Chapter 87: The Sealed Holy Relic

Since the other three forests have formed an alliance, it was obvious they’d gather for war.

We needed to make preparations so this place wouldn’t be overrun while we searched for the Sacred Relic.

To set up countermeasures, I called Ropenheim, Anne, and Zeit.

“The other forests have formed an alliance. As soon as they finish their preparations, they’ll invade this place.”

[So the Central of the Forest will open up.]

At Zeit’s words, who was quickly recovering from his wounds with Anne’s help, Anne nodded.

[We must set up defenses for that.]

“What kind of place is the Central of the Forest?”

Ropenheim asked, and Zeit answered.

[A barren land. Originally, it was just a wasteland with nothing. But after many Wars, defensive facilities were built. If we use those remnants well, it’ll be easier to defend.]

It would be faster to show them as we talked.

“Wait here for a moment.”

I stood up and used Teleport, leaping through space. I moved quickly to the Central of the Forest.

It wasn’t until I’d exhausted all the mana I had that I finally arrived at my destination.

A vast expanse of land unfolded before me.

“…Hmm…”

Just as Zeit said, there was a desolate land where not a single blade of grass grew. On it, traces of stone and wooden fortress walls remained.

If you tapped them, they looked ready to crumble.

Too much time had passed—they’d have to be rebuilt from scratch.

“Portal.”

I reached out and created a Portal connected to the Dragon Lair. Through the Portal, Ropenheim, Anne, and Zeit stepped over.

[We’ll have to rebuild everything from scratch.]

“Are the enemies coming from that direction?”

[That’s right. They’ll invade by using those three directions and the border of my Fifth Forest.]

If we focus on the center, the Fifth Forest will be breached, and if we send troops to the Fifth Forest, the central defense will be weakened.

“There’s a reason why defense here is so difficult.”

[That’s why a counterattack could be one way. But it won’t be easy. They’ve stored up their strength for hundreds of years.]

But for me, it wasn’t a huge problem.

The real problem was the Lords.

“Do you know who the Lords of the Forests are?”

【Elf, Naga, Vampire Race. They were Lords of the forest even longer than me.】

Stronger than Zeit.

If they attacked together, could we stop them?

With my skills, I could handle one.

But unless I could grow stronger, I had no way to deal with three Lords at once.

‘If I could get a few Sacred Relics, I might be able to turn the tide of the War…’

I was a little worried if the others could hold the line in my absence.

Zeit, Anne, Ropenheim.

All three were powerhouses, almost at SS-rank, but they couldn’t show their true strength due to their poor condition.

For now, only the Orcs could be counted as immediate combat force.

“Will the Lords attack all at once?”

[At first, they’ll probably focus on guarding the Tablet. You don’t have to worry about the Lords attacking right away.]

The situation improved a lot.

No, it got even better.

I’d have the chance to face the Lords one by one.

Let’s go with the strategy of building a defensive line and holding out. I’ll personally take care of the Lords as I move through the forest.

[Is that really possible? Everything shows up on the Tablet, so the other Lords might come help each other.]

“You don’t have to worry about that. My location doesn’t show up on the Tablet.”

[What kind of nonsense…well, honestly, it’s already nonsense for a human to become a Lord of the Forest in the first place.]

Shaking his head, Zeit watched as I issued orders to the others.

“Anne, start preparing the Destruction Blood Heaven Demon Array right away.”

【Hmm… The array will buy us some time, but I doubt it will work on them. The Vampires are much better at this sort of thing than I am…】

“That’s fine. Our goal is to buy time. Zeit, you take charge of the border of the Fifth Forest.”

[Is it really okay for us to leave the center unattended?!]

To Zeit’s question, I pointed at the Portal with my finger.

“I’ll set that up where the border is. If the center becomes unfavorable, join forces to support it.”

[So that’s what you had.]

“Ropenheim, sir, please take command of the overall defense.”

“How will we set up the defensive line?”

“I’ll build it together with Fryra.”

At that, Anne offered her opinion.

[Shouldn’t we start building the defenses right now?!]

Zeit nodded at Anne’s words.

【That’s right. The ones forming the alliance were all once Lords here, so they’ll know well the importance of the center.】

“Then let’s get moving.”

I watched Anne, Ropenheim, and Zeit step through the Portal to the Dragon Lair and summoned Fryra.

Before Fryra arrived,

I gazed at the desolate land to finish the basic construction first.

It wasn’t hard to set up a defensive line.

I’d done it before when Renok invaded.

Staring at the front, I drew a picture in my mind.

I drew fan-shaped lines to secure a wide area. Using the mana stored in the Dragon Heart, I cast Earth Magic.

Kugugugung!

With the spell, mana moved and shook the earth. The ground rumbled as a massive stone wall rose, all connected as one.

Just a plain wall of stone.

[Anne sent me over!!]

“Attach vines and offensive plants to that wall.”

[Okay!]

I picked Fryra up and used Fly Magic to rise atop the wall. It was wide enough for about ten people to move freely.

I walked along, watching Fryra work.

As she scattered seeds and grew them, huge vines sprouted and wrapped around the stone wall.

The color of the vines was oddly similar to iron.

“I think this is the first time I’ve seen this?”

[It’s a plant I found in the Fifth Forest. It’s incredibly tough.]

Using the Gold Dragon’s Eye (SS) to check,

It was called Steel Vine.

It was as hard as iron, nearly as strong.

We built a foundation of Steel Vine on the wall, then planted Attribute Grass here and there.

Maybe it was because Fryra’s rank had risen, or maybe because the World Tree’s rank had increased.

