Just like before, the first step was to clear the Bosses of the Cold and Heat regions.
Knowing the guide beforehand naturally made the "game" much simpler. As per usual, Isagi went up alone first to locate the BOSS, and then brought the girls along to subjugate it.
Isagi judged that the Levels of these Boss monsters were likely around the early stages of Level 5, and they didn't possess any particularly troublesome mechanics, so the capture process was relatively relaxed.
In comparison, the subsequent exploration of the entire area was far more dangerous.
"It's so cold..."
Lefiya rubbed her hands together, wrapping the silver-white Spirit Cloth draped over her body a little tighter. The cold wind howled.
Beneath their feet were completely frozen branches. Every path was as smooth as a mirror, requiring total concentration to walk on; otherwise, one careless moment would lead to a slip and a fall off the edge. It was only because both Isagi and Ais could fly that this was manageable.
With the two of them guarding the sides, there was almost no need to worry about such accidents. Otherwise, falling from such a height—even if one survived—would mean a slow climb back up from the bottom, which would be an immense torture for both body and mind.
Aside from the footing, they also had to constantly watch out for ice spikes falling from above.
Isagi quickly came up with a solution for this: he had Ryuu-senpai carry Lefiya on her back, while Tiona carried Miss Heith. Then, one person watched the ground while the other watched the sky.
Being carried, Lefiya and Heith could either cast magic shields or deploy the shield from their Legion Prosthetics to block the falling ice spikes. This turned out to be quite a good idea, instantly speeding up their exploration considerably.
The howling wind was biting cold, and from time to time, the path would cut off abruptly. They had to climb along the surface of the massive tree—up frozen, uneven ice walls. It was ridiculous! It felt like some kind of extreme sport.
Fortunately, he and Ais could fly. Every time they confirmed a destination, they would simply grab a girl in each hand and fly them directly there.
In this manner, they finished exploring the Cold Region and subsequently arrived at a forest engulfed in raging flames. This was truly a case of fire and ice!
They swapped the silver-white Ice-attribute Spirit Cloth for the crimson Fire-attribute ones. For Isagi and the girls, the most troublesome part of this sea of fire was how easy it was to "lose the way."
Flying wood chips and sparks scattered everywhere. The world was filled with blinding crimson hues and thick, billowing black smoke. The scene before them looked like an oil painting composed of red and black, where the paints had dissolved and mixed into a chaotic mess that stung the eyes and nose.
Occasionally, the road beneath their feet would still collapse and shatter. Or, a crunch-crunch sound would come from the distance, followed by timber collapsing from above or the sides, inexplicably cutting off the path they could have walked, forcing them to find a new route.
It was absurd! Ryuu-senpai was still persisting in drawing her map, but the result was that the girl experienced a severe sense of "mental breakdown."
On the paper, the "black lines" drawn by the quill looked like a messy ball of yarn, marked with countless little "X"s.
Luckily, the monsters in this area weren't too tricky. Otherwise, having to engage in high-difficulty combat in such atrocious terrain would have made Isagi politely send his regards to the Dungeon's mother once again!
Speaking of which, after entering the Dungeon this time, Isagi discovered something. When he defeated a monster and dug the Magic Stone out of its body, a portion of the ash it turned into would actually drift towards him and get sucked into the "Dark Bond Ring" on his hand.
Sure enough, was it by fighting monsters in the Dungeon to restore "energy" that he could enter the [Dark Hall] in his dreams again? He understood that this was likely the Dungeon giving him "Divine Power" through some method.
But why? Isagi always felt there was something "subtle" existing within this, guessing that the answer would depend on subsequent exploration.
Thus, unbeknownst to them, they wandered in these cold and hot regions for a long time. Because their goal was clear, and it seemed that the higher they went, the smaller the area became, this time it only took seven or eight days to finish exploring both regions.
They also found the path continuing upward, penetrating into that lightless region that resembled the "Deep Sea."
However, the upper area was completely different from the lower ones; they couldn't just rashly enter it—this was the information Isagi and the girls obtained by finding the NPCs in these regions.
"Crossing the Land of Darkness, you can arrive at the Holy City. Adventurers, as a pilgrim who has walked this path several times and has rich experience, Nick sincerely advises you all: it is best to obtain a [Pearl] before continuing upward."
As he spoke, the small beetle produced a round, rolling pearl from somewhere.
"This is Nick's. I am very sorry, but as a pilgrim, this humble one only has this single one, so I cannot give it to you."
"Is that so."
