Unfortunately, the Elder Lich was unable to perform consecutive castings of the spell. She needed time to recharge her mana before she could cast it again, and a vision of failure flashed across her mind—was it all for naught?
“Make that four,” a voice called. A loyal knight in shining armor appeared before his captain.
“You made me worry so much, Marco,” Arshay said, unable to help herself. “We need to talk later.”
“I’m terribly sorry, Lord Arshay. I shall speak with you once this is all over, so I beg for your leniency at this moment.”
However, Marco’s appearance didn’t automatically improve their situation—no, the battlefield soon transformed as well.
The sky shuddered, and Arshay’s purple-tinted magical energy started to waver around the World Tree. The earth began to split, and from the fissures emanated warm breath. The vines that emerged were thicker than the width of Kingsland’s main street, and exponentially longer than a Sea Dragon. Each of the tendrils’ many thorns were larger than a warship, and had a gaping maw at the tip—just like the rose monsters. These darker-than-black roots started popping out one after the other until they had completely surrounded the quartet.
“Looks like the tree’s ready to end this as well,” Ramza observed. A bead of cold sweat ran down his neck.
The fight had gone on for too long, and the tree had matured even more in the meantime. The new vines looked intimidating, enveloped in magic straight from the World Tree. Even Ramza, who’d had the advantage against these vines, and swashbuckling Marco struggled to slice through these woody tendrils.
“Graaaaah!” Ramza shouted as he swung his greatsword.
Despite his best efforts, he was unable to completely sever the vine, with only drops of jade blood trickling out from its wound. The Dullahan was taken aback by the vine’s robust nature. As he peered into the center of the gash, he spotted something he’d never seen before.
“How can you even call this a plant?!” he roared. “I’ve never heard of one with bones in it!”
The vines were actually massive spinal columns with bony and rugged cores. Ordinary bones would’ve been a breeze to deal with, but these enhanced appendages had erupted from the World Tree itself. Hacking through these vines was no longer a trivial task for Ramza.
“Captain!” Marco shouted as he swung at a vine heading towards the Dullahan.
“Thanks!” Ramza replied.
But of course, the tree wasn’t going to attack with just one vine. Just as the vine was being sliced and diced, even more emerged to take its place. Each vine zoomed out of the ground and through the air, ready to attack its enemies from any direction. The quartet had never faced such an insurmountable force before, nor did they have somewhere to flee.
“Each of these vines is stronger than any sea snake,” Ramza grunted.
“‘Sea snake’? Do you mean to speak of the Sea Dragons?” Marco asked. “If so, I wish I hadn’t learned that.”
In Ishtarica, Sea Dragons were seen as walking calamities—national disasters that struck once every two hundred years or so. These monsters would emerge from their slumber and rip the coastline to shreds, taking many innocent lives in the process. Unanimously known as “the King of the Ocean,” these beasts knew no equal. And yet, these vines had been deemed to be even stronger than this royalty.
“This couldn’t be any worse...” Misty muttered as she turned to face Port Roundheart.
“What’s wrong?” Ramza asked.
“Ishtarica will be hit by the shock waves of these attacks if we do not hurry!”
“What?! Our hands are full as it is! Damn it!”
“Very well! Lady Misty, please leave the front line to us!” Marco shouted.
“He’s right. You just focus on casting your spells!” Ramza added.
The Dullahan sliced through a flower that had opened its jaws wide for a hearty bite. As the flower fell to the ground, it wilted away while emitting thick miasma that made Ramza and Misty furrow their brows. But at the same time, he’d discovered a weak point.
“Aim for the face!” Ramza ordered.
“Right! That seems to be the easiest way to beat them!” Marco replied.
Aiming for the face was way faster than trying to cut through the vines’ sturdy bones. Like most other creatures, the head served as a vital structure. With that in mind, the knight could make short work of the vines. They dodged, parried oncoming attacks, and shoved the tips of their blades right into the flowers’ boney maws.
“Guess things won’t go that easily...” Ramza muttered.
A few more fruits dropped from the World Tree’s branches and exploded directly above the knights. A blinding light show filled the air and ripped through the duo’s armor.
“Gah...” Ramza grunted. “I didn’t expect the tree to evolve this rapidly. Misty’s spell will no longer...”
“This is tough...” Marco admitted. “It’s completely different from how it was just a few minutes ago!”
“You guys!” Misty worriedly called out. She tried to reach for them but was abruptly stopped.
“Stand back!” Ramza ordered. “This is a job for the front line!”
“But...”
“Keep building your mana! I’ve got another job for you!”
“Other than building my mana back up?”
“Right! You’ve probably noticed, haven’t you? Even if you use that spell again, it won’t work against such an empowered foe!”
“Then...”
“Just stand back! We’ll prepare the stage, so don’t waste the time you’ve been given.”
Their back-and-forth ended up wasting some of that valuable time. After some hemming and hawing, Ramza’s firm tone had finally convinced Misty to make a hasty retreat.
“Arshay, stay by Misty’s side!” Ramza ordered. “If she falls, we’ll have no path to victory! Don’t leave her!”
“Okay!” Arshay replied.