Infinite Regressing Knight

Chapter 11: Stage 2. Celestial Stone (4)

At first, I thought it was just a feeling, but I realized it while catching monsters all day.

The amount of pattern that one monster could fill had clearly decreased.

Before, it seemed like I could fill the pattern by catching about 100 to 150 monsters.

But now, it seemed like I had to catch at least 300.

‘I’ve only filled about 25% now.’

Perhaps the amount of hunting required increases each time I absorb the pattern.

If that was an arithmetic progression, it would be in the realm of effort, but if it was a geometric progression, I wouldn't be able to fill the pattern with shadow monsters someday.

What should I do when that time comes?

Should I kill the Death Knight or something?

“……”

Kedral said that there was a solution to every problem, but there was only one way to solve the Death Knight.

Getting stronger.

It wasn't an easy task.

But it wasn't like there was no hope.

Dominic, who had returned to the safe zone, looked down at his sword and began to manipulate mana.

With a humming sound, mana gathered on the sword.

But it scattered soon after.

This wasn't the feeling.

When fighting the Eight Fiends, the mana had been waiting in perfect order like soldiers waiting for orders.

Not like this, barely holding on to the fleeing soldiers.

Also, when breaking through the 'mana vacuum' created by Velicaya, it felt like he was manipulating more fundamental mana.

He had to make these two things his own.

Because he was sure that he would see a new realm if he did.

Dominic continued to manipulate mana whenever he had time after that, but there were no particular results.

But he wasn't impatient.

Originally, enlightenment was not on a slope, but behind a very high staircase.

He only had to cross it once.

Anyway, hadn't he been able to gather mana even for a short time?

‘What I need to focus on now is filling the pattern.’

It wasn't easy because it was too slow.

But the next day.

"I see."

Dominic learned a hint to solve the slowness thanks to the 8th search team.

* * *

Dominic conveyed information about the forest to his subordinates.

Except for things that he couldn't explain how he knew, or that they didn't need to know.

The 8th search team, who recognized the situation, began to show their special skills.

What would be the special skill of a search team?

Of course, it was searching.

While Dominic was hunting shadow monsters, the 8th search team began to expand the search radius around the base camp.

Blind spots, ambush points, safe places, dangerous places, unverifiable places.

By checking and clearing all the elements according to the search team's system, they were gradually completing the map of the forest.

There was also combat in the process.

They had encountered unidentified men and had retreated from each other after a brief clash, they said.

Through that time, the 8th search team brought two pieces of information that Dominic didn't know.

First.

“It seems like there are people underground.”

“Underground?”

“Yes. I haven’t confirmed it directly, but the circumstances suggest so.”

There were unusually many large trees with huge holes in this forest.

The 8th search team had found traces of people passing by in some of them, and they had also confirmed hidden passages.

They were narrow passages that animals rather than people could pass through, but weren't there no animals in this forest?

So, a nimble team member tied himself with a rope and tried to enter the passage, but…

“He didn't go in very far, but the rope was forcibly pulled. We're assuming it's magic.”

“From now on, just explore. I'll make contact. This forest is a place where monsters live. Even humans.”

If it were the original Dominic, he would have investigated the passage further.

If there was a community of humans living underground, avoiding Velicaya's eyes?

He could obtain food and information.

But he felt a greater interest in the second piece of information that followed.

"Didn't the commander say that there were shadow monsters on the outskirts and in the center of the forest?"

"I did."

Dominic had confirmed it himself.

That shadow monsters existed in places outside the safe zone.

But Jarrot's words were different.

“It seems like what exists in the central area is not a shadow monster.”

“Details.”

“The species is different.”

The information itself was simple.

Unlike the shadow monsters on the outskirts, the monsters in the central area acted as single individuals.

Not to mention group life, they could even witness monsters fighting each other, and they also showed habits that seemed to respect each other's territory.

Moreover, they were presumed to be far stronger than shadow monsters.

“It may be a premature leap, but if shadow monsters are of the undead type, the monsters in the center are presumed to be of the monster type.”

“How strong were they?”

“I don’t know well. Because I only observed them.”

"With feeling."

“If so… The thought crossed my mind whether the entire 8th search team could catch even one.”

“Can you have the will to fight?”

“If we have to fight, we have to fight. We can't just die, can we?”

No.

The 8th search team froze in fear and offered their necks the moment the Death Knight appeared.

The knights were the same.

The only one who resisted the fear even a little was Edgar, and that resistance was screaming and running away.

Dominic was the only one who swung his sword at the Death Knight.

Even so, his head was cut off after only three exchanges.

Combining the information, the monsters in the center were stronger than the monsters on the outskirts, but they weren't an existence that couldn't be resisted like the Death Knight.

"I see."

Perhaps this was related to the pattern.

There was no guarantee that stronger individuals would fill more patterns…

It wasn't strange that the rewards for difficult tasks were greater than for easy tasks, was it?

