The Runesmith - Chapter 645 – Angry Tree.

The Treant roared, and the sound carried in all directions. It was not merely noise but a call. Roland felt it ripple through the Rotten Forest like a strange echo. His sensors screamed warnings as figures appeared inside his helmet display. In the distance, multiple dots emerged, all moving toward them. The safe zone’s protection wavered, bending under the pressure of the monster’s presence.

‘That’s a lot of dots… They are coming from everywhere.’

From the darkness beyond the grass, the forest answered the Treant’s call. Roots tore free from the soil as smaller treants lurched forward, their bodies half rotted, limbs fused with fungus and something resembling bone. Mushroom men poured out from between swollen trunks, caps glowing with fluorescent moss as spores drifted around them like mist.

Thick-bodied toads dragged themselves from the marshy ground, throats pulsing as venom dripped from their jaws. Poison snakes slithered over roots and rocks alike, their scales dull and almost necrotic, eyes glowing faintly with corrupted mana. Behind them came other oddities, centipedes and flying mosquitoes the size of eagles, all moving in response to the Treant’s call.

‘I need to kill this thing fast before it calls the whole dungeon here.’

Roland understood the real problem instantly. The monster standing in the center of this supposed safe zone was the true danger. If it were slain and the call ended, the other creatures would likely disperse, or at least no new ones would be drawn in. This living tree was not just a monster but a trap, deliberately created for his group.

‘That’s quite the level for this part of the dungeon…’

He identified the creature quickly and now knew what he was dealing with. This was not the first time he had heard of such a creature, but encounters with it were rare. Several things about the situation did not add up. The monsters were not his only concern, as he could not be sure there was nothing more at play. While the Blacksmith might have been a loose end for a powerful adventurer, this was far too much force to justify killing a single man. A more likely explanation was that someone else in the group was the true target, though it was also possible that both were targets and multiple people in the group were meant to die.

‘I’ll think about this once this is over.’

First, he activated his spatial rune, releasing several of his floating golems into the surroundings to gain a clearer view of the situation. The sensors he had already deployed were insufficient, and with an elevated perspective, he could keep watch over the Blacksmith. At this point, the man lay only a few meters from his feet, having been dragged in by his gravitational magic.

A layer of concealment shimmered over the golems as they moved into the open and vanished into the darkness of the dungeon. The other adventurers were far too preoccupied with the monster’s spearlike branches, trying to impale them and its roots erupting from the ground to notice. Once the golems were gone, Roland tossed his robe aside, revealing his full suit of draconic-looking armor.

“Captain Varek, there are swarms of monsters approaching us from all sides. I do not think retreat is an option.”

“What?”

Varek had just managed to seize his two swords, a longsword in his right hand and a shortsword in his left, hacking through a wooden appendage as Roland shouted to him. He was the de facto leader of the group, but it was clear he had not expected this turn of events.

Roland could see on his display that they were already surrounded. Retreat might be possible for seasoned adventurers, but charging through swarms of tier three monsters would be deadly when they were outnumbered ten to one.

Roland could see the moment the realization hit him. Captain Varek’s eyes widened as he took in the edges of the clearing, where shadows now moved towards them. The Rotten Forest itself seemed to want all of them dead. The ground trembled as a massive number of Treants moved towards them. 

“Damn it…” 

Varek hissed, parrying another thrusting branch. 

“The guild said this place would be safe for another three months! Did those bastards lie to me?”

This was news to Roland’s ears. It implied that Varek knew the monster existed in this area, yet the Guild had somehow assured him that it was still safe to stay the night.

“Leave the corrupted flesh-eating tree to us.”

A treant root burst from the ground near the porters, sending dirt and screams flying, but before it could strike, a torrent of blue flames reduced it to cinders. Varek paused for a moment. He was still the leader here, yet he seemed to realize something. That realization was the extent of Roland’s true strength, which surpassed his own.

“Form up!”

The captain roared, his voice cutting through the chaos as he seized control with authority.

“Shield line around the center. Protect the wounded and the civilians. Archers to the second row. Mage, start casting your spells.”

At first, Roland had not been sure whether Varek was friend or foe, but it became clear that the man had a good head on his shoulders. He did not question Roland’s words and instead focused entirely on the threat before them.

“Siegfried, you have five minutes, don’t disappoint me now.”

Roland nodded.

“I won’t.”

