“Hmmm!” The monk stretched his arms, smiling as a skeletal tree root emerged from the ground, sucking his body in. “Suck me in!” He gasped with a smile on his face.
Arad jumped away, seeing the forest raging with the trees standing up.
“Damn it!” Arad cried, jumping back and grabbing everyone, “We need to get away.” In the blink of an eye, he teleported them to the top of a frozen mountain peak with no trees around.
Everyone looked down, seeing titan roots emerging from the ground as the monk flew with leaf wings in the middle of it, encased in an armor of wood.
“Monster,” Arad growled, flying toward the forest and leaving everyone behind.
“Arad!” Aella shouted, but he didn’t listen.
Arad flapped his wings harder than before, accelerating faster than he did before in his life. His eyes only see one thing, the monk flying in the middle of the air.
^No holding back. I must go all out.^ Arad smiled, pulling the stone greatsword he took from Doma’s father.
He looked across the massive forest with a grin, seeing the roots standing as tall as mountains and, as thick as large monsters. “You can attack anything in the entire forest.” He stared at the monk from a distance.
“But, sadly, it isn’t as wide as my melee range, is it?” An evil grin crossed Arad’s face as he stared forward, lifting the massive greatsword and swinging down.
CLAP! A massive tree root exploded on the other side of the forest as Arad stood above it. “Suprised?” ZON! Arad appeared right behind the monk, swinging his sword down. “You’re dead,”
CLICK! The monk’s wood armor disappeared as he stretched his arms with a smile, “Hit me!”
Arad stopped his swing at the last second, teleporting Again and hitting another massive root.
^Don’t tell. He still isn’t fighting?^ Arad gasped, clenching his teeth.
[This is the power of the forest spirit, not his.] Mom replied with a worried voice. Try using the breath that erased the elder fungus.
^I will need time to tune my void to it. Give me another suggestion.^
[Won’t Aella and the other be able to buy you time?]
^No way. They would get squashed in a single hit. And Eris can’t fight in the sunlight.^ Arad growled, pulling air into his lungs and filling them with flames. ROAR! He unleashed a large fire blast at the ground, igniting the forest in the hope to damage the forest spirit.
CRACKLE! The roots pierced the ground, flipping dirt all over the forest fire, putting it out in the blink of an eye.
“Don’t even bother,” The monk laughed, “You burn one, and ten grow up.” He pointed at Arad, “No matter what you do, you will lose this battle.”
Arad jumped away, seeing hundreds of tree roots approaching him.
^He’s getting faster.^ Arad teleported between two attacks and got smacked by the third one, digging a trench on the forest ground before coming to a halt.
“You must have broken some bones,” The monk smiled, “Care to give up?”
BAM! Arad lunged from the ground, swinging his void-engulfed sword at the monk.
^Something is off.^ The monk couldn’t understand what will Arad’s void effect be, so he didn’t want to risk it.
CLAP! He smacked Arad away with a tree root, staring at him, “How about now? Dead yet?”
BAM! The moment Arad hit the ground, he bounced right back like a rubber ball, swinging again at the monk.
CLAP! CLAP! The monk smacked Arad twice, hitting him on the ground hard enough to dig a hole.
BAM! Unscathed, Arad bounced again, smiling as he swung the sword.
^The hell?^ The monk gasped. ^Most people and monsters would have died with such heavy hits. How is his body still intact?^
“HAHAHAHAHA!” Arad laughed his lungs out, “Come on, monk! I’m about to figure it out, don’t stop just yet!”
The laugh sent shivers down the monk’s spine, causing him to flinch for a second. ^This thing, my attacks don’t seem to harm him even though I’m sure I squashed him several times. Regeneration, but that should have a limit. What is he thinking about?^
^Doma was saying to focus on absorbing mana. What if I focused on refining my void instead, getting it ready to only delete the forest spirit?^ Arad couldn’t help but smile. Each hit he takes breaks his concentration, but after healing, he charges again, unfazed.
CLAP! The monk clapped his hands, staring forward with a worried face, “You’re looking more like a problem the longer this fight keeps going,” A green light emerged from the ground, flashing up toward Arad.
