Chapter 343: Ballak (1)

– Ting!

[Exiting ‘Lost Paradise’ on the 10th underground floor]

[Entering ‘River of time’ on the 11th underground floor]

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Vikir felt his surroundings gradually brightening. When he looked up, he found himself alone. Dolores, who had been beside him, seemed to have veered off into a different space without him noticing.

“Seems like I’ve landed in an unpleasant place.”

Vikir surveyed the surroundings. Razor-sharp leaves and prickly thorns surrounded him. The air was hot and humid. In the distance, a large, meandering river flowed around the forest.

At first glance, it appeared to be an ordinary jungle, but there was one crucial difference—Bloodsoaked Jade Flower.

Those eerie aquatic plants lay strewn across the surface of the river.

A cluster. Vikir had landed at the heart of where Bloodsoaked Jade Flower gathered.

“…Are they surrounding this forest? No wonder it’s difficult to get out.”

Blood-soaked jade Flowers filled every bend of the river encircling the forest.

The scale was so vast that it couldn’t be fully comprehended at a glance.

Concerned that the flowers might emit toxic gas, Vikir flipped a Picaresque mask onto his face, excluding the flowers.

“Other than the flowers, it seems like an ordinary jungle.”

Vikir turned his gaze back to the forest.

In an instant.

“…!”

Vikir sensed something was amiss.

His attention had been drawn to the vast cluster of flowers blanketing the river, preventing him from noticing.

The forest now displayed the same appearance as it had moments ago, but everything apart from the basic landscape remained in constant flux.

Swoosh… Swoosh…

Leaves sprouted from strange branches, bloomed into flowers, and bore fruit in no time.

The fruit then fell to the ground, sprouting into seedlings, while the original branches withered away.

Everything in the forest was being born and dying at an incredible speed.

It felt as if time was passing tens of times faster.

Vikir gazed at the water pooled in a muddy puddle.

It was evaporating rapidly, diminishing before his eyes.

And the tiny eggs in the puddle hatched into small beetles in the blink of an eye.

They soared into the sky, circled a few times, then plummeted to their deaths.

“…Are those mayflies?”

If they died so quickly, even faster than regular mayflies, then something was definitely amiss.

‘Time flows quickly.’

Vikir once again paid attention to the name of this floor.

[Underground 11th Floor ‘River of time’]

Time flows like a river, indeed.

It seemed that the name of this floor referred not to the surrounding river, but to the swiftly flowing time.

‘A forest where time flows swiftly. Another strange place indeed.’

It’s a forest where only organisms’ time flows rapidly.

The breeze brushing against the tip of the nose, the speed of the flowing river, everything seemed no different from the ordinary world.

Vikir focused on his own body.

Swoosh…

The marks of deep wounds were visibly fading at an astonishing rate.

This was a speed beyond the Basilisk’s regeneration ability.

“…Time passes much faster than I thought.”

Vikir hardened his expression even more.

Considering the accelerated recovery, it wasn’t just double or triple the speed, but possibly at an immensely rapid pace.

“I need to hurry.”

Feeling time closing in, Vikir swiftly moved his feet.

* * *

Vikir paused for a moment and surveyed the forest.

As he ventured deeper into the forest away from the river, the sunlight filtering through the leaves furrowed his brow involuntarily.

“It won’t be easy to find the enemy like this.”

Green, red, blue, and purple.

The surrounding trees changed their foliage every few seconds, alternating between autumnal hues and verdant greenery, casting a vibrant light upon the forest that was incomparable to the grand stained glass in Qobadi’s Hall.

“… ”

Vikir decided to change his approach to searching the forest.

The most formidable thing in the forest battlefield wasn’t the enemy but nature itself.

Through his experiences with adversaries and life in the Black Mountains, Vikir understood this well.

In a forest unknown to ecology, one should not tread too closely.

That was the principle upheld by Balak’s search teams.

Fortunately, the only thing that had changed so dramatically was the vegetation.

Perhaps the only beings adapted to the River of time were plants.

Aging would be a natural and familiar concept to them.

“For now, I should climb up into the trees.”

Vikir quickly made his next move.

In a place where perception was distorted like this, the best strategy was to escape swiftly above all else.

Keeping one’s eyes wide open would only cause a headache.

As he grabbed onto the vines around him,

Swoosh—

The vine fell weakly.

In that moment, the vine had withered and grown anew from its roots.

Thud—

Vikir grabbed onto the tree trunk firmly.

He had had enough experience with tree climbing during his time in the mountains.

Despite the abnormal size of the tree, with Vikir’s skill in tree climbing and his current physical abilities, he could ascend it effortlessly.

“First, to higher ground…”

As Vikir muttered to himself, chin tucked, a strange sound pinged in his ear.

