Chapter 154. Seizing Merit (3)
An 8-star practitioner.
Everyone made a huge fuss about how incredible they were, but honestly, Anagin didn’t really understand just how amazing that was.
He wasn’t dismissing it.
That was just something people said casually.
Of course, Anagin knew that 8-star was impressive.
People in the world weren’t all fools. If they praised it that much, there had to be a reason.
It just wasn’t something he could truly feel in his bones.
That made sense. Anagin was still an inexperienced practitioner, lacking both experience and knowledge.
And whether it was unfortunate or fortunate, he was now learning firsthand just how incredible an 8-star practitioner was.
“Still having fun?”
Whether his hearing was sharp or his personality petty, Orpheus brought up what Anagin had said earlier.
Right before the fight truly began—when Anagin had muttered, “Ah, this is fun.”
Unfortunately, while it was fun, he didn’t have the luxury to answer.
He was too busy dealing with trees and roots attacking him from all directions—front and back, left and right, above his head, even from beneath the ground.
Crack—!
Sssss— Fwoosh!!
Craaaack!!
It wasn’t an exaggeration—the entire forest seemed to be pressing down on Anagin as if it were his enemy.
Some trees grew themselves into massive tentacle-like forms and lashed out, while others uprooted themselves and moved like humans to attack him.
Dozens of trees, at least.
And if his movement slowed even slightly, the soil and weeds would try to grab his ankles, leaving him no chance to stop even for a moment.
So Anagin kept moving, dodging and smashing the relentless trees while fending off attacks from all directions.
Honestly, it wasn’t impossible to fight.
There were quite a lot of them, but moving trees weren’t that hard to destroy.
He could cut them down easily with the Beast Devourer, and his fists and feet could break them just as well.
‘They’re a bit tougher than I expected. And also…’
“Whoa there.”
Anagin dodged a strike aimed at the back of his head and muttered.
He immediately counterattacked and shattered the tree, but then a cluster of branches shaped like a fist flew in and struck him.
That was the problem—the coordination of the trees was improving.
If he dodged one attack, two or three more would follow, pressuring him.
Of course, getting hit a few times by moving trees wasn’t a major threat, but the slashes Orpheus sent in between, aiming for openings, were troublesome.
Those opportunistic slashes left scratches on Anagin’s body about one out of every three times.
…Still, even this was manageable.
After all, he had sparred with his master far more intensely than this.
The real problem was the ‘abnormal condition’ affecting his body.
His body grew heavier little by little, as if weights were being added.
His senses dulled, as if layers of thick cloth were being draped over him.
The strange dizziness worsened, eating away at his reactions and judgment.
The cause of all this was likely—
Ting!
Orpheus.
Every time he plucked that lyre—
Tiding—!
Anagin’s condition worsened further.
It was too much to be a mere coincidence.
It felt like a curse.
‘A curse and a blessing are only a hair’s difference. Like poisonous herbs and medicinal ones, it’s all about how they’re used.’
‘I didn't ask, master.’
As the word curse crossed his mind, a conversation with his master surfaced.
Even though he had let it go in one ear and out the other, it came back vividly.
As if his master were right beside him.
Just as he began to wonder why—
“Thinking of getting serious now?”
Orpheus pressed him with a calm yet clear voice.
Asking whether he intended to prove himself worthy of being prey.
Even in his weakened state, Anagin kindly smiled.
“Absolutely not.”
Tiiing—!
At that polite refusal, Orpheus plucked the lyre again, and this time, instead of blade-like slashes, spear-like pointed strikes flew toward him.
Their range was narrower than before, but their speed and power had increased.
Too late to dodge, Anagin blocked with the Beast Devourer.
Though the impact was so strong it pushed him backward.
The moment he was pushed back, weeds on the ground seized his ankles as if waiting for him.
He could break free with force, but the problem was that the surrounding trees attacked him without missing the opportunity.
Hundreds of sharp branches formed into spear-like points, all aiming at him.
Dodging was physically impossible.
A deadly crisis…
...Or it would have been, if he didn't have an easy way to break through.
“Longbald.”
As Anagin stretched his hand into the air and called out, a club appeared.
A “gift” (involuntary) given to him by the late Periphetes.
“Is that Periphetes’s?”
It seemed the New Argonaut Trio had told quite a bit, as Orpheus immediately recognized the summoned club.
Instead of answering, Anagin infused it with Energy(Γι) and slammed it into the ground.
And then—
──────!
With a thunderous roar, the club released a shockwave that shattered not only the ground beneath Anagin but also the surrounding trees.
Well, not completely shattered—since he couldn’t put full strength into it, they merely bent, cracked, or partially broke.
But that was enough.
[Pruning]
The moment the trees stalled from the shockwave, Anagin wildly swung the Beast Devourer infused with Energy(Γι).
The weakened trees were cut far more easily than before.
But Anagin’s goal wasn’t just to cut them down.
It was a setup for his next move.
Something more productive. More experimental.
That was—
“Pigmenes.”
Anagin summoned the flaming piglet sleeping inside the Beast Devourer and ordered it to devour the blessing energy within the trees.
So far, Pigmenes had only consumed the Yeom of mages, so he wasn’t sure if it would work.
But Sphinx had once said that magic and blessings were fundamentally the same, so he decided to test it.
And the result—
Kweeeeeeiik!
It worked.
As Pigmenes let out a loud cry toward the trees Anagin had cut apart, the energy within them gathered together.
Pigmenes opened its mouth wide to devour the gathered energy.
‘So it can eat blessings just like magic!’
Anagin was inwardly delighted.
It meant there were now more ways to make use of Pigmenes.
