Chapter 84 – Forest of the Dryads (5)

[You have encountered an enemy a level higher than you. Rebellion increases all stats by 10%! Because of your partner, your stats increase by an additional 5%. All effects are shared with your partner.]

"Shin-Woo, what did you do?"

"Oh, it's just a buff. It's a buff that lets us overcome the insurmountable wall before us."

Lee Shin-Woo nodded in satisfaction and looked up after confirming that Rebellion had activated. The cause of the buff…was the enormous boss monster that seemed like an agglomeration of the forest.

[Lv6 Corrupted Tree Golem (Elite)]

The Corrupted Tree Golem was entwined with countless trees, and the Dryads' wills had entered the spaces between, leading to the creation of this fused monster!

Similar karma was gathered in one spot before sublimating into greater karma. While they differed in appearance, the underlying principles of the fusion was similar to the Slimes’ transformation when they fused to become higher-ranked Slime.

[Don't come...]

[I'll kill you.]

[Don't...]

[Come!]

Lee Shin-Woo had defeated a level 6 elite, the Corps Commander Vitas. However, Vitas was a mage and a commander, and had been distracted by a spell a level 6 hero cast. The foe he was facing now was incomparably larger than Vitas, and it had a special ability!

[I'll kill you!]

"Shin-Woo, it's poison...!"

The giant was essentially one huge tree. It shook and spewed out a concentration of deep black poison mist that instantaneously covered the entire area. Calmly, Lee Shin-Woo offered an unnerved Jin some comfort.

"Our connection. Don't forget."

"Hoo, hmph...!"

The mist covered an extensive area, so it was impossible to escape. As a matter of fact, they would have to give up on the fight if they wanted to get away from the mist. Lee Shin-Woo no longer had Avenger, so it wouldn’t make sense for him to run away and come back later.

[You are hit by High Rank Acid Poison Mist! Intermediate Acid Resistance is reducing the damage by about 50%!]

As expected, being a creation of the combined energy of the forest, the Tree Golem could use High Rank Acid Poison! If he hadn't equipped armor specializing in acid, he and Jin would've been reduced to a fistful of bone powder by now!

"Mm. Surprisingly... This is still manageable."

Lee Shin-Woo watched as the Acid Poison spewed by the enormous tree quickly melted the surface of his armor. If he had activated Regeneration a bit slower, his ribs would've melted away as well. He was able to endure because Regeneration and Acid Resistance worked well together. Well, actually...

"Please say it ain't so. Please. You're not doing what I think you are, right?"

Jin knew exactly what Lee Shin-Woo was going to do and implored with a quivering voice. He was also enduring the mist with the Acid Resistance Lee Shin-Woo shared with him, but if he lost that resistance for even an instant, his leg would have melted away; so he was slightly afraid.

Lee Shin-Woo could sense Jin’s feelings through their connection, but ultimately, he said, "Now that we're here, why don't we level up our resistance to high rank before we go?"

"Please don’t."

"We need to analyze it to figure out how it attacks anyway; our analysis might take a little bit longer, though."

"Ah, I knew it..."

Perhaps that was what Lee Shin-Woo had been planning from the start. The moment he could no longer properly train his resistance with the ordinary trees, he made up his mind to train his resistance through the boss monster!

Jin resigned himself to his fate. There was no turning back. Without putting his heart into it, Lee Shin-Woo said, "Concentrate. We need to thoroughly analyze its techniques and attack patterns."

"You mean while we endure all the Acid Poison, right?"

"Exactly."

Lee Shin-Woo made it clear that they would be training their Acid Resistance while observing the boss. The Tree Golem swung its wooden arms then and violently attacked them with its High Rank Acid Poison!

[You are hit by High Rank Acid Poison Mist! The mana in the entire area is contaminated by acid!]

"Gah."

The high rank acid was not only powerful, but it also contaminated the air, mana, and everything else in the area! Even though Lee Shin-Woo and Jin didn't need to breathe as undead, they naturally absorbed mana from the environment. In doing so, they would be absorbing acid into their bodies.

"Damn it. I'm not taking any damage because of my resistance, but filtering the acid leaves me with little mana...!"

"I guess this is how an enemy who has mastered a high-rank element fights. It allows them to control the area by changing it to their favored element and preventing their enemies from moving; ultimately, it's not that different from a game of Go."

Lee Shin-Woo was smiling when he analyzed the enemy’s strategy. However, the analogy of Go was only applicable when the players used different-colored stones. Unfortunately for the Tree Golem, Lee Shin-Woo possessed intermediate level 8 Acid Resistance!

"Jin, tell me when you're running low on mana. I'll give you some when you need it."

"Are you okay!?"

"Yeah, I still have plenty."

Lee Shin-Woo was indeed overflowing with mana. In fact, he had more mana now than when he started the battle. It didn't matter whether the surrounding mana had been contaminated by acid or not. He could draw in both acid and mana through his intermediate level 6 Mana Bone!

Mana can be turned into acid, and the reverse isn’t that difficult to do. This situation...is actually in my favor.

It might've been different had it been High Rank Acid Poison rather than poison mist, but he didn't sustain any damage from the lower concentration of acid, and was able to transform the acid back into mana. It felt like a training for his Acid Resistance, Acid element, as well as his mana.

"Hooo... Nice, my mana's rising."

Lee Shin-Woo felt his Acid Resistance and Acid element growing sharply, and his jawbone rattled in satisfaction. Whenever the Tree Golem spewed out mist, he felt his Acid element grow slightly... Things really weren't so bad.

