The giant hamster’s forced display of confidence echoed through the forest.
Lucien remained hidden in the treetop, but his patience was gradually wearing thin.
It seemed the Wise King of the Forest really was as the rumors described.
It did not attack travelers without reason, but when it came to its territory, persuading it to compromise with words alone was apparently impossible.
In that case, there was only one option left.
“Since you refuse to permit it, we’ll prepare to leave.
My apologies for disturbing you.” Lucien apologized aloud, his voice spreading through the forest with the help of an amplification skill.
To the Wise King, it sounded as though the intruder had recognized the difference between them and was preparing to retreat.
Lucien himself did not move.
He continued watching the target closely.
Two minutes passed.
When the giant hamster noticed that nothing was happening around it, its upright ears slowly lowered and some of the tension left its muscles.
Now.
Lucien reached into empty space.
Two strangely shaped black kunai appeared between his fingers.
They were mechanical throwing weapons from YGGDRASIL.
An internal mechanism would expand after striking a target, causing a second burst of damage.
Lucien had no intention of throwing them at the giant hamster.
Instead, he shifted his gaze toward a thick tree about thirty meters ahead, its trunk wide enough that two people would need to join hands to encircle it.
Crack!
Bang!
The expansion mechanism inside the kunai triggered.
The immense mechanical force tore through the tree trunk from the inside, snapping it apart.
Wood splintered.
The towering tree crashed down toward the Wise King of the Forest.
The giant hamster reacted quickly and leaped aside.
The enormous trunk smashed into a patch of undergrowth, throwing dust and debris into the air.
The creature spun around.
Its fur stood on end once again as its eyes locked onto the fallen tree.
Its forepaws lowered toward the ground, and its voice dropped into a threatening growl.
“What coward hides in the shadows and attacks without warning!” “If you have courage, then show yourself and face me in a proper battle!” As it shouted its challenge, the giant hamster concentrated entirely on the direction of the fallen tree.
It completely ignored the blind spot directly above its head.
Lucien still did not move.
He remained patiently crouched in the tree for another full minute, watching the tense creature below.
Then he took a small stone from his inventory.
With a flick of his finger, the pebble spun through the air and landed in a bush slightly to the left of the Wise King’s line of sight.
“RAAAH!” Already on edge, the giant hamster released a loud battle cry.
It pushed off the ground with its hind legs and hurled its enormous body toward the bush where the movement had appeared.
Watching from above, Lucien frowned.
The creature had certainly exposed an opening.
A massive one.
From the perspective of a professional assassin, a target presenting its back like that was an ideal opportunity for an instant kill.
But there was a problem.
The creature’s performance was simply too poor.
Its attack was broad and obvious, with no follow-up variation or defensive preparation.
More importantly, now that Lucien had seen its actual speed and strength, he found it difficult to believe this was some lord-class monster that required him to fight seriously.
Nothing the giant hamster had displayed came close to what Lucien had expected.
It appeared to be relying entirely on its large body and attacking with the crude instincts of a wild animal.
Could the famous Wise King of the Forest really be this weak?
Lucien reconsidered.
His hands rapidly formed a casting sequence.
A mass of black shadow peeled away from the tree beneath his feet and condensed into a humanoid figure in midair.
[Shadow Clone] A level sixty summoned construct.
“Test it.” Lucien issued the command mentally.
The Shadow Clone immediately leaped from the treetop.
It became a streak of darkness and rushed directly toward the giant hamster, which had just missed its target and was beginning to turn around.
The Wise King noticed the rush of air behind it.
It had barely turned halfway when the clone was already in front of it.
The Shadow Clone did not use a skill.
It simply used the momentum of its descent, raised its right leg, and delivered an ordinary kick directly to the giant hamster’s enormous head.
The creature’s massive body was launched sideways.
It slammed into an ancient tree more than ten meters away.
Leaves exploded from the branches overhead.
The giant hamster then slid limply down the trunk and collapsed onto the ground.
It did not move.
It had been knocked completely unconscious by a single kick.
The Shadow Clone walked over expressionlessly.
It nudged one of the creature’s paws with its foot.
Then it stepped lightly on the thick scaled tail.
No reaction.
Lucien stared down from the tree.
He was completely speechless.
He suddenly had no idea what he had been so cautious about.
He had seriously spent all that time analyzing how to handle a prolonged melee battle.
He had even used kunai and falling trees to test the creature’s reactions.
And after all that…
The so-called Wise King of the Forest really was nothing more than an oversized weakling that could not withstand a single ordinary attack from a level sixty clone.
The clone had not even been carrying a weapon.
“What a complete waste of effort…” Lucien sighed.
He ordered the Shadow Clone to remain behind and watch the unconscious hamster.
Then he jumped down from the tree and quickly retraced his path toward Nfirea and the two coachmen.
