The boss’s remaining HP was now at 30 percent.
There really wasn’t much left.
Ian lowered her sword, ready to charge in at once.
But before she could move, the boss’s enormous body shuddered.
“What is it this time?”
Everyone looked up.
And they saw it.
Ash-gray pollen falling from the gigantic ancient tree.
The sky had turned completely gray.
Emily shouted,
“Hold your breath as much as you can!”
They didn’t know what effect the pollen had, but it was unlikely to work in the players’ favor.
Everyone held their breath to avoid inhaling the dense cloud of pollen.
But with drops of sap falling from above and roots attacking from below, some of them ended up drawing breath.
“Gaaah! Wh-what is this?”
Flower buds began to bloom, breaking through people’s skin.
Fortunately, Ian had not inhaled the pollen, and she cut away the flower buds that had appeared on Veronica beside her.
“Are you all right?”
“Ah, yes. Thanks to you.”
At least, once a flower bud was removed, it did not bloom again.
Having discovered that fact, the others began cutting away the buds blooming on people’s bodies before the flowers could open.
However, despite their efforts, some of the buds finally bloomed.
“Ah, aaah… My, my body…”
Those on whom the flowers had bloomed staggered like zombies, indiscriminately swinging their weapons at the players.
Ian dodged the attack of a player who had turned into a zombie and cut down the flower in full bloom.
But.
‘They’re not coming back?’
Even after the flower was removed, unlike before, the minds of those who had once become zombies did not return to normal.
At that moment, Ian recalled the battle against the Alraune.
‘Could it be dispelled?’
When she had been charmed, she had experience removing the debuff placed on her.
Then perhaps it was possible this time as well.
There was a chance it was an undispellable debuff like contamination, but it was worth trying.
Ian raised her staff.
‘It bothers me that it drains HP, but…’
Right now, saving even one person came first.
She aimed her staff at the zombified player.
“Cure!”
A cluster of light bloomed around the zombie.
At the same time, the clouded eyes gradually regained their original clarity.
“Uh, huh…? How did I…”
After confirming that he had returned, Ian shouted to the others.
“You can turn them back with Cure magic!”
“Confirmed! Mages, remove the debuffs first!”
Following Emily’s orders, the mages cast Cure on the remaining zombies.
They had to spend HP to do so, but their sacrifice saved people’s lives.
However, Malignora shuddered once more.
Pollen again hung thick in the air, and while dodging an attack, Ian ended up inhaling it.
“Damn…”
Flower buds bloomed, breaking through her skin.
Pain like being pierced by needles swept over her.
But she couldn’t afford to remain bound by the pollen like this.
After quickly cutting away the buds sprouting from her body, Ian stamped down.
Another bud grew on her body in the process, but she cut them all away and struck the ancient tree.
The others followed Ian and attacked the boss together.
Its HP was dropping by the moment.
Even so, Ian and the other players did not stop attacking.
Just as quickly as the buds bloomed, Malignora’s HP fell.
And finally.
“Only 10 percent HP left! We’re almost there! Just a little more!”
The boss’s HP had also fallen to a dangerous level.
If they pushed just a little harder, the perfect clear that had seemed impossible would no longer be a dream.
But then it happened.
“E-everyone, be careful…!”
Flames began to surge from the ash-gray ancient tree.
—Kwagwang!
A powerful shockwave erupted from the boss and swept through the players.
“Kyaaah!”
“Gaaah!”
The fierce shockwave sent the players screaming as they were flung all the way to the edge of the clearing.
Fortunately, there were no deaths, but the formation they had worked so hard to maintain was completely shattered.
Even so, the players furrowed their brows and rose again.
“Ugh… What the hell is it this time?”
“It’s a pain right up to the very end.”
And to finish it off, everyone adjusted their grip on their weapons and stared ahead.
What appeared before the players’ eyes was a timer.
[Self-destruct Sequence]
[10 : 00 : 00]
“S-self-destruct?”
The final phase.
A time attack, a self-destruct sequence.
It was the World Tree’s final struggle to burn all of Durigarda to ashes.
[09 : 59 : 99]
The timer began moving toward the end.
***
Last night, beneath a sky where the stars shone beautifully.
I was staring blankly up at the heavens.
Tomorrow’s raid was more important than any before it.
Because of my nerves, sleep would not come.
