Botanical Horror

It had already been a while since I began venturing deeper into the forest. The doctors bid me farewell and wished me luck, even giving me a sword just in case, though I highly doubt I’ll ever use it.

Fortunately for me, the darkness wasn’t as much of a problem as I had first thought. The full moon lit the way just enough for me to distinguish everything around me. Everything looked beautiful and terrifying in equal measure.

I kept walking, accompanied only by the sound of my footsteps and a few insects in the distance, setting the mood for my journey.

Rustle

But then, a bush moved.

It was a slight movement, but loud enough to hear clearly. It wasn’t the wind—the sound was a little too strong, and the breeze hadn’t changed in intensity. There was definitely something there.

That was when a familiar sensation ran through my body. It was the same feeling I had when I was being watched by the Stalkey on the very first night I spent in this world. Something was stalking me, waiting for the perfect moment to attack.

I kept walking, pushing even deeper into the forest in an attempt to lure it out, though never lowering my guard for even a second.

Rustle

Rustle

The sound of the bushes gave it away. It was definitely following me, and as I advanced, I could hear the rustling grow louder and louder, signaling that it was drawing ever closer.

At last, I arrived at a somewhat open area. There were still trees scattered across it, but it was spacious enough that I didn’t have to worry about being cornered. That was when I picked up a stone and hurled it with all my strength toward the bushes, trying to strike the monster.

Thunk

The dull sound of impact told me I had hit my mark.

Soon after, a faint growl echoed, and then the bushes began to move. No—more than that, the bushes were rising. The Treetalon had finally appeared, but it wasn’t as I had expected.

Its appearance was exactly as Doctor Digory had described, but he hadn’t mentioned that the height of that thing would be around three meters. It wasn’t as big as the golem I had faced in the bandits’ cave, but even so, it was quite large and robust.

ROOOAAARRR!

The monster’s roar marked the beginning of the battle. It was so powerful that all the trees in the forest seemed to tremble. Without a doubt, this was going to be difficult.

The monster made the first move, but it didn’t come at me. Instead, it grabbed one of the nearby trees, tore it from the ground as if it were nothing, and hurled it straight at me. I was caught off guard, but managed to dodge it with a leap, letting the trunk roll beneath me. That was the moment I started running to close the distance between us. If it kept throwing trees at me, I would eventually be in trouble. I needed to get close enough to attack!

I sprinted as fast as I could, but the Treetalon wasn’t going to just stand idle. The moment it sensed danger, several vines sprouted from its arms, which it used as whips to strike at me. The first blow came from above, but I dodged it quickly with a sidestep. It repeated the motion several more times, but I had no problem evading them.

Finally, I had gotten close enough to the monster, and with all my might I struck directly at its torso. Unfortunately, its body was incredibly tough. It truly felt like it was made of wood—a very resilient one at that. Not as resilient as the golem, though; I even managed to crack its body slightly. Still, I needed to think of a way to end this quickly.

However, as I was pondering how I might deal with this monster, it swiftly recovered from my blow, clasped its hands together, and attacked me with a downward strike. Just like in the cave, my instincts made me cover myself with my arms, and luckily, the Treetalon wasn’t as strong as the golem, so I managed to withstand its attack fairly well—though it still hurt.

To gain some distance and free myself from the situation, I kicked the monster as hard as I could, forcing it to stagger back several meters thanks to my strength. Whatever the reason I’m this strong, I couldn’t be more grateful for it.

Even after being pushed back, the Treetalon remained determined to finish me off. It charged at me and swung its fists directly. Too bad for it, but they were basic moves I could easily predict.

I took that chance to strike the same spot I had hit earlier, over and over, to deal as much damage as possible. I even tried imbuing my fists with mana.

I guided the mana in my body into my arms, just as Liz had taught me before, and my arms began to glow. At that exact moment, dodging another of the monster’s blows, I struck the same area with mana imbued, causing massive damage that cracked the Treetalon’s body even further.

Seeing its disadvantage, and before I could land another mana-charged blow, the monster once again unleashed its whips, lashing them wildly and forcing me to retreat. As if that weren’t enough, the mana I had infused into my arms had dissipated, no doubt due to me losing focus from the surprise.

“Damn it…” I cursed. I was still going to need a lot more practice if I wanted to maintain mana for longer.

I wanted to attack the Treetalon again, so I tried to close the distance, but then it did something strange. It struck the nearby trees with its whips, violently shaking their canopies.

I had no idea what it was trying to do, but soon after, I understood. From the treetops, bodies began to fall—people who staggered weakly to their feet. They wore distinctive clothing and carried weapons… Could they be the missing adventurers!?

As they approached me, stepping out from the shadows of the trees, I could see them more clearly. They looked utterly emaciated, much like the spore-infected in their advanced stages. They were practically zombies at this point.

ROOOAAARRR!

The Treetalon roared again, and moments later the infected adventurers charged at me, letting out chilling growls.

The first attacked me with a sword, but I deflected it with my gauntlets and struck him in the face. The second rushed in, trying to stab me with a dagger, which I dodged before toppling him using his own momentum.

Up close, they looked even more grotesque. Exposed flesh marked several parts of their bodies, and their eyes were vacant. In the night I couldn’t see their skin well, but surely it was pale or even yellowish.

The third infected came at me with another sword strike, which I blocked as well—but then something startled me. No, more than that—it terrified me like nothing else in this world had so far. The infected spoke.

“K…kill… me…” he muttered with great effort.

They weren’t zombies. They weren’t corpses. They were just like the infected in the village; they were alive. Only this time, they were also conscious, even while that monster did whatever it pleased with their bodies.

The sudden plea from the infected disturbed me, breaking my focus for just a moment—long enough for another to stab me in the back with a dagger while I couldn’t defend myself. The others seized the opportunity to attack me with their swords, daggers, and other weapons. I could barely defend myself, receiving slashes and stabs in several places across my body. But the worst came when the Treetalon struck me from a blind spot, sending me flying and slamming me against a nearby tree.

Cough

Cough

The impact was so strong that I coughed up blood upon hitting the ground, but I could still stand. Or at least I thought so—yet as soon as I did, the Treetalon ensnared me with its whips and slammed me into the ground. As if that wasn’t enough, it continued to smash me against the trees around us, alternating between one and the other, until it finally slammed me down onto the ground one last time.

I could feel immense pain coursing through every part of my body; I was certain I had even broken some bones. It was true that the Treetalon didn’t possess the same raw strength as the golem, but it was far from weak and had its own brutal ways of attacking.

Leaving me sprawled on the ground, the monster withdrew its whips, and when I tried to seize the chance to stand, one of the infected adventurers drove his sword into my leg, pinning me down and making me scream in pain.

“AAAAAAAAAAH!”

After that, the Treetalon pressed its foot against my back with tremendous force, completely immobilizing me. No matter how much I tried to break free, the monster’s strength and the pain I felt with every movement made it impossible.

Then, what seemed to be the monster’s throat began to glow faintly, as if it were choking, before it looked at me with its shining red eyes and exhaled a strange smoke from its mouth. Spores.

Most likely, it wanted to infect me and turn me into one of the adventurers it controlled…

I’m finished.

No matter how much I struggle, none of my attempts work. This is the end… or at least, that’s what I thought. But as I stared at the monster’s face, bracing for the worst, its body began to glow until something struck it, forcing it back.

The scene was familiar, and the beautiful green glow of the attack made me realize even faster.

“Naoya!” Liz shouted from the distance, preparing another strike.