Chapter 87: A Cursed Forest

Elizabeth continued her journey, quickly descending onto the floating island after dealing with the Lesser Nightmares. She rushed as fast as she could toward the place where she sensed her friends.

CLAAASH!

She landed in the forest with a loud explosion, sending dozens of trees flying in every direction.

“Ugh…”

Thick smoke covered everything. She slowly waved her hand to clear it away. As the smoke finally dissipated, she noticed dozens of tentacles wrapping tightly around her arms.

No, they were more like roots!

“Ah, fuck. The trees were…”

“GROOOHHHHH…!”

“…Lesser Nightmares, yep.”

To her disbelief, every tree that composed this forest was a living being, and each one was a Lesser Nightmare. Once they spotted her, they roared furiously and attacked without mercy. Their tentacle-like roots stretched toward her from all sides, trying to bind her completely.

At the same time, the trees rapidly approached, revealing their hanging fruits. The fruits were shaped like the heads of people screaming in agony, blood constantly dripping from their empty eyes.

[Lesser Nightmare: Tree of Sinners – Rank 5]

“Ugh, get off me!”

Elizabeth was not someone who would humor these creatures for long. She swung her Daylight Sword and unleashed a wave of pure harmonious light. The Sword Light cut through the air like countless blades, slicing through dozens of trees at once and targeting the large cores hidden inside each one. The attack killed them in a single strike.

SLAAASH!

Their massive bodies stumbled and fell before slowly disappearing into particles of darkness. Unlike true Nightmare Beasts, Lesser Nightmares did not leave a corpse behind. They simply vanished once they were slain.

Of course, that rule did not apply to stronger beings. True Nightmares, Nightmare Kings, and their most powerful servants could leave physical corpses behind if they were strong enough to permanently embody themselves in the material world.

“S-Someone…! Someone help me!”

Elizabeth’s ears twitched the moment she heard the faint, desperate cry.

“There! Someone’s over there!”

She kicked off the ground and used Telekinesis to pull in every core she had just obtained. Then she rushed forward, cutting down more trees and storing their cracked cores as she carved a path through the dense forest.

Then…

“S-Someone… help me…”

She found someone attached to one of the trees, almost completely fused with its bark. The tree was slowly absorbing his nutrients, leaving him pale and looking far older than he should.

“Reinhardt!”

Elizabeth quickly grabbed him and tried to pull him free. Reinhardt, whose eyes appeared to have gone completely blind, screamed in pain as the wood and roots that had fused into his flesh began to tear.

“Sorry… this is going to hurt.”

She tore him free even though it caused him agony. He screamed louder as blood and gore spilled everywhere.

“Elizabeth, you’re being too rough!” Astraea said from within her.

“I panicked…!” Elizabeth answered, immediately channeling healing magic into him. “There, it’s okay now.”

She carefully healed his wounds and used Matter Restructuration to restore the skin he had lost. At the same time she used Harmony to cleanse any lingering Nightmare Wood that remained inside his body.

“Uugh… Ahhh…” Reinhardt slowly opened his eyes. His vision returned, and the first thing he saw was a feathered being standing before him. “A-An angel…?”

For a moment he truly believed Elizabeth was an angel.

“I’m not an angel. I am the Princess of the Frostbane Kingdom, Elizabeth Loumirayael Drakeheart Yggdrasil!”

“P-Princess?!”

Reinhardt panicked. He quickly tried to stand and kneel, realizing that a giant dragon had just saved his life. His body was still too weak, however, and he coughed before collapsing again.

“Ugh…”

“Don’t do anything reckless, Reinhardt. It’s okay.”

Elizabeth gently calmed him down and continued healing him more thoroughly.

“Are you all right?”

“I-I… wait… you’re… E-Eli… the girl?”

It did not take a genius to realize that the Elizabeth he had met before and the powerful being standing in front of him were the same person, even if her form was completely different now.

“HUH?! YOU’RE THE PRINCESS?!”

“E-Eheheh…”

Elizabeth giggled nervously and scratched the back of her head.

“Please keep it a secret, okay?”

“I-I… that… so that’s why you were so strong!”

“Yeah… If you don’t keep it a secret, I’ll just take your memories later, all right?”

“Ugh… okay… um… this is awkward. Wait! Where are we?!”

“It’s complicated. Let me explain everything to you quickly.”

Elizabeth placed her hand on his forehead and carefully implanted a stream of memories and knowledge directly into his brain and soul. The process gave him a small headache, but it allowed him to understand the full situation in moments.

“I-I see! Holy shit!” he muttered in disbelief. “I can’t believe this! This is insane! Completely insane!” he shouted. “W-Wow… just wow!”

“Enough.” Elizabeth lightly slapped his face.

“Ouch!” he cried. “You’re a dragon, you damn brat! That hurts… I mean, your majesty…! Ah, sorry! Ugh…”

“Yeah. This is exactly why I kept my identity a secret,” Elizabeth said. “People cannot act like themselves around me. They feel forced to keep up etiquette and manners, so there’s always a wall, a barrier between us. It becomes much harder to truly connect with anyone.”

“Ah… I see…” Reinhardt nodded slowly. “Well, to me, even knowing the truth, you’re still an annoying brat. Haha.”

“Hahaha, yeah I am,” Elizabeth giggled. “I think a few of our friends might figure it out later, so I hope you guys can keep it a secret for now.”

“Fine,” Reinhardt nodded. He stood up carefully and gripped his sword. “I can still fight. Let’s find everyone else and get out of this place!”

“Well said, my chosen hero! Now let’s mow down some more of these trees. The damn things won’t stop coming!” Elizabeth said as she noticed dozens of trees already advancing toward them.

The tree that had been feeding on Reinhardt was far stronger than the others. It had evolved after nearly consuming an entire elf.

[Lesser Nightmare: Vampiric Tree of Sinners – Rank 7]

The tree grew to five times its original size. Giant jaws appeared across its many branches, and its head-shaped fruits suddenly transformed into small imp-like creatures with screaming old-man faces.

“GYOOOOOHHHH!”

It let out an ear-piercing scream of its own. The ground shook violently as giant root tentacles erupted from every direction. The Vampiric Tree even began devouring the weaker trees around it, draining their essence like a true vampire.

“Are you kidding me?!” Reinhardt cried. “This is getting worse and worse by the second!”

“Yeah. This is basically your child, Reinhardt. You helped create this thing…” Elizabeth sighed as she raised her Daylight Blade. “Here, take this!”

She divided the Daylight Blade into two separate weapons and handed the smaller one to Reinhardt. He stood speechless as the powerful energy coursed through his body.

“A-Amazing!”

Reinhardt felt the blade’s power resonating perfectly with his Grass Cutting technique. Without hesitating, he swung and cut through dozens of trees in a single motion.

-----