Chapter 803: End Of The Raid [Bonus - ]

Chapter 803: End Of The Raid [Bonus Chapter]

The Blightheart Elder didn’t give them time to plan.

Its crown rattled again, and a second storm of black thorns tore loose from its branches.

This time, they weren’t aimed at the girls in the bowl... The whole volley came screaming up toward the ridge, straight at the flat boulder where Solenne and Kaelia were sitting.

KRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

"Eek!" Kaelia squeaked, throwing her arms over her head.

Silas stepped in front of the boulder and drew his runed longsword in one smooth motion.

SHIIING!

He didn’t move his feet though... His sword moved instead, flicking left and right and up and down in a blur of gray steel, and every thorn that came within reach of him got knocked aside or split in half in midair. The runes along the blade lit up crimson as it hummed through the air.

TING! TING! TING-TING-TING! TINGTINGTINGTING!

When it stopped, there was a neat half-circle of broken thorns on the stone in front of him, and not a single one had touched the boulder behind him.

Silas rested the flat of the blade back on his shoulder.

"You two okay?" he asked without turning around.

Kaelia slowly lowered her arms and nodded so hard her cap slipped. Solenne’s tails had puffed up to twice their size and were wrapped around both of them like a giant silver blanket.

"Y-yes, my Lord," Solenne squeaked from somewhere inside the fluff.

Down in the bowl, Ther’Abella and Elowynn hit the tree together.

Ther’Abella came in low from the left, her starlight staff splitting into twin daggers in her hands as she ran.

Elowynn came in high from the right, leaping off a boulder with both burning cutlasses raised over her head.

’Volcanic Wake!’

Elowynn’s right blade whipped out, and a lash of molten fire peeled off the tip of it and flowed through the air like burning tar.

It slapped onto the black bark and clung there, eating into the wood as it bubbled.

TSSSSSSSSS!

Then they struck the same spot on the trunk at the same time from opposite sides.

SHRRRAAAK! FWOOOOOM!

Silver light and liquid fire carved a deep burning X into the black bark, and the tree screamed.

Two branches came down at them at once.

Ther’Abella slid under hers on her knees, and Elowynn flipped over hers and landed on top of it then she ran straight up the length of the branch, stabbing both cutlasses into the bark with every step like she was climbing a ladder, and leaped off the end of it with a wild laugh.

"Woo-hoo!"

SNAP! SNAP! SNAP!

Three sparks went off right in the tree’s face, and it reeled back with smoke pouring out of the crack.

"Ha!" Elowynn crowed, landing in a crouch. "Not so tough now, are you, stick?!"

Under her feet, the burning X in the bark was already sealing itself shut.

SHLRRRRP!

Elowynn’s grin died.

"...Oh, come on."

Aki dropped into a low aggressive stance at the base of the tree with her armored feet digging into the shattered stone.

Her royal mana surged over her body in a thick blinding aura of pale blue light.

She dashed forward and weaved between two huge club-like branches that came smashing down where she’d been standing a heartbeat earlier.

BAM! BAM!

A third branch swept low at her legs however she jumped over it.

A fourth came straight down at her head... She rolled under it, came up inside its reach and slammed both palms into the base of the trunk.

THOOM!

Then she did it again and again.

THOOM! THOOM! THOOM!

Each strike sent her royal mana shuddering deep into the wood, cracking the bark from the inside out.

A branch whipped around behind her, and she spun and blocked it with both forearms.

The hit sent her skidding six feet back across the stone with sparks flying off her bracers.

SKRRRRRRK!

She shook her arms out, gritted her teeth and charged right back in.

’Come on... come on...!’ Aki thought, sweat stinging her eyes. ’Break!’

...But no matter how hard she hit, the hundred-foot monster barely swayed then a root burst up out of the stone right behind her.

KRAAACK!

It whipped around her waist before she could move, yanked her off her feet and slammed her down into the rock.

WHAM!

The air blew out of her lungs.

