keeeek!

The Devil Ent attacked by Thunder Tiger fell, spraying blood like dark green sap.

Then, the remaining Devil Ents who had been disguised as trees began to rise one by one from the dirt floor where they were rooted, their leaves trembling.

-Keeek!

The Devil Ents attacked the Thunder Tiger, stretching out their branch-like hands as if they were angry at him for waking them from their peaceful slumber.

Boom!

The attack, which looked like a tree at first glance and didn’t seem to be very strong, dug deep into the ground when it hit it, sending clumps of dirt flying in all directions.

It was an attack power that could not be underestimated.

“Thunder Tiger!”

Chris cried out in concern.

But Thunder Tiger was still an S-class monster.

Four or five Devil Ents surrounded Thunder Tiger from all sides and attacked it, but Thunder Tiger easily dodged the attacks with his quick movements that were unusual for his size and began to take down the Devil Ents one by one.

Devil Ents began to fall one by one by Thunder Tiger.

The last remaining one began to emit a mournful cry, as if calling for help somewhere.

-Eeeeing!

Then, soon, an earthquake shook the entire foggy forest, and heavy footsteps were heard, as if something huge was walking towards us.

“That guy asked his boss for help!”

As Ray said, the owner of the footsteps was gradually getting closer.

‘Ugh…!’

Chris swallowed his breath without realizing it.

A huge tree that seemed to be at least 10 meters tall was walking towards Chris and his group.

It looked more like a giant tower than a tree.

As the giant tree approached step by step, it created the illusion that the surrounding oak trees were getting smaller.

Kuung kwoong!

Finally, a giant Devil Ent stood tall, glaring at Chris and his group.

Krrrr!

Thunder Tiger showed its hostility and attacked the giant Devil Ent, but it didn’t seem to have much effect because it was so large.

Boooow!

The giant devil ent swung its long branchy arm like a whip in anger.

Kookwakwakwang!

It was as if the ground was torn apart by a long scar.

Not only was the destructive power considerable, but the speed was also considerable.

Thunder Tiger was hit directly by a giant Devil Ent attack and fell out.

“Oh, what should I do? The monster is too huge… .“

“Your Majesty, you should avoid this place first.”

The two middle-aged knights who followed him were floundering around pathetically and urging Chris to run away.

But Chris thought he shouldn’t run away.

“If we just run away from here, that giant devil ent will descend on the castle town and cause unimaginable damage!”

There was a high possibility that the giant devil ents would chase Chris and his party as they fled towards the castle town.

It was a situation where it was difficult to just run away.

“Chris is right. We have to catch that monster here somehow.”

Ray also agreed with Chris’s words.

“But how do you plan on stopping that big monster?”

The skinny knight asked Chris incredulously.

“That’s….”

There wasn’t really any particular way to think of Christ.

But I had to stop him here.

-Peeek!

The giant devil ents discovered the humans and attacked them again, swinging their branch arms.

Shhh!

The whip was swung, aimed at Chris.

If things continued this way, Chris would be hit directly by the whip.

Pfft!

“Thunder Tiger?!”

Thunder Tiger leapt out and slammed his body into the giant Devil Ent, knocking its center of gravity off.

Thanks to that, the branch whip ended up striking the ground, slightly missing Chris and his group.

Pavabavabat!

The ground was torn apart by the whip, and a cloud of dust rose up.

Ray looked closely at the giant Ent’s forehead amidst the chaos.

“There is one way.”

“There is a way?”

Chris tilts his head at Ray’s words.

What on earth is the way?

“The original Ents are a race that lives in harmony with nature. They eat meat, but they are not naturally violent. ”

“You’re not naturally violent? Are you saying that after seeing all this chaos?”

The giant devil ent was rampaging as if it was going to crush and kill Chris and his group.

“Look closely at that guy’s forehead!”

Chris looked at the giant devil ent’s forehead as Ray had said.

Something flashed slightly above the Devil Ent’s face.

Transparent and black crystal.

“Could it be that the black crystal made the Devil Ents violent just like Thunder Tiger?”

“I can’t be sure, but the evil aura emanating from Devil Ents is ominous. It’s worth a try.”

As Ray said, Thunder Tiger also regained his gentle nature after the black crystal on his forehead was removed.

If the crystal embedded in the upper part of Devil Ent’s face was the same, Devil Ent could have come to his senses like Thunder Tiger.

“But how can you get to such a high place?”

“I just need to hit the Devil Ent hard enough to immobilize it. Then I can take out the crystal.”

Ray said that, but he had no idea how to stop the giant devil ent.

At that moment, a thought crossed Chris’ mind.

“Maybe we can stop that guy.”

“What? How?”

Ray is surprised by Chris’s words.

“You received the Brain God Orb from the Academy and gave it to Thunder Tiger. You’re testing its power.”