Chapter 80

# Chapter 80: The Tin Knight and the Kingdom of Deep Green (10)

Since entering the garden, Adel hadn’t really shined that much.

She could manage to fight against ordinary wild animals or monsters with some success, but when it came to the so-called “boss-level” creatures, as dubbed by the Tin Knight (and the enchanted Dorothea), she couldn’t take them down.

The reason was simple.

Her attack power was lacking.

For humans, just stabbing with a sword would often yield effective hits, so there was no struggle there. However, among the strong beings of the garden, many regarded mere scratches as trivial wounds.

Her exceptional evasion skills and agility didn’t disappear, so she wasn’t easily defeated, but Adel also lacked the ability to deliver a fatal blow, which left her stuck in a deadlock.

And the monsters born from the fruit this time were each at least boss-level or a notch lower in strength.

Honestly, they were enemies that Adel could hardly handle.

That is, until—

*Whoosh!*

Before the white energy gathered on Adel’s sword.

—■■■!

With a monstrous howl that was hard to describe in words, a wolf pouring green slime from its mouth charged at her.

Adel pivoted on her left foot, spinning her body and swiftly darting past the side of the wolf.

The momentum of the spin aligned with the trajectory of her sword, and the white light cleaved diagonally into the wolf’s flank.

*Slash!* Blood splattered, and the wolf’s body split apart.

It was a terrifying power that sliced through not only fur and flesh but even bone.

Adel was the most surprised by that chilling sharpness.

“Wow, wow, wow!”

Adel was in awe.

Normally, she would have had to aim for the enemy’s eyes or stab inside their mouth just to hold her ground, but without any of that fuss, simply gliding her sword cut through effortlessly—it was a whole new world.

It was the joy of a newbie who had been forced into unfair gameplay every day finally being liberated from those constraints.

If the Tin Knight had known, he would have lamented, “Already getting addicted to equipment and buffs!” But seeing him lost in the battle right before his eyes didn’t really help his case.

Transformed from an evasive tank into an evasive dealer, Adel dashed across the battlefield, leaving a trail of blood.

Behind her, the wolf she had initially wounded trembled.

Already suffering a near-fatal wound, but the wolf hadn’t lost its life.

No, rather than dying, near its wounds, sprouts were blooming, entangling together as if attempting to restore its injuries.

“Do you think I’ll just stand by and watch that?”

Unfortunately for the wolf, a wicked and ruthless witch was here.

Dorothea pulled a small glass vial from her pouch and sprinkled the liquid inside on the wolf.

What was merely a mouthful of liquid swelled up, feeding on Dorothea’s magical power, drenching the wolf from head to toe.

The reaction was dramatic.

The wolf’s body melted upon contact with the mysterious liquid, and in an instant, it was left as nothing but bones.

When Dorothea thrust her staff into the ground, the wolf’s bones assembled in mid-air, transforming into a skeletal wolf. The liquid began to morph into mist, filling the surrounding area.

The mist was filled with the curses of the dead and formed from the ingredients collected from this forest, consisting of potent toxic elements.

The legs of a nearby deer quivered in response to the mist. A snake startled and burrowed into the ground to escape it, but the poison seeped into the soil, tainting it. Even the grass began to dry up quickly, or even melted away into liquid.

All creatures in the vicinity began to scream, writhing in instinctual terror.

Thanks to the magical power and strength of the plants they possessed, the number of entities that succumbed to death was low, but once Adel took them down, even that resistance became meaningless.

Creatures that touched the mist after sustaining injuries from Adel soon became mere bones and joined the ranks of Dorothea’s undead army.

Slowly but surely, the overwhelming numerical difference began to close.

Sophia remarked in amazement.

“How terrifying. I think I can understand why Dorothea’s master was feared so much.”

“Don’t judge my master based on me. That person is a true monster. And besides, this isn’t exactly convenient to use either.”

As she directed the undead, Dorothea grumbled.

“For starters, it’s hard to tell friend from foe. The tin can isn’t even alive, so it doesn’t affect me, the source of the magic, but everything else gets involved… If it were the norm, that is.”

She gaze fixed on Adel with her blue eyes.

Even fighting amidst the mist of poison and curses, Adel showed no signs of suffering.

The white haze radiating from the sword she held.

That divine power, resembling a swirl of light or white flames, protected Adel from the toxins.

Due to the clashing of the divine power and necromancy, there were many inconveniences in usual times, but right now, that characteristic was proving to be a boon.

Ironically, Sophia, who was taking damage from her own divine power, ended up feeling better after getting wrapped in Dorothea’s black mist, perhaps thanks to her race.

