The two monsters unleashed a barrage of attacks toward Jormungand.
In response, Jormungand twisted and turned its body this way and that, barely dodging the seeds flying at it and the swinging vines.
It was nothing short of a dangerously perilous acrobatic flight.
Even so, Jormungand gathered Aether together and shaped it.
It hurled the condensed Aether, now formed into a wedge, at the monsters.
However, since Jormungand was already struggling just to evade the monsters’ attacks, it had no leeway to properly aim.
And because the monsters were on guard against the Aether wedges Jormungand created,
the wedges did not pierce the monsters’ bodies and pin them to the ground like before.
They couldn’t even graze a leaf.
Nevertheless, Jormungand continued its precarious acrobatic flight, continuously forming and launching Aether wedges.
It needed to scatter the monsters’ attention to lighten the burden on Reysir, who was fighting while protecting his master.
If it stopped attacking, the two monsters currently targeting it would ignore it completely, leaving Jormungand out of their minds.
Instead of focusing entirely on dodging the enemies’ attacks, it chose to split its concentration.
Thanks to Jormungand’s efforts, Reysir was able to take down another monster.
But despite that, the tide of battle did not improve much.
The reason was simple: Reysir was exhausted.
Every time he deflected a [Seed Bomb], the explosive force traveled through his spear, and he had to absorb that impact with just his right arm.
And while Karbaldr’s body was relatively light, how light could a man over 180 cm tall really be?
Reysir’s Strength stat was fairly high, so he could lift Karbaldr with one arm,
but continuing to fight in this state for an extended period was extremely strenuous.
No, it was outright reckless.
Moreover, Reysir wasn’t just burdened by Karbaldr’s weight.
He was also responsible for Karbaldr’s life.
And the guilt that all this was his fault.
Reysir was clearly overexerting himself.
That was why he was getting exhausted so quickly.
Physically and mentally.
‘I have a feeling that the monsters’ attacks are persistently targeting Kar…’
Most of the [Seed Bombs] flew toward Reysir’s thighs, shoulders, and sides,
but occasionally some flew straight at Karbaldr’s head or torso.
Roots sprouting from the ground sometimes reached for Karbaldr’s heart instead of Reysir’s ankles.
‘Is it just my imagination? If it’s not imagination… are they doing this on the assumption that I’ll take the hits meant for him while protecting him?’
If it was the latter, it meant these monsters were highly intelligent.
Given how they were coordinating their attacks now, that seemed likely, so Reysir sharpened his vigilance even more.
He couldn’t help but hope it was just a simple misunderstanding.
‘But even if it is, nothing changes!
Karbaldr had fallen asleep after being covered in pollen from a plant grown from a monster’s seed while protecting himself.
The accident happened because Reysir had let his guard down.
Reysir couldn’t shake that thought.
He must not let his guard down again. No mistakes were allowed.
This obsession gnawed at Reysir’s mental stamina.
But unfortunately, humans are creatures prone to making mistakes the more physically exhausted and mentally driven they are.
Reysir failed to dodge one vine swung at him, got hit square in the back, and staggered heavily.
To keep from falling, he reflexively drove the spear tip into the ground and steadied himself.
At that moment, a monster’s root burst from the earth and, as if waiting, coiled around the spear shaft and seized it. Simultaneously, a single seed flew toward Karbaldr’s head.
Pulling out the spear to deflect the seed would take too much time.
So he let go and stepped back, but then a wide-area seed bombardment showered down.
It was impossible to dodge them all.
Reysir wrapped both arms around Karbaldr’s body, turned around, and curled up.
Then he pulled out his Silver Ethere without reserve, forming a hemispherical barrier.
— BOOOOM!!!
The so-called ‘barrier’ was merely spreading Aether out wide.
Since no skill effects were applied, its durability was pitiful despite the amount of Aether invested.
It was barely enough to prevent the seeds from sticking to his body and exploding.
The shockwave from multiple [Seed Bombs] detonating was not even half nullified.
The remaining explosive force was something Reysir had to endure entirely.
A pressure like being trampled by a giant’s foot struck his back.
His internal organs shook violently as if churning.
A mouthful of blood burst out with a “K-kek!”
The immense shock momentarily blurred Reysir’s mind, but he didn’t lose consciousness.
The excruciating pain wracking his entire body wouldn’t let him faint.
But Reysir couldn’t find hope in that fact.
It only brought despair.
His body was no longer in a condition to continue fighting.
He couldn’t even think about getting back up.
Expecting another wave of monster attacks, he hugged Karbaldr’s body even tighter.
