732 – Breakthrough Against the Magic Beast King (side: Treant)

All three Aro-donos take aim at the Magic Beast King’s left eyeball. The central Aro-dono is holding me in her other arm.

“[Dark Sphere]!”

The three Aro-donos shoot [Dark Spheres]. They don’t stop at one, instead quickly shooting a second and then a third. The Magic Beast King’s eyelid closes. The nine [Dark Spheres] explode in quick succession against it.

Its defence should be lowered a little by [Guard Lost]. Surely this will be more than it can ignore…

But, as the blasts clear, its thick eyelid is revealed without a single cut. It also still isn’t paying any attention to us.

“A–!”
“AA–!”

The only things attacking us are more four-eyed birds.

“No way… This is too much….”

Aro-dono’s face is pale.

There’s nothing more we can do. Even after using [Guard Lost] and concentrating on its most vulnerable part, we still failed to deal damage. Even when risking our lives to get this close, we can’t attract its attention. At this rate, we have no way of luring it away from the forest.

『…No, it’s not over yet, Aro-dono!』

I slip from her arms and dive fly towards the Magic Beast King’s eye.

“Treant-san!”

She calls out to me.

I’ll aim for the edge of its eyelid, where its skin is slightly scorched by the [Dark Spheres]. This is a chance. It’ll probably regenerate the slight burn in a moment, so we can’t afford to miss this opportunity. There’s no time to hesitate.

I spread my swings to gain some altitude. Then, directly above its eye, I partially release my [Tree Spiritisation] and use [Woven Armour]. Branches sprout from my face, twisting together to form tough armour.

『Followed by [Gravity Compression]!』

[Gravity Compression] amplifies the effect of gravity on the target, increasing its density. My entwined branches crush together, forming into a sharp point.

A large beak-like spear of wood has been created in front of my face.

“A–!”
“A–!”

The nearby four-eyed birds peck at me. I feel my body being gouged out and chipped away. But it won’t be enough to slow me down.

Just before I collide with the Magic Beast King’s eyelid, I throw my head forwards.

『[Armour Break]!!』

I slam my sharpened [Woven Armour] beak into the eyelid with all my strength. [Armour Break] makes it easier to deal damage against targets with high defence. We have lowered its defence, bombarded its vulnerable eyelid, then crashed into it with [Armour Break].

I can feel my pointed tip piercing into its skin. This must have done a little damage…!

“Aa–!”

A sharp beak stabs my back. It’s one of the birds.

『Argh!』

Though I’m usually very resilient, I’m almost entirely in my tree spirit form right now. My defence is much lower than normal.

Cancelling [Woven Armour] and turning around, I see a huge number of four-eyed birds have congregated around me.

『This is a little bad…』

Immediately, the four-eyed birds surround me, blocking out the light with their flapping wings… In the darkness, sharp talons rip through my body. My consciousness begins to fade.

“[Gale]!”

A burst of wind scatters the birds.

“[Dark Sphere]!”

Dark balls of magic pulverise the remaining four-eyed birds. Aro-dono then swoops down and picks me up, before pivoting on the spot and flying away from the Magic Beast King.

The two other Aro-dono fly behind us.

“Don’t lose consciousness, treant-san!”

『Thank you, Aro-dono…』

I cast [High Rest] on myself, healing my injuries.

I-I’m alive… Thank goodness… Despite being specialised for endurance, I almost died in a moment of carelessness. It’s good that I didn’t waste that opportunity, but suddenly jumping in on a whim wasn’t a good idea.

『That must have done some damage…!』

I look back at the Magic Beast King. I used [Armour Break] on the leftmost eyelid… The skin is slightly twisted, leaving a small hole.

But no blood is flowing out. The twisted skin quickly returns to normal, hiding all traces of the wound.

『E-even after doing all that…』

I can no longer see any hope. It’s beyond a matter of simple toughness. No matter how we struggle, nothing we do does any damage to it.

“Hmm… It was only for a bit, but it looked like you opened a hole in its skin. I think we’re making progress.”

『Aro-dono…』

That’s true. I had thought that nothing was damaging it, but at least now we’ve learned that it’s possible to pierce its skin for, at least for a moment. There is still more that we can try. We’ll fly away for a moment, then try again.

“What should we try next? Another [Armour Break]?”

『I want to try using [Meteor Stamp] from as high as possible… Ah, I also used another skill as a bonus after using [Armour Break]. I don’t know how effective it’ll be, but I thought it was worth a try.』

“Another skill…?”

Aro-dono tilts her head to the side.

『I used [Death God Seed]. The seeds would have just bounced off if I used it normally, so I tried planting them in its eye.』

[Death God Seed] slowly shaves down the target’s MP. I think I remember its description from what master-dono said.

【Normal Skill [Death God Seed]】
【Implants a seed that steals the target’s mana.】
【The closer the user is to the target, the faster the target’s mana will be sucked up.】
【Once the [Death God Seed] has absorbed all the target’s mana, it grows rapidly, destroying the target’s body.】

It’s an unusual skill, so I thought it might help. It’s probably better than a frontal attack, at least.

Aro-dono blinks in surprise.

“With that skill, could we perhaps defeat it…?”

『Hahaha, no way! It just sucks up a little MP.』

I didn’t put much thought into it when I used it. I was simply using every skill I could think of.

“I don’t think it’s a magic type. Its MP is probably not as high as its HP. This should continuously harm it in a way that ignores its defence. We don’t have to worry about getting through its thick skin any more… Why didn’t I think of it sooner? We should have focused on [Death God Seed] from the start. It might take some time, but as long as we can survive, we should be able to defeat it long before dragon-god-sama gets here…”

Aro-dono mumbles quietly to herself. 

『A-Aro-dono, what are you thinking?』

She strokes my head.

“Treant-san… you’re amazing. You opened a hole in its skin and immediately hit it with your best skill… I didn’t notice at all!”

『I-is that so? Haha.』

…Come to think of it, as long as we run away, it should eventually die to the [Death God Seeds]. I hadn’t realised at all. It was simply the result of jumping in and hitting it with everything I could.

『T-then, so long as we stay nearby, the Magic Beast King will eventually die…?』

She nods.

“It might not realise the danger that it’s in. It looked like Saint Jornes’ thoughts were heavily restricted by [Spirit Servant]. So, hopefully…”

Suddenly, the Magic Beast King comes to a stop.

『Buzzing flies…』

A sinister, evil-feeling [Telepathy] washes over me.

『I had no reason to kill you… What foolishness.』

The four bulging eyes stare at us. Aro-dono begins flying faster.

“…We’re not so lucky then. But now we can lure it out of the forest. Also, as long as you stay alive, it should eventually die to the [Death God Seeds]…!”