Chapter 15

[······Please! You need to snap out of it!]

Belva’s voice is slow.

Like a broken tape, it stretches out unpleasantly, crackling.

Everything in the world felt that way.

The kids holding their breath. Miho’s crying. The wind brushing past my ears and countless stems writhing with clear malice.

Everything moved so terrifyingly slow that it gave me goosebumps.

*Thud thud thud—*

A long stem shot down from the sky toward me.

I tried to grab my sword, but my body didn’t move as fast as my thoughts.

I boldly gave up and rolled on the ground.

Immediately, the root part shot up like a thorn.

That’s fine.

The green stem is tough, but the brownish root part can be easily cut.

I swung my sword at the exact timing I predicted, and the root fell to the ground before it could even touch me.

[Oh.]

There’s no attack I can’t react to.

It’s just that my body can’t keep up.

I took a step back in that state.

I shouldn’t rush.

At this point, the opponent must have realized my level has risen sharply.

If I keep pushing, they’ll likely take a defensive stance.

If they use all those stems for defense, there’s no way I can break through.

The given time is 5 minutes.

It’s a long time, but already about 30 seconds have passed.

I tilted my body slightly forward, then stomped hard on the ground.

Dozens of stems rushed toward me as if they’d been waiting.

Their attacks are threatening, but upon closer inspection, their trajectories are straight lines.

My head feels hot.

In less than a second, I calculated and analyzed all the trajectories, and the recoil was intense.

As I went deeper, hundreds of stems blocked my path.

There’s no way to deal with that from the start.

I spun my body, casually cutting off a root trying to rise from the ground, then retreated again.

My breath is reaching my throat.

The disconnect between my head and body.

It means my movements have far exceeded the limits of my allowed strength and stamina.

I can feel my body becoming dull and slow in real-time.

I don’t have many chances.

Let’s end it in one go.

I wiped the blood flowing down my chin and glared at the pink flower walking on hundreds of roots.

The moment it twitched, I focused pressure on a single point and stomped the ground again.

*Whoosh!*

As expected, the roots burst out of the ground.

This time, instead of using my sword, I wrapped my foot in magic power and stomped hard.

*Crackle*—the roots burned up.

It was the effect of the Lightning I’d diligently grown.

Thanks to conserving my energy, I now had the leeway to cut off one stem.

I tilted the side of my dagger and let it glide through the air.

What the—

This time, I was the one surprised.

My senses, sharpened to the extreme, successfully deflected an object flying faster than an arrow.

This is the chance. Now’s the time.

In real-time, my level is rising rapidly.

Whether it’s due to desperation or the leap of awakening, I don’t know.

But now, it’s possible.

Watching hundreds of stems wriggling simultaneously in this slow world, I drew out all the magic power in my body.

The stem’s defense isn’t that tight.

It’s because I’ve never broken through their stems before.

They judged there’s no risk even if I try to seize the opportunity with offense rather than defense.

They’re right.

I had no way to break through those stems tougher than steel.

My sword began to tremble.

I’ve already experienced wrapping magic power around it.

It’s not much different.

If you think of the sword as an extension of your hand, the magic power moves accordingly.

But what I need now isn’t just simple reinforcement.

That alone won’t break through that.

In any swordsmanship manual, the ultimate technique of swordsmen is always written on the last page.

In any dimension, just using it earns you the treatment of a national-level force.

When I reached a certain level and could handle magic power sufficiently,

I once tried to create an aura.

Each swordsmanship manual had different techniques,

but the core was simple.

Compress magic power to its limit, then compress it again with your will.

In fact, you don’t even need a sword.

Swordmasters can pull out magic power like a sword without any medium.

They believe they’re holding a sword even when their hands are empty.

It wasn’t easy.

No matter how much magic power I poured into the sword, it wouldn’t compress beyond a certain point.

When I tried without a sword, it seemed to gather for a moment, then scattered like smoke.

The years I’ve spent were too different.

That’s why it felt impossible.

They’ve spent decades, centuries, swinging and using swords to gain that sense.

Catching up to that in less than a year would be difficult.

[This is ridiculous······.]

The sword in my hand is tinged with a faint light.

Like moonlight shining on a dark night.

The books described it as a stronger, more overwhelming light, so this is probably a failure.

Yet, Plentera keeps retreating backward.

The sword felt incredibly light.

