Conan's desperate struggle amused the Dryad, but she knew that she must end the battle soon. Although she wasn't afraid of the students of Hestia Academy, it was indeed troublesome if they discovered her presence now.
'I'll capture them first before I leave this forest,' the Dryad thought. 'Those girls are of a much higher quality compared to the townspeople. I'm sure that they will become the perfect seed beds for my children.'
—–
Elliot, who was seated on William's shoulder, suddenly looked to the South.
Because of certain things, their departure had been delayed by a day.
As they were about to leave the academy, Elliot felt that Conan was in some sort of predicament. Although it was just a passing feeling, the Angelic Familiar trusted his sixth sense because of the nature of his powers.
"Will, I feel like Conan might be in trouble," Elliot said with a serious expression. "Since he is out of our communication range, he can't send us any messages. Can you talk to him telepathically and see if there's something wrong?"
What Elliot didn't know was that William also felt that something was amiss. He didn't know what it was, but the feeling of uneasiness was starting to make him uncomfortable.
His two familiars were born with a part of his soul, so he could vaguely sense their location, even if they were far away. This also allowed him to communicate with them anytime he wanted.
William closed his eyes and used one of the skills of his Familiamancer Job Class, to talk to Conan telepathically.
"Conan, is everything fin–"
As soon as the connection connected, Conan's voice immediately reached William's ears.
"Will! Save us! A Myriad Beast is chasing us! Everyone is paralyzed, I am–ahh!"
William's face immediately turned grim as he focused on Conan's location.
A second later, a streak of lightning flew towards the south. William had used the power of his Prince of Thunder Job Class in order to travel to Conan's exact location at the speed of lighting. He could only use this skill twice a day, so he only used it in extreme instances.
Elliot watched William go as he stood on top of a golden spear. The red-headed teenager had left Soleil in the academy, and tasked the Angelic familiar to look after it.
—-
Back in the forest…
Conan felt nauseous as he maneuvered the dented steel wrecking ball along the forest floor. Due to the Dryad's powerful attack, Conan's defensive dome was like a disfigured aluminum can that had been crushed.
Finally, the steel dome broke apart after getting hit by the Dryad's thorn whip.
The girls, Kenneth, as well as Professor Garen, rolled helplessly on the ground because they couldn't move their bodies. They hadn't lost consciousness, but they wished they had, because just like Conan, all that rolling made them want to puke.
"Play time's over," the Dryad said with a smile. "Although I enjoyed this little game of tag, it would be bad if others discovered us, no?"
Conan gritted his teeth as he held his Deathscyhe. He faced the Dryad with a glare as his body glowed briefly.
A second later, a boy, with black hair, stood on the place where Conan hovered earlier.
Aside from the hair style and hair color, the boy looked exactly like William when he was twelve years old.
Conan had unlocked seventy percent of his power, which allowed him to jump to the peak of the Centennial Rank.
A Centennial Ranked Creature fighting against a Myriad Beast was a fruitless endeavor. Even so, Conan stood his ground.
He was a defender, and it was his job to protect everyone. Regardless of how strong his opponent was, he couldn't back down.
He wouldn't back down!
"I, the great Conan, will not allow you to harm my friends," Conan shouted. "If you wish to get them, you will have to get past me first."
A giggle escaped the Dryad's lips as several vines sprouted from the ground.
"Sounds simple enough," The Dryad smirked and hundreds of vines lashed towards the black-haired boy, whose eyes had started to glow red. "Too bad, you're not human. If you were, I would definitely use your body as fertilizer for my children."
Hundreds of shields materialized in the air, but all of them were torn apart by the vines as if they were merely pieces of paper.
Conan slashed his deathscythe left and right to block the vines that had made it past his defenses. The Dryad only curled her lips on this futile endeavor.
As Conan defended from the front, several vines burst out of the ground and wrapped around the girl's bodies, taking the Devil Familiar by surprise.
