Chương 28

Oliver lunged to the side to put some distance between himself and the demonic tree. He activated his shadow slink skill in an attempt to slip away. Sadly the evil blood tree ignored his stealth ability and rewarded his endeavor with a barrage of spear-like wooden roots tearing through the soil at his feet, threatening to skewer him. Oliver deflected one of the sharpened roots with his shovel and pulled out his pistol. He swiftly aimed it at the trunk of the blood tree.

Then he paused, his finger hovering over the trigger. His pistol would create noise. And noise attracted attention. Something he desperately wanted to avoid at this very moment. The last thing he wanted was a score of vampires to descend on his location. Instead, Oliver smoothly reholstered the pistol and threw out a handful of salt, in hopes that it might act as a buffer. Sadly, the tree didn't even seem to notice the minerals scattered across the ground at the base of its trunk.

If the salt dealt any damage to the monster, it wasn't notable enough to even slow its assault. More roots attempted to spear him while others snaked around his feet in an attempt to grapple and trip up his legs. While the salt seemed to do very little, his silver shovel remained reliable. He chopped down at one of the roots and severed it, then sliced through another. The gashes he left in the wood hissed and curls of white steam left the wooden wounds.

"Shovels," Oliver muttered to himself as he dodged a flailing branch.

"The arch nemesis of all plants. I need only to uproot you." As if the tree heard his threat, it pulled back for a second. Oliver took a deep breath and debated making a break for it now. But then, as if flexing, the blood tree's insides popped and the scarlet veins on the bark bulged, the red liquid within threatening to burst free. Oliver steadied his stance, readying himself for whatever attack the tree planned to pull out next. He carefully watched as the tree cracked and twisted.

Even still, he wasn't prepared for the tree to raise itself up on its roots, and uproot itself from the soil. It towered over him, height nearly doubled as it stood on its tangle of roots. His earlier threat to uproot the monstrous plant felt a bit sillier now. Then it charged at him, the roots tumbling forward in an efficient jumble to carry the tree in his direction at a terrifying speed. Oliver rapidly took stock of his current options. He strongly debated shooting the tree and retreating from the castle.

He could come back later. But there was no guarantee his bullet would even deal significant damage to something like a tree. And then there was his quest to consider. He might fail it completely if he fled now. That meant forfeiting the reward. No. Set in his resolve, he would stand and fight this monster. Rather than dodge or attempt to put distance between them, Oliver lunged forward with his shovel in hand.

He trusted in his Resilience stat to keep him from breaking bones as he plunged the shovel straight into the trunk of the tree dead-on. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. He smashed into the tree, the blade of his shovel piercing into a scarlet vein. The wind knocked from his lungs for a second, he gasped in pain. Still, his body held together with merely bruises while an average human would have been pulverized.

Oliver pressed a foot against the trunk and ripped his shovel out of the monstrous plant as he stumbled to the side. The tree's momentum carried it further, beyond where he fell. It smashed through the garden's flowerbeds and bushes in its trajectory, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake. After a few seconds, the tree slowed and turned. It lacked a distinct face, but Oliver still got the impression the bark glared at him. He spotted the gash in its trunk from his earlier attack.

It steamed from earlier contact with the silver of his shovel. His counter attack hadn't quite been enough to pierce through to the vein underneath. It still pumped that scarlet juice throughout the tree. Still, his shovel had left its mark. While powerful, heavy, and with dangerous roots that could likely pierce even metal plating, the tree lacked finesse or control over its power. Good. Oliver could definitely use that to his advantage. He raised his shovel high and flicked a wedge of splinters off the blade.

"Want to try that again?" he taunted it.

"You're not just slow, but weak and clumsy. Was that truly the best charge you can muster?" The blood tree clearly had some means of hearing him, despite lacking ears. The branches shook in fury at his words. Then it charged at him once again. Oliver couldn't believe his luck. It seemed to truly be attempting the exact same rush attack a second time despite failing the first time. He supposed that vegetation wasn't usually known for high intelligence. Sadly for it, Oliver wasn't planning to copy his charge.

While he did dash forward a few steps, he then threw himself to the side while he swiped at the monstrous tree. Not a blind plunge into its trunk like before. This time he aimed for the largest visible vein that pumped red liquid. His shovel's blade tore through the bark and sliced into the vein. A spray of thick, gelatinous blood spewed out, coating the nearby area in red sludge. Sadly for Oliver, it turned out the tree wasn't as brainless as he assumed.

Just as he had put into action a new strategy, while pretending to attempt the same charge, so too did the tree pull out a new trick of its own. This time, as he sliced into it, the roots stretched up and wrapped around his calves. The tips of the roots burrowed into his flesh like hookworms. He barely held onto his shovel as the blood tree ripped him down, dragging him under its weight. This time Oliver was confident bones did break as the full weight of the tree bore down on his body.

The only saving grace was that the wound he inflicted to the vein dealt enough damage to knock the tree off-balance. It teetered back and forth and, in the moment of relief, Oliver managed to roll out from beneath the roots. As he rolled, his ribs flared in pain. Definitely a few cracked bones. But at least he retained mobility. The moment he slipped free, Oliver swung his shovel down again at the tree. Without another vein within range, he chopped down on the closest root, severing it from the main tree.

It writhed on the soil like a snake in death throws, steam rising in coils from its severed end. Oliver scrambled to his feet then kicked the severed root to the side.

"Want to try that again?" Oliver spat.

"One more time to decide this fight once and for all?" The blood tree shuddered. The broken vein oozed scarlet blood rather than spraying it out as it had earlier. Its roots carried it a bit closer, as if tempted by the offer. Oliver readied his stance once again. Then the tree fled. It trampled through the gardens as it attempted to get as far away from Oliver as possible. Oliver blinked.

"Wait! Come back!" He sprinted after the tree, but it was far faster than him. At this rate, if the noise and damage from the battle hadn't already, the bleeding tree would doubtlessly alert the vampires that something was wrong. There was no getting around it anymore. He'd barely even stepped foot in on the castle grounds and his cover was already blown. Out of options and without anything to lose, Oliver drew his blunderbuss and took aim. BANG!