Stoned
Stoned
Although its flesh was extremely poisonous, and the hallucinations induced by its aura extremely tricky, the Hallucigenia Mortalis still never really dared to go too deep into the core region, and remained mostly in the outer edges of the zone.
After all, even if killing it wasn't beneficial, some stronger beasts might still do it simply due to it encroaching their territory, or maybe even for entertainment.
However, while trying to escape from death, the strange creature didn't care about how deep into the core region it went. Even if it encountered some stronger beast, all the better. It might help take care of the maniac following it with murderous intentions, and it might even have a chance to escape!
Unfortunately, whether it could be considered lucky or not, they really didn't encounter any other beast that could hinder the girl's chase, and while its feeble soul was already teetering on the point of collapse, another attack came — even stronger than the ones before.
The level seventy-five beast didn't even have the time to roar in rage and regret, but someone else did!
It was only when the beast realized that it was still alive that it realized something was wrong. Very wrong!
Evelyn cursed when she saw that the beast she had been so close to killing 'jumped' suddenly, making her arrow miss by a hair's breadth.
However, the enraged, guttural roar that echoed through the forest made her jump back in alarm as Ruru jumped down to activate the [Lotus Throne's Eternal Ripple].
Only then did she realize what had happened.
An enormous beast stood in front of her, looking identical to a tree, with long, swishing branches.
-[Checking Status…]
—Error! The Skill 'Basic Probe' failed: Target level too high!
"As expected…"
With only a fading outline visible even through the Ripple skill, Evelyn could tell that this was an extremely high-level camouflaging opponent.
Its attack when it snatched up the level seventy-five Hallucigenia Mortalis right in front of her eyes while her arrow was still in flight was enough to show Evelyn how ridiculously fast its attacks were. Evelyn hadn't even realized that the beast hadn't jumped on its own and was instead snatched up by this thing's branches!
However… that was only within its own range.
The branches may strike like lightning, but the roots moved at a snail's pace! Well, that wasn't exactly correct, as the beast was able to hobble at a relatively decent pace, the same as a mortal man who wasn't in too much of a hurry.
Thankfully, there had been quite some distance between the Hallucigenia Mortalis and herself, so Evelyn didn't get within this beast's range when it struck. Otherwise, even she might not have been able to escape so easily.
Evelyn tried to scan through the thick branches to see whether the Hallucigenia Mortalis was still alive or if it had been already torn apart… but found another surprise waiting for her.
"Craig and Dane?!"
Of course, since she could see them, they had also long since spotted her.
Professor Dane, in particular, had already heard the sounds of a dispute heading in their direction, and had been excitedly waiting for the long-awaited opportunity.
He thought that it was likely a high-level ranger or even a professor. As long as he played his cards right, with Craig's identity, getting them to help wouldn't be hard at all.
Unfortunately, his joy turned to disbelief when he noticed that the 'high-level ranger' turned out to be a very familiar pink-haired little brat.
Of course, crying for help to her was impossible, and both of them knew it. Not to mention anything else, this girl… definitely didn't have what it took to defeat the 'Tree Demon'. That being said, they also hoped that she would simply step into the tree demon's range while it still lay in ambush. Unfortunately, the girl's luck was too good, and the tree demon too stupid. It revealed itself by attacking right in front of her eyes, while she was still out of its range!
With how slow the tree demon was compared to her, it would be easy for her to escape.
Gritting his teeth, Craig finally made a decision. "Evelyn! You have to help us!"
"Eh? Help you?"
"Yes! You have to stay away from the tree demon, and get someone at least level eighty to come and help us!"
"Craig!"
"Don't worry, professor. Although she may not be on best terms with us, we're still from the same academy. In face of beasts, she wouldn't betray her own kind."
Evelyn rolled her eyes, deciding to ignore their yapping. Anyway, arguing with them would be a waste of time.
"Let's see… this thing should be a little over level eighty? Going by its enraged roar when my fifty soul power arrow hit, it's quite strong, but not invincible for my level. Should still be doable…"
Giving the 'Tree Demon' that was trying to crawl in her direction a pitying look, Evelyn dashed back a few times before charging up her soul arrow again.
Of course, what she aimed at was not the tree demon… but Professor Dane.
With the twang of her bowstring, the arrow whizzed through the air before striking dead center on Dane's forehead, making the man let out an enraged howl as it left a dark purple bruise. "FUCKING TREACHEROUS BRAT! HOW DARE YOU STRIKE AT A TEACHER?!"
Evelyn frowned as she saw how easily her arrow had shattered after striking the man's head. "Talk about being thick-skulled… thankfully, the soul searing arrows will hurt regardless of how thick his skin is, or it might have been really hopeless to get anything done today."
Seeing the girl load up another arrow, not to mention Dane, even Craig almost felt his soul fly away. Seeing the red-haired man howl in pain, the brown-haired boy gulped. "P-Professor, h-how is she able to hurt you like this? Even if the 'Tree Demon' is restraining your spirit power, don't you still have 'Red Dragon Scales' from your cultivation method?"
Of course, how would Dane know? And even if he knew, he was in no mood to answer Craig's question as he felt a pain coming from deep within his body, every time an arrow shattered against his head.
There was a limit to how much soul power a single arrow could carry, even with Evelyn's understanding of searing soul, and after 'wasting' her third arrow on Dane's thick skull, Evelyn couldn't help but frown. "Arrows aren't cheap, and I don't have many of them. I can't waste them all killing this one useless guy."
Dane almost threw up blood in his rage. "YOU BITCH! I'LL HAVE YOUR HEAD!"
Nodding to herself while ignoring the shrieking man, Evelyn picked up a stone from the ground, and infusing it with her soul power, she flung it straight at Dane's nose.
"HOW DARE YOU!"
Of course, her aim with stones wasn't quite as good as her arrows, and combined with the swaying branches of the 'Tree Demon' as it tried to hobble towards her 'while she was distracted', her stones ended up hitting Dane in many different places.
Thankfully, though, they didn't miss, or her soul power would go to waste.
Although the stones could only carry a single point of her soul power, when combined with her spirit sphere, Evelyn was already smacking Dane with almost three to five soul points worth of soul tearing per second.
Continuously moving back from the 'Tree Demon' as it hobbled forward allowed her a constant supply of fresh stones, though sadly not very many. Thankfully, Ruru and Bree were quick on their paws, and happily competed with each other to see who would fetch her the most stones, one at a time, giving her an endless, consistent supply of 'ammo'.
The horrendous screeching from the man had already caused Craig to start clattering his teeth in terror. He'd already been terrified when they had been captured by the 'Tree Demon', but this demonic girl was even worse. Forget about trying to help them, she didn't hesitate at all when aiming for the professor's life when she saw them in a helpless state.
Craig had no delusions about his fate being any different from that of the professor once this girl was done with the man, though perhaps he wouldn't have to suffer so much, given the condition he was already in.
The Terran prince shook his head. 'N-No! I can't give up like this!'
Considering that girl could whittle away at professor Dane's vitality like this, Craig couldn't help but have an insane idea. "EVELYN! Listen to me! I know you must have a vendetta against professor Dane, and I won't get in between the two of you. Your vengeance is yours. However, know that if you can defeat this tree demon, rescue me, or even get someone else to rescue me in time, as the Terran Crown Prince, I promise you… once the Kingdom of Terra takes control over the Lavinian Empire, we shall provide your family with the status of a royal branch!"
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