She could grow plants at an incredible speed.

Even without using Overgrowth, her growth was almost just as fast.

Sturdy plants with all sorts of attributes readied themselves for attack atop the wall.

“Good job.”

To finish up, I drew a magic circle at the base of the wall—a Defensive Magic Circle to block attacks below a certain level.

Once I finished inscribing all the spells, the army came through the Portal.

Goblins, Elves, Wyverns, and more.

The armed forces, under Ropenheim’s orders, quickly moved onto the wall.

Then the Orcs and Balak arrived.

Large cooking utensils and foodstuffs for massive meals.

‘Food buffs.’

With those, holding off the enemy would be much easier.

They’d buy us time until we obtained the Sacred Relic.

[Master.]

An Orc who was helping Balak approached briefly.

“What is it?”

【The Goblins found something while searching the forest.】

“What is it?”

[They said it’s a cave radiating a powerful aura that they couldn’t enter.]

Hmm.

When I obtained the Eye of Bluecat,

I gained an extra ability.

Members of the Dragon Lair had an increased chance of finding Sacred Relics.

‘A Sacred Relic?’

Since it was on the way, it wouldn’t hurt to check it out.

“Tell me where it is.”

A place lined with blood-red Blood Trees.

A mansion stood at the highest point of the forest, where the stench of blood was thick.

At the window stood a woman.

Resting her arms atop a luxurious desk, she exuded an alluring presence. She lifted a goblet filled with red liquid.

She brought it to her lips and savored the taste.

“Delicious.”

Sap extracted from the finest Blood Tree.

The unique blood scent from the sap was exquisite.

Knock, knock!

Someone knocked on the door.

“Lord, the scouting report is ready.”

“You’re back already?”

“Yes.”

“How was it?”

“They’ve surrounded most of the Central of the Forest with fortress walls and set up a defensive line.”

“…So fast?”

“They seem to know very well that they have to seize the center. Also, their forces include Dryads, Elves, Wyverns, Goblins, and others.”

“Elves? Are you sure?”

“Yes. I saw it with my own eyes.”

“You crazy bastards…”

The Vampire Lord narrowed her eyes and stared at the Tablet in front of her.

The Tablet activated and linked to another place.

The High Elf, Lord of the Second Forest.

With a look of noble disdain, the Vampire Lord spoke.

“What’s your deal?”

-What.

“You made an alliance with us and now you’re in cahoots with those bastards?”

-What are you talking about?

“There are Elves in the center of the forest!”

-I sent scouts too, so obviously there are. Wait a moment.

The High Elf turned her head to the side.

She wore an expression of listening to someone beside her. After a moment, the High Elf pursed her lips.

-It’s not us.

“Are there any Elves in this forest besides you?”

-They could have come from elsewhere.

Damn it. I never should have allied with a bastard like you.

Just then, someone else appeared.

The Naga Queen, Lord of the Third Forest.

Are there Elves in the center of the forest?

-It’s not me.

“Hey, this bastard made an alliance with us and stabbed us in the back!”

-Why would the High Elf do that?

-No reason.

“…Trying to screw us over?”

-Still holding a grudge?

“…Who’s holding a grudge, you crazy bastard!”

-You mean when you confessed and got rejected?

“I said it’s not like that!”

The Vampire Lord crossed her arms and pouted.

“Then if it’s not you, who did it?”

-It must be the one who unified the forests.

-Who is that?

“It can’t be Zeit. The Wyvern guy isn’t capable of this. Was it the wolf bastard from the Seventh Forest?”

-He never even got the Tablet, just a half-measure. He’s not strong enough to pull this off.

-Did Anne come back?

“Even if she’s back, she probably hasn’t recovered her strength yet…”

At that moment, the Vampire waiting outside spoke up again.

“Lord, forgive my interruption, but there’s something else to report.”

“What is it?”

“There seems to be a human among the enemies.”

The High Elf stroked her chin.

-Is it that person who unified the three forests?

-If it’s a human, isn’t that easy? I’m heading out.

“As if a human could unify the forests. They probably just picked up a slave.”

Still, the Vampire Lord’s eyes sparkled as she gulped.

“The human’s mine. Called it. Touch them and I’ll break the alliance.”

The location the Orc gave me was inside the Seventh Forest.

It was pretty close to the Central of the Forest.

Since it wasn’t far from the fortress wall, I decided to stop by on the way. Using Haste, I sprinted and soon arrived.

A small cave hidden between the trees.

It was easy to overlook unless you were searching carefully.

It looked like an ordinary cave.

‘There’s definitely something odd about the aura here.’

On the surface, it looked like a cave that animals might inhabit, but inside, the aura was unusual.

Still, it wasn’t overwhelmingly strong.

Unless you had sharp senses, you wouldn’t even notice it.

As if something was being hidden.

“This doesn’t feel bad at all…”

I moved my feet and entered the cave.

A narrow passage just wide enough for a single person. The deeper I went, the stronger the aura became.

Just in case, I wrapped myself in Absolute Barrier and continued forward.

Before long, I reached my destination.

A space roughly ten pyeong in size.

Inside was a small altar.

As I tried to approach the altar, chains of fire formed, wrapping around it.

At the same time, a burning Portal appeared.

[Activating Gold Dragon’s Eye (SS).]

[Sealed Sacred Relic: Comet Necklace]

-To obtain the Sacred Relic, you must pass the Trial it bestows.

-Enter the Portal to face the Trial and prove your worth.

-If you fail, you can never challenge the Trial again.