Chapter 252: Allied in Battle
"This forest is in even worse shape than when we first arrived."
Wang Yu charged through the tangled woods, Sif slung over one arm. His starsteel blade hovered by his side, weaving nimbly in the air under the guidance of the Chariot's power. Its razor-sharp edge sliced cleanly through obstructing vines and branches, carving a path for Wang Yu to sprint at full speed.
"Mm. We came for Madam Moira's magical plants, but given the situation... We should hurry back to Liaheim—the elves will be able to handle it."
Riding the wind she conjured, Avia flew swiftly behind Wang Yu, through the clear path he opened through the forest. The urgency of the situation was evident.
Wang Yu glanced down at the elven ranger he carried—her clothing torn, her body smeared with blood and dirt. From experience, he could tell her injuries weren't fatal, but they weren't light either.
Shifting his grip, he hoisted Sif onto his shoulder in a more stable position. A vial leapt from his pocket, uncorked itself mid-air, and tipped its contents—a faintly pink liquid—into her mouth. The potion slithered down her throat like a living thing.
This "Red Vial," a potent healing concoction Wang Yu had devised himself, was brewed from a blend of magical herbs known for their restorative properties, infused with a trace of his own blood. The result was a living potion that could administer itself and instinctively seek out the worst of a person's wounds.
Their journey into the Forest of Origin had begun as a field assignment from Moira to gather magical plants for class. But they had stumbled upon Sif and her sister being ambushed by a rampaging war-tree warped by unnatural mutations.
They had arrived a beat too late to save Sif's sister. Saving even one life, though, was a blessing in itself.
The air itself whistled as a projectile flew at high speed. A massive stone boulder, hurled from the mutated war-tree's direction, shot through the canopy. This tree's attacks were fiercer than the berserk war-tree they had encountered before—the projectiles it threw were twice the size.
"Don't bother engaging—it's too damn tough. Just stay out of range."
Wang Yu called back to Avia. He gathered his fighting spirit and surged forward, speeding out of the impact zone in a blur.
"Got it."
Avia banked gracefully through the air, magic and void energy swirling at her fingertips. Fire bloomed at her command, gathering in spirals and rising toward the falling boulder.
It glowed red-hot, softened by the searing heat.
Vicious vines burst from cracks within the boulder, writhing and flailing in a desperate attempt to escape—but the flames consumed them utterly, reducing them to ash before they could flee.
The rock, now fractured and glowing, crashed to the forest floor in a halo of fire, setting the surrounding trees ablaze. Neither Wang Yu nor Avia paused—they trusted the forest to take care of itself. This ancient forest knew how to deal with fire.
"That war-tree's out of range. Let's move."
Wang Yu glanced over his shoulder. Smoke curled up into the sky behind them, but the mutated war-tree's twisted silhouette was nowhere to be seen. The boulders had stopped coming. They were safe—for now.
"Wang Yu, six hundred meters west. A squad of elf rangers is under attack by a swarm of plant-creatures similar to the war-tree—smaller, but there are many of them. Just five of them in the squad. They won't hold out much longer. Should we assist?"
Avia's voice reached Wang Yu as a whisper in his mind. Cautious as always, she had deployed several Wizard's Eyes throughout their journey—just in case. One of them had caught sight of a familiar battle.
"Let's help. Guide the way."
"Got it."
The fact that Avia was asking meant that she judged the threat within his capacity. And Wang Yu, who now called Liaheim home, didn't mind lending the elves a hand when they needed it.
He darted toward the location Avia indicated.
As he neared, the forest's dense foliage began to part, revealing a grim scene: dozens of vaguely humanoid plant-creatures, camouflaged in shades of green and brown, converging from all directions.
One of the monsters perched on a tree branch caught sight of Wang Yu—and more importantly, the powerful life force radiating from both him and Sif.
