Chapter 872 The Druids Arrive
Chapter 872 The Druids Arrive
-----
Once the two talking animals arrived, the eagle instantly took care of the bear, while the squirrel hit the ground, touching it with his tiny hands. A Domain of Nature was generated, much weaker than anything Elayne could make, but that still contained strong healing and purifying abilities.
FLAAASH!
Vines wrapped around the black wooden spears, stopping them from impaling Monica after piercing one of her legs. The purifying and healing light of the Domain of Nature healed her wounds slowly, and the same with Elena. The rot spreading dissipated barely.
"Are you kids alright?! Jose and Janny got here super-fast! I don't know how they do it, seeing how old they are!" Sighed the talking squirrel which was in fact the size of an actual tiny squirrel. Elena was reminded of Acorn after seeing him talk.
"A talking squirrel…" Monica muttered. "W-Who are you?"
"Ah, that doesn't really matter now…" The squirrel sighed, looking into the skies. They had entered into the building through a hole the turtle had made once it landed. "Looks like the normal way out is blocked by a seriously suspicious guy! Dammit. A demon from all things?! I always thought Blighters were the worst, but this is just in another level! Why are they allying demons now?!"
"ROAR!"
Before he could continue his ramblings, a dozen bone beasts brought by Elisa and Steiner running back to them emerged, the squirrel had little time to deal with them. His Domain quickly grew vines and roots, stopping their movements.
"There's too many damn Undead everywhere…" He sighed. "That's a Gate, right? How do we close those?"
"I-I have no idea…" Monica sighed. "I do remember that… Ah, I think if we beat the Boss!"
"The Boss?!" The squirrel clicked his tongue. "What's this, a videogame?!"
"K-Kind of…" Monica said. "It does come from a videogame-like world…"
"What? Are you okay in the head, girl? Just sit still, I'll handle the Undead on this side." The squirrel looked at the bear.
"RAAARR!"
He was constantly clashing against the two-meter-large hawk, which was one of their newest recruits in the Druid Society formed in this city. Despite being rather young, even younger than the squirrel, he battled very well was brimming with potential.
"You two escape, go to the damn squirrel, he's an expert at keeping people safe." The giant hawk roared, his talons slashing at the bear while his wings released gusts of winds.
"O-Okay!"
"A talking hawk… What's next?"
Elena dragged the speechless Anna with her, as she regrouped with Monica, Elisa, and Steiner. The squirrel nodded, quickly summoning a barrier of wood around them, keeping them safe.
"That should do it… Ah, the other people, right. Now this is getting complicated." The squirrel sighed. "But I can't leave you here…"
"A mere wooden barrier will NOT stop me!"
However, before he could make up his mind, the bear leaped into the barrier and started tearing it apart. The squirrel panicked, constantly forcing the barrier of wood to regenerate spikes of wood surging from it and piercing his body.
CLASH! CLASH! CLASH!
"RAAAH!"
However, the bear felt no pain, the Armor of Bones covering his body was very strong. One of the powerful "Abilities" that the Goddess Kalma granted to him through her blessings. Old Gods in this world used to be rather weak, but since the Awakening that the surge of Mana has made many of them become much more active. And their Blessings now worked in many more ways.
The Abilities that hunters awakened… Gods could replicate them through their Blessings. These old, forgotten Gods that were still trying to exist within their confined realms, now found a perfect way to continue spreading their name.
The Blighters, abandoned Druids who had broken their Nature Soul and had their Domains destroyed by disasters or the hand of the mortals, were just the people Kalma, an Finnish Goddess of Decay that had kept herself alive through hundreds of years needed to spread her word.
And when the voice of a Demon King from another world with a strong affinity with her offered her a pact of cooperation, she couldn't resist.
"By the Lady of Decay, we shall bring her your corpses and souls!"
The bear overflowed with a black aura, his claws completely shattered the wooden barrier, large pieces of wood flew everywhere. The shockwave of his attack alone sent everyone flying away. The hawk tried to stop him, but his armor was too tough for his talons or winds.
CRAAASH!
"You bastard, stop!"
The hawk opened his jaws, breathing in environment mana and then releasing it as a super sonic wave of winds, clashing into the bear's back and slightly cracking the bone armor behind him. The Undead Bear rolled over the ground, feeling more and more tired after Monica's curse ate a third of his soul… He needed nourishment, to destroy Nature to regain more power.
Blighters were the opposite of Druids! While Druids required to nourish Nature and form a Domain to grow stronger in this world, Blighters were corrupted Druids that gained magic power by destroying Nature. The richer and more beautiful it was, the better.
However, with Kalma, the Lady of Decay and Putrefaction's blessing, their powers had evolved as well to be much more useful.
"My dear companion. Do not worry, your death will not be wasted. Your body and soul shall nourish a new life! The cycle of life includes death, and so, decay and putrefaction shall bring more life!" The bear conjured a ritual with his blood, a magic circle opened right around the corpse of the wolf, fusing with it all his magic power.
FLAAASH!
"W-What is he doing now?!" Elena asked, shocked.
"Dammit, since when could Blighters do this?!" Asked the squirrel. "Did they steal the knowledge of the Fungal Druid Circle?!"
The wolf's corpse was riddled with countless spores, fungus grew over it and transformed it, fusing with the entire corpse. It suddenly grew four times as big, reaching six meters of height, headless, and covered with fungus all the way to the tail, emanating an aura of poisonous green fog…
"Rise! Agent of Decay!" Laughed the bear.
"GROOOHHH…!"
With a deafening and soulless roar, the giant abomination rushed towards them!
-----