Chapter 27: The Druid’s Fiery Deception

Liuli’s companions gathered around, eager to observe.

“So this is magic?” Leon asked, leaning in perhaps a little too close. Liuli secretly glanced at him, a faint blush rising to her cheeks. “Does ‘Level 1’ refer to the book or to you, Liuli?”

“Hmm? What do you think, Leon?” Liuli replied shyly.

“Don’t ask me, I’m just as confused,” he admitted. “And what about ‘Spell Slot: 1’? Can anyone explain that?”

Naya tapped her chin thoughtfully. “I’d guess one spell slot corresponds to one spell.”

“I always thought magic was a serious affair,” Ael remarked, crossing her arms. “But the note for ‘Fireball’ says—’deals damage to the target and its entire ancestral line’… Isn’t that just an insult?”

Liuli felt a profound sense of malice emanating from the words.

“It’s only for a single use,” Leon advised her. “It’s probably best not to use it too lightly.”

“Mm.” Liuli nodded softly, appearing particularly attentive to Leon’s words.

“Aio’s will brought Liuli back, and now even magic has been revived,” Ael mused. “It seems Aio must have some grand plan in motion.”

‘Who knows?’ A sense of a great task descending upon them filled her.

As they spoke, two dark blurs suddenly darted past them. Upon closer inspection, it was merely a cat the size of a silverback wolf chasing a smaller feline.

Indeed, with the goblin population drastically reduced, this area had become a haven for wild animals.

However, the smaller cat, previously fleeing, suddenly turned back! It pounced at Leon’s feet, transforming into a human in an instant.

“Save me!” To their astonishment, it was a purple-haired young woman! She clung to Leon’s leg, pleading desperately, leaving Naya and Liuli utterly dumbfounded.

‘She’s literally clinging to his leg!’

“You apostate! How dare you beg adventurers for help?” The cat, as large as a silverback wolf, also transformed into a human, revealing a young man.

‘Why do these two look so familiar? Especially the young woman…’ Leon pondered.

“These two seem to be the Great Druid’s disciples, don’t they?” Naya interjected, voicing his thoughts. “We saw them at the Adventurers’ Guild!”

“Mind your own business!” the druid man snarled fiercely.

“Apologies,” Leon stated, casually resting his sword on his shoulder. “But I’ve decided to get involved.”

“I shall punish you in nature’s stead!” The druid man’s hands transformed into razor-sharp cat claws, lunging at Leon.

Leon swung his sword, instantly flickering from in front of the man to behind him. The druid man collapsed, blood gushing from his chest.

‘What a clean, decisive strike.’ Just as Leon was about to sheathe his sword, a bolt of lightning inexplicably struck the fallen man.

“Whoa, what just happened?” Leon exclaimed, surprised. The man had revived! He climbed to his feet as if unharmed, the sword wound on his chest gradually healing.

‘Could that lightning bolt have been a defibrillator, restarting his heart?’

“I am Harold the Immortal, one of the Great Druid’s four disciples!” the man declared coldly.

No sooner had the words left his lips than a massive, shimmering silver palm slammed him flat to the ground once more, leaving a deep, palm-shaped crater.

“Truly, Ael is impressive.”

Ael merely snorted. “I haven’t even made a move today.”

Another bolt of lightning struck the druid man from thin air, filling the air with the smell of scorched flesh.

“You—dare to oppose nature—?”

The man, whose body seemed to possess a built-in defibrillator, rose from the crater like a revenant. He raised his arms to the sky, summoning something.

Wind answered his call first, whipping into a frenzy, and dark, heavy clouds gathered ominously above his head, rumbling with a deep echo.

‘This guy’s charging up a big move, isn’t he?’

Naya swiftly cast Shields of Light upon everyone nearby.

“Oh no—! He’s summoning lightning! Run!” the druid woman cried out, panicked.

“It’s too late—!” the druid man stated coldly. “I’ll finish all of you at once—!”

The words had barely left his mouth when a massive fireball hurtled towards him, striking him with a thunderous impact—inflicting 2d6 bludgeoning damage and 6d6 explosive damage.

After the explosion, only a charred, black mass remained on the ground. No amount of defibrillation would revive him now. The ominous clouds, too, dispersed, and the wind settled.

All eyes turned to Liuli.

