Chapter 245 – The General’s Pnt Sister

  Soldier Jorath:

  Everything desded into chaos in a matter of seds. One moment, I was sitting down, sav my soup, and the , the air was filled with the sound of spears slig through the wind and magic explosions ripping the camp apart. Screams came from every dire, soldiers barking orders, arying to restore order, and mages unleashiructive spells. I barely had time to grab my sword before the battle on us.

  The enemy’s small army appeared from the st pce we expected: the Forbidden Forests. A treacherous area, nearly impossible to traverse without suffering losses. They must have ridden part of the way on horseback, then tinued on foot. The terrain is a trap in itself, with hidden ravines, wild animals, and whispered legends about monsters dwelling within. Some say there are secret trails and underground tunnels winding through the caves, but only the ruling family of the duchy knows of these hidden paths.

  “Who the hell is crazy enough to challenge Marquis Nikous?” muttered the soldier beside me, his voice trembling as he ducked to avoid an arrow. “This was supposed to be a military exercise, not a real battle! Who phis mess?”

  “Hell if I know!” I snapped back, scrambling for cover. “Find the mage we’re supposed to be proteg!”

  The fight was far fiercer than it should have been. Spells tore through the sky like meteors, detonating with violent force. I saw men and horses flung through the air like ragdolls. A group of enemy mages had gathered, f a unit to jure a massive wave of water that swept across the battlefield, hurling soldiers and carts into disarray.

  “Damn it! I hate mages!” I yelled, feeling the crushi of helplessness.

  I wasn’t gifted with magic. My only prote was my bde and the hope that my armor could withstand whatever was ing.

  “What’s happening here?” shouted a staggering soldier who had just joined us. “Most of es and anders are in the fortress! They were supposed to provide support and use the walls to bombard the enemy with spells! We had the advantage! What went wrong?”

  Without answering, I dove behind a toppled cart, hitting the ground hard. Magical arrows zipped through the air, crag with elemental energy that promised destru on tact.

  “Watch out!” someone screamed, but it was too te. A massive stone arrow struck roup of archers, exploding intments that scattered in all dires. Agonized screams erupted as the shards tore through flesh and bone. One of the archers colpsed o me, his hand mangled by a jagged piece of stone.

  The smell of blood mixed with sweat and dust was overwhelming. I gripped my sword tighter, f myself to ighe rising panic threatening to e me. Fag those mages head-on was impossible. They were tearing us apart, and we had no idea how to fight back.

  I sed the area, desperate for any sign of reinforts from the fortress. Nothing. Only more ore screams, and more death.

  “Take the horse!” a young armored recruit shouted, his voice crag with desperation. A rider nearby had been struck by fire, his body abze as he was dragged across the battlefield.

  I peeked out from behind the cart, surveying the madness around us. We were in the middle of an improvised camp, surrounded by chaos and age.

  Riding into battle against mages was suicide. It made you an easy target, and the cacophony of spells drove the horses mad.

  “You!” I barked at the recruit. “Get over here and help us! Fet that damn horse!”

  “I’m just a recruit, sir…” he stammered, clearly regretting speaking up.

  “You’re wearing armor, but the emblem says you’re a mage. At least you’ll be useful for something. What element do you and?”

  “The Earth element, but I’m still learning. I awakened my magic two years ago. I’m 17,” he replied.

  Even an idiot mao awaken magid I, unfortunately, haven’t...

  “Let’s move!” shouted another member of my team, pointing in the opposite dire. “We o reach the ons! There are only a few left nearby, but we might be able to provide some support.”

  The ons were our best ce against mages, even if they wereirely effective. Depending on the element they wielded, a simple stone wall could ralize the projectiles. But at that moment, it didn’t matter. There were enough targets to make the effort worthwhile.

  “You there!” a firmer voice called out. I turo locate the source of the and and immediately reized the silver armor adorned with a wolf emblem on the chest. It was one of Lord Nikous’s trusted men.

  “I need you to protect me,” he ordered, approag with heavy steps. His right arm was wounded, blood dripping down his armor. “One of those damned maids mao injure me, but I still be useful. I and the Water element.”

