Chapter 60
Chapter 60: Old Tiger
In war, who suffers the most?
The treasurer who gets headaches preparing supplies? The knights who might lose their lives?
No, obviously it's the conscripted soldiers and civilians living near the battlefield.
This time there were no conscripts, so the only victims were the villagers living near the altar.
Their daily lives were being disrupted thanks to the sudden appearance of the altar.
The Lemegeton's tents and the knights' tents constantly fought, keeping each other in check even at dawn.
The villagers' nerves were naturally on edge because of this.
And that wasn't all.
When large crowds gather, trash accumulates naturally.
This was true whether they were Lemegeton, Otherworlders, or knights.
Groups skilled in combat tend to have a higher ratio of violent individuals.
There were countless instances of them causing trouble in the village.
They even had some Rekka or whatever people coming to pester them for interviews...
"Sigh, so tiresome. Damn them... how long do they plan to stay?"
"I know... *sigh*... how can we live like this? It's terrifying."
The villagers' anxiety rising was only natural.
The family at the village chief's house was especially anxious. Not just because of the armed groups nearby.
It was because they had a rather unique young girl in their household.
"Is... everyone okay...?"
"Oh, you're awake? Hurry back to bed. Don't let the knights see you."
"Yes. The waning moon is almost here. You need to conserve your strength."
She appeared to be around 13 years old, with brown hair. That much was normal. If not for the tattoo on her thigh. It was an ornate book design.
The book itself wasn't particularly distinctive, but the dark red color of the tattoo revealed her as a Manifestor.
At her family's urging, the girl went back to her room to sleep.
The family members let out small sighs after she left.
Having a Manifestor in the family was fine. They had already accepted that since her 10th birthday. The kind-hearted family couldn't abandon one of their own.
But to have knights nearby of all things...
"We just need to endure until the knights leave."
"...Alright."
Their worries only grew deeper.
The knights and Lemegeton clashed head-on on the day the waning moon rose.
It was also on that day that a wounded knight happened to stumble into the village chief's house.
*
How do you distinguish between the middle and deep layers?
The answer is simple. The size of the manly trees.
Plants are living things after all, and they too are affected by demonic power.
The trees there grow endlessly toward the sky.
That's why the forest in the deep layer was reverently called by another name.
The Giants' Forest.
"...Wow."
As they approached the deep layer, Ha-neul couldn't help but exclaim in amazement.
A spectacular view spread before them. Trees as tall as apartment buildings stood densely packed.
Their leaves completely covered the sky, like a green roof.
Like the boundary between the outer and middle layers, the transition between middle and deep wasn't sudden.
The environment changed gradually until you suddenly realized - ah, we're near the deep layer now.
Yor had warned that the trees would be much bigger, but who could have expected this scale.
Majestic and dreamlike.
And eerie.
Even though Ha-neul had seen many views using flight magic, she couldn't recall anything quite like this.
'Good thing I left recording on.'
She thought to herself how fortunate it was that she could save this sight.
Now that Chae-rin had retired, it was good to at least get some video content.
Of course, she had gotten Yor's permission first. On the condition that any parts revealing him as a Manifestor would be edited out.
"I might not be able to protect you from here on."
As she was admiring the scenery,
Yor spoke from beside her as they walked.
Instead of his usual composure, his face was filled with wariness. This must be a place that even he needed to be careful of.
Ha-neul quietly nodded. She had already accepted that risk when she decided to follow him.
"......"
Yor was lost in thought for a moment.
It had been quite a while since he'd last seen this sight. Several years since he was last here.
Back then he had nearly died thanks to the monsters in the deep layer.
Because of that, he hadn't dared enter since. He knew it was beyond his capabilities.
But what about now? He wasn't sure how much his combat ability had improved.
However, his hearing was definitely much better than before.
Well, some crazy demon had given him a gift of "Purity" after all.
He closed his mouth and focused on the surrounding sounds.
His hypersensitive hearing brought in information from all around.
In the midst of this, Ha-neul asked a question.
"By the way, I'm curious about something... can I ask?"
"Go ahead."
"There's barely any sunlight getting through here. So how are these huge plants growing on the ground?"
Good question.
The leaf canopy definitely blocked most of the light.
Even in broad daylight, it was as dim as early dawn down here.
Even with demonic power accelerating growth, this size was abnormal.
Plants' main energy source is sunlight after all. So how were the plants under the trees so lush?
The answer was simple.
"They're carnivorous plants."
Thunk.
As Yor answered, his hearing caught something strange.
The sound of something activating. A fibrous mechanism trying to tear apart intruders that entered its territory to absorb as nutrients.
Click.
"Huh?"
