Chapter 336: Ch 335: In Memories

Kael pushed his hand forward, and the sphere of magic collided with the invisible wall, causing the entire forest to tremble.

Trees shook violently, their branches producing a strange sound as pink and red leaves fell toward the ground. The invisible barrier cracked under the pressure before finally breaking apart, revealing a massive open area on the other side.

Kael stepped through carefully, expecting to find a powerful monster waiting for him.

Instead, he found a completely empty field.

There was no boss, no treasure, and not even a dungeon core that he could immediately identify.

The only thing present was a massive tree standing in the centre of the field, its trunk so large that Kael could not see the other side of it.

"This is strange. There should be a boss in here to protect the core. Unless... was I mistaken and I found some place else?"

Kael slowly approached the tree while keeping his senses focused on everything around him. The mana here was considerably denser than anywhere else in the dungeon, and he could feel something moving beneath the ground.

He placed his hand against the trunk, and the moment he did, the entire tree began to glow.

A familiar warmth spread through his body, which made Kael’s eyes widen as memories that he had long forgotten suddenly began surfacing in his mind.

"This place... these memories... these are not mine. Darn it! Did I get stuck in another mess without meaning to?"

Kael complained as he quickly pulled his hand away from the tree trunk. He had a bad feeling about this place all of a sudden.

The tree he was standing under gently swayed, and the pressure increased all of a sudden.

Kael looked up and saw that the tree suddenly had a disturbing smile on its face. It raised its leaves and sent waves of magically enhanced leaves toward Kael.

Avoiding them was not difficult, but the leaves started to make the ground shake as soon as they touched it. It, in turn, made Kael lose his balance.

"What a tricky bastard! Then, is this the boss of this place? I would have never guessed."

Kael sighed and got ready to blast this bastard tree into pieces. But the second he broke the shield of the boss and got ready to attack, his body froze.

Memories of the time he had spent with this tree and watched it grow filled his mind, and affection filled his heart.

Of course, neither these feelings nor that affection were real. It was a mirage created by this monster to make Kael lower his guard. And it was working too well.

His body was following his instincts, which were under the control of this monster.

Because of this, Kael had a hard time dealing with this smiling tree.

"Darn it! I should have smashed you to pieces before you had a chance to enchant me."

He complained, but the tree just waved back at him with its swaying branches. It was starting to get on Kael’s nerves.

"Ugh, if you won’t die directly, then I will have to kill you indirectly."

He cast a delayed magic spell on the area. The magic would automatically explode and cause this whole space to burn in two minutes. It was also magic that could not be cancelled once it had been cast.

Kael had a few such spells in his knowledge, and there was only one reason behind it. It was to prevent this exact scenario.

Believe it or not, this was not Kael’s first time being forced into such a situation. He often had to face enemies that were tricky to kill, so he had all kinds of tricks up his sleeves. That was the price of being a Grand Master.

For now, the boss tree seemed to have realised that it was in danger, and it tried to make Kael cancel his magic.

The tree’s magic instinctively latched on to Kael, making his knees feel weak. But he held on to his senses and looked at the tree monster.

"What are you so afraid of? This is just a little bit of fire. Let’s burn to death together."

Of course, Kael had no intention of actually burning. He had the protection of fairies and other things he had received when he had been born. His unique blood also protected him from excessive harm.

But the tree in front of him was a different story.

It tried to influence Kael once more, but since Kael’s instincts knew he was not in danger, he did not react.

And just like that, the space around him exploded, and flames started to engulf everything.

The flames spread through the forest with terrifying speed, consuming the pink and red trees while the boss tree desperately tried to suppress the fire with its magic.

Thick roots erupted from the ground and attempted to crush Kael, but he simply stepped aside while maintaining the spell that was burning the entire dungeon.

The tree let out a strange, distorted cry as its branches twisted violently, and the illusion around Kael began to crack. It tried to reach for Kael but it was too late.

The memories that had filled his mind were disappearing one after another, leaving behind only the truth of what this place actually was.

"Finally, you are showing your real face."

Kael grinned as he raised his hand and gathered his magic. The tree tried to influence him one final time, but the effect was far weaker now that its illusion had begun collapsing.

"You should have known better than to challenge a Grand Master with illusions."

A massive spear of magic formed above Kael before shooting downward and piercing the centre of the tree. The boss monster froze as the attack tore through its core, and the entire dungeon began shaking violently.

[Dungeon Boss defeated.]

[Dungeon Core exposed.]

Kael looked toward the glowing object beneath the dying tree and finally smiled.

"Now, let’s finish this dungeon and extract as much information as I can out of here."