Shirou stood firm against Verdamortis, his blade crackling with crimson flames. The eerie green glow pulsing beneath the creature's bark-like body flickered in the shadows. The forest chamber trembled, roots squirming like serpents around them.
"He can move his core at will," Shirou muttered under his breath. "But… I don't think it's figured out that I can actually see it."
He tightened his grip on Ashbringer.
"I have to finish this before it realises."
With a roar, Verdamortis slammed a jagged root into the ground, triggering an eruption of wooden spikes from below. They lunged at Shirou from all directions. He weaved between them, ducking, spinning, flipping over them with narrowed eyes.
Shirou's gaze snapped to the creature's right arm.The core had shifted again.
What...?
Realization struck.
Is it because I went for the chest last time?
It moved the core to its arm—thinking I wouldn't target it there.
"Phantom Mirage," he whispered.
Five clones of Shirou burst out of him, scattering in different directions across the battlefield. Roots tore through the illusion, slicing three clones into smoke. Verdamortis twisted, locking its glowing hollow eyes on the remaining two.
One of the them reached Verdamortis. The creature raised its fist to smash it—
—but a blazing arc of flame shot in from the side, striking the shoulder joint and carving a deep gash.
Verdamortis turned, enraged, toward the real Shirou—but by then, Shirou had already closed the distance.
"Ashbringer—Flame Edge."
His blade ignited, and with a precise strike to the same weakened joint, he severed the creature's arm in a single, blazing slash.
A blast of flame shot from the side
The severed hand with the core crashed to the ground. The remaining body twitched violently as it slumped backward.
But Shirou wasn't done.
He dashed toward the fallen arm, lightning sparking around his feet. Half the torso was already starting to form around the severed limb. Roots squirmed to rebuild the body.
Shirou raised his blade. "This ends now—"
But his instincts screamed.
From behind.
He turned just as a curved root shot out from behind, piercing through his left shoulder and out his back.
"Agh—!"
Blood sprayed from his mouth as the force lifted him slightly off the ground. With a grunt, Shirou swung wildly, cutting through the root and stumbling backward, panting.
He looked up.
The body that was lying a moment ago… was now standing again.
"What the hell...?"
Then he saw it.
Roots had extended from the fallen hand, burrowed through the earth, and reconnected with the original body.
"It baited me."
Shirou pressed his hand to his bleeding chest, his vision slightly shaking.
"So even if I sever the part with the core, as long as any root remains connected to the body—it'll regenerate."
Verdamortis's hands extended. Thorned vines exploded from the floor like lances.
Shirou narrowed his eyes. "Then I need to cut the connection, not just the core."
"Mana Detection."
His senses heightened.
The noise of battle dulled. The forest dimmed. All Shirou saw now was mana—bright threads weaving underground.
"There." A faint glowing line of mana flowed beneath the battlefield—connecting the severed limb to the main body.
Shirou vanished in a burst of lightning.
He reappeared above the glowing line.
"Ashbringer – Crimson Arc!"
A searing crescent of flame tore through the ground, igniting everything in its path. The root severed.
Verdamortis convulsed. Its bark cracked. Its limbs twitched violently.
Shirou landed hard, his knees wobbling. Blood dripped down his side.
"I just need to cut the connection… and strike before the core moves again."
But the roots were already reforming and rebuilding the lost connections. And more vines twisted together, rebuilding a new body faster than before from the severed hand.
Shirou didn't wait.
He then did something unexpected—he ran past the hand and charged the main body.
"Ashbringer – Flame Edge!"
The sword cut vertically through the torso splitting clean down the middle.
"When I hit its chest earlier, the roots were tougher," Shirou recalled. "The closer the root is to the core, the stronger the defense. Which means…The body is now weaker and less protected".
"Ashbringer—Inferno Surge!"
A roaring vortex of flame erupted from the blade, engulfing Verdamortis body and hurling its body several meters away. In the distance, its charred form crashed to the ground, parts of it already reduced to ash.
But it wasn't over.
From the severed arm, fresh roots burst forth, rapidly reconstructing. It had already formed the entire chest and a new face . Moreover vines began wrapping protectively around the core—but it was still too slow.
Shirou's flame-edged sword shot forward, piercing through the core before the regeneration could finish.
The moment the blade hit, a surge of pure fire erupted outward like a detonation. Crimson sparks filled the air, the earth shook from the force.
Verdamortis core screeched—not with a voice, but a sound that vibrated inside Shirou's bones. Its body burned to ash in seconds.
Smoke and silence filled the chamber.
Where the monster once stood was now a pile of crumbling bark and blackened roots.
Shirou dropped to his knees, blood covering his clothes, his body trembling. The pain was sharp in his chest. He placed one hand on the open wound and looked ahead, waiting for it…
The notification finally blinked in front of him.
[You have defeated Verdamortis]
[You have levelled up]
[You have levelled up]
Shirou stared at the glowing blue screen in front of him.
"Every boss drops a skill, right?" he muttered. "If I'm right… then it has to be the regeneration skill."
[Skill Extraction Activated]
[Selecting Skill…]
"Hurry up," Shirou muttered, his breath growing shallow.
[Skill Selected – Healing Touch]
"What?" Shirou blinked, confused. "Healing… Touch?"
He quickly opened the description.
[Healing Touch – Can heal others using the user's mana]
Shirou stared at the floating words. "Others? Not myself?"
Still, he placed his hand over his wound, focused his mana, and tried activating it.
Nothing.
No warmth. No glow. No healing.
"…Seriously? So I can't even heal myself?" he spat blood and slumped back. "Why the hell would I need this right now?"
He shook his head, eyes narrowing.
"Regeneration… That's what I needed. Not this."
His vision blurred. He looked toward the portal at the far end of the room, glowing faintly blue. With a grunt, he pushed himself up, staggering step by step toward it.
When he was only a few feet away, he stopped.
His hand reached out—and struck something invisible.
A wall.
A system message appeared before him.
[Floor 41 Locked for: 40 Days, 40 Hours, 40 Minutes, 40 Seconds]
[You are being teleported to your world]
Bright white light exploded around him.
The next moment, his back hit solid ground. But it wasn't stone. It was soft.
Grass.
The smell of fresh air.
Shirou blinked, dazed. He looked up, the sky above him bright and cloudless.
His limbs refused to move. His body ached in every part.
Then he heard it.
"Who is that?" A distant voice. Male, curious.
More voices followed.
Footsteps rushed toward him.
Then—nothing.
Darkness consumed his vision.
And Shirou blacked out.