[Forest Bloom]
Blugh! Arad coughed blood as flowers started growing from his mouth and nose.
“You breathed the spores released by the forest spirit. Now they grow inside your lungs and eat you from the inside out,” The monk smiled, “Only Gray survived this without giving up. It’s over for you.”
Arad smiled, flame and void gushing from his nose and mouth. “Your spores walked into hell itself. Good luck,” Arad giggled, lunging back at the monk, focusing on his void.
***
In the back, the armies of the elves didn’t dare to tread into the forest for fear of getting squashed. “Is that man really fighting the herald?” The general gasped, unable to believe his eyes.
The s-rank capable of crushing armies with his extreme magic is being held back by a single young man. .𝘤𝑜𝑚
“Retreat! Retreat! We have no chance of winning if the herald can’t make it” He shouted at the top of his lungs. ^I have to report this to the queen. We must not make an enemy of that young man if he survived.^
***
Arad kept getting smacked left and right, but he lunged back like a madman, swinging the stone greatsword at the monk without rest.
The monk finally got exhausted and decided to take a blow from Arad’s sword. ^I don’t know what effect that void magic would have, or why I’m getting this weird feeling, but I doubt I can keep this out.^ He lunged forward, conjuring a wooden sword in his hand.
“Dragon child. I will cut you apart, and that Deianira girl with me. I bet her wind spirit still didn’t make a contract,” He swung the sword at Arad’s neck.
“No thanks!” Aella fell from the sky, landing on Arad’s shoulder and pointing her bow at the monk’s head, but she had no arrow loaded.
^Damn it,^ The monk growled.
[Tempest] Wind compressed inside Aella’s bow, forming an arrow. The monk tried to fly away, glaring at her with a worried face.
BOOM! The wind arrow flew from Aella’s bow, hitting him square in the forehead, cracking his armor, and sending him flying to the ground.
“His peace vow only triggers when he gets attacked directly, and attacks from spirits don’t count,” Aella said, sitting on Arad’s shoulders.
“Who told you?” Arad stared at her.
“The wind spirit, a memento from mother. I will tell you about her later. For now, let me take a seat,” She wrapped her legs around his neck, looking down at the monk.
“I have limited Mana. I can’t waste it on flying.” She looked at Arad, “Can you get me close to him?”
Arad smiled, “Of course,” He flapped his wings, flying at an incredible speed.
“Should I take my dragon form?”
“No, we’re a smaller target like this,” Aella replied, pulling the bowstring and aiming at the monk with a smile.
“We only need to injure him badly and run away.”
“We can win. I managed to focus long enough to adapt my void to erase the forest spirit,” Arad replied, “You attack. And guide me around.”
Arad closed his eyes, flying as fast as he could while letting Aella lead him like a horse. This was the only way for him to get enough time to focus.
BAM! The monk flew from the ground, flinging a massive wooden spear at Aella, “Wind spirit, care to have a contract with me?” He shouted, “I promise to treat you well!”
Aella fired an arrow, deflecting the massive spear and flying past the monk, barely able to control Arad’s direction with her legs.
***
[Doma, do something,] Mom growled, staring at Doma sitting beside her.
Doma put her finger on her lips, staring at Mom and signaling for her to remain silent. “[Let him focus,]” She smiled,
***
BLUGH! Arad opened his eyes to a tree branch running through his chest. He coughed blood, smiling as the monk landed in front of him, lifting Aella by the neck.
“She has fallen, and so is you,” The monk smiled, “You can die,”
Arad laughed, “Thanks to you. I finally figured it out. Or at least a part of the truth.” Arad lifted his hand, “I was thinking too hard about it, the void is nothing, and that’s what I need to not hit you directly.” Arad put his hand on the root, erasing it with the monk’s armor.
The monk gasped, releasing Aella as Arad grabbed him by the ankle. He smiled, “You touched me. It’s over for…” His vow didn’t activate, and he noticed that Arad’s skin wasn’t touching him, even as he grabbed him.
CRACK! Arad flailed the monk around, smacking him on the ground.