Arizona, in the Western United States of America.
A tree appeared in the middle of the city.
People watched in wonder as a tree bloomed on the road.
“Is that that special Monster?”
“Isn’t it just a tree?”
“Why would a normal tree suddenly appear here?”
“…Wait. Hey. It’s moving.”
People taking Photographs with their Cellphones gaped at the abnormal figure reflected on their screens.
A tree growing in an instant.
The tree, which had been as thin as a small child, gradually increased in size and grew at a terrifying speed.
The road cracked, and the surrounding buildings collapsed.
“Aaaaaah!”
“Get out of the way! Run, now!”
“Mother!”
“Someone is trapped here! Please help!”
In the middle of the chaos, Hunters appeared.
The Fire Witch Jessica, one of the Twelve Constellations of the United States of America.
She arrived in Arizona first, bringing her Guild members with her.
She stood before the tree, draped in her signature red cloak.
“Concentrate on rescue efforts until the Hunter army arrives.”
“Yes.”
“Understood.”
Jessica sent her Guild members in all directions and looked at the tree.
This would only end if she took this thing down.
She had to gather as much information as possible while the Guild members evacuated people to prevent further damage.
“Flame Burn.”
She used Magic lightly to set the tree on fire. As soon as the flames touched the tree with black bark, they vanished.
Fire itself would not catch.
Jessica frowned at the phenomenon of the tree not burning.
‘Shall I try something a bit stronger?’
She clenched her fists and ran straight forward. The roots of the rapidly growing tree protruded through the road.
Fwoosh!
Blue flames flickered on her fists.
She threw a punch toward the tree roots.
Thwack!
The moment her fist touched the root, intense heat exploded and swallowed the surrounding area.
An explosion occurred, and flames soared high.
Jessica rolled her tongue and looked at the roots through the fire that rose like a gust of wind.
Crackle!
Crackle!
The roots burned brightly in the flames.
The fire spread quickly along the roots toward the tree trunk.
Sizzle!
But that was it.
The flames, which had only burned the roots, could not consume the trunk and disappeared just like that.
Then, new roots appeared from the burned ones and dug even deeper into the ground.
Thicker roots broke through the road and reached out toward Jessica.
Jessica kicked off the ground and rose into the air with Fly Magic.
She looked down from the sky.
“…Insane.”
The tree, which had been the size of a Party Bus when she first arrived, was now as large as a small shop.
Every building where the roots grew had collapsed.
There were massive numbers of dead and injured.
However, the Growth of the tree was not over. It continued to increase its size, spreading its roots deeper and further away.
If left alone like this, it felt as though it would grow large enough to swallow the entirety of Arizona.
‘The scale of casualties will become astronomical.’
The evacuation speed was not as fast as the speed at which the tree grew.
She had to buy time.
Jessica summoned her Stave and held it in her hand. She channeled Mana into the Magic Stone attached to the tip of the Stave.
“Whew.”
Using a Stave would make the power of her Magic several times stronger, but she could not move from her spot.
Therefore, she did not use it unless the timing was right.
“Right now, I’m in no position to be picky.”
She deployed her Magic using the Mana she had funneled in. Light flashed from the Stave, creating a Magic Circle in the air.
The slower and more deliberately it was drawn, the stronger the Magic became. It meant the density of the Mana was increasing.
Jessica focused solely on completing the Magic.
Hummm!
She launched the completed Magic at the massive tree. As she swung the Stave grandly, light flashed from the Magic Circle.
A giant meteor fell toward the tree, creating a burning tail.
It was a Magic she usually could not use because of civilians.
The powerful Magic that devastated the surroundings hit the tree directly.
Kaboom!
An intense explosion occurred as it hit the black tree, and broken fragments of the meteor scattered in all directions.
The half-ruined buildings collapsed completely. Simultaneously, heat that raged like a storm spread around the black tree.
However, the aftermath did not cross a certain line.
Hunters wearing military uniforms were stationed everywhere.
The Shields they held created a massive wall, preventing Jessica’s Magic from spreading elsewhere.
“Sorry I’m late.”
Just then, a familiar voice was heard. A stiff voice, but more reliable than anyone else’s. It was the other of the Twelve Constellations of the United States of America, Colonel Lord.
Colonel Lord, dressed in his military uniform, approached Jessica’s side.
Jessica sighed as she looked at the completely burned roots.
“It seems… we bought a little time.”
“What kind of thing is it?”
“The regeneration and Growth are at an insane level. And as you can see, fire doesn’t work on that tree.”
Not a single scratch appeared on the black tree that had been hit directly by the Meteor Strike.
Instead, as the flames died down, it revealed its well-being.
“A tree-type Monster that’s immune to fire. I should test if my fists work.”
Colonel Lord clenched and unclenched his fists, which were equipped with Gauntlets, and dashed forward.
He approached the black tree with high-speed movement.
He struck with a punch that had concentrated Mana.
Boom!
A massive shockwave exploded. The tree trunk shook violently.
The branches trembled.
It looked as if it were in pain. Colonel Lord clenched his fist again upon seeing that.
Stronger this time.
He used a Skill, putting all the Strength he had into his fist. The blow, delivered with full power to finish it in one shot, connected.
Thud!
The heavy punch created cracks in the tree trunk. At the same time, tree bark fell to the ground in heaps.
The bare trunk was revealed.
Jessica threw a spear made of fire with all her might toward the gap Colonel Lord had created.
Thump!
The spear of flame was embedded in the trunk.
Whoosh!
