586 – Forest of Ngai

Softly, the three white spheres approach us.
The impression I get from them is that they just  float around in the sky and aren’t very belligerent, but in this vast sky it’s unthinkable that they would just happen to float near me.
They’ve got me marked as a target.

I suppose A+ ranks hunting together in packs might be expected for a world that God’s Voice has brought me to.
But, at this point I’m not going to lose to opponents like these.

『If you get any closer, I’ll attack.』

I send a threatening [Telepathy] to the white spheres.
[Telepathy] doesn’t speak with words, but directly addresses the heart.
Even if they’re unintelligent, this should put them on guard and make them flee.
If possible, I’d like to avoid fighting this high up…

The lead white sphere glows with red light.
The next moment, a thick red ray of heat shoots towards me.
I twist through the air, dodging the attack.

That’s the same attack that the giant centipede had, [Heat Ray]… It’s a move I have a trauma about, but the gap between my stats and the kesaran-pasaran’s is too big.
If it’s just that fast, I can easily dodge, and even if it hits I can heal the damage in no time.

『Th-that was just a little bit frightening…』

Treant murmurs from my back.
Once I start fighting for real, my movements are going to get a lot more sudden, so he’s going to have no choice but to get used to it.

The two white spheres in the rear also shine with red light.
Their [Heat Rays] beam towards me.

I fly around the spheres.
The three [Heat Rays] cross over.

The range is considerable, but the rays are too slow to hit me.
I can easily shake off their aim.

『Aro, treant, this is a perfect chance for you to raise your levels.
I’ll fly closer, so attack them with your skills.』

“Okay! Dragon-god-sama!”

『L-leave it to me! I’ll reach evolution through this battle…!』

Even though he still seems afraid of being this high, treant-san’s reply is energetic.

…I suppose I should check their statuses before I get closer.

‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐
Species: Kesaran-Pasaran
Condition: God of Madness
Lv: 90/130
HP: 2228/2228

MP: 1354/1354
Attack: 1402
Defence: 1408
Magic: 1495
Speed: 1499
Rank: A+

Characteristic Skills:
[Automatic HP Recovery: Lv7] [Automatic MP Recovery: Lv7] [Flight: Lv9] [God of Madness: Lv-]

Resistance Skills:
[Physical Resistance: Lv6] [Magic Resistance: Lv6] [Poison Resistance: Lv8] [Instant Death Resistance: Lv4]

Normal Skills:
[Autoregeneration: Lv7] [Heat Ray: Lv8] [Breath of Slumber: Lv6] [Extreme Poison: Lv7] [Clay: Lv8] [High Rest: Lv8]

Title Skills:
[Former Magic Beast King’s Servant: Lv-] [Symbol of Fortune: Lv-] [Final Evolution: Lv-]

‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐

Stat-wise, it’s an

easy opponent.
It’s the very picture of a balanced-type, without any particular strengths.
Because it’s so evenly spread, its speed and attack power aren’t enough to face me.

Now that my level is even higher than when I was fighting Lilixira, I can’t imagine I’ll struggle against opponents like these.
Besides, I’ve also gotten used to dealing with long-range attacks from the torment Lilixira put me through with her shapeshifting [Aparajitas].
A straight line attack from a lower level opponent is child’s play now.

…However, there’s a skill, or rather a status condition that I haven’t seen before.
[God of Madness].

When the slime evolved into a [Ruin], it took on the [God of Destruction] skill.
The [Ruin] had a characteristic skill of the same name, and these kesaran-pasarans have [God of Madness] as both a status condition and a skill.
As a result, it seems likely that this status condition is incurable.

All three of them have the same [God of Madness] status conditions and skill.
It seems I ought to look into this. 

【Characteristic Skill [God of Madness]】
【Those who breath in too much of the poisonous air of the Forest of Ngai[1]) will fall into an endless insanity.】
【Until death takes them, they are beset by neverending nightmares.】
【Personality and intelligence is lost, and they become beasts who single-mindedly hunt down those with different appearances.】
【This skill cannot be turned off.
Absolutely never.】

Wh-what is this skill… This place is called the Forest of Ngai, then? The [God of Destruction] skill with its certain death was of course bad, but this [God of Madness] is awful.
These guys are seeing endless nightmares that make them lash out at any monsters near them.

Reading the description of [God of Madness], I get a bad premonition.
Could this world, this Forest of Ngai, be a sealed garden for the purpose of making monsters go mad from the poisonous air get stronger by killing each other?

There’s also a title skill that I can’t understand.
[Former Magic Beast King’s Servant].
The only [Magic Beast King] of this era, Beelzebub, has already died.
Plus, it seems extremely unlikely that Beelzebub would have such strange-looking life forms as his subordinates. 

…Probably, these are from a [Magic Beast King] of several eras ago.
In the first place, the evolution limit of monsters unrelated to any divine skill holders is fairly harsh.
Most get [Final Evolution] by B+ rank at the latest.
Monsters that spontaneously reach A+ shouldn’t exist.

Probably, a huge number of monsters were taken into the patronage of divine skill holders to forcefully raise their evolution limit.
Like me, they were thrown into this Forest of Ngai… Then, they were driven mad by the air to become emotionless convenient tools.

God’s Voice also has divine skill holders as [Spirit Servants].
Just how much is God’s Voice playing with us…!?

I don’t know what the time limit is, but this is another reason to hurry.
If we take too long, we’ll get the [God of Madness] skill stuck to us and will become God’s Voice’s mindless pawns until we die.

Of course, this could just be a dumping grounds for useless divine skill holders.
But, if that was the case, then God’s Voice wouldn’t have made those threats to compel me to return before throwing me in here.
There’s that suspicious tower in the far distance, too.

Will I be able to get stronger by hunting the mad denizens of the Forest of Ngai and return, or will I fall prey to [God of Madness] and become fertiliser for the forest… Probably, either outcome would suit God’s Voice just fine.
The degree to which God’s Voice looks down on me is seriously infuriating.

God’s Voice… I’ll return, stronger than you ever expected, and then wipe that smug grin off your face.

[1] – The earthly homeland of Nyarlathotep, found in the US state of Wisconsin – JP wiki – in turn likely a reference to the Kikuyu people’s creator deity – EN wiki