A new enemy
In the middle of Faltra forest at the same time.
A huge willow tree lay in the center of the forest of Faltra, and in the middle of its trunk, a wooden face glared in the direction of Emilia's team.
"Cursed humans! They weren't satisfied with releasing a filthy undead in my forest, they also started to destroy all vegetation!" The wooden face screamed in rage. His senses were scattered throughout the forest, so he became anxious when Emilia's team began cutting down trees as they went, temporarily blinding him.
The disorientation spell also depended on the surrounding trees and plants, so it would only be a matter of time before they got to him.
"Why did the humans decide to attack me now of all time?! A few more months and I would have gathered all the energy I need! Did they notice my presence? No, it doesn't make any sense. I acted like a common spirit, no there's reason to suspect me. So maybe it's just coincidence?" The wooden face spoke nervously, as it felt the other team of invaders start cutting down the trees as well.
The wooden face slid down the tree trunk to the opposite side, looking at Finn's team. Both teams were advancing in a straight line, closing in on him.. The wooden face twisted into a grimace of hatred, watching the invaders destroy his forest.
"They're an organized unit and they're communicating! There's no way, I'm going to have to fight them. I'm going to need a few hours to noon to wake up my body, so I'm going to need to forcefully regenerate the trees and keep them busy. Some of the stored energy will be spent and that will delay my recovery, but it's better than saving up and getting killed." The wooden face spoke, sending some of the stored energy underground, between the willow roots, where its true body rested.
'And about the undead...he's not a threat. He's hunting and turning other monsters into undead, but it's not a problem. Compared to two groups in the fourth layer, a few dozen undead are nothing.' He thought, dismissing Athos as a small fry and focusing on the immediate threat. The willow leaves glowed with mana, and then spread to its roots, before spreading underground, using the tree roots as conduits, until it reached the trees destroyed by the teams.
The newly destroyed trees quickly regenerated, releasing parasitic spores as they grew. In a matter of seconds both teams found themselves surrounded by trees twice their size and a cloud of parasitic spores.
********
"What is it?" #8 yelled, watching the cut trees regenerate, releasing a cloud of spores in their direction.
"#6, fire on them!" Emilia screamed, conjuring a barrier of light around them, stopping the spore cloud's advance. Unfortunately for her, the parasitic spores fed on the element of light and greedily devoured the barrier, increasing the cloud's size even further.
"Damn it!" #6 spoke, releasing a flamethrower from each hand, slowing the advance. The flames burned the spores, but they advanced faster than the fire could burn them. The team was made up of mage assassins so there were several skilled fighters, but when it came to firepower, they fell short of other mages of the same level.
But it doesn't mean they were helpless. #6 advanced until he was inches from the spores and activated a magic ring on his hand. A wave of fire spread around him, quickly forming a dome of fire. Most mages of the order carried a magic item capable of creating barriers of their respective element and #6 was no exception.
The wave of flames not only burned the spores but also pushed them away before disappearing, blowing a hole in the spore cloud for an instant. The magekillers activated the boots' enchantment and leapt without hesitation, arriving outside the spore cloud in an instant, the spore cloud closing in behind them.
They used the branches of the trees as platforms and quickly moved away from the scene. The spore cloud followed behind them, but they were faster and ran to the edge of the forest and fled. The spore cloud stopped chasing them after they left the forest and retreated, quickly disappearing like a mirage.
"#8, get in touch with the others and see if they need help. Although I believe they are fine." Emilia spoke, feeling that the other team would have a much easier time escaping than they would. Both teams exchanged communicators and receivers so they could communicate and coordinate their movements.
On the other side of the forest, Finn's team was easily dealing with the spore cloud. Finn and #3 created a wall of darkness on either side of the team by devouring the spores before they got close. They backed away calmly, but Finn was hesitant to simply run away after getting here.
'I'm sure those mages died for the spirit. If the spirit didn't destroy the corpse, it must have taken it, probably in the center of the forest. We have to go there.' Finn thought, slightly panicking at the possibility that the corpse had been destroyed.
He saw that all the monster corpses were left behind, but he couldn't be sure it would be the same for humans. Furthermore, even if the corpse was left intact, it would still rot if left exposed for too long. Finn was in a race against time and needed to hurry.
"Hey, I think we should-" He was about to argue that they should move forward, but Gaius cut him off.
"I received orders from captain Emilia to retreat and regroup with she." Gaius spoke, with a penetrating look at Finn.
Finn stared at him for a while before nodding "...ok, I'll clear the way." The team began to retreat following Finn's lead, with #3 covering the rear.
Outside the forest, the teams regrouped for a strategic meeting.
"Captain, we need to advance! If #3 and I lead, we can break through the spirit's defenses easily!" Finn said as soon as he saw Emilia. He tried to approach her, but she released her aura, stopping her halfway.
"I know we need to move forward, but we have no idea what other defenses the spirit has and it would be unwise to just invade. We must use our flight-capable familiars to gather information, and if we're lucky, the spirit might have ignored the corpse and left it behind, so we can get it back without having to face the spirit." Emilia suggested, hesitant to face a spirit in person.
Spirits were incredibly powerful beings, with the lowest class being in the fifth layer of life. They could use magic as easily as they breathe and could absorb energy from the environment to strengthen their spells, nearly doubling their power. They had two bodies, one physical and one ethereal. Their ethereal bodies were nearly immortal, but they could be killed if their physical bodies were completely destroyed. They could also accumulate mana in their ethereal bodies over time and use it when they felt threatened, so they were incredibly dangerous beings.
Emilia had no way of knowing how strong the spirit in this forest was, but it must have been powerful to regenerate so many trees at once and control the spore cloud. Finn wasn't particularly interested in facing a spirit either, so he grudgingly agreed.
"Fine. Now everyone who has flying familiars should summon them and make sure you keep them above the forest. My familiar has already started looking." Emilia spoke, pointing to a small sparrow that could be seen flying in the distance.
Half of the unit's members had family members capable of flying and began an aerial investigation of the forest. The aerial investigation took several hours, as the disorientation magic was still effective above the forest, despite its effect being reduced. It was already dark and Emília was about to end the day, when one of the family members returned after finding something.
The familiar was an echoing bat, a bat species capable of mixing the earth element into its sonar and making it roam underground or through objects. Apparently, he detected a human body under a willow tree in the middle of the forest. The body was that of an adult male and he was tangled up in the tree's roots. The body was not intact and had some parts missing, but it was unmistakably humanoid.
Emilia sighed at the news, knowing that it was likely that the spirit had taken the corpse for itself. She didn't know why he wanted the corpse, but there was only one alternative now.
"Guys, rest for today. Tomorrow we're going to invade the spirit home." She said it out loud, causing a shower of curses at the elder and his unreasonable requests. His family members continued the investigation, but now they were focused on the center of the forest, so they missed the undead leaving the forest, marching towards the villages.
*******