“Woooah!”
Silverback Akims roared loudly.
His white teeth were sharp.
With those teeth, he bit into the neck of his enemy, the guardian.
Rip, riiip!
The sound of the neck being torn echoed savagely.
Hot blood didn’t gush out.
The guardians protecting the Radiant Fruit were Trents, after all.
They were magical beasts with bodies made of wood.
Being made of wood didn’t mean they were dull or gentle creatures.
They each had their own unique appearance and were very aggressive.
Even now, that’s the case.
Despite having its neck torn, that body was still moving.
It pounded Silverback Akims’ body with its arms that were more like thorns.
Thud, thwack!
Akims coughed up blood.
Climbing the root alone is not an easy task.
He used all his strength to rip off the Trent’s arm.
Crack!
And then he trampled it.
Boom, boom. He tore apart and dug into the stem.
“Huff, hah!”
A stream of blood flowed from his mouth. He wiped it off with his arm.
Akims was exhausted. He was also injured.
But a smile clearly appeared on his face.
“I, I did it.”
His archenemy Riokku, driven mad by the hunger before his eyes, didn’t even think of climbing the tree.
He had glimpsed the snakes he was worried about dying while fighting.
He had dealt with all the guardians blocking the way up the root.
“Radiant, fruit.”
The fruit can be seen up there.
The Radiant Fruit resembles an apple.
A golden apple shining with a golden light.
The fragrance emanating from that fruit was enough to make his head dizzy.
Soon, the fruit will be in his hands.
When he bites into the sweet flesh, Akims will be able to become even stronger.
To a higher realm.
Even though his body can no longer evolve.
He knew instinctively that he would be able to break through that wall and evolve once more.
That the World Tree had given him this opportunity.
Akims slowly.
Not because he was at ease, but because he was struggling, he walked slowly.
His fur suddenly puffed up.
Turning his head was an instinctive movement.
Whoosh!
An iron arrow passed through where Akims’ head had been.
Akims’ earlobe was torn.
Grabbing his bleeding ear, Akims quickly turned around.
An arrow is a weapon.
Then who?
Were there fairies or humans here?
Or that gnome who was always hiding?
He couldn’t tell, but the crisis wasn’t over.
The arrow clearly flew high into the sky, but he felt a killing intent from behind.
He twisted his body to dodge, but.
Thud!
The iron arrow pierced his right wing joint.
The arrow had returned as if it were alive.
He tried to pull out the arrow, but it wasn’t easy.
There were barbs on the arrow shaft. It was an arrow imbued with its maker’s malice.
If forcibly pulled out, severe bleeding would follow.
And another arrow was shot.
Akims moved his body warily, but the arrow passed by him.
Thunk!
The arrow deeply embedded itself in a point of the upward-stretching root.
A wire made of twisted iron was attached to the arrow shaft.
Akims can’t be blamed for not immediately realizing the purpose of that wire.
It was already extraordinary for a magical beast like him to know what an arrow was.
Not long after, a human climbed up the wire.
It was an almost flying-like fast movement.
Akims’ gaze was drawn more to the magical beast sitting on the human’s shoulder than to the human itself.
“Bam!”
And that snake flew at Akims.
==
Chimpanzee, you thought you had won, didn’t you?
That’s not the case!
My condition wasn’t great either.
But the chimpanzee’s condition was much worse.
「Using Heart-eating Leap lv2.」
What I aimed for was his right shoulder joint.
Where the arrow was embedded.
The chimpanzee tried to block with his hand, but he staggered, seemingly in pain.
Thanks to that, I succeeded in biting his shoulder.
Chomp.
The neurotoxin remaining in my venom gland was injected in one go.
“Kheung!”
A roar as if he thinks he’s a tiger.
My deadly poison, which can instantly bring down even large magical beasts, didn’t make him collapse.
Instead, he grabbed my body tightly with his uninjured left arm.
He raises his hand as if to slam me to the ground.
I had anticipated this far.
「Using Heavenly Thunder Spirit lv1.」
The biggest advantage of Heavenly Thunder Spirit is that it’s an instant-cast skill.
The disadvantage is that I also take damage.
However, even that monster-like chimpanzee should have less heat resistance and electric resistance than me.
Crackle!
The chimpanzee’s eyes rolled back, turning completely white.
Now I just need to escape from his grasp.
But there was something I had overlooked: when electrocuted, muscles contract.
The chimpanzee’s grip, which had been holding me tightly, grew even fiercer.
The pain was so intense I wanted to scream.
“Urgh.”
