The rapid drop in the treant's health caused the eye on the giant trunk to suddenly become bloodshot.
The surrounding corpses tangled within the trunk quickly shriveled.
Rotting flesh, broken bones, and shattered armor were all ground into the depths of the tree's body by the roots, bit by bit.
On both sides of the trunk, a large number of ancient roots pulled themselves out of the mud, reassembling like detached ribs, finally condensing into two thick branch arms.
Dead branches drooped from the canopy, intertwining into a ruined crown.
【Contract-Devouring Treant enters phase two】
【Coronation of the Treant King】
【Status: Berserk】
【Reassembling Power Core】
Kolo looked at the thing before her without a shred of fear. Instead, the wild beast instinct hidden in her blood began to boil.
“Now we're talking. That broccoli from earlier wasn't satisfying to chop at all.”
Yu Lingye glanced at her, feeling puzzled.
Was this rabbit starving, or had she gone battle-mad?
The Treant King gave them no further opportunity to speak as the ground bulged.
Dozens of thick roots burst from beneath the decaying leaves, whipping toward the two of them like a swarm of black serpents.
Kolo kicked off with both feet, launching herself forward like an arrow from a bow.
The double-bitted axe spun half a turn in her hand, dark, earthy yellow patterns surfacing on the blades.
The first root crashed down head-on.
Kolo gripped the axe with both hands and sank her body, using the explosive power of her legs to deliver a heavy slash.
【Mighty Weight】
The root was split right down the middle, a massive spray of dark red fluid bursting from the gash.
The second and third roots swept in right behind it.
Kolo flipped forward over the shattered stone slabs, sweeping her axe to knock the two roots off course.
Yu Lingye took the opportunity to pick up Severn's staff from the ground, channeling mana into it to cast 【Purifying Light】.
【Current Mana: 125/140】
The cracked staff trembled slightly, its tip illuminated by holiness, turning into a small, blinding ball of platinum-gold light.
Yu Lingye held the staff in her left hand, her right fingers curling slightly.
【Mastering Truth】 was drawn from her palm, gradually condensing into a slender silver sword.
The berserk Treant King extended its arms, sweeping in from the side. Yu Lingye released Soul Threads to bind the long arms, slowing them down so she could dodge.
She immediately turned back to slash the sword of truth into the outer layer of the roots, then raised the staff in her left hand and shouted:
“Purifying Light.”
The platinum-gold light burned into the crack. A harsh sizzling sound echoed from within the root, followed quickly by a wisp of black smoke.
The Treant King's pupils contracted. It retracted its scorched branches and launched another wave of attacks.
Yu Lingye retreated while looking up to observe the Treant King.
The giant red eye stared at her intently. Inside the hollowed-out crack of the trunk, something was slowly writhing.
Yu Lingye's gaze narrowed as she noticed the surrounding shriveled corpses and roots gathering toward the crack.
A dark red nodule was reforming deep within the trunk.
The Treant King's health bar also began to rise slowly.
【Health: 480/5800】
【Health: 512/5800】
Yu Lingye realized immediately that while the Treant King had lost its ability to delay damage settlement, it was starting to use decayed matter to rebuild its core.
If that new decayed heart was allowed to fully grow, it would completely shred the advantage they had fought so hard to gain.
“Kolo!” she called out. “Don't chop the branches! Aim for the crack in its chest!”
Kolo knocked away a rushing root with her axe, taking a moment to look back:
“Are you sure?”
“Positive! It's growing a new core.”
Kolo's ears perked up, and she gripped her double-bitted axe tighter. “You should've said we were going for the heart earlier. I know the drill.”
As if understanding their words, the Treant King slammed its arms violently against the ground.
Boom!
The ground split open, and black roots squirmed out of the crack in dense clusters like sharp spikes, covering the entire floor.
Yu Lingye looked up, quickly locking onto an intact stone slab eight meters away.
【Skimming Shadow Step】
Her figure blurred, and she instantly vanished from her spot, evading the ground attack.
The moment she landed, Yu Lingye's mind raced.
This treant's defense was too strong; Kolo couldn't get close at all.
The damage dealt by attacking the branches was limited and couldn't keep up with the Treant King's regeneration speed.
To turn the tide, they had to strike the core inside the crack.
Yu Lingye stood up and pointed her staff at the crack in the trunk where energy was gathering. Mana compressed along the tip of the staff into an extremely bright spike of light.