Isagi narrowed his eyes slightly, thinking: If I just snatched it, or simply killed the NPC, I could directly obtain this item called a [Pearl], right?
But after weighing it, he decided to let it go. After all, no matter how he looked at it, Pilgrim Nick was the most reliable of all the NPCs he had met.
For example, the other Old Green Worm was dismissive of this. It kept muttering things like "Pilgrimage isn't like this," "Pilgrimage is about being down-to-earth, one step at a time," and "All suffering is a test given to us by miracles; if you cannot endure it, you cannot arrive at Paradise."
That guy was definitely a fanatic, right?
Isagi encountered the Old Green Worm several times. Sometimes it would be in dedicated rest camps formed either by past Goblins or slowly gathered by pilgrim bugs. The other insect pilgrims, without exception, disliked this Old Green Worm.
Isagi had seen it being kicked out of the camp two or three times. Either that, or it would be hiding alone in some corner outside the camp, constantly humming to itself, only to immediately switch to preaching mode the moment it saw him and the girls.
Come to think of it, sometimes he would clearly see it at a higher elevation, but after leaving, not long after, he would encounter the fellow at a layer lower than before. Could it be that as it climbed, it kept falling down, and then continued to climb back up? It certainly had perseverance.
Aside from that, what Isagi found strange was that the fellow calling itself the Great Tree Priest was nowhere to be seen in either the Cold or Heat regions. And interestingly, Nick and the Old Green Worm knew each other; if asked about the other, they would respond and even offer sharp critiques.
But as for the Great Tree Priest, they had never seen nor heard of it. The Old Green Worm even yammered that Isagi's brain must be broken and he was having delusions, because from start to finish, having walked up and down this pilgrimage road for so long, it had never seen any "eyes inside a tree hollow."
Hmm—
Soon, following Nick's guidance, Isagi and the girls returned to the lowest region. According to the little beetle, after passing through a hidden passage and finding a concealed tree hollow, they could arrive at a "Sacred Land" hidden by the Church. It was a place Nick had discovered by chance.
At the time, Nick almost thought that place was Paradise. Inside, it was filled with incomparably dazzling, shiny things. At the time, he completely lost his sense of direction and didn't even know how he walked out of there.
But after leaving, the little beetle discovered he had an extra [Pearl] in his hand. The light it emitted could disperse the darkness of the uppermost region and keep the "things in the darkness" from approaching.
"Isagi, what that little beetle was talking about is actually the [Tree Dragon], right?"
On the way, Heith and Ryuu said this almost simultaneously.
Mainly because the [Pearl Tree] was simply too famous. As the ultimate treasure within the "Great Tree Labyrinth," it could be considered the most valuable material inside. Consequently, there would be a rare monster named the Tree Dragon guarding it nearby. It was a Dragon-type monster with a Level starting at least at Level 4, possessing immense power.
"Then this guy might be some kind of miracle."
"Its Level wouldn't reach Lv. 6, would it?"
"Very likely."
As the girls spoke, they simultaneously saw excited expressions on the faces of Isagi and Ais. Seriously, these two!
Layers of green leaves, a gentle breeze, and the occasional swish-swish sound like ocean waves. After experiencing those incredibly torturous regions above, returning to this initial place—lush with branches and leaves like a sea of trees—everyone felt much more relaxed.
However—
"What is that?"
Tiona, who could never stay idle, made a new discovery!
"A corpse?!"
Instantly, everyone went on alert.
In the distance, located in a pit sunken into the middle of a branch path, there was a "corpse" of a black-robed person lying on the dense spikes. Judging by its appearance, it had been dead for several days.
Reasonably speaking, under normal circumstances, adventurers who died in the Dungeon would quickly be eaten by monsters, leaving behind only a pile of scattered bones aside from their weapons and tattered clothes.
This was similar. So, Tiona had thought she saw wrong just now, but it turned out she didn't?
"Did adventurers follow us in?"
"No way. Normal guys would have been scared back long ago seeing that long corridor and the deep pit full of Goblin heads at the start."
"Wait."
Ryuu quickly leaped into the deep pit. From inside, she retrieved the fellow's weapon and remaining small backpack.
Then, after rummaging around... Daggers, poison, Magic Swords, Flame Rocks, smoke bombs, hand crossbows...
"This doesn't look like a normal adventurer's loadout," Ais stated directly, obviously having realized something.
Continuing forward, Isagi and the girls quickly discovered several more scattered skeletons. They were all the same: remnants of tattered black cloaks remained beside the scattered skeletal frames, and the weapons and equipment they carried were identical.