Just then—
“KROOOOAAAAAR—!!!”
Jormungand roared and used the [Cat’s Spirit (Dragon Fear)] skill.
The monsters froze in terror, unable to move so much as a single vine.
“Hey, hey.”
Jormungand quickly approached Reysir and handed him a Highest-Grade Healing Potion.
Using that skill early in battle to help reduce the monster count would have been pointless—the Original Author would just spawn more monsters to nullify it.
So it chose to use it this way to seize a recovery opportunity.
Reysir couldn’t possibly fully understand Jormungand’s deep intent,
but he realized it wasn’t yet time to despair and give up everything.
“Thanks.”
Reysir quickly uncorked the potion bottle and gulped down the contents in one go.
The healing potion didn’t restore his stamina, but his injuries healed, making his body feel much lighter.
It felt as if strength was welling up inside him.
Reysir lifted Karbaldr again with one arm and quickly got to his feet.
He then swiftly retrieved his spear and gripped it.
Meanwhile, Jormungand had created two Aether wedges.
Although the stun wore off before they could pierce the monsters, causing one to twist and dodge,
it managed to pin one monster in place, and Reysir’s Lightning Strike finished it off, reducing the enemy count by one more.
His stamina was fairly depleted, so his condition wasn’t optimal,
but thanks to the Highest-Grade Healing Potion, all injuries were washed away, and his body felt very good.
‘There aren’t many enemies left now…!’
Reysir held onto hope, but to avoid letting his guard down, he stayed tense and continued fighting calmly.
When he had reduced the monster count to three—
Shurururuk, sarararak, seukeunseukeun…
The situation Jormungand had feared finally occurred.
Additional monsters appeared.
Thankfully, it wasn’t a group over ten like before.
This time, five monsters appeared.
Adding to the remaining ones, that made eight in total.
Reysir targeted the newly appeared monsters and launched a surprise Lightning Strike attack.
Three bolts of lightning fell, but only one hit.
So now the remaining monster count was seven.
‘If new monsters keep swarming in before the battle even ends like this…’
A seed of negative thought was planted in Reysir’s mind.
It soon germinated, spreading wide branches of anxiety.
In reality, the seeds spat out by the monsters lodged in the ground, took root, and grew.
As if the monsters had decided that inflicting damage with [Seed Bombs] alone wouldn’t be enough,
buds of two colors bloomed simultaneously in multiple places.
‘White and blue.’
Reysir immediately distanced himself from those plants and activated his [Truth-Reading Eye] skill.
The white buds belonged to [Seed Bloom’s Sleep Grass], which had put Karbaldr to sleep.
The only difference in the description window was that the past tense ‘was’ had changed to present tense ‘is.’
And the one with blue buds—
[Seed Bloom’s Poison Grass]
: A plant grown by the monster ‘Seed Bloom’ using its [Germination] skill. It contains pollen with a fairly potent toxicity.
==========
‘Poison Grass…?!’
Reysir felt a chill run down his spine.
It was a mercy that Karbaldr had been covered in sleep powder instead of poison powder—what if it had been poison?
Hadn’t he even mentioned that he nearly died from ingesting poison at the start of last summer break?
He had never examined another poison grass with his [Truth-Reading Eye].
So Reysir had no idea exactly how strong ‘fairly potent toxicity’ was.
He could only guess that since no adverbs like ‘extremely’ or ‘very’ were attached, it probably wasn’t instantly lethal in small amounts.
But what if a large quantity of toxins was absorbed into the body?
He might lose his life on the spot.
‘I can hold my breath momentarily when the buds bloom and release pollen, but Kar, who’s unconscious…?’
Reysir couldn’t shake off his anxiety.
He didn’t know how well a handkerchief covering his nose and mouth would filter out the pollen.
Whether the flowers only opened and released pollen when someone was within a certain range,
the white and blue flowers remained still with their buds closed.
That made them feel even more threatening.
Even now, the monsters were launching [Seed Bombs] while also scattering [Germination] seeds.
If those buds were left alone, this area would quickly turn into a flower field.
Reysir, while dodging or deflecting the monsters’ direct attacks, scattered lightning energy to turn all the white and blue buds to ash.
But those pesky plants would soon grow back and form buds again.
He could sense that this attrition war would continue until he collapsed from exhaustion.
‘Ah…? No. The buff Kar gave me will end first… huh…?’
Reysir corrected his own thought and noticed something strange.
As he recalled, Karbaldr had applied the buff in Chapter 332, right before the first battle here.
He noticed the extra buff time 😀