Thwock-thwock-thwock!

An arrow flew at an astonishing speed, so fast that even Vikir, with his archery expertise, struggled to react. Fortunately, he managed to dodge the arrow with a tilt of his head, but he couldn’t avoid having one side of his ear pierced.

Thup-thup-thup!

Arrows continued to fly from an unseen quadrant.

The assailant seemed well adapted to such a forest.

However, Vikir’s difficulty in reacting was solely within the realm of surprise attacks.

Reading the rough direction of the arrows, Vikir effortlessly dodged them.

“About 74 meters away.”

It was evident that the arrows were being shot by a single person, each carrying a distinctive weightiness.

Unlike the sharpness typical of imperial archery, this archery felt more like firing a cannon, with real power behind the arrows.

It was different from Ballak’s archery.

Somehow, it felt very familiar to Vikir.

“This is…”

As Vikir attempted to deduce information about the assailant,

Shiaaack!

The flying arrows pierced through the rocks behind him, simultaneously,

Flash!

A glint of steel flashed before his eyes.

A spear.

Straight as an arrow, showing only its frontal aspect while its sides remained invisible, the spear flew towards him at lightning speed, much like horizontally falling lightning bolts.

It was precisely aimed at Vikir.

Thunk!

Eventually, two imposing figures appeared before Vikir.

One appeared to be a man in his mid-twenties, while the other was a woman of similar age.

Both were nearly naked, covered only with animal hides and leaves.

The man appeared to be covered in mud and roots all over his body, indicating he had likely concealed himself underground. In contrast, the woman’s body was already dried with the mud applied to it.

“A combination of ranged and melee combat…”

The man wielded a long spear, while the woman held a large bow, and their coordination seemed quite seamless.

Swish… Thud!

As the man swung his spear, widening the distance, the woman’s arrow punctured the gap without fail.

This wasn’t just a case of the arrow compensating for the spear’s openings afterward; rather, it was a coordinated lure attack where the spear deliberately set up shots for the arrow to finish.

A combination attack of such high level would be impossible to handle without the partnership of veteran fighters who had spent decades, if not hundreds of times more, on the battlefield together.

…However, Vikir was a seasoned veteran who had rolled through countless times that of their time spent coordinating in battle.

Click… Crunch!

Grabbing the spearhead plunging toward his flank, Vikir twisted it with his hand.

Thunk!

While the man attempted to hold onto the spear, there was already a significant disparity in strength from the outset.

Confirming the spearman’s wrist bending, Vikir immediately pulled the spear towards himself.

Whoosh… Thud!

Extending his arm like a snake, Vikir, with a firm grip on the spear, exerted force toward the spearman’s neck.

“…Crunch!”

The man caught by Vikir’s grip was promptly slammed to the ground right there.

At that moment, the woman behind rushed forward in astonishment.

Thup-thup-thup-thump!

Reacting to the man’s plight, she unleashed four arrows with superhuman strength all at once.

All while on the move!

However, Vikir gracefully retreated backward while extending his opposite hand forward.

In real-time, it appeared as though the arrows were being caught between the extended fingers of his hand.

“Increasing my reflex stat has paid off.”

Though it was only a small increase, the addition of a previously nonexistent stat had a tremendous effect.

…Clack!

With just a movement of his hand, Vikir effortlessly caught all four flying arrows.

“This… This can’t be!”

The woman muttered in disbelief.

At that moment, the man caught by Vikir’s hand exerted all his strength to shout,

“Don’t come closer!”

He was warning the woman desperately.

Despite Vikir pressing down with all his might using his knee, the man’s entire body still writhed as if in protest.

“Run!!!”

“…But how can I leave you behind when you’re captured?”

“Go! Go get reinforcements!”

“I refuse! I won’t leave you!”

The woman disregarded the man’s words. Instead, she grimaced and drew the dagger strapped to her thigh.

She was determined to confront Vikir even if it meant risking her life.

At that moment, Vikir spoke with a light sigh.

“That’s enough. Tudor, Bianca.”

Instantly, the struggling movements of the man and woman came to a halt.

“…!?”

“….!?”

Their eyes, previously obscured by foliage, widened in astonishment.

Tudor Donquixote and Bianca usher.

Gradually, both of them spoke simultaneously.

“…V-Vikir!”

Removing the dirt and leaves from their faces, they stood up abruptly.

They were none other than Tudor and Bianca!

Encountering their friend for the first time after entering the tower seemed to surprise and delight them greatly.

But it wasn’t just Tudor and Bianca who were surprised.

Vikir himself was taken aback as he watched the two rise from their seats.

“….!”

Peeling off their leaf masks and mud makeup, they revealed their bare faces.

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They appeared at least 10 years older than before.