Flames flared up and burned the tree trunk. Only the part without bark burned, but that alone was enough.
The weakness of the charred tree trunk.
Colonel Lord took a stance toward the charred area to finish it off.
Just then, Jessica approached, grabbed Colonel Lord, and rose into the sky.
Swish!
Black thorns soared up over the spot where Colonel Lord had been. It did not stop there. The thorns moved freely and aimed for Colonel Lord.
Jessica used Fly Magic and Shield magic to avoid the attacks of the black thorns.
“What is that?”
“I don’t know. I moved because I saw something wriggling where you were.”
Colonel Lord looked at the spot where he had been standing.
The bark that had fallen off after he struck the tree trunk.
That bark was stuck to the ground and had taken the form of black thorns.
And new bark appeared over the charred tree trunk. It covered the weakness and began to grow rapidly.
It became thicker, and the roots grew even larger.
“Ugh! Colonel, we’ve reached our Limit. I don’t think we can hold out any longer.”
Colonel Lord gave new instructions upon hearing his subordinates’ report over the radio.
“Establish a second line of defense.”
“Oh, and the Rookie Guild and the Abyss Guild have just arrived.”
“Let them in.”
A short while later, a large number of Hunters entered the battlefield.
The two Guilds representing Arizona.
The Guildmasters leading those Guilds approached Jessica and Colonel Lord.
“It took some time to assess the situation, so we’re late. Have you gained anything?”
Colonel Lord shared the information with them.
“Ah, I see. Then we will finish things here.”
Jessica frowned at the Abyss Guildmaster’s words.
“What? What kind of nonsense is that?”
“The Subjugation Right for Monsters appearing in Arizona belongs to our Abyss Guild. We’ll finish this, so the two of you should head back.”
Because the United States of America was a union, the laws were different for each state. Accordingly, the laws regarding Hunters also varied from state to state.
For Monsters appearing in the state of Arizona, the Guild that had its main base in Arizona held the primary Subjugation Right.
Because of this law, Jessica could not lift a finger.
It was the same for Colonel Lord, who belonged to the military.
Unless that Monster was regulated as a Calamity Class, he could not arbitrarily proceed with Monster subjugation in Arizona from California’s jurisdiction.
“I understand. I’ll leave the finishing touches to you.”
Colonel Lord left it to them and stepped back without regret.
Jessica moved as well, following Colonel Lord.
“Those bastards came late on purpose. They wanted to get information through us.”
“I know.”
“Are you just going to back out? They can never do it with their skills.”
The gap between the Twelve Constellations and an S-rank Hunter.
Although that gap was said to be large, when several S-rank Hunters gathered, they could produce power equivalent to the Twelve Constellations.
Especially in the case of Boss Monster raids.
When multiple people linked their Skills, they often produced stronger power.
Limited to boss raids.
There were times when a Guild-scale raid team was stronger than one of the Twelve Constellations. Even the data accumulated so far favored this side.
However, the special Monster currently before their eyes was on a different level.
As Jessica said, the possibility of them failing to conquer it was higher.
No.
They would fail 100%.
Nevertheless, there was nothing Colonel Lord could do. He had to just watch until they failed and it became known that the Monster was a Calamity Class.
“…We have to wait.”
“It’ll be too late by then.”
“It can’t be helped.”
“…Wait a minute. A new authority was given to the Twelve Constellations this time. If we use that, can’t we ignore things like Subjugation Rights?”
“I heard it can only be used once it has been passed by the Standing Committee.”
“Damn it!”
Colonel Lord calmly watched the Abyss Guild’s and Rookie Guild’s attack.
Kaboom!
Kaboom!
Just as they were told in the information they had gathered beforehand, they used weapons to break the bark. They concentrated Fire Magic inside to wound it.
When the bark that fell to the ground became black thorns and aimed for the Hunters, the Hunters holding Shields blocked them.
The fact that they had been working together for a long time shone through.
The trunk of the tree Monster was gradually being shaved away.
They succeeded in cutting it halfway, but a sudden change occurred.
Quiver!
As the tree trunk trembled, the lush branches that had grown before they knew it broke off and fell to the ground.
The branches that fell to the ground turned into tree-type Monsters.
The Monsters, appearing like a swarm of zombies, rushed toward the Hunters.
“First, deal with the small fry! Fire works, so burn them all with Wide-Area Magic!”
“Yes!”
Those with Fire Magic Skills used Wide-Area Magic to burn the tree Monsters.
However, the Monsters that survived in the meantime clung to the Hunters.
“Aaaaaah!”
The trees transformed into a form that took root in the Hunters’ bodies and lived as parasites.
And they used the Skills the Hunters possessed.
Boom!
Cling!
The tree parasitized an A-Rank Hunter’s body and fired the Skills he possessed in all directions.
Hunters were wounded by the sudden rapid fire.
Taking advantage of the gap, the tree Monsters took root in the bodies of the wounded Hunters and parasitized them.
The parasitized Hunters attacked their comrades.
“…Damn it!”
“Gu… Guildmaster!”
The Guildmaster of the Abyss Guild, who was the first to leave the area, approached the place where Colonel Lord and Jessica were.
“Are you just going to watch?”
“You claimed the Subjugation Right, so there was nothing we could do, right?”
“…Ugh! You call yourself a Soldier after doing that!”
Jessica shook her head at the Abyss Guildmaster’s unsightly appearance.
“Pathetic bastard. Give up the Subjugation Right and get lost. We’ll be the ones to catch that guy.”