Yor immediately grabbed Ha-neul and jumped back.
Right after, the ground where they had been standing surged upward.
Crack-!
As if the earth itself was trying to take a bite. The ground folded in half.
What was revealed was a plant monster shaped like a Venus flytrap. The ground itself had been camouflage.
If they'd been even a second slower...
"What the..."
Ha-neul swallowed her curse and checked its level.
[Chalco Plant Lv 109]
A whopping 109. A mere plant stronger than an Owlbear.
Though it was just a plant and didn't move further, her shock wouldn't easily subside.
She hadn't even noticed it at all. How did Yor detect it...
"Let's go."
Slash-!
As she stared in amazed wonder, he cut down the plant monster and spoke.
Monsters continued appearing frequently after that.
All of them beyond what Ha-neul would dare to face.
[Tendril Culus Lv 124]
A plant-type monster covered in thorny vines.
[Mutated Boar Lv 131]
A boar heavily corrupted by demonic power, grown to the size of a house.
[Twin-Headed Hound Lv 136]
Even a massive dark red dog with two heads.
Each one was boss-level.
The kind that would require a party of veteran A-Class adventurers to have a chance.
All Ha-neul could do was hide behind him and cast weak buffs.
Being protected behind a 'man' felt somewhat...
Though it should have been embarrassing, the gap in ability was so vast that she felt no shame.
After all, Yor was casually clearing these monsters.
Of course, he couldn't instantly kill them like the Owlbear.
Even for him, the monsters in the deep layer weren't easy enough for that kind of display of power.
But his face still maintained its composure.
"Phew..."
What he said after dealing with the monsters was even more outrageous.
"Well, at least we're only running into weak ones."
"...This is weak?"
"Of course, these are still manageable."
Having his hearing maxed out was quite helpful.
Thanks to that, he could detect and avoid creatures that made particularly dangerous sounds.
Though they couldn't avoid encountering monsters entirely, he was picking the weaker ones.
Of course, Ha-neul could only listen in disbelief.
'Just what level is he?'
She knew he was strong, but his limits weren't even visible yet.
One thing was certain though.
Yor was at least on the level of an S-Class adventurer.
That meant minimum level 140, equal to or above those who had stepped into the realm of superhumans.
'Better not get cocky in the future.'
Not that she was planning to anyway. But this experience really drove the point home.
They continued wandering the deep layer outskirts like this. As mentioned before, Yor's goals were simple.
Test his abilities, and if possible, gather rare herbs.
Identifying herbs wasn't difficult either.
Just look for plants with unusually high concentrations of mana. Those tend to have effects one way or another.
However, despite his enthusiastic searching, no herbs were in sight.
'Do we need to go deeper...?'
Well, this was still a shallow area.
Yor pondered for a moment.
Whether to push deeper despite the danger, or just coolly give up.
Fortunately, he didn't have to ponder long.
Not because he made a quick decision.
Rather, because a chilling sound reached his ears.
...Grrrr.
Something growling fiercely. And a sound Yor had heard before.
"...!"
His body instantly froze.
Warning bells rang at maximum volume in his head.
The fear he had felt in the past was creeping up.
Thump.
Before Ha-neul could speak, Yor quickly covered her mouth.
'Damn, why is that thing here?'
It should have its territory deep inside.
Did it come down looking for food?
If so, this was truly rotten luck. Of all times, it had to appear now when they were exploring the deep layer.
"...?"
Ha-neul looked at him with questioning eyes. Regardless, Yor was busy focusing on the approaching sound.
He desperately hoped it would just pass by... but its growls were growing steadily louder.
By this point there was no mistaking it.
It was heading straight for them.
Just as he had detected it, it must have detected him too. Its sense of smell was terrifyingly good.
Finally it appeared at the edge of their vision.
A massive body that even the forest's huge trees couldn't hide.
A solid frame built of muscle, razor-sharp claws. And battle scars covering its entire body, testament to fierce fights.
Shiver.
Ha-neul felt chills from the pressure as she checked its level.
[Mountain Lord Old Tiger Lv 173]
And she couldn't help but curse.
'Holy shit...'
One of the highest-level monsters discovered by users so far.
A level they couldn't even imagine challenging yet.
And it was even a named monster.
Was this even meant to be killed in the first place?
"GRRRROAR-!!!!!"
The beast let out a roar.
Its howl echoed thunderously through the quiet forest.
"Ugh...!"
"Run!"
As Ha-neul covered her ears, Yor quickly turned on his heel.
If they wanted to live, they had to flee.
So they began sprinting back toward the middle layer.
"GYAOOO!"
The Mountain Lord pursued them fiercely.