Chương 145: Benjamin, Part 1

As arrogant as I wanted to be fighting three Fathers and a pack of wooden wolves, even I had to recognize this wasn't going to be easy. Two of the Fathers were ranged attackers. The third one was not only fast, but the most durable one I'd encountered short of Gleditsia. And those wolves were fast enough to chase Jairo. I'd fought them all. They knew my strategies and my tactics. I'd defaulted to pouncing in and using Shivvy for defense so often that I knew their tactics would reflect that.

They weren't going to let me act on those plans. But that meant there was a method I could follow. I had to act based on them thinking I was going to go forward. Crouching down like I was ready to lunge, they almost all immediately reacted how I wanted to. The wolves pouncing and Assacu and Socratea raising their weapons. But when my legs extended, I didn't send myself towards any of them. I went straight up.

A gunshot and a blast from one of Assacu's bombs rang out in the air as the wolves all crashed into each other. Quercus hadn't moved. That's okay. I was only on step one. Step two had its own problems I needed to figure out while I could still think about it. In midair, I couldn't dodge. I could slow my descent if I really focused on it, maybe capitalize on them leading their shots. But a bullet flies so much faster than whatever I could describe Assacu's arm-cannons as.

They'd be firing at different rates and times. In theory, Assacu would be aiming lower, since it would take longer to cover the same distance. But then just staying in the air would leave me open to the wolves. Just because they couldn't fly doesn't mean they couldn't jump either. And with how fast they moved, I bet they'd be able to snatch me up like nothing. So I had to slow my descent and at the same time somehow protect my underside. And I'd need to get the Hell out of this spot.

There was no value in fighting just the wolves if I was getting shot at. Wait, no. There was a way Shivvy could help here. I waited until I could see Socratea work the action of her rifle. She was going to be the one to fire second, but Assacu had no real signs of indicating when he'd fire. With her, I could run on memory of how long it took her to line up a shot. Just had to wait a second before focusing entirely on a slower fall. BANG The timing was perfect.

I could see one of Assacu's seed pods flying out under me as well, right before the wolves started pouncing up.

"Shivvy! Wide!" I shouted, pointing down. He seemed to grasp the instruction well enough, flooding out of my suit's collar and expanding out to a wide floor beneath me that the wolves got tangled up in. As I landed on top, I realized now I had a platform for all of maybe a split second before Shivvy would go down with the wolves. Now I could pounce. No good grip and nowhere near enough time to really build up a launch, but it was enough to send me hurtling towards my priority target… Quercus.

While my aim was towards Socratea, I knew Quercus would intercept. That was the most obvious synergy they'd have. He was fast and capable of withstanding so many of my hits that he'd obviously sit back and wait until I got closer to him before he'd get involved. He'd do everything he could to make sure he didn't have to be the one in the fight. Not out of fear, I thought, but because that was just the fastest and cleanest kill they could get. Unfortunately for him, I knew that was coming from a mile away.

As he interceded with the door-sized axe blade as a makeshift shield, I forced myself to move slower and slower. I didn't want to move fast enough to break the axe. At least, not entirely. By making it a much more graceful, light impact, I had an advantage I could take. Digging my fingers into the Wyrdwood haft, I thrust my legs out towards Quercus' arm. I put maybe forty, forty-five percent of what I could consider my strength into it.

Wasn't trying to hold back, just trying to preserve it for when it was time for a real hit. With that much force, I was able to wrench the weapon out of his grasp, and I could use the time falling to reorient it into its proper grip. Never actually swung an axe before, but I had one use for it that mattered. I swept through Socratea's vine legs, clearing them out enough to have her start her descent down to the ground.

With another swing in the opposite direction, I slammed the back of it into her midsection, sending her rolling onto the ground. I avoided a killshot for now to avoid escalation from the others. I wanted to get the most out of any real finishing blow on them. If I took out Socratea now, that'd mean an incensed everyone else. If I took out Socratea and Assacu at the same time, it was an incensed Quercus.

The wolves were always pissed off, but from my periphery I could see that they were still dealing with how Shivvy handles Wyrdwood in general. It was a stalemate. Not the best, but good enough. Meant I could focus on the three Fathers. Socratea would need a second to recover. I needed to start on Assacu. This would prove difficult as he already was leveling his arm at me.

