The smile on the Dryad's face immediately stiffened after the Half-Elf in front of her released a terrifying aura.
Earlier, she sensed that the newcomer's strength posed no threat to her. Very few individuals could threaten her because she was a very intelligent creature. If there was someone that far surpassed her level of strength, she would immediately migrate to another territory, and lie-low for a short time before resuming her activities.
This was how she managed to reach the Myriad Rank, in the span of just a hundred years. Now, there was a creature in front of her that posed a threat to her existence, and the teasing expression on her face disappeared completely.
"Take them away," William ordered.
After giving out his order, a portal appeared behind him. Psoglav, the Demonic Dog that had accompanied William for a long time, had finally entered the Millennial Rank.
The Demonic Dog wasted no time and summoned dark whips to grab the paralyzed people on the ground. It made sure to knock them unconscious first, before taking them back to the Thousand Beast Domain.
William was planning to go all out, so he couldn't guarantee their safety. It would be best for them to sleep inside his Domain until the battle was over. This would also prevent the Dryad from using them as hostages against him.
"Sweep away all adversaries!" William roared. "Ruyi Jingu Bang!"
The golden staff grew until it was over a dozen meters long and slammed towards the Dryad without showing any mercy.
The Dryad stood in place, motionless even after the staff had smashed her body to pieces. The attack also created a big crater where the Dryad once stood.
A kilometer away from the battlefield, a giant flower sprouted from the ground. The Dryad had used a substitute in order to fool her opponent into thinking that they had slain her.
She was not a battle junkie, and always prioritized her safety above others. Over the years, she had created various substitutes inside the forest and the nearby surrounding areas. In times of danger, she would swap locations with these substitutes in order to escape from her stronger opponents.
'I guess it is time for me to migrate to another territory,' the Dryad thought. 'Too bad. I was starting to like this place.'
Just as she was about to quietly leave, her instinct told her that death was right behind her back.
A second later, a gigantic golden staff descended from the heavens and turned her body to meat paste.
—-
Deep inside a mountain not far from the forest…
A giant flower appeared inside a cavern. The moment the flower bloomed the Dryad collapsed on the ground, and spat a mouthful of green blood.
This was the hiding place that she had painstakingly prepared as a last resort. The moment she felt that danger was approaching her, she didn't hesitate and swapped with another substitute.
However this time, she wasn't able to leave unscathed and suffered internal injuries.
"That brat! How dare he!" The Dryad cursed out loud as she wiped the green blood on her lips. "Just you wait, when I break through another realm, I'll come to find you and tear you to pieces!"
The Dryad was very irritated by the sudden turn of events. Earlier, she thought that it was her lucky day because several high-quality seed beds had entered her domain. It was very rare for her to find ladies with powerful magical and spiritual energies that could be used as nurseries.
The Dryad had grown stronger after absorbing the seeds that had matured inside their bodies. She would repeat the process over, and over, until the ladies' magical and spiritual powers ran out.
When the Dryad saw Princess Aila, she felt a very strong life energy inside her body. If she were able to capture her, the Dryad would be able to acquire a vessel that could serve as a rechargeable battery.
Unfortunately, a hindrance appeared and her initially good day had been completely ruined.
"Fortunately, I placed my mark on that girl's body," the Dryad muttered as she tried to calm herself. "If an opportunity arises, I can just kidnap her and flee to a far away place."
The Dryad was about to leave the cavern when her body unconsciously shuddered. Right in front of her was a young man, with red hair, and a pair of glowing golden eyes that shone brightly in the darkness.
"Sorry, but that won't be happening under my watch." William said.
"How?!" The Dryad couldn't believe that the person that had almost killed her twice, was now standing in front of her.
William sneered as he pointed the staff in her direction.
Immediately, a burst of light emitted from the tip of the staff.
"Grand Bazooka!" William roared and a powerful explosion shook the entire mountain.
William had ordered Optimus to place a tracker on the Dryad's body as soon as he arrived at his destination. The System had warned him that Dryads were experts in running away, so it was best to place a tracker on them to ensure that they couldn't escape their pursuit.
"She sure is good at escaping." William sneered as he fused with the golden staff in his hand.
Not long after, the golden staff pierced through the mountain and headed towards the direction of the Forest, where the Dryad originally stayed.
As he neared his next destination, A giant Flower that was over thirty meters tall shone brightly in the center of the forest.
William canceled his weapon fusion, and stared at the Giant Flower. The energy levels that were being radiated by it were slowly climbing up to the middle stages of the Myriad Rank. Soon after the flower had appeared, it opened and revealed the monster within it.
"Tired of running away?" William taunted the Dryad whose face was no longer pretty.
"I'll kill you!" the Dryad shouted. Her body was now over twenty-meters tall, and her face was laced with thorns, just like a cactus.
Several flowers grew out of her body. Inside each of them was one of the young women that she had captured ever since she had arrived in the territory.
She knew that she was no match for William at her current level, so she decided to go all out and burn some of her life essence, which would temporarily boost her strength to the peak of the Myriad Rank.
Although she would be greatly weakened afterwards, she still decided to take this risk. The Dryad knew that William wouldn't stop until one of them was dead, so she decided to go all out against him.
