The black smoke created from burning the giant tree floats upwards, filling up the ceiling with gas that could kill a human if they were careless enough to breathe in it.
He has to end it quickly, otherwise he'd inhale the toxic gas and die of suffocation from the smoke. Now that the knight has been weakened, it is time to open up the chest and expose the core out in the open.
It has been a minute and ten seconds. The debuff only has fifty seconds left before the knight's logic returns. He'll use the remaining duration time to open up the chest cavity with his knives.
Cliff lunged forward, as well as the knight and tried to slash him diagonally but was deflected by the small knife he held on his left hand. His right arm flew backward, opening up the chest for multiple attacks. Cliff did not hesitate, he stabbed the knight's wooden chest and attempted to slash the body open, but the skin was still tough despite being weakened.
"Igh…! Hot…!"
Due to the flames, he pulled out his dagger and kicked the knight away from him. He burnt his right hand, blisters and reddening. However, it did not matter. As long as he can expose the core, it will all be worth it. For him, and for the friends that fought for him to protect him.
[ 20 Seconds Left ]
"RAAAAAAAGHH!!!!" The red-haired adventurer released a war scream before jumping at the knight again, this time with a combination of punches and kicks. Stopping the knight from doing any kind of attack, the man kept stabbing the knight. The flames from the knight spread through the man's clothes, and his armor burned.
Yet he did not stop. No one could stop him now, he executed an overhead punch, denting the knight's head greatly. His fist is bloodied and filled with splinters that are burning. The knight, however, also attacked. It grabbed Cliff's shoulder and gripped it, essentially trying to crush it. But, due to it being weakened, it only managed to dislocate it.
"AAAARGHH….!!!" Cliff gritted his teeth and head-butted the knight down to the ground. He removed his armor that kept burning him and sat on top of the knight before he pounded the knight of flowers' chest with his dagger.
The knight did not stop either, it used its left hand to punch the man's face relentlessly. They both kept trading blows, Cliff's face, knuckles, and head bloodied. The Knight's limbs are slowly falling off and decaying.
The chest of the wooden knight is finally exposed, enough that he can stab the core and end the fight. Without hesitation, Cliff brought his dagger down with strong force and conviction.
"DIEEEEE!!! REUGH—"
[ Madness is over, Logic has returned ]
Cliff vomited blood over the knight's body. His hand was grabbed by the knight's left hand and the knight's wooden sword stabbed the man to the side. Piercing through his intestines, the knight violently pulled the sword out pushed the boy and kicked his solar plexus.
"B-BLEURGH—!" Not only did he vomit blood, but he also let out his gastric acids onto the soil. He knelt and felt his body hotter than before, his hand had been completely burnt. He felt pain all over his body, he was burning.
The Knight of Flowers stood up and walked towards the man.
"...D…ie…■–■■■■■■"
Cliff couldn't understand what the knight was saying. Its voice was out of this world, unidentifiable. The only voice he could hear was his screams of pain.
With a single swing, the knight slashed Cliff's throat. Blood splattered everywhere, and the boy finally went down to the ground. His body is burning, his neck spilling blood that is being boiled by the flames.
[ You have died. ]
<••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••>
With the knight's objective complete, it can now return to its grave. Despite his grave being defiled, it managed to kill the one who defiled it. For the knight, it was enough. It turned around and went to the edge of the tree, looking at the ground and searching for its resting place. The giant tree continued burning, after half an hour, it'll probably burn the entire thing. However, the knight felt at peace.
Suddenly, the flames from the knight's body disappeared. The flames that were purging the giant tree also disappeared, it is being led upwards and behind the knight's body. It turned around, and found the boy who should've been dead…
Standing up with his bow lifted and arrows glowing.
[ The Divine Phoenix has bestowed you a gift, use it wisely. ]
[ You have been revived by the Phoenix. The flames are no longer your enemy, it has become your weapon to burn despair and spread hope. ]
The flames consumed the man's body before it transferred to the bow, turning it into a flaming bow with a burning string. His eyes opened, glowing a crimson color.
The arrows he had remaining became energy and turned into one single arrow that glowed gold. The man pulled an arrow out of his quiver and put it on his bow. He pulled it using the burning string, the arrow not only glowed golden but with a mixture of crimson now as well. He pulled the string even further back, more than what he used to do a [ Focused Shot ].
"SNIPE!"
[ LUCK activated! ]
[ "Infinite Arrow" Activated. ]
[ A single golden arrow is equivalent to the number of arrows that the user has. ]
SVOOOOOM–BOOM!