The root lifted her again and swung her toward the trunk, where the jagged crack of the tree’s face had opened wide, and Aki saw its rows of splintered wooden teeth coming at her.

’No—!’

FWOOOOSH!

A burning cutlass sliced through the root an inch from her stomach. Elowynn caught her by the arm, yanked her out of the air and dragged her back across the stone as the tree’s jaws snapped shut on nothing.

KRUNCH!

"You okay?!" Elowynn gasped.

"I’m fine!" Aki wheezed while coughing.

She wiped the blood off her lip with the back of her bracer and pushed herself back to her feet. "I’m fine. It’s just... too big. We can’t break through fast enough."

Plus it was too big for her to use Destruction... Maybe if she had a weapon that could withstand Destruction?

The tree’s face twisted toward them, and its red glow pulsed brighter.

Up on the ridge, Silas watched it all with his eyes narrowed.

The gold ring around his pupils lit up, and he looked down at the tall crimson-haired demon standing on the ledge below him.

"Morrighan," Silas said, his deep voice cutting through the roar of the fight. "Take it down... I know you can."

Morrighan’s molten gold eyes blazed.

"As you wish, Lord Silas," Morrighan said quietly.

Behind her, her tail wagged once.

’Mark of the Abyss!’

A dark crimson sigil formed over her palm, and she flicked it straight at the tree.

It hit the black bark and burned itself into the wood right over the glowing red crack where the core was hiding, pulsing like an open wound.

SSSSSSSST!

’Demon’s Resolve!’

FWHUMMMMMMMP!

A crimson-and-black aura exploded off her body like a bonfire catching oil and wrapped her in a storm of brimstone and blood-red mana.

Her horns blazed with a blinding abyssal light, and the stone under her boots melted into bubbling slag as her strength doubled, her speed doubled and the air around her rippled with heat.

She launched herself off the ledge.

BOOOOOOOM!

She crossed fifty yards of shattered stone in a single leap that tore a trench through the air behind her.

On the way down, she passed right over Aki and Elowynn, and the wind of her passing nearly knocked them both flat.

"Get back," Morrighan said as she went by.

...They got back.

The Blightheart Elder saw her coming as every branch it had... came swinging around at once to swat her out of the sky.

WHOOOOSH! WHOOOOSH! WHOOOOSH!

Morrighan kept coming.

She caught the first branch on her forearm and shattered it, she twisted in midair and let the second one sail over her back while her tail lashed out and split the third one in half.

KRAK! WHOOSH! SHRRRK!

The fourth one came right at her chest. She grabbed it with both hands, swung herself around it like a pole and threw herself even faster toward the trunk.

The tree’s face opened wide and screamed at her.

SKREEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

Morrighan dropped right in front of it with her spiked mythril gauntlet pulled all the way back.

Every ounce of her demonic strength poured down her arm and into her knuckles... Black hellfire and boiling brimstone roared to life around her fist and swirled into a churning vortex that stank of volcanic ash.

"BRIMSTONE PUNCH!"

She threw it with everything she had and drove her fist straight into the mark on its trunk.

KRAKA-BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

The blast tore through the bowl like an exploding star.

The black bark that was harder than steel shattered into millions of shards.

With the mark burning in it, the [Heartwood Armor] gave way like glass, and her fist punched three feet deep into the trunk and slammed dead center into the pulsing red core.

A blinding shockwave of hellfire burst outward from inside the tree.

KRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAACK!

The whole lower half of the hundred-foot trunk blew apart in an expanding dome of fire and splinters.

Chunks of black wood as big as wagons went flying into the sky, and the monster groaned as most of its body was blasted into smoking cinders.

Its huge crown tilted, swayed and came crashing down sideways into the mud.

KRASSSSSHHHHHHH!

Morrighan landed in a crouch in the middle of the burning wreckage. Smoke curled off her gauntlet, and her aura flickered and faded as [Demon’s Resolve] wore off.

She was breathing hard with her shoulders rising and falling, but her face was as calm as ever.

Her tail was wagging like crazy though.

