章 50: Monarch of Yngrave (1)

The sudden illumination of the area around us revealed a harrowing sight that sent shivers down our spine, the sheer amount of vines writhing around the forest reminding me of a stormy sea; lethal, awe inspiring, enough to make you feel like a minuscule part of this world...

Add onto that the various trees and the fact that we couldn't see what was causing this ocean of Nature Magic, and it was safe to say that everyone currently present was at the very least, uneasy, and at the very worst, terrified.

The rustling of the vines against one another, the churning of the earth as the roots began to bury themselves into the earth, and then the sudden ear splitting roar that echoed throughout the forest, all of it blended together to further frighten us even further, especially since the producer of that roar was still yet to be seen.

"Keep it together! Individually it might be stronger than us, but together it can't beat us!"

The Young Master's shout elicited another roar from the monster that was watching us, as if it was trying to refute his claim about its strength being comparable to our own, and to prove it one of the roots erupted from the earth and lanced towards us at a high speed, trying to skewer the Young Master and silence him.

Before the root could reach him though, the tall black haired woman stepped in front of him and raised her Nagamaki and slashed through the root, a blaze of flames bursting off of the long blade and burning through the wood easily, protecting the Young Master from harm.

"Interesting..."

The Young Master just stroked his chin before glancing at the older mage beside him, who was frowning as he looked around at the roots and various vines that began to launch themselves at us, trying to take a few of the soldiers into the forest; not aiming for kills, but instead to wrap around their limbs and pull them away.

"It's focusing on dividing us, is able to understand our language to a certain degree, and it has such power..? Curious indeed... what has taken refuge inside Yngrave? Or is this... something homegrown, perhaps?"

His voice slipped through my ears as I batted away one of the roots, only to have another try and grab my blade, wrapping around the blunted blade and pulling it from my hand, only for it to fall to the ground harmlessly as my dagger shot out and cut through it.

Learning swiftly that whatever we were fighting had some level of intelligence, I funneled my mana into the wooden blade and enhanced it, deciding that the gradual 'waste' of my mana was well worth it here since the moment the next root shot towards me, I cut through it with the wooden sword easily.

Another roar echoed around us as the monster had it's many 'limbs' cut and burnt away, the mild pain in its 'voice' filling the forest and sending another shiver down my spine as I looked around and took in the barrage of roots that continued to stab towards us.

Everyone was hacking and slashing at them with extreme prejudice as they tried to protect themselves from being pulled into their certain deaths, but it only became gradually harder as more and more roots came at us in higher speeds.

Each one was infused with a larger quantity of Nature Mana as well, hardening their surface and making them come at random times and angles, with the majority still being rather weak, which made them unpredictable and all the more dangerous when your blade didn't cut through them as easily as the rest.

It forced you to treat each one as an empowered one, draining more stamina from you and beginning to overexert us as it continued to feel us out, gradually learning who could do what and who exactly it needed to target first to hurt us the most.

As soon as it learned those targets, it began to attack them with the same prejudice we were displaying, combining its roots and stabbing at them with extreme speeds as it tried to pierce through our defenses.

The Animus Wardens, the Young Master and his guards, as well as the old mage that was hoisting his staff and preparing a large spell; he received the most attention as the flickering red runes slowly increased in heat as the spell neared completion.

Meanwhile, us normal soldiers and the Talonmasters were being treated as mere obstacles in its quest to kill the threats standing behind us, though that didn't make it less dangerous as we had to block powerful strikes one after another, lest they slip past us and make it to the others.

Though they were stronger than us, but still... them having their strength up was more important than us doing something else.

Of course, I still took a moment to hide behind Alessia and cast [Wooden Armor] on us all once more, the location of our battle only making the wooden plates thicker and stronger than they would ever be anywhere else, which might just make taking a single blow from these roots bearable... but still not advisable.

After I cast [Wooden Armor], I pivoted next to [Illusion], which I used to summon a variety of flames that I shot towards it at random directions, hoping to buy the mage a few moments more to finish his spell.

Each bundle of illusory flame caused the roots to flinch away as it feared being burnt, though when they landed and sputtered out without so much as charring the dirt they landed on, the monster let out another roar, this time of frustration as it sent four roots straight at my head, trying to kill me instantly and get rid of the source of its frustration.

Sadly for it, the Dogkin in front of me twisted her claymore and sheathed it in a golden light after muttering her prayer, before slashing through all four roots without any issue, thwarting its plan with her simple swing.