The sound it made is akin to a railgun.
The golden crimson arrow became a blur and went through the knight's core easily. Burning a large clean hole into the core, and ignited the knight's entire body with flames that turned into ashes in a second.
Cliff woke up, holding his destroyed bow.
"W-what…just happened? I'm…fine?"
Cliff checked his body. No injuries, in fact, no damage at all. He was surprised, shocked. He died, right?
"Interface, open!"
Suddenly, a bunch of holographic interfaces invaded his space. Showing him tons of information about the infinite arrow, divine phoenix, etc.
"WHAT?! I– I KNOW ABOUT THE PHOENIX BUT WHAT THE HELL IS AN INFINITE ARROW???"
Once again, he was presented with something unknown that didn't exist in the game at all.
So, you're telling me that my luck activated that infinite arrow ability…?
This isn't the first time he saw the word, "Infinite". It said that he became a candidate for it, but he didn't know what it was saying before. Now, he understands...
Not. What the hell is it? It allows all of my arrows to combine and turn them into a single arrow that hits you once but feels like being hit with many arrows. That's so broken, but why do I have a feeling that isn't good?
He turned around and found a single red interface.
[ You did not gain the experience from killing the Knight of Flowers. All of it went to the Divine Phoenix as an offering. ]
WHAT?!
"So, even when I defeated it… I don't gain the levels…?! Bull–!"
Then, a reminder popped up inside of his head.
Esther and Enrid!
But before he ran to them. He grabbed the flower in the middle and put it inside his inventory. His inventory stores all of his items and doesn't deteriorate or degrade inside of it. Meaning, that time doesn't exist. That flower will not wilt.
After grabbing that flower, he climbed down to the tree and went towards where his allies were previously. Cliff hurried, despite feeling completely normal, he was anxious.
"Esther– Enrid–!"
After minutes of searching, he found them. The body of Riyu is covered with a magician's cloak, while Esther is found sleeping on somebody's lap.
"Yo-... You look…fine. You defeated it, right?" Enrid silently spoke, his head still bleeding but wrapped with a bandage. It seems that he performed a first aid kit on himself and Esther.
"E-enrid…"
"It's fine, kid… Did you find what ya wanted?" Enrid looked at him, his expression soft.
"...Y-yes… I-I am sorry… for bringing you all down here…"
"Kid… It's fine… We went with you because we wanted to protect and escort you. We did our jobs, didn't we? I mean… Surely, the guild leader would let us retire, haha…!" Enrid chuckles, his positive attitude brimming the place with light and warmth.
"Help me get this woman off of me… she's heavy… you carry her, I'll carry Riyu.
"B-but… how will we get out? We'll encounter monsters on the second floor–"
Suddenly, Enrid pulled out a familiar crystal wrapped in red cloth.
[ Teleport Crystal ]
"A t-teleport crystal?! Isn't that– so expensive?!" Cliff shouted in surprise. Then, he grabbed Esther and carried her body on his back. While Enrid carried Riyu's body bridal style.
"It doesn't matter, I should've used this earlier… Oh well. Grab hold of me." Enrid commanded, and Cliff obeyed.
<••••••••••••••••••••••••••••>
Clarissa can be seen counting the amount of silver coins that she grabbed from the counter. With her glasses worn, she stacks the coins together. Each stack is 20 silver coins.
"One hundred eighty sev–"
Suddenly, a flash of light shined upon her and temporarily blinded her vision. Thanks to her glasses, the flash of light became more potent against her eyesight.
"Ack–! So bright–!" She covered her eyes in response, trying to protect herself from being blinded any further.
After a few seconds, the bright light dimmed and revealed a couple of figures. Her eyesight was still blurry but the first one she noticed was the red-haired teenager
"H-hey! You've been gone for 12 hours! Explain your–"
Her vision finally cleared up, and her eyes widened.
Enrid, the bald warrior holding a corpse covered in black cloth. While Cliff, the archer is holding the mage who seems to be unconscious. Their expression? Dark and gloomy.
She realized what happened and immediately shouted for medical assistance from the staff room. Every medical staff came in and assisted the injured adventurers to the clinic where they'd be treated.
Except, for Cliff. He explicitly left himself out of the people who needed medication and told Clarissa that they needed to talk privately. His eyes? filled with regret.
"Tell everything that has happened in my office," Clarissa ordered the archer, it was not an offer. It's a must.
So, they went to the office.
"I… We encountered an…anomaly that wasn't supposed to exist."
"What was it?"
"A legendary monster."