Chapter 211

Before anything else, Seonghyun took a look around the outskirts of the village.

It was fairly spacious, but not as large as a typical village.

It was even smaller than the smallest beginner village.

Of course, small villages exist.

But the strange thing was

‘There aren’t any ghosts at all.’

No matter how small a village, it’s natural to have at least one ghost.

Especially a village this old, one or two ghosts should be present.

But not seeing any was strange.

Since Helena’s visit, there were living beings present.

Could they be some kind of longevity species?

They grew the trees themselves and made houses and tools from them.

You might think they were elves.

But they didn’t have any elf traits.

No pointed ears, and the faces behind the wooden masks weren’t handsome either.

Another strange point was

‘There are no elders?’

And there were no children either.

Among the villagers, there were no elders or children at all.

Thinking about that, the village itself felt quite strange.

Maybe the beginning of a horror story?

But Seonghyun did not suspect anything because of that.

Rather

‘If I ask, will they tell me?’

He just thought about whether or not he should ask.

It would be good if they answered.

But they might not.

As Seonghyun thought this

A sturdy man wearing a worn wooden mask and clothes spoke.

“Wahahaha! You have a face with many questions, huh? Go ahead and ask!”

From his frank tone, it didn’t seem like he was lying.

Then, well.

“You don’t seem to be human, huh...”

Seonghyun tentatively opened the topic.

The man wearing the worn wooden mask burst out laughing and answered.

“Wahahaha! You have quite sharp eyes! It’s easiest if you think of us as a kind of spirit tree!”

“Spirit?”

[You have acquired the keyword 『Spirit Tree』.]

Seonghyun looked at him with fascination.

Spirit tree.

Was it a spirit?

Or a tree?

No, this was the first time he had seen a spirit itself.

He had seen a few summoned spirits during the large-scale war at Dune Wild Trail.

But he had never seen an NPC spirit before.

Seonghyun looked at him with fascination.

The man explained patiently.

“Wahahaha! Strictly speaking, we are closer to spirits but not exactly spirits; you could say we are a subspecies! Both the tree itself and a spirit at the same time. You can think of us as spirit trees. As you can see, we even look like people!”

“I see.”

It was certainly fascinating.

As Seonghyun asked this and that,

The man answered sincerely.

First, that he was the village chief of this village.

That Helena had come here about three thousand years ago.

And most importantly.

“The long, thin man and the face men? Ah!! Those must be the ones the Lord spoke of. The minions of darkness and their prey.”

“Minions of darkness?”

[You have acquired the keyword 『Minions of Darkness』.]

At Seonghyun’s question, the chief nodded and replied.

“Hmm, to be precise, they are the minions of the master who governs this forest shrouded in darkness. You’d better be careful of that spider and the fruits.”

Until then, the chief had always spoken with a smile, but now he did not smile and spoke of danger, so it must really be dangerous.

Hearing that, Seonghyun nodded.

“They will surely attack you once you leave this village.”

“I see.”

“But just as the Lord did, you also have a reason for coming to this forest, right?”

Helena came here to find Narisha and Berto.

And although Seonghyun came here just because of a quest.

“Just as the Lord did three thousand years ago, to absorb the darkness, right?”

At those words, Seonghyun tilted his head in confusion.

That was the first time he heard that objective.

To absorb darkness?

What was that about?

As Seonghyun listened carefully,

“The Lord also came and absorbed the darkness. He gained even stronger power than when he first came! Wahahaha!!! And after that, the darkness, that is the master of this forest, grew strong again. Now you have come to absorb it once more!”

Although Seonghyun did not intend to,

It seemed he had just heard the final purpose of this quest.

To absorb the darkness.

And the master of this forest.

Hearing that, Seonghyun immediately thought of the darkness that coveted Helena’s power and controlled Narisha and Berto.

And those minions were located outside this forest?

“...Hmm, you could say that.”

Seonghyun nodded in agreement after hearing the story.

The chief smiled happily and said,

“This village will always welcome you. Rest here whenever you are tired!!!”

“Thank you.”

Perhaps sensing that Seonghyun would leave soon,

The chief spoke as if to promise a future meeting.

Seonghyun expressed his thanks and stood up.

Should he go now and meet the minion of darkness called the spider?

As Seonghyun prepared to leave immediately,

Watching Seonghyun with that look, the village chief spoke.

“If you come back after absorbing the darkness, I shall reward you again!!! As it happens, the darkness has been growing thicker and I’ve had many worries about what to do.”

“Ah.”

[You can receive an additional reward for the final chapter of the Story Quest from 『The Village Chief of Wood Drum Village』.]

They were helping him this much.

He was truly grateful.

When Seonghyun smiled and expressed his thanks,

The chief told him to return anytime, then took out a drum made of wood, who knew when it had been made, and shouted.

“May our village gain another benefactor!!!”

“Hooray! May a benefactor come!!!”

“Wahahaha!”

Duuung! Duuuuung——!!! Duuuuung———!!!

At the chief’s call, the other spirit trees gathered in, all beating their drums together with excitement.

