The giant flower that had been raining down seeds collapsed—only for several more just like it to sprout from the Treant Forest in the very next moment. Watching this, Rei swung Death Scythe in displeasure.
The flower that had burst from the ground was effortlessly severed and fell to the earth.
"Tch, what a nuisance... What do you think we should do about this?"
Perhaps that flower had been the boss of the Treant Forest. Even without hard proof, Rei had clung to the hopeful notion that it might be—but that expectation was swiftly dashed.
Marina, who had been firing arrows without pause and burying the Venus Flytraps under a relentless barrage, answered his irritation-laced words.
"You're right. There's no doubt that those giant flowers are a major combat asset for the Treant Forest. Given that, if we keep destroying them, won't they eventually cry uncle?"
"...That's how it would work with normal monsters, yeah."
For one thing, the monsters in the Treant Forest—at least the ones Rei and his party had fought so far—had no Magic Stones. That meant these were no ordinary monsters. It was perfectly reasonable for Rei to question whether the usual methods of dispatching monsters would even work here.
Still, given the current situation, it was also a fact that no quicker option presented itself. Well, in the worst case, Rei could always burn the entire forest to ash—but doing so would undoubtedly set the whole Treant Forest ablaze, or at the very least a significant portion of it. Trees might regrow from the scorched earth, but since that was only a possibility, acting on it was difficult.
This was also why Rei refrained from using the Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor, which possessed devastating power against plant-type foes.
Swinging Death Scythe and the Twilight Spear, Rei considered what to do next—but with so little detailed information about the forest still available, there was little he could do.
However, as if they had overheard the exchange between Rei and Marina, one of the Researchers—who had been conferring with his colleagues even amid the chaos—looked toward Rei and spoke.
"Most likely, at the center of this forest... or, considering that the forest is only expanding toward Gilm, perhaps at the opposite edge from us—but I am certain something is there."
"...The problem is whether dealing with that 'something' will actually resolve this situation!" Rei shouted, slashing through the stem of a plant that had been lobbing bizarre fruits at him with Death Scythe.
The hurled fruits splashed a liquid across the ground on impact, dissolving the surrounding grass.
Rei was momentarily surprised that a monster inhabiting the Treant Forest would attack in a way that damaged what could essentially be called its own allies—the grass—but he quickly reasoned that monsters rarely considered different species as allies to begin with.
"It's entirely possible that something lies at the center of the forest," Marina said. "But even so, we don't know what's there."
As she spoke, Water Spirits traveled along the ground, ensnaring the vines that had been slipping through the darkness and cover of grass to approach them—and in the next moment, twisted them all apart simultaneously.
Several of the Fleeing Adventurers who witnessed this recoiled, as if thinking, Ugh!
The adventurers here naturally knew what kind of person Marina was. They also knew she had once been a skilled adventurer, but even so, the fact that she could wield such powerful Spirit Magic was apparently beyond their expectations.
...Seeing the twisted vines, several men involuntarily backed away or crossed their legs. They clearly had thoughts of their own about what they had just witnessed.
"You're right. But as things stand, we'll either have to retreat... or keep fighting endlessly until morning. It seems to be an indisputable fact that monsters don't appear during the day."
In response to the Researcher's calm words, Marina looked at Rei as if asking, What do we do?
Rei was the party leader of Crimson Lotus Wings, the party Marina belonged to. As such, it was only natural that the final decision would be his. Of course, if a decision was clearly wrong, she would object.
"Understood. Then I'll—"
Rei had been about to say go, but before the word left his mouth, he spotted several adventurers who had been fighting monsters begin to stagger—lurching toward the forest with the unsteady gait of a Drunkard.
Strangely, the monsters in the vicinity did not attack them. They passed right by as if the adventurers were invisible.
"Hey, Sauzard! Where are you going? Come back here!"
"Sharan, hey, I said come back! You can hear me, can't you!"
Several such shouts rang out from the surroundings—all directed at adventurers who had started walking into the forest. But those called out to showed no sign of caring and continued onward.
"!? This is bad!"
Marina was the first to notice, alerted to the abnormality by Wind Spirits. She immediately channeled her magical power and beseeched the Spirits.
"Water Spirits, spread thin and swallow the harmful presence in the air!"
At her command, the water fanned out into a broad sheet and swept through the sky. Several people wondered what on earth Marina was doing, but judging that now was not the time for questions, the Fleeing Adventurers focused on holding back their companions who were trying to wander deeper into the forest while fighting off nearby enemies.
But once Marina moved the Water Spirits through the air, no one else began stumbling toward the depths of the forest.
"What happened?"
Rei, having cleaved through a Treant's trunk with a single stroke of Death Scythe, moved beside Marina and asked.
Marina directed her gaze toward the water she had guided to the ground and spoke.
"Look."
It was uncharacteristically terse for Marina, but sufficient to convey what she wanted. When Rei turned his eyes to the puddle on the ground, he furrowed his brow slightly. Suspended in the water was a yellow powder.
"What is this?"
"Right, I believe it's pollen. ...Those who inhaled it fell into that state and started walking."