This party was one where it was hard to tell if their combinations were good or bad.

***

While Dorothea, Adel, and Sophia were battling the overwhelming numbers of enemies, the Tin Knight found himself facing off against the tree that was the enemy’s main body.

*Rumble rumble rumble!*

A thick root capable of swallowing the entire Tin Knight leaped from the ground, aiming directly at him.

Following closely, several thin roots writhed like worms, targeting the Tin Knight.

The Tin Knight dodged the thick root, swinging his sword to slice through the smaller ones.

[‘Tin Knight’ admires the enchantment effect!]

In fact, unlike Adel, the Tin Knight could deftly handle magical power, so the enhancement from divine power wasn’t particularly essential.

Rather, the pure slicing power was somewhat inferior to his swordsmanship.

However, the enhancement from divine power had a significant difference; he expended not a single bit of his own magical power.

And without having to be particularly cautious, he was guaranteed a consistent level of attack power.

In other words, he was capable of funneling all the energy he would have spent on swordsmanship into other endeavors.

*Thud!*

With a heavy thud, the Tin Knight dodged the root that was lunging at him, then leaped onto it.

Driving his sword into the root, he set it ablaze as he began to climb the tree.

*Whoosh!*

There was one path that the Tin Knight carved, yet the sword marks were not singular.

As he moved, countless sword winds were spewed forth as if dozens of men were hacking away at it, leaving deep scars upon the tree.

The tree spilled green liquid like blood.

It looked as though it were groaning in pain.

The tree attempted to summon nearby monsters, but those monsters entangled with Dorothea and her crew had no energy left to support it.

Even trying to summon new monsters was futile as the supply of materials to absorb as “nutrients” was insufficient.

The black mist created by Dorothea neutralized the hallucinogenic substances the tree exuded, causing all the animals to flee.

Inside the tree, a colossal energy writhed.

With no more nutrients being absorbed from outside, the tree used the nutrients within its body to give birth to new monsters.

The fruit that had opened at the top exploded, and the monsters inside charged toward the Tin Knight.

The Tin Knight raised his shield instead of drawing his sword to fight them.

He thrust his left arm forward, covering his body with the shield. As he hunched his shoulders and neck, faint magical power began to leak from around him.

In that state, as the Tin Knight accelerated even further, a silvery magical power trailed behind him.

*Whoosh!*

The monsters blocking the Tin Knight’s path were unable to penetrate the streamlined magical power and bounced off in all directions.

Well, to put it nicely, they bounced off; truthfully, they looked as if they had been hit by a truck.

Much like a large snake coiling around its prey, the Tin Knight dashed diagonally along the side of the tree, literally grinding its surface.

The tree struggled to regenerate its body, but even that proved to be difficult.

The sword marks left by the Tin Knight were remarkably deep and sharp, and Sophia’s divine power began to burn the tree, growing steadily larger like real flames.

As the last remnants of nutrients and magical power in the tree struggled to quell the fire, the black mist seemed to pounce on the exhausted moment, beginning to rot the tree.

Seemingly having found her rhythm in the skirmish, Adel’s movements, which slayed the ground monsters, were growing faster and faster, Dorothea’s undead army was steadily increasing, and Sophia watched on as if she had done all she could.

*Bam!*

Having completely ground down the side of the tree, the Tin Knight finally arrived at the topmost part.

After managing to extract his blade, he poured magical power into the sword imbued with divine energy.

Sophia’s divine power and Dorothea’s magical energy.

The two forces reacted explosively against each other, causing cracks to appear one by one on the sword held by the Tin Knight, as if it could not withstand the violent energy.

But the Tin Knight didn’t care.

Before his sword could break, he struck down forcefully at the top of the tree.

*Crack!*

A decisive stroke blending black and white lights swept through the tree.

***

“Looks like it’s over.”

The moment Sophia muttered those words, with a thud—

The bear-like monster battling Adel collapsed.

Not just that, but other monsters too appeared to lose strength one by one, sitting down or tilting to the side as they breathed their last.

Dorothea and Adel dropped their swords and staff, gazing at the direction Sophia was looking.

The tree, which had been pouring out magical power with intense pressure, was now enveloped in silence.

The dizzyingly sweet aroma and the softly glowing radiance had all vanished.

And then—

*Crack!*

A fissure appeared in the upper part of the tree.

At first, it was so small that it couldn’t even be seen with the naked eye.

After a single breath, it became large enough to see with concentration.

When a voice of admiration was raised, it became clear enough to recognize even from a distance.

With ominous creaking sounds, the top half of the tree inclined gradually, and then, with a resounding crash, it collided with the ground.