Subjugation Quest

“It’s here.”

“Here?”

“Yes!”

We came north.

Along the road.

I wondered where she was taking me when she deviated from the path, and it turned out to be a desolate forest.

A somewhat wide-open space in the middle of the forest.

There was nothing.

An enemy to fight.

I wanted that, but there wasn’t even a single Monster in sight, let alone an opponent.

But Jang Yu-ha was confident.

She was sure of her intuition.

I decided to trust that confidence.

“Do you know what’s coming?”

“No.”

Ah, so something is coming.

It was just a casual question, but it seemed like an opponent to fight was coming here.

I sat on a nearby rock and waited.

While waiting, I looked around at my companions.

Lilietta and Jang Yu-ha.

There were only two of them.

‘No, there’s also Death Knight.’

Hidden in the shadows.

Three of them.

Four, including myself.

Cappuccino had things to do in Dwarfneer and stayed behind, and Caramel said she wouldn’t necessarily follow unless I needed her.

Cappuccino was one thing, but Caramel was still a bit…

Anyway, for those reasons, I only brought three people here.

‘(Why am I excluded?)’

‘Right, five including you.’

Five.

More companions than I thought.

‘More importantly, where’s the Witch?’

‘(Wait. Cappuccino is calling her and sending her this way.)’

While waiting, I decided to try out the Witch’s Shop that Win was boasting about.

Only those who could be called Witches were allowed to be called, so it was troublesome and I had to go through Cappuccino.

Win could freely travel between Amel and Cappuccino.

Anyway,

Time passed.

Suddenly, I had a thought.

I’ve been near here before.

It was recently.

When I went to Losfelt.

After finishing the Princess Hero Henya’s party recruitment competition… Huh?

“Ah.”

[Henya] (999+)

Messages.

Over 999, the count was exceeded.

I had forgotten.

I forgot I had turned off the alarm.

What was the last message I saw?

Henya was sending me updates on her situation in real-time, I think.

Below the name of the chatroom.

[Henya] (999+)

[I’m eating now!]

That was the most recent message.

But then,

[The Lord keeps telling me not to leave.]

[I’m the one who’s supposed to decide the party, but I don’t know why he keeps interfering.]

[Is it such a problem that I disqualified everyone who didn’t meet the standards?]

[I’m just going to sneak out!]

It changed like that.

Even though I wasn’t reading them.

Henya was sending messages in real-time, so it was scary to look at.

More importantly, the content was a bit concerning.

Don’t sneak out.

I was hesitating whether to text her or not.

“Are you bored?”

“Huh? Well… a little.”

Jang Yu-ha came and sat next to me.

She raised her index finger and said.

“According to my intuition, it will appear soon. It’s hard to believe, but please wait a little longer for Chris’s sake.”

“I’m not doubting you. More importantly, are you selling Chris?”

“You may not trust me, but you trust me because Chris trusts me, right?”

“….”

No comment.

As Jang Yu-ha said, I tended to trust her because Chris trusted and entrusted her, rather than her herself.

[Henya] (999+)

[The problem is the Captain]

[I might put him to sleep with medicine.]

“….”

I’ll look at the messages later.

I hope she doesn’t just say it… I think she’ll actually do it.

But I don’t really care whether Henya sneaks out or not, and I don’t want to be on good terms with the Lord. It didn’t feel as heavy as the act of ‘texting now.’

Rather, I even thought that a Sword Master might come to fight, using the Princess as an excuse.

It’s an excessive expectation, though.

That was decisive.

Then.

Jang Yu-ha said.

“It’s here.”

Where?

No Electrical Signal was detected.

But it’s here anyway.

If I trust those words, it means the opponent doesn’t conduct Electricity well, and this is a forest.

Trees.

‘Trent?’

Using my experience, I quickly inferred and caught a faint vibration rumbling through the rock.

The vibration spread to the nearby trees, and the trees began to mutate as they touched it.

‘(It’s an Elder.)’

‘You can see that?’

‘(You can assume that all Trents that dominate the forest are Elders!)’

‘Was there an Elder-class being near here?’

There wasn’t.

But the image of a tree Monster flashed through my mind.

Demon Beast Garden.

The owner of the Dryad I met in that garden that the Magic Beast Witch cultivated.

Even in the Demon Beast Garden, the information window [Trent’s Servant Tree] came to mind.

And,

Nearby trees bloomed. The grass below them also bloomed, and the flower colors were the same purple.

The shapes were also the same.

[Trent’s Sleep Flower]

Gray text.

There’s no modifier of Elder.

Anyway,

I avoided it for now.

[Sleep Flower] scattered pollen.

‘(Wait!)’

Win did something.

‘(Wind, come!)’

She shouted exaggeratedly.

A Magic circle appeared above Amel’s head, blowing a gentle breeze.

All the pollen flew in the opposite direction.

“….”

‘Is that the kind of enemy I can fight?’

It didn’t seem very strong.

Jang Yu-ha said quickly.

