Sensing the enormous surge of Mana, the Forest Guardian noticed the heavy mass of magic hurtling toward it and raised both arms.
Two equally enormous hands intercepted the giant fist aimed directly at its chest.
BOOOOOOM!!
Wind spread across the area like ripples over the surface of water.
The two legs supporting the Forest Guardian's immense body were forced backward.
Trees along its path toppled one after another, unable to withstand the tremendous physical force.
“What are you doing?!”
The Adventurers, who had unconsciously stopped to stare at the sight, hurriedly reacted when Jun's voice cracked through the air like thunder.
“Knock it off balance!”
At Benjamin's following command, the Adventurers rushed toward the Forest Guardian's legs all at once.
More than a dozen Adventurers relentlessly attacked its right ankle.
Some hacked at it with greatswords, others slashed dozens of times with daggers coated in corrosive poison, while still others widened the openings with battle axes.
Like David battling Goliath, the Adventurers poured everything they had into bringing the monster down.
They instinctively understood.
This was the crucial moment that would decide the outcome of the battle.
Those few brief seconds seemed to stretch into eternity as they swung their weapons with everything they had.
Then a shout abruptly snapped them back to reality.
“It's falling!”
Their efforts had not been in vain.
One of the Forest Guardian's knees slowly began sinking toward the ground.
As its balance naturally collapsed, Jun gritted his teeth and poured even more Mana into the iron fist.
Like Goliath struck in the forehead by David's stone, the Forest Guardian, its stance momentarily broken, took the steel fist squarely in the chest.
WHOOOOOOOOOOM——!!
At last, the corrupted guardian of the forest was forced completely down onto one knee.
Countless trees shattered beneath its weight, and an enormous cloud of dust swept over the group.
As the forest trembled as though expressing the Forest Guardian's pain, Jun clicked his tongue.
‘As expected, I couldn't break through it in one shot.’
Just before the cloud of dust spread, Jun had watched the Forest Guardian with [Keen Eyes].
He saw [Iron Fist] dissipate just before it could completely crush the creature's chest.
“It isn't dead yet! Charge!”
Benjamin had apparently realized the same thing and hurriedly issued the order.
It was their final struggle for survival.
Benjamin Briston.
The Leader of Azure Cloud and the man responsible for the current disaster understood his position perfectly well.
A failed Conquest Operation.
An exposed scheme.
His sponsoring noble valued appearances above all else, so there was no question that the man would distance himself from responsibility for this incident.
‘At the very least…… I have to be the one to finish this Conquest Operation!’
The unexpected appearance of a Mage named Jun had greatly diminished Benjamin's role, but things were still salvageable.
If he managed to send every mercenary here back alive and report all the information concerning this Conquest Operation to the Imperial Family, perhaps his sentence would be reduced.
He could search for another sponsor afterward.
Securing the patronage of another noble would likely be difficult, but perhaps a major trading company would be possible somehow.
That was why Benjamin was more desperate than anyone to subjugate the Forest Guardian.
He wrapped his entire body in Mana, ran up the Forest Guardian's body, and headed toward its heart.
His target was the Forest Essence embedded within the creature's chest.
Normally, it was protected by wood harder than steel.
Now, however, enormous cracks had formed across it.
“Strike!!”
The other Adventurers, just as desperate as Benjamin, drew up all the Mana they possessed.
If they missed this opportunity, there would not be another.
They had to finish the creature before it recovered from its Groggy state.
SCREECH! GRIND-GRIND-GRIND!!
A sword fashioned from the sharpened teeth of a large beast screamed against the wood.
But the Forest Guardian's completely exposed chest was also splitting apart further.
Before long, ominous violet light began leaking from within.
Hope appeared on the Adventurers' faces as they realized that it was the corrupted Forest Essence.
The instant they completely tore open the Forest Guardian's chest, Benjamin stepped forward.
Blue Aura shot toward the corrupted Forest Essence that now stood fully exposed.
“This is the end!”
However—
“……!”
His Aura, which had never been stopped before, struck fierce resistance.
“Urgh……! That Mage was right!”
Jun.
The Mage who had devised the strategy for the Forest Guardian subjugation.
Before the battle began, Jun had repeatedly emphasized one particular point to Benjamin and the others.
The corrupted Forest Essence was far tougher than it appeared and possessed resistance to Mana, making it difficult to destroy.
However, if they kept striking it, it would eventually break.
