The strategy this time is pretty simple.
　Let's just work hard and cut the roots until they fall.
　The main players are Toya and Mary.

　Haruka, who can attack at a moment's notice with great power, will watch the entire area from the rear and provide support and recovery in case of danger.

　However, unlike in the game, you can't heal from a distance, so injured people need to return to Haruka's place on their own.

　Potions are distributed to all players so that they can heal on their own, but in most cases, if you can't afford to use them, you'd better run to Haruka.

It looks like there are no ...... effects left from last time.
It's growing fast.

　You can't feel the effect of Haruka's magic tearing off the last time on the thick foliage.
　If the last time you retreated it was a deciduous tree in winter, now it is a deciduous tree in early summer.
　It's all over the place.

　It's not unreasonable to think that once you leave the dungeon, the boss will be completely healed, but it seems that too much time has passed.

"Haruka, do you want to go first?

"Hmmm, I'll stop at ....... I'm not sure how effective it is. It consumes a lot of magic.

I've got some oil with me, but it's a ...... double-edged sword, isn't it?

　I bought flammable oil after learning that I couldn't burn it last time. ...... If it burns, I'm in trouble.

　If you want to know which hurts more, a simple cudgel or a burning cudgel, it's the latter, of course. It might cause additional damage from burns.

　Besides, even my "Flame Missile" had almost no effect.

　It seems that burning a little bit of oil won't do any good, and if you don't use it carefully, it will be a waste of money. Oil is not cheap, either.

Well, let's just try to keep it steady!


　Perhaps because we hadn't attacked like last time, the Elder Trent only made a move when we were about ten meters away.

　The Elder Trent pulled a root out of the ground and began to move, swinging its branch down with a crisp motion as if it were touching the ground.

　Seeing its reach, Haruka retreated a bit, while Toya and Mary stepped forward and slammed their axes at the right moment.

　With a cracking sound, about two meters of the branch was chopped off, but the damage may or may not have been done.

　Elder Trent moves the roots without any particular delay.

It's hard to do. You can't even tell if it's in pain because it doesn't have a mouth.


But it doesn't seem pointless, Toya-san!

　I'm not sure if Mary and the others who cut off the branch are unhappy with it, but the branch is being swung down at the two of them.

　While avoiding them, the two of them move towards the base of the branch, while we swing the bardiche at the branch.

　In order to disperse the attention as much as possible, me, Natsuki, Yuki, and Mitya split up on all four sides of the tree to deal with the swinging branches.

　We're cutting the ends of the branches as we go. ...... Is this pruning work?
　I don't feel like I'm doing much damage.

　It's a good thing that the attacks aren't too violent, since they're spread out over four locations plus the base of the tree where Toya and Mary are, but they're also not very responsive.

　Of course, if they hit you, you'll get hurt badly, but since they're swinging down from a high place, it's easy to see the attacks and not so difficult to avoid them.

　In return, though, you can't do any big damage with it.
　Should I dodge a little closer and aim for the thicker branches?
　But it's difficult because of the foliage.
　The other three also ...... oops, Natsuki has put down his bardiche and switched to his naginata.

　It's true that the cleaver seems to be more effective in terms of cutting down branches, and in fact the branches being swung by Natsuki are much cooler than in other places.

　Should we continue at this rate and wait for Toya and the others to cut the roots?

"Toya, Mary!　How's it going?
Oh, it's pretty tight.
It's going to grow back!

　I looked at Toya and the others as they fought off the branches, and they certainly looked tough.
　The roots move much faster than the branches.

　When you think you've been pulled out of the ground, you can be slammed straight down, making a deep gash in the ground, or you can be thrust into the ground.

　No matter how you look at it, that's the real deal, and this is just a bonus.

　Mary and the others are dodging them and attacking, but the sheer number of roots makes it difficult for them to attack.

"d*mn it!　d*mn it!

　Toya, who had just barely avoided the roots, slammed his axe into a root the size of my leg, cutting it in two.

　It's a good idea to have a good idea of what you're looking for.

　It's a little creepy.
　I'm sure you'll be able to find something that works for you.
　It's like regeneration, isn't it?
　Is it better to burn the cut end, as is standard for regeneration-type demons?



There's no end to it!
"I've cut a lot off. ......

　As Mary said, if you look closely at the surroundings, you can see that there are more than a hundred roots that have been cut off.

　In the event you're not sure what to do, you'll be able to get a hold of a friend or family member.

What do you think, Haruka?
I don't think you can keep regenerating, but you need ...... energy.
Energy .......

　I looked up at the top half of Elder Trent, reflecting the light and sprouting green.
　It looks like it is photosynthesizing.
　And then there are the roots sticking deep into the ground.
　It looks like it's sucking up a lot of nutrients.

"Maybe if we got some kind of herbicide, we could get rid of it?
Maybe. It's too late now.
Yeah. ...... Okay, let's burn it.

　Not many options now.
　I don't know if it will work, but if we just burn the leaves, we can get by with the oil we have.

　I'm not sure what to do, but I'm sure I'll be able to do it.

"Mitya, Yuki, Natsuki!　We'll burn it!　We'll burn the oil pot!
"Yes!

　"Yes!" I shouted, pointing broadly at the top half of the torrent, and the three of them shouted back.

"Toya, Mary, let's go!　Three, two, one...!
Storm!

　At about the same time as Haruka's magic enveloped the upper half of the Elder Trent in a swirling wind, oil pots flew into it from four different directions, sending Toya and the others farther back.

　He also throws another bag of oil at them and fires a "Fire Arrow" at them.



　Go!


　A tornado of flames appeared.


　The heat that scorches even my face from a considerable distance surges forward.

"Oh, oh. ....... It burns like hell. ......

　I couldn't help but let out a few words at the unimaginable effect.

The one in the bag is a highly volatile oil. The one in the bag is a highly volatile oil that doesn't last as long.

　The main ingredient is ethanol, which Haruka and his team extracted by distillation, and then further adjusted by alchemy.

The oil jar is the other way around, isn't it?
Yes, as you can see.

　The tornado of flames lasted less than ten seconds.

　But even at that level, it succeeded in removing a lot of leaves and igniting the oil in the oil pot.

　There were four places where the oil stuck to the tree was still flaring up in the wind.

But it was not enough to burn the branches.

　It's hard to burn a branch that contains water with instantaneous heat.
　I knew that, but I was a little disappointed.

"Alright, there's another one!

　As I threw in more oil pots, Natsuki and the others, as well as Toya and the others who had retreated, also threw in oil pots.

　It's my job and Yuki's to light them with magic.

　If the fire hits an area that is already on fire, it will spread on its own, but if it hits a remote area, you have to deal with it individually.

I'm sure you're suffering, .......

　I'm not sure. Mary nodded her head as she watched Elder Trent shake his head.

　I'd like to think it will work, though, because the branches aren't burning down, but the leaves are burning to a certain degree. .......