“Captain Devitt, how much longer before we reach the foot of the mountain?” Exhausted, Abel carefully bent down and walked to Devitt, asking him as they walked together.
When Devitt heard this, he raised his head, looked at the sky, and estimated, “Captain Abel, it should be about two hours before we can walk out of the Ent’s territory border.”
“There are still two hours?” Abel sighed. “I didn’t expect that it would take so long to avoid the Ent.”
Ever since the reconnaissance team entered the Ent’s estate, they had been in a creeping position. It had been three hours, and they had only descended about two-thirds of the journey down the mountain.
To be creeping for such a long time in the high humidity jungle, it was tough even for the Caradia soldiers who had strenuous daily training. Not to mention the long-range elven mages who usually did not pay much attention to their physical fitness.
“If we can successfully avoid the entmen, it will be worth it,” Claremont said.
The group of people moved forward in silence for nearly half an hour.
Devitt, who was at the forefront of the group, suddenly frowned and stopped advancing.
“How strange,” Devitt said.
Claremont’s expression became tense. He asked, “What’s wrong, Captain Devitt?”
“I think we have been walking around in circles,” Devitt answered heavily.
“What do you mean?” Abel came over and asked, “Did we go the wrong way?”
“Look at the sky.” Devitt pointed at the sky and explained, “Although the surrounding scenery doesn’t have any overlapping impressions, the shadows cast by the sun won’t lie. We should have walked into the Ent’s maze.”
Abel looked up. He did find some discordance in the forest where the sun shone, bringing with it a sense of spatial distortion.
The soldiers heard the conversation between the three of them and began to discuss it among themselves.
Everyone became cautious. They shrank and closed up the gaps between them and huddled tightly.
“We’ve been discovered. Should we run?” A young and hoarse voice echoed above the forest.
The soldiers’ discussion stopped abruptly.
Suddenly, another unfamiliar voice rang out of the silence, “Why are you running? It’s so embarrassing.”
“Who is it? Come out!” Devitt hollered.
However, he was met with silence.
After a while, a breeze wafted through the forest, rustling the red autumn leaves.
“It’s too presumptuous of you to ask for my name when you are on my territory.” A man in his thirties walked out from behind the forest. He was very muscular and the brown blood vessels in his neck popped out in response as he spoke.
“So this is the Ent. He looks just like an ordinary human,” a soldier standing at the end of the line whispered.
“No, he doesn’t. The humanity of ordinary humans will cause their bodies to produce a special smell. And the smell on this Ent is something I’ve never smelled before,” an elven soldier beside him replied quietly.
“Where is your other companion?” Devitt stepped forward and asked.
“That kid is too timid. He has gone back already,” the Ent replied calmly.
Claremont pursed his lips and walked over to Devitt and whispered, “He should have gone back and called more of the Ent over.”
“I can hear everything,” the Ent said in a relaxed manner. “What you said could be possible, but I hope that before my people arrive, all of you will have been defeated by me and turned into the nutrients in the soil.”
“What a joke! You want to take on all of us just by yourself?” Abel clenched his fists and rushed forward angrily.
“More or less,” the Ent nodded and said with certainty, “Although you will not become good quality nutrients, we can make do and use it on the flowers and plants by the fence around our estate.”
All the soldiers were infuriated by his words.
Claremont said to Devitt in a low voice, “It’ll be even more troublesome when the other entmen arrive. Captain, let’s hurry up and end this swiftly.”
“Alright.” Devitt stared at the Ent who was looking at them with a mocking expression. Gritting his teeth, he said, “Warriors, get ready for battle.”
The Caradia warriors threw their bags onto the grass at the side and withdrew their weapons from their scabbards.
They then surrounded the Ent.
“You guys have forgotten where you are and who I am,” the Ent spread his arms wide.
His nails became sharp and gradually extended into the shape of a tree branch.
“Attack!” Devitt commanded.
“Attack!!” The soldiers yelled and charged forward.
The Ent surveyed his surroundings, then raised his right hand to cut a wound on his neck.
The moment the soldiers crowded in front of him, his entire body turned into soil which subsequently scattered loosely onto the leaves-covered ground.
“What?” The terrified soldiers exclaimed.
“Retreat!!” Claremont shouted.
At the same time, numerous wooden arm-like branches sprouted from the ground and caught hold of the ankles of the soldiers huddled together, pulling them into the ground.
Their pull was too strong, soldiers who struggled to break free felt as if their thigh bones were about to be torn apart.
Devitt and the others rushed forward and used their swords to chop off the branches entangling the soldiers.
“Land is the source of my strength. I dominate everything it carries,” the Ent’s voice rang in everyone’s ears.
“Damn it.” Devitt’s face was filled with rage. He said to Abel, “We can only use fire to attack.”
Abel nodded. He walked to the elven soldiers and summoned the fire elf warriors.
“Because of what you did to our soldiers, we will hold this grudge against you. We will not show you any mercy.” Abel issued a challenge to the Ent.
“Try me,” the Ent appeared in front of everyone again. His build was several times larger than before. His skin became so transparent that they could even see his green blood flowing rapidly through his blood vessels.
The elven mages stepped forward with determination and summoned their spells.
Their entire bodies were emblazed in dark red flames. Waves of heat emanated from their center and surged in all directions.
“Just this?” the Ent shook his head in disdain.
“Not good enough for you?” The elven mage standing in the center of the five-man formation narrowed his eyes and said, “Perhaps you prefer this?”
The atmosphere changed abruptly. The flames on the body of the mage who had spoken turned from dark red to pure creamy white at a lightning speed.