Then I sensed someone beside me.
“Kalinia?”
Search Captain Kalinia.
She had brought a bottle of liquor and sat down beside me.
“Can’t sleep?”
“Something like that. What about you?”
“The same. Will you have a drink?”
“Mm… sure.”
After hesitating for a moment, I drank with Kalinia.
We didn’t share any special conversation, but the simple act of sipping liquor was enough to make my heart feel full.
Then, around the time we were about to empty the last of the liquor,
Kalinia’s voice reached me.
“You said you were going to subjugate the World Tree tomorrow?”
“Yeah. Why, does that not sit well with you?”
“Of course not.”
She shook her head.
“Do you know what the purpose of us Dark Elf Sentinels is?”
I didn’t.
Why the defense unit, search unit, and supply unit existed.
Why only the search unit was stationed in such a dangerous place, and why they were at odds with each other.
No one had ever told me.
Kalinia continued, watching my reaction.
“To explore, reclaim, and purify Durigarda.”
“Purify?”
“Yes. This place was originally the home of us dark elves.”
The Great Forest of Rimbahitam is divided into three regions.
Durigarda, where the Sentinels are stationed; Tedumaya, the city of the dark elves; and Akarsuma, the land of the ancestors.
But Durigarda had originally been the dark elves’ homeland.
I looked at Kalinia with surprised eyes.
“But 300 years ago, because of our mistake, a great fire broke out here in Durigarda.”
She did not tell me what that mistake had been, but she said the flames burned everything to the ground in an instant.
Not only the city, but every living thing that dwelled on this land.
She smiled bitterly.
“We barely managed to extinguish the fire, but Durigarda had transformed into a land no person could live in. We had no choice but to abandon this place and build a new home in Tedumaya.”
But life is meant to cycle.
“As time passed, life began to sprout here once more. We were truly happy. Everyone thought we could return to our homeland again.”
Countless people turned their steps back toward Durigarda.
To reclaim their home.
However.
“Durigarda was not as we had known it. The plants blocked our path, and powerful monsters appeared.”
The elite monsters we had subjugated had also been lifeforms born then.
This land was no longer friendly to the dark elves.
“The source of it all was the World Tree, burned by our mistake. In a way, you could call it our own doing.”
The dark elves organized the Sentinels to reclaim this land and correct their mistake.
And after a long struggle, the dark elves were able to reclaim the eastern and northern regions.
“But we gradually grew exhausted. The defense unit and supply unit chose to maintain the status quo, and only we of the search unit clung to a mission without end. On top of that…”
Though they did not show it outwardly, the search unit was also gradually being pushed to its limits.
The southern region where the World Tree stood would not even allow the dark elves to approach.
Everyone had no choice but to accept despair as part of their daily lives.
But now, in Kalinia’s eyes, the light of hope dwelled.
And those eyes were directed at me.
“So Ian, great human warrior. I ask this of you.”
She took my hand.
“Fulfill the long-cherished wish of us dark elves.”
I nodded.
“Don’t worry.”
***
Flames surged from Malignora.
And time continued to flow.
The final ten minutes.
Emily drove the guild flag into the ground.
[Guild Buff Activated]
[Attack Power Increase Lv 1]
[Effect: Increases the attack power of all guild members by 10% for 10 minutes.]
There are two types of guild buffs.
Sustained buffs that increase experience and gold acquisition for a day, and instant-type buffs that temporarily increase stats, like now.
Such buffs could be used only once a day.
That was why she had saved the buff without using it until now.
At that moment, a pure white aura appeared beneath the feet of the twenty people including her.
To put everything they had on the line and end this battle.
Everyone charged in, prepared to die.
[08 : 24 : 31]
And the fourteen people who had not joined Emily’s guild also kicked off the ground with all their strength and rushed forward.
The players’ attacks battered the boss like a storm.
[07 : 37 : 86]
The archers and mages, no longer caring that their HP was being drained, continued to pour out arrows and magic.
A rain of skills covered the sky and fiercely hammered Malignora.
[06 : 00 : 27]
“Boss HP at 5 percent!”
Just as countless wishes gathered together and shaved away Malignora’s HP,
a second shockwave erupted, as if declaring it would never fall.
The players were once again pushed all the way to the edge of the clearing.
“Uwaaaah!”
