Chapter 322

Sensing the ominous movements of the Tree-shaped Magical Beast, Jeanne used one instance of Cardina’s Spirit Division: Far Sight Near Slash to broadcast its actions live, visible to all, while Tatsuro and the others used two instances.

As they observed, the Wolf Magical Beasts, with one holding an Imomu in its jaws without killing it, began sprinting back through the forest along the path they came from. The other Magical Beasts continued their search for Imomu.

As expected, the individual carrying the Imomu reached the Tree-shaped Magical Beast. The Wolf then hurled the Imomu toward it.

Just as the Imomu, soaring through the air, was about to collide with the Tree-shaped Magical Beast, its branches, which had remained completely still until now, moved and coiled around the Imomu, capturing it.

The branches of the Tree-shaped Magical Beast slowly tightened around the Imomu.

“Huh? It’s going to kill the Imomu it went through the trouble of bringing?”

“…No, it doesn’t seem like it intends to kill it.”

Just before the Imomu would have died, the branches released it, letting it fall to the ground, twitching and convulsing but still alive.

However, in the next instant, the Imomu dissolved into the darkness and vanished.

“I don’t know the details of what it’s doing, but it probably needs to weaken them directly itself to make them disappear like that”

“The second one’s here”

“…It’s squeezing it the same way, so Leah’s theory seems right”

The second, then the third Imomu was gathered by the Wolves, weakened by the stretching branches, and made to disappear.

After repeating this behavior and collecting the fourth Imomu, the Wolves ceased their search and all began to return.

When they reached the Tree-shaped Magical Beast, all the Wolves vanished.

“All that’s left is for Shubelg Fungus to appear, and it’ll be confirmed”

“I mean, isn’t it already confirmed? There’s no one else doing something like this, right?”

“Yeah, there isn’t. But we can’t rule out interference from somewhere else at the moment it creates or summons Shubelg Fungus. So, I plan to keep observing until we’re certain it’s Shubelg Fungus.”

“It’d be a hassle if we had to do this twice”

“Yeah, that makes sense”

Since Ai seemed convinced, they decided to continue focusing their Probing and Monitoring on the remaining Imomu and the Tree-shaped Magical Beast.

Time passed, and about eight hours later, as the morning sun began to rise, the Tree-shaped Magical Beast remained still, masquerading as an ordinary tree.

Leah, overcome by sleepiness partway through, was told to rest and was now softly snoring.

Thanks to Endeniente, Tatsuro and Ai felt no fatigue, though they were bored. As they continued their Monitoring, the moment finally arrived.

“It’s here!”

“Oh!”

Cardina’s Spirit Division: Far Sight Near Slash vividly displayed four Shubelg Fungus appearing around the Tree-shaped Magical Beast.

“Any other suspicious reactions?”

“Peewee!”

Cardina shook her head, indicating none.

Meanwhile, the four Shubelg Fungus began to take off in different directions.

“Here we go! Nana, wake Leah and follow with Jeanne!”

“What about you, Father?”

“I’ll take down the Shubelg Fungus with the others first. Since they’re all together now, we can deal with them in one go.”

Saying this, Tatsuro stood up, holding Ai, who had been sitting on his lap, and activated the bracelet that created a Protective Film of Dragon Force to counter the Black Fungus.

After confirming that Ai and the others had done the same, he leaped through the open door, passing through the Barrier and entering the forest.

As Cardina and Athena followed, Tatsuro spread the Wings of Tsukuyomi, soaring high into the sky. He aimed Amaterasu at the four Shubelg Fungus rising upward and fired a curving Laser.

He successfully took down three at once, but the fourth evaded due to its poor positioning.

However, Cardina, arriving from behind, unleashed Dragon Wing Blade Magic Bullets with Auto-tracking.

The bullets pursued the Shubelg Fungus, which had grown wary and started moving erratically, searching for them after its three companions were defeated.

