Published at 27th of July 2022 11:33:10 AM

617 Smooth Levelling

With the gigantic treant in the centre, the banshees continue to attack. But, hes responding amazingly. He receives their attacks before mowing them down with [Wood Counter].

[Wood Counter] doesnt seem to be enough to kill them, but knocking them back and creating space is doing a lot. Still in triplicate from [Darkness Kaleidoscope], Aro is hitting the banshees with [Dark Spheres] as theyre knocked helplessly through the air. By making use of the opportunities that treant is providing, shes accurately hitting them, despite the speed difference.

The two of them seem to have completely made up for being outnumbered. As the treants HP gets low, I top him off with [High Rest]. One of the banshees starts to run towards me, so I run around, leading it back to the treant.

Theyre completely controlling the battle, despite fighting a group of A ranks. These two really have gotten strong.

In the middle of the fight, when there are just five banshees left, the banshees suddenly all disappear.

Are they running away? I didnt think it was possible for monsters affected by God of Madness to flee like that though

The next moment, an earsplitting shriek echoes out. Its different from their crying from earlier. It feels horridly discomforting, as though its shaking my brain.

Th-this is the banshees skill, [Curse Song]. It supposedly lowers the targets stats temporarily.

The remaining five banshees reappear in a circle around the treant. Black light is amassing in front of each of their arms.

Theyve started using their heads. Knowing that they would just be knocked away if they attacked normally, they decided to lower the treants defence with [Curse Song] before trying to defeat him in all at once with a volley of magic.

Treant! This is bad!

Please wait a little longer, master-dono! I can endure this!

His bark appears to swell thicker. The bark of a world treant is supposed to be able to decompose magic, which should reduce the damage to some degree. But Im sure hes not able to completely cancel out the damage.

I continue to watch over him in worry. The five [Dark Spheres] crash into him, smashing apart bark.

Oww oww oww oww!

Chunks torn out of his body, cracks race through his trunk.

Treant!

after all, it was too much damage

Now Ill pay that all back!

Around his trunk, five new black spheres form in the air. Each of them then shoots towards a different banshee, curving through the air to track them. The banshees are engulfed in the black light, severely damaging their bodies.

Treant hasnt suddenly learned [Dark Sphere], of course. This must be his [Fairy Hex].

Characteristic Skill [Fairy Hex]

Whenever a direct magic attack is received, fairies living inside the tree will return the same kind of magic.

Irrespective of the users magical strength, the returned magic will be the same power as the received magic.

The magic produced by this skill has high directionality, and only targets the attacker.

The return fire was clearly more damaging than what his own magic is capable of. Seeing it like this, its an incredibly effective skill, albeit a bit limited in its timing.

Did you see that, master-dono? This is what I can do!

He squeezes the words out, despite his wounds. H-he sounds cool, but somehow also sloppy I cast [High Rest] on him.

After that, the weakened banshees are taken down with Aros [Dark Sphere] and treants [Heat Ray]. The battle ends, and treant returns to tree spirit form. Aro also cancels [Darkness Kaleidoscope] to return to one person.

This time, I, I did good, right, master-dono?

Treant happily flaps his wings.

Both of you, great job. This should have raised your levels by a lot.

I never thought theyd be able to take on a group of A ranks more or less without my assistance like this.

Aro frowns and peers around.

Whats wrong, Aro?

Just now, it sounded like crying again

Suddenly, a banshee appears, falling towards the treant from a nearby tree. Its mouth opens wide and its claws stretch out as it falls.

O-one of them was still hiding! I hurriedly move to cut it down with [Dimension Claw], but before I can, the banshees body suddenly splits open as what looks like a tree branch forces its way out of it. It tumbles as it hits the ground and spasms a bit, but quickly stops moving. Finally, a beautiful flower blooms from its head.

Th-that surprised me Im glad I used [Death God Seed].

Treant trembles as he turns around to look at the dead banshee.

[Death God Seed] must have just finished draining the mana from it. It really does look brutal when it activates

After calming down again, I check their levels. From the fight, treant has risen fromLv: 69/130toLv: 91/130, and Aro rose fromLv: 76/130toLv: 94/130.

Even though they were in the seventies, they easily managed to level up around twenty levels. At this rate, it wont be that long until they reach the maximum. The amount of experience that a group of level 100+ A ranks can give is incredible. The fact that I gave almost no assistance is a big factor, too.

Treant-san, that was amazing!

T-truly, Aro-dono?

Treant and Aro happily rejoice in a heartwarming display.

H-how was it, master-dono?

Treant asks, glancing over at me.

It was incredible. Seeing that fight, I became even more certain that youll be the key to defeating that giant guardian.

Y-you praise me too highly, master-dono!

Treants body twists and turns in happy embarrassment. I suddenly glance out into the distance.

Whats wrong, master-dono? Did something catch your attention?

No, I was just worried the ymir would come again the moment I praised you.

Last time, that was exactly what happened. He took on his full world treant form again this time, so it wouldnt be strange for the ymir to appear. For some reason, I have the impression he gets extremely happy like this, some sort of disaster will come.

Treant slumps down on the spot.

Master-dono, is it that what you think of me? Even as a joke, thats a bad omen

S-sorry. This is far away from where we saw the ymir, so it should be fine

I reply, scratching my cheek.

For now, I guess our preparations are done. All thats left is to rest up until were fully recovered, then fight the origin matter. After we fight it, I believe we should be able to make some sort of progress.

Dragon-god-sama, can you hear that?

What? Are there more banshees still alive?

I scan the area, when I begin to hear a distant rhythmic thudding. Theres no need to check whats making the sound.

The ymir really is coming!

I quickly pick up Aro and treant in my mouth, then kick off the ground and tuck my head in to begin to [Roll]. My conviction that treant is jinxed to always summon a disaster when he gets happy has only been strengthened