"Flying Slash!"
At Rei's command, a flying slash erupted from Death Scythe, shearing through the approaching vines and their head-like tips in a single sweep.
Naturally, he couldn't unleash the same attack against all hundred-odd vines at once. The ones untouched by the slash came swarming toward him from every other direction—
"Out of the way!"
With those words, he swung the Twilight Spear in his left hand.
Swept horizontally, the spear struck the vines not with its blade but with its shaft—and tore them apart through sheer force.
"Gurururururu!"
A short distance away, Set drew a deep breath. In the next instant, Acid Breath sprayed from its beak.
The skill was still at Level 1, so its raw power wasn't overwhelming. Even so, it was potent enough to dissolve plant matter.
And while the vines' regeneration was one thing, their defensive strength itself was by no means high.
As a result, the Acid Breath melted a large number of vines in one go, rendering them useless.
Granted, if enough time passed, they would likely regenerate before long. In that sense, Acid Breath wasn't all that significant.
It wasn't—and yet, in their current situation, it served more than enough purpose.
Keeping the sight of most of the vines melting at once in his peripheral vision, Rei broke into a sprint toward the tree.
No matter how capable the vines were of instant regeneration, that ability was ultimately granted by the tree. Which meant attacking the tree directly was clearly the better strategy over cutting down vines.
That said, things were not so simple.
That overwhelming presence he had felt ever since approaching the clearing—it radiated from the tree, not the vines.
If it were only the vines, their sheer numbers aside, they were fragile and capable of nothing more than biting. Easy enough to deal with. But given that, unless they did something about the tree pumping out that overwhelming presence, this battle would be meaningless.
The tree must have noticed Rei's presence. The vines that had escaped the Acid Breath stretched toward him, trying to bar his path.
Despite nearly a hundred vines writhing all at once, none of them tangled with each other. Why was that?
For a brief moment, that absurd question crossed Rei's mind—but even as he thought it, he kept closing the distance to the tree.
"Gururururu!"
At Set's cry, the Wind Arrow skill activated. The released Wind Arrows sliced through the vines one after another, cutting down those trying to block Rei's advance.
Meanwhile, the vines off his path of travel couldn't keep up with his speed and were left completely behind. Rei rapidly closed the gap.
Just a little more and he would be within Death Scythe's striking range.
Yet the tree showed no particular reaction.
"As far as I'm concerned, that's more than welcome! Multi Slash!"
A slash flew forth. It struck the trunk, carving a sharp gash in a single blow, and then—by the effect of Multi Slash—four additional slashes followed in succession.
The trunk that had emerged unscathed from Set's Ice Arrows evidently lacked the defensive power to withstand Rei's Multi Slash. Death Scythe's blade bit halfway through the trunk.
At the same time, however, it was equally true that even with Death Scythe and Multi Slash combined, that degree of damage was the best he could manage. He couldn't cut all the way through.
"So hard!"
It wasn't that Rei had channeled too little magical power into Death Scythe. Even so, that single strike could only slash halfway through the trunk—not sever it entirely.
He knew that, and that was precisely why the words slipped out.
And, naturally enough, when the tree found its trunk half-severed, it sensed mortal danger and moved to eliminate the one responsible.
"!?"
Rei sensed something. He ripped Death Scythe free from the half-severed trunk and hurled himself backward.
The instant he leapt back, a fruit that had somehow appeared on a branch directly above him dropped to the ground.
It burst the moment it hit the spot where Rei had stood a heartbeat earlier, melting the surrounding earth.
Having already seen Set's Acid Breath, Rei understood exactly what kind of attack that was.
"Acid Fruit?! Seriously?!"
The impact of the fruit striking the ground had ruptured it, splashing acid that dissolved the terrain. In other words, the fruit was essentially a water balloon—except that instead of water, it was filled with a powerful acid.
And those same fruits were growing in thick clusters on multiple branches.
Since when? I don't think there were any fruits a moment ago.
Whether the fruits had actually been growing on the branches, Rei couldn't say for certain. But as far as he could recall, there hadn't been any.
Then again, that was just an impression. He hadn't confirmed it properly, so he couldn't state it with absolute confidence.
And then—the fruits were launched at him.
Yes, "launched" was the right word. It wasn't using the vines. The branches weren't even swaying. And yet, the numerous fruits dotting the branches flew toward Rei in rapid succession.
How the tree managed that, Rei had no idea. But if the opponent was an A-Rank Monster, no attack it unleashed would be surprising. Even if it tore itself from the ground, floated into the air, and started moving, he'd accept it simply because it was an A-Rank Monster.
Rei dodged the fruits raining down on him one after another while widening his distance from the tree.
"Flying Slash!"
But he wasn't just fleeing. Even as he leapt backward, Rei loosed a Flying Slash and hurled the Twilight Spear from his left hand.
The Flying Slash managed to nick the tree, but its power was clearly weaker compared to Multi Slash. Then again, unlike Flying Slash, Multi Slash simply added additional slashes of equal force to the original strike Rei made with Death Scythe. It was only natural that a projected slash like Flying Slash would differ in power.
The Twilight Spear, released simultaneously, also succeeded in piercing halfway through the trunk. But that was as far as it went. It couldn't bore completely through, and in the next instant, it snapped back to Rei's hand.