I had to rely on the axe in my hands to serve as a makeshift wall for the blow, but it was so damn long it meant I had to also put it down entirely. But that wasn't necessarily bad. The blade was tall enough to hide my body while I was crouched. That meant there was no knowing my position on his end. Still crouched down, I shoved the axe and sent it careening towards Assacu's right while lunging off to his left. He likely started to reposition the second I was in cover. If he went left, he'd hit the axe.

If he went right, he was going to meet me. As my vision got past the axe, I could see him weaving right where I was going to be landing. Once I got in that position, I could- A yank on my ankle, following up my leg and causing a tweaking in my right hip where it would connect with my thigh. Quercus got a grip of me. I kept failing to account for his speed. Had to just bite the bullet and capitalize on my position. He was hyper extended.

Just had to dig into most of my strength for one quick swing as I whirled around, jutting my other leg out. With the force I was putting in, my heel moved through his forearm like a hot knife through butter. Sort of. A lot of blood and viscera and bone flew out of the limb as I effectively cut off his arm with a kick, and I dropped straight to the ground. Vines were already starting to pour out of the stump. He wasn't going to let me throw away his hand again, as I could tell from him lunging towards it.

So I just focused on making it take as long as possible to heal by raising my foot again and slamming it down on the body part with enough force to splatter it. Like I stomped on a pomegranate. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. As the vines tried reaching into as many individual parts of that destroyed arm, Quercus grabbed one of his horns and tore it free from his head, forming it into an axe he immediately swung at me.

As I tried to back away from the swing, I felt a blast at my back that sent me stumbling forward. It pushed me right into place for the axe to swing for me. Had to focus on that thought of things shattering on impact from a great fall. Just for a second. Just for the shortest possible moment- I felt the weapon crumple against my body, exploding into splinters and loose fibers as it might as well have swung past me.

I reached behind me to grab a portion of the axe's severed head while Quercus' other arm was overextended. Exactly where I needed to put him on hold for a minute. And the means for that was by hurling that axehead right at his extended arm, at the shoulder. With the force of my throw, it cleaved cleanly through flesh and bone and even embedded itself into his ribs.

With the arm severed, I raised both of my own arms and slammed down, smashing the limb into pulp and leaving him stuck with a pair of stumps growing vines. Another blast at my back sent me falling into the mess, though I was able to pull myself back to my feet in time to lean out of the way of the next one. Assacu had no one but himself now. I couldn't leap straight at him. He'd blast me. Grabbing at a loose piece of viscera from Quercus' arm, I threw it at Assacu. Like I expected, his next pod blew it up.

He thought I'd anticipate a dodge for me to chase after, so he stood his ground. Which meant for that split second, I had an opportunity to fling myself at him in that short window, body coiled up like a tight spring with my feet towards him. Inches away from him, I extended my legs with enough force to send him rocketing off. It seemed my aim was slightly off, however, as he instead slammed full force into the ground. If it were anything but dirt beneath our feet, I think he'd have turned into a fine paste.

Instead, his body had embedded itself about half-way into the ground, limbs barely sticking out. Right as I thought I might have been good and early on clearing out both of the lesser Fathers, I could hear the racking of the bolt on Socratea's rifle. Looking over, I could see she had forced her vines into a much higher position, some clinging to the branches of nearby trees as a potential getaway perch. There was no moving before she could shoot. Instead, I put all of my focus into my head, my face, my arms.

I brought them up to cover my neck so that when it came- BANG The concussive force would ring me like a bell, send me back a step, but leave me alive. That was the opening, same as with Assacu. They needed a chance to load another shot, and with her weapon it'd take even longer. I knew if I went straight for her, she'd run. So instead, I launched for the nearby tree that she was dangling from the branch of, slamming my arm into it with enough force to send it tumbling.

From there, as she fell, I lept up to her and stuck my arm out again. It hooked through her midsection as the various brambles tried to coil around and stop me, but there was no keeping up with the momentum I was using. We went through the air through about three, four seconds before her face met the dirt next to Assacu with enough force that her brain was definitely bouncing around in her skull. Likely brain damage. That was fine by me. Wasn't going to be the worst that'd happen to her by the end of the day.

After that, it left just Quercus and I. The vines coming from his arms were configuring themselves into the crude silhouette of arms. Fingers. Though, now I could see how this might make for a bigger problem. Ripping just his arms off was easy. Tearing out every single vine would be the exact same process, individually. That effort would be multiplied into the thousands. Those viney limbs were prying two horns from his head, making a pair of axes far more serrated and uneven-looking than before.

