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Chapter 86

“Here it comes again!!!”

And facing that disaster head-on right now, were Se-Hoon and Jake.

Dozens of tree roots pierced majestically upwards, the size of each so immense that they seemed like fully grown trees sprouting from the ground, but there was no time to admire the sight.

Whoosh!

The once-erect tree roots bent like serpents, terrifyingly lunging towards them. Seeing the roots filling up his vision, Se-Hoon quickly directed Jake.

“Go northwest!”

“Got it!”

They moved swiftly in harmony as if on some cue, slashing their swords simultaneously.

Boom!

The flames that erupted and the slashes of the blue sword tore the tree roots before them to shreds, creating an opening that the two quickly escaped through.

Crash!

With enormous force, the remaining roots smashed into the ground where they just stood.

However, despite escaping the encirclement of the tree roots, there was no time to rest. Se-Hoon surveyed the surroundings.

More coming from that direction...!

Several more tree roots, each resembling terrifyingly fast-moving worms, pierced the air. Utilizing the Eyes of Clairvoyance once again, Se-Hoon managed to spot an opening in the attack and turned his gaze toward it.

But his expression hardened instead—he saw a gigantic tree beyond the forest, the exposed form of the Divine Tree. He quickly shouted, “We’re going to break through again!”

“Okay!”

They moved away from the Divine Tree, breaking through the encirclement. Se-Hoon coldly analyzed their foes.

It’s probably barely at B-rank at best... seems like the effect of being forcefully awakened.

Of course, that should have been obvious since the Divine Tree, which was supposed to awaken naturally decades later, had been forced awake prematurely.

Thanks to that, they had managed to escape the encirclement, but their predicament was far from over.

We’re getting closer to the lake where the Divine Tree sprouted.

Despite their efforts to flee in the opposite direction, they strangely moved closer and closer to the Divine Tree the harder they tried. Initially, Se-Hoon wondered if it was due to some sort of mirage or illusion, but upon examining the surrounding mist, he quickly understood the real reason.

Similar to a mirage, space itself was rippling. The heavy mist enveloping them not only blocked their senses but also twisted space.

The Divine Tree didn’t have such an ability before... but with the Puppeteer involved this time, there’s nothing it can’t do.

The Box, a type of bioweapon crafted from the corpses of heroes and demons that granted its wielder the powers the corpses once had, could have been used to imbue the Divine Tree with spatial abilities. If that were the case, then that would be the reason why the Black Lotus Seas was isolated from the outside world right now.

Quickly coming up with a deduction, he realized that their situation was significantly more troublesome than he thought.

With this turn of events, it’s highly likely that the forced transfer function doesn’t work anymore.... It’s as if all the students here have become hostages.

Without the forced transfer ability, their cloaks had been reduced to mere ordinary armor. It seemed clear that whoever was manipulating the Divine Tree was also trying to enact a hostage situation after they had confirmed that all the students were trapped.

What exactly are they aiming for?

But regardless of whether they were aiming for someone among the staff members or one of the students, Se-Hoon knew they couldn’t just stand by.

Affirming the need to take action, he presented Jake with two options.

“Jake. We have two choices right now.”

“Two?”

“The first is to keep running away until the professors arrive. This is a safer way, but we don’t know how long we’ll have to hold out, and others might die in the meantime—”

“Then let’s go with the second one!”

Before Se-Hoon could finish, Jake shouted his decision, prompting a surprised look from Se-Hoon.

“You don’t need to hear the second option?”

“Usually, the second option is the opposite, right? It would be a slightly risky method, but it could resolve the situation quickly without losing anyone else.”

Pausing to cut down an approaching root with his Luminescent Sword, Jake looked back at Se-Hoon.

“If we’re heroes, then we should choose the latter one.”

Despite Jake’s bravado, the faint trembling around his eyes and the tension evident throughout his body betrayed him. While he was a scion of a prestigious family, in the end, he was, after all, a student with limited experience. Fear was a natural response, yet he didn’t back down because he believed in the righteousness of their path to be heroes.

Now I understand why he met such an early end before...

Finally understanding the depths of his character, Se-Hoon reached out and naturally patted him on the back.

[Extracting bond from subject ‘Jake Myers’]

[The bond with the host is Lv.1.]

With this... things should become much easier.

Feeling the bond and its power flowing through his fingertips, Se-Hoon looked at Jake.

“Okay. But promise me one thing.”

“What is it?”

“That you will focus only on what I tell you to do, no matter what happens.”

Bang!

Slicing through a pursuing tree root with the Five-Flame Sword, concluded the conversation, his voice full of conviction.

“We’ll definitely win if you can do just that.”

***

At the northwestern edge of the Black Lotus Seas lay a vast lake, the Lotus Lake. Previously, its surface had been adorned with black lotuses, but now, its appearance had been significantly altered.

The lake was now twice its original size, not due to a natural increase in water but because it overflowed—a huge tree that emerged from its center displaced it all.

The tree, standing seventy meters tall with a circumference of a hundred meters, overshadowed the size of even the area boss, the Lotus Hive, and was still continuing to grow.

And observing the terrifying growth from above was Willy. He couldn’t help but marvel at the sight.

“To think someone would even think about growing this underneath a C-class Danger Zone.... Whoever they are, they’re gruesomely clever.”

With his curiosity about what the fully awakened tree would entail swirling in his mind, he gazed down at the Divine Tree.

But then, a sudden call from one of his subordinates from behind broke him out of his contemplation.

“Captain! The target couldn’t break through our encirclement and has changed direction!”

“Is that so? They must be getting tired by now.”

He had decisively used the spatial abilities of an A-rank hero to herd them, so it was unlikely that even an honor student would last long. Feeling the end of this tedious mission drawing near, Willy issued commands to his subordinates, “Start wrapping things up and prepare for transport! Kill half of the hostages, and the remaining half can be used as leverage.”

