The Druid Who Devoured the Great Nature

Securing intel and tracking spirits.

That was why I’d taken Greenwood’s request.

I hadn’t expected results right away. The plan was to build trust little by little, completing jobs until I earned a private meeting.

‘But to find traces of a spirit already…’

Not the spirit itself—

A fragment of a spirit’s cocoon.

But even that alone was a major clue.

「Fragment of a Spirit’s Cocoon
─The remains of a spirit’s body, fallen into deep slumber.
─Faint though it is, spirit energy still pulses within.
─When the cocoon is whole, new life may stir.」

Like the World Tree’s seed, it was something I’d never once seen across countless playthroughs.

Maybe it was because I’d become a druid.

First the World Tree’s seed, now this—it all felt like fate tugging at me.

And the system’s description explained plenty.

So that was why I’d never known spirits existed—

‘They must have lost their power somehow and gone dormant inside cocoons.’

At least the method of revival was clear.

Even in fragments, spirit energy still throbbed, waiting to hatch.

If one fragment existed, there had to be others.

Gathering them into a whole cocoon would awaken the spirit.

「The World Tree caresses the Fragment of a Spirit’s Cocoon.」

And it wasn’t something just anyone could do.

When I touched the fragment, it stirred.

When the World Tree brushed it, light glimmered faintly.

Only a druid—or the World Tree itself—could revive a spirit.

‘And that must tie into the World Tree’s own growth.’

The tree clung to the cocoon fragment as if it were family lost and found again.

I recalled what I’d learned—that spirits were the World Tree’s source of power.

‘But why the hell was a goblin carrying one inside?’

Unlikely it had swallowed one by accident, like I had the seed.

So then…

‘Too early to jump to conclusions.’

No need to overthink. First, I had to follow the markers in front of me.

The kid had warned me the goblins would soon go berserk.

‘But there’s no need to wait for them to start rampaging.’

I’d already wrung their hideout’s location from one last night.

I’d even scouted it out. Time to finish this job.

Goblins were nocturnal.

Petty crimes by night—that was their way of living.

That was why I’d prowled after dark until now.

Didn’t know where they holed up, so I’d had to bait them out.

But things were different now.

I’d cut their numbers nearly in half and pinpointed their den.

What was left was extermination.

Step, step.

Daylight spilled down on my damp, shabby robe.

I stopped and looked up.

A three-story building loomed—the tallest around here.

Like construction had halted halfway, the place was a ruin.

Unfinished steel frames jutted out, cracked walls looked ready to crumble.

‘Quiet.’

The street had at least shown signs of weary residents. Here, nothing.

Hard dirt crunched beneath my shoes.

Bloodstains on the wall looked fresh.

Even the breeze whistling past sounded like screams being torn apart.

Only the World Tree, rustling its leaves in curiosity, cut through the gloom.

‘One guard?’

I narrowed my eyes.

Beside a burnt-out drum, a single goblin slumped asleep.

‘No new traps since last night, either.’

Their greed explained it.

Traps were for catching prey. Too valuable to waste guarding their lair.

Even knowing they were threatened, they wouldn’t waste them here.

Just putting up a sentry was already a concession.

‘That’s why they never spread beyond the slums.’

Short-sighted, greedy vermin—they’d never be more.

‘First one down.’

I flicked my finger.

The World Tree’s tendril lashed out.

I was getting used to this—faster every time.

It felt no different than moving my own arm.

“Grkk!”

The guard woke only when his breath failed.

If he’d stayed asleep, it would’ve hurt less.

His eyes rolled back, body slack.

“No surge this time.”

He hadn’t gone berserk.

Guess they didn’t all transform, even if the time was near.

‘Six left.’

At least one of them had to be carrying another fragment.

With that thought, I stepped inside.

The place reeked of stale liquor, bottles scattered everywhere.

Dark, cramped, filthy. A dump in all but name.

But still lived-in.

‘No one on the first floor. Probably upstairs.’

The wide table and mess made the ground floor look like a common hall.

No way goblins slept in heaps of trash.

I crept up the stairs.

Halfway up, I froze—

Pressed flat to the wall.

‘…Voices?’

I wasn’t imagining it.

A low murmur carried through the air.

“How’s that bastard doing? Still asleep?”

“Yeah. Shouted right in his face, he didn’t budge.”

“You idiot! What if he wakes up?”

“Faster to check this way—”

‘Did they… kidnap someone?’

Sounded like it.

Crime was nothing new for goblins.

But what stood out was their caution.

Awake in the daytime, whispering carefully—both strange for them.

Not their usual sloppy nature.

‘Whatever it is, I’ll beat it out of them.’

I’d learn soon enough anyway.

Footsteps on the stairs. Time to strike.

“Let’s just ditch him. If he wakes, we’re screwed—”

Wham!

I swung the moment our eyes met.