"Hehehehe~ I did it~"

But even with its trunk shredded and its crown on the ground, the thing wasn’t completely dead.

Down in the smoking crater where its roots met the earth, a fist-sized chunk of the red core was still glowing with a dim stubborn light.

SHLURRRRRP!

The roots around it started writhing frantically, sucking up the last puddles of sap from the dirt as the core tried to use [Sap Regeneration] to grow itself back.

A shadow fell over it.

Aki stood at the edge of the crater with her blue hair blowing in the hot wind and her chest rising and falling under her breastplate.

She looked down at the twitching little chunk of core and the roots squirming around it as she raised her right hand and opened her palm toward it.

A small deep-purple flame flickered to life in her hand, no bigger than a candle... It gave off no heat and Aki flicked it down into the crater.

The purple flame drifted down onto the core like a falling leaf and touched it.

"Destruction."

...The core, the roots around it and the sap in the mud stopped existing.

There wasn’t a sound.

One moment they were there, and the next moment there was only an empty patch of dirt where they’d been.

Aki blinked at it.

"...Huh," Aki said. "That was easy."

Then a pillar of golden light came down out of the sky and swallowed her whole.

DING! DING! DING! DING! DING!

[Tier 4 Boss Defeated: Blightheart Elder]

[Level Up!]

[Level Up!]

[Level Up!]

[Level Up!]

[Level Up!]

[Level Up!]

[Level Up!]

"Wh-wha—?!" Aki yelped, flailing her arms as the golden light lifted her an inch off the ground. "What’s happening?! Silas! SILAS, I’M FLOATING...!"

A thick swirling stream of golden motes poured into her chest, filling her drained mana back up, stretching her limits and settling deep into her bones.

Her skin glowed, and her blue hair shimmered like spun silk in the sunlight pouring through the hole where the tree’s crown had been then the light let go, and Aki dropped back down onto her feet with a little bump.

THUMP!

She stood there blinking, feeling stronger and lighter than she had ever felt in her life.

Up on the ridge, Elowynn let out a long breathless whistle, and the Shieldmaidens threw their swords up into the air with wild victorious roars.

"WE WON!"

"LADY AKI! LADY AKI!"

Aki took a shaky breath and looked over at Morrighan.

"You did all the work," she said weakly. "I just... finished it."

Morrighan looked at her for a long moment.

"Yes." Morrighan said.

Her tail wagged.

Aki laughed through her disbelief, raised her right hand and swiped two trembling fingers through the air.

PING!

The golden Lord Leaderboard appeared in front of her, glowing brighter than ever.

The names shuffled with dizzying speed as the numbers climbed and climbed before they finally locked into place with a ringing chime.

[Rank 2: Aki’s Wonderland — Lady Aki]

[Territory Score: 5,200 Points]

Aki stared at the number two glowing in pure gold on the board.

She stared at it some more before closing the board... Aki opened it again and it still said two.

"Silas," Aki said in a very small calm voice. "Silas, come here."

Silas walked down to her. "What is it?"

"Read that for me," Aki said, pointing. "Out loud... Because I think I’m hallucinating."

"Rank two," Silas read. "Aki’s Wonderland with fifty-two hundred points."

Aki made a noise like a teakettle.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

She threw herself at him so hard that he actually had to take a step back to catch her, she wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist as they squeezed him like she was trying to crush him.

"WE DID IT! WE DID IT! RANK TWO! SILAS, RANK TWO!"

"Okay, okay!" Silas laughed, staggering as she bounced up and down on him. "I hear you! Everyone in Vineworld hears you!"

Behind them, every girl in the group burst into cheers. Even Ther’Abella clapped, very quietly, while pretending she wasn’t.

Aki finally slid back down onto her feet, her face bright red and her eyes shining with happy tears.

The goal that had kept her up at night was finally hers.

She turned around and looked at all of them, the girls from Blessed Land and the girls from her own territory, every one of them covered in mud and sap and smiling at her.

She wiped a tear off her cheek and smiled back.

"Why don’t we go home...?"