Inside the translucent white barrier, the three men were staring nervously into the forest.
The sound of the tree crashing down earlier had convinced them that Lucien was engaged in a desperate battle to the death with the Wise King of the Forest.
They waited anxiously.
Only when Lucien appeared in front of the barrier and deactivated his stealth did they finally see him again.
Lucien drew a weapon and thrust it into the barrier.
The supposedly indestructible Sanctuary Guard shattered instantly into countless points of light and vanished into the air.
“The danger’s gone.” Lucien dusted off his hands.
The three men inside stared at him blankly.
“You can continue gathering herbs according to the original plan.” “There shouldn’t be any powerful monsters approaching this area for the rest of the day.” The three slowly stood.
They looked at one another, their expressions filled with disbelief.
Only a few minutes had passed since Lucien left.
“Mr.
Vale…” Nfirea swallowed.
He cautiously asked, “The Wise King of the Forest…
did you really defeat it?” “Yes.” Lucien nodded without hesitation.
“It’s been dealt with.” That simple answer raised their awe toward him to another level.
This was the legendary Wise King said to have ruled the forest for centuries.
Even national military forces were reluctant to provoke such a terrifying monster.
Yet it had failed to last ten minutes against this man.
With a mixture of unease and extreme reverence, the three returned to gathering herbs.
Their pace was noticeably faster now.
The bearded coachman had completely lost interest in teasing Nfirea.
None of them wanted to remain long in a place where such a battle had just taken place.
They continued working until evening.
By the time the sun began setting, their baskets were finally filled with all the herbs they needed, along with a small bag of mushrooms.
Lucien escorted them back toward Carne Village.
On the return journey, Nfirea walked beside him.
Several times, he looked back toward the depths of the forest as though he wanted to ask something but could not bring himself to speak.
“Did you forget something?” Lucien glanced at him.
“No…” Nfirea hesitated.
“Mr.
Vale, did you kill the Wise King of the Forest?” “I only knocked it unconscious.” Lucien answered truthfully.
“It should still be alive.” Nfirea visibly released a long breath.
The tension in his shoulders eased.
“That’s good.
That’s really good…” Lucien looked at him in confusion.
“Why?
Is there some reason that monster needs to remain alive?” “You may not know this.” Nfirea explained seriously.
“The Wise King of the Forest may be a monster, but its existence helps maintain the ecological balance of this region.” “It’s extremely territorial, and the presence it gives off frightens away many weaker monsters.” “If it died, this area would become unclaimed territory.” “Other monsters surrounding its domain would immediately rush in and fight over the land.” “If that caused a large-scale monster disturbance, Carne Village, being the settlement closest to the forest’s edge, could easily be caught in it.” Lucien nodded in understanding.
After safely returning Nfirea and the coachmen to their lodging in Carne Village, Lucien made an excuse and left alone.
He walked to an isolated place outside the village.
After confirming that no one was nearby, he activated a teleportation skill and returned to the location where he had left his Shadow Clone.
The forest was now completely dark.
The clone still stood beneath the tree.
The giant hamster remained sprawled across the ground, unconscious.
Lucien wanted information from it.
The creature had ruled a large portion of the region for a long time.
Its combat ability might have been pathetic, but something that old should still know considerably more than ordinary goblins.
Lucien walked over to its enormous head.
He took the blue healing potion Nfirea had given him earlier from his pocket and removed the stopper.
Then he poured some of the blue liquid over the creature’s nose.
Although the potion had deteriorated, it still retained a faint restorative effect.
Stimulated by the medicine, the giant hamster’s whiskers twitched.
Its eyes slowly opened.
It raised its head groggily.
Its vision gradually focused.
The moment it saw Lucien standing before it like a ghost, its fur stood on end again.
“Squeak!” It scrambled backward on all four limbs until its back struck the tree trunk.
It remembered what had happened earlier.
During the fight, it had not even seen its opponent move before losing consciousness.
And now the forest around it had already become completely dark.
The giant hamster was not particularly stupid.
It quickly understood the situation.
The difference in strength between itself and this intruder was probably enormous.
The Wise King huddled beneath the tree.
Its two forepaws moved nervously as it struggled with a decision.
Should it fight to the death to preserve its dignity?
Or surrender its territory immediately and beg for its life?
Lucien did not give it much time to think.
“What species are you?” He asked directly.
“What’s the name of your race?” This time, the giant hamster was finally willing to communicate properly.
The question seemed to surprise it.
It shook its head stiffly.
Its voice no longer carried any trace of its earlier arrogance.
“I…
I do not know.” “I have lived in this forest for as long as I can remember.” “I have never encountered another creature like myself.” Without magic amplifying its voice, it sounded considerably softer.
Lucien looked it up and down.
