On a moonlit night, a vehicle left Landa and headed toward a forest a few kilometers away.
A dense forest untouched by anyone due to its awkward location.
Yet, for some unknown reason, two men in uniform were guarding the road to the forest, accompanied by a faint magical barrier.
Al, who was driving the vehicle, stopped the car in response to their signal.
âThereâs currently a situation here, no entry is⊠A Red man?â
âWhatâs the situation?â
A voice came from the back seat, and the man in uniform turned his head.
âThis forest is currently under⊠Who are you?â
The man in uniform looked surprised when he saw the face of Oliver in the back seat. Oliver, who had his eyes closed in thought, slowly opened them.
âI received a message from Mr. Carver to come here⊠May I pass?â
The vehicle stopped, and Al hurried to get out to open Oliverâs door.
But Oliver declined and opened the car door himself.
âThank you for the ride, Mr. Al.â
âItâs just my duty.â
âI can manage on my way back, so you can go.â
âMay I ask if thatâs a request or an order?â
ââŠ? Itâs obviously a request. How could I order youâŠâ
âThen, may I have your permission to wait? I request it.â
Taken aback by his unexpected words, Oliver paused for a moment but then nodded his head.
âThen, Iâll be back in a bit.â
âTake care, Mr. Dave.â
After exchanging the same greeting with Al, Oliver turned and moved forward.
What came into view as he turned was a group of soldiers encircling the dense forest.
The group seemed to easily surpass a thousand, and its composition was interesting.
In the front were a few agents from the Security Bureau, followed by Pinkmen employed by the Sisterhood, and direct forces from the Crime Firmâs directors.
In particular, the direct forces under the Crime Firm directors were the least armed with magic coats and enhanced submachine guns, but they were by far the most numerous.
It was the largest and most splendidly armed force Oliver had seen over the years.
âAnd yet they canât break through easily.â
Oliver thought as he looked at the signs of fierce fighting between the encircling forces and the forest.
Soon, Oliver arrived at the temporary command post.
In the place, city official Carver was at the center, surrounded by the Security Bureauâs team leaders including Arthur, the action squad captain of the Crime Firm, Fighter Crew Joe, Pinkman team leader, and Morai School wizards.
They represented the military powers of Landa, but somehow, all of them seemed to be in a bad mood.
âThose damn tree bastards⊠When did they prepare something like that?â
âAccording to our knowledge, it takes at least a few months to prepare that kind of spell.â
âA few months? So, those bastards have been preparing to escape since they started building the ABC?!!â
âWhatâs the point of discussing this now!! We have to think about breaking through! This is outside Landa! When the sun rises, we have to leave first!â
âIf youâre so smart, why donât you break through? Shit, a third of our guys are gone!!â
âWhat the fuck is this guy!!â
âHey, hey, letâs all calm down and firstâŠhuh?â
In the midst of heated exchanges, Carver, who had been patiently coordinating the people, spotted Oliver.
The others also noticed Oliver.
âHello?â
Despite the atmosphere, Oliver greeted them calmly, and they all looked at him with strange expressions.
Pleasure, disbelief, annoyance, suspicion, etc.
Thatâs because Oliver had simultaneously achieved and violated both official and unofficial rules within a short period.
He single-handedly caught two Druids and scored points by finding out where Shamus was, but he also committed the act of vacating his position during the mission without permission.
What on earth is he thinkingâŠ
While everyone was harboring such complex emotions, Carver, who was the most composed, opened his mouth.
âHave you finished your business well?â
âYes, I sincerely appreciate your consideration during the mission.â
âI didnât just let you go, so donât worry about it⊠As you can see, the situation is not very good. I hope you can help us.â
âMay I ask for an explanation?â
Carver immediately started explaining.
âAt the moment, Shamus and his subordinate Druids are holding out in that forest.â
âIsnât it only about a dozen?â
âThere seem to be about fifty druids. Iâm not sure about the details, but they seem to have received support from other Enjoyment Druids. In addition, there are a large number of gangsters armed with mid-level weapons, and it even appears that there is Anti-Development Committee. I donât know why.â
âAhâŠâ
Oliver was astounded by the unexpected number of troops.
âBut the biggest problem is that the entire forest is enchanted. The forest itself is acting like a living fortress, obstructing us.â
âOur judgment is the same,â said Albert, who was with a Morai School wizard.
âGiant tree roots are smashing intruders like the tentacles of a Kraken. The exoskeleton gloves of the Security Bureau and Pinkman are crushed like toys, and bombardment magic is also easily blocked. We canât do anything unless we deal with that first.â
Oliver focused the energy on his eyes and looked at the forest.