  “We’re heading toward the ons, sir,” I replied, trying to mask my exhaustion.

  The ander scowled and spat on the ground, irritated. “Most of the gunpowder and explosives have been ruined. Some damned mage jured snow over our supplies, soaking everything and rendering it useless. It’s left you with even less firepower, turning this battlefield into a nightmare for any soldier who isn’t a mage.”

  I ched my teeth. Just another problem to add to the pile. The snow not only made the ground slippery and treacherous but had also wiped out what little ce we had to turide of the battle by ruining the gunpowder.

  “And now, sir?” I asked, trying to calcute our move.

  “Now,” he said coldly, “yoing to keep me alive until we reach the front lines. We’ll make do with whatever’s left of the arsenal and pray those bastards don’t have a seage as creative as the first.”

  He surveyed the camp before turning back to us.

  “The onballs might still be useful. I use my Water element to create a powerful jet to fire them. But I’ll need your help to carry them to me,” the ander expined.

  We quickly agreed to the pe the growing sehat something was terribly wrong.

  “Sir, don’t you have a healing potion? Your arm looks awful,” the recruit beside me asked. The ander let out a bitter ugh.

  “A healing potion? Who would be dumb enough to leave one of those lying around? Those things are scarce, kid. If we die with one of those in our ste bracelets, the enemy will take it and use it against us! The potions are with the mages who were supposed to be here with us, along with the support soldiers.,” he said, shaking his head in disbelief. “But those bastards are all stu that damned bck cloud.”

  We began running through the camp, dodging injured men being carried away and disoriented soldiers. The battle hadn’t fully reached us yet, but it was only a matter of time. The distant screams and the stant sound of explosions were a grim reminder of the chaos surrounding us.

  “Get back to the fight!” the ander yelled at a group carrying the wounded. “Fet those men, go bad fight! We don’t have room for weakness right now.”

  We headed toward a rge tent, the pce where the anders gathered to pn their strategies. When we arrived, a disturbing sight greeted us.

  “What the hell is this?” I murmured, my eyes fixed on what should have been a routine se of soldiers preparing for battle. But there was no ohe entire area was deserted. In pce of the soldiers, bizarre trees had sprouted, their distorted green forms standing out starkly against the surrounding darkness.

  “Where’s the injured guy?” asked the soldier who had been scolded earlier. “I left him here just a moment ago, on the ground!”

  A chill ran down my spine. Something was terribly wrong.

  The ander raised his hand, pointing toward a tent that seemed to harbor something ihe wind howled, making the shadows from the lights flicker on the fabric. But the shadows… they weren’t human. They moved unnaturally, twisting and writhing in an ominous way.

  Without hesitation, the ander fired a powerful jet of water toward the tent, colpsing its structure in seds. But as the vas fell to the ground, there was no ohere. What stood in its pce, partially covered by the fabric, froze us in pce.

  A tree.

  But it wasn’t a normal tree. The trunk was green, as if coated in moss or some kind of fungus, and its branches seemed to move with a life of their own.

  “What the hell kind of tree is this?” the ander muttered, his voice ced with disbelief.

  Before anyone could answer, a crag noise echoed around us. The tree began to shift. It stretched, its branches rearranging themselves. The bark peeled away in ptes, revealing somethih: pulsating green tendrils.

  The bizarre structure unfolded before our eyes, and what once appeared to be a tree revealed itself as a monstrous creature made of living wood and writhiation. The air grew heavy, and the sensation of standing before something utterly unnatural became almost suffog.

  “Get ready!” I shouted, my hand instinctively reag for my on. “That thing isn’t normal.”

  “What the fuck!” screamed one of the soldiers, his voice trembling with sheer terror.

  It wasn’t a tree but a living, monstrous creature disguised as vegetation. The being turoward us, revealing its true form: a quadrupedal beast made of roots and vines, covered in leaves that pulsated as though alive. On the creature's back was something even more horrific: a massive ivorous pnt with razor-sharp teeth and a grotesque grin that seemed to mock us.

  “Attack that thing!” the ander roared, firis and orbs of water at the beast.

