I Got a Gallery in the Wild - Chapter 283

I stared at the entity that had suddenly appeared and absorbed a goblin.

It was easily massive enough to be called a giant, and had a rather monstrous appearance.

Except for what appeared to be its chest, its entire limbs looked like plant vines.

However, those vines squirmed like muscles, adding to its hideousness—and its head was even worse.

It was definitely a flower, but it was so blood-red it looked drenched in gore.

[￣￣￣￣!!!]

Crucially, its petals remained closed normally, snapping wide open whenever it let out a monstrous shriek.

In the center of the fully open flower, something long squirmed like an earthworm—almost as if it were a tongue.

’Could that really be the Immortal Herb?’

Except for its human-like silhouette, it closely resembled the Immortal Herb. No, it had to be the Immortal Herb.

Because the actual roots of the Immortal Herb squirmed just like that. It made sense if you thought of the roots having become the body.

I checked the goblins’ reactions. Every single one of them was clearly bewildered by this turn of events.

’What happened? Judging by the goblins’ reactions, this seems to be the first time something like this has happened.’

If even those who had survived for a long time in the Forest of the Four Seasons reacted like this, the likelihood that they had set a trap for me was low.

Whatever the reason, the fact remained that we had to bring down that Immortal Herb Colossus.

"Okarak! Marknar kkikukkao!"

As if sharing my thoughts, Ggambu yelled out loudly.

At the same time, the young goblins, female goblins, and finally the elderly hastily hid inside their houses.

The rest of the goblins took up battle stances. Having the hobgoblins among them made it reassuring.

[￣￣￣￣￣!!]

The Immortal Herb Colossus began to move. I didn’t act hastily.

If nothing else, the moment I got caught by that thing, I would bid farewell to this world.

Because as soon as one goblin was caught, it was absorbed on the spot, leaving only bones behind.

I didn’t know the Immortal Herb possessed life absorption, but it wasn’t particularly strange.

’Allfather mentioned it. A flower that absorbs life.’

I heard it absorbed not only life but even light.

But considering that, the surroundings weren’t dark.

Maybe it was because this was an open area.

"Kukara!"

Pabababak!

Upon Ggambu’s command, multiple arrows were fired simultaneously.

Tiny stone arrows, fitting for the goblins’ physical proportions.

However, perhaps because the archers were Aura users as well, the arrows flew at quite a fast speed.

Since it was a plant-type monster, it wouldn’t be super effective, but it should serve as a distraction.

Ssuuk- ssuk-

"What?"

However, an unexpected outcome occurred.

Right before the arrows hit the Immortal Herb Colossus, their trajectories subtly twisted, missing completely.

Normally at least one should have hit, but not a single arrow connected.

[￣￣￣￣￣!!!]

Kwaang!

While the goblins were flustered, the Immortal Herb Colossus shrieked and slammed both arms into the ground.

Both arms squirmed menacingly—an ominous sign.

Seeing that, I urgently shouted at the goblins:

"Watch the ground! It’s erupting!"

[Watch the ground! It’s erupting!]

Cain thoughtfully translated for me. I hoped this shout would prove effective.

Fortunately, the experienced goblins scrambled away from their spots as soon as they heard Cain’s shout.

However, the inexperienced goblins faltered with confused sounds, ultimately being one step too late.

Kwaaang!!

"Kkeeek!"

"Kaaaak!"

Clusters of tentacles erupted from the ground, piercing through the inexperienced goblins.

The goblins pierced by tentacles were soon tightly wrapped head-to-toe in vines.

Before long, just like the very first goblin victim, nothing was left of them but bones.

’What? The position changed?’

Seeing that scene, I immediately noticed something strange.

The goblins’ positions right before the tentacles erupted and their positions afterward were completely different.

Furthermore, when the tentacles retracted, their positions returned to normal. It was definitely bizarre.

"Kaaaaa!!!"

Meanwhile, a hobgoblin charged forward wielding a two-handed hammer.

Apparently, it could no longer stand by and watch its brethren being brutally slaughtered.

Since the Immortal Herb had yet to retract its arms, the timing was perfect.

Uuuung!

A vivid Aura Blade coated the hobgoblin’s weapon.

One of the weaknesses of plant-type monsters was their feeble durability.

An Aura Blade would easily be more than enough to slice right through it.

Boong!

"Krk?!"

It missed again. The hobgoblin’s attack merely cleaved empty air.

It had clearly aimed for the leg of the Immortal Herb Colossus right in front of its nose, yet it missed futilely.

It wasn’t even an ordinary miss. Space itself had refracted.

’They said the Immortal Herb absorbs light. Could it be?’

It was highly likely operating on the same principle as a mirage in a desert.

A refraction phenomenon occurred in the process of absorbing even light.

Hoong! Hoong!

"Uaaah!"

While I drew conclusions in my head, the hobgoblin wildly swung its weapon.Read this novel at nov‌elping.com for the best experience.