As Carver explained, a vast power of nature was surrounding the entire forest.
Looking at its form, it seemed that an enchantment was placed on each tree, and the enchantments were linked together like chains to increase their power, which looked like a job that would take at least several months.
âThere are also two more disparate energies⊠What?â
At that moment, a man interrupted. He seemed to be a team leader of the Security Bureau, judging by his uniform, the same as Arthurâs.
âLook at this, Carver. We have to retreat for now. Itâs not a problem of troops, we canât penetrate there with this equipment!â
Carver answered.
âThat canât be. If we retreat, they will escape, and then we really canât catch them. Thatâs 3 trillion evaporating. Thatâs shaking the status of Landa as a free city. In that case, do you think the Security Bureau will be safe?â
âIf we stay until dawn and get caught, weâll be in bigger trouble! Because weâre violating the city agreement. First, we have to retreat, formally request help from the Kingdom Army, and mobilize the army. If not, innocent people will die!!â
âUm⊠I think Mr. Carverâs opinion is correct.â
Oliver suddenly interrupted. His voice was the most composed among the people here, but precisely because of that, it attracted the most attention.
âWhat?â
âAs I said, I think Mr. Carverâs opinion is correct.â
âA guy whoâs been playing around until now-â
â-Whatâs the reason?â
Carver shut up the disgruntled team leader of the Security Bureau and asked.
âThere is a disparate energy I feel in the forest.â
âA disparate energy?â
âI canât explain it in detail. Itâs not like magic or an enchantment, itâs more like black magic, but somehow, it feels similar to spatial-school magic.â
âWhat the hell are you talking about right now-â
â-Everyone shut up. Weâre talking about this situation, arenât we?â
Carver said with a grimace. Despite being the least powerful ordinary person among them, his position gave him more say than the superhumans.
ââŠIs that true?â
âIâm just telling as I saw.â
âThatâs problematic if itâs true.â
âI think so too. I have something to ask Mr. Shamus.â
In this matter involving astronomical money and political issues and tremendous technology, Oliver boldly said that he had something to ask.
Everyone was dumbfounded.
âSomething to ask?â
âYes.â
âHa⊠Iâm speechless. If youâre that curious, why donât you try breaking through there yourself?â
The team leader of the Security Bureau pointed to the forest where Druids were entrenched.
A troop trying to enter the forest at that time was being repelled by a giant tree root.
Bang!
As the tree root hit the ground, people armed with guns were crushed like ants or floated in the air and then slammed into the ground.
Overwhelming size and power. It looked like a fight between an elephant and an ant.
A sight that demoralized just by watching.
However, Oliver looked at it calmly and nodded his head.
âYes, I think I will. Joe?â
âYes, Mr. Dave.â
The team leader of the Security Bureau, Pinkmanâs team leader, and the head of Crime Firmâs action squad all watched in awe as Joe, who had secured a place among them, got up to respond to Oliverâs call.
âMay I ask if you managed to prepare the things I requested?â
âYes, I have everything ready. Please, follow me.â
Joe led Oliver to two trucks set up among the besieged.
Each of the giant trucks was covered with a tarp.
âI managed to gather high-quality emotions, life force, mana potions, and 30 corpses as you requested. Given the limited time, this was the best I could do.â
âThatâs fantastic. Thank you for fulfilling such a demanding request.â
âNot at all.â
After exchanging words of gratitude with Joe, Oliver called out to Carver.
Like everyone else, Carver, curious about what Oliver was about to do, followed him and responded.
âYes, Mr. Dave.â
âWould it be alright if I proceed with my plan?â
âAs long as you can solve this problem, by all means.â
His words were sincere. Upon hearing the response, Oliver immediately sprang into action.
âWhat the heck is⊠Huh?!â
Many people watching in doubt were stunned.
Oliver was extracting emotions from a test tube, turning them into tiny particles, and spreading them in the air, then he uncovered the tarpaulin and took out large flasks from the box, and floated them in the air.
The large flasks floating in the air by the emotional particles started to tremble, regardless of the type of emotion, and soon spat out their contents on their own.
The emotions became a single black substance mixed with Oliverâs emotional particles, regardless of their nature,
And the life force and mana also swam through the air, taking a similar form to the emotions.
As everyone gasped at the unbelievable amount of energy, Oliver murmured.
âImage, image, imageâŠâŠ Robe?â
Once his insignificant mumbling was over, Oliver lightly moved his finger to turn the emotions into a thin cloth-like form and wrapped it around his body like a robe.