"Moreover, whatever it’s protecting isn’t moving. The fight might get difficult if we charge in and recklessly attack, but it should be an easy win for us if all we have to do is dodge and defend."

"It's not easy, you know? My body's already melting away. It feels like I'm dying!"

"Keep it up. Another branch is coming!"

"Ahhhhhhhhh!"

Indeed, the Tree Golem seemed to be desperately defending something even though there was nothing left in the forest; it remained firm in its spot guarding whatever it was with its life, spewing acid and attacking them with its branches.

If it had started to move, Lee Shin-Woo would have no other choice but to respond more aggressively. As it was, he didn't need to evade or block its Acid Poison, and there wasn’t much to worry about as long as he dodged its extending arms.

[Stop hurting the forest!]

"Don't worry. There's no forest to hurt anymore!"

[Gguaaaaaaaaaahk!]

Hundreds of thick tree branches shot out from the Tree Golem’s body and flew toward Lee Shin-Woo and Jin like ships. Each branch possessed a frightening amount of force coming from a level 6 elite.

[Critical hit!]

However, before those branches could skewer the pair, a rotating Melting Bone Double Axe in the air swooped down and cut them. Dozens of branches broke with a crack and fell to the ground, releasing Acid Poison before vanishing.

[Kuaaaaahk!]

"It's not over yet!"

Two more axes swooped down and violently cut through the branches. The axes going into flight formation and cleaving through the branches under Rule of Bone’s control was a sight to behold. Not a single branch could come close to Lee Shin-Woo or Jin.

Only Lee Shin-Woo, someone who possessed Rule of Bone would be able to keep up an expanded defense zone to protect himself with axes following his will! He was able to cover a good range with flying axes and destroy anything that got close enough!

"You fool! You should be shooting those tentacles at someone else, not me!"

[Kuaaaaaaaaaaaah!]

No sooner had he perfectly blocked an attack than the infuriated Tree Golem raged with more bursting branches. However, Lee Shin-Woo calmly controlled his axes and blocked the assault.

It would've been a bit harder if it had attacked him from all sides. With its branches concentrated, the attack was easier to defend against!

[Die! Dieeeeeee!]

"Tch... Hmph!"

Every branch coming from the level 6 monster was quite hefty, but Lee Shin-Woo had prepared for this moment by training Rule of Bone, and he managed to stand his ground. If there was something he couldn't cut through with one axe, two or three axes attacking simultaneously should do it!

"I'm a lot different from when I fought Vitas! To be precise, my stats have increased by about 1,200 since then!"

[Don't comeeeeeeeeee!]

Whenever a branch shot out, Lee Shin-Woo's axe would block it. The Tree Golem started to rampage about as a result, scattering increasingly potent Acid Poison everywhere. That was exactly what Lee Shin-Woo was hoping for.

"If I play my cards right, my skill should level up within a day."

"So I have to avoid this awful bastard for an entire day..."

Jin had a feeling that what Lee Shin-Woo was waiting for had finally come, which doomed him to a terrible death. There were many times when he thought he would die, but he was certain he would 100% kick the bucket this time. He was supposed to just ‘hang out’ with a level 6 elite monster for a day? Oh, it was his time to die for sure.

At the very least, it was a relief that after fighting several high-level enemies deeply affected by the curse with Lee Shin-Woo, he was now able to resurrect thrice with Blessing of Death.

"It's alright. We can do it. It's not much different from the rest of our fights in the forest... Umph."

[Kyahaaahk!]

Meanwhile, the Tree Golem seemed to have figured out Lee Shin-Woo’s cabilities. All of a sudden, its tree branches grew tougher. The branches had weaved together to form a twisted bread stick of intertwined wood, to be exact, and the Tree Golem started shooting acid out of the dry branches. Lee Shin-Woo was unable to cut down the now reinforced branches with axes he controlled from afar, so he had to move physically closer.

"Shin-Woo, won't it come at us with a huge attack at this rate?"

"No, it shouldn't. This is probably the best it can do... Hah!"

Well, as long as we don't get any closer, that is.

With them staying barely out of range, the tree couldn't attack them directly by swinging its arms and legs, but had to instead rely on its acid and extended branches.

They would have to get closer to attack the Tree Golem itself, of course, but Lee Shin-Woo wasn’t going to do that when he still needed to train his Acid Resistance. Right now, he was actually worried that cutting the branches would weaken its poison!

[Don't come... Don't comeeeeeeeeeeeeee!]

Lee Shin-Woo refused to die even after the Tree Golem changed tactics. Furious, it spread its acid further. The Dryads that were absorbed by the Tree Golem shrieked with the voices of old women that struck Lee Shin-Woo and Jin like a curse. However, Lee Shin-Woo and Jin were resistant to curse, so they didn't cower in the least!

"Man, what the hell are you even protecting? You're really pissing me off...!"

"I think I know what they're protecting now."

Lee Shin-Woo swung his axe once more to clear the branches and laughed. If what they were so desperately protecting couldn't be seen above ground, there was only one possible answer.

"It’s underneath it."

It was probably a dungeon. They went so far as to get corrupted to protect it... Lee Shin-Woo really wanted to figure out what it was immediately, but he remained prudent. Right now, training his Acid Resistance took priority.

[Dieeeeeeeeeeeeee!]

The Tree Golem wailed. Lee Shin-Woo tightly gripped the axe, and his goblin fire blazed.

The lengthy battle had just begun.