NOVEL WEB Chapter 183
Chapter 183. The Room
The sparkling, beautiful Azure Dragon, Kou. Normally, it’s one of Arakawa’s bridge guards and a subordinate of Amano Sakimori, who enjoys basking in the sun leisurely.
Its transparent, crystal-like body, about 50 meters in length, appeared as if to survey the surroundings.
For now, it’s considered one of the trump cards sent by the Captain of the Jester Knights. Remember this important info, Tatsumi. It’ll be on the test.
[Even with the power of mobile armor, it’s not enough to defeat the Ancient Treant, Sakimori-san? As much as I’d love a kaiju battle, we’re at a significant disadvantage. It’s like comparing a mech unnecessarily fitted with scythes to an Alpha Azieru-type armor with a love field.]
[I don’t get the comparison.]
When I said I didn’t understand, as usual, Shizuku stuck out her cute little tongue and corrected herself.
[It’s the difference between a galleon ship and the battleship Yamato.]
[Got it, very clear. The galleon’s cannons probably can’t even dent Yamato’s armor.]
The Ancient Treant rampaging in the town center, swinging its roots and branches, has several times more mana and kou than Kou. Kou’s total stats are 3700, more than 1000 higher than mine. Yet, compared to the treant, the difference is several times greater, so its attacks will likely be repelled.
“This is awesome! Can we really beat that monster, bro?!”
Kou’s imposing presence alone is impressive. Tatsumi, seeing Kou, wagged his fox tail excitedly, his cheeks flushed. It’s amazing; I’m thrilled the fairy tale details were correct. When excited, his true nature shows a bit. Next stop, let’s find a shop selling inari sushi.
I don’t have time to tease Tatsumi now, so I refocus.
As Kou lowered his head, I jumped on, and Tatsumi skillfully followed.
Kou lifted his head and turned his body toward the Ancient Treant.
[Shizuku. We can’t win in our current state. So, let’s power up.]
[Power up?]
[Kou specializes in water. If we fight in a favorable terrain, we can take on the Ancient Treant.]
Quickly, I summoned the Equivalent Exchange Store and displayed the desired skill.
[Terrain Normal Change: Rare Element Core B1]
[Sakimori-san! This skill is dangerous because we don’t know its drawbacks! Are you really going to acquire it?]
Realizing what I intended, Shizuku tried to stop me in a panic.
[True, it’s risky. But I’m not a hot-blooded protagonist taking chances. I’m too old, and reality is harsh. It’ll probably come with some terrible drawback.]
I suspect it might prohibit the use of the four major elemental magics. It’s a skill that manipulates terrain, after all. It could be worse. Initially, I planned to learn it immediately, but I was fortunate to come up with a better idea.
Terrain changes can be covered using spirit stones, which we seem to have in abundance. Looking closely, the crystal of the spring spirit is the same type as the black bones Serika made. We can gather more later.
With that, my task is simple. Just choose the skills that will be advantageous at the time.
So, let’s degrade the skill. Click, click.
When I clicked to degrade the skill, my body tingled and wobbled. Instantaneous headaches and nausea struck.
It’s rejecting it as it’s not an item. But if skill crystallization is possible, then the skill is an item before crystallization. It’s particles, right? No objections, Equivalent Exchange Store.
I gritted my teeth and endured. This level of damage won’t stop me. Concentrating, I clicked the button again, causing the display to flicker and change.
[Limited 1: Room Normal Change: Rare Element Core B1: Changes the room’s environment. No drawbacks.]
Hmm? Unexpectedly, the exchange rate didn’t change. Instead, it explicitly stated no drawbacks… It seems the skill adapted to my wishes.
Acquired. When I clicked the button, jet-black particles enveloped me, entering my body. These particles always seem harmful. Shizuku cutely covered her eyes with her hands and squealed, thinking she could hide the situation cutely? Next time, I want to relax in a hot spring.
“What, what, what?”
Seeing me surrounded by ominous power, Tatsumi’s fox ears perked up in surprise. Oh, he saw that. Well, it’s fine.
“It’s the Captain’s long-range enhancement magic.”
Blame everything on the mysterious Captain. From the outside, they won’t understand what’s happening. Major respect to Captain Konoha.
The method to change the room’s environment was imprinted in my mind. It seems to use mana. The ceiling can be up to 100 meters high. The room can be up to 200 meters wide and 10 meters deep. But it can’t create oil fields or mines. Well, it wouldn’t be a room then. Also, it can’t delete or destroy existing things, nor create fatal environments. As expected of a normal environment. It can be used if it’s recognized as a room. I see.
[Got it.]
Muttering, I cracked my fingers and snapped them.
[Stone Pillar]
Four stone pillars, each about three meters tall, appeared in the air and embedded themselves at the four corners of the effect range, just at the limit.
[This is My Room~]
I murmured childishly. It’s like when kids play outside and declare, “This is my room,” in their role-playing games.