For the first time, a grim expression appeared on William's face. He was confident that he would be able to kill the Dryad, but she was currently using hostages against him.
If he disregarded the life of others, this battle would end in his victory. However, he still hesitated about whether he should sacrifice the townspeople to kill the Dryad in front of him or not.
There was also the issue of the duration of his Heroic Avatar. If possible, he wanted to end the battle before it ran out.
Seeing that her plan had worked, the Dryad immediately launched a series of long range attacks at the Half-Elf who was hovering in the sky.
Several flower vines released acid sprays in Willliam's direction, forcing William to put more distance between himself and the Dryad.
The entire forest was like a sea of green snakes that wiggled non-stop. The Beasts that resided in it had started to flee, but the Dryad had other plans for them. The countless vines in the forest captured these beasts and devoured them, sending nourishment to the Dryad whose powers were still constantly rising.
Firming his resolve, William once again pointed his staff towards the forest and unleashed another Grand Bazooka.
The Dryad shrieked in pain as the entirety of the forest erupted in a sea of flames.
William fired several more Grand Bazooka's, with the intention of burning the entire forest. He knew that fighting a Dryad inside her home turf would pose difficulties to him. Also, he was still frantically figuring out ways he could save the girls from the Dryad's body.
The Dryad forcefully used her magical power to extinguish the flames around her. It didn't take long before the raging flames died out, but the entire area was surrounded by thick smoke, reducing the visibility of the surroundings.
This was not a problem for William because he could use the ability of the Monkey King, Fiery Golden Eyes, that could see evil in any form.
Just as soon as William activated this ability, he saw tens of thousands of vines headed in his direction, from the center of the smoke-filled battlefield.
Instead of backing away, William charged at the countless thorny vines that were out to shred his body to pieces. He then activated one of the skills of his Elemental Archon Job Class, which was Blaze Wing Tempest.
William's body momentarily transformed into a Phoenix and burned everything in his path. The System had given him advice on how to deal with the Dryad. However, even Optimus conceded that it was not certain whether this idea would work or not.
Still, William decided to do it. He understood that the Dryad had no intention of letting her victims go, so he decided to take a gamble.
The Myriad Beast unleashed a barrage of acid sprays, poison sprays, vines, and energy blasts towards the Phoenix that was headed in its direction.
When William charged as the Phoenix, he also merged with Ruyi Jingu Bang as a way to ignore most of the attacks that were headed in his direction. As William dodged the relentless assault against him, the flames of the Phoenix started to change color.
Earlier, his entire body was blazing in fiery red, now, streaks of white flames were slowly spreading on his body. William had coated the Phoenix's body with the Flames of Purification with the intention of burning the Dryad's body with it.
Although he, and Optimus didn't know if this plan would work, they had no choice but to do it. The duration of the Heroic Avatar was nearing its end, so they could only try this method once.
"Blaze Wing Tempest!" William once again activated the skill and the flames on the Phoenix's body burned with more intensity.
The acid sprays, vines, and poison sprays, burned in a fiery blaze as they neared the purifying flames. However, the energy attacks were unaffected by it.
Fortunately, William's body had merged with a Legendary Weapon so the damage he received was minimal.
"Nooooo!" the Dryad cried out loud as she used the flowers that housed the women as a shield, with the hope that William would cancel his terrifying attack.
Wiliam hardened his heart as he broke past the Dryad's last attempt to save her life.
A powerful explosion erupted and it blew away the smoke that lingered over the forest. Before her entire body was engulfed by purifying flames, the Dryad glared at William who had appeared a few meters in front of her face.
"Curse you Half-Elf!"
Her gaze contained fury, unwillingness, and regret. If only the Half-Elf hadn't appeared, her dreams of stepping into the Demigod Realm might have become a reality after a few years.
Unfortunately, there was no If.
"The next time you reincarnate, make sure to live a better life. Also, do not make me your enemy. Otherwise, you will suffer the same fate."
That was the last thing that the Dryad heard before her anger, her body, and dreams burned to ashes.
—–
Several miles away from the battlefield, a small flower bloomed at the base of a tree. Its petals had a pinkish flower, and it looked very beautiful.
After burning the Dryad's entire body, William's mark had also disappeared alongside it. With that said, he thought that the Dryad had finally died, and her threat had ended.
He was only half right.
Currently, the beautiful flower was just an ordinary flower. It would take several years before it once again evolved and transformed into a plant type creature, whose rank would be the lowest on the food chain.
Even so, it would retain the memories that it had in its past life. Because of this advantage, it would rapidly grow in strength and reach its former glory after several decades.
"At least, that is what you thought would happen, right?" Elliot said as he hovered above the beautiful flower. His usual carefree attitude, and the permanent smile that was always plastered on his face could not be seen at this time.
Instead, a chilling gaze filled with killing intent landed on the beautiful flower. Perhaps it was due to Eliot's gaze, or maybe a breeze passed by it, but the flower's body started to shake.
"You messed with the wrong person." Elliot sneered as he pointed at the flower. "You shouldn't have done that to Conan."
A crisp, sizzling sound erupted from Elliot's fingertip as he blasted the flower with a lightning bolt.
The flower was burnt to a crisp, and its ashes flew in the wind, never to be seen, or heard from, ever again.