Though it noticed the attack a second before impact, it couldn’t evade the tracking bullets, which pierced its body, killing it as it fell to the ground.

“That takes care of all the Shubelg Fungus it created today”

“But there’s no reaction from that Tree-shaped Magical Beast”

“Yeah… What the heck is that thing trying to do?”

“We’re late!”

Still floating in the air, they watched the Tree-shaped Magical Beast when Leah, riding a Kirin-shaped machine with a pseudo-Air Walk, caught up with Jeanne, Nana, and Athena.

“No, it’s fine. Now that everyone’s here, let’s go check what that thing is”

“Yeah, I’m curious too”

With everyone gathered and fully prepared for any situation, they landed about three hundred meters from the Tree-shaped Magical Beast and cautiously approached in a line.

But as they entered within two hundred meters, the entity, which had been as still as a real tree, began to act.

“It seems to have noticed us approaching. Guess it couldn’t stay quiet anymore”

“Yeah. But that’s about it, right? There’s a lot of them, but none seem particularly strong”

“Let’s crush them”

Just as it had summoned the Wolf Magical Beasts, the Tree-shaped Magical Beast released nearly a hundred Magical Beasts from its surroundings.

Among them were various types—Beastfolk, bird-like, Insectoid Species, plant-like, and Humanoid Magical Beasts. Yet, despite their diversity, they didn’t fight among themselves, all directing their Gaze straight at Tatsuro and the others.

“With that many, there might be some rare Magical Beasts among them”

“What? I was thinking of burning them all at once, but should we minimize damage for Material collection?”

“Are you going to take them all out, Father?”

“Well, leaving them half-done would be a hassle, so I’ll take care of them with magic. But Cardina, lend me a hand.”

“Peewee!”

Smiling at Cardina’s enthusiasm, Tatsuro aimed Amaterasu and used Earth Magic to raise the ground where they stood, forming a five-meter-high platform.

Next, the umbrella ribs around the core of the Magic Brain made a clanging sound as they detached.

The eight detached ribs, controlled by Amaterasu’s Dragon Telekinesis, aligned in a circular formation at the tip of Tatsuro’s Staff and halted.

He then converged a mixed magic of light and fire at the tips of the Staff and the eight ribs, envisioning firing it diagonally downward toward the densely packed Magical Beasts in nine directions.

Red spheres of light formed at the tips of the Staff and claws.

As the others watched, wondering what he would do, Tatsuro enlisted Cardina’s help to gather the necessary information.

“Use Detection Magic to send me the shapes and position data of all the Magical Beasts”

“Peewee!”

Cardina’s Probing System precisely analyzed the shapes and real-time positions of nearly a hundred moving Magical Beasts, syncing the data to Tatsuro, who relayed it to Amaterasu.

As the horde of Magical Beasts closed in, mere seconds from collision, Tatsuro remained calm, waiting for Amaterasu to optimize the magic using its core. In about two seconds, it signaled completion.

“Fire!”

With his shout, the magic activated. Each of the nine spheres split into multiple thin Lasers, precisely striking the foreheads of ninety-eight running Magical Beasts.

With a thunderous crash, the Magical Beasts, killed with minimal wounds, collapsed simultaneously, and most did not rise again.

“Four plant-types and one Insectoid Species remain”

“Then I’ll take care of them before it summons more”

“Alright, go for it” Tatsuro replied, reverting the terrain to normal.

As the ground lowered, Ai fired multiple blue Ki arrows, swiftly dispatching the remaining enemies.

“Now, let’s head to the main target”

While storing the numerous Magical Beasts in the Infinite Item Field, they rushed toward the Tree-shaped Magical Beast, the master of these creatures.

Stopping about ten meters away to observe, there was no sign of movement yet.

“Can you tell what it is? Just a Magical Beast… is that it?”

A mysterious entity capable of summoning and controlling multiple Magical Beasts and even causing Rapid Growth in Imomu.