But things didn’t go as smoothly as he hoped.
Ting!
As if assessing him, Orpheus plucked the lyre, and the energy Pigmenes was about to devour was pulled back to Orpheus.
Not only had he interfered, but he had also stolen Anagin’s effort.
Watching this, Anagin felt two conflicting emotions.
One was irritation.
The other was satisfaction.
It was annoying to be interrupted, but the fact that Orpheus had felt the need to interfere pleased him.
There was nothing more enjoyable than messing with someone you didn’t like.
As if acknowledging that, Orpheus praised him.
“So you absorbed a bishop-class of the Barbaroi cult… as expected, you truly are out of the ordinary.
“If it's just this much, I could have shown you if you'd just asked. It’s no big deal.”
Oink!
As Anagin bragged, Pigmenes squealed in dissatisfaction.
“It’s good to see your confidence. But the situation doesn’t seem to have improved much.”
As Orpheus began playing the lyre again, dozens of trees rose like people once more.
Branches intertwined to form arms, roots moved like legs as they pulled themselves from the ground.
Of course, they were still just moving trees—not overwhelmingly threatening—but Anagin instinctively knew the same approach wouldn’t work again.
It was obvious Orpheus was testing him.
If he responded the same way, Orpheus would exploit openings or introduce even nastier variables.
Just look—he was already doing it.
Ting—!
His body grew heavier and duller, the dizziness intensifying until it felt like nausea and lethargy had reached their peak.
Another curse layered on top.
It was more agonizing than being cut by the slashes.
“Your fighting style is dirty. I like it.”
“Thank you.”
Thud! Thud!
As Anagin staggered, cold sweat running down his face, the trees standing tall on the ground began to close in on him again.
In response, Anagin immediately infused Energy(Γι) into Longbald and threw it—
Straight at Orpheus.
Orpheus raised a barrier to block it, but this time it wasn’t so easy.
Despite its high density, the translucent barrier shook violently as if it might burst.
That alone showed just how dangerous Longbald was.
Seeing power beyond his expectations, Orpheus looked at Anagin with caution.
As if expecting a follow-up attack to break the barrier.
But Anagin didn’t try to destroy it.
Instead, he kicked the flaming piglet Pigmenes in the rear and sent it flying toward the approaching trees.
Kweeeeeeiik—!
Then he summoned the other piglets and kicked them as well.
Curled up like balls, the piglets screamed as they flew in different directions and slammed into the trees. Orpheus watched, as if wondering what he was doing.
Those piglets posed no threat to massive trees—that was a reasonable assumption.
But there was something Orpheus had overlooked.
That form of the piglets was only their base state.
As if to prove they were pigs, their bodies began to swell grotesquely in proportion to what they had consumed.
Just like now.
Kweeeeiik—!!
Kweiik—!!
Kweeeeeeeeeiik—!!
Having devoured the Yeom of numerous mages before arriving at the Temple of Delphi, the piglets suddenly expanded explosively, evolving into bipedal pigs larger than grown men.
The Yeom they had consumed must have been highly nutritious, as every one of them had grown.
Even so, Orpheus still didn’t seem particularly concerned.
Even as large bipedal pigs, he judged they wouldn’t be able to deal with dozens of trees.
But that was the second thing he had overlooked.
Pigmenes weren’t just large bipedal pigs—they were fire-attributed bipedal pigs with bodies engulfed in flames!
Which meant—
“Burn them.”
The relationship between the trees controlled by Orpheus and Anagin’s Pigmenes was absolute.
Fwoooosh—!!
Pigmenes spewed fierce flames from their massive maws, igniting the trees that had been closing in on Anagin.
The fire spread rapidly to nearby trees, and Pigmenes didn’t stop there. They drew blazing swords and began cutting down the burning trees with ease.
At this rate, the entire area would soon turn into a sea of fire.
Anagin briefly wondered if he relied too much on setting things on fire, but at the same time, he admitted it was simply convenient.
From the Monster Merchant to Erysichthon and now Pigmenes—when dealing with troublesome bastards, burning everything down was indeed the best option.
As if proving it, he could feel the weeds, soil, and even the air that had been under Orpheus’s influence slipping out of his control.
Perhaps due to the heat, even the curse affecting Anagin’s body seemed to weaken slightly.
Just as Anagin was about to press the advantage—
Tiiing!
Orpheus plucked the lyre.
As Anagin wondered what trick he was about to pull, the moisture in the air gathered and formed a shape.
“What is that?”
[It’s a Siren.]
Sphinx, watching from afar, informed him through magic.
[A monster that longed for the mermaids—one of the sea goddesses—and took their flesh. It has the ability to enchant people with its song, and also…]
“And?”
[It can control water.]
No sooner had she said it than the Siren began to sing.
He couldn’t understand the lyrics, but the sorrow was unmistakable.
Soon, water from below a nearby cliff began to rise upward.
Defying gravity, it gathered and became rain, extinguishing the flames set by Pigmenes.
Ssshhhhhh—!!
As the rain poured down, not only the flames but also the fire covering Pigmenes’ bodies weakened.
Ting!
Orpheus sent slashes that cut down Pigmenes.
The chance for a reversal that Anagin had created was rendered meaningless, and Orpheus spoke in the same tone as before.
“It is another one of my blessings. One that allows me to command those who have succumbed to my music… care to try?”
Was it a provocation? Anagin didn’t really care.
Because—
“Youth and long lifespan.”
“…?”
“Physical enhancement, materialization of melody, curses, nature manipulation. And now familiarization… that leaves one.”
“One what?”
“The method to beat you.”