When he heard that drumming,

[You have heard the magnificent drumming of the 『Spirit Trees』.]

[All stats increase by 5% for 1 hour.]

Receiving that tremendous buff, Seonghyun smiled.

Everyone waved to him, greeting him as if to tell him to take care on his way.

Alright then, shall he go meet the long, thin man?

2.

As the wooden drums of Wood Drum Village thumped and echoed,

Something within the distant darkness that had been watching closely crunched down on something.

A spider with a human head, scowling as it crunched on the head of a person hanging from a tree, muttered,

“I want to rip apart the annoying drums of Wood Drum Village.”

But no one knew better than this human-headed spider that it could not do so.

The detestable Lord.

The drum that Helena gifted them prevented darkness from encroaching upon that village.

Because of that, even the spider, a minion of darkness, could not approach those surroundings.

It could not even go to the very entrance of the Forest Shrouded in Darkness.

All because of that drumming.

If not for that,

It could have tormented any intruder from the very entrance.

Those spirit trees it wanted to tear apart into shreds.

“I will tear you all limb from limb. Of course, before that…”

Saying so, the spider curled its lips into a nasty smile as it looked at Seonghyun, who was about to leave Wood Drum Village.

To enter hell on his own feet without even taking a rest.

Such a laughable fool.

Although, due to the detestable Lord Helena, its master, who had lost all power and was now accumulating strength again, was in the same situation,

Still, some three thousand years had passed.

It had recovered to some extent.

So it was confident.

Above all, that hateful energy felt from the intruder.

“That fellow possesses the same power as that one. In that case, if I offer him to my master, my lord will gain an even more robust power.”

Laughing to itself, the spider loosened up lightly and prepared to ambush Seonghyun from within the darkness.

The darkness was its stage.

And there were still plenty of human heads hanging from the trees.

That creature would be torn apart horribly and die without resisting.

Believing that, it moved to attack.

But then,

The spider with the human head felt something strange.

“...What is this?”

It was about to jump at Seonghyun and kill him with a surprise attack.

But why?

Its body refused to move.

Was it instinct?

The instinct telling it not to attack now.

The spider did not understand this, and cocked its head, looking toward where Seonghyun was.

Then—

“!!!”

Its eyes met Seonghyun’s.

Though there was quite some distance between them.

Had its position been discovered?

No, that was impossible.

A mere human couldn’t know where it was.

It must have been a coincidence.

Thinking so, the spider tried to hide its body just in case.

From afar, it could see Seonghyun moving his lips.

‘Found you.’

At that moment, a teal-colored portal appeared above the spider’s head.

From it came a grumbling sound, and an aged, decrepit demon appeared.

—Muttering.

At the same time, a slashing strike extended out.

Seeing that, the spider’s spine tingled.

It immediately escaped.

The densely grown trees were swiftly sliced down to create an open space.

Soon, Seonghyun approached, watching this with a faint smile.

“Looks like you really can come here.”

The spider gulped while looking at Seonghyun and Drakhanos.

What on earth was going on?

It couldn’t understand.

But one thing was clear: the ambush was over.

And now its priority was to escape from that guy.

But—

Fizz, fffizz.

More teal portals opened.

From them jumped Nocturnium, Leonik, Balthar, Serphina, and even Fiora.

As the vassals appeared,

The pupils of the human-headed spider trembled violently.

Could it run away from here?

3.

How much time had passed?

It felt like more than when Narisha and Berto appeared.

But—

“Hmm, that was easier than I thought.”

- I think so too.

- Mutter mutter.

- Hey, you’re so weak.

“I agree.”

The vassals muttered as if they were quite dissatisfied.

As expected, even though it had already passed Phase 2, the spider was stopped too easily by the vassals.

“Ughhh.”

All its legs had already been cut off.

And all the human heads nearby had been used.

The spider’s fighting style used spirits controlled through those human heads, spitting out threads and poison.

But here, there was no one who would fall for that.

Especially when it attacked using spirits.

Seonghyun turned on his Death Aura and made all the spirits his own.

From the spider’s point of view, it was maddening.

“Good work, everyone.”

Seonghyun approached and praised the vassals who had captured the spider.

At Seonghyun’s praise,

- Oh no, it was a surprisingly weak one, Lord.

- As the lord’s command is, we do whatever is required of us.

- Mutter mutter mutter.

- Noya also says it was nothing serious, my lord.

- It really was nothing at all.

“Much simpler than expected.”

Though everyone said it was no big deal,

They all wore strange smiles, seeming quite pleased by Seonghyun’s praise.

They were more adorable than expected.

Anyway.

Seonghyun approached the spider and asked.

“So, will you tell me who your master is? Minion of darkness?”

“I-I would never tell!!! My absolute loyalty does not change, not even in death!!!”

The spider shouted that and took its own life.

Though the spider died before Seonghyun could react,

Its spirit rose from the corpse.

Seonghyun saw that spider’s spirit.

And the spider’s spirit smiled like a treacherous servant, saying,

- Ah! Are you speaking of the Dark Lord? I will tell you anything you want to know!