“Yes, sir!”

Done issuing orders, he turned back to the space behind him.

There, a giant lotus bud perched atop the growing tree, its leaves blackened from the bottom up. It was surrounded by densely grown lotus stems that covered the entire area and pierced into the tree itself.

That bud was the core of the Divine Tree, serving as both its brain and heart.

“Did it absorb the Box already? What a waste...”

He had hoped to retrieve it after they had completed their mission, but with its nature as an erosive-type monster, the Divine Tree seemed to have absorbed anything left into its body.

With a hint of regret, he tore out one of the stems piercing into the tree and pressed it against his neck.

Crunch!

Twisting and turning, the lotus stem began burrowing into it, darkening his vision momentarily before revealing a completely different scene. He watched Se-Hoon and Jake dodging aggressively and slicing through the tree roots as they ran towards the lake. Despite knowing it was a trap, they proceeded forward like they had no other choice.

Seeing their frustrated expressions, Willy smirked at their predicament.

They would have been better off giving up early to save themselves the sweat.

Deciding to quickly end their struggle for their sakes, he connected more stems to his body.

Crunch! Crunch!

Each additional branch caused his form to expand and widened his perspective little by little as the network of roots—spread throughout the lake and its vicinity—became more present to him.

Cruuunch!

Now one with the Divine Tree, he watched the two young challengers approach him.

“Ugh...”

Finally arriving and instantly feeling the overwhelming presence of the gigantic tree, Jake involuntarily took a deep breath. The intensity of the gaze caused all of the hair on his body to stand on its end. He wondered what it would feel like in a few moments when he stood directly below the massive foe.

“Jake,” calmly called out Se-Hoon.

Running side by side with Jake, Se-Hoon glanced over, “You remember what you need to do, right?”

His brief question helped Jake refocus on what needed to be done and push aside his nervousness.

“Don’t worry,” he replied, biting his lip.

“Good.”

With that, it was now all up to Jake.

Meanwhile, Se-Hoon, turning to face the giant tree, tightly clenched the newly created Fatestone in his right hand.

[Fatestone - Compression Stone]

[Tier: Advanced] [Quality: Perfect]

[A piece of ore that compresses itself endlessly.

It has a property that absorbs and condenses mana within itself. However, it will break if the density of the condensed mana exceeds its durability.

*Condenses absorbed mana]

Holding the solid, deep-blue stone, which looked like it had been condensed under immense pressure, he immediately activated Bond Imprint with his right hand.

[Bond Imprint ‘Iron Desire’ has been activated.]

Crack!

The Compression Stone shattered like ice, and the power contained within melted deep into his body.

Crunch!

His entire body and everything within—his bones, muscles, and blood vessels—felt as though it were being condensed. However, it was no mere feeling. His field of vision had also dropped slightly, proof that his body had actually been condensed.

“Hoo...”

Seeing the blue mist flowing from his mouth, a sign that all preparations were complete, he looked toward the lake which was faintly visible through the mist.

Whoosh-

With a single leap, the lake unfolded beneath him.

Boom!!!

Reaching the lake before the shockwave of his leap, he started to fall toward the lake, forcefully dashing across the water’s surface the moment he touched it.

Tad, tad, tad, tad!

Every time his feet touched the surface of the water, he released a small amount of mana to bounce off it. Such a thing was only barely possible because his physical abilities had been enhanced by Metal Desire and the Compression Stone’s effect.

A part of me will definitely burst if I use it for too long...!

Even the slightest miscalculation when controlling his mana would result in a part of him bursting, whether it was the soles of his feet or elsewhere, making it an extremely risky technique. However, he trusted his senses and dashed forward without hesitation.

Tracking Se-Hoon, Willy became astonished by his frightening speed.

What... how is his speed suddenly so...

Se-Hoon’s stats, which he had deemed to be no more than those of a C-rank hero, had elevated to nearly match those of a B-rank hero in just a few minutes.

Observing him carefully, Willy soon noticed the tips of his hair were glowing, and red and blue steam was leaking from the corners of his mouth.

Willy furrowed his brows in annoyance.

Did he enhance his body using some skill? Such a pointless endeavor...

Since any misstep could compromise the material that they came here for, he decided to quickly subdue Se-Hoon, promptly mobilizing his body rooted around the lake.

At his command, dozens of tree roots, twice as large as those attacking from the forest and incomparably faster, burst from beneath the lake.

Enhancements or not, he’s still just barely a B-rank.

The earlier attacks from the forest were mere child’s play compared to now; if the movements then were the movements of a fingertip, this time, it was the movements of an entire arm in action.

He began weaving a giant net with the sprouting tree roots to capture Se-Hoon, whom he deemed to have underestimated the Divine Tree’s abilities.

Crash!

Slamming down in front of Se-Hoon and Jake, the net of tree roots enveloped everything, creating a blockade so vast and dense that not even the sharpest sword strikes could slice through or the quickest movements could evade. It was an attack that leveraged the full strength of a colossal monster that had rooted itself across an entire Danger Zone, capable of crushing even the most formidable B-rank heroes with its overwhelming mass.

“...Found you.”

However, Se-Hoon, whose eyes were tinged with a steely gray, managed to pierce through the adversary before him.

Mortal Combat Techniques: Chaotic Threads

A brilliant white flash burst from his waist, slicing apart the tree roots in every direction. Amidst the ensuing shower of splintered fragments that collided and twisted, Se-Hoon effortlessly escaped through a path just wide enough for one person to slip through.

Bang!

...Huh?

With a thunderous crash, the once impenetrable net now limply laid flat over the desolate lake, a hole torn through it.