Hideous cracks echoed around the glade. The Demonic Converter’s crown tilted and fell, its leaves rustling with unwillingness as they died. However, this dreadful noise hardly entered Wolf’s ears. Other things occupied his mind. Such as the rapidly approaching ground. He calculated how to crash-land while suffering minimal damage and avoiding the hidden serrated tendrils.

He smashed against the grassy soil with a grunt, rolling to dissipate a portion of the shock. Still, his bones creaked and his tendons tightened to near-snapping.

At least I’m in one piece, Wolf consoled himself, thinking about his forty meter plummet. Ironically, this wouldn’t have shaken his old body half as much as it rattled this new macho form.

Wolf flipped and tumbled thrice before springing to his feet. As soon as he stood, he used the remnant inertia from his fall and bolted. He didn’t consider followup attacks. He had achieved his goal, and destroyed the Demonic Converter’s most dangerous weapon.

Besides, while severing the giant trunk, Sunder the Mountains overloaded Undetectable’s cloaking effect. Wolf was visible; he no longer held the element of surprise, nor did he have a reason to tangle with a desperate enemy.

Instead of fighting, Wolf scanned the ground, looking for movement. However, there was no sign of mounds forming, nor toothed tendrils lashing towards him. At least not in the fifth second of his blitz.

I surprised it. Wolf beamed a bright, smug smile, revealing his thirty-two teeth in full glory. Now that I got rid of those apples, I can gradually destroy the root soldiers. There’s no reason to take risks.

After confirming a safe escape path, Wolf turned around, sneaking a peek at his enemy.

Damn. Wolf’s lip twisted. The upper part of the trunk slowly blackened, showing where rot will soon appear. As expected, the Monster Core was in the lower half.

Wolf watched the green crown fall, when suddenly one hundred thousand black spheres swallowed it. Serial implosions devoured the branches and leaves. They merged and promoted each other, growing into a monolithic mass of darkness.

The black burst consumed the Manticores in a blink, spreading fifty meters in all directions. However, this happened far behind Wolf’s back. The only threat to his escape was the unknown number of root soldiers blocking his path.

Wolf focused on the way ahead. He spotted rising mounds, but the Demonic Converter’s reaction came too late. By the time root soldiers were halfway out of the ground, Wolf had already passed them, escaping into the dark forest.

I didn’t grab any apples. Wolf’s brows furrowed while he jogged through the woods he’d emptied of Demonic Beasts. I think I’ll need a couple hundred more to figure out how to detonate them. Then I should stock up on them and use them as magical bombs.

Last time, a wave of Demonic Beasts forced Wolf to leave the apples behind. He only collected the fruit along his escape path while rolling the Demonic Converter away from the center of its glade.

It doesn’t matter. I should be able to advance my Sword-Sage Order with this Demonic Converter’s Monster Core. Then I’ll take down three more. As for the black apples, I’ll gather them from the remaining trees.

Wolf still wasn’t sure how many Twelfth Order Demonic Converters he should destroy. Six felt like too much. Then, thinking of his domain’s safety and the ever-present threat of Monster Beast migrations, he wondered whether he should take five Monster Cores or maybe settle for four.

***

Wolf smothered his enemy. He fought conservatively, whittling away the sluggish root soldiers over the course of three skirmishes. Thanks to this experience, Wolf learned an additional trait of Demonic Converters.

The more damaged the tree, the more limited its mental faculties. He had noticed the phenomenon before; the smaller the remaining size of the tree he chopped, the weaker its soul attacks. Wolf believed that happened because Demonic Converters exhausted themselves while struggling to stay alive. However, his ambush gave birth to a new hypothesis.

Trees don’t have brains. So what did Demonic Converters think with? Wolf speculated they used everything. That meant chopping a Demonic Converter in half halved its intelligence. Maybe even other aspects.

Time passed. Wolf brought down the third and the fourth Demonic Converter, polishing the tactics he invented to defeat the second one. He advanced his Sword-Sage Order to eleven, but still failed to understand what he lacked to become a Sword-Saint.