“Has anyone ever told you that you look like an enormous hamster?” “Hamster?” The unfamiliar word did not offend the Wise King.
Instead, its eyes widened with sudden excitement.
“You…” “No, my lord!” “Have you seen others of my kind somewhere beyond this forest?” “Where are they?” “…Very far away.” Lucien paused.
“You couldn’t reach that place.” “Please!” The creature leaned forward desperately.
“You must tell me!” Lucien had no idea how he was supposed to explain hamsters from Earth.
Seeing how curious the creature was, he sighed.
Should he simply invent something?
No.
One lie would require several more lies to support it.
The creature might become obsessed with finding its supposed kin, and Lucien had no idea where in this New World he could possibly find another giant hamster.
Better to tell the truth.
“I’ve only seen them in my homeland, which is unimaginably far away.” “Hamsters mostly live around humans and perform certain…
rather dangerous forms of work.” The moment it heard the word dangerous, the Wise King did not retreat.
Instead, its face became unexpectedly determined.
It clenched both forepaws into fists and struck them together in front of its chest.
“My lord, do not underestimate me!” “I have ruled this forest for many years!” “No hardship or danger can defeat me!” “If I can return to my people, then I would gladly risk my life!” It stared at Lucien with desperate anticipation.
“Please tell me!” “What sacred duty do hamsters perform?” “If it is the calling of my kind, then I shall never shrink from it, no matter how dangerous!” Lucien stared at its passionate expression and sighed helplessly.
He reached into his inventory and took out a strange potion filled with black-purple liquid.
He held it out in front of the giant hamster.
“Take a look at this.” The creature froze.
Then it cautiously accepted the bottle with both forepaws.
It removed the stopper and sniffed.
A powerful toxic odor immediately assaulted its nose.
The giant hamster jerked its head away.
Just smelling the fumes made its face begin turning faintly green.
“What is this?” “Poison.” Lucien answered plainly.
“One drop will kill you.” The giant hamster’s paws shook so violently that it nearly dropped the bottle.
It hurriedly sealed the stopper again.
“Your kind, hamsters, spend their days confined inside cages.” “They’re given different substances with unknown effects in order to test toxicity.” “Most of them die.” The Wise King stared at the bottle in its paws.
Then, unbelievably, determination returned to its eyes.
It actually looked as though it intended to try.
The creature even began taking deep breaths to steady itself.
Lucien immediately continued.
“If the poison doesn’t kill them, they’re strapped to tables.” “Beginner medical students cut open their bodies to examine the organs after poisoning and practice surgical procedures and suturing.” “And because they’ve already been poisoned, death is basically guaranteed.” The determination in the Wise King’s tiny eyes disappeared.
They became remarkably clear.
Its paws trembled as it respectfully handed the black-purple potion back to Lucien.
All of the heroic determination to reunite with its species had vanished.
It had become completely obedient.
“I believe…” “I shall refrain from disturbing human society.” “This forest is my home.” Lucien looked at the giant hamster, which seemed more like a pet every second, and still could not understand it.
How had something like this become known as the Wise King of the Forest?
“Your curiosity has been satisfied.” Lucien did not bother wasting more time.
“Now I have some questions.” “Are there really no monsters stronger than you in the surrounding region?” “Hmm…” The Wise King considered it.
“There are perhaps three to five creatures elsewhere in the forest whose strength is roughly equal to mine.” “However, each possesses its own territory, and we normally avoid interfering with one another.” Equal to this thing?
Then they were probably all weaklings too.
“What about humans?” Lucien continued.
“Are there humans capable of defeating you?” “There are more of those.” The giant hamster thought for a moment before answering honestly.
“From what I have seen during my long life, there are approximately five human warriors who could defeat me.” “But even they would only hold a slight advantage.” “If we truly fought to the death, victory would not necessarily be guaranteed.” Lucien was skeptical.
Considering the giant hamster’s crude fighting technique, any experienced high-level warrior who was not intimidated by its size should have been capable of defeating it fairly easily.
Still, the creature itself was weak.
Its understanding of greater strength was naturally limited.
Lucien let the matter go.
“Do you know who these people are?” “Not just warriors.
Include every profession.” “The Warrior Captain of the Re-Estize Kingdom, Gazef Stronoff…” “The Baharuth Empire’s foremost magic caster, Fluder Paradyne…” “And several members of the Slane Theocracy’s Black Scripture…” The Wise King continued listing names.
By the end, it had identified more than ten individuals spread across several neighboring nations.
There were also several whose actual names it did not know, so it could only provide titles or descriptions.
Lucien quietly committed every name and piece of information to memory.
The giant hamster’s estimates of combat strength might not be particularly reliable.
But everyone on this list could certainly be considered one of the region’s elite.
If Lucien encountered any of them in the future, they might be worth getting acquainted with.
(To be continued.)