Limit Breaking Genius Mage Chapter 50

Episode 50: The Forest of Demons (1)

Verden had no intention of wasting time.

Before the opponent could even move, the magical power that had already filled his entire body moved according to Verden's will and formed magic according to the laws.

<Chain Lightning>

A single bolt of lightning extended from the staff and struck the white eyes.

They were dead, so they had no life, but their bodies were no different from those of living people. Naturally, lightning magic, which has absolute destructive power against living things, would be effective.

Kwaaaaah!

The wizard who was hit directly had no time to react, and his body exploded as if it couldn't withstand the blow.

It didn't end there. The lightning split into two and spread out in all directions. Although its power was weaker than before, the bastards still couldn't withstand it.

The only thing that's okay with this is the gray tree.

The bastard seemed to panic and hurriedly extended his roots and swung them at Verden.

'It's all read.'

I avoided it by a single sheet of paper without even having to use magic.

Then, he released his charged magical power and struck the root with all his might with the staff that had been granted magical concentration. Even though it was a tree, it must have been quite painful because the gray tree twitched its branches.

'It seems like he's not much different from Trent, except he controls the dead.'

The bark is hard, but that's it.

Well, since it's a tree, its weaknesses are obvious.

<Flare>

<Flare>

<Flare>

Triple casting.

Three beams of light shot out from the staff and headed towards the gray tree. It had raised its roots to create a wall, but that was not enough to stop a fourth-tier fire spell.

Kwaaaaah!

The heat that burned the roots engulfed the main body. All the leaves hanging from the branches were burned, and the surface of the gray tree was blackened like charcoal.

And then, soon after, a large crack began to appear and it shattered into pieces. At the same time, the bodies of the living white eyes disappeared.

What should I say?

It was a bland ending compared to what happened.

Piyung! Verden fired a signal flare into the sky.

“This concludes this request… huh?”

At that moment, something like white smoke rose from the remains of the gray tree.

It looked similar to when the white eyes died, but instead of disappearing, they started moving into the forest. Quite quickly.

'What the heck is that?'

Could it be some kind of heteromorph that parasitizes other trees?

If so, there is a possibility of resurrection.

First, Verden chased after him.

As the forest deepened, the sunlight began to dwindle. Before long, night came, despite it being broad daylight. The darkness was so deep that it made me wonder if it could be this dark, even in a deep forest.

When he almost caught up with the white smoke, Verden stopped moving.

No, I had to stop.

“What the heck is this…….”

An ominous feeling when faced with a gray tree.

An eerie atmosphere that is dozens of times more intense than that.

Verden's senses screamed at him, telling him not to go any further.

I tried using my magic sense, but I couldn't identify anything. It's as if the entire forest is rejecting magic.

'Could it be… this is the devil's forest?'

An area off-limits to the Principality and the Adventurer's Guild.

At that moment, memories of the past flashed through Verden's mind.

A month and the devil's forest that the listener spoke of.

Smoke from the gray trees.

An unusual phenomenon in which Trent, who hates sunlight, comes out of the Devil's Forest.

'Is it a coincidence?'

That could be the case.

At least it was a bit of a stretch to link this to the Ark's listeners.

But why does intuition say otherwise?

‘… … I’m going back for now.’

This forest is dangerous. I've already lost track of the white smoke.

Verden turned around and headed towards the punitive force that was waiting for him.

* * *

While Verden was dealing with the Gray Tree, the number of White-Eyeds dealt with by the punitive force was in the hundreds. However, there were no deaths, although there were injuries.

Balkan attracted attention and faced many strong opponents including platinum-rank adventurers, and although he was outnumbered from the middle of the game, this result was possible because Verden subdued the gray trees at a good time.

Vulcan was shot in the arms, legs and stomach with arrows.

Count Rodenmeyer stared blankly at him, his whole body covered in bandages.

“The commander of the knights is really shameless.”

“I am ashamed, Your Majesty.”

“Fine. At least you did what you were asked to do. It’s a shame there was damage, but I guess I’ll have to be satisfied with the fact that it ended here.”

Because it almost caused more damage.

Count Rodenmeyer decided to strengthen the guard on the Kazerdan Ridge for a while, just in case there was a follow-up measure.

“I heard you did a great job, Asher. I heard you were a fourth-tier wizard.”

“I didn’t mean to deceive you.”

“It doesn’t matter. It’s better for me. I can use a 4th-tier wizard who owns a rune ring for relatively cheap. So please take care of me next time.”

A runic alphabet classified as advanced.

Although he was a little greedy for the rune ring, he had no intention of taking it by force. Count Rodenmeyer chose to maintain friendly relations with Verden.

'It's quite hard to find such talent. And I don't think they'll be handed over easily.'

