I Got a Gallery in the Wild - Chapter 647

That trees are vulnerable to fire is the most basic of common sense.

This is why people try their absolute best to stop fires when they break out in mountains or forests.

Because they were severely vulnerable to fire, it was common for it to spread to other places.

The resulting damage was not only suffered by plants, but the animals inhabiting the area were also bound to suffer great damage.

"Ahhhhh!"

However, in the Forest of the Four Seasons, that common sense was not common sense, but a ’prejudice’.

Otherwise, a tree acting like an animal in front of my eyes wouldn’t control fire at its own will.

According to original common sense, the fire caught on the branches should have spread to its entire body, but that tree controlled the fire itself at will.

Chwaang!

The tree wrapped in flames whipped like a lash. The tearing sound of the air splitting pierced my ears clearly.

If hit directly by that, some part of the body would break or crack. For now, it was right to dodge.

Not just me, but the rest of the party also judged the fire whip to be dangerous and hurriedly dodged.

Kwadudeudeuk!

The tree revealed its power without reservation. The trees surrounding us like spiderwebs were literally torn apart.

The torn trees scattering in all directions seemed to imply that we would end up just like them.

’No way that’s happening.’

I tilted my head back and narrowly dodged the fire whip.

It was so fast that I couldn’t even feel the heat of the flames. The fire was practically close to a mere decoration.

’The whip is one thing, but this area itself is a bit unsettling.’

While dodging the whip, I closely examined the surroundings. Centered around the deformed tree, numerous trees were intertwined like spiderwebs.

Considering how the guy directly controlled them earlier, they couldn’t be easily ignored.

It was only a tree in appearance; in reality, it was no different from an animal.

Dudududu!

While I was racking my brain, Cain charged forward while mounted on his horse.

Numerous tree whips lashed at him, causing countless fragments to scatter.

However, a Dullahan had the characteristic of quickly regenerating as long as there was mana.

Kwang!

Cain and the tree collided heavily.

In the past, before firearms became fully prominent, cavalry fulfilled the same role as tanks.

Unless they deliberately formed a formation—no, even if they did, the moment they crashed in, the formation would completely collapse.

Even in this world filled with numerous superhumans, the value of cavalry is exceptionally outstanding. Positioned just below a Sword Master.

In the first place, if it was Sword Master-class, it was at the level of a ’strategic weapon’ rather than a tactical weapon, so there was no value in discussing it.

"Uuu..."

However, the durability of a deeply rooted tree tends to exceed expectations.

The tree that collided head-on with Cain made a bizarre noise and slowly stretched its vines.

It looked as if it was trying to wrap around Cain, but of course, Cain was not one to just watch.

Cain cut down the branches reaching out to him with the greatsword in his hand. The durability itself seemed ordinary.

Meanwhile, he backed away on his horse and looked for the next opportunity. He had realized that the tree also possessed a sense of pain.

Hwareureuk!

But as if it couldn’t just take the beating, the bastard began to ignite fire all over its body.

Originally, fire only flared up on the branches swung like whips, but now it had spread to its entire body.

As if showing that it was angry, it was a terrifying sight to behold.

Chwareureuk—

This wasn’t all. The trees surrounding us like spiderwebs.

Did those trees not stretch their branches and try to bind us?

As expected, it seemed to control all the surrounding trees. It was a trickier fellow than thought.

’A single entity like the bird is rather easier.’

Unlike the bird, a guy who treats a part of the region like his own body is truly troublesome.

Unless one finds the weakness, it is difficult to confirm the kill, and finding that weakness was also hard.

Moreover, since this tree was immune to fire, it was an even more frustrating situation.

"Lackey. Use ice magic to put out that fire."

"Understood."

Let’s put out the fire over there first. I asked Lackey for ice magic.

Jjeojeojeok!

"What? Is it a guy that adapts in real-time?"

"I’ve never seen such a fellow before."

Even ice magic didn’t work. When Lackey threw a powerful Ice Arrow, it wrapped cold air around its body.

Even some of the branches were still burning, making it hard to believe even when seeing it with my own eyes.Enjoying the story? Read on at novelping(.)com.

What kind of messed-up tree is it to possess such a bizarre ability?

In the end, as long as neither fire nor cold worked, there was no choice but to use physical means.

’If we keep fighting, the possibility of the weakness being revealed is high. Above all...’

I looked around once more. The trees surrounding us were constantly keeping us in check.

Vines shooting up from the ground, stretching branches like spiderwebs to try and bind us, and so on.

’I need to do something about those first.’

I instructed Lackey to set fire to the trees tangled like spiderwebs, not the main body.

I’m already annoyed because of the main body, and with those things touching us too, there are too many things to worry about.

Above all, no matter how much a spider resists fire and cold, there is no law saying the spiderweb is the same.

Hwareureureuk!

The surrounding trees burned vigorously, and pitch-black smoke began to rise in plumes.

Since I deliberately calculated the wind direction, there was no way the smoke would drift toward us.

The problem was that the fire might spread greatly and cause a wildfire in the entire forest...

"Let’s beat up that tree first and think later!"

That can be thought about later; defeating this annoying fellow is the priority.

Moreover, perhaps not expecting even its own spiderwebs to be burned, the main body showed bizarre behavior with an embarrassed expression.

Instead of attacking us using cold air, it was putting out the vigorously burning trees first.

An action showing that the burning trees were more important than us. But it didn’t matter.

Because that fellow touched us first.

Kwang!

"Uuu..."

Cain’s charge and Dolsoe’s Palm Strike hit simultaneously.

It was clearly a tree that must have been deeply rooted, yet its entire body shook violently.

