Tick, a tiny fla thrown in an arc from the fingertips of Han Se-ah, who rode on my back. The small fireball, created by the fire-attribute special enhancent stone reinforcing her staff, floated gently through the air before landing on the sticky oil coating a massive tree.
There was no dramatic scene of flas erupting violently the mont the spark made contact.
'...This looks kind of dangerous, though?'
What chilled my spine was watching the fla spread leisurely across the black sticky oil, like ink diffusing through water. Was this because it was designed to literally "lt" the Demon Lord army's fortress? Instinct warned that while I could ward off ordinary torches with mana, if this stuff touched my skin, the outco would be nothing short of disastrous.
The fla spread up and down the massive tree that beca Han Se-ah's first target due to its noticeable size. It advanced slower than a person's walking pace.
"Uh, huh? Already?"
"Stop gawking and move!"
But everyone felt a sense of urgency when we saw the flas, which hadn't even reached the midsection of the tall tree, snap the trunk in just 10 seconds—a trunk thicker than a human torso that resembled a Temple pillar.
Though the flas appeared slow and unimpressive on the surface, they burrowed inward at an astonishing speed, lting or rather liquefying everything they touched rather than just spreading outward. Was this truly a strategic weapon designed for fortress destruction?
This ant that if poured on a person, it would lt their bones and internal organs before their skin even completely burned. No wonder the stone dwarf warned that it could burn holes through a forge.
"The flas are slow, but they look obviously dangerous! Let's run now!"
"We can admire the fire later, let's just check the aftermath when we return!"
I wasn't the only one who felt this unease—Grace's complexion changed as she quickly began running, and Katie, with Irene on her back, even drew upon her ice-attribute aura as she started running.
Before the flas could spread very far, the massive tree creaked, wobbled with its trunk broken, and finally collapsed. Though the fire hadn't fully spread, it had progressed enough that the impact of the crash sent embers flying in all directions... and the gates of hell opened.
Peep?! Peeeeep! Peeeeeep!
Peeeeeep peep-peep-peep——
"Ah, it fell, I caught it!"
"Hold it gently, careful not to hurt it."
-The finch fainted from high blood pressure LOLOLOLOLOL
-The human hero bastard set fire to its holand LOLOLOLOLOLOL
-Wow that fla looks seriously brutal LOL Not flashy but intensely sticky-looking
-Hey don't squeeze too hard or the starlight finch will turn into a bloodlight finch LOLOLOLOLOL
-I never thought I'd see a live broadcast of prival forest being napald in my lifeti
Slowly, leisurely, but more thoroughly than anything else.
The fla, following the sticky oil we'd spread, split the waists of towering trees that knew no fear of the sky, knocked them to the ground, and devoured them—a terrifying sight that caused the finch above my head to let out a strange death cry before fainting with a thud.
This reminded of the shadow fang tiger, so I discreetly rolled my eyes to check on it. From the mont the sticky oil was sprayed everywhere, it hadn't even poked its ears or eyes out of the shadows, just trembling violently inside Grace's shadow.
Apparently, it sensed the danger of the sticky oil too, as it shook so hard it couldn't even think about concealing its presence... can it even wet itself inside a shadow?
"At least the flas spread slowly, that's fortunate!"
"And it's good we made that firebreak! If such flas had spread behind us too, I'd have been too anxious to consider crossing back through the gate."
"Since the forest is so large, areas without oil will eventually burn out. Unless the wraiths are complete idiots, they'll find ways to extinguish fires in places where they've spread to areas without oil. Whether wraiths or beasts, if they can handle mana, they'll try to stop it sohow."
"We'll, get, the lich's head, and, co back, when the fire, dies, down!"
Still, the ominous presence surging behind us was so persistent that we continued running until we crossed the firebreak created by the holy sword's aftermath and entered the still-intact forest beyond.
I ignored Han Se-ah making noises behind like "Hieek—Huaak—Finch—Cara—Broadcast—Kwaang." She was so overwheld by the sticky oil's power that I couldn't tell if she was talking to viewers or party mbers, so I just kept my mouth shut and ran full-speed.
We ran past the newly created firebreak, through the still-intact forest, all the way back to the firebreak we'd made on the first day.