Faced with this clearly anomalous Tree-shaped Magical Beast, Tatsuro asked Leah how to handle it. As Leah analyzed the creature on the machine’s Monitor using All-Seeing Eye, her expression darkened, confirming her suspicions.

“…No, it’s not just a Magical Beast”

“So, it’s a special kind of Magical Beast?”

“To put it simply, that thing is a Magical Beast that was once human”

“What!?”

“Huh!?”

“Peewee!?”

“Neigh!?”

“A human!?”

“For real!?”

As everyone reacted, Leah continued her explanation.

“First, I mentioned that Black Fungus has a property that tries to turn things into Magical Beasts, right?”

“Yes, I remember. You said if it attaches to a human, it tries to turn them into a Magical Beast but can’t, and they die”

“Exactly. But since it’s already a Magical Beast, it’s not affected as much. Normally, if Black Fungus attaches to anything other than a Magical Beast, it’s extremely dangerous—but there seems to be one exception.”

“And that exception is that thing, right?”

“Correct. You all have learned a fair bit about this world, so you know the definition of a human here, right?”

“Yeah, whether they have a system installed… Wait, no way”

“Hm? Something wrong?”

“So, it had the properties of a Magical Beast but was a human with a system installed… is that right?”

“What!? A Magical Beast with a system installed? Is that even possible!?”

“It’s possible. Since their appearance is so different, you rarely see them in countries with mostly Humanoid Magical Beasts—they’d get attacked by mistake, thinking they’re regular Magical Beasts. But on the continent across from this one, there are countries where many such beings live. For some reason, this individual ended up here and was infected by Black Fungus in this forest. Thanks to its Magical Beast body, it didn’t suffer a rejection reaction and accepted it, but the human part—its cognitive abilities—seems to have drastically declined. The property of trying to become a Magical Beast likely mutated it into a more beast-like form”

Stunned by this unexpected revelation, Tatsuro and the others stared at the Tree-shaped Magical Beast. Then

“×○××× ○○×××× ○○×○○×○×”

“Wah, it’s talking!”

“It can speak words!?”

“×○××× Leave this forest now”

Though their ears caught an unfamiliar language, after hearing more than four words, All Language Comprehension activated for Tatsuro and Ai, allowing them to understand and speak it.

Hoping they could settle things peacefully through conversation, Tatsuro quickly spoke up.

“What do you mean, ‘leave’? We’re here on a request from the Adventurer’s Guild! If you can talk”

“You all, leave this forest now”

“Hey! I get what you’re saying, so listen to us too!”

“You all, leave this forest now”

“You all, leave this forest now”

“You all, leave this forest now”

“You all, leave this forest now”

“You all, leave this forest now”

“No good… It’s not a conversation”

Despite Tatsuro and Ai speaking in its language, the Tree-shaped Magical Beast only repeated the same phrase, completely unresponsive.

“It seems too corrupted to hold a conversation. Talking it out might be impossible…”

According to her All-Seeing Eye, it was so consumed by its Magical Beast nature that, despite speaking, it likely didn’t even understand its own words, merely echoing remnants of its human consciousness.

“What should we do?”

“Once Black Fungus takes root, it can’t be removed. The only way to deal with it is to destroy it at the cellular level, so for someone in this state, with it spread throughout their body, they can only live on as a Magical Beast. So… we should report to the Adventurer’s Guild… and, well… have them dispose of it”

Even Leah seemed reluctant to handle it themselves, proposing a roundabout solution.

Tatsuro, too, hesitated to casually kill a being that might once have been capable of speech, even if it was now a Magical Beast.

Agreeing with her suggestion, they turned to leave to report the Tree-shaped Magical Beast, which continued muttering the same phrase like a broken record, showing no further signs of movement or summoning more Magical Beasts. But then, it suddenly spoke something different.

“You all, this—this—this—forest—leave—ga—gagaga—niganinini—…nigasasanaaaaaiiiii!!”