Having noticed the danger too late, the fellow stretched its branches toward us, but most of them were blocked.

Anticipating this, Lackey had deployed an Aura Shield in advance, blocking all the attacks.

Now, for the finishing blow, I just needed to swing my sword. I focused on the face carved on the tree.

’If I slice open that face, there will definitely be something.’

The very fact that there are facial features that shouldn’t be on a tree is strange.

Neither the tree that was the main body of the Shadow Forest, nor even the Immortal Herb that took the form of a colossus, had a human face.

At this, I greatly enlarged the Aura Blade on the Sword of the Heavenly Demon, and then sliced horizontally.

Seogeok!

Was it because it was an Aura Blade I had enlarged with absolute intent?

Because did I not slice apart not only the main body but also all the trees behind it?

Even the trees located at a distance where the Aura Blade couldn’t reach were split in half.

’What is this?’

To say they were simply broken by a gust of wind, most of them were cleanly cut.

I was flustered for a moment, wondering what had happened, but then something more important came to mind, and I looked ahead.

"Uuu... uuu..."

"...?"

What is this loser-like tree?

I blinked my eyes and stared at the true identity of the tree revealed inside. It was a small tree-man that looked like it would appear in a movie.

Its entire body was made of wood, and its two legs were merged with the trunk.

However, the upper part was completely blown away, leaving its weakness wide open.

Perhaps it also didn’t expect to be so easily defeated, as it did nothing but tremble in fear.

"So you are the main body?"

"Uuu... uuu..."

When I said that, the small tree wrapped its head and sat down. Actually, there was a part I had roughly expected.

That if I dug into the face, specifically the mouth, the weakness would appear.

But I only thought it would be a heart; I never imagined there would be such a small fellow.

’Looking at it, it seems to have controlled the trees like puppets...’

It’s a bit anticlimactic. I decided to clean up the burning forest first.

Using my cold air and Lackey’s magic, preventing the fire from spreading was simple.

Soon, after roughly cleaning up, I returned to the baby tree that had ambushed us.

"Hey."

"Hi, hiik!"

"Don’t be scared and just answer what I ask. Why did you attack us?"

I asked the baby tree, which was completely terrified. Why did it attack us first?

At that, the baby tree spoke in a pitiful voice while trembling.Follow the newest chapters on no‌velping.com.

"Uuu... uuu..."

"Lackey. Can you translate?"

"For now, yes. It retorted, ’You invaded first and you attacked first, so what are you talking about?’"

"Hmm..."

True, I did cut down trees recklessly to pass through here.

Perhaps that action was highly offensive to this baby tree. That must be why it considered us enemies.

Since the fault itself lay with us, I couldn’t help but feel slightly embarrassed.

"Alright. Then I won’t kill you. If I kill you for no reason, this area might turn weird."

"You kicked down someone else’s door, yet you speak as if you’re doing them a favor, Master."

"It’s better than someone who invaded as they pleased and got wrecked."

"...."

At my counterattack, Lackey pouted his lips and grumbled, looking slightly hurt.

As everyone knows, Lackey once invaded my house, claiming he would take revenge on Dolsoe.

He even left a threat that he would kill me if I didn’t join in the revenge. Of course, he got beaten like a dog, though.

"Hmm? Brother. Did you lose to Master?"

"I was weak back then."

"I have won before."

"...."

Along with this, the timely support from his brother, Dolsoe.

Lackey, who instantly turned into the weakest, grumbled. Let’s pass over that.

"Anyway, do you know where this guy is?"

More important than that was gathering information. I showed the drawing to the baby tree.

Perhaps realizing that I was no longer threatening it, the baby tree cooperated wholeheartedly.

"Uuuuu..."

Seureureuk—

The scorpion, which could be called the final obstacle. When I asked it to tell me the location of that scorpion, the baby tree gestured.

Simultaneously with that gesture, the forest tangled like spiderwebs cleared a path. Just like how we reached here.

’Is it a spirit-like fellow?’

I stared with a fascinated expression at the baby tree, which showcased abilities just like a forest spirit.

Judging by its abilities, it was close to a perfect spirit. Someone had mentioned it before, too.

In any case, staying here continuously wouldn’t be good. I said goodbye to the baby tree and left.

Seureureuk—

Once we left, the baby tree stretched its arm toward the face (?) I had sliced off.

Soon, the vines stretching from its arm retrieved the wooden face lying on the ground.

It felt like putting on a mask, giving a strange sensation.

"Are you going to do some more thug work now, Master?"

"When did I ever do thug work? I don’t care as long as I reach my actual destination."

"That is exactly what thug work is, Master."

While sharing banter with Lackey, evening arrived before we knew it.

Normally, we would have returned using Cheongseol’s power, but we couldn’t do that now.

In the end, we decided to set up camp and sleep outdoors. It was an expedition in the truest sense.

"As for the night watch... Ah, we have Cain-ssi."

[I will take the first watch.]

"You’ll take all the watches from first to last? Thank you. As expected of the first Paladin’s consideration. See you tomorrow."

[....]

Was my rapid-fire speech absurd? Cain stared blankly at me.

Of course, since Cain didn’t need sleep, he was an excellent guard. He probably thought so himself in the first place.

’I should get some sleep first.’

I roughly set up camp and waited until the next morning came.

"Uing."

"...Cain-ssi."

[Speak.]

"What on earth is this fellow that looks like a Quokka?"

[I thought it best not to touch it, so I just left it?]

Overnight, a Quokka had crawled into the camp.

"Kkyuu?"

"Uing?"

"Hmm."

Being together with Wonmo, it’s truly harmful to my heart.