Elric and God of Camellias could not make proper judgments and ended up making a blank expression.
Clunk!
Somewhere, the faint sound of gears turning could be heard.
G-g-g-grrrr—
Unlike the time when four seasons were shown sequentially, the imaginary world began to reverse itself automatically.
The wall Elric had laboriously built collapsed, the shadows receded, the ground solidified again, and the fallen trees returned to their original positions.
And the place where the two were also moved to a completely different place, not the Anthromorph.
In the blink of an eye, everything changed back to exactly as it was when Elric first entered the imaginary world.
"…!"
[…!]
They had to freeze stiffly in a situation they never expected.
"What on earth…?"
Realizing that all the hardships he had endured throughout the day had been in vain, Elric looked at God of Camellias with a blank face.
Since Otto had said she was the guide here, Elric wondered if she knew something.
God of Camellias, however, was smiling sarcastically, apparently not having thought of anything either.
[Ha! Looks like there was something we missed checking.]
"Are you really saying this is a failure?"
[Otherwise, there'd be no way to come back, right?]
Before Elric could ask what the reason was, God of Camellias shook her head and answered first.
[There must be many reasons for not succeeding. This is the Black Snowfield, after all.]
Elric had to bite his tongue.
Because it's the Black Snowfield.
With that one word, there was no need for any other reasons.
[Although I've been here for quite a while, I still don't understand a lot of things.]
God of Camellias stood up, patting her buttocks. Flapping her pink wings, she began to fly over Elric's head.
[Anyway, it seems the 'tutorial' is now sufficiently finished. You should be able to handle the rest on your own, right?]
Elric's eyes widened slightly.
"Where are you going?"
[This is where Melvinger's arrangement works, disconnected from the outside world. As I have not been awake for long, even staying awake like this is a burden. I also need to clean up the mess the kids made at the temple.]
With that, the God of Camellias winked one eye.
[Or would you like to sleep next to me? It might speed up my recovery. How about that?]
Elric shrugged.
"As you know, the responsibilities weighing on the head of the Melvinger family make it difficult. I'm sorry."
[Haha! Melvinger and responsibilities—what a dull joke.]
God of Camellias chuckled, preparing to fly again.
[Anyway, whenever there's an issue related to the trees, I'll appear to help. So don't worry too much and focus on your strategy.]
"Just a moment…!"
Elric realized belatedly that he hadn't received any information about fertilizer yet, but God of Camellias had already disappeared.
"…Oh well. For now, I should probably start by finding out why I failed."
Elric sighed again and looked down at the slate.
The slate had reverted back to its original state, the characters indicating 'rewind' gone.
'Rewind… Is this structure like the Snow Mountain King where I have to keep retrying until I succeed in the mission? It seems like another revival with countless retries.'
Still, thanks to this, some of the questions in his mind began to unravel.
'Even if my ancestors had a mischievous side, they wouldn't just turn back time for a mere prank... There must be something in that garden that I failed to notice.'
He had truly made all possible preparations.
"I need to confirm it firsthand."
Elric moved back towards the Anthromorph.
***
"[Detect]."
As soon as Elric arrived at his destination, he spread his mana heavily throughout the area, employing not only the 'Preta Sense' but also a 'Mana Scan' to determine what he had missed.
He had purified the area, but perhaps the soil wasn't suitable for Camellia trees, or there might be monsters he hadn't noticed.
'I'm fortunate that the amount of demonic energy I acquired before the rewind remained intact. If that had been reset as well, it would have been infuriating.'
Even though it was a minuscule amount, the range of the mana field varied accordingly with its solubility.
However,
"...Hm."
Elric soon furrowed his brow.
No matter how thoroughly he searched every nook and cranny, he couldn't find any anomalies beyond what he had detected yesterday.
'Should I try looking in another place?'
The mission bestowed by Otto Han was simply to grow trees; it hadn't specifically designated only one location.
There was no need to insist on staying here.
'No. It's better for the long term to stay here.'
Elric narrowed his eyes.
'It's clear this world has reproduced the era from 400 years ago. Surely... It was around that time that the Tiger King family first started building the Anthromorph.'
Usdun Melvinger went to the city of Anthromorph and visited the Temple of Flowers.
What could this mean?
Could the revival of the relationship with the Beastmen, especially with the Tiger King family, be considered merely a 'coincidence'?
Elric didn't think so.
If that's true, there wouldn't have been a need to set the historical background like this.
Still, he wondered if the imaginary world accurately reproduced the historical context and figures of that time.
'Well, there's no harm in trying."\'
Of course, continuously headbutting without a plan didn't suit his temperament.
Elric withdrew the widely spread mana scan.
Instead, he extended the range of the mana field vertically rather than horizontally.
'If width won't work... then depth!'
Perhaps there was something deep down so buried that even the Preta Sense couldn't reach.
With that thought, he continued to dig deeper into the layers.
Soon, he encountered something massive and solid like bedrock.
'I found it!'
At that moment, Elric unfolded his flight magic and soared high into the sky.
Kukuku...!