Well, Count Rodenmeyer decided that there was more to be gained by keeping a connection.

After completing the commission, Verden received a considerable amount of compensation from the count's family.

After all, no matter what anyone says, he had the greatest share in safely rescuing Viscount Bailon. Clark, who had been giving him a displeased look, kept his mouth shut and left the place.

Afterwards, Verden purchased intermediate and advanced magic stones from Pale to use in his magic book.

Verden, who had registered the magic to be strengthened, prepared to set out on a journey without receiving any requests.

'I need to meet the listener.'

There are only a few days left until the month he said.

I originally intended to ignore it. There was absolutely no reason to accept the advice of an unknown group. However, the ominous feeling I felt in the Demon Forest was something I simply could not ignore.

Verden is a researcher.

Even if it was unrelated, I felt like I had to check it out myself and resolve my doubts in order to get rid of this uneasy feeling.

Verden's next destination is Lorien.

It was a city used as a base by adventurers, located near the forbidden place called 'Devil's Forest'.

* * *

Ainz, demons, and other species.

Adventurers make it their job to subdue beings that pose a threat to humanity.

And sometimes you can make money by mining byproducts used in magic items or various other things. A large sum of money that is worth risking your life for.

Adventurer is a profession of opportunity.

Although you had to have a minimum level of character to be promoted, ultimately anyone could be promoted as long as they had the skills to do so.

Sometimes, adventurers of platinum rank or higher would become nobles at the request of the state, or they could serve as bodyguards for nobles in exchange for a high salary.

However, the barrier to entry for becoming an adventurer was very thin.

So, the footsteps of those who challenged themselves as adventurers never ceased. People who took up arms with big dreams and a bright future in mind.

But most of them are frustrated for their own reasons.

Whether because of fear, limited talent, or injury, most of the endings for inexperienced adventurers were not good.

The guild sensed the gravity of the situation and requested an investigation from the Magic Tower to alert the adventurers.

Why do adventurers have so many casualties?

At the top of the world, we collected samples of the causes and announced the results.

The first place, which accounts for an overwhelming proportion among them.

'Because I was caught up in an unexpected situation'

* * *

“Lucas! Going your way!”

“Leave it to me!”

The demon 'Borek' charged forward with his horns in front, snorting an angry breath.

Adventurer Lucas held his sword tightly in both hands with a proud expression on his face. Then, just before they collided, he threw himself to the side and swung his sword.

Kkweeeeek!

The decapitated Bork screamed and ran wild.

The adventurers watched cautiously from a distance. Then, just as the creature began to stagger from exhaustion, a steel hammer struck down its head.

The shattered skull of the bore slumped over, shaking.

“Got it!”

“Good job, Dean!”

“Isn’t today a jackpot? This is already the third.”

“Imports are crazy!”

Bork's leather is strong but easy to process, so it can be sold for a fairly good price.

But that's three chapters. This is a day of much luckier luck than usual. The adventurers were delighted and worked on the leather with their familiar hands.

He rolled up the barely scratched leather and tied it tightly to his luggage.

“By the way, I’ve been seeing demons a lot lately. When I looked for them last time, I couldn’t even see their noses.”

“Well, what’s the big deal? It’s still daylight. What are you going to do, Lucas? Should we go back, or should we catch one more?”

“Hey, you’re going back already? Let’s catch more! I have a good feeling about today.”

“I agree. It’s not often that I get such good luck.”

“Well, if that’s what everyone thinks…….”

Lucas thought for a moment.

The comrades seem to have plenty of stamina, and there is still time before the sun sets. It seems that there will be no problem in searching for a little more Bork. The opinions of the comrades are also the same.

“Okay. Let’s find one more. Ollie, can you give me a map?”

Lucas took the map and spread it out on the floor.

The green forest to the west of Lorien, and beyond that, a forest of gloomy colors.

“It’s still a bit far to the Devil’s Forest, so why don’t we take a look around this area?”

“Let’s go a little closer. There are rumors that there are a lot of demons living near the Devil’s Forest. Or it would be good to go in for a bit and then come out. To be honest, even though it’s called the Devil’s Forest, there are many rumors that it’s dangerous, but there aren’t many people who have actually been there, right?”

The forest beyond the forest, the devil's forest.

The environment there was different from ordinary nature.

The trees are said to be distorted into bizarre shapes, and that even during the day, light barely reaches them. In addition, an unidentified scream can be heard in the eerie atmosphere.

According to the records, many adventurers who had gone there in the past went missing, and although an investigation team was dispatched, not a single one was found. And it is said that there have been continuous missing people since then.

Eventually, the Adventurer's Guild and the Principality named the forest the Devil's Forest and made a rule that no one could enter it.

It was a story from decades ago.

