Chapter 89: Fire in the Hole
The dust from the mushroom cloud only slowly dissipated after a long time.
At the location where the giant fireball had landed, the crawling monster had vanished without a trace, leaving behind only a large pit about ten meters in diameter, its interior scorched black and still slowly emitting green smoke.
When the corpse-composed monster was vaporized to the point of leaving no residue, the Mother of Flesh seemed to have died along with it, leaving behind only a huge empty husk.
Even when the witcher and the sorceress approached it, it showed no reaction.
Neither of them could sense its aura.
Lynn could clearly feel that it hadn't turned back into a tree; it was truly dead.
Only then did the two begin to rescue the others, freeing them from the sacs hanging in mid-air.
...
Although Tyrion, trapped in a sac, had his eyes closed, he felt a very strange sensation as he and the branch-entwined sac merged.
Although he couldn't move or open his eyes,
he could sense what was happening outside.
This feeling was both wondrous and terrifying.
Because he knew that this strange tree was hanging him and the others up like cured meat, definitely not just for show.
He had originally despaired.
Until the appearance of the witcher and the sorceress brought renewed hope.
Therefore, when Lynn freed him from the sac, Tyrion didn't get up immediately but instead directly hugged Lynn's leg.
He wouldn't let go even if he died.
His throat choked up, and he couldn't say a word, only making excited, guttural sounds like an animal.
Lynn and Triss exchanged a look.
They were truly somewhat helpless.
It took him a while to appease the short merchant who was crying like a two-hundred-year-old child, finally managing to calm him down.
After telling Tyrion to stand aside, Lynn and Triss continued to rescue people.
Every person they rescued either expressed their inner joy through actions, like Tyrion, or kept saying words of gratitude.
The last person to be rescued was Sir Royce, who considered himself of noble blood and distinguished family background.
Our esteemed Sir Knight's complexion was frighteningly awful. Even the witcher, who had consumed several Superior potions in one go, didn't look as bad as him.
As handsome as Sir Royce's attire had been before, that's how disheveled he was now.
The black cloak draped over his shoulders was tattered, with more holes than the clothes worn by beggars in Novigrad, and his once shining armor was also fragmented.
But no one laughed at him.
This was not only because the other people rescued from the sacs were also in similar states.
It was also because Sir Royce had finally learned some sense.
He no longer had that arrogant, condescending air he had before.
Having rescued everyone who should be rescued, the group headed outside.
But the group hadn't gone far when Lynn, who was leading the way, suddenly turned around.
Amidst the surprised and puzzled gazes of the others, he returned to the already withered Mother of Flesh.
He used his master-crafted silver sword to forcefully dig open the root of the giant tree's trunk.
Finally, he carried out a young woman.
This woman rescued by the witcher was not a human female.
This could be seen from her pair of long, pointed ears.
However, she wasn't an elf or a half-elf either.
Because no elf or half-elf had green skin.
Not to mention, this woman used leaves as clothing to cover her body.
The witcher found no wounds on her. Seeing that she was only unconscious, he carried her onto his shoulder and left with the others.
...
Emerging from the depths of the forest,
the group finally stopped to rest for a while.
Triss drew a magic circle on the ground and placed various spellcasting materials in the corners of the magic circle.
Since the portal being opened this time needed to transport multiple people, magic power alone was not enough; it had to be used in conjunction with spellcasting materials.
The disappearance case that had commissioned the witcher and the sorceress to investigate had now come to light.
The culprit behind the disappearance of the Kaerak merchants and the king's sent army was the Mother of Flesh, which had lived for an unknown number of years.
According to Triss, the Mother of Flesh was actually still in its juvenile stage.
That was why it gave people a "weak" feeling.
But Sir Royce and Tyrion and the others turned pale upon hearing this.
They didn't know where the notion of "weak" came from.
They should know that they had been captured by the Mother of Flesh without even realizing it.
If it hadn't been for the witcher and the sorceress, a very tragic end would have awaited them.
Sir Royce even pessimistically believed that even if all the standing army of the Kingdom of Kaerak—a full fifteen hundred fully armed soldiers—were mobilized, they would probably be unable to defeat that monster.
Moreover, the Kingdom of Kaerak couldn't afford the painful cost of losing all its standing army.
However, in this way, the plan to open up trade routes had failed.
This forest was too ancient.
Even if they killed one Mother of Flesh, no one could be sure that there was only that one monster in the forest.
It was better to stick to the sea route honestly.
At worst, they would earn a little less, but that was still better than losing their lives.
As for King Brouver Hoog...
That king would definitely not be happy.
But what could be done?
The Kingdom of Kaerak was just a small kingdom, with an area roughly equivalent to only one province of Temeria.
It was evenly matched with the Kingdom of Verden to the south but inferior to the Kingdom of Cidaris to the north.
There were many things that made King Brouver Hoog unhappy.
Anyway, when you have too many lice, you don't feel the itching anymore.
...
Marillian, his face pale, waved goodbye to the witcher and the sorceress.
He said that he would definitely repay the witcher's life-saving grace with ballads that would spread throughout the continent.
Lynn was noncommittal about this.
Sir Royce and Tyrion's men, following behind the bard, successively passed through the portal leading to Kaerak City.
The two of them walked last.
Before entering the portal, they both glanced at the green-skinned woman who had been rescued by Lynn but was still unconscious.
Both of them were Kaerak natives, and the Kingdom of Kaerak had had many conflicts with the dryads living in the southern forest of Brokilon over the years.
Of course, they could recognize that this green-skinned woman was also a dryad.
Although both knew that handing over a dryad—especially a living dryad—to King Brouver Hoog would definitely earn them a great reward,
neither of them said anything.
They simply expressed their gratitude to the witcher once more.
Then they walked into the portal.
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