Until then, they were supposed to conserve as much Mana as possible.
“Damn it……! Break! Just break already……!”
Benjamin's sword, filled with both Aura and desperation, struck the Forest Essence again and again.
CRACK—
A fracture appeared across the Forest Essence.
And at that exact moment—
-SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEECH!!
A horrific scream rang out.
Immediately afterward, the sky began to darken.
The forest was weeping.
Unlike the scream they had heard in the dungeon when the Fairy Queen first awakened, this one gave Jun exactly that impression.
The sky gradually turned dark violet.
Before long, no sound could be heard except the Fairy Queen's scream.
Amid the long silence—
The Adventurers standing atop the Forest Guardian were the ones who finally broke it.
“Leader!!”
“No!!”
Through [Keen Eyes], Jun could see what had happened above.
A red tree branch protruded from Benjamin's back.
The branch was red because it had pierced straight through Benjamin's heart before emerging from the other side.
“Fuck…….”
Jun's face twisted horribly.
Benjamin's abrupt death was one thing.
But [Keen Eyes] had allowed Jun to see something else.
A figure had appeared mournfully in the dark violet sky.
“The Fairy Queen…….”
A woman appeared, radiating a light so similar in color to the sky that it was difficult to distinguish between them.
At the same moment, whispers from the forest began reaching their ears.
-You die.
-You die hanging from a tree branch.
-You die torn apart alive by the teeth of beasts.
-You die after a venomous serpent's fangs paralyze your entire body.
-You die wandering in search of drinking water until your body dries out.
-You die poisoned by toxic mushrooms, blood pouring from every opening in your body.
-You die after goblins capture you and peel away your skin.
-You die with your entrails devoured by Steel Bugs.
-You die horribly dismembered by Undead.
Visions shown to every human gathered there the instant the corrupted queen of the forest looked upon them.
This was why Jun had been so desperate to prevent the Fairy Queen from appearing.
This was the might of a true Raid Boss.
Her skill, [Forest Cycle], began.
The first pattern inflicted the [Fear] Status Effect through hallucinations.
The mercenaries, whose Mental Resistance was woefully insufficient, dropped their weapons and collapsed to their knees.
Their limbs began trembling.
Foam spilled from their mouths.
They sank into visions of their own deaths like people being swallowed by a swamp.
“Ah, aaaaaah……!!”
The Adventurers followed.
They possessed a certain degree of resistance, but the despair of watching their Leader die before their eyes shattered what mental defenses they had possessed.
They also dropped their weapons and ended up little different from the mercenaries.
“Urgh……!!”
The only reason Jun could still endure was thanks to [Steadfast Will] and [Unwavering Heart].
But even those two skills were not omnipotent.
They only increased his resistance.
They did not provide complete immunity.
Forced to experience visions of his death dozens of times over, Jun desperately struggled to break free from the Status Effect.
‘Damn it……!’
The clarity in his eyes gradually began to fade.
The fear slowly receded.
What came afterward was an overwhelming sense of futility.
Death left nothing behind.
Beyond it lay only endless darkness.
Reaching that stage of awareness was dangerous.
Knowing that perfectly well, Jun desperately tried to circulate his Mana.
Within a sense of emptiness so profound that he did not even want to move a finger, only his desire to live burned like a faint light.
He could not cast anything impressive.
He could not even chant the spells that normally came to him out of habit.
At his limit, all he could do was recall the spell he had cast most recently, guided by instinct alone.
The earth slowly twitched and began gathering together.
Then Mana coated its surface.
[Iron Fist]
Compared to the fist that had struck the Forest Guardian, this one was no larger than a speck of dust.
But that was enough.
No—
It could not be any larger.
This spell was not meant for the Fairy Queen.
“Guh——!!”
Every trace of air was driven from Jun's lungs as agonizing pain exploded from his abdomen and spread throughout his body.
The iron fist had slammed directly into his stomach.
A glass ball falling from the height of a second story could kill someone.
This was a fist made of steel driving into his abdomen.
For all Jun knew, some of his organs had ruptured.
But to overcome a hallucination this powerful, it was an unavoidable price.
“Heh…… Hehehe…….”
The horrific pain hammered through his brain.
And yet Jun laughed.
Unlike the hallucinations, this pain reminded him that the present was real.
That he was alive.
“BLARGH!”
Jun vomited violently as his consciousness snapped back into focus.
