Chapter 333 - Continent of Aernor (1)
The party traveled through the blue Gate. Their vision was distorted and they ended up in a silent darkness as if they had been thrown into space. Oh Kang-Woo was reminded of when he had entered the dimensional crack.
Whoooom!
The only thing different from back then was that it was not an endless tunnel; they were slowly but surely nearing the end of the tunnel. Their vision turned back clear as they were enveloped in the blue light.
“Argh, I feel dizzy,” Cha Yeon-Joo said, putting her hand on her forehead after going through the blue Gate.
“This is... the continent of Aernor?” Kang-Woo said as he looked around.
The Gate had been opened in a gigantic forest.
‘I can’t really tell based on the surroundings.’
He was not a botanist, so he had no idea of whether these trees could only be found on Earth or Aernor.
“Uhh... Mm. Kang-Woo?” Han Seol-Ah called out to him.
“Hm? What is it, darling?”
“Over there...”
Kang-Woo turned toward the direction where Seol-Ah pointed.
“Wha...” Kang-Woo unconsciously chuckled. “I guess... we’re not on Earth.”
Seol-Ah had been pointing at a giant tree that had pulled out its own roots from the ground and was walking.
“Damn, it even has eyes and a mouth,” Kang-Woo expressed.
“Oh! Th-Th-Th-Th-That’s...!” Yeon-Joo clapped her hands together as if she had realized something. “That’s Maokai!”
“... What the hell is that?” Kang-Woo asked.
“It could even become a world tree if grown to its full potential!”
No matter how Kang-Woo look at it, the tree did not seem like it would grow as large as a world tree.
‘Anyway...’
He was at least sure that such a tree did not exist on Earth.
‘A monster like that hasn’t been discovered in Gates either.’
Kang-Woo stared at the walking tree while having his arms crossed. It was not the only tree that was moving; there were thousands of trees that were baring their sharp teeth as they pulled out their roots. Any normal person would have run away in shock.
“I will take care of them, hyung-nim.”
“Stand aside. I will be the one to take care of them.”
Si-Hun and Balrog stood in front of Kang-Woo while glaring at each other, just like dogs that wanted to be praised. Kang-Woo smirked and waved his hand.
“Sure, go for it. Oh, why don’t you guys make a bet about who can kill more of them?” Kang-Woo suggested.
“Oh?”
“Sounds good.”
Balrog and Si-Hun’s eyes shone from the intriguing suggestion.
“You are arrogant,” Balrog said.
“Right back at you,” answered Si-Hun.
They were emitting bloodlust at each other instead of the tree monsters.
“Whoever wins gets a dedicated one-day training session with hyung-nim.”
‘What?’
“Kehehehe, deal.”
‘Deal, my ass, you fucker. Who do you think you are to put me up as a prize?’
“What the hell are you two talking ab—”
Wham!!
Si-Hun and Balrog charged toward the tree monsters before Kang-Woo even had a chance to stop them.
Crunch! Crush!
“Skreeeee!”
Sounds of trees being smashed along with the screams of monsters were heard from their surroundings in an instant.
Kang-Woo grabbed his hair as if his head hurt, and then turned to Uriel. “Lord Uriel, do you know where we are?”
“Mm. We seem to be in the Nightmare Forest in the southern region of the continent.”
“Hmm.”
“Yes, Master Kang-Woo.”
Vaal Zahak— no, Vernaak approached.
“Do you happen to know where the high elves are?” Kang-Woo asked.
Although he had no idea if it was true or not, Vernaak was apparently the demon king of Aernor. In other words, he likely knew much about this continent, and possibly even knew about the location of the high elves.
“My apologies. I also... have not heard about the location of the high elves.” Vernaak shook his head, contrary to Kang-Woo’s hopes.
“Hmm.”
Kang-Woo narrowed his eyes. Although Echidna also used to live in Aernor, there was no way that she would know where they were since she had never left her lair.
“This is a bit of a predicament.”
Kang-Woo frowned. They needed the help of the high elves to find the Demon God’s heart, but they had no way of knowing where the high elves were.
‘What a catch-22.’
They had to go through too many hoops to do anything.
‘I guess there’s no other choice but to gather some information in a city.’
It had not even been thirty minutes since they arrived in Aernor; there was no need to be hasty.
“In that case, do you know if there are any cities near the Nightmare Forest, Vernaak?” Kang-Woo asked.
“None near the Nightmare Forest. As for a city closest to the forest... Mm, there is a city called Velen north of here.”
“How far is it?”
“Two weeks by carriage. After we get out of the Nightmare Forest, that is.”
“Really?”
Kang-Woo leisurely turned around. Two weeks by carriage was by no means short, considering how developed Aernor’s civilization was. Not just that, it was two weeks after getting out of the Nightmare Forest. If they were a normal party, they would have had to go by foot, but...
“Echidna.”
Kang-Woo had a retainer that could fly.
‘It’d be faster if I flew by myself, but...’
It was better for every party member to go together since not all of them could fly.
“Yeah?” Echidna asked.
“Turn back to your true form and take us to Velen.”
“Hm! Hm! Got it!” Finally having gotten something to do, Echidna clenched her fists and nodded. “Just a second, Kang-Woo.”
Black light poured out from Echidna, which turned even brighter as she grew bigger. Once the black light disappeared, all that was left was the intimidating demonic dragon. It had been a while since Kang-Woo had seen Echidna’s true form.
“Huh? Is it just me or have you grown?” Kang-Woo asked.
[Hm! It’s all thanks to you.]
Likely having been influenced by Kang-Woo’s growth in power, Echidna was far bigger than what she used to be when he first met her.
“Right, let’s go.”
Kang-Woo’s party climbed on to Echidna’s back and grabbed hold of her scales that popped out like thorns on her back.
“Urgh...” Yeon-Joo’s face paled. She said anxiously, “D-Don’t fly so rough this time, okay, brat?”
She seemed to have recalled the nightmare of when she got on Echidna for the very first time.
[I’m not a brat,] Echidna said angrily as she spread her wings out.
She soared into the sky at incredible speed.
“Kyaaaaaaaahh!!” Yeon-Joo screamed.
‘Let’s see.’
Kang-Woo hid Echidna using an Authority and looked down at the forest that was stretched out endlessly, befitting the name of Nightmare Forest.
“Eh?”
The forest was being destroyed at breakneck speed.
“Kurgh! Move! I will be with hyung-nim!”
“My kiiiiiiiiiiiing!!”
Si-Hun and Balrog were running amok to the point that the entire forest would be destroyed. Kang-Woo could feel their blazing passion from all the way up in the sky.
[Oh, come to think of it, I forgot to wait for th—]
“Go.” Kang-Woo said, while sensing their blazing passion, “Just go.”
[Huh?]
Leave them behind, please.