I Became a Veteran Who Has to Stir Up Trouble to Survive - Chapter 104

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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[104] Ancient Primordial Forest #4
A butterfly’s eyes are not like those of humans.
Hundreds of ommatidia woven together like a mosaic grant the butterfly a vision that, though lacking in detail, is broad and luminous.
Lenar borrowed those eyes to gaze downward.
Two figures—a man and a woman—wandered between the ancient giants of the forest.
‘They’re holding up rather well.’
Days without sustenance, tormented by the cold, confronted by the Primordial Forest’s horrors—and yet they survived.
That they managed to slay even a Primitive Tarantula, a creature of considerable difficulty, was honestly beyond my expectations.
But that is all.
Now that seeds have taken root deep within their bodies, there is no escape from my grasp.
Lenar withdrew consciousness from the butterfly’s wings and returned quietly to the depths of the forest.
In one corner of the Primordial Forest, a region where flowers bloomed with unnatural abundance.
There lay Lenar’s true form.
A spirit’s visage—utterly unlike the human guise she had worn.
As petals unfurled like eyelids, golden eyes the color of a flower’s pistil were revealed within.
Yet those eyes held no beauty of blossoms, only a murky, unsettling aura.
Lenar gazed at her reflection in the mirror beside the table, then traced her cheek with a fingertip.
‘…Withering again.’
The edges of the petals behind her ear had begun to stain brown.
The flowers that once bloomed so luxuriantly across her entire form now barely remained in half their former abundance.
Her skin, taking on an earthen hue, had lost its elasticity, and the sap flowed through her at a sluggish pace.
Once, merely standing still would draw swarms of bees and butterflies, and her fragrance alone could awaken the entire forest.
But now.
‘…It’s faster. Withering far more quickly than I anticipated.’
Even spirits age.
When I first grasped this truth, I could do nothing for a long time.
For an immortal being to confront her own end takes far longer than for a mortal to accept death.
But I soon emerged from that shock.
I had found a way.
‘■■.’
For decades, I searched for one who possessed that hidden stat.
When I sensed that human’s presence while observing an incident in the Royal Capital, I doubted my own senses.
For the first time, one bearing the ■■ stat had appeared.
Seized by exhilaration, I monitored the mortal’s every movement.
Afterward, I predicted their path, imprisoned a woman of the Kelenor Family, and deceived the servants with illusions.
Everything proceeded flawlessly.
There was but one variable at the end….
‘…That damned rat.’
Lenar’s expression twisted.
When I lured them to the Fake Ranch and abducted them through spatial magic, the target should have been that one mortal alone.
But that Beast Woman followed after me.
The magical power required for spatial displacement increases exponentially with the number of targets.
Abducting one person to this place and abducting two were entirely different matters.
Therefore, Lenar, Queen of Flowers had no choice but to pour most of her magical power into the spatial displacement.
‘Her face is far too beautiful for a mortal, irritatingly so.’
I was displeased in every way.
Because of that, I couldn’t reveal myself immediately after the abduction.
If I had appeared before that human with my magical power depleted, there was a risk of being counterattacked instead.
‘But it’s almost complete now.’
The seed I had planted within that human’s body had already taken root.
It would slowly spread while draining the host’s life force, and when the time came, it would absorb all abilities including ■■ stats.
Very painfully, gradually.
Quietly and elegantly, like a flower blooming.
When that time arrives.
“I will no longer be a queen.”
Lenar bloomed a single flower in the empty air and slowly curved her lips upward.
“I will be reborn as Lenar, Goddess of Flowers.”
Along with a low and sweet voice, the flower scattered into pieces, scattering pollen.
* * *
「[Parasitic Seed] is germinating! Cursed roots are rapidly infesting your body while absorbing nutrients!」
“Gasp…!”
My knees buckled with a thud.
All strength drained from my body, and pain surged from deep within my joints.
I gasped for breath as if I had just finished a marathon spanning dozens of kilometers, and my voice wouldn’t come out.
I tried to prop myself up with my hands, but I couldn’t hold on and collapsed completely.
My vision lost all color and turned white.
“Cough…”
When exactly did it happen.
‘When did they plant the parasitic seed inside my body…?’
I had noticed my body acting strangely ever since entering the Primordial Forest.
I had only thought it was because of hunger and cold.
Had I been slowly infested from deep within my body all this time?
The sensation of my body being gradually eaten away, as if an alien life form was growing using me as nourishment.
‘Was it from the Ranch? Or was it when I was submerged in digestive fluid inside the carnivorous plant…?’
There was no time to think.
The moment my body began to collapse, light flickered between the branches.
Adding insult to injury, hundreds of butterflies poured down.
