643 – It’s really dreadful. (3)
Episode 643 is really dreadful. (3)
Even as chunks of flesh were falling off, Morbus did not lose his composure. There was no retreat from the monster that only knew destruction.
Kwaaaah!
With a sound that tore through the air, Morbus’s massive fist came crashing down towards Giselle.
Giselle’s body convulsed like lightning striking the ground.

“Argh!”

His skin and muscles decayed rapidly, exposing his bones. The venom that surrounded him seeped into his bones.
However, a smile appeared on Giselle’s lips.
Ssshhhh…
As if turning back time, his decaying body quickly returned to its original state.
With the combination of his ability to absorb venom and his strong regenerative power, Giselle did not suffer any impact even within the venom. It was now difficult to discern who the real monster was.

“Ugh!”

Every time Giselle took a breath, the deadly venom mist around him was sucked into his nose and mouth.
The lethal venom mist that filled the surroundings noticeably decreased. The eyes of the onlookers widened.

“Oh, this is a complete delicacy, isn’t it?”

The smile on Giselle’s lips deepened. His voice was filled with joy. He seemed like a gourmet who had discovered a delicious meal.
Once again, a gust of wind emanated from his feet. Giselle rushed towards Morbus at lightning speed.
Kwaaaah!
Under the consecutive attacks of the superhumans, Morbus’s body gradually crumbled.
The putrid flesh and organs that had instilled fear in this forest burst out, leaving only pale bones behind.
Grrrrr!
Morbus let out a dreadful scream. It was a chilling cry as if the gates of hell were opening.
Even in a state where only bones remained, Morbus freely moved using the power of decay. This fact once again proved how repulsive of a being it was.
However, due to the sacred power continuously emitted by Parniel and Pyote, the power of decay had significantly diminished.
The attacks of the superhumans were merely auxiliary in neutralizing Morbus’s physical form. The real challenge was to eliminate the decay with sacred power.

“Let’s finish this slowly.”

Kwaaaah!
Giselle’s sword passed through Morbus’s cracked skull like lightning.
Simultaneously, the swords of Yurien and Gillian shattered Morbus’s ribs from both sides. Morbus’s upper body crumbled.
Kwaang! Kwaaang!
Belinda’s daggers danced through the air, cutting through the void. With each pass of her weapons, bones shattered.
Parniel’s mace struck Morbus’s lower body, and the bones crumbled like a sandcastle.
Jerome and Vanessa’s magic pressed down on the remaining bones with powerful gravity spells.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The completely shattered bones, as if acting out of spite, tried to come together again.
The bone fragments writhed as if they were living organisms. It was an astonishingly resilient vitality.

“Phew, let’s start the purification process.”

Drawing a holy symbol, Parniel emitted sacred power into the pile of Morbus’s bones. Pyote also poured all remaining sacred power into Morbus’s bones.
The intertwining sacred powers emitted a dazzling light.
After pouring their sacred powers for a while, the movements of the writhing bones finally ceased completely.

“It’s gone now. But it was worth it, right?”

As Giselle sat down on the ground and spoke, everyone shrugged their shoulders.
Morbus was undoubtedly a powerful monster. Apart from dragons, he could be considered the most formidable opponent they had encountered so far.
However, the gathered individuals were strong. They had experienced even more dangerous battles than the current one.
If they couldn’t defeat an opponent like this, then no one else could.
Nevertheless, it was a tough battle. Everyone had exerted considerable strength, so they rested on the ground as they were.
Belinda looked at Giselle with a troubled expression.

“Oh, you’ve been trying not to eat strange things since you were young. But now you go crazy just at the sight of poison. It’s not even a poison monster…”

“Even the slightest poison doesn’t seem to affect me much.”

Indeed, at this point, most poisons were not very helpful to Giselle. It was better to practice mana manipulation instead.
However, Morbus’s poison was powerful enough to inflict damage even on superhumans. To Giselle, it was a valuable elixir.
Jerome expressed his disbelief.

“Wait, you get stronger by eating poison? How does that work?”

“My mana manipulation surprisingly goes well with poison. It’s like I only absorb the essence of the poison, you could say?”

“How is that even possible?”

“Well, I happened to find out. Maybe you could do it too.”

“How?”

“I have a magic book that I can show you. You might find out if you get it.”

“Hmm?”

Jerome furrowed his brow and tilted his head in confusion. Seeing Jerome’s reaction, Giselle found it amusing.
The magic book primarily explained how to handle energy and Giselle had improved it in the direction of amplifying his mana. It turned out that it also had the effect of absorbing the essence of what entered the body.
Except for the Dragon Heart, poison was indeed the most powerful essence to contain.
Belinda, looking around, spoke with resignation.

“It seems difficult to develop this area immediately.”

“Yeah, it will take quite some time to purify everything.”

Morbus may have disappeared, but this area was already in a state of decay. Venom seeped incessantly from various places.
The vast area had decayed, and it would take a long time to purify it.
Giselle suddenly remembered something.

“If I absorb this poison, my mana increases faster than when I practice mana manipulation. If I consume all the remaining poison here, wouldn’t it be purified faster? We can come here to train whenever we have time.”

Even now, Giselle was continuously converting the absorbed poison into mana.
The others looked at Giselle with a slight sense of disgust. They had never seen anyone consume poison so appetizingly.
Seeing their reactions, Giselle smiled and spoke.

“We can clean up this place later anyway. We’ve already secured a huge area, right?”

