Chapter 204

Jack-o’-Lantern (1)

The pumpkin monster known as the jack-o’-lantern could be considered the symbol of Halloween.

Its distinguishing features were its sharply carved mouth and the hollow openings that served as its eyes and nose.

And as the word "lantern" suggested, its interior was empty but filled with light.

From what I knew, jack-o’-lanterns rarely harmed people and generally limited themselves to playing pranks.

"Kyaaaa! Kyaaaaaaa!"

"What the hell is this?"

But that only applied when they were small.

The pumpkin head before me was as large as a house.

It looked threatening enough to swallow a person whole in a single bite.

The same went for its shriek. It sounded exactly like something a monster would make.

It certainly suited a fantasy world, but I was more worried than impressed.

’How am I supposed to kill something like this...?’

Unlike a beast, this thing was a plant. It had no obvious vital points.

There was fire, widely regarded as the natural enemy of all plants, but the question was whether it would work on this creature.

There was something else that bothered me as well.

’Father Raccoon wouldn’t have given me something dangerous...’

Until now, Father Raccoon had always brought me highly effective medicinal herbs or mushrooms.

That was why I had planted the seed he brought this time without much suspicion.

Yet the moment I planted it, some kind of pumpkin monster appeared.

I couldn’t help wondering whether it merely looked frightening and was actually friendly.

Thump!

Just as that thought crossed my mind, the jack-o’-lantern astonishingly launched itself high into the air.

I wondered how something that enormous could possibly jump so high, but I didn’t have long to think about it.

"Fwooooop!"

The jack-o’-lantern tilted its head backward.

"Tutututututu!!!"

Then it fired something from its mouth.

The projectiles were moving incredibly fast.

They weren’t too fast for me to dodge after seeing them, so I predicted their trajectories and evaded.

Papapapapak!

"Kyuuu!"

"Piiiik!"

The other animals hurriedly scattered as well.

I checked to see what the creature had spat out.

"S-Seeds...?"

The things fired by the jack-o’-lantern were none other than seeds.

They were enormous, comparable in size to the one I had planted.

But that wasn’t the end of it.

Rustle... Rustle...

The seeds began burrowing into the ground by themselves.

Horrified by the sight, I urgently shouted.

"K-Kkobong! Pull those out, quickly! Hurry!"

"Understood!"

"Wonmo and Tyranno, you two help too! We’ll be in serious trouble if those things get underground!"

"Kyuuu!"

"Piiiii!"

At my urgent command, my animal companions hurriedly removed the seeds as they burrowed into the soil.

Fortunately, the seeds sank into the ground rather slowly, so we barely managed to remove every last one.

Thud!

The jack-o’-lantern, however, remained perfectly fine.

Its massive body... Could I even call it a body?

Either way, the pumpkin came crashing back down.

Whoosh!

At that moment, Ludwig charged toward the jack-o’-lantern.

He was holding the Mithricon sword, though I had no idea when he had drawn it.

Apparently, he had been preparing to attack while the animals and I removed the seeds.

Shhhhh—

A green galaxy began flowing across the Mithricon sword in his hand.

At the same time, sharp aura formed around the entire weapon as if coating it.

Aura Blade.

It was a technique he had shown me several times before.

With the Mithricon sword and Aura Blade working together, it should be capable of cutting through steel with ease.

Shashashashak!

Ludwig appeared to swing his sword only once, yet dozens of slashes followed.

They were so fast that even my dynamic vision could barely track them.

He shouldn’t have been able to properly circulate the mana within his body, yet he could still move that quickly.

Just how strong had this man been outside the forest?

I grew more curious by the moment.

Thud! Thump!

Under Ludwig’s concise and efficient assault, the jack-o’-lantern was cleanly sliced into pieces.

It had been as large as a house, yet a few swings of his sword had killed it with absurd ease.

I was about to relax, thinking it was over.

Float—

The pumpkin fragments Ludwig had cut apart rose into the air.

Shhk! Shashak! Shak!

Then they began returning to their original positions.

Both Ludwig and I stared at them with our eyes wide open.

The moment all the pieces fused back together, the jack-o’-lantern’s distinctive expression reappeared on the pumpkin.

"Kyaaaaaaa!!!"