“My intuition has never been wrong.”

“….”

I didn’t particularly doubt her.

I just wanted to confirm whether that was the right opponent or not.

I drew my sword.

I drew a large circle.

[Phantom Sword]

[Full Bloom]

“Duck.”

Lilietta ducked.

Jang Yu-ha had already ducked.

Following the swinging sword, I aligned the [Phantom Sword] in a straight line and lengthened the Blade, rotating it around my entire body as I swung it.

In the middle of the forest.

A blue trajectory drew a wide disc.

The trees within the range of the disc collapsed with a rumble, raising dust.

A mere [Trent] is not an opponent for me.

Even so, the fact that it’s an opponent worth fighting means that the real opponent isn’t [Trent]. Maybe it’s the opponent that will follow after [Trent].

I looked at the fallen trees.

They were cut in one stroke by the [Phantom Sword].

Weak.

‘It’s not even a snack.’

Each time I have a mob, a massacre, a one-sided fight, I think of it.

Slaughter is not my taste.

I got off the rock.

The grass was swept away by the sword pressure and uprooted, and only a radius of about 5 meters from the rock was safe.

I pulled the sword behind my waist and slashed upwards with the [Destroying Heaven Sword].

[Destroying Heaven Sword]

Bang.

I overturned the ground.

The tree roots hidden beneath the ground also soared up.

The roots of [Trent] wriggling like earthworms.

The roots stopped in mid-air and turned towards me.

I glanced.

I looked at Jang Yu-ha.

I looked at Lilietta.

“Protect Yuha.”

“Yes.”

Lilietta guarded Jang Yu-ha’s side.

The roots slammed down.

Amel avoided the roots.

She slashed at Root 2, which was attacking right next to her, as if cutting it down with her sword.

Roots 3, 4, 5. Just roots in general. She avoided the roots that came within the range of her sword and cut them all down.

She slashed down,

She slashed sideways,

She slashed upwards,

Slash, slash, slash.

But,

‘Slow.’

Weak.

Every time that word was etched in my mind, my brow furrowed and narrowed.

It’s like playing a rhythm game with a slow speed.

Then, at that moment.

Flustered!

The roots trembled greatly.

Soon, all the roots ran out of energy and drooped along with the severed roots.

“….”

What suddenly.

I watched the flow of the situation.

I stepped on the roots connected to the ground and let Electricity flow through them, and I was able to find the main body of [Trent] at the end of the Electricity flow.

“….”

I raised my sword.

I raised it straight.

I gathered Ki.

I gathered Magical Power.

Anti-Magic Power.

I raised the sword firmly held in both hands high and gathered Strength on the Blade, then struck down.

The Blade of Magical Power that was gathered and formed left the Blade and flew as a slash.

[Chapter 6 Form 4 Moonlight Sword]

The [Moonlight Sword] that flew in the form of a giant Blade increased in size in proportion to the distance.

As the size increased, the density of Strength decreased, but,

The [Moonlight Sword] passed through [Trent], bisecting it.

It was launched with enough Strength to cut [Trent] in half.

The distance was 500 meters, so a lot of Strength was consumed by the [Moonlight Sword], but Magical Power was already full as if nothing had happened.

It’s just [Trent].

I waited for a follow-up attack, but,

Hmm…

‘(It’s a Clone.)’

‘A Clone?’

‘(An Elder can’t extend its roots throughout the entire forest alone, right?)’

‘Well…’

‘(So, they create managers called Clones in the middle to create management areas. What you saw in the Demon Beast Garden was probably also a Clone?)’

“….”

Win’s explanation was correct.

Soon, as the Clone was cut off, a new presence appeared nearby.

Behind a tree standing perfectly in a slightly distanced place.

A plant in the shape of a person walked out lightly.

[Dryad]

Green text.

She raised both hands above her head.

[Dryad] said.

“We meet again.”

I’ve only met her in the Demon Beast Garden in the Field.

It was the [Dryad] who was there.

“First of all, I apologize for the rudeness. I’m sorry.”

[Dryad] knelt down and bowed her head to the ground.

I was explained the reason why she had to suddenly bloom [Sleep Flower].

In summary,

“There was no intention to kill?”

“Hero, you are people who can be resurrected even if you die, so there is no reason to antagonize you at all. We have been trying to exclude intruders as much as possible for the management of the garden.”

[Dryad]’s words made sense.

Fighting a resurrected Hero would be a nightmare.

If this is the case, there was no reason to fight [Dryad].

I’m not crazy about fighting, so I can’t just point my sword at a surrendered opponent. That’s not polite.

I turned to Jang Yu-ha.

What’s going on?

I looked at her with those eyes.

Jang Yu-ha smiled brightly.

She asked.

“Is there anything you want us to help you with?”

“Are you helping me?”

“Yes.”

“….”

[Dryad] falls into thought.

“Then…”

I heard the story, and

A [Quest] was created.

<Subquest>

[1. Demon Beast King of the Demon Beast Garden]