"Pardon? What do you mean by that?"
Before Ghislain could respond to Gillian's question, a few mercenaries stepped forward with smirks, pushing past the two.
"Our employer seems to have gotten scared all of a sudden."
"Nothing's out here, so why did we stop?"
"Just leave it to us and take it easy. That's what you hired us for, right?"
They sneered at Ghislain, swinging their axes confidently.
There were always those in the group who couldn't be controlled.
To them, Ghislain looked young and inexperienced—basically a rookie.
As long as they knew the destination, they could handle things from there. All his constant instructions were laughable.
In reality, only the Cerberus Mercenary Corps had prepared for battle on Ghislain's command.
The other mercenaries simply stood by, watching their employer as if he were spouting nonsense.
"Stop."
Ghislain spoke coldly, and the mercenaries ahead hesitated, stopping in their tracks.
"What exactly is there to be wary of?"
"It doesn't seem half as dangerous as the rumors. Let's just move along."
"And we're not that far from the destination, right?"
Despite the grumbling, Ghislain continued, his expression steely.
"Come back here slowly. Stay there, and you'll die."
Unable to understand what Ghislain was saying, the mercenaries frowned.
But Ghislain remained tense, raising one hand as he kept his gaze fixed on them.
"Everyone, prepare for battle, you idiots. When I give you orders, listen."
At his harsh words, the mercenaries reluctantly readied their weapons.
Even though they disliked it, they couldn't refuse their employer's orders outright.
Slowly lowering his stance, Ghislain prepared to spring forward.
The mercenaries before him shook their heads, grinning.
They didn't understand his sudden behavior, but since he looked so tense, they pretended to go along.
"Alright, let's go. Our employer is really jumpy."
The mercenaries chuckled as they turned away.
But then, Gillian and Belinda, who had been watching Ghislain with doubtful expressions, suddenly stiffened and turned their heads.
Kaor cursed under his breath, drawing his sword.
[We couldn't have expected it to move. Feeling nothing, we walked in defenseless, and as we ventured deeper…]
The mercenaries finally sensed something shifting around them.
[It attacked us.]
The vines wrapped around the trees began swirling like a whirlpool.
And then, in a flash, they shot toward the mercenaries in front.
At that moment, Ghislain launched himself forward.
As a vine reached to grab one of the mercenaries, Ghislain's sword flashed.
Slash!
The vine, reaching to seize a mercenary, was sliced through, oozing sticky black liquid.
"What… what the hell?"
Most of the group, stunned by the sudden assault, couldn't react. Frozen in place, they could only watch.
But Ghislain moved swiftly, unfazed.
Slash!
Another vine aiming at a mercenary was severed.
But dozens of vines were now shooting through the air, and Ghislain couldn't stop them all by himself.
"Aaaah!"
A few mercenaries who couldn't dodge in time were ensnared and dragged away.
Ghislain grabbed the collars of the mercenaries he saved, hurling them back toward the others before plunging forward to rescue the ones being pulled away.
But the path was already blocked.
'Tch, am I too late?'
Dozens of vines surrounded him, shooting toward him from all directions.
Ghislain leaped, gripping his sword tightly, spinning in mid-air.
Shrrk!
The vines reaching to trap him were all sliced down.
Landing with a slide, Ghislain retreated, drawing a half-circle around himself.
"Young master!"
"Young lord!"
Belinda, Gillian, and Kaor rushed to his side.
"Get a grip! Form ranks!"
At Ghislain's shout, the dazed group lifted their weapons, snapping into battle stances.
"Aaaah!"
"Help me!"
The mercenaries ensnared in the vines struggled and screamed.
As the others debated what to do, the trees connected to the vines began to move.
"What… what is that?"
The bark of one of the enormous trees split open, revealing a mouth-like gap.
Each tree stuffed the mercenaries they had captured into their mouths and began chewing.
"Gahhhh!"
The forest echoed with the sickening sound of crushing and their screams. Horrified by the sight of their comrades being devoured alive, the other mercenaries shouted in panic.
"The trees are moving?"
"Could they be Ents?"
Hearing their stunned voices, Ghislain shook his head internally.
Ents were more like spirits or protectors of the forest than monsters.
They were peaceful beings, sometimes sharing ancient knowledge and protecting the forest's creatures.
They were definitely not this kind of horrifying, man-eating entity.
The trees, having swallowed the mercenaries whole, trembled, moving again.
Two eye-like hollows appeared above their grotesque mouths, revealing dark pupils filled with malice.
The mercenaries shivered as those hateful eyes settled on them.
[They weren't Ents. Though they resembled Ents, unlike them, these were ominous, foul, and horribly unsettling beings. We called them by an ancient name.]
Staring at the monstrous trees, Ghislain muttered the name under his breath.
"Dirus Ent."
[Though Count Balzac eventually drove them off, most of the soldiers fell to their ambush. Losing the vanguard, we were forced to retreat to our outpost.]
Even the Lutania kingdom, which had once begun its expansion with great strength, suffered its first failure due to the deadly ambush of the Dirus Ents.
[They are spread throughout the Forest of Demonic Beast, surrounding it like sentinels. They're the type of creatures you only survive if you know what they are…]
Recalling this information, Ghislain's face twisted into a chilling grin.
"Well, this should be interesting."
The reason no one sensed them as monsters, even while standing right in front of them, was simple.
Until they moved, they were just trees—no one suspected otherwise.
Rooooar!
Dozens of Dirus Ents began to move, shrieking.