Soon, both he and Agni threw themselves at the tree. With his wolf capable of producing so much fire, the stationary treant monster quickly identified him as the main threat, just as Roland had foreseen.

“Keep your flames up, Amun. Don’t let up, keep it busy.”

“Awoo!”

Agni howled as he turned up the heat. As his flames shifted to blue and his body took on the sheen of sapphires, he retained all of his skills. He leapt into the air, surrounded by a veil of fire. His new skill, Ruby Prison, activated as he scattered his gems around the tree while it tried to strike him. Although the monster was a plant, it proved highly resistant to the flames, regenerating almost instantly from any damage.

Roland, on the other hand, focused on locating the creature’s true weak point, a core hidden somewhere within. His golem drones flew overhead, feeding him multiple streams of data that he processed rapidly thanks to his Multiple Minds trait.

From a distance, it seemed as though he was doing little more than walking forward. In truth, a massive gravity field had been established within a ten-metre radius around the tree. Now, whenever it attempted to attack anything beyond that area, its branches were pinned to the ground, and its roots were unable to move at all.

‘There it is!’’

Roland’s vision focused on a point as multiple data streams overlapped inside his helm. Heat differentials, mana density, vibration feedback from the roots. Everything converged on a single point directly beneath the Treant’s trunk. Not in its chest, not high within the bark as most would assume, but deep underground within the root network. 

‘The heart… no, a core. It’s deep underground, has to be close to half a kilometer… can I do it?’

Roland calculated as the monsters closed in from all sides. The adventurers were handling them for now, cutting them down before they could reach him, but it would not last forever. He needed to stop the signal the creature was releasing, otherwise running would probably be the better strategy. If he wished, he could escape with Agni at any moment, but he still wanted to know who was responsible.

“I was not planning on using this here, but it is probably my best chance.”

He planted his sword into the ground. Its hilt hissed softly, revealing small entrance ports within. His armor shifted, exposing the interior of his chest cavity. Four hexagonal rune batteries came into view, and at the center, two cords extended, which he connected to the sword’s hilt. Runes soon began to shine brightly, and the blade powered up as it drew on both his own mana and the batteries, multiplying his reserves to nearly three times their usual capacity.

Mana surged through the blade and into the earth, not spreading outward but plunging straight down like an inverted spear. Gravity, compression, heat, and force folded together into a single point. The ground beneath his boots cracked as if struck by a falling star, sending tremors in all directions and drawing the attention of many adventurers.

The treant reacted as the gravitational defense surrounding it faded, most of its power now focused on protecting its core. It lashed out with branches, vines, and rot, but before it could reach him, a howl resounded. Multiple blue beams of fiery light shot out, connecting with the sapphires embedded throughout the prison. The monster’s limbs charred as the sapphire cage activated under Agni’s command.

Everyone watched as a fiery inferno took shape before them. The treant’s upper body was engulfed in flames. Its bark blackened and peeled away, and its regeneration stalled just long enough for Roland to finish concentrating the destructive force driving into the ground.

“Now.”

The runes on the sword screamed as the mixed spell, carrying multiple elements, slammed downward. It drilled into the soil with more than raw mana. The compressed earth rebounded with catastrophic force, turning bedrock, roots, and flesh into pulverized dust. The explosion did not break the surface. Instead, it vaporized the plant heart hidden below. What had taken decades to grow and nurture was erased in a single second.

The treant froze. Its roar cut off mid-howl as every branch stiffened, then shattered. The massive trunk collapsed inward as if all structure had been stripped away at once. A moment later, the ground beneath them began to give way as the spiderlike network of roots crumbled. The soil sank, and he jumped back just in time to avoid being dragged down with the collapsing tree.

When the dust cleared, the tree was gone. Not burned. Not felled. Simply gone. Across the clearing, monsters faltered. Treants stopped mid-charge as if waking from a dream. Toads croaked and turned to flee, and many other creatures followed. Some still remained, but their numbers had been more than halved, granting the adventurers a brief moment of respite.

The adventurers stared in stunned silence. Agni landed beside Roland, the flames around him fading as he shook ash from his fur and let out a proud snort. Roland pulled the cords free from his sword, and his chestplate returned to normal. The four batteries within had dimmed now that the charge was used up. He lifted his sword from the ground in a single smooth motion and rested it against his shoulder once more.

“Let’s get rid of the monsters. No more of them should be attracted to this place.”