Ludwig retreated in bewilderment at the jack-o’-lantern’s shriek.

I was just as dumbfounded.

I had clearly seen inside it when Ludwig cut it to pieces.

’It was just an ordinary pumpkin.’

There had been nothing inside it other than a handful of seeds.

I hadn’t seen anything that could be called an inner core or nucleus.

Then how had the jack-o’-lantern regenerated?

Thump!

While I pondered the question, the jack-o’-lantern launched itself high into the air again.

Was it going to repeat the same attack?

I was about to raise my shield in preparation when—

Crack!

"Fwooooop...! Gwehk!"

Something struck the jack-o’-lantern as it tilted its head back, sending it plummeting to the ground.

I didn’t know what had hit it, but it had been shot down.

I turned my head, searching for the cause.

"Ggueong."

It didn’t take me long to find it.

Largo had a brick clamped between his jaws.

Apparently, he had swung his long neck and hurled the brick like a catapult.

He was a literal living catapult.

Thanks to him, I had been spared quite a bit of trouble.

"Thuuud!"

The jack-o’-lantern crashed to the ground upside down.

We couldn’t afford to let this opportunity slip away.

Ludwig and I both rushed toward the fallen jack-o’-lantern without needing to say a word.

The creature was too busy trying to right itself.

It seemed to have difficulty controlling its body because of its enormous size.

Shashashashak! Shashashashashak!

Ludwig launched the first attack.

Just as before, the jack-o’-lantern was sliced into countless pieces.

Then it was my turn to finish it.

I enlarged my aura to an enormous size and brought it crashing down on the fragments.

Rather than trying to cut them, I struck with the intention of crushing them completely.

Booom! Bang! Bang!

The shattered chunks of pumpkin were reduced to pulp.

It was a waste, but there was nothing else I could do.

I had to deal with the immediate danger first.

And so, the jack-o’-lantern was not merely torn to pieces, but mashed into pulp.

At this point, surely it couldn’t regenerate again.

I muttered quietly.

"...Did we get it?"

"You stupid bastard!"

The moment I said that, Ludwig roared at me.

Startled by his sudden outburst, I turned toward him.

He was staring at me as if I had just uttered a forbidden phrase.

Only then did I realize what a terrible mistake I had made.

Float... Float...

And the consequences were catastrophic.

The jack-o’-lantern, which had been not only torn apart but mashed into pulp, was slowly regenerating.

Why the hell could it regenerate?

If it had been an animal, I might have understood.

There had been the case of the saber-toothed tiger—an individual whose regenerative abilities had been enhanced by possessing a heart comparable to a Dragon Heart.

But this creature wasn’t an animal. It was a plant.

Nor was there anywhere it could be absorbing nutrients from.

’Could it be the soil? No, that can’t be it. It doesn’t have any roots—’

The moment I remembered that the jack-o’-lantern had no "roots," my mind snapped into focus.

It felt as though a bolt of lightning had flashed through my head.

I immediately turned around.

My gaze landed directly on the garden.

The garden where this creature had grown.

It was a theory that completely defied conventional wisdom, but this was a fantasy world.

More than that, this was the Forest of Four Seasons, a place where even the common sense of a fantasy world didn’t apply.

Rather than thinking logically, it might be better to follow my instincts.

"Mister! Keep that bastard occupied!"

"Where are you going?"

"I just thought of something! And everyone, stay behind me just in case!"

Immediately after giving the order, I picked up a shovel instead of my sword and shield.

I began digging in the part of the garden where I had planted the jack-o’-lantern.

And then—

"Found it!"

It didn’t take long for me to uncover the jack-o’-lantern’s "roots."

I had no idea how it worked, but the roots were continuously supplying nutrients to the distant pumpkin.

’Does this world have Bluetooth roots too?’

At this rate, I wouldn’t be surprised if a Bluetooth showerhead appeared next.

Casting aside that useless thought, I grabbed the rhizome with all my strength.

Rustle!

Plants had wills of their own.

And this one was a monster.

The instant I seized its roots, vines burst out and frantically tried to bind my body.

One of them initially aimed for my neck, but I narrowly dodged it.

"Hey! Kkobong! Grab this!"