Naira rose again and, screaming in fury, drew her bowstring.
Following her, Aya, Fara, and Diego poured out arrows.
The swordsmen Veronica, Rin, Inara, Khalid, and Kenji followed behind Ian with all their might.
Lily and Zola, as well as Aslan and Lucia, mercilessly pummeled the boss with their fists.
The tanks Nasser, Asim, Gunnar, Wei, and Enzo recklessly shoved forward with their shields.
Mugi and the mage group—Wang Mei, Valentina, Oka, Rafael, and Idris—gulped down HP potions and swung their staffs.
Berserkers like Adrian—Rayan, Wolf, and Rohan—charged fiercely with axes raised with all their strength.
Emily, who had taken up a spear instead of a shield, along with Sigrid, Yuki, Nadia, and Kaan, thrust their spearpoints again and again.
[04 : 11 : 54]
Remaining boss HP: 3 percent.
The third shockwave swept over them.
They were pushed far back again this time, but not a single person gave up as they moved forward once more.
The rainbow created by the players swept over Malignora.
[02 : 44 : 31]
Remaining HP: 2 percent.
Shockwaves surged one after another.
Being pushed back was only natural, and even approaching was no easy task.
Arrows and magic could not deal proper damage either, and even throwing weapons was not allowed.
But they could not collapse like this.
They drove their weapons into the ground so they would not be pushed back and endured with all their strength.
In the brief instant when the shockwave stopped, they stepped forward, drove their weapons in again, and resisted the next shockwave.
It was hard to even keep their eyes open.
Their battered bodies looked as though they might be blown away at any moment.
And yet, the people stubbornly approached Malignora.
Even the mages and archers advanced forward, and forward again, to make absolutely sure their skills hit.
[01 : 58 : 12]
Remaining HP: 1.5 percent.
The players who had closed in on the boss unleashed their skills.
In the aftermath, each was flung far away after finishing their attack, yet they reached out with hands and feet toward Malignora once more.
[01 : 30 : 24]
Remaining HP: 1 percent.
With successive shockwaves, fireballs began to fall from the sky instead of sap.
A scene reminiscent of the end of the world.
To keep everyone from being swept up in the flames, the tanks blocked the fire with their shields and bodies.
“This is the last push! Run!”
A shout close to a scream rang out.
[00 : 59 : 67]
Less than a minute remained.
The boss’s remaining HP was 0.7 percent.
Arrows and magic rained down on Malignora one final time.
All ten players were pushed back.
[00 : 42 : 33]
Remaining HP: 0.5 percent.
Emily, Sigrid, and Adrian’s attacks reached the boss.
The three players were blown away.
[00 : 35 : 21]
Remaining HP: 0.4 percent.
Veronica, Khalid, Zola, Lucia, and Wolf’s attacks struck true.
In the raging shockwave, the five players were hurled to the ground.
[00 : 24 : 90]
Remaining HP: 0.3 percent.
Yuki, Nadia, and five shields threw themselves forward.
And then.
Seven players flew through the air.
[00 : 17 : 81]
Remaining HP: 0.2 percent.
Inara, Lily, Aslan, Rayan, and Kaan’s strikes succeeded.
Caught in the shockwave and fireballs, the five players rolled across the ground in a battered heap.
[00 : 09 : 28]
Remaining HP: 0.1 percent.
Enzo, Johan, and Rohan’s resolve collided with the boss.
And the three players were driven far back.
At the same time, Malignora’s body swelled greatly, as if it would burst at any moment.
[00 : 05 : 42]
The World Tree had yet to fall, its body still expanding.
Before it, Ian endured the shockwave and raised her sword high.
Voices came from behind her.
“Go!”
“Hang in there!”
“Finish it!”
Amid countless cheers, she murmured the final blow.
“Slash.”
[00 : 03 : 58]
A blue arc and the final shockwave entwined at the same time.
—Kwaaang!
Ian’s sword drifted through the air.
Pushed back helplessly, she rolled across the earth.
She could not move so much as a finger.
All she could do was lift her head and check the timer.
What appeared before her eyes was—
[00 : 02 : 05]
The timer, no longer moving...
And Malignora, crumbling into ash.
The ash that had once been the corrupted World Tree scattered on the wind.
June 8, 2038
Area 3, Durigarda, cleared.