The Dreamer's POV

[Time Left: 30 Days, 18 Hours]Nôv(el)B\\jnn

<Current Number of Participants: 101,505>

At this point, two major things were on my mind.

One was the fact that I had to kill the monster before me.

The second... was choosing which method to use.

"Having an enemy that doesn't move is easier to handle, but that also makes it too lackluster."

Still, since what I was going for was speed and efficiency above all else, I wasn't allowed to complain about something like this placed on my lap.

As a result, I had to do this myself.

'I could use the dragon overhead to attack, but that wouldn't give me the Essence.'

I realized this after the attack on the Lyma Capital.

Unless I killed a target myself, I wouldn't be able to get their Essence.

"Since this Dark Demon Tree reminds me of my first subordinate, I think I should handle it myself."

It was a sturdy target, and it was fixed in a particular position.

That made it easier to attack.

"A Life Force of 1,000, huh? Could I handle it in one hit? Well, probably not...'

But I didn't think I needed to.

I could just command the overhead Dragon to deal some damage, and I would just land the final hit.

Voila! An easier, more efficient way to subjugate the Demon Tree.

Or...

A smile coursed through my face as I made my final decision.

Taking a sprinting stance, I prepared myself for a clash.

"Now, then... let's get started!"

The air crackled with what I could only describe as tension, and my fixated eyes glowed with energy as I glared at my opponent.

"Wyvern Blade..." I smiled, drawing a blade from thin air.

It manifested in my grasp instantly, a sword that seemed to glow like a torch in the night.

It was pure white, as if made of bones, and it held a considerable amount of energy.

It had rune-like symbols on it, and its hilt firmly fit into my grip.

I made this by combining the bones, blood, and cores of six wyverns.

Using a Merger to bring them all together, I formed the Wyvern Blade.

'It's pretty strong. Also good for Energy Conductivity.'

However, the major strength of the Wyvern Blade lay in the additional effect it had on me when being utilized.

"Haha... this should be good!"

Swiftly activating my <Elemental Attributes (Basic)> Skill, I coated the blade with flames, causing it to burn ever brightly.

The Wyvern Blade amplified the effect of the attribute I laced it with, causing the power to increase exponentially.

"Trees have a natural weakness for flames, so it should cause even more damage..."

With all my preparations complete, I used <Elevate> to raise my stats, while gripping my blade with both my hands.

'Let's go!'

~WHOOOOOSSSSHHHH!!!~

In a flash, I vanished from my previous position, deftly closing the distance between me and my prey.

Like a stroke of light, I traversed the distance between us, rightly gripping my blade as I closed in.

And then...

~SWISH!~

I felt my blade come into contact with something, but there was barely any resistance.

The horizontal slash easily sliced through the wooden form of the Dark Tree as a hot knife would through butter.

Bursts of flames erupted, consuming the dark tree to deal continous damage as it's bodily integrity deteriorated rapidly.

Within moments, there would be nothing but cinders left of the Tree.

'Its Regeneration might get in the way, so let's prevent that.'

Twisting my body mid-motion, I made another strike, this time a vertical one, cutting the tree from up to down.

~VWUUUSSSHHH!!~

The blade descended swiftly, sending bright sparks of flames dancing all around the gnarled tree—or whatever was left of it.

That seemed to do the trick.

~BOOOOOOMMM!!!~

The Demon Tree died right there and then, completely dissolving into ashes.

After waiting a few seconds, watching the ashes fall from the once tall and twisted tree, I sighed.

"No Level Up? Figures..." I murmured, sighing to myself.

A monster I could defeat with two quick strikes wouldn't give me any experience points.

'Even if it was awake, I don't think I would have had any serious problems with it.

Being Level 65 had its perks, but it also meant I couldn't expect something of this caliber to make me stronger.

'In any case... let's see the drops.'

I looked at the two objects now on the charred forest floor with glowing eyes.

One of them seemed very familiar to me—the Essence—while the other seemed like a parchment.

It seemed like a map to me.

As I reached out to them, a window appeared, informing me of what I had gained as a result of defeating the creature.

<Dark Demon Tree (Lvl 5/10) Essence>

<Skill: Darkness Attribute>

<Guidemap>

"Ah. A new Skill. That's great. I should try it out next time."

What seemed to intrigue me most was the final reward—that is the parchment called a <Guidemap>.

[Item Information]

Name: Guidemap

Function: Shows the way to a specific destination or item.

Extra Info: This leads to a Rune, one of the three Runes that exist in this forest.

[End Of Information]

"Just as I suspected."

It wasn't simply a coincidence that the Dark Demon Tree was named one of the three cardinal guardians of the forest.

"It has the map that leads to getting a Rune. I'm guessing the others have the same maps."

The only problem was that there were currently three other directions to head to. Which one would have the other two guardians?

"Maybe two have the guardians, and the final direction is the Boss?"

If I was to think like that, then my best bet would be the West and East for the other guardians, and far south for the Boss of this place.

"But..." I murmured. "Something doesn't feel right."

Perhaps this was an effect of my [The One Who Saw The End] Title, but something akin to a triangle kept appearing in my mind.

It made suspect things weren't as linear as I was thinking.

'What if, instead of East and West, it's Southeast and Southwest?'

That would form a perfect triangle in what I was already suspecting to be a circular forest.

'My link with the other Wyverns is strong, and they haven't seen any clearing like this in the directions they've gone to, so my suspicions might be correct.'

The best course of action now would be to redirect the steps of the Wyverns in the new directions I suspected the other two to be located in while I followed the <Guidemap> wherever it led.

"Yeah... that seems like the most reasonable choice."

Once I decided the route to take, I sent a mental signal to the two Wyverns that explored the East and West sides respectively, telling them to move to the new coordinates.

As for the Wyvern in the South, I made it maintain its position and perform a more thorough search.

'Shouldn't that be where the Boss is? Well, maybe it only opens up once the first condition has been satisfied.'

Explore more at empire

I hadn't completed the other Quests too, so I wasn't in a particular hurry to face the Boss yet.

'Alright, then... let's see where this Guidemap leads, shall we?'

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[A/N]

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