No good, huh. But I can slash and pierce halfway through. In other words, if I hit it from the opposite side...
If he attacked the opposite side of the wound from Multi Slash, he might be able to sever the trunk entirely. That was what Rei thought—but then bubbles oozed from the trunk at the spot where Flying Slash had grazed it, and the cut vanished before his eyes.
"What—?!"
Dodging another volley of acid fruits, Rei gasped in surprise. But as he put distance between himself and the tree, it also clicked into place.
It was obvious, really. He had already watched the vines demonstrate their overwhelming Regeneration Ability, sprouting new heads from their severed stumps. If the vines connected to the tree could do that, then it wouldn't be strange for the source—the tree itself—to possess an equal, or perhaps even greater, Regeneration Ability.
"Out of the way!"
With the distance reopened, the vines came swarming after Rei again. The heads at their tips gaped wide, as if trying to tear chunks out of him.
Rei cut through them all in a single sweep of Death Scythe, but his eyes stayed fixed on the tree, not the vines.
That tree was the root of the problem. He judged that dealing with it took priority.
Then, watching the tree's behavior, Rei noticed something.
The Twilight Spear's wound is healing slower? No, but... why?
The Twilight Spear he carried inflicted a Recovery Inhibition Effect on whatever damage it dealt. But it wasn't all that potent. At least, for a tree with such overwhelming Regeneration Ability, it should have been negligible.
In fact, during the battles against the Giant Wolf and the Queen Bee, the Twilight Spear had been used alongside Death Scythe without ever becoming the decisive factor.
And yet, the spot where the Twilight Spear had struck was regenerating at a clearly slower rate.
Rei couldn't understand why. The Twilight Spear's attack and Death Scythe's attack were both attacks, after all.
In his line of sight, even the gash from Multi Slash—the one that had cut halfway through—was bubbling back together. Multi Slash was clearly more powerful than Flying Slash, so it didn't regenerate instantly... but even so, it was undeniably healing at a visible pace.
That regeneration speed somehow reminded Rei of the giant Slime that had crawled out of a lake summoned near the Treant Forest. It too possessed extraordinary Regeneration Ability, which was why it was still being burned by his magic to this day.
That tree isn't the same kind of thing, is it? The thought crossed his mind, but at the same time, he began considering that perhaps using magic was justified.
Ordinarily, Rei avoided using magic inside the Forest of Magic. Since the magic he could use was essentially limited to Flame Magic, a careless spell here could cause widespread devastation. That much was obvious.
But right now, he was standing in a clearing. Aside from the single A-Rank Monster tree growing at its center, no other trees stood within the clearing.
In other words, if he used magic here, there was no risk of the fire spreading.
Under the current circumstances, Rei judged it would be no problem.
The only drawback is that burning the tree means I won't be able to harvest materials. And if I reduce it to ash, proving it was an A-Rank Monster becomes difficult.
The conditions for passing the Promotion Exam were to spend two nights and three days in the Forest of Magic and defeat at least two A-Rank Monsters. "Defeat" naturally required more than a self-reported claim; he needed to present corpses.
If he burned this tree monster, what would be left? Given that its body was made of wood, there would likely be very little remaining. It was even possible the Magic Stone itself would burn away.
But this tree was extraordinarily durable and possessed high Regeneration Ability. Half-hearted attacks wouldn't bring it down. That being the case, he had to commit to an all-out attack even if it meant forfeiting the Magic Stone.
Of course, even if he defeated the tree without burning it, it was an enormous specimen. He couldn't exactly haul it out and plop it on the Guild's counter—and if he did, the Guild staff would be just as stumped.
Since there was a chance he might not obtain the Magic Stone anyway, he could simply leave. There was no strict need to defeat it.
But Rei dismissed that idea immediately.
This was the Magic Stone of an A-Rank Monster. There was a chance he might not get it—but there was also a chance he would. And if there was even a possibility of obtaining an A-Rank Monster's Magic Stone, he wasn't about to let it slip away.
What kind of skill this tree might yield was also something Rei badly wanted to know.
Given all that, letting the tree go was not an option.
Then it's magic. Let's just pray the Magic Stone survives the flames.
So deciding, Rei gripped Death Scythe and began to chant.
"Flame, embody destruction, one of thy true forms, within thyself. Thou art that which burns all to ash, erases, and annihilates. Bring forth great destruction, and thereby become a sacrifice for new rebirth."
With those words, a single Fireball materialized beside Death Scythe.
Anyone who knew the true extent of Rei's magical power would have wondered: A single Fireball?
But this was no ordinary Fireball. It was charged with an enormous volume of Rei's mana, and what made it truly convenient was that—despite its immense power—it could be set to burn only a designated area.
The tree must have sensed instinctive danger from the Fireball that took shape. Abandoning its pattern of attacking Set only to be shattered and severed and instantly regenerated, the vines surged toward Rei all at once, trying to stop the spell from activating.
But it was already too late.
Rei unleashed the completed magic.
"Scorching Hellfire!"
The released Fireball streaked straight toward the tree. The tree tried to intercept it with its acid fruits, but even as the Fireball touched them, it showed no sign of slowing. It struck the trunk head-on—and erupted into a maelstrom of colossal flames.