[I admire how you forcibly recognize it as a room with a child’s logic, Sakimori-san. Hehe.]
Shizuku chuckled cutely at my remark, probably understanding my intent.
Watching the surroundings, I concentrated my mana and waved my hand.
[Indoor Pool]
With those words, the entire area was filled with water. Walls formed around the pillars, and water collected, creating an indoor pool three meters deep. No ceiling, though.
The surrounding treants slowed down in the water, and people climbed onto things in surprise. No one seemed to be drowning, judging by the mana readings.
“It’s all water around us!”
Tatsumi shouted in astonishment, his speech broken as he looked below. I clicked my tongue at the mana consumption. 200 mana points are gone. This can’t be repeated much. Four more uses, and I’ll be out of mana.
Just as I was about to issue instructions, I heard explosions.
Looking around, I saw base fighter jets and helicopters pierced and destroyed by roots emerging from the ground. Flames were spewing from the base’s underground, possibly from ruptured jet fuel tanks.
“Oh… That tree is smart. First, it eliminates our aerial capabilities.”
A fighter jet was split in half and thrown to the ground, while a helicopter disintegrated from the center, its rotor flying off and killing nearby soldiers.
The tanks began moving, firing their cannons at the Ancient Treant. Smoke burst from the barrels, and the shells struck the treant.
Wooden fragments scattered from the treant’s trunk. It seemed tank shells could inflict damage.
[Wood Scale Shield]
However, the tank attacks ended there. The Ancient Treant infused the scattered wood fragments with mana, transforming them into floating shields.
The mass of wooden fragments circled around the treant, absorbing the tank shells. The shields shattered into smaller pieces but continued to orbit the treant, indicating they had a hardness capable of withstanding tank fire.
“The tanks!”
Tatsumi shouted, watching the tanks. Despite their relentless firing, the tanks were swarmed by treants, which concentrated their attacks and pierced the armor, destroying them. Though retreating, the tanks would soon be annihilated.
[The Dungeon Master targets and focuses on dangerous enemies to eliminate them.]
This was unlike any dungeon creature we had encountered before. Perhaps it was as if the entire dungeon was treated as a boss room.
[The second easiest way to defeat the Dungeon Master is to wipe out the small fry. The interval for spawning creatures seems the same as in a regular dungeon, so you wipe them out at once and then leisurely head to the boss room.]
As the tanks were destroyed, Shizuku explained.
[What’s the easiest way?]
[Punch numerous small holes in the dungeon ceiling. The Dungeon Master will always try to repair the dungeon, and when it tries to fix it, you strike. From the mid-levels, the walls and ceilings become harder to destroy, but the top ceiling can be easily punctured. Plus, there’s no interference from monsters.]
[That’s brutal…]
Killing the homeowner who comes out to fix the leaky roof makes sense. It’s a sneaky tactic, but the Dungeon Master would definitely react if its roof was damaged.
If this were a mechanical dungeon, it might not care. It would just wait for intruders.
However, this wouldn’t apply to the current situation since it’s an open field. We need to wipe out the small fry and save people if possible.
[Kou, can you handle this amount of water?]
[One before the boss and one around it. We need a total of two more.]
[Got it. That’ll leave me with enough mana.]
I’ll have about 300 left. That’s enough to execute our plan to defeat the Ancient Treant. I communicated the strategy telepathically. It was time to use the trump card I had prepared for facing strong enemies.
[Shizuku, the only thing that can defeat the Ancient Treant is dark magic. Do you understand the plan?]
[Heh, who do you think you’re talking to, Sakimori-san? As a combat specialist, I can definitely handle this.]
Shizuku responded proudly, puffing out her chest. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much to puff out, but I won’t say where.
[Then we’re good to go.]
I smiled and touched Kou’s head.
“Now’s our chance to defeat the Ancient Treant. It’s destroying our weapons without considering its own exhaustion.”
Having a military base in its territory caused these issues. It was consuming a vast amount of mana to destroy the jets, helicopters, and tanks. If we miss this chance, it’ll take a while for me to power up. I don’t know how much the Dungeon Master can level up, but I understand it’ll be bad if we miss this opportunity.
“Kii”
Understanding my intent, Kou opened his mouth wide and began concentrating mana. A massive amount of water flowed from the indoor pool into his mouth.
[Hydro Breath]
With an explosive roar, a high-pressure water blast shot toward the Ancient Treant.
The blast pierced through the wooden shields, striking the treant’s body and tearing away its bark.
“Gigi”
With a sound like scraping glass, the Ancient Treant groaned.
Recognizing us as enemies, it turned towards us with a heavy noise. As a plant, its roots and branches moved quickly, but its body moved sluggishly.
“Alright. Charge, Kou!”
“Kii”
With a cute squeak like a mouse, Kou launched itself like an arrow at the Ancient Treant.