「Phantom Butterfly swarm is approaching!」
「They are familiars made from the magical power of Lenar, Queen of Flowers! Their attack power is low, but prolonged exposure to the pollen they emit will cause unfavorable effects.」
Beautiful butterflies with vivid flower patterns inscribed on each wing.
But each time those wings beat, an eerie pollen scattered through the air.
“Fall back!!”
Radi raised her crossbow and pulled the trigger.
The butterfly pierced by the bolt dissolved into flower petals where it stood, scattering away.
Their defense was negligible, but their numbers were overwhelming.
Radi, her face pale from inhaling the pollen, turned back to look at Doran.
“D-Doran, it’s poison…! The pollen is toxic…!”
Radi urgently tore a strip from her robe and sealed Doran’s airways.
Doran tried to transform into a spider, but the seeds embedded in his body would not allow it.
｢The [Parasitic Seed] taking root within your body drains your vitality!｣
｢Your stamina has fallen below critical levels! Your [Disguise] ability is temporarily sealed!｣
｢There is a risk of losing consciousness at this rate!｣
‘Damn it all….’
My eyelids grew heavy.
Butterflies approached slowly from all sides, encircling me, yet I couldn’t move a single finger.
Was this the end?
I survived an assault from a primitive monster, only to lose consciousness and die to something like this?
In that moment, something crashed down over Doran’s body.
｢Your ally Radi desperately fights to protect you!｣
Radi threw herself over Doran, shielding him with her back as she relentlessly pulled the crossbow’s trigger.
When the bolts ran out, she drew her dagger and slashed at the incoming butterflies.
The Night Stalker’s venom effect activated as she blocked with her entire body.
“Radi, stop. You too….”
“Be quiet!!”
Radi’s voice trembled.
“I’ll hold them off, so snap out of it quickly!”
She fought desperately, but no matter how low their attack power, monsters were still monsters.
Each time a butterfly’s wing grazed Radi’s arm, red marks appeared.
Her clothes tore and blood seeped through.
Yet Radi did not retreat.
She grabbed Doran by the nape of his neck and dragged him forcefully into the space beneath the carriage, then blocked the entrance with her body and resisted.
“Don’t come…!”
Radi gritted her teeth and slashed at the approaching butterflies with her dagger.
But her arms began to tremble.
Prolonged exposure to the magical power carried in the pollen was gradually dulling Radi’s senses.
‘Ah….’
Radi felt numbness creeping into her fingertips and her vision narrowing.
Blood flowed from the hand gripping the dagger, but her senses had become so hazy she barely noticed.
‘At this rate, we’ll both….’
As Radi turned back with a look of despair, Doran grasped at his fading consciousness and rolled his head.
I couldn’t win fighting in this state.
I couldn’t escape either.
Even if by some miracle I managed to shake them off, I would never leave the Primordial Forest—I’d simply return to the same place.
Then.
A phrase that had surfaced when the Main Quest updated flashed through my mind.
「You may receive ‘special assistance’ in the process of escaping the Primordial Forest!」
“Special assistance….”
I couldn’t fathom what that meant in this situation.
But there was no other way.
If miracles truly existed….
“…Radiya, you have those signal arrows, don’t you?”
“Ugh… s-signal Bolts? …Get lost!!”
“Use them.”
Radiya hesitated for a moment.
“If you fire that, the sound might draw every monster in the vicinity….”
“…There’s no choice. Use them.”
Radiya studied my eyes for a moment, then asked nothing more.
Even knowing it violated survival principles.
She trusted me deeply in her heart.
Shrieeeeek—!
The perforated Bolt pierced through the rushing swarm of butterflies and shot skyward.
The sharp cry tore through the Primordial Forest, echoing far and wide.
The butterfly swarm scattered briefly at the unexpected noise, but that was all.
As silence descended upon the forest once more, nothing happened.
‘…It’s a bust after all.’
A crushing sense of helplessness welled up.
As my face became buried under the accumulating pollen and my vision grew completely obscured, it happened.
Boom—!!
In an instant, something rushed from the depths of the Primordial Forest.
Moving with blinding speed, it tore through the heart of the butterfly swarm, and hundreds of phantoms simultaneously burst apart into flower petals.
Each time that form unleashed a punch, a shockwave erupted, scattering the thick pollen in all directions.
A silhouette unfamiliar yet somehow distinctly familiar—strangely recognizable.
I couldn’t help but be startled when I saw the message that appeared in the log window.
「An old comrade, answering your call, appears!」
I desperately refocused my blurred vision, staring at the figure before me.
‘…Leopard?’
As I reached out toward that silhouette, my strength gave way.
Watching the golden tail slowly approach me.
I lost consciousness.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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