While failing to reach sainthood, Wolf learned how to act like a thug. One evening, he strutted into a Demonic Converter’s glade. He wore his true body and emanated Antimagic.

“Good day,” he said, maintaining a confident air. “I have brought down four of your cousins. I didn’t give them a choice, but you can choose to fight or settle things peacefully.”

Wolf paused, and the giant tree shook its leaves for a moment then stopped, showing it had no reason to act hostile. Wolf didn’t emanate the aura which could drive it mad, and the nude boy held no hint of murderous intent.

“Thank you.” Wolf smiled, happy that this Demonic Converter acted sensibly. “I want two thousand of your apples.”

Before the tree responded, Wolf waved his hands. “Don’t rustle. I know you need them. In return, other than not chopping you down, I will bring ten fresh, suitable bodies to compensate you for a portion of your loss. What do you think?”

The Demonic Converter rustled its leaves briefly.

“Great.” Wolf’s smile grew wider. “If you don’t mind giving me the apples now, I’ll bring Tenth Order bodies, along with their Monster Cores.”

In response, Wolf heard the snapping sound of fruit stems. Two thousand apples nearest to him fell. For a moment, he had a heavy feeling in the pit of his stomach.

If you detonate them… His leg muscles tightened, ready to propel him the hell out of the clearing. However, apples didn’t implode. They loudly thudded to the ground, and even though they didn’t rattle the ground like a stampede, dozens of Demonic Beasts roared in the surroundings.

Wolf looked at the tree with a frown, but the Demonic Converter rustled its leaves apologetically. It only did as Wolf asked.

Fine. I’ll treat it as an accident. Next time, I’ll ask the Demonic Converter to drop them twenty by twenty.

Much to the looming tree’s satisfaction, Wolf routinely dispatched the promised Demonic Beasts, then mowed down two dozen more while escaping. This transaction turned out profitable for the Demonic Converter.

Wolf repeated this mutually beneficial trade eleven times, netting him twenty thousand black apples after testing and figuring out how to use them.

Even though he was hardly aware of it, Wolf had spent four years in Demon Forest. His Sword-Sage Order grew to eleven, while his Mage Order reached thirty-one.

And finally, after spending a month exhausting and replenishing his Internal Energy naturally and through potions, Wolf believed his aura was pure enough for him to pay Smith a visit. Taking a deep breath, he entered the teleportation Spell Formation.

He fed the intricate runes with Soul Force and vanished. At the same moment, a muscular hulk appeared atop an empty seal in the Mage Academy’s basement. Wolf wore illusory robes for decency’s sake, but even then he startled the Eighth Order Mage on duty.

“Lord?” the guard asked the naked unknown person who arrived from Demon Forest. Unfortunately for him, he could discern illusions, invisibility, and a variety of other effects.

“Wolf Hillman, returning from Demon Forest.” Wolf identified himself, reassuring the Mage.

The man’s face twisted into an awkward grimace. He knew what Wolf Hillman looked like, and this person didn’t fit the bill. Still, since the Headmaster made no moves after the Spell Formation activated, it was probably fine to let him through. Probably.

“Greetings, Lord.” The gatekeeper formally half-bowed, averting his gaze from Wolf’s thighs.

Wolf nodded, then went towards the Headmaster’s office. The first thing on his mind was to settle his debt. Then he would find Mandy and see whether she dared moan ‘deeper’ this time around.

Wolf climbed the stairs. After moving down a hallway, he knocked on a dark door.

“Come in. Pffft.” Headmaster Smith poorly stifled his laughter as the office door opened on its own.

Wolf stepped inside, watching the kooky old man roar in amusement. Before he took five steps, a golden dress flew towards him.

“Here. Put this on. Looking at what you’ve done with your body hurts my immortal soul. I’m afraid I’ll reincarnate as a bug next time.” Daniel Smith looked in disbelief at what Wolf had done to himself. After a moment, he had to ask. “Why?”

“Why what?” Wolf donned the dress, then willed it to change into a scarlet Mage Robe with a large white crescent on his left breast, indicating that he was a First Order True-Namer.

The young man sat down, his chair creaking. He was ready for a True-Namer to True-Namer conversation with Lord of Steel.