It wasnât black magic.
He was just wrapping a large amount of emotions around his body for easy portability.
Of course, it wasnât as easy as it sounded.
To keep a huge amount of emotions tied up and maintaining them, a tremendous amount of control and mental power was required.
But to Oliver, it was a meaningless story.
As evidence, Oliver didnât feel any fatigue from doing so and merely nodded his head in satisfaction.
âGood.â
Oliver turned the massive amount of life force and mana into a band shape like the emotions and wrapped them around his body.
For easy portability and use.
However, this was just the preparation stage.
[Revive]
Using emotional particles, Oliver gave artificial life to the thirty strong corpses that had been lowered to the floor from the truckâs cargo bed.
The thirty corpses rose.
Oliver then applied additional black magic.
[Obedience]
[Lay The Foundations]
[Acromegaly]
[Steel Bone]
[Muscle Up]
The emotions Oliver wore like a robe responded to Oliverâs will and covered the corpses.
Obedience took control of the corpses,
Lay The Foundations provided a basis for enduring a large amount of disease-based black magic,
Acromegaly enlarged the corpses,
Steel Bone and Muscle Up strengthened the bones and muscles of the corpses.
But it wasnât over yet.
[Madness Injection]
[Burning Life]
[Terrible Anger]
[Fury]
[Muscle Angry Proportional]
[Keratin Excess]
Oliver injected madness into the revived corpses, used it as fuel to maximize aggression, and enhanced the muscles.
He had strengthened the muscles so much that, it was on the verge of tearing through the skin. As a finishing touch, he covered the whole body with a huge armor of callus.
At the ghastly image straight out of a fairytale, resembling a cannibalistic ogre, some of them unknowingly stepped back.
âHowever, this isnât enoughâŠâŠ.â
[Hunger]
Oliver mixed deficiency, greed, and mana to ignite a flame, and something even bigger than the giant zombie was born.
The giant head with its skin partially peeled off, mouth torn up to the ears, a neck as long and thin as a tree branch, frail arms and legs contrasting with a swollen belly. Four hideous and grotesque men made of fire appeared.
âKya kya kya kya hahaha!â
âHee hee hee hee!â
âHahaha!â
âKyaa kyaa kyaa kyaa kyaa kyaaâ!!â
Overwhelming high temperature, giant size, and grotesque appearance.
Suddenly, the mocking people were gone, everyone was just silent.
Despite this, Oliver did not stop, passing through the monsters, he activated mana towards the sky.
[Call the Clouds]
A preparatory spell for a large-scale lightning magic.
A mass of clouds gathered over the forest that was united by the power of nature, and started to rotate around one central point.
Along with it, blue will-oâ-the-wisp sparkled, writhing like a snake.
Rumble. Rumble. RumbleâŠâŠ!!
However, the druids werenât just standing still.
The druids, who were in important positions of the spells encompassing the forest, cooperated with each other to grow several large trees to cover the forest. With a ground-shaking noise, a roof covering the forest was created, and it seemed impossible to pierce it with a mere lightning spell.
But it didnât matter since what Oliver was planning to do wasnât a mere lightning spell.
Oliver extracted a large amount of anger from the emotions and sent it to the clouds above.
The anger, clouds, and lightning mixed into one, and the blue lightning that illuminated the night sky paradoxically began to turn black.
One of the Moirai school wizards, witnessing this spectacle, muttered in a horrified voice.
âThat isâŠâŠ.â
[Fierce Thunder]
Along with the chant, Oliver lightly brought his hand down from above.
The angry clouds discharged intense black lightning below, and the lightning, as if it were alive, violently and maliciously struck the weak parts of the trees.
Just like a person hitting an enemy they despise.
The attack was so powerful it seemed to shake the sky, and it was lethal.
The wooden roof made by the druids collapsed, and the black lightning poured out all its anger.
Roarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!
Five streaks of black lightning that poured out all at once struck the forest, and the power of nature that had been binding the forest noticeably weakened.
Itâs no wonder, as the links that had been connecting the magic had all been severed at once.
The forest shook with a huge blaze, and the anti-Shamus coalition, nearly a thousand in number, dumbly watched the spectacle.
âIâll go first.â
As everyone was stunned by the divine technique, neither magic nor black magic, Oliver mounted the giant zombie and spoke.
When people turned around, he was already running off in the distance, leading the giant zombie and Hunger on his own.
The first to respond was Joe from the Fighter Crew.
ââŠâŠWhat are you doing? Everyone, follow.â
With those words, Joe started running, and the rest of the Fighter Crew members followed him, shouting.