Thick branches intertwined with vines, extending down like arms, while roots tore out of the ground, twining into legs.
Seeing this, the mercenaries' faces filled with dread.
"Th-the trees are moving."
"They're not Ents… then what are they?"
"Damn, who could've expected this?"
Because they looked like trees, they blended perfectly with the forest, deceiving everyone.
If you didn't know, you were bound to be caught—a creature exploiting a lapse in perception.
Rooooar!
The Dirus Ents, now fully mobile, focused their wrath on Ghislain, growling at him.
Their hunting tactic was to wait until their prey was deep inside, then surround them completely, leaving no chance for escape, and attack.
But when prey sensed their presence and stayed distant, they had no choice but to pull up roots and move, spending precious energy—a fact that fueled their rage toward Ghislain.
"First line, raise your shields! Do your best to hold off their attacks!"
At Ghislain's command, the front-line mercenaries raised their shields.
But their faces betrayed deep unease.
"Fighting against monsters that size?"
These creatures were as massive as the trees of the Forest of Demonic Beast itself.
The Dirus Ents launched vines at the mercenaries, causing many to stumble and fall backward.
Given their sheer size, the Dirus Ents' attacks were impossible to withstand.
Desperate, the mercenaries in the back fired arrows, but the arrows simply bounced off the Dirus Ents' tough bark.
"What… what should we do?"
"They're trees! Unless we cut them down completely, it's pointless!"
As confusion spread, Ghislain shouted again.
"Throw your lamps!"
The weakness of trees was fire.
This was common knowledge, but here, it was a risky move.
"Young master! Are you insane? Let's just run!"
"Young lord! We can't burn down the forest!"
Belinda and Gillian shouted in panic.
Using fire to defeat these monsters could result in the entire forest burning, bringing even greater dangers.
If the forest burned, monsters would pour out, and Perdium Territory, closest to the forest, would be reduced to ash.
Because of this, generations of Perdium lords had given up on using fire to cultivate the forest.
But Ghislain seemed unconcerned, throwing a lamp and shouting.
"It'll be fine! They'll absorb the fire! Throw it! The back row, ready fire arrows!"
Crack!
A lamp shattered against a Dirus Ent, spilling oil down its body.
Seeing this, the mercenaries grabbed their lamps and threw them as well.
"Screw it, just throw them!"
"Who cares if the forest burns? The employer's ordering it!"
Though they knew the risks, their lives took priority.
Rooooar!
The Dirus Ents shrieked in displeasure, thrashing their vine-like arms.
But the mercenaries in front gritted their teeth, holding up their shields to block.
Realizing that their vine attacks weren't working, the Dirus Ents began stomping forward, intending to crush the mercenaries.
"Shoot!"
Ghislain's command rang out.
Fire arrows shot toward the Dirus Ents encircling them.
Roooooar!
Flames erupted on the oil-soaked bodies of the Dirus Ents.
They stumbled, halted by the searing pain.
The fire spread in all directions, engulfing everything in flames.
The Dirus Ents in the back charged through the flames, but as more lamps and fire arrows were thrown at them, they had no choice but to catch fire as well.
Graaah!
The mercenaries gulped as they watched the Dirus Ents scream in agony.
"Can… can we just burn them all and run away?"
"I'm leaving this territory as soon as possible. If the forest burns down, it'll be a monster paradise. This place is finished. Our employer is absolutely insane."
"Wait, something seems… strange."
Ssssss!
Steam started billowing from the bodies of the struggling Dirus Ents, writhing in pain.
"The… the fire's going out!"
"What? So even fire doesn't work on them?"
The flames were being sucked away, gradually extinguishing.
The steam filling the air clouded their vision as the fire died out.
Soon, even that smoke dispersed.
Gulp.
The mercenaries swallowed hard, tense with anxiety.
As the Dirus Ents reappeared, the sight horrified them.
"W-what… what is that…?"
The bark had burned away or fallen off, revealing the monster beneath—a hideous form taken to its extreme.
Their entire bodies were pitch-black, their exposed flesh soft and glossy like moist pudding.
Eyes and sharp teeth appeared in the middle of the creature, merging with the smooth, dark skin to create a deeply unsettling sight.
Sssssss.
Even more shocking, the creatures stepped on and touched the embers around them without a care.
Whenever the flames touched their blackened flesh, the fire was snuffed out in vain.
"The… the fire just…"
The mercenaries gasped in fear.
As if their strength wasn't enough, now the monsters had transformed to become immune to fire.
"Right… that's not just a simple tree anymore."
The mercenaries finally understood what they were facing.
They looked like trees but weren't exactly that.
Encased in hard bark, these creatures moved and devoured prey alive.
[Their outer layer was as tough as any bark, making them weak to fire, but the soldiers' weapons couldn't penetrate. Yet the inner layer was different—it could resist even a 4th-circle fire spell…]
"This is insane. We shouldn't have come into this forest."
"If the first monster we meet is like this, what about the others?"
"We need to retreat. This entire venture was impossible from the start."
The mercenaries, gripped by fear, lost their fighting spirit.
In contrast, Ghislain sifted through his memories, a confident smile forming.
"Their insides look quite tender."
The mercenaries stared at Ghislain in disbelief.
Fire, their trusted weapon, was useless—how could he be so calm?
The more they looked at their employer, the more they felt he was completely unhinged.
[T/L: Please support me and read extra chapters here: https://ko-fi.com/revengerscans ]