From beneath the ground, thick, blood-red roots erupted with terrifying speed. They slithered and snaked their way towards the fallen bodies of the demon tree guardians.
“No… no way!”
Aksai watched in trepidation as the roots latched onto the lifeless forms, piercing their bark-like skin and burrowing deep within.
The roots pulsed with a peculiar energy, drawing upon the life force that the demon tree had siphoned from its earlier victims. This energy flowed into the fallen guardians, causing their injuries to mend at an alarming rate.
Severed limbs began to regenerate, and decapitated heads reformed as if time itself was reversing.
How could Aksai watch and let his enemies get resurrected in front of him?
He wanted to cut the demon roots that had started to resurrect the demon tree guardians. However, it didn’t look like the corrupted druid wanted Aksai to have an easy time.
A web of demon roots and vines popped up around Aksai just as he was about to make a move, preventing him from interfering in the demon tree guardians’ resurrection process. Aksai could only defend himself and watched with gritted teeth as he saw his hard work going down the drain.
‘Fu*king hell. Did I still underestimate this druid?’
Aksai asked himself as his grip tightened on the Lian Flying Sword.
The guardians’ elongated limbs stretched out once more, and the metal rods that had been dislodged during the battle were pushed back into place by the relentless force of the roots. The iron vines coiled around their torsos tightened, pulsating with renewed vigor.
The woodland zombie-like faces of the guardians reanimated. Noseless faces twisted into grotesque snarls, and their unnaturally wide mouths opened to reveal the serpent-like tongues. Somehow these guardians looked even more stronger than before.
Aksai could sense that the battle between the tree devils and the martial artists behind him was also not going to what he had planned. Although he had minimized the number of casualties of the martial artists using the scroll-generated Array Formation, the corrupted druid had flipped the situation in his favor with one single wide-scale Spirit spell.
‘This druid… he must not have a small background in his world,’ Aksai thought to himself.
Aksai’s heart pounded as he realized the true extent of the corrupted druid’s power. The demon tree had the ability to resurrect the demon tree guardians, making them even more formidable than before. The guardians rose to their feet, fully healed and restored, their dark red claws glinting ominously.
The resurrected demon tree guardians wasted no time in launching their renewed assault on Aksai’s Scarecrow Fiends. The second round of battle was brutal and swift, with the guardians displaying an even greater ferocity than before.
One of the guardians lunged at a Scarecrow Fiend, its elongated limbs moving with terrifying speed. It grabbed the Scarecrow by the arm and yanked with immense force, tearing the limb clean off. The Scarecrow Fiend staggered, its form leaking decayed organs and dark red blood, but it had no time to react. The guardian’s other hand came crashing down, squashing the Scarecrow’s skull into a pulpy mess.
Another guardian unleashed its dark red claws. It tore into the torso of a second Scarecrow Fiend, shredding it apart as if it were made of paper. The Scarecrow tried to retaliate, but its movements were sluggish, its damaged form unable to withstand the onslaught.
A third guardian summoned a fire-element Spirit spell. Flames erupted from its hands, engulfing a nearby Scarecrow Fiend in a searing blaze. The Scarecrow writhed and twisted, its puppet body igniting instantly. The smell of burning flesh and straw filled the air as the Fiend was reduced to ashes in moments.
The fourth guardian used a wind-element blade spell, conjuring razor-sharp gusts that sliced through the remaining Scarecrow Fiend. The translucent blades cut through the air with a deadly whistle, severing limbs and tearing through the Scarecrow’s torso. The Fiend’s body was ripped apart within a few seconds.
Limbs were torn asunder, skulls were crushed, and torsos were shredded with unrelenting brutality. The elemental attacks added a final touch, destroying Aksai’s puppets completely.
Within only about a minute, the corrupted druid managed to get an upper hand against Aksai despite not participating in the battle himself.
‘Well… this is bad. I… I am in a bad spot.’
Aksai watched in grim silence.
Aksai had fought using all that he got. He wasn’t lazing around when the demon tree guardians were getting resurrected. He dodged the demon roots and demon vines and finally managed to isolate a demon tree guardian.
He used many of his talismans and scrolls he had prepared beforehand to achieve this. He then used his elemental Spirit spells to keep the demon vines and demon vines from interfering.
After making use of every trump card he had, Aksai had barely managed to neutralize one demon tree guardian by displacing the metal rods within it and destroying its form completely. The demon tree was unable to resurrect this particular demon tree guardian because there was no vessel left behind to resurrect.
However, Aksai could not celebrate his victory over a single demon tree guardian. With all his Scarecrow Fiends destroyed, Aksai would have to face the remaining five guardians on his own.
Steeling himself for the coming battle, Aksai tightened his grip on the Lian Flying Sword and prepared to confront the monstrous guardians.
Meanwhile, it looked like the corrupted druid was getting better over time. He had managed to recover from the backlash to some extent. He wasn’t at his best form by any stretch of the imagination. But he also wasn’t as vulnerable as he was right after the backlash had hit him.
“I don’t know what… what you came here for. But now that you are here, stay. Stay forever. I’ll turn you into one of my minions for sure. Hahahaha!”
The corrupted druid’s laughter echoed. Despite the still-somewhat-fragile situation due to the backlash, he had managed to find energy within him to laugh at Aksai and his situation.