If it kept that up and got grabbed by the Immortal Herb Colossus, all of its life force might be drained in an instant.

Chwararak!

As expected, while the hobgoblin was flailing uselessly, a change occurred in the Immortal Herb Colossus’s legs.

Its outward shape merely resembled a giant; fundamentally, it was a plant-type monster.

It wouldn’t be surprising no matter where tentacles emerged from its body.

Sure enough, tentacles shot out from its legs and rained down on the hobgoblin.

Peook! Peok!

However, the hobgoblin chieftain intercepted that attack in advance.

While attack accuracy dropped due to refraction, defense seemed manageable.

"Huuup!"

Following up, the hobgoblin chieftain took a massive swing with his stone hammer.

High chance of missing due to refraction? Then simply don’t leave any room to miss.

With that apparent mindset, he closed in even closer than the previous hobgoblin and slammed his hammer down.

Kwaaang!

Since it was a blunt weapon rather than a sharp sword, a satisfyingly loud impact echoed out.

Although the middle section was refracted, the leg of the Immortal Herb Colossus was so thick that the blow landed squarely.

[￣￣￣￣￣!!!]

Yet the Immortal Herb Colossus merely shrieked as if completely unfazed. It was slightly disconcerting.

Low cutting power or not, it was a blunt weapon imbued with an Aura Blade. If hit properly, it should have exploded into pieces.

But the Immortal Herb Colossus’s leg didn’t burst; it remained completely fine. Even more horrifyingly, there was something else.

Ggulleok- ggulleok- ggulleok-

The stone hammer in contact with its leg—the Aura Blade wrapping the stone hammer was flowing straight into the Immortal Herb Colossus’s leg.

Rather than flowing, it was closer to being forcibly absorbed.

Chwararak!

That wasn’t all. Vine tentacles sprouting from its leg completely enveloped the entire stone hammer.

The hobgoblin chieftain pulled hard on the stone hammer and hastily retreated backward.

With a crunching sound, the tentacles covering the stone hammer were mercilessly ripped away.

Ggumul- ggumul- ggumul-

"Krk?!"

However, the tentacles that had covered the stone hammer hadn’t vanished.

The tentacles grew progressively larger, almost as if using the Aura Blade as nourishment.

Seeing this, the hobgoblin chieftain frantically tried to rip the vine tentacles off with his bare hands.

Chwaaak! Chwak!

"Kaaak...!"

That proved to be his undoing. The vine tentacles began to encroach upon the hobgoblin chieftain’s hands.

As though feeding not just on Aura but his entire body as nutrients, they gradually covered him.

[￣￣￣￣￣!!]

While the hobgoblin chieftain was incapacitated, the Immortal Herb Colossus went completely wild.

As if demanding even more nutrients, it indiscriminately devoured the goblins.

Entangling and absorbing them with vine tentacles was the baseline. I had seen that several times already.

"Keeeeek! Keek!!"

Kwaddeuk! Kwadeuk! Ujeok! Ujeok!

But watching it stuff goblins into the ’mouth’ on its chest was truly gruesome.

I thought it was just a thick chest; I never imagined it was actually a mouth.

"Ahjussi Ludwig. Lackey. You two lure that thing outside the village. Manifesting Aura or threatening it seems to draw its attention."

"Understood."

"And what about you?"

"I’ll check on the hobgoblin chieftain’s condition first. We need him around to keep things under control."

While the casualties piled up, I made the request to Ludwig and Lackey.

To take that monster down, we either had to exploit its weakness or pour down overwhelming ’firepower.’

Before that, we had to minimize casualties, so treating the hobgoblin chieftain took priority.

Because ever since he collapsed, the goblins had scattered chaotically. He was essentially their pillar of support.

Ggumul- ggumul-

"Kuaka! Kuaka!"

"Kra... kau..."

Ggambu was tending to the hobgoblin chieftain, but had no proper solution.

The vine tentacles were slowly gnawing away at the hobgoblin chieftain.

He seemed to be holding on with Aura for now, but the absorption speed was so fast he wouldn’t last long.

[￣￣￣￣￣!]

Ludwig and Lackey were engaging the Immortal Herb Colossus effectively.

Since I explained that things weren’t as they appeared due to light refraction, both acted with caution.

No matter how strong someone is, if their ’accuracy’ drops, the chance of getting counterattacked is high.

’So the Mythricon sword comes in handy at a time like this.’

Coating the Mythricon sword with Aura thoroughly drew the Immortal Herb Colossus’s attention.

Watching the Immortal Herb Colossus give chase like a moth drawn to a campfire, I briefly turned away to begin treating the hobgoblin chieftain.

The vine tentacles that had wrapped around his hand had already engulfed him up to his shoulder.

Scanning the surroundings, I spotted Tyranno approaching just in the nick of time.

"Tyranno! Over here! Come close over here!"

"Pbiik!"

Hwareureuk!

We needed fire, the natural predator of plant-type monsters.

