The Player Who Stands Above All

Chapter 258

Tafra had been researching this seed continuously ever since she had obtained it quite a while ago.

If she could somehow reduce or suppress the ferocity of this plant, she thought she could use it as a weapon for the vigilante members or plant it around the village to repel magical beasts.

However, as she continued her research, the seed that Tafra had named Violet Mouse began to grow in a direction that deviated from her intentions.

A growth power that immediately sprouts if it absorbs even a little moisture in its seed state.

A life force that allows it to live with bated breath for a good month even without obtaining nutrients.

A reproductive power that allows it to take root again by absorbing new nutrients, no matter how small a fragment it is cut into.

On top of that, when the power to easily deal with a Cranky Monkey with just one stem was added, Tafra, thinking it was dangerous, had sealed the Violet Mouse in a deep place.

However, Tafra had taken out the Violet Mouse to win this battle and had the vigilante members plant this seed at the entrance where they would come in.

Sssssk-

"Damn it!"

"Everyone, be careful of the floor!"

"How many of them are there!"

The seeds that had been planted like that had now sucked the blood of the magical beasts and grown.

The most powerful weapon they possessed was their reproductive and absorptive power based on their immense life force.

It wouldn't be a threat to the paladins who had reached the peak realm and could use sword ki, but it was enough to reduce the number of knights and soldiers.

Tafra smiled as she watched them scream and swing their swords in the chaotic situation.

"I'll make you regret challenging a druid who controls nature in the forest."

The earth is wide and hard enough to absorb all shocks.

But a tree pierces through that earth and takes root, growing by using it as nutrients.

Tafra intended to teach that fact to the intruders who had entered her garden full of dangerous plants today, in a way they would never forget.

◎ ◎ ◎

"...The surviving forces?"

"In the previous battle, more than half of the soldiers and knights were defeated."

They took a rest in a cave they had entered to avoid the situation and checked their condition.

"Tsk, to think half of them have already fallen."

Noah looked at the exhausted soldiers and knights who were catching their breath with displeased eyes.

If he could, he wanted to shout at them, who were lying there unsightly, to get up immediately, but he held back.

Because he had enough sense to recognize that the current situation was not good.

When they face a group of highly agitated magical beasts, purple vines appear, sucking their blood, and attack them from under their feet.

The purple vines could be cut into pieces with a single swing of a sword, but the problem was the life force of the guys who clung tenaciously even if they were cut into pieces.

'A frustrating vicious cycle.'

When you face a magical beast, you inevitably cut its body with a sword.

When the blood shed by the dead magical beasts falls to the ground, purple vines appear like ghosts and bother them.

When they first appeared, their power was weak, but they couldn't be ignored.

Because if they made a mistake and let them pierce through their armor and dig into their bodies, they were guys who would start from that part and suck everything from the host to grow.

A fight that gets tangled up and muddies the victor's victory.

It was a natural sequence for their forces to be continuously worn down.

"Tsk, already injured."

"I have no face to show my comrades."

Perhaps because such a fight had continued, there were a few injured among the paladins as well.

In fact, the reason they had entered the cave this time was for their recovery.

If only the soldiers and knights had been continuously defeated, Noah would not have thought of resting.

Noah let out an annoyed sigh at the fact that his paladins were injured and looked in one direction of the forest.

'The only consolation is that the other guys aren't having it easy either.'

If he listened quietly, he could hear people's screams mixed with the roars of the enraged magical beasts.

It was certain that the other side was also receiving the same attack as them.

It was good news that a competitor was having a hard time, but he couldn't just relax his guard.

'There's no way the paladin order led by the commander-in-chief would stop their steps at such a childish trick.'

The 1st Paladin Order led by the commander-in-chief was a place where the elite of the elite paladins were gathered.

They would surely cut down not only the magical beasts but also the purple vines that popped out from the ground with ease.

Of course, the group led by the commander-in-chief could not be called a participant in this competition.

But they were beings that could not be ignored, no, on the contrary, they were beings that should be considered the most important.

'The commander-in-chief is surely moving slowly to test us. And if we find the village later than the commander-in-chief who moved like that...'

They would only end up proving their incompetence, not their competence, in front of the Earth Sword.

And that meant that the future Noah had hoped for would fall off a cliff.

Grit-

'Damn it, if only it had been an attack from the villagers instead of the magical beasts, I could have caught the attacker and made them reveal the location of the village.'

The moment Noah thought that, as if the heavens had answered his thoughts, an incident occurred.

Swoosh-

"Keohuk!"

"Keoluk!"

Arrows that flew in succession from one direction successively pierced the heads and chests of the paladins who were treating their injuries.

The paladins who were treating their own bodies trembled, and then their hands fell to the ground with a thud.