  “ARGH!” the creature bellowed, thrashing its body violently. The ivorous pnt on its back opes mouth, emitting a high-pitched screech that made the ground quake. Roots erupted from the soil, snaking toward us like living serpents. By pure reflex, I dodged, barely avoiding the impact of one root as it smashed into the ground beside me.

  The ivorous pnt’s predataze locked onto us as the mo rode began charging. Each step was a thunderous drumbeat, amplifying the terror that gripped us. It ure, uing horror.

  It lu us with arming speed for something so massive. Before I could react, the beast’s massive fist struck me directly, sending me flying through the air. My body collided with a tent, the impact leaving me dazed as debris rained down around me.

  “ARGH!” screamed the recruit. When I turo look, I saw the ivorous pnt stretg its grotesque neck like a serpent, biting the recruit before ing its tentacles around him. He screamed, struggling in vain, as it pulled him toward its gaping maw. A siing sound echoed as the pnt began to devour him.

  “Shit!” yelled the ander, struggling to get ba his feet, his face twisted in desperation.

  The green monstrosity roared again, charging toward us. It grabbed an abandoned carriage with its massive cws and hurled it like a toy. The carriage shattered in half as it crashed into the ground near us.

  “Water Art: Pierg Shot!” the ander bellowed, his magic transf a nearby puddle into a sharp tendril that shot toward the beast. The creature roared, crossing its arms in a rapid motion. Its roots formed a robust wooden shield, defleg the attack as it tio advance.

  The battle felt hopeless. The creature was strong, fast, and brutally relentless. The ander fired spell after spell, desperately trying to maintain some sembnce of an advantage. But then, the creature did something ued.

  With one of its massive hands, it grabbed a onball from the ground and hurled it with terrifying force. The projectile tore through the air at incredible speed, striking the ander before he could evade. The impact sent him flying, his scream of agony eg as he crashed to the ground. His already injured arm was ripped off, nding a few meters away. Blood gushed like a fountain, painting the ground in vivid crimson.

  "Ahhhhhh!" the ander wailed, writhing on the ground, his life ebbing away with every passing sed.

  I stood frozen, watg the se in sheer horror, feeling the crushi of the hopeless fight bear down o shred of ce we had left. The creature, now drenched in blood and more terrifying than ever, roared with fury as it pressed forward.

  The squad of men aralyzed, terror etched on their faces as the ander y screaming in the dirt, his voice a haunting cry for help. Our swords trembled in our hands, and no one knew how to respond to this abomination. This wasn’t a battle; it was a sughter.

  The creature moved toward the ander, who was desperately trying to summorength to cast another spell. But it was futile. From the monster's green body, dozens of grotesque, thorn-covered tentacles erupted, their tips sharp like cactus spines. Before the ander could act, the tentacles coiled around him, stabbing into his flesh. His screams echoed across the battlefield as he was lifted into the air, helpless, and torn apart before our eyes.

  Blood sprayed everywhere, pooling on the ground in a dark red puddle. The creature, now dripping with crimson, turs predataze toward us. The ivorous pnt on its back curled its lips into a sinister grin, baring rows of jagged teeth, as though sav the fear it inspired.

  "This is madness..." one of the soldiers muttered, instinctively stepping back.

  Then, a voice broke through the chaos. Calm, yet ced with something deeply uling.

  "It seems even you are keeping your promise to tear the heads off your enemies."

  We all turoward the voice, and there she was. A pale woman with chestnut-brown hair, walking casually toward the creature as though none of this chaos or horror fazed her. Her presearkly trasted with the age around her, as if this was just another ordinary day.

  "What is that thing?" one of the soldiers shouted in pure desperation.

  The woman stopped o the monster, which seemed tnize her.

  "Just my son’s little pet," she said in a tone so indifferent it felt mog. "And it’s hungry."

  The creature let out a deafening roar, its blood-soaked tentacles swaying ominously in the air as it prepared to attack again. Its empty, ravenous eyes locked onto us, while the ivorous pnt on its back writhed like a serpent ready to strike.

  Without warning, the creature charged at us with terrifying speed. The ground shook beh its massive strides, and before we could react, it leapt, its shadow engulfing us pletely.