He was getting angry. Good. But those arms healing meant I had to rethink my approach. Going for those full strength swings still left him room to heal. Shivvy couldn't help, as I could see him continuing to struggle with the wolves. The fastest eating thing on the planet fighting the only things that heal fast enough to outlast it. I wondered how Wyrdwood could just keep growing that much, but I didn't have time to dwell on it. His head. Blows for the head were probably the most disabling I could do.

I knew from breaking Gleditsia's neck in our first fight that taking out the head may not necessarily kill, if I just broke his neck. I'd need to take it clean off. Charging would be responded to. He was too fast for an ambush. I'd have to just stand and bang with him. Get him to commit and overextend the same way he did with his arms. That seemed to be his favorite bad habit, and I bet he wasn't expecting I'd go for the head given the other two Fathers were still technically alive.

He probably thinks I'm not lethal yet. Just aggressive. Moving in slowly, I raised my fists. Most generic signal on the planet that I was down for a normal fight instead of any superhuman leaping bullshit. He took the bait, taking two massive strides to reach me before bringing one axe down to my left. He went with one so that he could punish my reaction. Those serrations, now that I thought about it, were likely so he could still injure me even when it shattered off my body.

So I decided to make him be the one to react. I put as much strength into my leg as I could before I raised it and thrust it out towards his knee. At his height, it wasn't really a low kick anymore. But the mechanics were all the same, as I saw it bend backwards and cause him to fall back. That backwards motion brought his upper body up at an angle as he fell back, while my body leaning back from the kick meant the axe flew over my head. Not the time yet for a blow. I'd have to weave through the vines.

Needed his "arms" in a position where they would need too much time to move. That meant the other arm had to lash out first, and it already was coming. This one was swinging down, likely a panic move. Already getting desperate was a good sign. I stepped out of the way for the falling axe, which split the ground into a small ravine and left him fully extended. He leaned forward with his neck out while I was standing at his right flank.

All I had to do was step in, raise and bend my leg, and with a snapping of my shin up- KRRKKK Still bone and flesh and sinew that had to snap and pop in reaction to the impact of my shin crashing through his neck. But I just kept pushing, and pushing, and finally my shin met air again as his head popped off of his body, slowly rolling along the dirt. Silence sat in the air as I tried to steady my breathing. Part of me felt some kind of shame about making him my first real kill-"Hahahaha-" Laughter?

I looked towards Quercus' head, as it matched his voice, but the head lay still. Expressionless.

"Oh, you think I need my head still, boy?" His voice rumbled out from the stump on his head. And not just his voice, as roots and vines shot out like thick tendrils, coiling down to his chest and grabbing the heart from it.

"I've vitality so long as I have this. But clearly, with the Nemean Throne here, it is time for me to truly join her." The roots yanked themselves into the stump, producing a series of horrible crunching sounds before his body let out this sickly groan. More vines. His arms were already re-coalescing into true limbs and not just a series of vines taking their shape, though now they were fully Wyrdwood. The ones sticking out of the stump of his neck reformed into a head no longer human.

It was instead a conal lump of Wyrdwood with a pair of burning coals I assumed were meant to resemble eyes and a series of horns and antlers that kept growing out down his neck, down his back, spanning out almost like wings. As he stood to his feet, laughing more and more, he finally spoke.

"Ah, yes. Now this is what I've needed. And I suppose it would be wrong to fight you alone like this. Let me introduce you to my greatest beast." He looked towards the pile of wolves who seemed to also be amplified by the heart, now out-pacing Shivvy's eating to the point he was starting to shrink.

"Garmr! Kom til mín!" The wolves all looked up from the puddle of Shivvy that managed to seem exhausted despite any lack of coherent body language, and all began rushing towards Quercus. The largest one, Fenrir, came last. As the four smaller ones all collected themselves at once, Fenrir began outright eating and biting away at them, vines and splinters flying and digging into the largest one.

And I saw the beast grow bigger, and bigger, until it was at shoulder level with Quercus, two more Wyrdwood heads extending from either side of it. The antlers and horns growing from Quercus' back kept moving, numerous ones piling around his Wyrdwood arms and forming barbs and spikes and claws, which he raised up to almost inquisitively examine, before looking at me.

"Let us end this."