His entire body still felt heavy, but his living flesh gradually began awakening in response to the terrible pain, fighting to survive.
He hurriedly pulled a potion from his clothes, drained it, and concentrated.
“We're screwed…….”
Jun roughly wiped his tear-filled eyes and barely managed to stand.
Just as he had expected, the situation was disastrous.
“Aaaaaah…….”
“Ugh…….”
“No…… Death is right in front of me…….”
Mercenaries and Adventurers alike had been disarmed and were staring blankly into empty space.
The Fairy Queen had reduced them to this state merely by appearing.
It was understandable.
A fully awakened Fairy Queen who had joined forces with the Forest Guardian was never intended to be hunted at this point in the game.
Hidden Pieces in <Blackout> did not always lead to favorable outcomes.
‘That's why I tried to finish everything before she appeared…….’
They might have somehow managed against the awakened Forest Guardian with Level 3 players.
Of course, even that possibility was gone now.
‘What do I do?’
Jun desperately searched for an answer.
The one piece of good news was that the Fairy Queen had not begun slaughtering them yet.
Benjamin had managed to inflict critical damage on the Forest Essence immediately before his death.
But they did not have much time.
The Forest Essence was, quite literally, a reservoir containing the forest's accumulated energy.
Even now, the forest was desperately restoring the damaged energy.
The Forest Guardian itself was gradually recovering from its Groggy state as well.
The opening in its chest was already beginning to close.
‘Priest Eleanor?’
Eleanor was their only potential means of dealing with such a wide-area Status Effect.
But she too was kneeling with her hands clasped together, reciting verses from scripture.
Her condition was hardly different from everyone else's.
‘She seems to be resisting to some extent…… but she won't break free anytime soon.’
Jun could not simply hurt her to wake her as he had done to himself.
Pain inflicted by someone else, rather than pain she consciously caused herself, would be no different from another part of the hallucination.
‘What about Aiden?’
Perhaps it was fortunate.
Or perhaps it was exactly as Jun had expected.
Aiden had not collapsed like the others.
It was thanks to the [Beast's Body] skill he had inherited from Pride inside the Hidden Piece.
He had not completely broken free, but he was clearly aware of what was happening and was actively resisting it.
‘He can't fight immediately, but…….’
Then an unexpected anomaly occurred.
“Mage!”
Luke Markner, one of the twin Adventurers, was approaching Jun.
“How……?”
“……Uh, I don't really know either. I think it's because of this.”
“What is that?”
Luke showed him a brilliantly multicolored crystal.
The light emanating from the strange material surrounded Luke's body protectively.
‘Status Effect Immunity……?’
Artifacts capable of producing similar effects certainly existed at higher Levels.
But it was astonishing that Luke, a mere Level 3 Adventurer, possessed one.
“……It's an heirloom that's been passed down through my family for generations. I didn't know it had an ability like this either.”
“Your family?”
“Haha…… It's not some prestigious family or anything. It's basically just a talisman passed down among the Jinrang. But that isn't important right now, is it?”
Luke was right.
That detail did not matter.
Gaining even one additional combatant in their current situation was a positive development.
More importantly, Luke could use Aura.
He might fall short compared to Benjamin, but what mattered was that he could damage the Forest Essence.
“So, Mage. What do we do now?”
“……Finish this. Fortunately, the Fairy Queen isn't in perfect condition either.”
She had nearly died from the wounds Benjamin and his companions inflicted when she first awakened.
Furthermore, the newly awakened Fairy Queen had yet to properly adapt because the Power of Corruption and the forest's energy were still mixed within her.
That was why her recovery had been delayed.
She had only rushed here because the Forest Guardian was being subjugated.
‘Of course, we can't kill the Fairy Queen.’
But if all they needed to do was destroy the Forest Essence, there was still hope.
“……I'll draw her attention. You climb onto the Forest Guardian and destroy the Forest Essence.”
“Are you going to be okay? Against a monster like that……?”
“We don't have a choice. There isn't another way. Hurry! We don't have much time. The Forest Guardian is recovering even now.”
“Got it……!”
Luke finally began moving quietly.
Jun placed his hand on the Choker once more.
[Interpreting Word of Power…….]
[Interpretation complete.]
[Reducing the influence of the Word of Power, ‘Odyssey of the Lazy Pilgrim,’ by 13 percent.]
Thirteen percent.
Compared to the ten percent Jun usually used, it was only an additional three percent.
