Aftermath

The fire soon consumes the tree as it starts to screech in agony and despair as it flings its roots wildly, causing massive destruction to the terrain.

"AGS, by the way, what is this thing?" I ask as I try to keep myself from burning along with it.

{This is a monster known as a "Trantling"; it is a B-Rank monster known for subterfuge, poisoning, and great strength. It does have quite a few weaknesses, which you have exploited.}

After finding out that I just defeated my strongest monster yet, I was almost overcome with jubilation and confidence. But then I remembered I am still not yet in the clear as the fire still rages around me and the Trantling still wilding flings its giant roots around in a rampage.

The ground thunders and rumbles as dirt and earth are torn asunder and tossed into the air as the valley starts to crumble.

And yet, my luck is still terrible. I don't end up finding a way to survive as the fire closes in on me, and now I have to decide how I want to die. Either by fire or to be crushed into a paste by the giant roots being flung about.

"Yup, the roots are better. The quicker way to die than by fire. Yup, that's what I choose. Maybe I can make it all the way through; yeah, I can do it!" I start saying after making up my mind, trying to sike myself up to charge on through.

After readying my mind, I then burst forward into a sprint, straight into the danger zone of rampaging roots that slam into the ground before lifting once more into the air and sling across the valley before slamming down again. And there are a dozen of these giant roots just going crazy on the landscape.

The loud noises and vast destruction is probably great deterrence for any other nearby beasts or monsters as they know a dangerous foe awaits them here.

But alas, I don't make it far once I charge out of the safety zone close to the base of the tree, as I merely gain a few yards of distance before a root comes approaching me fast on my left side, hitting me directly.

I feel my skin evaporate, as my bones turn to dust, and my organs are crushed as what is left of my mangled corpse crashes into the nearby valley wall, leaving a blood stain on it as my body slides down and rests against the ground, with no life left.

Yes, I died.

And very quickly too.

Ah, I don't know if I should be happy that I died that way, other than dying by fire, or if I should be upset that I didn't make it out of there alive as I siked myself up to.

Well, at least everything should be over by the time I reawaken, back to life.

And as my consciousness soon comes back to me, I find myself sitting up in a hurry as I feel my body back to normal. I stand up, leaning against the valley wall, where a blood stain still shows falling down the wall where a dried puddle of blood sits where I had awakened.

I look around and noticed that there is no more loud booming sounds from the crashing of the roots or screeching from the tree. I look over to find the giant roots, blackened and burned, just laying on the ground without any movement. The tree itself is just a mix of ash and burnt wood, leaving not a sign of life left to behold.

And with that, I have officially defeated my first B-ranked monster in this world, though it was mostly a fluke. Sadly it doesn't really have anything for me to eat from it, so that I may get stronger.

Well, at least I can move on from here alive and well. At least for my current standard, that is. I have started to go a little crazy, I think.

When I die, I start to have visions of people sitting down and reading about my life. These kinds of crazy dreams like this that drive me to think my mind is not staying safe through all this torment and death.

Either way, it is now onto the next part of my journey, as I want to get the hell out of this area and soon. I feel like this place will soon be swarmed by other monsters and beasts once they realize that the strongest and only threat around has been exterminated. This place will be ripe for the picking.

But almost as soon as I start to walk out of the area, I notice a little something out of the corner of my eyes, laying near the base of the tree.

A branch. Slightly burnt at one side, but otherwise mostly intact. It also looks to be about the perfect length for a spear. I should take it.

And take it, I do. I pick it up and realize that it is very heavy. Way heavier than it looks, as even with my enhanced strength, I can barely pick it up with both of my hands.

Realizing I probably can't yet turn it into a spear or wield it properly, I just find some vines and tie it to my back to take it with me.

I feel like if I can turn it into a spear, I will wield a mighty weapon that will give me quite an advantage in the future.

Another boon for myself. I may not have been able to eat any of it to gain strength, but I did gain what will most likely be my future weapon.

With that, there was nothing left for me here, so I quickly bade my farewell to the terrifying devil tree and made my way out of the valley, of course on the opposite side, as I was not about to head back into the winter hell.

Now onto the next part of my torturous journey in this weird godly realm.