Not even five minutes had passed, leaving Captain Varek speechless. He exhaled with a laugh, then turned toward the other adventurers.

“You heard the man. Let’s clear this place out and rest later.”

Everyone nodded quickly as they watched the remains of the tree monster sink into the ground. The green grass around them began to pale as the magic holding everything in place started to waver.

The cleanup was not that difficult. While there were a lot of tier three monsters in the group, none of them were above level two hundred. Without the tree calling for additional backup, they only had to contend with fewer than thirty tier three monsters and around a hundred tier two monstrosities.

Agni’s flames burst forth, and Harphon’s lightning showered the enemies until the last of them fell. The porters cried out in joy, and the craftsmen did the same. Roland continued to watch everyone closely, wondering if the perpetrator would strike, but it seemed they were unwilling to expose themselves. Perhaps after the swift destruction of the powerful tree monster, they felt overwhelmed and were waiting for another opportunity. However, Roland would not give them one. After further analysis of the situation, he was now certain of the perpetrator’s identity.

The clearing was quiet again, though it was a different kind of silence than before. Everyone was exhausted after the battle that had just taken place, and several of them were injured. They lacked a proper priest to heal them, but luckily, there were plenty of potions to see everyone through. There was only a single casualty, which for long time veterans like these was considered acceptable. Everyone knew the dangers of dungeon diving, yet it was clear that many were wondering why this had happened and were placing the blame on their leader.

“What did you mean by three months? Did you know this would happen, Varek?”

“Yeah, out with it. Everyone heard what you said. Did you know about this?”

A few adventurers circled around Varek as he tried to explain everything, but instead of listening, Roland was confirming a suspicion of his own. To most, it looked as though the crime scene had simply sunk into the ground, but there was still something there that could identify the perpetrator. He moved to the spot and used a gravity spell to pull something closer.

“Oh, what is that? It seems to have black magic on it.”

Harphon the gnome appeared beside him as a dark metallic shard was drawn into Roland’s hand.

“I think this is what caused the tree to wake up. Varek is telling the truth. Someone else awoke the monster.”

“Oh?”

Roland turned toward the four people surrounding the adventurer leader and shouted at him. One of them was the perpetrator, though they were clearly only pretending to be angry. For a moment, he let it continue as he watched the person he suspected. The time was used to explain a few things to the gnome and to tell Agni to cut off one of the potential escape routes if they tried to run.

“That’s enough.”

He called out, interrupting everyone at once. His runic suppression skill, coupled with the reputation he had gained during the confrontation, caused all the adventurers to fall silent. They had all realized that he was probably the strongest among them.

“Could you tell me what this is, Brakka?”

He held out the remains of the cursed object in his metallic palm, pointing it toward the barbarian woman, who looked confused.

“Why would I know that, sugar?”

Of course, she denied it, but he had gathered too much evidence to link her to the attack.

“Then would you mind explaining why your body is releasing black magic similar to this? There are not many things that can awaken a sleeping Flesh Eating Tree, but this kind of black magic can.”

The other adventurers, along with Varek, took a step back. To them, Brakka was also an outsider, not someone they could fully trust. Roland, on the other hand, had saved them from potential doom, making him far more trustworthy in their eyes.

“This isn’t funny, sugar. There is no black magic on me. How would that even work? I went to sleep just like everyone else.”

“Indeed, you did. It is quite faint, but the black magic originates from a specific area. The place where your bedroll was and where you were sleeping.”

“How would you even know such a thing?”

Brakka took a step back, her eyes darting around as if searching for a way to escape. Roland had analyzed the entire area and had it scanned before the battle even took place. Even though it was destroyed, he could still access the old data to pinpoint where the corruption had begun. The magic was unusually stealthy, something he had never encountered before and likely would have missed if he had not increased his level and enhanced his runic sensors.

Throughout the battle, Brakka had disposed of most of the evidence, but his stealth drones continued recording everything. It was enough for an accusation. The dark energy had already subsided, and his claim that he could still detect it on her was a lie, but she did not know that. All that remained was to restrain her and begin asking questions. Perhaps the secret of this would be assassin would finally be revealed, or so he thought.

“Wait… grab her!”

Harphon shouted as he noticed something before Roland could. Brakka’s body began shaking violently as strange smoke poured from her mouth. She collapsed instantly, hitting the ground and leaving everyone speechless.