Chapter 796: The Stirring of the Forest of Einnashe (Bonus) (Patreon)

This place is a desolate area somewhere in Western Europe. Once a barren wasteland, the change of seasons from autumn to winter had turned it bleak and withered, appearing especially forlorn.

However, one night, accompanied by a strange rumbling sound reminiscent of a mythical earth dragon's awakening, everything changed.

The wasteland transformed into a forest overnight.

If one were to look down from a helicopter, one would see strange black trees emerging from the ground like mushrooms after rain, spreading across the entire wasteland like waves.

These black trees formed a forest, the boundary of which was roughly circular, covering an astonishing area of nearly 2,000 square kilometers.

Inside the forest, there was no lush greenery of spring or summer, nor the desolation of autumn or winter. Instead, there was a strange mixture of black and red that seemed full of life yet hinted at a foreboding stillness.

Although the sun had risen, the interior of the forest remained dark, making it hard to distinguish between day and night. The difference between day and night in the forest was merely the difference between gloom and crimson blackness.

The forest's veins pulsed with the sound of blood flowing.

Yes, the forest was bleeding.

The trees in this forest did not secrete sap but blood.

This blood came from the trees' flesh and was drawn in from outside.

To put it simply, this forest was an otherworldly entity.

This black forest, which had a diameter of fifty kilometers, moved according to a single will, moving as it consumed the blood of various animals like a gigantic predatory organism.

Anyone who stepped into this forest never returned alive.

Uninformed witnesses referred to the forest as Demon of the Schwartzwald, while those in the mystical world called it Forest of Einnashe, a terrifying entity occupying the seventh seat of the Dead Apostle Ancestors, known for devouring countless lives.

The legend of the Forest of Einnashe has been around for 800 years, making it a fearsome name known far and wide. Anyone with common sense would avoid the forest to avoid being consumed by it. But every time the Forest of Einnashe appeared, a significant number of people would venture into it.

Some sought to hunt the vampire that had plagued the land for 800 years, some wanted to capture this ancient Dead Apostle, some hoped to negotiate with it, and many more were after the legendary True Crimson Fruit said to be at the forest's center.

According to legend, at the center of the black forest, there is a great tree that serves as the Forest of Einnashe's core, where a crimson fruit grows.

This fruit is said to be formed from the blood drained from all the creatures that enter the forest. After hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of years, a single drop of blood coagulates into the fruit. Consuming this fruit is believed to grant eternal life.

This legend draws people like moths to a flame.

Many who dream of immortality enter the forest, and this time was no exception.

Four days had passed since the Forest of Einnashe's appearance, and the number of hunters who had ventured into it had reached the hundreds.

Most hunters arrived full of confidence, but as they entered the forest, their confidence gradually faded, giving way to fear. By the time they wanted to escape, it was already too late.

Their enemy wasn't any specific creature or being but rather the environment itself—branches that blocked out the sky, roots that surrounded the ground, all of which were pulsating with blood.

The crimson-black forest thirsted for blood, growling like a wild beast. Humans were powerless in the face of this.

The trees could transform into deadly weapons to attack animals, and the air itself was toxic, leaving no place to escape.

The fate of anyone who entered the forest was already sealed.

It wasn't uncommon for the forest to consume entire villages overnight, making them a part of itself.

The Forest of Einnashe, was a thinking, wandering entity that consumed blood. To fight it was to fight the environment, to fight nature, to fight an entire world.

Those who had not experienced it could never understand what it felt like, and the result was always the same: they were swallowed by the world and became part of the forest, nourishment for the True Crimson Fruit.

However, this was only the fate of most. This planet has never lacked geniuses and monsters who, even when faced with a world as an enemy, cannot be stopped.

Matou Shinji was one of them.

Despite the oppressive environment alternating between darkness and crimson, the relentless assaults from all sides by the tree branches, and the hidden dangers from birds, beasts, insects, and snakes within the trees, he continued to move steadily forward, neither panicking nor showing fear.

His calm demeanor, though not quite a casual stroll through a perilous situation, certainly made it seem manageable—like a seasoned hiker on a trek, feeling the pressure, the drive, and even the rewards.

The pressure came from the constant, omnipresent attacks.

The drive came from the increasing intensity of these attacks, indicating that he was drawing closer to his goal.

And as for the rewards... perhaps his increasing skill with explosives could be considered one?

Here, explosions refer to physical ones, not magical ones.

Using magecraft in the Forest of Einnashe was not easy because the forest was an alternate dimension, completely severing the magic circuits from the Greater Source. A magus could only use their own Lesser Source, which was the worst possible environment for a magus.

No matter how talented a magus was, their Lesser Source could never compare to the planet's Greater Source. Under the forest's relentless attacks, they would soon run out of magical energy and lose their lives. This is why the Barthomeloi, who made it their mission to hunt Dead Apostles, always left the Forest of Einnashe alone.

The only things reliable in this forest were abilities that didn't depend on magical energy, such as physical prowess or equipment.

Shinji's steady progress relied on these two things. His powerful body ensured his speed, and the modern weaponry he had gathered through various means gave him the means to fight the Forest of Einnashe.

Unlike a Servant, which is a spiritual manifestation, the Forest of Einnashe existed physically in the present world as a vampiric plant. Even though it had reached the level of a Phantasmal Species and had its alternate dimension, it could not escape the influence of physical laws, giving Shinji a loophole to exploit.

Branches and roots? Flamethrower! Burn, burn, burn!

Animals? Grenade! Boom, boom, boom!

The small world where Arcueid lived was filled with the military equipment Shinji had collected, ready to be used whenever needed. Burn everything that comes, and blow up whatever appears.

"Indeed, technology is the primary productive force. When it comes to destruction, magecraft is far inferior to technology. The Mage's Association and the Holy Church are so stuck in the past. It's the 21st century, yet they still think in outdated ways. If it were up to me, I'd start with missile strikes on the perimeter, advance with tank formations to flatten the interior and push straight to the True Crimson Core. There’s no need for all this effort!"

Saying this, Shinji hurled a Molotov cocktail.

With a "boom," the dark and eerie black forest was illuminated by an unusual light.