The ground trembled slightly.
Kwaaang!
Suddenly, the ground exploded, revealing a colossal creature boasting immense size and length.
Kuuuooo-!
"Damn it! I had a feeling, but a Death Worm!"
Elric grimaced deeply.
He recalled some of the content included in the book,「Demon Encyclopedia」that he had seen in the academy's library one day.
[Death Worm: Length ranging from 30 meters to as long as 50 meters. Its enormous mouth, large enough to swallow even other monsters whole, measures up to a staggering 3 meters. Its body is entirely covered in rigid spikes and a venomous slime, making it difficult to approach.]
[It nests deep underground where even detection struggles to reach, and it has a habit of burrowing deeper when it senses disadvantageous situations in combat. Its appearance can lead to severe danger.]
[As a tier 3 monster, formidable enough that even a war-magician of Magus-level would find it challenging to handle, it's advisable to avoid encountering it even by chance.]
[T/L: Changing battle magician to war magician.]
Encountering the apex predator of the worm lineage was a headache for Elric.
'No wonder the seeds die as soon as they're planted!'
Elric, though possessing the skills of a war-magician, had not yet formally recognized as the 6th Circle magician. Facing a creature that required several magicians to handle was no easy task alone. However, he had many other strengths to compensate for his shortcomings.
Magic Martial Arts and Body Strengthening Art.
Both excelled in combat!
"[Swirl]!"
Crack!
Elric charged head-on with the Death Worm without evading.
A blizzard swirled around as he randomly slashed at the tough hide of the Death Worm. Slime splattered in all directions. The venom seeped deep into wounds, widening them instantly with icy cold.
Kuuuuung-
The creature writhed in agony.
Thud!
Upon landing, Elric forcefully unleashed Body Strengthening Art.
"[Unlock Armament]."
Body Strengthening Art.
White Tiger Frenzy Fang - Gusto.
Roar!
[T/L: 경(勁) - powerful, strong, energy, vigor, strength, gusto. I am using gusto to make it distinct.]
Elric unleashed the maximum force of the charge, directly into the frozen wounds. Mixing the intricacies of 'Energy' understood through Herman's teachings.
By compressing all his power into a single point, he unleashed greater destructive and lethal force. Adding the Seal of Maleficence amplified the destruction exponentially.
The wounds exploded as if a firecracker had gone off.
Slime, blood, and shattered flesh obscured his vision.
All toxic, but Elric used his shield to deflect them aside, preparing to launch another attack.
He believed this might just finish it.
However...
"…!"
In an instant, amidst the clamor of the Preta Sense, Elric abruptly raised his head.
Ssshhhaaaak-
Kyyaaaahhh!
There, another Death Worm was rushing towards him, mouth agape!
'There are two of them!'
Elric swiftly summoned his shields one after another.
Thud!
Thud!
Kwaaang!
However, due to not properly establishing the mana field, the remaining four layers of shields shattered all too easily in succession.
As the last remaining shield seemed about to break any moment, the shadow of the gaping maw reached over Elric's head.
"Damn it!"
Crunch!
Finally, with the last shield broken, Elric was sucked straight into the Death Worm's mouth.
However...
Crunch! Crunch! Thud!
The Death Worm's head was blown away from the inside due to an explosion.
Elric was in the midst of the blizzard.
However, he was covered in vomit and venom, and had to grind through it all.
"Damn it…"
Due to the unexpected appearance of another monster, he ended up with numerous unnecessary wounds, which only added to his frustration.
The sensation of being sucked into the Death Worm's mouth, filled with stench and acidic vomit, was far from a pleasant experience.
The sticky slime, quadruple rows of teeth, and acid-filled vomit were all individually horrifying.
For a moment, Elric considered resetting, but he didn't want to go through the trouble again, so he used dragon tongue magic.
"[Devour], [Heal]."
Using the Seal of Maleficence, he directed the shadows to absorb the demonic energy from the dead Death Worm's carcass.
Chee-eek!
While concurrently performing healing magic, Elric began to mend the wounds that had been inflicted upon him. A pale shimmer rose above his flesh, accompanied by wisps of steam.
However, the recovery speed was much slower than he had anticipated.
'The efficiency of non-seal magic continues to decline as time passes.'
He briefly entertained the thought that he might need a seal related to healing later on.
However, he quickly dismissed the idea as irrelevant.
'Black magic for healing, huh. Hmph, as if that alone wouldn't be contradictory enough… Huh?'
Elric had to quickly compose himself despite making such an uninteresting joke.
The slate he had tucked away was trembling slightly.
Was it another mistake? With an uneasy feeling, he glanced at the slate. Fortunately, this time it contained different content.
No, rather, it was good news.
[Conditions have been met successfully.]
[The first restriction is lifted.]
'Restriction?'
What could this mean? He scrutinized the slate more closely.
[Seal opened.]
"…!"
Pa-aat!
In an instant, a light pattern identical to the one engraved on the slate appeared on Elric's right wrist.
[T/L: You can read more chapters and support me here: https://ko-fi.com/revengerscans ]