But to Jun, who experienced its effects directly through his body, this was far beyond something that could be dismissed as “only” three percent.
“Urgh……!”
Mana flooded his entire body like an overflowing tidal wave.
For only an instant, an arrogant sense of omnipotence filled him, making him feel as though he could accomplish anything.
Then the Mana personally taught him what happened when a human body that had not reached the necessary level became greedy.
‘Just cooperate with me this once……!!’
Ten percent was the limit Jun was permitted to handle.
Beyond that point, the strain placed on his body increased exponentially.
This was the first time Jun himself had attempted to manifest magic while releasing the seal this far.
Even he could not predict what changes it would cause in his body.
“Hah, hah, hah……!”
The boiling Mana began rampaging wildly.
Casting magic in this condition was practically suicide.
The Mana backlash from the spell itself could turn upon the caster.
That was why Jun focused every ounce of his strength on controlling his Mana.
‘You damned bastards……!’
The Mana thrashed like wild horses.
Jun tried to raise his synchronization with it as much as possible, but the Word of Power, [Odyssey of the Lazy Pilgrim], obstructed him.
Disgusting memories surfaced one after another.
Even so, Jun desperately maintained his composure.
According to what he had learned during the brief time he spent in a Magic Tower, Mana was nature itself.
It did not flow according to human will.
It moved according to the laws established by the world.
Magic Patterns partially twisted those laws, determining the direction in which Mana flowed.
The caster's mental image determined the density of that flowing Mana.
And ironically, in his current situation, the only way to release the Mana running rampant within him was to manifest magic.
He had to show those wildly thrashing creatures a path forward.
During that process, the overflowing Mana tore through Jun's body as it rushed along his narrow Mana Circuits.
The frictional heat of the Mana turned his Mana Circuits from blue to violet—
and then gradually red.
“Hrrgh……!!”
His overheated Mana Circuits sent scorching breath rising through his throat and spilling from his mouth.
At last, the Magic Pattern was completed.
But it still was not enough.
Too much Mana remained inside Jun's Mana Circuits.
He had to release that as well before he could refine the Magic Pattern any further.
He imagined.
He drew.
Something more solid than anything else.
A phenomenon that truly existed.
Magic was the manifestation of phenomena.
One derived the process—
and manifested the result.
‘When was it?’
Imagination was deeply tied to creativity, but observation played just as important a role.
Jun did not possess extraordinary creativity.
Ever since childhood, he had lived a life where he had no choice but to devote himself to studying.
Even after becoming an adult, he had spent his days pursuing predetermined schedules.
Demanding limitless creativity from someone like him would have been unreasonable.
But conversely, Jun had always been rather exceptional when it came to ‘observation.’
He saw.
He remembered.
A scene that had once given him nightmares surfaced in his mind.
“…….”
It had begun with a fire.
Not the small flames one normally saw.
The blaze had stood as tall as an adult, and merely looking at it had filled him with paralyzing fear.
It was a sight that seemed to give physical form to greed itself.
And true to that impression, the flames quickly swelled, beginning to devour a child's small home.
TREMBLE……
Fire.
One of humanity's greatest discoveries—
and a force capable of devouring everything.
Not merely material things.
Sometimes, even a child's……
“…….”
[Fireball]
A sphere of flame filled with emotion and mental imagery manifested in the world.
3rd-Circle Magic.
And yet it displayed firepower surpassing any ordinary 3rd-Circle spell.
Burning a blood-red color, it searched hungrily for prey upon which to demonstrate its power.
“This…….”
Jun's gaze trembled as he stared at the spell.
It was not the image he had intended to create.
Even so, he had no time to consider the matter in detail.
The Fairy Queen had already regained her senses and was glaring directly at him.
‘I'm not ready yet……!’
The form of the spell was complete, but he had not yet brought the overloaded Mana under control.
If he launched it now, the spell would extinguish itself before even reaching the Fairy Queen.
Until it found something to burn, Jun's Mana itself had to serve as its fuel.
Unfortunately, time would not wait for him.
The Fairy Queen raised one slender arm.
Despite her emaciated appearance, the energy gathering within it was horrifyingly destructive.
The Power of Corruption that had consumed the forest would reduce everything it touched to atoms.
‘Damn it, if I just had a little more time……!’
Jun was about to draw up all his Mana and transfer it into the fireball when—
A dark violet butterfly shot from the Fairy Queen's hand.