【Fading Radiance Spike】
【Locked onto target's low-defense area】
【Bonus damage against Decayed targets】
The platinum-gold light spike condensed at the tip of the staff. With a sharp wave from Yu Lingye, the spike shot through the air, heading straight for the decaying core the Treant King was forming.
The Treant King seemed to sense the danger.
The branches on both sides of the trunk intertwined frantically, weaving a thick wall of wood in front of its core.
Yu Lingye hadn't expected the Treant King's reflexes to be so fast. Just as the attack was about to be blocked by the wall of branches, a sudden shout rang out from midair.
“What are you trying to block!”
Kolo leaped from a nearby root, her long ears pressed slightly against the back of her head. Raising her double-bitted axe over her head, she spun in midair and slashed down with immense force.
【Beast Blood Leap Strike】
Bang!
The wall of branches exploded, and the platinum-gold Fading Radiance Spike pierced through the opening, accurately striking the decaying core inside the Treant King's crack.
A blinding light burst inside the trunk.
The Treant King let out a shrill shriek, its massive body trembling violently, shedding most of its leaves.
【Weakness struck】
【Triggered bonus damage】
【Health: 400/5800】
When Kolo landed, her feet carved two deep tracks into the dirt.
A sharp branch had sliced a bloody gash across her shoulder, but she didn't even look at it, merely shaking her numbed wrists.
Yu Lingye looked at her back and sighed with admiration:
“And here I thought you only knew how to charge blindly. I didn't expect you to be so clever.”
Kolo looked back at her, hoisting the double-bitted axe onto her shoulder and twitching her nose:
“Don't think that just because you complimented me, I'm going to start liking you.”
Yu Lingye stared blankly, then chuckled. “So, does that mean you hate me right now?”
Kolo quickly caught herself, glaring at Yu Lingye with a deliberate scowl:
“If you keep asking these pointless questions, I won't be able to stop myself from chopping you down too.”
Yu Lingye shrugged. “Fine, I won't ask. Right now, the most important thing is to deal with the Treant King.” She looked at the branches growing back around them and frowned slightly,
“Without you, I'd actually be in quite a bit of trouble.”
Kolo snorted and twitched her ears:
“As long as you know.”
That attack had completely enraged the Treant King. Its massive, dark red eye locked onto Yu Lingye, and almost all of its roots turned toward her.
“It's targeting you!” Kolo shouted.
Even without the warning, Yu Lingye could see it.
Roots whipped in from all directions. The range was too wide, leaving her with no safe path of retreat.
She locked onto another landing spot and activated 【Skimming Shadow Step】.
Just as her feet touched the ground, the second wave of attacks caught up to her.
She gritted her teeth and activated it again. The strain from consecutive displacements rapidly weighed down on her legs.
When Yu Lingye landed, her calves felt as heavy as lead, and her muscles throbbed with an uncomfortable soreness.
【Skimming Shadow Step Strain Stacks: 2】
The Treant King gave her no breathing room. A massive wooden palm crashed down from above, blotting out the sky.
Yu Lingye reacted swiftly. A Soul Thread shot from her hand, wrapping around a broken stone pillar in the distance. With a violent tug on the thread, she slid across the ground.
The wooden palm slammed down, smashing a deep crater into the earth.
Shattered stone sprayed against her face, leaving a tiny scratch.
On the other side, Kolo's close-quarters combat wasn't going smoothly either.
For every step forward, she had to chop through three or four branches first. If her speed dropped even slightly, new thin roots would instantly sprout beneath her feet, making them far more troublesome than the ones on the trade route.
During Kolo's third charge, slender twigs wrapped around her ankles, restricting her movement.
She raised her axe to chop one free, only to be bound around her waist, arms, and shoulders by even more branches.
“What a pain!”
She struggled to lift her axe, but the branches seized the opportunity to wrap tighter and tighter, quickly enveloping her in a massive wooden cocoon suspended upside down in the air.
“Kolo!”
Having lost her primary fighter, Yu Lingye's expression darkened. When she looked at the light screen again, the Treant King's health was slowly creeping back up.
If things dragged on like this, not only would the damage they had risked their lives to deal be slowly regenerated...
but Kolo would also be crushed to pieces inside that wooden cocoon, turning into fresh nutrients.
Rate on N.U.