Moreover, Akims finally regained his senses.
Just as he was about to smash me like the Hulk.
Slash!
Akims’ wrist was cut off while still gripping me.
It was thanks to Heilit’s intervention, wielding a long sword.
“Waaaaaah!”
Blood spurted like a fountain from Akims’ wrist.
He’s quite spirited.
Even in that state, he tries to rush at Heilit and kick her.
His fur became as sharp as thorns, and when his foot clashed with the sword, it made a clanging sound as if metal hit metal.
“Die quietly!”
But Heilit didn’t budge an inch.
She wielded the curved sword as easily as if it were her own limb.
I was about to assist her when I turned my head.
The wire we had climbed up on.
Monkeys were following it up.
“Ooki, kee!”
“Keeeek!”
They had come to help their leader.
I couldn’t leave them be.
I climbed along the root to approach the iron arrow where the wire was attached.
「Using Slash lv3.」
I couldn’t cut the iron arrow, but.
Crack!
I could pull out the arrow that was already bearing weight.
“Ookieeek!”
The monkeys who had almost climbed up to this height all fell at once.
Of course, they tangled with each other and crashed to the ground.
「Absorbing magical energy.」
「Sharing magical energy.」
My level didn’t increase further, but I received quite a bit of magical energy.
Perhaps causing the mass fall of the primates helped Heilit a bit.
“Kuaaaaah!”
In the meantime, Akims finally lost both his hands.
That was the moment he pushed Heilit with his body.
Heilit, in contrast to her bravery until now, was flung back and rolled along the root.
Akims, who seemed to have gained the upper hand for a moment, immediately dashed off.
No, he’s running away.
He leaped down from that root.
“No, noooo!”
Heilit screamed.
She had been aiming for the silver monkey’s hide, abandoning the snake.
But her prey had escaped right before her eyes.
I quickly approached and looked down.
‘He’s alive!’
He has an incredibly tough body.
Moreover, he used the pile of other monkey corpses as a cushion when he jumped down.
He was limping away, perhaps having sprained his leg.
‘Shoot an arrow, you fool!’
I urged Heilit, pointing at the arrows with my tail.
She quickly took out her bow and tried to string it, but her face turned pale as she muttered.
“Ah, my arm is broken…”
Heilit’s wrist was swollen.
Did she get injured when she collided with Akims earlier?
Humans are such fragile creatures.
I thought Heilit might be a hero like Gunter, but I guess not to that extent.
“It seems we shouldn’t let him escape here.”
Akims was quite fast despite limping.
We absolutely cannot let him get away.
That cunning monkey will keep bothering me like a pimple on my backside until the end.
The long-range skill I have is…
None.
My magic doesn’t reach that far.
“I’ll have to go down.”
Heilit started climbing down the root.
But there were still monkeys remaining below.
Whatever orders Akims had given, instead of fleeing, they stayed put to block Heilit.
I kept glaring at Akims.
“What are you doing? Just gaping with your mouth open.”
‘Be quiet. I’m trying to concentrate.’
That’s right.
There was a skill I hadn’t fully learned from my father.
Come to think of it, it’s a skill I should be able to acquire.
Since my father had it too.
“No, don’t tell me you’re attempting that!”
Pelerian was surprised and about to say something but closed his mouth.
It was consideration to let me concentrate.
So I did.
Gather magic in my mouth and release it as if spewing it out, he said.
Scraping together the remaining magic.
As if gathering it at a point in front of my mouth.
Yes, like when forming an invisible hand.
More.
More, strongly.
“Ooh…”
Pelerian let out an exclamation.
A light started gathering in my mouth.
「Due to the trait ‘Perseverance’, you are not restricted in skill acquisition.」
Is it working?
Is it really happening?
Let’s concentrate until the end.
Yes, as if spewing out magic…
“Ugh.”
At the moment I felt like vomiting for real.
A beam shot out from my mouth.
Piiing-!
The beam struck Akims’ thigh.
Although it didn’t penetrate his tough flesh, it left a wound as if he’d been hit by a full-power electric shock.
Akims screamed and collapsed with a thud.
Heilit, who had been chasing him, gave me a thumbs up.
“You did it!”
Yes, yes, surprisingly, it’s true.
I had, in my genius, managed to acquire it on my own.
A skill that could be considered essential for a great monster.
‘Destruction Beam’.
「You have acquired Beam lv1.」
..…Just Beam!
Finally, Heilit Langrey approached Akims and beheaded him in one swift motion.
Anyway.
The Radiant Fruit is now ours.