However, Dominic had one question throughout the report.

The tower located in the center of the forest.

The unbelievably huge tower gave humans an instinctive fear and repulsion.

So everyone was looking for a way to escape on the outskirts of the forest.

Because they didn't want to approach the tower.

However, the 8th search team endured that fear and searched towards the tower.

Even though they didn't know about Velicaya's existence yet, it was a courageous act.

"Weren't you afraid?"

"What are you talking about?"

“Searching towards the tower.”

“I was afraid. Even though I was moving while securing safety, I felt a fear that made me breathless.”

“And yet you proceeded with the search?”

“Isn’t it a system-based search? We can't just exclude it because we're afraid."

Suddenly, he felt pleasant.

That's right.

He shouldn't change the system created by reason because of fear.

Humans had always overcome fear with reason.

In the past, they trembled when lightning struck, saying that God was angry, but it wasn't like that now.

Because wizards analyzed the flow of mana and deciphered most natural phenomena.

Fear disappears when understood.

So someday he would understand this regression too.

He felt that conviction as he looked at Jarrot.

"Good job. Take a rest today."

* * *

The next day.

Dominic waited for Edgar and Hanshuya at the base camp and headed to the center of the forest.

It had already been 4 days, but Edgar's group hadn't appeared.

But it wasn't like he had no idea why.

"The circular safe zone formed around the tower is about three times the size of the Daesu loading dock.”

Didn't this mean that they had directly experienced the size of the safe zone?

He didn't know exactly when the current time was from Edgar's group's point of view.

The first time they met was on the 48th day of entry.

The second time they met was on the 30th day.

If it was an earlier time now, Edgar's group might be wandering in a completely different place.

In a situation where food was running out, it was natural to seek a way to obtain food.

So, rather than wandering around looking for Edgar's group in vain, it was right to wait in one place.

Only by meeting them could he confirm the exact time, and he could obtain the possibility of解除 the barrier on the outskirts of the forest.

Dominic had given the search team the order to form a coalition if they encountered people 'belonging to the Tera Kingdom' with that thought.

Dominic, who arrived in the central area, confirmed that Jarrot's words were correct.

‘It’s definitely different.’

When he first explored the central area, he didn't have the luxury, so he just thought they were all monsters.

But now that he saw it, the 'central monsters' and the 'shadow monsters' were clearly different.

Shadow monsters had no individuality.

Only their appearances were different, but their behavior and the color and properties of their skin were the same.

On the other hand, individuality could be felt in the central monsters.

Some were purple, and some were brown.

Some had skin like stone, and some had skin like wood.

Some were rubbing their heads against trees, and some were standing still like statues.

But this wasn't very important.

What was really important was that these guys…

“……”

Recognized the safe zone.

Because the closest purple individual was staring intently at him inside the safe zone.

Shadow monsters didn't recognize the safe zone.

So, if they ran into the safe zone while fighting, they acted like they had amnesia.

They roared ferociously, but suddenly went their own way as if nothing had happened.

Looking at that, it felt like he had escaped to another dimension.

But the central monster was looking at him inside the safe zone.

Just in case, he moved slowly, and the individual's gaze followed.

"Hmm……"

After pondering for a moment, Dominic drew his sword and entered the monsters' territory.

He also planned to run away if necessary.

There was only one nearby individual, but there were two more not far away.

But that didn't happen.

-Krrrrrrrr.

As the purple individual who was staring at Dominic began to approach, the other guys moved away.

It gave the feeling of 'I don't want to get splashed with fire, so take care of it yourself.'

He didn't know if they had that much intelligence, but it was certain that they had instincts.

In that way, the distance between the central monster and Dominic became closer, and they were close enough to each other's attacks.

But the fight didn't start.

The guy who looked like a giant gorilla looked at Dominic, then looked at the tower, and looked back at Dominic again.

He even tilted his head.

‘Is he wondering whether to fight? Or is something confusing him?’

He didn't know.

Originally, he was going to respond to the opponent's attack because he had no information…

If that was the case, it was a preemptive attack.

Pat!

Dominic kicked off the ground.

Ordinary gorillas were about the same height as adult men.

But the monster in front of him seemed to be 2.5M tall, and his reach was abnormally long.

If that guy knew how to use the weight shift from the lower body to the upper body, those strong arms would become a more terrifying weapon than a spear.

Because he would stab in from 3 to 4M away in an instant.

Even at free angles.

So what Dominic chose was a lower attack.

By seeing how he responded to the lower attack, he could also infer how to use his upper body.

But the opponent's response was beyond imagination.

-Kuaaaaaaa!

He put his long arms on the ground, then rose up and kicked his feet out.

That bizarre movement accurately countered Dominic's attack and forced a defensive stance.

Moreover, the power and speed contained in the attack were enormous.