"They are assassins."
Now Ryuu could be certain. The girls also nodded. Aside from Lefiya, Heith, Ais, and the others had stayed in Orario for so long that even if they hadn't truly been assassinated, they had heard of similar things.
"Their target wouldn't happen to be Isagi, would it?!"
"I don't know..."
"And with so many Flame Rocks, it might be related to the Dark Familia guys."
"So, did they all die?"
Why did they suddenly feel a sense of inexplicable "humor"? A group of guys with bad intentions secretly followed them into the Dungeon, only to end up dead without ever even showing their faces from start to finish?!
Twitching their lips, thinking about it this way, everyone felt a bit awkward.
"Let's ignore these guys for now and continue with our business," Isagi decided.
Thus, continuing along the route the little beetle Nick had told them, not long after, they truly found that massive tree hollow hidden within a dense forest. Walking inside, they once again felt the sensation of "changing maps."
After a brief darkness, the blinding light Pilgrim Nick mentioned did not appear. On the contrary, Isagi and the girls felt they had arrived at a wasteland. Massive gray-white rocks, narrow and rugged paths; the view was filled with rubble and uneven earthen slopes.
If not for the faintly visible, incomparably dazzling "Pearl Tree" in the distance, Isagi might have really thought he went the wrong way.
Continuing forward, they saw several more corpses of black-robed assassins along the way, until suddenly, everyone heard the sounds of battle coming from the distance.
Climbing up a somewhat narrow and rugged mountain path, they walked to a small platform on a slope. Down the hill, not far away, a red-haired woman was visibly fighting a group of monsters, but the scene seemed somewhat "strange."
Among those monsters, there was one holding a greatshield and an iron axe, clad entirely in heavy armor, standing at the very front of the battle line. It looked like a fellow called a "Bugbear"—a humanoid monster with a giant bear's head, similar to a Minotaur. Its physique was incomparably burly and magnificent, and its pair of large hands was filled with power.
It charged forward indomitably, constantly using the greatshield in its hands to defend against the woman's attacks.
On the other side, holding a two-handed greatclub, a humanoid monster with a wild boar's head—a "Combat Boar"—was constantly swinging the weapon in its hands, launching attacks under the cover of the bear-man.
At the same time, there was a Lizardman in light armor wielding dual swords, constantly waiting for an opportunity to strike from the perimeter.
Further away, a Dragonfly Insect Man holding a greatbow hovered in mid-air, continuously using ranged attacks. Isagi and the girls even saw a fellow wearing gorgeous robes and holding a staff, acting as a Mage at the edge of the battlefield—its face completely obscured—chanting magic.
This—this was simply an adventurer party!
In a trance, Isagi and the girls felt a sense of the world turning upside down. It was as if the red-haired woman being ganged up on was the monster, while these monsters were the adventurers.
Especially veterans like Ais and Heith; they saw at a glance that the "tactics" and "combat style" used by the monsters were truly identical to those of adventurers!
It was a complete reversal of the natural order!!
[How is this possible?!]
Shock. While being incomparably shocked, they also felt a strong sense of unreality.
Monsters and adventurers were undoubtedly completely different "existences." Even if some monsters used weapons, possessed certain combat skills, or had completely "humanoid" appearances, a monster was a monster, and an adventurer was an adventurer. The battle between the two was worlds apart.
Fundamentally, it was due to intellect and strategy. People of this world wouldn't even treat monsters as beasts, but viewed them as a kind of "natural disaster," because they had no so-called habits to speak of, only mindless destruction and slaughter.
In previous adventures, the girls had also seen shadows of "adventurers" in certain powerful fellows, like the Veteran General Goblin, the Pale King, or the Golden Miracle. They possessed powerful strength and strategic nature, so viewing them as some kind of "Goblin Adventurer" wasn't impossible.
But even so, it still felt like something was missing. And now, the answer had been revealed. What the monsters lacked was—
[Cooperation].
*
PS: Went back to my hometown for a meal on New Year's Day. Originally thought I'd drive home to type right after eating, but I got stuck in traffic on the way and didn't get home until after 12:00. I'm exhausted. I wanted to rest, but thinking that I seemed to have just taken a leave a few days ago, I'd better write a chapter. I'll make up the remaining chapter tomorrow.
Meaning, I'll write ten thousand words tomorrow.
If I rest too much, I'll get lazy, and I won't be in the zone. I still have to have some demands on myself.
Yeah, that's it.
____
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