“Liuli just wanted to try it,” Liuli said timidly. “I didn’t expect it to be so powerful.”

The druid woman stared, utterly dumbfounded by the sight. ‘This, this, this shouldn’t be the power of a one-star team—!!!’

“Why was he chasing you?” Leon asked.

“Please save everyone!” the druid woman cried, shaking Leon’s leg. “My teacher, he’s gone mad—!!”

“What?” Everyone present was taken aback.

“Your teacher is the Great Druid, isn’t he?” Naya urged. “Take your time, tell us what happened to him.”

“He, he’s planning to eradicate all adventurers in the outer regions of Yilanto—!”

Everyone exchanged bewildered glances.

“Do adventurers have a grudge against him? Why would he do such a thing?” Leon asked, a puzzled expression on his face. Not only him, but even Ael stood with her arms crossed, looking worried.

“It’s like this,” the druid woman explained. “My teacher believes that the current number of adventurers seriously threatens the balance of nature! So he decided to act in nature’s stead, fulfilling its duties!”

“But he publicly claimed that the goblin population was severely threatening nature’s balance…”

“Exactly! I thought so too at first! He ordered his disciples to impersonate a non-existent mutated goblin—the Butcher! Then he posted bounties! I initially believed this was to encourage everyone to eliminate goblins!

But I never imagined his true purpose was to lure a massive number of adventurers to the outer regions of Yilanto! And then—”

The druid woman paused to catch her breath, pointing towards the conical mountain peak. “That’s a volcano! He intends to make the volcano erupt and engulf all the adventurers!”

“Huh??? The Butcher was fake??” Leon, Ael, and Naya exclaimed in unison.

“Yes! The Butcher is the transformed form of Pharion, the Wilderness Walker, one of the four disciples.”

The Great Druid’s four disciples are:

Pharion, the Wilderness Walker

Harold the Immortal

Ania, the Spirit Caller

Hamuel, the Fungus Weaver and Venomous Fragrance

“I am Ania, the Spirit Caller,” the druid woman said, rubbing her tear-reddened eyes.

“The four disciples received the Essence Blood, a wine symbolizing nature’s power, allowing them to merge with nature’s force and gain strength beyond mortals.”

“No wonder the hunter’s tracking skills led to nowhere,” Naya murmured. “It wasn’t a wrong location; the Butcher’s true form was right there in Dawn City!”

Leon glanced at the conical mountain peak, now so close, surprised to realize it was a volcano. “Surely we can still stop your teacher now, can’t we?” he asked.

The druid woman shook her head.

“It’s impossible to stop him. The Great Druid is practically the embodiment of nature’s power! And then there’s Hamuel, one of the four disciples! He’s Harold the Immortal’s father, and he far surpasses the three of us disciples! That man is truly formidable; I’m not joking.”

The druid woman concluded, “My point is, you need to quickly warn all the adventurers in the outer regions of Yilanto to evacuate!”

“Who cares,” Leon said, with his characteristic gesture of resting his sword on his shoulder. “Saving all this is a hero’s duty, after all.”

***

Meanwhile, high up on the mountainside.

The Great Druid began his ascent to the summit.

Ten years ago, to maintain the balance of nature, the force of nature itself annihilated all mages, and the Great Druid received its essence in the Whispering Forest.

Now, it was his turn to fulfill nature’s duties in place of the gods.

“The Butcher is already waiting at the foot of the mountain,” Hamuel, the Fungus Weaver and Venomous Fragrance, reported. “Currently, a hundred adventurer teams are heading this way.”

“Is there still no news from your son?” the Great Druid asked, his voice steady and hoarse.

“He went after the apostate; you needn’t worry,” Hamuel assured him.

The Great Druid nodded. “Tonight is the full moon, when nature’s power is at its peak. I will now go to the volcano’s crater to commune with nature. You are to guard this place for me.”

“Rest assured,” Hamuel replied.

“I’ll plant wild mushrooms on the slope; anyone who approaches will—” Before he could finish, a massive fireball descended from the sky, slamming into him—inflicting 2d6 bludgeoning damage and 6d6 explosive damage.

“Hamuel—?” The Great Druid watched in astonishment as his disciple was inexplicably incinerated by a fireball.

He sensed no one’s presence; the fireball had appeared from thin air.

‘What in the world—’