Chapter 53 The Big Treant

I felt the movement coming from the tree branch that attacked me. After attacking me, the branch waved as if it couldn't wait to attack again.

I stared at the tree where I had been leaning before. Now, the tree looks very different from ordinary trees. The tree has eyes and a mouth. It was obvious that the tree was a monster.

Treant.

Treants are monsters that have a tree-like shape. They often disguise themselves as ordinary trees so that they can catch people off guard.

Just like what happened to me.

Slash!

With one slash, I managed to split the monster in half.

[The Stigma of Darkness has successfully absorbed Death Mana.]

Of course, the monster I slashed wasn't the boss of this dungeon. But since a Treant-type monster had appeared, that meant a boss monster would appear soon.

Not long after that, a horde of Treants began to enter my line of sight. Of course, they didn't forget to launch an attack.

While dodging their attacks, I stared at the single largest Treant monster. The monster was in the middle of a horde of other Treant monsters.

Exactly, the biggest monster is the boss of this dungeon.

"Did you come rollicking cause failed to do the surprise attack? How pitiful."

I mocked him.

The Svangur sword with the dark-colored blade is in my right hand. Due to the dark color of the hilt and blade, it made me feel as if I was holding a shadow.

This sword doesn't have a scabbard, so I can't put it on my waist. With the Svangur Sword not having a scabbard, I always hold it at the ready state.

'I think I'll make one when I get to town later.'

I kept holding it in anticipation of a situation like this.

After all, this is Svangur Sword's first debut in battle with me.

But it was a pity that the Treants didn't have any blood in their bodies. So the Svangur Sword couldn't absorb anything. If they had blood, the Svangur Sword would drink their blood away.

However, there was a clear advantage with me wielding the Svangur Sword. I don't have to worry about the Svangur Sword breaking.

Unlike the swords I used before, even without the inherent power of the Svangur Sword, it was obvious that the Svangur Sword was sturdy and sharp.

Slash!

Stab!

Tsuk!

One by one I cut down the Treants.

This time it wasn't blood that was splashed everywhere, but a tree sap that got under the layers of their bark. Sometimes there are ones that I don't manage to cut cleanly so I just scratch the surface of their bark.

Nevertheless, they fell one after another.

The suspect who had benefited the most was the Stigma of Darkness.

Even though the Svangur Sword didn't benefit anything, the Stigma of Darkness managed to eat the Death Mana of every monster I killed.

Regardless, the more I killed the Treants, the closer I got to the dungeon boss monsters.

Behind the sluggish face that I currently have, I can still fight well.

The strings of attacks from the Treants, where they attack by extending their limbs, I dodged with minimal margins.

Sometimes, I go forward and backward to separate them and kill them one by one.

And then finally there were only dungeon boss monsters left.

The Big Treant was thrashing around like crazy. The attacks came faster and stronger. It might be dangerous if he's still hiding in the fog, but since he's appeared, there's nothing for me to be afraid of.

As usual, I had activated all the fighting skills I had, without them, I wouldn't have managed to defeat the guards so easily.

That's the basics.

When I was about to charge forward, something unexpected caught my attention.

[Due to the continuous usage of Swordsmanship Skill, coupled with your qualified experience, an additional option has been given to Swordsmanship skill.]

[Would you like to check the skill description right now?]

Seriously, why do notifications like that always pop up when I'm fighting? I started to suspect that the World System wanted to distract me.

I was forced to ignore the notification first because my feet had been entangled by tree roots that suddenly appeared from the ground.

As soon as it got to my feet, The Big Treant immediately lifted my body into the air.

I know that he was going to slam me until my body sank to the bottom of the ground.

But I didn't let him just throw me away.

I immediately slashed at the tree roots wrapped around my feet.

As soon as I was freed, my body slid down. I twisted my body and landed with both my feet on the ground. I'm not wasting time. As soon as I hit the ground, I pushed my body hurtling towards The Big Treant.

Slash! Slash! Slash!

Crack!

My clean slash managed to scatter The Big Treant's tree trunk.

I need a lot of attacks to be able to destroy The Big Treant's giant body. Even so, I managed to do it.

Not long afterward, all the leaves on The Big Treant's body began to fall like a tree in autumn, while his torso began to scatter like dust in the wind.

After defeating them all, I didn't forget to take the Magic Crystal and put it in the Inventory.

'Is it really this easy to fight a boss monster from a dungeon known as one of the 7 mysterious places on this continent? If it's like this, won't everyone who has come here be able to get out of this place without going crazy?'

Inevitably I began to suspect.

According to the novel, the inventor of the Sword of Fear managed to survive without losing his mind thanks to the Sword of Fear. What kind of enemy, and how the Sword of Fear helped him, were none of that mentioned.

It turned out that I didn't have to wait long for an answer to my question.

[Congratulations, you have successfully completed the second stage of the Fier Mountain Inquiry mission.]

[Clearing condition number three has been unlocked.]

[Completion Conditions:

1. Find or retrieve the Sword of Fear (done).

2. Find or complete Fog Dungeon (done).

3. Explore the cave in the Fog Dungeon.

4. ?]

Do I just need to explore a cave in this dungeon? Should I look for a cave now?

I was confused when I read the information. I didn't think that the third stage would be that easy.

But not long after, what I feared happened.

Suddenly, the fog around the place where I was standing started to fade. The result was that the corpses of the monsters I had killed were exposed instead. But I was more focused on a cave that suddenly appeared from behind the fog.

Something that did not exist before, now really exists. Has the cave been there all this time? Or did it appear out of thin air? This fog might have been purposely keeping people from seeing the cave.

Maybe the fog around me seemed to fade, but that only happened around that mysterious cave.

Somehow, my survival instinct made me feel an ominous energy coming from within that cave.

'Should I enter that cave?'

I don't want to be a fool who directly enters a mysterious place. At least I want to get a little information about the cave.

[Skill Hear of Everything - Activated.]

I hoped to get some additional information when using the Hear of Everything skill.

It didn't take long before I regretted activating the Hear of Everything skill. I widened my eyes and immediately covered my ears as tightly as I could.

It's because I can hear the sound of something that I can't describe. The sound that entered my ears couldn't be called a sound. I can't describe it very well, but you could tell it was hitting my eardrums.

Could that be called the sound of a beast's roar? No, it's more than just a roar.

My whole body started pouring cold sweat. My hands hit the ground along with my feet. Goosebumps ran down my neck. Behind my back, I felt a vertical eye staring at me. Those eyes are as big as a mountain, while I am as small as an ant.

Those eyes are the same as those of a predator when it stares at its prey.

'... Ah, this feeling!'

It's the same feeling when I'm facing an opponent I can never beat.

Feelings of helplessness, pressure, oppression, and humiliation. All those feelings congregate into one.

[You are affected by Debuff Magic, Fear.]

All kinds of negative thoughts suddenly came into my head. Fear spread through my body until it reached my head and started messing with my brain.

Dizziness and nausea spread through my upper and lower brain. The upper brain is my mind, while the lower brain is my stomach.

'Is this the reason why everyone who comes to Fier Mountain is going crazy?'

Even I, who had faced the pressure of a countless number of devils, felt that the pressure of a countless number of devils was still better than this pressure that I was feeling.

"Hosh~ Hosh~ Haaa…"