Lucas shook his head firmly at Robert's words.

“Absolutely not. Haven’t you heard the story of an adventurer who died because he was so careless? There must be a reason why such rumors spread.”

“Oh, okay. It was just a joke, so don’t be so serious, Lucas. I know better than to. I was just saying.”

“Okay then. Now, let’s go.”

Lucas and his group headed deep into the forest.

But contrary to my expectations that I would soon find the demon, I couldn't find even a single goblin. For some reason, the forest felt too quiet.

Then I found a bloodstain in the grass. It was a trace that had just begun to harden.

“Is this the blood of a demon? Other adventurers must have already come and gone.”

“I think so. Otherwise, how could it not be like this?”

The demons must have sensed danger and fled.

It would probably be impossible to find it around here. There was no time to move far. Lucas looked at his colleagues, his mouth watering.

“I can’t help it. Let’s go back now. I might get lucky and find it on the way.”

There was no objection.

We went back the way we came, led by Lucas. We didn't get lost because we marked the way by breaking off branches and cutting into trees along the way.

Yeah, it shouldn't have been there.

"……uh?"

“What’s wrong, Lucas?”

“No, because suddenly there was no trace.”

Clearly, he left traces every twenty steps.

I looked around, but there were no broken branches or signs of a sword sheath.

“Did you misunderstand something? Or maybe you made a mistake.”

“Is that so?”

Lucas tilted his head and walked forward again.

But no matter how much I looked, I couldn't find any traces. Even if I made a mistake, there's no way I could have made this many.

'Did you confuse it with the traces left by other adventurers?'

I thought that might be the case, so I decided to go back.

I decided to do so and turned my head, but the traces I had left nearby were clearly gone. And so were my colleagues.

“……Guys?”

The voice echoed through the forest, but there was no answer.

Something was wrong. His heart pounded as he sensed it. Lucas ran with all his might, concentrating on finding his comrades.

But I couldn't find it. And so the sun set.

Trapped in the darkness, Lucas quickly lit a torch and drew his sword.

“Where the hell are you! Where are you!”

Anxiety reached its peak.

At that moment, when my judgment was clouded and my body was shaking, I saw a familiar hem between the trees. It was definitely the robe that Ollie had been wearing.

“Oh, Ollie!”

I ran quickly with a happy heart.

But… … Ollie’s feet were floating in the air. I grabbed her shoulder and turned her around, feeling like it was impossible. Ollie, with his neck tied to a tree trunk, looked at Lucas with dead eyes.

“Eww!”

I collapsed, my legs giving out.

He struggled to escape somehow, but suddenly stopped moving. All the trees in his sight were distorted into grotesque shapes.

'Ah, the Devil's Forest?'

“I definitely…….”

At that moment, a voice was heard from behind.

He didn't want to see it, but Lucas' body moved on its own in fear. He slowly turned his head and thrust the torch forward.

“Ah…… Ah…… Ah……!”

Hundreds of white eyes staring at Lucas. Even the dead Ollie looked at Lucas with those eyes.

Then they all opened their mouths at once.

Gyaaaaaaah!

“Euaaa …

Snap. Lucas' voice cut off.

In that silence, the surrounding trees began to move slowly, along with newly formed white eyes.

And at the end of that path was the city of Lorien.

* * *

'We're almost there.'

Verden saw a city in the distance and went down to the ground.

It was a basic courtesy that a wizard had to keep in mind. The guards might misunderstand and become wary.

While I was checking my identity at the gate, a group of adventurers came out of the city.

The figure standing at the very front had a platinum plate hanging around his neck, and the adventurers he led, including him, were all fully armed and had serious expressions on their faces.

'Did a dangerous sub-race appear somewhere?'

Could it be because of the Devil's Forest?

No, it's too early to tell. Right now, the listener comes first.

After passing them, Verden took over the inn.

He arrived on time, but he didn't say where to meet. I guess he'll come and meet me if I wait.

Thinking so, he stopped by a restaurant to have a meal. After looking through the booklet, Verden called over a waiter.

“One sirloin steak and one Lorien specialty wine.”

“Okay, please wait a moment.”

After a while, a female employee brought a cart with food and carefully placed it in front of Verden.

The aroma of freshly baked bread and wine, and the degree of doneness of the meat, were not particularly problematic.

But Verden was not picking up the utensils and was making a very unpleasant expression.

“Is there a problem, sir?”

“Why are you serving here, listener?”

A thin voice with a feminine face.

Although she was a woman by any measure, simple disguise and voice alteration were not enough to evade Verden's senses, and the true nature of her magical powers could not be hidden.

The employee smiled at Verden's gaze.

“Oh, I got caught.”

A deep voice coming from a pretty appearance.

Verden's expression distorted at the strangeness.