Chapter Seventy-Four: The Withered Land of Olives

Boom...

Blazing flames rose like a towering wall of fire, blocking those terrifying, sinister “living olive trees” behind a curtain of light.

So there are such flashy ways to ignite things...

Standing some twenty meters back, Colin was busy arranging barrels of explosives into a blasting formation. Glancing up inadvertently, he noticed their peculiar method of ignition and shot Li Chou a strange look.

“Heh, learned it from the chat channel. Haven’t eaten anything but meat these days, so I’m feeling pretty heated inside...” Li Chou forced a dry laugh. Some of the hair on his face had been singed. Though he and Number One had immediately retreated the moment the flames erupted, he’d still lost a bit of hair, but nothing serious.

At the same time, Colin had finished stacking the explosive barrels and signaled everyone to quickly fall back. The flames wouldn’t hold these things for long. Besides, the fire only blocked the road—those “living olive trees” could simply detour around.

However, on either side of the path were countless olive trees now awakening. If they were clever enough to take a detour, there was a good chance they’d become entangled. It might not stop them entirely, but it would certainly slow them down.

Colin had now confirmed that each olive tree took between one and three minutes to revive, and it would take two or three minutes to pull their roots free from the earth. Their real hope of escape lay in the damage the explosives could inflict.

Soon, a huge pile of explosives was dumped in the middle of the road. Watching as more and more “living olive trees” emerged behind the curtain of fire, squeezing in from both sides and writhing grotesquely in the shadows, Colin took a deep breath. He ordered someone to douse the fuses with powder and quickly retreat.

This was essentially repeating the method they’d used to kill the Lord-level aberrant—create obstacles, then buy time to escape to the edge of the forest. Otherwise, they could never outrun these monsters, which ran like crazed beasts.

Ten meters, twenty, forty, fifty...

[...You realize that now is the moment to ignite.]

Colin’s expression shifted—too fast, and too close! He’d been running for less than five seconds and already had to light the fuse.

In that instant, he realized why: a small “strange runner” had burst through from the side, snapping off several branches. Regardless of size, these things swept across the ground like brooms, clearing away the fuses entirely.

Helpless, Colin lit the explosives.

Sssss...

Thick white smoke snaked rapidly along the ground.

“Run for it!”

Colin shouted, leading the charge as everyone sprinted madly. He’d just set off over half a ton of explosives, and they’d barely covered a hundred meters.

They could run a bit more before the blast—at least a few more seconds!

Fortunately, with base attributes of 2.0, everyone except Li Chou moved like professional sprinters.

After eight or nine seconds, Colin barked for a halt and had the shield-bearers angle their shields toward the coming explosion. They’d practiced for this the night before and set the shields without hesitation.

The others dropped prone, while Shana cast “Holy Light Shield” over most of the group and unleashed “Wind of Renewal” just before the blast.

A second later, as everyone covered their ears, opened their mouths, and braced for the shockwave, a flash of fire erupted behind them, followed by a searing red burst.

The terrifying shockwave hit instantly.

The shield-bearers, kneeling and bracing their wooden shields, felt a tremendous impact as though struck by a tidal wave, nearly knocking them over.

But the force faded quickly. As their minds cleared from the brief blankness, they realized the danger had passed.

Thunder rolled across the land, and, as it faded, fragments of olive trees large and small rained down from above.

With that single blast, dozens of “living olive trees” were returned to peace. Many more, now ablaze, issued strange and piercing screams.

Colin, wasting no time after the shockwave, sprang up and hauled more barrels of explosives from his pack.

A single blast would never suffice. Dozens of “living olive trees” might sound impressive, but in the grand scheme, it was a drop in the ocean—there were likely hundreds of thousands of such trees in this olive forest.

Fortunately, reviving took time. Otherwise, despair would be all that awaited them.

It was clear now: this cycle of setting explosives, fleeing, and repeating would have to continue for quite a while until they escaped this eerie, menacing forest.

Thankfully, Colin was well-stocked with explosives—over a hundred barrels, each weighing more than a hundred pounds, with more supplies streaming in from behind. Running out was not a concern.

After piling another half ton of explosives, Colin repeated the same strategy and began a rapid retreat.

As they withdrew, he confirmed directions using the system’s prompts: [You believe that heading straight for thirteen minutes will bring you to the forest’s edge...] [Three kilometers ahead to the right is a temporary safe zone.]

A temporary safe zone... Who in their right mind would choose such a place?

Colin dismissed the thought and was about to focus on something else when, unexpectedly, the system’s voice echoed in his mind.

[Detected: One hundred “Weeping Olives” have been slain. Task “Withering Olive Grounds” will be issued shortly.]

[Task issued. Please check your log.]

A mission at a time like this? Or is there another way to trigger tasks besides system and event triggers? But killing a hundred of these things was a feat in itself...

Running, Colin felt a touch exasperated. He had no intention of doing any quest; all he wanted was to escape as quickly as possible.

So he didn’t even bother to glance at the task prompt.

But then, after triggering the third explosion and checking his distance to the forest’s edge, his face suddenly changed.

[You believe that heading straight for thirteen minutes will bring you to the forest’s edge...]

It was thirteen minutes before, and now, it was still thirteen minutes...

“We’re trapped in a labyrinth.”

In that instant, Colin was overcome by a sense of helplessness.

Behind them, over a thousand living olive trees were on the move, the cacophony of their advance like an earthquake. At such a moment, even a Lord-level aberrant would be of little help.

“A labyrinth?” Li Chou’s face fell.

Why didn’t these monsters chasing them get trapped as well?

They were clearly running straight!

Until now, they hadn’t covered the same ground twice—how could this be a labyrinth?

On the other side, Shana, Number One, and the others were unfamiliar with the term “labyrinth.” Though they’d heard their leader use the words separately, together, the meaning was lost—until, thanks to some subtle system compensation, they grasped it in under a second.

Then, everyone’s faces changed in unison.

Were they going to be trapped here forever...?