It's as if once you step in, it's like entering an abyss from which there's no turning back.

Aurelion reached out a hand and touched the white mist in front of her.

"..."

Nothing seemed amiss, but she still mustered her courage and, with a mix of trepidation and anticipation, ventured deeper into the area.

Stepping into the white mist, almost instantly, everything in front of me became exceptionally bright and clear.

Before her lay a vast plain.

Surrounded by dense trees, it seemed like a deliberately left-away clearing, which looked quite eerie.

As Aurelion stepped inside, a white mist blocked her path, startling her so much that she quickly stepped back.

But no matter whether you touch it or pat it, the layer of white mist seems to have turned into a solid wall, without any reaction.

She's trapped here.

Soon, rustling sounds came from the dense forest, and the ground was no longer calm.

With a tremendous tremor of the earth, a colossal creature broke through the tangled underground and appeared before Aurelion.

Its body was covered with green leaves, vines, and fur, obscuring its face and making it impossible to see its true appearance.

All that could be seen were its two enormous, eerie red eyes hidden in the darkness.

"roar--!"

A loud roar pounded into Aurelion's eardrums, and a damp, oppressive breath filled her nostrils, as if choking her heart.

Her eyes widened in disbelief at the terrifying sight before her.

...

"The Forest Demon."

This is a lord-level boss at the end of the Milut Trail, a type of wild boss.

It refreshes approximately once a week, and there's a chance to drop the item "[Demon's Heart]" upon death.

A material that can be used to make equipment.

Viktor compared Aurelion's and Morino's health points.

This is a level 20 Morino Demon.

It's not particularly strong, but due to its boss stats—high HP and high defense—it's undoubtedly a huge challenge for a level 15 Aurelion.

Aurelion looked at the monster before her, and she felt its breath like a giant drum being struck repeatedly, the heavy sound hitting Aurelion's heart with each beat.

Under the intense pressure from the other party, she took a few steps back.

When she touched the white, misty wall, she realized that she had nowhere to retreat.

Isn't this... a little too exciting?

Aurelion, who had no experience in close combat, had no chance of defeating it by means other than magic.

But... this thing.

Will she really be given the opportunity to use magic for ranged attacks?

The boss never gives anyone time to wait. In the brief moment Aurelion hesitated, the Forest Demon broke free from the countless vines and charged towards Aurelion, dragging the broken vines along.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

Each step it took seemed to be venting its anger at the intruders, as if it couldn't believe that someone had actually trespassed into its territory!

With a sudden, powerful raise of his arm, Aurelion was completely enveloped in shadow.

boom!

With a single palm strike, Aurelion, slow to react, didn't even have time to react.

She seemed to already see her own death.

But just as Morino Majin was about to hit her...

The next second, a white magic circle gradually lit up from the entire forest, its light engulfing everything.

When Aurelion opened her eyes again, she found herself standing in the same spot.

Morino Majin returned to his original starting point, trapped and entangled by heavy vines.

Aurelion looked at her intact body, but in her memory, it was as if she had died once.

She touched her neck; her head was still on it.

There was now an extra number on the ground where she stood.

"1".

This is a record of her failure, or...

"Died once...?"

Aurelion looked up at the monster again, which seemed to be wondering why it had fallen back into the thick vines.

But it didn't care about any of that; all it needed to do was rush forward again and kill the fragile human in front of it.

Aurelion finally realized that she could no longer hesitate, and she attempted her first act of rebellion.

She couldn't use teleportation magic, but she still had ways to escape the opponent's lock.

For example, the black mist magic that Victor made him learn today.

She formed a formation with both hands. Because of her previous experience, she was able to form it very quickly and skillfully this time.

Morino the Demon broke free of the vines again and charged toward Aurelion.

Before it could even reach Aurelion, a vast expanse of black mist enveloped the demon.

The demon screamed and began attacking the surrounding trees like a madman.

Aurelion knew that the hallucinogenic magic had taken effect.

So she tried to launch an attack from the side.

Countless sparks flew toward the demon, but they were extinguished as soon as they touched it under the demon's frenzied attacks.

Whether it was the heavy foliage, the damp air, or the monster's enormous body, Aurelion's attacks became extremely weak.

The demon was almost unharmed, but was instead enraged again by Aurelion's attack.

She was incredibly surprised that her magic had no effect whatsoever. Her eyes widened in disbelief, and she stood frozen in place, not knowing what to do.

"How can this be..."

Before he finished speaking, the demon kicked a huge dead tree in the forest, sending it flying towards Aurelion.

In an instant, everything went black before Aurelion's eyes.

With the hint of death, a white light dissipated, and she and the monster returned to their starting point.

A faint green light emanated from Morino Majin's body; it was a healing spell.

Aurelion, on the other hand, glowed with a blue light, and the magic she had previously lost was fully restored.

Her body also recovered completely.

As if foreshadowing something, another number was added to the numbers on the ground.

"2".