Watching the adventurers who had barely been restrained by their comrades before wandering into the forest, Marina murmured this. Rei's face showed surprise as he looked back down at the water.
"...What a nuisance."
"Indeed."
They exchanged brief words.
"What do we do?"
"Now that we know it's out there, it's manageable. We can collect it with water like we just did, or blow it away with wind... burning it is risky for various reasons, though."
"Almost seems like it'd be better to just burn everything at once—huh!"
Rei deflected a sharp, thorn-covered nut that had come slicing through the air with Death Scythe, then hurled the Twilight Spear. Launched at a speed incomparable to the incoming nut, the spear pierced through and shattered the trunk of what appeared to be a Treant subspecies. The monster split in two and crashed to the ground.
Watching it fall, Rei deflected the next batch of seeds raining down from a new giant flower with Death Scythe—and felt a question nag at him.
(The amount of falling seeds seems to have decreased somehow? Even though the number of those sunflower impostors has increased.)
There were four giant flowers visible from Rei's position. Considering the areas obscured by trees, there could easily be more. Yet from what he could see, the volume of falling seeds was the same as when there had been only one flower. No—if anything, it seemed to be decreasing.
Whether that was good or bad, Rei couldn't say. For the moment, he decided to take it as a positive.
(Vihera probably did something. If I think of it that way, it definitely can't be a bad thing. ...I hope that's the case.)
As Rei wrestled with these thoughts, one of the Researchers shouted again.
"Putting the pollen aside, it's the center of the forest! No—perhaps it might be the edge!"
Those words reminded Rei of what they had been discussing before the pollen issue. He had been planning to head there and had been about to say so. But he recalled that he had surveyed this forest from above countless times while riding Set—and once he remembered that, he could no longer simply nod along to the Researcher's claim.
"As you know, I've flown over this Treant Forest on Set many times. But there was nothing particularly unusual around the center. At the very least, there was definitely nothing like a conspicuous open space or anything of the sort. ...I can't speak for the edges, though."
Where the giant flowers were growing, there was in fact a conspicuous open space exactly as Rei had described—but he had no way of knowing that at present.
"Hmm... given that it's a forest this large, it wouldn't be strange for there to be some kind of landmark."
The Researcher muttered in disappointment at Rei's words.
"If so, then it must be the edges of the forest after all?"
"Even if you say that, where specifically? Unlike the center, wouldn't everything on the far side count as an edge?"
"Well... I suppose that's true," the Researcher conceded, but it wasn't exactly immediately useful information given the current situation.
What they needed right now was actionable intelligence—something they could use at once.
The center of the forest, or the edges. Either way, they needed to head toward one of them and do something about the Treant Forest—or else retreat from it entirely.
But retreating was not an option in Rei's mind. With Set and Vihera inside the Treant Forest, that went without saying. Pulling back here would amount to abandoning them.
(Which means... either we wait here until Vihera and Set come back, or I go in myself.)
He considered this, but Rei knew that given his personality, the answer was already decided.
"I'm going."
At those words, Marina's expression became a mixture of relief and disappointment—relief that her prediction had been right, that Rei would never abandon Vihera and Set, and disappointment because, given the current situation, she couldn't leave this position herself.
Marina wanted to charge into the forest alongside Rei if at all possible. But she couldn't imagine anyone here who could command more effectively than herself, and above all, the adventurers were only holding their own against the monsters pouring from the Treant Forest because of her Spirit Magic. It would be no exaggeration to say Marina was beloved by the Spirits. That was precisely why she could wield Spirit Magic so masterfully. If she left, the adventurers would undoubtedly lose this battle.
To prevent that, Marina simply could not pull away. That was why her expression carried regret.
"Right. Be careful."
In the end, all she could do was see him off with those words. Acting selfishly and following Rei would have been one option—but given Marina's personality, she couldn't bring herself to do it. ...If it had been Vihera, she would have plunged into the Treant Forest at Rei's side, lured by the prospect of a powerful foe.
"Yeah, leave it to me. For now, if possible, I'll rendezvous with Vihera first, then head for the center of the Treant Forest. ...Let's hope it's not on the opposite side."
"Mhm!"
"Byune, you stay here on watch."
"...Mhm."
Byune indicated that she wanted to come along, but Rei immediately shut her down. He knew how attached Byune was to Vihera, but where they were heading was completely uncharted territory. They had entered the Treant Forest during the day, but the difference between day and night was glaringly obvious from the current situation. He couldn't bring Byune to such a place.
Though she had gained a measure of combat ability through training over the winter, it was still only a measure. At the very least, it wasn't at a level where he could bring her into an unknown location that might be dangerous even for himself.
Let alone...
"Please, by all means, take me with you!"
"Absolutely not. You'd be dead weight."
The Researcher was out of the question. Rei instantly dismissed the plea. No matter how high his intellectual curiosity, bringing along a Researcher who could barely protect himself would be nothing short of suicidal.
Leaving the Researcher standing there, visibly stung by being called dead weight, Rei swung Death Scythe and the Twilight Spear—cutting down enemies as he made his way into the forest.