The dungeon has been parasitized

Chapter 49 The Cursed Tree Spirit

Wooden stake?

Looking in the direction from which the wooden stake came, in the forest where only tree trunks remained, a conspicuous large tree had appeared out of nowhere.

"Roara ...

Immediately afterwards, the large tree let out a tremendous roar...

Can the big tree even make sounds?

"Wow, it's one of Klein's kind?!"

"No, that's not true."

It raised its arms, formed from thick tree branches, and slammed them into the ground as they shimmered with light.

boom!

A violent tremor followed, a flash of light, and a dozen dead tree stumps around it were uprooted and floated in mid-air before being aimed at Klein and Yanami.

This guy seems to be better than me!

"Klein is coming!"

At this moment, Yanami was already riding on the back of the Shadow Wolf, and as the wooden stakes were fired simultaneously, Klein was carrying her and running wildly to one side.

bang bang bang...

A black wooden stake shot towards him. Klein dodged left and right, and with his last leap, he landed on the stake that was stuck in the ground, looking down at the monster that had suddenly appeared.

It has leaves, hair, and a wooden head, with even its facial features resembling a wood carving. It also has hands and legs... Is it a tree spirit?

"Klein, I feel something is wrong with him, he's full of pain and resentment."

What does that mean...? Does it mean this monster is in a lot of pain?

Forget it, let's investigate first.

Activate skill: Detect

Success rate: 32%

Thirty-two percent?! That's so low?!

Launch successful.

Ah... it worked.

Name: None

[Type: Vengeful Spirit]

[Race: Cursed Tree Spirit]

[Level: None]

Age: None

[Health Volume: 6471/6471]

【Spirit: 364】

[Magic Power: 3257/3457]

【Strength: 135】

[Agility: 12]

【Intelligence: 10】

Individual Abilities:

Touch of Resentment and Curse: Causes mental anguish to the target and reduces their mental and magical abilities.

Touch of Painful Curse: Causes pain to the target's body, reducing their Strength and Agility.

Weakness: Fire.

A vengeful spirit? What is that? Isn't it a demon?

And surprisingly, there are no rank or age requirements?

"Yanami, what is a vengeful spirit?"

"Huh? A vengeful spirit... seems to be something formed from the painful emotions of countless dead creatures. If too many creatures die at once, it will create one..."

Halfway through her sentence, Yanami seemed to suddenly remember something, and her eyes widened.

"Ah! Could it be that the fire burned all the trees, creating vengeful spirits...?"

"It seems quite possible. They might be here to take revenge on you."

The Bloody Slime caused so much suffering to so many creatures before, and with yesterday's fire, the entire forest's trees have turned to charcoal. These creatures must have died in agony.

Wild Dog Forest now has neither wild dogs nor forest; let's just rename it Wraith Forest.

"The attack is coming!"

Klein leaped, carrying Yanami away from the flying wooden stakes; the Shadow Wolf's body was truly useful.

"What should I do, Klein? I didn't mean to..."

"It's okay, it runs so slowly, we can easily shake it off."

With only 12 agility, its wooden legs are not as fast as the Shadow Wolf, which has 35 agility.

"Roara ...

Perhaps realizing that the wooden stakes couldn't hit Klein at such a distance, the Cursed Tree Spirit stood there, helpless and furious.

"Klein, what's the next step?"

"It seems very strong; we might not be able to beat it."

"Can't we burn it?"

Yanami's problem is simple, but it was created by you burning it, wasn't it?

This is too hellish...

"Let's create some distance and observe first, then hold on tighter."

"Um."

Yanami nodded, then wrapped her arms around the neck of Shadow Wolf Klein, who started running away from the Cursed Tree Spirit.

The forests aren't well-protected these days, so just keep a distance and don't let them litter with tree stumps.

After running a hundred meters forward, a terrifying roar came from behind again. Yanami suddenly tightened her grip, pulling the Shadow Wolf's neck to the left—

"Klein! Jump to the left!"

Without hesitation, Klein jumped to the left, glancing back at his previous position.

Click-clack...

Just now, there was a charred tree trunk to Klein's right. Suddenly, an arm grew out of it and reached for the spot where they had just been!

boom!

The ground was torn open by sharp tree claws, and Klein would have been hit if Yanami hadn't sensed his hostility.

With a thud, Klein landed on the ground with Yanami, looking at the mutated tree trunk with lingering fear. Its charred bark had peeled off, revealing the bark of the cursed tree spirit.

Looking at the other side, the cursed tree spirit that was just behind them had turned into a fallen ordinary wooden stake.

"Klein, it seems it changed from that one over there to this one here..."

The tree trunk, which had just had only one claw, quickly transformed into a complete cursed tree spirit.

Is that even possible?

It's a bit like how I transferred to my own offspring... Could I actually be a vengeful spirit?

Whoosh!

It suddenly stretched out its claws towards Klein and the others.

"A shock to the soul!"

Klein was not far from it at that moment, perhaps because the distance was sufficient, so it did not use the tree stump to attack.

Yanami stretched out her palm, trying to interrupt its attack with a mental shock, but it only paused for a moment, its radiance still shining.

It didn't work?!

No... it must be that its mental strength is too high, so Yanami's mental attack has little effect.

At that moment, the tree claws burst forth, transforming into a cluster of spikes that hurtled towards Klein and Yanami!

Klein controlled the Shadow Wolf, leaping away from the light. Turning back, Klein channeled his magic... Just as the tree claws covered the Shadow Wolf's shadow and were about to pierce Klein, he activated the spell—

Shadowfang!

Snap!

A huge wolf's maw emerged from Klein's shadow, biting through the tree claws above.

"Klein, well done!"

The tree claws continued to grow, piercing through Klein's shadowy maw.

But the chance to strike had already been lost. Klein landed safely with Yanami and immediately continued running to create distance.

"Klein, my mental attack doesn't seem to be working on it..."

"Yes, it might be a bit special."

This tree spirit not only has terrifyingly high health, but also extremely high magical power. Melee combat is simply suicide, and magical clashes are even more suicidal.

The only downside might be its slow speed, but it can teleport to other tree trunks, so Yanami's mental attacks don't have much effect on it.

What should I do?

He can't run, and he can't fight in close combat. He's really a tough nut to crack... no, a piece of wood.

Klein dodged a few times, but as soon as the distance increased, it started attacking the wooden stakes again. Although Klein could easily dodge, he dared not go too far away.

Since its appearance, it has not even used the two curse abilities that it detected.

It can freely move to nearby tree trunks, and since the forest is full of tree trunks, it cannot go too far.

Perhaps we could position it at the right distance, making it keep dropping tree trunks until its magic runs out?

I have a feeling it's not that simple.