The forest grew darker as Lysander's team moved deeper into Blackroot Forest.
The distant roar still echoed faintly through the trees.
None of them spoke for several seconds.
Even Taro looked uneasy now.
"That… didn't sound like a wolf."
Bran tightened his grip on the shield.
"No."
Lyra dropped down from the tree she had climbed earlier.
Her expression had changed.
Serious.
"We should regroup with the other teams."
That was the correct decision.
But the forest had other plans.
CRASH.
Branches snapped somewhere ahead.
Then running footsteps.
Several students burst through the trees.
Two of them were injured.
One had a bleeding arm.
Another was limping badly.
Taro blinked in surprise.
"Hey! What happened?"
The students looked terrified.
"There's a monster!"
Bran frowned.
"What kind?"
The injured student shook his head quickly.
"I didn't see it clearly!"
"It smashed through the trees and attacked our team!"
Lyra's ears twitched.
"Where is your supervisor?"
The student hesitated.
"…Still fighting."
That was bad.
Very bad.
Second-year supervisors were strong.
If one of them was still fighting, the monster was serious.
Lysander's system flashed again.
Warning
Threat approaching
The ground trembled slightly.
Not footsteps.
More like heavy impacts.
Something enormous was moving through the forest.
Closer.
Closer.
Taro cracked his knuckles.
"Well… looks like we found the mission."
Bran glared at him.
"This isn't a joke."
Lyra looked toward Lysander.
"What do you think?"
Lysander answered calmly.
"We move carefully."
The truth was simple.
Running blindly would only make things worse.
But staying here was dangerous too.
They moved forward cautiously.
The forest became more damaged the deeper they went.
Trees were broken.
Roots torn from the ground.
Huge footprints covered the dirt path.
Each one was larger than a human torso.
Bran stared at the prints.
"…What kind of monster makes tracks like this?"
Lyra whispered.
"…Something big."
Then they heard the fight.
CLANG.
A sword striking something heavy.
A loud grunt.
The sound of trees collapsing.
They rushed forward.
And entered a large clearing.
A second-year student stood at the center.
Armor cracked.
Sword raised.
Blood ran down his arm.
And in front of him—
Something massive moved between the trees.
A giant arm slammed down.
BOOM.
The ground shattered.
The second-year barely jumped back in time.
Taro's eyes widened.
"…What the hell is that?"
The monster stepped fully into the clearing.
Twenty feet tall.
Green skin like stone.
Muscles like boulders.
Its body looked like living armor.
Ironhide Troll.
The system window appeared instantly.
C Rank Monster Detected
Ironhide Troll
Threat Level: Extreme
The troll roared.
The sound shook the entire clearing.
Students froze.
Even the second-year looked exhausted.
He shouted toward them.
"RUN!"
But the troll had already noticed them.
Its massive head turned slowly.
Red eyes locked onto the group.
Then its lips curled into a monstrous grin.
And it started walking toward them.
Lysander's hand moved slowly toward his sword.
The moment he had been waiting for…
Had finally arrived.