"Naive child," Dryad said with a teasing tone. "Do you honestly believe that I will play with you all day? Didn't I tell you that playtime is… over?!"
A dozen vines lashed out at Conan who had his concentration broken due to the attack that the Dryad had made on Kenneth and the girls. The Myriad Beast didn't hold back her attacks and the young boy's body was almost ripped to shreds.
The Devil Familiar flew several meters away and fell on the ground with a loud thud. He had been seriously injured, and blood flowed out of the injuries in his body.
His left arm was severed, and deep gashes could be seen on his body. Blood also flowed out of his mouth, ears, and nose.
"C-Conan…," Princess Aila said with hardship as she tried to reach out to the Familiar who was several meters away from her.
Conan's vision was slowly turning dark, but Princess Aila's voice had woken him up from his stupor.
"D-Don't worry. I.. am just taking… a short rest," Conan replied as he forcefully rolled his body to the side. He used his remaining arm to try to prop himself up, as blood spilled from his wounds.
The Dryad shook her head helplessly as she lashed her whip out to pin the boy back to the ground.
Conan coughed up blood due to the new injuries he received. He felt faint, and every part of his body was aching.
He once again tried to prop himself up, but the whip lashed at him again. This time, it slammed against his body with more force, creating a four-meter wide crater.
"Stop!" Aila cried out as the Dryad pummeled Conan's little body while giggling.
The Dryad shot her a side-long glance as the corner of her lips curled up into a smile. She then wrapped the boy's body in her vines and held him in the air.
Conan's body was bathed in blood. His legs, and arm, were bent in different angles, which showed that they had been broken.
"Okay, let's tear this off first," The Dryad said as she used the vines to tug on Conan's remaining arm.
Conan cried out in pain as his arm was torn off from his body.
"Stop it!" Princess Aila pleaded.
The Dryad paid no attention to her, and continued to toy with the Familiar who was under her complete mercy.
"Now the left leg." The Dryad chuckled. "Off you go."
Conan bit his lip until it bled. Tears streamed down his eyes as the pain wracked his body. With a chuckle, the Dryad pulled off his remaining leg, making Aila tear up.
She had seen worse things in the past, and yet, seeing it happen to a close friend of hers broke her heart.
"In order to honor your… futile efforts of protecting these people, I will remember your name,'' Dryad said as she pulled Conan's body close to her. "Conan, is it? Well, you can die knowing that you failed miserably to protect these people. Don't worry. I will take good care of the–"
The Dryad hastily backed away as the vines that held Conan in place were hit by lightning bolts.
The familiar's bloody body fell down, but a pair of strong arms caught him mid-air.
"What… took you… so long?" Conan said softly. He could no longer see as the strength in his body slowly faded.
William patted Conan's head as he held back the anger that was burning in his chest.
"You did well. You protected everyone," William replied as he gazed at his familiar's body that was slowly turning into particles of light. "Great job, Conan."
"Keke… I am… the great… Conan. A Myriad… Beast… is… nothing…"
A sigh of relief passed through Conan's lips as his entire body shattered in a shower of sparks. He had given everything he had, and he died knowing that everything was going to be fine.
William looked at his empty hands before shifting his attention at the Dryad who was looking back at him with contempt and ridicule.
"Another wannabe hero?" The Dryad smiled sweetly. "A Half-elf? I still don't have a Half-Elf in my collection. You will do quite nicely. Don't worry, I will give you lots of love."
William didn't say anything and simply pulled something out of his ear. His eyes never left the Dryad's pretty face as the anger in his chest slowly rose to the surface.
Not long after, a golden metallic staff that shone brightly in the sunlight appeared in his hand.
"Are those your last words?" William asked as he looked at the Dryad in front of him. The golden staff in his hand gave a metallic hum as if to answer to the Half-Elf's raging heart.
Right now, there was only one thing in William's mind, and that was to smash the Dryad's pretty face, until it turned into meat paste.
