Facing the monsters lunging at him from all directions, Po Kong didn't resort to his previous tactics. Instead, he charged into the fray with a series of strange, rhythmic steps.
With every stride he took, the ground beneath him shattered. Propelled by this immense force, Po Kong’s speed increased until he was a blur; the writhing bodies of the monsters couldn't even graze him.
Every charge Po Kong made claimed the life of a monster. Their defeat was now a foregone conclusion.
Watching from the side to provide support, Starlight saw that Po Kong was going all out and didn't need any help, so he turned his attention to the other side of the room.
From the moment they had entered this massive chamber, he had noticed movement behind the mountain of corpses. However, between the howling wind from the ceiling pipes and the sudden monster ambush, he hadn't had a moment to focus on it.
Now that Po Kong was suppressing all the monsters single-handedly, Starlight could finally calm his mind and carefully sense the surroundings.
If he wasn't mistaken, another battle was taking place on the other side of the bone pile, and the commotion there was far more intense than their own.
While Starlight wasn't yet sure of the specifics, he was certain that the person who had summoned the two treants to block the entrance was definitely over there.
In the time it took him to look around, the dozen or so centipede-like monsters had been mostly cleared out by Po Kong. The remaining two had already been backed into a corner.
With a clean, decisive thrust, Po Kong pinned the last monster to the floor with his longsword before landing back at Starlight’s side.
That burst of fierce aggression seemed to have taken a toll on Po Kong, as he spoke while breathing heavily.
“Whew... I guess I was a little too impulsive. You noticed the noise over there too, right? I think things would get a lot more interesting if we joined that fight.”
“Stop with the sarcasm. Honestly, do you need to rest? Or are we heading straight over?” Starlight asked softly, looking at him with a hint of helplessness.
Po Kong waved his hand dismissively, a smile playing on his lips. “That little bit of exercise isn't enough to need a rest. Besides, we’re running out of time, aren't we?”
Although Starlight had already estimated the scale of the battle at the other end of the room, the sight that met his eyes when they rounded the chilling mountain of bones still sent a shock through him.
Deep within the room stood a towering altar constructed from countless white bones. Even from a distance, the two could clearly see a red figure suspended silently in the pale space above the altar.
All around, massive amounts of blood energy and dark elements were being pulled by an invisible hand, converging toward the figure and forming swirling vortexes of black and red at its sides.
In stark contrast to the motionless figure, a massive battle was raging at the base of the altar.
Thousands of skeleton soldiers surged toward the base of the altar like a tidal wave. Interspersed among them were the human puppets and centipede monsters they had encountered before, together weaving a massive web of encirclement.
These hideous monsters seemed to be consciously guarding the altar, acting like loyal sentinels protecting a supreme throne.
In the very center of the battlefield, four burly treants stood tall. Their massive frames looked particularly striking in the room, standing out like cranes among a flock of chickens.
Compared to the two treants Starlight had seen on the floor above, these four displayed an even more incredible flexibility.
Their movements were fluid and natural, and their forms were more humanoid, exhibiting a level of grace and power they hadn't seen before.
Facing the tide of the monster army, the four treants stood back-to-back, forming an impregnable defensive line.
Their thick arms and long legs acted like war hammers and massive pillars, constantly sending skeleton soldiers flying or crushing them into dust.
Behind the solid wall of the treants, two slender figures were fighting with everything they had. Brilliant bursts of red and pale green light erupted from their hands, accurately striking the more prominent monsters.
Even the human puppets with their iron-like bodies and the centipede monsters covered in thick scales could not withstand the piercing red light.
As the red light punctured their bodies, the pale green light followed immediately after like a sharp shredder, tearing the wounds apart and completely extinguishing their life force.
However, their combined offensive still couldn't fully halt the fearless charge of the undead. Quite a few skeleton soldiers had already reached the treants, hacking at their legs with their weapons.
The battlefield was currently in a stalemate. Although the two women had temporarily stabilized their position behind the treants' defensive line, it was only a matter of time before the terrifying number of monsters exhausted their strength.
“Moen?! The two women that merchant mentioned really were them! Those two treants from before were her handiwork too!”
Starlight couldn't help but cry out in shock when he recognized the two figures. Just as he had suspected, they had indeed appeared here and were trapped in such a perilous situation.
“Po Kong, go help them...”
Before Starlight could even finish his sentence, Po Kong had already transformed into a pale yellow meteor, slamming into the monster horde and forcibly tearing a massive gap in their ranks.
The mindless skeleton soldiers had been focused entirely on the two women in the center of the circle, completely unaware of the threat behind them.
Po Kong mowed down the skeletons like he was harvesting wheat, toppling rows of them in an instant. He only slowed down when several human puppets finally reacted and blocked his path.
The dense grouping of the monsters provided the perfect opportunity for Starlight. For a mage, this was the kind of situation they dreamed of.
He didn't even need to aim; he just had to track Po Kong’s position and then unleash saturated attacks everywhere else.
One searing fireball after another rose around him, quickly taking shape in the air before being precisely commanded to fly into the monster clusters.
Splendid flame flowers bloomed within the horde, blowing the monsters off their feet and sending wails of agony echoing through the room.
The two besieged women immediately noticed the commotion and, amidst their surprise, understood the pair's intentions.
Even though Starlight and Po Kong had torn through the encirclement in an instant, the loss was a mere drop in the bucket compared to the thousands of monsters present.
The two women were currently in a predicament where they couldn't easily counterattack. While the summoned treants could damage the skeletons, the truly threatening enemies like the human puppets still required their personal intervention.
Furthermore, neither of them possessed large-scale destructive techniques. Trying to clear the monsters one by one was a fool's errand; even if they had the stamina, the figure floating above the altar wouldn't give them the chance.
However, the arrival of Starlight and his companion perfectly filled their lack of damage output. As long as the four of them could regroup, they could use the treants' sturdy defense to transition from defense to offense and completely turn the tide.
Within just a few breaths, Po Kong used the light element enchantment on his weapons to sweep away the monsters blocking his path. Starlight followed closely behind, moving quickly through the channel he had cleared with his magic.
Although this newly opened path was temporarily empty, the vacancy was being filled at an alarming rate by the relentless skeleton soldiers.
They quickened their pace in unison, reaching the massive frames of the treants before the skeletons could close the gap again. The treants didn't attack them; instead, they shifted slightly to let them through a narrow opening.
Without hesitation, they hurried through the gap to the space behind the treants.
“Tch... Why is it you, you libertine! Sister, why did you let them in?!” After seeing their faces, the brown-haired elf girl’s expression shifted to surprise before she let out a cold snort, her sharp eyes darting warily toward Po Kong.
“Huh? Libertine? Are you talking to me? Please! We’re here to help, alright!” The smile on Po Kong’s face froze instantly, and he blinked, looking quite innocent.
Rate on N.U.
