Chương 84: A Crushing Defeat

"GRAAAAHHH!!!" Caught in the blazing inferno, the treant lord let out a miserable howl. The two eerie green lights embedded within its trunk thrashed violently inside the flames, struggling desperately. The treant lord swung its branches wildly, striking everything around it in a frantic attempt to escape. But it was already too late. Flame Breath tore through its outer layers in moments, exposing the magic core hidden deep within its massive trunk.

With one final, agonized shriek, all of its movements abruptly stopped. The treant lord collapsed into the raging flames, its enormous body turning into charred black wood. Treant Lord — Destroyed. A gust of wind swept through the battlefield, carrying countless gray-black ashes into the sky.

"Whew..." Only then did Zelier stop channeling Flame Breath and release the spell. Done. He instinctively focused his mind and checked his status panel. His brows immediately furrowed. Lv. 8 (55/275) → Lv. 8 (207/275) The treants and the treant lord he had defeated together had only provided him with 152 experience. Still not enough to level up. The battle had already entered its final stage. With the treant lord gone, the remaining treants lost their commands. Their movements became sluggish and disorganized.

Combined with the flames Zelier had spread earlier, their resistance had nearly collapsed. Some had their branches burned through completely and toppled over, their massive bodies crashing into the forest floor. Their deaths were only a matter of time. Grey swung his sword once, shaking off the debris, and prepared to finish off the remaining wooden monsters. However, before he could take another step, several completely different spells shot past him first.

A razor-sharp Wind Blade sliced cleanly through the roots of a treant that was struggling to rise again. Immediately afterward— An Ice Lance crashed into its unstable core. Boom! The remaining life force inside the treant shattered instantly. Grey turned around in confusion. Zelier was still casting. With calm precision, he eliminated every remaining treant that was still moving.

"Hey, Zelier..." Grey looked at the scattered remains across the battlefield, clearly puzzled. Stolen story; please report.

"You know, you don't have to waste your precious mana on cleanup work. Leave this stuff to us."

"It's fine." Zelier lowered his Ashwood Staff and answered casually, without the slightest change in expression.

"I just happened to use this chance to practice transitioning between different spells. Consider it combat training." After finishing off the remaining treants, Zelier glanced at his status panel again. Lv. 8 (207/275) → Lv. 8 (247/275) Still short. Sigh... Zelier silently sighed inwardly. Looks like leveling up today isn't happening. He would need one more mission. The battle in the forest clearing finally ended, and silence returned to the area. The battlefield itself was a complete mess.

Broken branches littered the ground, mixed with scattered chunks of blackened wood. The air was thick with the smell of burnt charcoal.

"Finally over..." Marcus leaned on his battle-blade, breathing heavily.

"They're only Easy-ranked monsters, but these treants are way more troublesome than goblins." Grey dropped onto the ground without hesitation, lying flat against the forest floor.

"Shouldn't we deal with those flames?" Vaelis pointed toward several burning tree remains in the distance, smoke still rising into the sky.

"If we leave them alone, the fire could spread."

"That's easy enough." Zelier raised his Ashwood Staff. After a brief channel, he released several Water Orbs, each one flying precisely toward the burning remains. Boom! Boom! Boom! The water spheres exploded upon impact, releasing clouds of steam and ash. The flames were quickly brought under control. After a short rest, the team began handling the aftermath. Gark and Grey went around inspecting the nearby forest to make sure no other trees had been infected and transformed into treants.

Marcus and Vaelis started cutting apart the treant remains, extracting their magic cores one by one. The magic cores of ordinary treants were about half the size of a fist. They were irregularly shaped, with wooden patterns resembling tree rings covering their surface. The treant lord's core was smaller, smoother, and completely different. It had a vibrant emerald color, and even holding it in his hand, Zelier could feel the dense vitality contained within. A short while later, Grey returned and reported.

"We checked everything. The surrounding trees are normal. No signs of infection or transformation."

"Good." Marcus nodded. The extraction of the magic cores was also nearly complete. Their harvest had exceeded expectations. Because treant and treant lord cores contained such concentrated life energy, they were worth more than cores from other monsters of the same rank. A normal treant core could sell for around ten silver coins. A treant lord core was worth roughly eight gold coins. After packing everything away, the team began their journey back. Everyone was in high spirits. Another profitable mission.

However, while passing through a section of the forest, Vaelis' ears suddenly twitched. He stopped. His gaze turned toward the direction behind them.

"Wait... something's wrong." Caden felt like his lungs were about to burst. He sprinted through the forest like a cornered animal, stumbling forward without direction. He didn't even care about the thorns tearing across his skin, leaving fresh bloody scratches behind. His leather armor was battered and torn. A massive hole had been ripped open across his chest, the edges stained with dried, blackened blood. He didn't dare look back.

Even though his breathing was ragged and his legs were beginning to fail, he refused to stop for even a second. The image of that monster remained burned into his mind. Every time he remembered its savage, horrifying appearance, his heartbeat accelerated uncontrollably. His companions' screams. Their terrified expressions. The despair in their eyes moments before death. Those memories clung to him like a nightmare. All he wanted was to run. Run as far away as possible. This place... This place was hell.

Then suddenly— The light ahead became brighter. The endless, dangerous forest finally began to thin. Hope ignited in Caden's heart. He forced every last bit of strength into his legs and accelerated, bursting through the thick bushes ahead. The moment he emerged, exhaustion finally overwhelmed him. His body lost balance. Thud! He crashed heavily onto the ground. The rough gravel tore into his palms, drawing blood. But before he could even push himself up, a cold voice rang beside his ear.

"Don't move." Caden lifted his head in confusion. A cold, stern face entered his vision. The person in front of him already had a bow drawn, the arrow aimed directly at him. Faint sparks of lightning flickered along the arrowhead. Seeing that only one person had emerged from the bushes, and that he posed no immediate threat, Zelier relaxed slightly and canceled the Wind Blade he had been preparing.

Ever since the incident with Drake's party, Zelier had remained extremely cautious about every unusual sound in the wilderness. The young man before him looked to be around seventeen or eighteen years old. From his equipment, it was obvious he was an adventurer. But his terrified expression, blood-covered face, muddy clothes, and shattered leather armor all told the same story. This person had just suffered a crushing defeat.