A clear sign of death.

Grit-

"You filthy unbeliever bastard!"

Noah, enraged at the fact that his paladin had been defeated by an enemy, quickly swung his sword.

Countless white blades flew along the trajectory of the swung sword.

The white sword ki slashed at the direction the arrows had come from.

However, in the slashed scenery, there was only green, no red blood mixed in.

Thud-!

At that, Noah quickly kicked off the ground so as not to miss the attacker.

Then, the other paladins also tried to follow Noah.

"Do not come! The attack will surely not end with one! You guys wait here until I come back!"

However, Noah shouted that, wary of a situation where the paladins would be scattered while following him, and at Noah's shout, the paladins slowly lowered the feet they were about to lift.

Satisfied with that, Noah chased the attacker and continued to go deeper into the forest.

Noah's eyes flashed with the will to never let the attacker go.

Was it because it felt Noah's will?

Thud-

The attacker stopped his feet and looked back at Noah.

"Haa, really... it's anticlimactic because you fell for it more easily than I thought."

The first word the attacker spat out after seeing Noah, who had followed him, was a sigh.

Bodra, who had taken off the hood she was wearing and revealed her face, spoke to Noah with an expression mixed with blatant annoyance.

"Hey, are you thoughtless? Didn't you think you were being lured by me?"

"How arrogant."

Noah's answer to Bodra's question was a sneer.

"Do you really think a guy of your level can hold me back?"

"Of course."

Bodra said that and placed an arrow on her bow.

"I'm going to turn you into a hedgehog today and throw you to the magical beasts. It's too lenient a punishment for a guy who provoked me and my sister and brother like that, but I have no time, so it can't be helped."

"Ah, no wonder the light blue hair color looked familiar. Are you one of the three unbelievers who were said to be ruling the village?"

Noah smiled, looking at Bodra with an expression that said he had caught a big fish.

"So you came all the way here because you wanted to kill me, and you even have your subordinates on standby?"

Noah mentioned the presence of the presence felt behind the tree to break Bodra's morale.

"Subordinates?"

But Bodra asked back as if she didn't know anything and then looked at the tree where the presence was felt with an expression that said she had just realized.

"Ah, you found us. I thought we were hiding pretty well."

"It can't be helped. We've never learned stealth techniques."

"Should we ask the master to teach us later?"

"He'll probably say it's not necessary to hide from a dragon and won't teach us."

As both of them blatantly looked at their location, Mio and Rwen, who had been hiding behind it, slowly walked out.

"What, why are you guys here? Didn't you hear the explanation about the operation?"

"Shut up. We didn't hear anything about an operation from the beginning."

At Bodra's words, Mio answered confidently.

"We only said we would fight the Church, we never said we would follow your words."

"What, you bastard?"

At Mio's words, Bodra growled, but she couldn't actually move because of Noah's presence.

"Hoo, well, fine. Then let me ask one more thing."

"What is it?"

"If you had no intention of following the plan, you could have gone and played anywhere, so why did you follow me."

This was the decisive battleground where Bodra had prepared various traps in advance to defeat Noah.

To think they were hiding and waiting in such a place?

It could only be explained by the two having followed Bodra.

"To have a match with you."

At Bodra's words, Mio said with a smile mixed with a small growl.

The growl mixed in Mio's smile was the same as the growl she had shown towards Bodra at the meeting that day.

"We can't fight each other when the enemy is attacking, and I don't want to fight later. So let's fight with something else."

Point-

Mio said, pointing at Noah with her finger.

"The one who catches that guy first wins. How about it?"

"...Hoo, well, fine."

Bodra, who had been frowning deeply, soon relaxed her body and said so in a calm voice.

At Bodra's sudden appearance, both Mio and Rwen widened their eyes and looked at her.

"I didn't like you either, and I hate postponing a fight until later."

But to others who knew Bodra, it was not such an unfamiliar sight.

She had just flipped a switch inside her.

A switch that allowed her to hunt calmly.

"Then I'll take that as you accepting. For reference, we'll be moving as a pair."

"It seems you have a thinking head. I thought you'd just rush in without thinking."

"Aren't you going to say it's cowardly or something?"

"Where is there such a thing as cowardly in hunting and fighting?"

As they exchanged a short conversation, they looked at Noah with narrowed eyes.

"Heh, well."

At that moment, Noah was dumbfounded by the unexpected luck that had come to him.

"One is one of the heads of this hunt..."

Swoosh-

"And the other is a member of the gang that caused us to come all the way here..."

Grin-

"It seems I've hit the jackpot."

Noah's eyes, as he muttered that, were staring at Bodra's blue hair and the white horns on Mio and Rwen's heads.

(End of Chapter)