"Wow, look at that smoke rising..."
"It really feels like we've done sothing awful."
Turning our heads slightly at the first day's firebreak—which from the flas' perspective was the second firebreak protecting the gate connecting the 62nd and 61st floors—we saw black smoke.
Though it contained holy oil, it was mixed with chemicals and oil, so the smoke rose high into the sky like factory chimneys or an erupting volcano, forming a pillar of black clouds. Still, judging by the direction of the smoke, it didn't seem like any embers would reach us.
※
"Um, Roland?"
"Hmm? What is it?"
Naturally, besides us, there were no adventurers on the 62nd floor where forest fairy emblems and the starlight finch opened the gate. So after committing the atrocious hero-act of dousing the forest with holy-napalm in all directions and returning to the mansion on Sabaody Archipelago, the next day...
The flas would probably burn for at least a week. Even ordinary forest fires lasted that long, and if any nad-level monsters handling mana could control ice or water, they'd desperately try to stop the wildfire from expanding.
As I was thinking this while resting in my quarters, Irene knocked on my door and slipped inside. Her entering before getting permission was cute, and her apparent lack of interest in strict formality proved our closeness, which put in a good mood.
"Weren't you planning to go shopping with Hanna? Since both the mansion and inventory were low on food."
"This might sound really strange, but well. I heard sothing from the Temple."
After knocking on the door, she peeked her head through the slightly opened doorway. Seeing that I was fully dressed and lounging on the bed, she naturally slipped inside without waiting for permission and sat on a small chair beside the bed.
Her behavior was so far from being distant that I grinned foolishly, which Irene misinterpreted, causing her to gently scratch the back of her head before slowly beginning her story.
Without smartphones or satellite communications, news from the Empire's Temple had traveled to the Kingdom's Grand Temple, then to the adventurer city branch, and finally to the Sabaody Archipelago branch on the 50th floor. Specifically, it was news about the Temple knights expected to create safe zones on the 62nd floor.
"...Orcs? What about orcs?"
"Yes. Apparently, orcs have collectively converted to the faith on the Empire's side."
I'm not sure this could even be called news about Temple knights. If anyone but Irene had ntioned this at a bar, I would have shoved a beer mug in their face and told them to stop spewing nonsense and go to sleep.
In this world, Tower monsters invariably harbor malice toward humans, disregard strength disparities, and always attack—common knowledge. Whether charging directly, circling around for ambushes, or setting traps, Tower monsters always attack, but...
Natural monsters outside the Tower weren't particularly friendly to humans either. At least so beasts occasionally ford bonds with humans in extrely rare cases.
To wandering goblins, humans were "idiots who create food when you stay near them." To wandering orcs, humans were "idiots easier to plunder than their own kind." To trolls or ogres, humans were probably just tender at compared to monsters.
Though this world was created as a ga, there were reasons why these other races—who ford barbaric civilizations, communicated among themselves, and showed advancent beyond primitive humans—were called "monsters."
"Orcs converted to the faith?"
"Yes. A group of orcs coming up from the Kingdom's direction approached knights on their way to the Kingdom, and presented a wooden statue of the Goddess, demanding baptism."
In other words, this was 100%, no, 140%, no, 9,999% a ga event connected to Han Se-ah. It was such an obvious situation that even a newbie who couldn't clear the first floor of the Tower would shout "This is an event!"
That's why I had no choice but to jump up from my seat, interrupting Irene.
"Is Hanna at the market? I think we need to discuss this with her first."
"She's probably at the market with Grace. You're right, it's better if we all gather to talk about this."
After throwing on a soft cloth outfit over my underwear-like short-sleeved shirt and shorts, I headed outside with Irene following silently behind .
Together, we went downstairs and asked maid Emma and butler Sebastian to gather everyone, then I started thinking. While it probably had nothing to do with burning the 62nd floor, the ntion of an orc group triggered sothing in my mory.
These suspiciously suspicious orcs... where had they co from?
...............The royally blessed Auvergne Forest?
Could it be that the orcs banished from the Tower by the orc chieftain on the 20th floor during Season 1, after escaping pursuit by the Kingdom's knights, had sohow survived until now and finally crawled all the way to the Empire?
Enjoy the chappy!
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