Everyone nodded. Although Morbus had occupied a large area, it was still only a small portion compared to the entire Mausu Forest.
They had secured a vast area by advancing almost in a straight line towards the center. They had obtained numerous resources.
Now, they just needed to confirm what was in the center. They could leisurely explore the remaining areas later.
That would be the end of everything. The Rutania Kingdom, which had taken over the Mausu Forest, would enter its heyday.
Jerome asked curiously.

“There shouldn’t be anyone stronger left now, right? They were all just disgusting creatures.”

“Most likely. This one was occupying the center.”

That’s what was written in the journal. It was written in the journal of Delphine, the Duke who had explored most of the Mausu Forest, so it should be accurate.
There were no more obstacles ahead. They just had to keep going straight.
Giselle felt a slight excitement.
‘Finally, we’ve come this far.’
He had vowed to properly explore the Mausu Forest someday. In a way, everything had started because of this forest.
The destruction of Ferdium, his rapid growth after returning to the past – it was all somehow related to this forest.
‘At first, even attacking the outskirts was difficult.’
He had risked his life countless times. A single mistake could have cost him his life.
But now, he had reached this place more easily than ever before. It was all thanks to the people who believed in him and followed him.
‘Now, I can get one step closer to the truth.’
After obtaining the relic and dreaming a dream, Giselle had been curious about the war a thousand years ago.
After hearing a rough explanation from Erenes, his curiosity had only grown. He had postponed it because it wasn’t a priority.
When he reached the center of the forest, he was sure he would learn more. He had a feeling that he would discover something significant there.
What did the Delphine Duke discover at the center of the forest? What were they trying to do?
He wanted to solve that curiosity quickly.

“Let’s rest a bit and then move on.”

No other reinforcements could come here. Only the current individuals who could withstand the venom were planning to confirm the center and return.
There was nothing good about staying here for too long. Giselle could turn the venom into an elixir, but the others were using mana to suppress the venom, so they needed to leave if Parniel and Pyote didn’t purify the surroundings intermittently.
Giselle tilted his head slightly towards Yurien.

“How is it? Isn’t it fun? This is what I meant by playing around, right?”

“…”

The others looked at Giselle with disbelief. They couldn’t understand the criteria by which he judged
“playing around.”

However, Yurien was different. A moment of contemplation passed through his cold eyes, considering in what way it was fun and playful.
Seeing his doubts, Giselle twinkled his eyes like a mischievous child.

“We all feel like we’re on a trip, right? Camping together, watching strange monsters, fighting and loosening up our bodies. And most importantly…”

Giselle’s voice was filled with joy.

“We can finally explore the center of the Mausoleum that Erenes mentioned. Everyone was curious about that, right?”

At his words, everyone nodded. They had taken a step closer to the ancient secret of the forest.
Of course, they were more realistic than Giselle. They didn’t expect to find any significant artifacts or shocking secrets here. If there were, Erenes would have come here first.
But Erenes had not participated in this Mausu Forest expedition. He hadn’t opposed it either.
He just stayed in his quarters, maintaining silence.
So everyone thought they would see traces of ancient myths and wars. It felt like touring ancient ruins.
Giselle, on the other hand, believed that there was something special here.

“Hmm.”

Yurien thought Giselle’s words made sense.
He had lived alone, detached from the world for a long time. He was stronger than anyone, but in some ways, he was no different from a child who knew nothing about the world.
But now, things were different. Yurien’s life had changed after meeting Giselle and his friends.
‘So many things have happened.’
They had led the war to victory and saved the continent. When fighting against powerhouses like Helgenik and Arterion, they trusted each other enough to have each other’s backs.
In this forest, they had seen many strange monsters. Fighting them wasn’t that difficult.
They had also explored ancient ruins and had numerous conversations with the friends they had made here.
All of this was a new experience for Yurien. It was an accumulation of emotions he had never felt while in the tower.
And that had finally taken shape after coming to the Fenis Domain.
If he had to name the strange feeling he was feeling now…
‘Right.’
Yurien smiled faintly. He had no choice but to acknowledge it.
The unfamiliar emotion he was feeling now was ‘joy.’

“Hey? Hey? Did you see that? You smiled, didn’t you? I was right, wasn’t I?”

Giselle said, looking around at everyone. The others, with eyes wide in disbelief, looked at Yurien.
Yurien, who had always been as cold as ice, had a smile that was as warm as the sunlight on a spring day.
Everyone held their breath as they felt the warmth in his once icy voice for the first time.
As the solid ice melted away, a bit of Yurien’s true self was revealed.
Everyone could now see the real Yurien hidden behind his cold facade.
And they could see his heart gradually thawing as he spent time with them.
* * *
Clomp, clomp, clomp…
After taking a break, the group walked towards the center. Since it was an area where no living beings could survive, there were no more monsters to contend with.
However, the decaying smell and sticky discomfort were incredibly hard to bear.

“Ugh, it’s so sticky. Is this still alive?”

Jerome grimaced as he stepped on the floor filled with black ooze.
The place was dirty beyond belief. Although they had faced many challenges, this place was exceptionally filthy.

“Wow…”

Among the group, Jerome, who was the most expressive, exclaimed in admiration.
It was an incredibly vast open space. The blackened ground, like a part of hell, was deeply cracked in places like giant wounds.
Through these cracks, common steam rose and twisted. A sound like something groaning could be heard from deep underground.
Above this plain of death…
A massive black curtain was draped, indescribably huge.