My fist smashed into his face with a crack like a leather drum tearing.

The crunch of breaking bone was sharp and sweet.

“Who the hell are you?!”

Their shock lasted only a heartbeat.

Reflexes took over—

One charged, fist cocked.

Whoosh!

The arc of his swing was plain as day.

Not instinct—pure physical read.

Short frame meant he aimed for my midsection, not my face.

My body flowed before I even thought.

“Wha—”

His punch whistled through empty air.

I seized his shoulder, drove my knee into his gut.

Crack!

“Ghhhk!”

My build wasn’t hulking, but it carried power far beyond its looks.

The blow drove the wind from him. He gagged, clutching his chest, and crumpled.

“Wh-what the—”

Two down in a blink.

The rest froze, too scared to rush in.

“G-get the gear!”

Goblins brawling barehanded was a bad joke from the start.

The dazed survivors scrambled for their pockets.

‘Not letting you.’

Those custom stun batons were their standard kit. No reason to wait and see them flaunt it.

Thud!

I kicked off the floor, body surging forward.

The body reshaped by the World Tree moved sharp and fast.

A goblin’s pupils shrank to pinpricks—

Then widened as my elbow filled its vision.

Crunch!

The grotesque squish of a face caving in.

A geyser of blood and broken teeth.

“Eeeeek!”

“Die!”

Two more charged, crackling arcs of electricity bursting from their extended batons.

I thrust both hands toward the short, stabbing swings.

They grinned with manic glee—thinking me suicidal.

Whoosh!

“…!”

The World Tree’s tendril shot out, coiling their weapons.

It charred black under the current, but none of it touched me.

Szzzzt!

I yanked, then whipped it back.

The batons spat against their own wielders.

The stench of burning flesh, then bodies dropping limp.

I drew a breath amid the heap of corpses.

‘Condition’s good.’

My first real hand-to-hand test. I’d moved to gauge myself—
And the results exceeded expectations.

But I frowned all the same.

‘…Strange. Not a single one went berserk?’

Even prodding the corpses brought no twitch.

No cocoon fragments, either.

‘Nothing, huh.’

None of the remaining goblins had transformed. Rare enough, maybe, but still disappointing.

‘So all I did was finish the job.’

A hollow end after chasing a bigger lead.

「The World Tree flares its will.」

“…?”

Suddenly it tugged me forward.

The cocoon fragment quivered, resonating.

‘Right—they said someone had been kidnapped.’

The tree wanted me to save them.

If it wasn’t too late, I should.

And the fragment’s reaction was no trivial thing.

For the first time, I followed the World Tree’s urgent lead, climbing the stairs.

“—!”

But it wasn’t some captive victim I found.

Flash!

Red eyes blazed in the dark.

Something obscene and fleshy writhed awake, staring straight at me.

Boom!

A blast like a bomb rattled my skull.

The wall caved with a roar, white dust billowing.

Through the haze, glowing eyes hunted.

‘One left.’

I crouched in a half-collapsed room, mind racing.

Thirteen total. Twelve down. One remained.

And the one they’d been whispering about—

‘So that’s why they’d been up in the day, ready to bolt.’

A hulking frame, ceiling cracked by its back.

Swollen flesh bulging and contracting, more beast than goblin.

Drool spattered as its gaze swept wildly. No reason, no mind.

‘That’s beyond “berserk.”’

Looked more like some dark mage’s experiment.

Not something I wanted to handle alone.

‘But running’s not an option.’

The cocoon fragment pulsed in time with the beast’s chest.

Every fragment I’d seen had come from rampaging goblins.

There had to be a link.

‘…No time to ponder.’

Its eyes locked on me.

Thud! Thud!

With a guttural bellow, it charged.

Every footstep like thunder.

The massive arm swung down like a club.

Smash!

“—tch!”

I didn’t even try to block.

The wind pressure told me enough.

A tendril snapped out, cushioning the blow.

Crash!

Still, I was hurled through the air, slammed against the far wall.

“Damn thing’s a walking tank.”

Never thought I’d gripe about a goblin’s weight class.

I shook out my numb arms, muttering.

「The World Tree shudders in pain.」

It had taken the brunt of that force, too.

‘Head-on won’t work.’

I wasn’t built to match that brute force.

‘Then weapons?’

I thumbed the baton’s switch, fixed it on, and hurled it.

Szzzt!

“Grkk!”

It jolted, spasmed—

But that was it.

The beast flinched like stung, then ripped the baton free.

‘Weapons barely scratch it. Tendrils won’t bind it. So how…’

Then I saw it—

By its feet, where it stamped and raged.

‘…That’ll do.’

An idea snapped into place.

It was pure instinct, driven by hunger and rage.

If I laid a trap, it would charge straight into it.

Whoosh!

No hesitation.

Dozens of tendrils split, racing down through the cracked floorboards.

(End of Chapter)