"Uoh!"

"You guys grab one each too!"

I gave instructions to Kkobong and the rest of my animal companions.

Once they had each seized a root or vine with their hands or mouths, I shouted with all my strength.

"Puuuuull!"

"Kyuuuuuu!"

"Piiiiiiik!"

I didn’t know whether the roots had burrowed extraordinarily deep or were simply resisting with all their might.

Even with one human and four animals pulling together, they showed no sign of coming free.

Behind us, Ludwig was keeping the giant pumpkin head at bay, but I had no idea how long he could hold out.

Rustle!

"Kegh!"

To make matters worse, one vine was still free.

Perhaps it had realized that I was the key figure, because it wrapped itself around my neck.

The pressure on my throat steadily increased, and my vision gradually began to blur.

But I refused to give up.

Through the roots in my hands, I could feel the other animals continuing to pull without surrendering.

If we failed to uproot this thing, there was no telling what else it might try.

Crack!

The fruits of our effort gradually began to show.

The distinctive sensation of roots being pulled free traveled through my hands.

I could vividly feel the creature struggling desperately to remain buried, but it was already too late.

The soil had already released its grip on the roots.

Even as the vine strangled me, I shouted.

"Kegh! Now! Pull!"

"Uoooooh!!!"

Crack-crack-crack-crack!

When we suddenly put more strength into it, the roots finally began emerging from the ground.

At the same time, the pressure around my neck grew even stronger.

But it was already too late.

Before long, the entire root system had been dragged out of the soil.

Craaaack! Pop!

We had finally uprooted the absurdly tenacious roots of the jack-o’-lantern.

They writhed as if they were alive, but the roots themselves were even more astonishing.

"Kieeeeeee!"

That wasn’t a root.

It was a miniature jack-o’-lantern.

And it was radiating a brilliant light.

Was it some kind of arrangement where the little one controlled the enormous one?

Whatever the case, we had found its weakness.

All that remained was to finish the job.

Thwack!

"Kuehk!"

When I punched the jack-o’-lantern hanging beneath the roots, it shrieked.

Apparently, it could feel pain.

It was similar to a fully grown mandrake.

That made things much easier.

I spoke to Kkobong.

"Kkobong! Beat the crap out of this bastard!"

"Uoh!"

Kkobong was far more proficient in martial arts than I was.

What did that mean?

Thudududududu!

"Gguehk! Ggueeek! Ggueeeeeek!"

It meant she pounded the creature like a punching bag.

As though venting all the stress that had accumulated until now, Kkobong gleefully pummeled it.

The more Kkobong struck it, the weaker the vine constricting my neck became.

The same was true of the giant pumpkin head Ludwig was fighting.

With its main body under attack, it could do nothing but twitch and was unable to move properly.

Limp—

After enduring a spectacular barrage of punches from Kkobong, the entire root system went limp.

The creature’s screams also died away.

It seemed to have lost consciousness.

When I looked at its face, its mouth, nose, and eyes had all vanished as though they had never existed.

Deciding that was enough, I was just about to tell Kkobong to stop when—

"Bleurgh."

Something dropped out of the giant jack-o’-lantern’s mouth.

It was an orb radiating an orange glow.

Anyone could tell at a glance that it resembled an inner core.

However, it was rather large—about half the size of my fist.

If I tried swallowing it whole, it would get stuck in my throat.

"The inner core is one thing, but I wonder if this is useful too."

I looked at the jack-o’-lantern’s main body.

I had no idea whether I could use it.

Now that it had expelled its inner core, it might have reverted to an ordinary pumpkin.

Even so, there was a high probability that it contained energy comparable to the inner core.

The fish had been the same.

Creatures that possessed inner cores were usually precious in their entirety.

"#%@^?"

Once the situation had settled down, Ludwig walked over and spoke to me.

He pointed somewhere, so I turned my head in that direction.

With the miniature main body incapacitated, the giant pumpkin head had become an ordinary pumpkin.

It was still just as enormous, though.

What could we possibly do with it?

"We’ll eat it, I guess."

"Eat it?"

"Yes."

Pumpkins had long been considered a winter delicacy.

"Should we steam some pumpkin later?"

Our food supply had just become even more abundant.