Chapter 505

Chapter 505

Finding the stone forest where Moder’s nest was located wasn’t difficult. It stood out even from afar.

“Those stones really do look like trees.”

Brielle stared at the distant stone forest with an expression of wonder.

When she first heard about a stone forest, she thought it was just a figure of speech. But seeing it in person, the stones were shaped like trees and clustered together so densely that it truly resembled a forest.

Levin also looked impressed.

“It’s similar to the Primordial Forest, yet different. That one was made of charred wood; this one is made of actual stone.”

“Fascinating.”

“That monster called Moder really picked a good spot.”

The stronger a monster is, the better a place it nests in.

The stone forest was as complex as an actual forest.

Tree-shaped stones formed a natural labyrinth—one wrong step and you’d quickly become lost.

And what happened to those who got lost was obvious.

They became Moder’s offering.

Zeon warned the group:

“Everyone, be careful. Catching Moder is important, but recovering the grain seeds safely is even more important.”

“Okay!”

“Don’t worry, hyung!”

Brielle and Levin answered with confidence.

But Tesserina’s expression wasn’t bright.

Seeing her serious face, Zeon asked:

“What’s wrong?”

“There’s a rotten stench…”

“What do you mean?”

“That monster called Moder… it’s definitely undead.”

“Undead?”

“And a very powerful one.”

Tesserina had sensed a dangerous scent.

There weren’t many monsters capable of giving her this level of danger.

Zeon looked toward the stone forest and murmured:

“I’ve been running into a lot of undead lately.”

Originally, undead were the rarest type of monster.

But for some reason, he had been encountering them far more often these days.

Is the proportion of undead among monsters increasing?

If that were true, it meant some change was occurring in the monster ecosystem.

Whatever the reason, it was bad news for humans.

The knowledge they had built for survival would become useless, and they would have to start collecting information on monsters from scratch.

They didn’t know whether this Moder monster existed only here or elsewhere, but they needed to gather as much information as possible now.

Zeon’s group cautiously entered the stone forest.

They had not gone far before they found a small glass bottle.

“Seeds!”

Brielle, delighted, ran toward the bottle.

Inside the glittering glass were grains—clearly seeds of some crop.

It was natural for high elf Brielle to react like that. But Zeon and Levin instinctively knew something was wrong.

The bottle containing the seeds was placed in the most eye-catching spot. It was clearly meant to lure someone.

Brielle’s hand was just about to touch the bottle.

Zeon shouted urgently:

“Levin!”

“Yes, hyung!”

Levin instantly ghosted and snatched Brielle away as she lunged forward.

“What? Why?”

As Brielle was lifted into the air by Levin, irritated—

Crack!

Enormous teeth burst out from the stone beside the bottle and snapped at the space above it.

If Brielle had grabbed the bottle, she would have been pierced straight through.

“Ugh!”

Realizing belatedly that she had almost died, Brielle gasped in shock.

Tesserina guessed the creature’s identity.

“I’ve never seen one shaped like that, but its behavior is just like a Mimic.”

“Mimic?”

“A monster that hides perfectly and lures prey with treasure before devouring them. I’ve never seen one disguise itself as a stone, but…”

“So that bottle of seeds itself is their bait.”

“A cunning creature. If someone clueless grabbed the bottle, they’d be eaten in an instant.”

“Then did Moder scatter these Mimics here?”

“That I don’t know. Whether Moder controls the Mimics, or if the Mimics settled here drawn by Moder’s presence…”

“Well, we can just find out.”

Zeon fired a Fire Missile at the stone the Mimic had disguised as.

BOOM!

—Kreee!

With an explosion, the huge teeth revealed their true form.

The Mimic was a truly bizarre creature.

No visible body or head—only an enormous maw of teeth.

If he hadn’t seen it himself, Zeon would never have believed such a monster existed.

Zeon continued and fired more Fire Missiles at all the stones surrounding the bottle.

BOOM BOOM BOOM!

—Kiee!

—Kraaa!

Explosions erupted, followed by shrieks.

Besides the first one, three more Mimics had disguised themselves as stones and were waiting.

Zeon murmured:

“At this rate, the whole stone forest is practically a Mimic field.”

The awakened one who had first retrieved the bottle of seeds had been extremely lucky.

They had somehow escaped this stone forest filled with Mimics unharmed.

Or perhaps the Mimics had observed that awakened one and realized the seed bottle worked as bait.

Either way, the Mimics had thoroughly settled throughout the stone forest where the seed storage was presumed to be.

“Tesserina!”

“Yes?”

“You know some large-scale offensive magic, right?”

“Of course.”

“Wipe them out!”

“Got it!”

Tesserina immediately cast a massive area spell toward the stone forest.

“Shock Wave!”

KWOAAAA!

Even the same Shock Wave differed drastically depending on who cast it.

Tesserina’s Shock Wave was overwhelming.

BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!

Under the ultra-high vibration of the sonic blast, the surfaces of the stones burst one after another.

The Shock Wave swept across the entire stone forest in an instant.

The Mimics that had been hiding as stones, waiting for prey, were stunned and forced out.

Hundreds of Mimics revealed themselves.

Seeing them, a cold smile curled on Tesserina’s lips.

“Flame Cannon.”

FWOOOOSH!

A beam of destructive fire shot from Tesserina’s fingertips.

BOOM BOOM BOOM!

All the Mimics caught in the Flame Cannon exploded.

The immense power left Levin and Brielle gaping in shock.

In moments, the entire stone forest was burned to ashes, and the Mimics disguised as stones evaporated without a trace.

She cleared the stone forest’s Mimics instantly.

But the bait bottle on the ground wasn’t even scratched.

It was terrifyingly precise targeting.

“My seeds!”

Brielle slipped free of Levin, landed on the ground, and picked up the bottle.

Seeing the seeds safe, she beamed brightly.

Zeon praised Tesserina.

“Well done.”

“What? Hehe!”

Tesserina smiled shyly, pleased by Zeon’s compliment.

Zeon then moved deeper into the stone forest with her.

With the Mimics gone, there was nothing to hinder them.

Grrruuung!

As they went deeper, a strange cry echoed.

It sounded somewhat like a deer, yet also like a bird.

It was Moder, the master of the stone forest, issuing a warning.

But Zeon, Tesserina, and the others ignored it and continued toward Moder.

“That’s more grotesque than I imagined.”

“Ugh.”

“What on earth…”

Moder’s appearance was far more hideous than they had vaguely imagined, and Zeon, Levin, and Tesserina all grimaced deeply.

A deer-like torso.

Where the head should have been, a human torso was attached.

The human torso had no head—only limbs that flailed wildly.

In the center of the human torso were a giant mouth and red eyes; just the sight made one nauseous.

No one knew how such a monster came into existence, but it was certainly no normal living thing.

—Kruuuung!

Moder let out another threatening cry.

Zeon’s gaze drifted to Moder’s feet.

Beneath it was a concrete structure—something rarely seen outside Neo Seoul.

Part of the structure had collapsed, revealing the inside.

Broken shelves and numerous glass bottles were visible through the cracks.

“It really is a seed storage.”

“An undead nesting on top of a seed storage… how ironic. The dead resting in the cradle of life.”

“But isn’t that… dangerous?”

Levin pointed at Moder’s legs.

Its long deer-like legs were embedded in the seed storage as if taking root.

It wasn’t just its ankles stuck in the concrete.

Root-like tendrils stretched from its hooves, wrapping the entire seed storage.

Zeon muttered with an incredulous expression:

“It’s taken the storage hostage.”

“What a cunning thing. It figured out that we need the storage.”

“But can undead think like that? Aren’t they mindless?”

“High-ranked undead are completely different from low-rank ones. If it’s around A-rank, it can think and act like a human.”

“Then this one is definitely A-rank or higher.”

Levin grimaced.

He had already suspected it was A-rank or higher, but confirming it directly made him feel even more uncomfortable.

—Ker-ke-ke-keeng!

Moder emitted a bizarre cry.

To Zeon’s group, it sounded like mockery.

Indeed, the creature was laughing at the humans trespassing into its domain.

It was provoking them—how would they attack it when it held the precious seed storage hostage?

The roots extending from its hooves were part of its ability: Earth Domain Assimilation.

A power that merged itself with the ground to enhance its defense.

But becoming one with the land meant that if Moder took damage, the domain would collapse with it.

Zeon said:

“First, we need to separate it from the storage. If we mess up, we could blow the entire seed storage.”

“Leave that to me, hyung!”

“You?”

“I have an idea.”

Levin stepped forward with confidence.

Zeon didn’t stop him.

Levin was no longer a rookie.

He was a seasoned veteran with countless experiences.

When Levin stepped up with confidence, there was always a reason.

Levin ghosted and approached Moder.

Fwoooosh!

Suddenly, a red beam shot out from Moder’s mouth.

The destructive beam Batula had mentioned.

A beam of heat strong enough to melt steel in an instant struck Levin.

A normal awakened person would have died instantly, but in his ghost state, Levin was unaffected.

The beam simply passed through him and vanished into the sky.

Moder blinked in shock.

Meanwhile, Levin positioned himself beneath Moder.

He placed his hand on the ground and unleashed a skill.

“Chain Lightning!”

Instantly, high-voltage electricity spread across the ground like a net.

Crack-krak-krak!

The roots connecting Moder to the storage burned and snapped under the voltage.

—Kurung?

Moder looked down at Levin in surprise.

Waiting for it was Levin’s next gift.

“Lightning Blade!”

A massive blade of thunder struck Moder’s entire body.

BOOM!