November 20th.
Honestly, twenty days wasn't a particularly long time.
It was a short period for anyone to grow meaningfully, and even shorter to fully internalize any gains or lessons learned.
Frankly, I didn’t think there was much difference between the person I was twenty days ago and who I was now.
If anything, my body felt heavier, more exhausted.
But that didn’t bother me too much.
From the moment I stepped into this place, I’d been certain I’d eventually encounter it. In fact, meeting it now felt later than I had anticipated.
I believed I had a fair chance of victory.
Ever since I severed its tail in our previous encounter, I’d held onto a faint hope. At the very least, I knew my attacks could reach it.
This time, it was simply a matter of aiming for its neck instead of its tail.
And so, the battle began.
My strategy remained unchanged.
I dodged attacks I deemed fatal and counterattacked whenever I saw a viable opening.
After all, it outclassed me in every physical aspect. Size wasn’t even a competition.
The only advantage I had was my exceptional regenerative ability, and I intended to exploit it to its fullest.
Thud!
“Grrrrr...!!!”
Once, my spear pierced deeply into its paw.
For that single strike, I had to dodge dozens of attacks. A few times, my reactions weren’t quick enough, and my body was grazed in multiple places. Fortunately, my senses had sharpened recently, or I wouldn’t have lasted this long.
I used the blood I shed—whether defensively or offensively—wherever I could.
I didn’t let impatience take over.
Tomorrow marked the day when the frenzy would strike, but I fought as though today were my last.
Or, more accurately, I had no room to think about anything else.
If I misstepped, I could vividly imagine myself being torn in half.
Whenever I inflicted a serious wound, I retreated, then charged back in to repeat the cycle.
The longer the fight dragged on, the more the advantage shifted in my favor. I gave it no time to rest, relentlessly whittling it down—just as the jaguar had done to me a few days earlier.
“RAAAAAARRRGH!!!”
After several repetitions of this pattern, it was clearly infuriated.
Its ferocious eyes seemed to curse me as a despicable bastard.
I smirked inwardly at its reaction.
So what if I was despicable? So what if my methods were grimy?
I had survived this far precisely because of these tactics.
The life that should have ended when I was ten years old had clung on, clawing its way here.
Maybe battles like this suited me better than anything else.
Boom! CRASH!
The fight dragged on for hours, continuing through the night until the crescent moon rose high.
As time passed, its injuries accumulated.
I was getting tired too, but not as much as it was.
The presence or absence of wounds made a significant difference.
For a creature as old as it was, stamina could only last so long.
“Grrk! Grrr...”
Yet even then, it didn’t stop charging at me.
It must have understood that failing to end the fight would mean its death.
Such was the will and resilience befitting the ruler of this forest.
The battle drew the attention of other monsters, who cautiously observed from the shadows.
It wasn’t surprising; the commotion we were making was impossible to ignore.
I worried that they might join the fray, but fortunately, that didn’t happen.
Strangely, they merely watched, as if waiting for the battle to conclude.
Perhaps they intended to scavenge the remains afterward,
or simply witness the downfall of their forest’s ruler.
The fight finally ended at the break of dawn.
“Grrrr...”
Exhausted at last, it exposed an opening.
I didn’t miss the chance. I lunged and drove my spear deep into its neck.
Squelch!
With a sickening sound of flesh being pierced, blood gushed out like a waterfall.
The light in its formidable eyes began to fade.
Its ragged breathing slowed, and its massive body collapsed.
Thud!
And so, it fell, its death marking the end of the battle.
“Phew...”
A strange mix of euphoria and exhilaration washed over me.
Part of me wanted to scream in triumph.
But there wasn’t time for that.
Day 21.
By tonight, the frenzy would come.
“Will I even find a safe place?”
I didn’t know. Truthfully, I didn’t have the strength to go searching.
So, I started digging into the ground, as deeply as I could, enough to fully cover my body.
I used the corpse of the forest ruler, the Mountain Lord, as a makeshift roof.
As I dug tirelessly, my body began to show signs of the frenzy.
It had arrived. This time, it was Frenzy A.
For a moment, I found myself thanking a god I didn’t even believe in.
“Thank you, Gaia... even if it’s a curse.”
If it had been Frenzy B, the holy water I’d stockpiled wouldn’t have worked. But with Frenzy A, I had a chance to endure.
I drank the holy water in gulps, enduring the agony as best as I could.
Exhaustion from the battle caused me to pass out, only to wake in pain as the effects of the holy water waned.
I drank again, falling unconscious in a cycle of pain and brief relief.
. . .
Day 22. Late Afternoon.
“Ugh...”
I woke up groggily, the accumulated fatigue keeping me asleep until now.
“Ah!”
Bolting upright, I checked my body for injuries, fearing a monster had attacked me while I slept.
It seemed paranoid, but I had been in such a deep sleep that the possibility couldn’t be ignored.
Surprisingly, I was unharmed.
In fact, I felt strangely refreshed, though my body ached from the uncomfortable sleeping position.
‘...What happened?’
Instead of relief, I felt confusion.
The pit I’d hastily dug shouldn’t have offered much protection.
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I climbed out of the hole, brushing away dirt, and found my answer.
‘Ah... I see.’
The monsters hadn’t ignored me—they had simply chosen a more convenient meal.
The enormous carcass of the Mountain Lord lay atop my shelter, now partially devoured by scavengers.
Rather than hunting, they’d decided to share the spoils.
I chuckled at the sight of the monsters feasting on tiger meat.
“Extreme opportunists, aren’t you?”
Thanks to them, I’d survived.
Their behavior shifted when they noticed me, their gazes wary but unwilling to attack.
I soon understood why.
I had killed the ruler of this forest.
To them, I was now the forest’s new apex predator.
For the first time, I felt a sense of ease—and confidence.
At least now, no creature would attack me recklessly.
“Move aside,” I commanded, striding toward them.
Reluctantly, they backed away.
This was my prize, and I wasn’t about to let them finish it.
After gathering what I could—teeth, claws, and some meat—I continued onward.
By Day 23, I finally reached the heart of the Deep Layer.
How did I know?
Before me lay a cave, its entrance exuding dense, ominous energy, as if it were the source of all the malevolence in this forest.
Gulp.
Suppressing my unease, I stepped inside.
The passage wasn’t long, but it opened into a vast chamber, shaped like a domed arena.
Its walls were smooth, as if crafted rather than naturally formed.
Unexpectedly, the space wasn’t dark.
Luminous stones embedded in the walls cast an eerie, dreamlike glow.
And then, from the chamber’s center, a voice rang out.
“I’ve felt the forest’s unrest lately. Was it your doing?”
Clear and deep like the forest itself, the voice had a feminine tone.
“Well, since you’ve come, it’s only polite to introduce myself.”
I looked toward the center.
A figure with long green hair and a gentle expression appeared—a woman.
But something was off.
“Welcome. I am Barbatos, the 8th Demon of the Forest.”
She had no body—only a head and neck, as if that was all she needed to manifest.
Barbatos spoke again.
“And who are you? What brings you here?”
“Hmm.”
“...Why are you staring at me like that?”
I quietly observed the disembodied demon before me.