I casually deflected a stem that lashed out like a spasm.

*Thunk.*

The green stem was cut cleanly, rolling on the dirt.

White sap poured out from the cut surface.

Like a hose that failed to control water pressure, it bounced around wildly.

I couldn’t dodge everything.

There must be some weak poison mixed in, as I felt pain where it touched, but I ignored it.

This is really the last chance.

Perhaps because I pulled out an incomplete aura at a level I shouldn’t have,

I’m gradually dying.

My head stops spinning, and my heart keeps slowing down.

So I can’t stop.

I think of the story about sharks dying if they stop swimming.

After cutting down the five stems blocking my way like a wall, I swallow the backflowing blood and charge again.

Now the pink flower is close.

It’s a creepy flower that looks about twice my size.

Phew—

As I approach, the flower bud opens wide and spews out crimson spores.

It looked poisonous at a glance, but I couldn’t avoid them one by one.

Holding my breath roughly, I charged straight ahead.

At that moment, my leg stopped with a thud.

…Roots had entangled it.

On my one remaining leg.

When did it get close?

It seems the spores have a component that dulls the senses.

Pushing through the piercing headache, a sweet smell, like a hazy dream, wafted by.

I want to live forever buried in that flower.

[Are you serious?]

“Of course not, obviously.”

A desperate situation.

Excruciating pain.

A single escape offered in that moment.

A trap so vicious it touches the instincts of living beings.

I smile at its cunning and cut the roots around my ankle.

Everyone is alive in this era.

Money. Honor. Power. Love.

Everything that was the purpose of life in the modern world doesn’t exist here.

Yet, everyone born on this land still wants to live.

Why?

For what?

I’ve seen many lose the meaning of life and fall into despair.

I saw a pianist who lost his hands.

I saw a shooter who lost his eyes.

I saw a marathoner who lost both legs.

I saw a kindergarten teacher who lost her child.

What should they live for now?

What meaning does their life have?

I don’t know.

In this world where everyone is each other’s enemy, where you kill or be killed.

Life was precious just as it was.

Does it need meaning?

I rolled on the ground.

Because both ankles were crushed, I couldn’t stand.

Rolling like that, I pushed off the ground with both arms.

My body sprang up as if on springs, and in that moment, dozens of roots following me pierced through my body in an instant.

Thud. Squish!

The sound of something piercing my flesh was surprisingly clear.

Belva screamed as if she would break.

[No, no! Just a little! Just hold on a little longer. I’ll save you somehow…]

That was it.

The sound cut off abruptly.

I see the root protruding through my chest, stained vividly with red blood.

How much longer can I live?

Ten seconds at most?

Even that was overly optimistic.

“…Didn’t kill me, huh?”

But I didn’t die. Not yet.

The sword I held still shimmered with light.

Covered in poison and spores.

Drenched in blood.

My body pierced and broken, indistinguishable from a corpse to the naked eye.

Yet, I was still alive.

Realizing this, Plentera hurriedly shot out stems,

but I swung my arm much faster.

[Ah, ah…]

My thrusting sword split the petals.

It went deep up to the elbow, shattering the core inside.

[Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah-!]

*

Phew. I can breathe.

The effects of leveling up began to realign my body.

It won’t fully recover, but it should reach a livable state.

As my senses gradually return, now my ears hurt.

Plentera’s scream seems to make the entire jungle tremble.

The slightly closed flower bloomed fully, then turned to ash and crumbled to the ground.

The roots that pierced me did the same, so my body fell flat on the ground.

Ah, this is a mess.

Kids are watching, seriously.

I tried to get up, but I still couldn’t muster the strength.

Helplessly, I just managed to turn over and lay on my back, looking at the sky.

“I survived…”

My eyes close.

I’ve used my magic power to the limit.

I stepped into a forbidden realm.

My brain won’t allow any more activity.

But I can’t. Here.

Losing consciousness in the middle of the jungle is like begging to be killed.

I have to get up somehow…

[Rest for a while. I’ll protect you.]

A translucent film enters my half-closed vision.

It’s like a heat haze, or maybe a soap bubble.

Did Belva do that?

“Even so…”

[It’s okay.]

If it’s okay, then fine.

I accept Belva’s kindness and quietly close my eyes.

The world is quiet and peaceful.

My consciousness sinks deeper than ever before.

[Your body has reached its limit.]

[Evolution begins.]

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