“Wau gaooa woon.” (What timing…)

It was my third time standing within the place called the “Tree of Life” which contained the shining silver structure called the Ultimate Spiral Staircase. Although I could not access the knowledge I acquired from this place in reality, the continuity of my memory was preserved the moment I stepped back here and I could even remember my previous visits.

“Wogauau…” (But still…)

When I glanced at my right shoulder which was painful earlier, I squinted and saw the damage in my leather armor and the wound. The wound wasn’t fatal, but it would be hard to continue fighting if I didn’t get it healed soon…

(Rather, isn’t this unreliable?)

This was a place where thoughts turn to reality, and my own perception only represents the state of the wound. I perceived this fact after the information unexpectedly flowed into my mind. In other words, this wound may either be a severe or a mild injury.

I also wondered for a moment how the bleeding seemed to stop, but that question was soon cleared up by the knowledge that came from within me.

(Time seems to flow differently in here compared to reality and I seem to also be all healed… wait)

Why was this place called the “Tree of Life” anyway? … After closing my eyes for a while, a large volume of information suddenly rushed inside me and I had to process all of this to answer all my questions.

(So this is a place where memory is carved into the soul, where archetypes that transcend race are buried into the deepest depths of the subconscious, and is the ultimate destination where souls gather…It doesn’t really make sense.)

Well, there’s no point in thinking about something I’ll easily forget when I get back to reality anyway.

And so, just like always, I climbed up the Ultimate Spiral Staircase while listening to the cheers and blessings until I arrived at a circular observation deck.

“U, guoaru garukuaoooon.” (So the path suddenly splits from here.)

In addition to the stairs leading to the top, the floor also has a hollow passage that leads to another spiral staircase floating in the sky. I stopped my advance and looked at the two paths before me while waiting for new information to come to me, but… only an incomprehensible noise flitted through my mind.

(No choice, I guess I’ll just let luck decide for me.)

I grabbed one of the gold coins from the Riastize Kingdom from my pouch and was about to make a coin toss to decide, but I stopped when I saw the bust of King Alexius engraved on the surface, which was slightly more dignified than the real thing. If I were to rely on this coin, I had a feeling that I was leaving my future in his hands, not in the hands of luck.

So in the end, I chose to follow my instincts and walked to the passage instead.

Of course, the floating Silver Staircase looked wondrous as it ascended to the endless snow-white space, but I simply wanted to pass through the walkway. While I was advancing along the path, I looked around and saw multiple silver Spiral Staircases.

None of them were within my reach, but I somehow understood that they were all connected to the roots of the evolutionary Tree of Life.

(This ‘Tree of Life’ is such a magnificent thing…)

I was filled with so much emotion as soon as I reached the new Spiral Staircase, and my consciousness moved back to reality, leaving behind the knowledge I gained in this realm.

……………

………

…

“U, ugaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!”

My fangs grew and I screamed uncontrollably as intense pain and renewed power rushed throughout my body. Furthermore, the claws on both my arms and feet also became sharper and the muscles on my jaws and limbs grew in size.

Name: Archer (Male)

Race: Wolfish Kobold

Rank: Silver Wolfdog 

Skill: Intermediate Magic (Earth・Wind), Battlecry (Kobold Race Enhancement), Magic Enhancement (Small, Constant), Howling Noise (Inhibits Magic for a Period of Time), Beastification (Sensory Enhancement・Howling Sound Attacks), Humanization (Sensory Dulling)

Title: The Willful Silver Wolf, The Holy Beast of Selkram

Weapon: Mechanical Bow (Main), Scimitar (Auxiliary)

Armament: Leather Armor (Shoulder Damaged), Grimoire “Copy of Herculean Crushing”

Recognizing the instant change that the silver Kobold was going through, Brave, the Greatsword-wielding Goblin rushed to his comrade’s side, helped him up, and applied Healing Magic.

Rather than using the opportunity to pursue their enemy, his goal at that time was to rescue his friend. A bit of the faint white light seeped from the palm Brave was pressing against the laceration as he desperately tried to hold onto the small amount of life force that remained in his friend’s body.

“Gido, gizusekto!” (Don’t worry Sword, it was just a small cut!)

“Datos retiado, gidoa…” (Don’t lie to me, idiot…)

The Goblins that came with them from Easteria Forest surrounded Sword and Brave as they exchanged a few words, while Silva’s pack did the same and came running to their equally injured brethren’s aid.

“Aavaa, kuruaan!?” (Archer, are you alright!?)

“Wafiou…” (Somewhat…)

One of the fluffy white Kobolds forcibly pressed a paw against my shoulder to heal me and I forced out a smile as I responded to Silva while trying to endure the pain.

Meanwhile, both races had lost their momentum in battle and were being reluctant to attack the other side when a loud voice suddenly rang out from the Goblin’s side.

“Gii, gyaouh!!” (Tsk, retreat!!)

“Giuh, gigiugio.” (Yes, Lord Brave.)

“Gia, gadore gifireusu.” (Well, we are used to losing battles.)

After the commotion on the enemy’s side, the Goblins, whose defense on both flanks had fallen and were being surrounded, began to retreat in an organized manner, breaking up into smaller groups to lose their pursuers and escape.

The huge Goblin with the Greatsword who had given the order to retreat earlier carried the gravely injured Goblin Swordsman on his back and disappeared into the depths of the forest as well.

“…Kuuaoooou?” (… Should we pursue them?)

(I have some concerns over pursuing them, but they shouldn’t have gone far…)

With regards to the commando unit, Oswald and the other archers were almost out of arrows while the mages were also unsure when their magic would reach its limit.

Hasta and Shiro’s units were in charge of fighting in the right and left flanks so they were all extremely exhausted and Silva’s troops took a lot of damage while they tried to hold back the Greatsword-wielding Goblin earlier.

And so, the least damaged group, the prick-eared Kobolds who were under Blau’s command, were tasked to continue the chase and the battle came to an end.