Its bramble-like limbs sprang off the branch, launching it into a lunge. From the gaping maw at the center of its petal-shaped head, a barbed tongue lashed out, aiming straight for Wang Yu's throat.
Without sparing it a glance, Wang Yu's floating blade flashed. The monster split cleanly in two, sliced before it could even reach his striking range. Its bisected body thudded to the ground, leaking viscous green fluid.
More monsters swarmed—but they ignored Wang Yu. Their focus was on the five embattled elven rangers, whose combined life force made them a far more appealing target.
Within a clearing, the five rangers stood back to back, forming a defensive ring. Their curved blades whirled with lethal precision, severing thorny limbs and monstrous heads alike. Around them lay a path paved in green blood and twitching remains.
But it was a losing battle.
No matter how many they killed, more emerged. With each slip-up, wounds bloomed on elven skin. The scent of blood thickened in the air, luring the creatures like sharks to water.
One ranger ducked a leaping plant-beast, then smoothly countered, separating its head from its vine-like body.
But before he could recover, fine branch-like tendrils lashed down from the treetops, impossibly fast. They skewered his arm, then yanked him upward toward the canopy with terrifying force.
These were their unseen enemies—the ones that had taken down all their messenger birds and avoided detection until now.
The elf snarled, pain contorting his features as the tendrils tightened. The wound tore wider under the traction. These tendrils were far stronger than he had anticipated; he had to brace himself with his entire body to even stand a chance.
"Hold on!"
One of his fellow rangers drew a longbow from his back. Infusing it with fighting spirit and the words of nature, he loosed an arrow in a brilliant arc.
The arrow struck its mark. Fighting spirit exploded in a snare of thorns that coiled around the hidden attacker, rotating barbs digging into flesh. Green ichor spurted freely.
With a burst of strength, the wounded elf seized his curved blade in his good hand and hacked through the silken tendril connecting him to the branches, freeing himself just as more enemies closed in.
But the momentary distraction proved costly. Several flower-beasts surged into the breach, thorny limbs whipping out to ensnare the rangers. Gaping maws snapped open, filled with teeth, aiming to bite through vine armor and flesh alike.
The ambushed elves were tackled and dragged down. They had conjured armor out of vines and rattan with the words of nature as the fight began. That armor now shrieked under the grinding of thorned jaws, scraping and tearing with nightmarish noise.
"This isn't working! We've got to break out! Damn it—get off me!"
One ranger, limbs bound and armor cracking under two snapping jaws, managed to club one attacker away with his bow.
But before he could finish, a barbed tongue pierced the magic-crafted armor and flayed a chunk of flesh from his side.
"Damn it... this might be the only way."
The elf who had taken a branch through the arm clutched a small glass vial in his free hand. It glowed blue within a reinforced metal frame—a compressed alchemical bomb, one strong enough to obliterate the entire area. It would also obliterate the rangers themselves.
"Don't hesitate! We won't last much longer—I'll try to cover you. I won't let all of us die here!" another ranger shouted, blood streaming from his face as a barbed tongue ripped a chunk from his ear. He gritted his teeth and readied himself for one final stand.
The elf holding the alchemical bomb took a deep breath. The vial brimmed with energy, ready to be hurled toward the clump of flower-beasts nearby.
But before he could toss it out, a thunderous explosion erupted—not from his hand, but rather the forest before them. Crimson fire blossomed with violent force, detonating in rapid succession. Entire clusters of flower-beasts and swathes of trees were blasted apart. The source was the fourth-tier Scorching Starfire.
Specks of golden-red flame fell like a quiet rain from the sky. Though subtle in appearance, each glinting mote unleashed devastating force, igniting raging infernos and tearing through everything nearby with brutal, searing power.
In an instant, the bombardment scoured the forest floor clean, leaving behind a clearing engulfed in roaring flames. From within that inferno, a figure tore through the wall of fire and leapt forth.