However, because it covered his entire arm, singeing it piece by piece would be difficult.

’I need oil.’

I quickly purchased oil bottles from the auction house.

Everyone looked startled when items materialized out of thin air, but there was no time to explain every detail.

Jureureuk-

After pouring oil over the spreading vine tentacles, I asked Tyranno:This story is hosted at novelpin‌g.com.

"Tyranno, use the weakest firepower you can!"

"Pbiiiik!"

Hwareureuk!!!

As the oil caught fire, the vine tentacles gradually began to perish.

The way they squirmed while burning was truly repulsive. Even hagfish wouldn’t wriggle like this.

In any case, as expected, the biggest weakness of plant-type monsters was fire.

We could utilize this properly against the Immortal Herb Colossus as well.

"Quickly, cover it with dirt!"

Once they were mostly destroyed, I put out the fire with dirt.

Since oil had been poured, dousing it with water wouldn’t put out the flames.

Before long, all the vine tentacles that had infested the hobgoblin chieftain’s arm were eradicated.

’Thankfully, maybe because he has plenty of Aura, his arm just turned gaunt and that’s it.’

Though the arm was reduced to skin and bone, having the flesh still attached was a blessing in itself.

I pulled an Elixir out of my portable bag and poured it over his arm.

I had him drink the remaining half, which should be sufficient for emergency first aid.

Ssuuuk-

As expected, his withered arm began to regain its healthy color.

Now that the hobgoblin chieftain had regained consciousness, I quickly dashed toward the gate.

Approaching the gate, there was a wide-open breach indicating the path the Immortal Herb Colossus had trampled through.

[￣￣￣￣￣!!!!]

Out in the vast plain, the Immortal Herb Colossus let out a terrifying shriek.

Before it, Ludwig and Lackey were dodging its attacks one by one.

Vine tentacles shooting up from deep underground. Direct arm strikes.

And finally, spewing pollen to obscure vision.

’Should I shoot arrows? No. It absorbs Aura—if I’m not careful, it might absorb mine too.’

It was a creature that absorbed life alongside Aura. Its sole weakness was fire.

But short of dropping a missile from above, generating that level of firepower would be tough.

After all, my arrows ultimately contained Aura too. Crucially, hit accuracy was an issue.

Even if Tyranno could breathe fire, its firepower was simply far too weak.

Even if we had the Pumpkin Jack lantern, it was doubtful whether that would be useful.

’It’s not like there are zero ways.’

I bought several more oil bottles from the auction house.

They were a bit pricey, but money was the one thing I had in abundance.

Soon, I unequipped the Subspace Bag, Elixir bag, and so on.

I removed as much cumbersome equipment as possible.

"Bbareumbo. You have to throw on my signal. Got it? Don’t throw directly at the Immortal Herb Colossus—throw above it."

"...."

Hearing my words, Bbareumbo grabbed an oil bottle.

Seeing the gravity of the situation, he seemed to cooperate far faster than usual.

[￣￣￣￣￣!!]

Timely enough, the Immortal Herb Colossus plunged both arms into the dirt.

Now was the chance. Pre-loading an arrow, I shouted to Bbareumbo:

"Throw!"

Hwiik!

Bbareumbo hurled the oil bottle right on my signal.

Flying at high speed, the oil bottle reached above the Immortal Herb Colossus.

Fortunately, there was no refraction midway, but the distance was a bit far.

’It’s fine. I can do this.’

Focusing with utmost concentration, I released the bowstring.

Piing!

With a wind-slicing noise, the arrow shot forth like a lightning bolt.

It flew much faster than the falling speed of the oil bottle.

It was thanks to the bow’s inherently high performance, even without channeling Aura.

Kwajik!

A direct hit! The arrow struck the oil bottle, causing oil to shower downward in large drops.

No matter how much space refracted, it wouldn’t be able to dodge oil raining down from above.

"Keep throwing!"

However, given the colossal size of the giant, this alone wasn’t enough.

I thoroughly exploited the time Ludwig and Lackey bought for me.

Hwik!

Bbareumbo threw oil bottles, and my arrows shattered them in midair.

I missed once in the middle, but it was fine. The Immortal Herb’s body was already thoroughly soaked in oil.

The second weakness of plant-type monsters: situational judgment is extremely slow.

Since the creature mistook the oil for ’water,’ it made no response whatsoever.

’The finale is a fire arrow.’

I coated the arrowhead with oil and ignited it using an Ignition Stone.

Then I shouted to Bbareumbo, who held another oil bottle:

"Throw!!"

Hwiik!

The final oil bottle flew above the head of the Immortal Herb Colossus.

Paaang!!!

I fired the fire arrow. The fire arrow flew, leaving a vivid flaming trail.

Flying like a dart without a single arc of refraction, the fire arrow...

Chaekang!

...smothered into a perfect direct hit on the oil bottle.

Hwareureureuk!!!

And unleashed a infernal hell of flames upon the Immortal Herb Colossus.