Around him, two dozen blades hovered in a deadly orbit, shooting out again and again to strike down the flower-beasts drawn to the commotion. Each impact shredded the creatures where they stood. Wang Yu had arrived just in time.
"Avia! Ignite it—now!"
Avia, as if anticipating the command, had already prepared her next spell: the third-tier Flame Surge.
Waves of flame burst forth, spreading in layered crests and surging toward Wang Yu. It seemed as if he would be engulfed and turned to ash. But just as the fire reached a certain radius around his body, an invisible force seized it—the power of the Chariot.
The dispersed flames, lacking focus or force, were suddenly compressed and twisted into a spiral. Wang Yu forcibly coalesced the wide-area spell into a single, sinuous stream of fire—a burning cord of flame.
The resulting rope of fire glowed with terrifying brightness and heat, a concentrated torrent of destruction. Every spark Avia had unleashed was now bent to his will, forming a blazing serpent that coiled around him, hissing with energy.
With a thrust of his fingers, the fire-serpent lunged forward under the Chariot's command, hurling itself toward the flower-beasts besieging the elves.
The serpent was unnervingly agile and devastatingly lethal. Against the fibrous bodies of these plantlike monsters, it was an unstoppable force. As it spiraled through the air, charred holes appeared in the heads of the beasts surrounding the elves. Their bodies collapsed, tumbling lifeless from the treetops.
"Go!"
Wang Yu roared to the stunned elves, who, after only a moment's hesitation, seized the opportunity and began dispatching the remaining foes with swift, precise strikes.
In his hand, the starsteel blade had reformed from its constituent fragments into a gleaming longsword. He swung it in sweeping arcs, carving through the flower-beasts with blinding silver trails.
The Chariot's power, though potent, was not yet strong enough for Wang Yu to control too many things at once. With the fire-serpent already under his command, he could no longer manipulate the blade in its fragmented form. Otherwise, the carnage would have been even greater.
"Our thanks for your aid!"
Freed from their entanglements, the elves drew their bows and loosed a volley of arrows, pinning several more flower-beasts to the forest floor as they moved to cover Wang Yu's flanks. One gestured for him to follow.
The flame serpent, having pierced and slain the creatures pinning down the elves, surged once more into the growing mass of flower-beasts who were gathering anew. It exploded in a brilliant blast, scattering them and buying precious seconds of escape.
Wasting no time, Wang Yu dashed after the elven rangers. Avia swooped down, borne on winds she conjured. The compressed air currents also lifted Sif and carried her effortlessly along.
With a burst of speed, Wang Yu caught up to the elves, who had deliberately slowed to allow him to join them. They continued loosing arrows with uncanny precision, downing any flower-beasts that dared emerge near him.
"Thank you for the help!"
One elf, his arm pierced and bleeding, greeted Wang Yu earnestly as he approached. Wang Yu had truly saved his life.
"Of course. We were nearby. What's the situation in the Forest of Origin? The disturbances are getting worse. We just rescued an elf from a war-tree and found all of you under attack. Do you know what's happening?"
Wang Yu glanced over his shoulder at the receding mass of flower-beasts, confirming they were no longer a threat, before turning back to the elf for answers.
"The war-tree? You encountered the team that sent the distress signal?" another elf asked in surprise.
"It's Sif..."
The wounded elf looked toward the unconscious figure floating beside Avia. His voice grew heavy. If Sif was the only one who had been saved, then her sister...
"We don't know exactly what's going on. We were only sent to assist a fellow patrol unit that called for aid. But the forest... something's wrong. We need to report back immediately."
The elven ranger's brow furrowed as he answered Wang Yu.
A sharp cry pierced the sky. All eyes turned upward.
Several giant eagles soared overhead, their wings wide and powerful. At their head flew an immense, majestic griffin. Upon their backs rode fully armed elves—not just patrol rangers, but warriors of all kinds.
"It's Liaheim's guard division—they've received the alert!"