Chapter 241. Hunt. Forest War Conclusion.

Elowen's body flew due to the powerful impact Ophion created with his landing. She quickly went up to her feet and saw the giant Serpent slithering toward her with terrifying speed. The massive size of the creature was intimidating enough that Elowen felt pressure facing it. 'I can't fight it. I need to flee.'

Thinking so, Elowen charged toward Ophion and used one of her most powerful skills. The sword glowed brightly as a starry trail followed her sword. "HA!"

Clang! BANG!

Ophion's hardened wing and the sword met, creating a metallic explosive sound. Ophion's pupils shrunk to lines as the strength transferred onto his body pushed him sideways. 

Elowen's eyes lit up, thinking she would be able to use this opportunity to flee. However, before she could react, she heard a sharp wind from the side of a quickly approaching object. Looking sideways, Ophion's other wing approached her with tremendous speed. 'He used the momentum of my attack to counterattack!?'

It was too late to dodge, so Elowen did the next best thing she could think of. She placed her sword in the wing's trajectory and hardened her body as much as possible. 'Resist it!'

BANG!

"GAH!"

Elowen's feet left the ground as she felt like a carriage had run her over, sending her tumbling around without control.

Her body slammed into a few soldiers in the distance, pushing a dozen of them down. 'Urgh, I think my arm is fractured.' She quickly stood up, and looking at the surroundings, her hopes of escaping were becoming increasingly thin. On one side, the <Second Energy Cycle> soldiers on her side were being stopped by others. On the other, her lower-level soldiers were being overrun by the combination of the Golden Sap City's army and the ants. 

HISS!

The sound of her opponent forced her to look over. Holding her fractured arm, she gritted her teeth, turned around, and ran away. 

Liu Shu was overlooking the entire battlefield, but she had an eye on Elowen at all times since she was the strongest of them all. Therefore, when she started fleeing, Liu Shu instantly noticed and ordered. 'Ophion, hunt her down. Don't let her escape!'

Ophion's eyes shone with a strange thrill as hunting was his bread and butter. Since the moment his kind was born, they weren't fed by their progenitors. Instead, they would be forced to hunt for their own food.

Hunting in a forest was as natural as breathing for an Arboreal Winged Serpent.

The giant serpent rushed forward and swiftly moved through the forest as if there were no obstacles. His speed was incredibly high, but Elowen was not slow. 

At Level 29, she would take just a few minutes before exiting the forest. Of course, Ophion wouldn't allow her to do that.

Elowen looked behind her and failed to see Ophion, surprising her. Her senses got extra alert as soon as she lost sight of the giant serpent. 'How have I even lost sight of that giant beast!? Can it turn invisible- Above!?'

The branches above her broke down as the flying serpent fell from the sky like a raptor bird. Elowen barely caught onto the attack, so she was able to react in a desperate manner, jumping sideways and dodging the predator.

However, as soon as she jumped, she lost her momentum and her speed slowed down. Ophion accelerated at that instant, closing the gap between them and opening his giant mouth, revealing two rows of sharp teeth that could bite through even the tough bark of trees. 

Elowen inferred that her armor would break if she allowed herself to be chomped down by him. Fear and adrenaline pumping around her body, Elowen jumped sideways and was barely able to dodge the attack. 

Ophion's eyes followed all her movements with ease. As a member of a serpent family, his natural reflexes were incredibly sharp. If he had wanted, Ophion would've probably been able to catch at least Elowen's leg.

The only reason he didn't was because Ophion was, simply put, being cautious. His prey was a powerful creature that might have had methods to injure him when being too close, so the only way to take her out safely was to give one decisive blow that would throw her consciousness into a halt for long enough to finish Elowen off.

As Elowen scrambled to her feet and fled away from Ophion, she didn't notice that her direction had changed from running toward the outer side of the Forest to running diagonally into it. 

The Arboreal Winged Serpent climbed a tree and shot skyward, flapping his wings to accelerate toward Elowen. Using the canopies of the trees, his figure was completely hidden from Elowen's sight. However, Ophion's gaze had an infrared component that allowed him to detect the lifeblood of a creature. 

Elowen's hasty pulse, labored breathing, steps on the soil, and the rubbing of her clothes. Every single movement of the woman fell into the predator's senses, creating a perfect detection method. 

The woman's heart pounded, feeling her death increasingly near. 'That was really close. Also, I got disoriented because of it. Am I still running toward the outer side of the forest?'

Elowen tried to look upward and see the sun's position to more or less position herself. Nevertheless, there was someone who wouldn't allow her to know where she was.

The rustling of leaves approached from the left now, and Elowen quickly looked over, spotting Ophion rushing at her, gliding almost parallel to the ground. The woman couldn't help the creeping terror of being hunted down from slowly affecting her attitude. 

Instead of facing the serpent, Elowen changed directions and tried to dodge it. The thought of fighting had long been thrown out of her head. After all, how could the hunted fight the hunter?

Ophion and Elowen traversed through the forest for several minutes, Ophion slowly and expertly guiding Elowen's actions as if he was herding her to the point where he wanted her to be.

Elowen was disheveled, her face marred with dirt and mud, while her pristine clothes were crumpled and had holes here and there. 

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" 

Elowen shouted shrilly, her eyes showing increasing panic. "How big is this forest!? Why am I not out yet when I've been running for so long!?"

Liu Shu, now less restrained because she had helped the others clean up the battlefield by sacrificing a few of her roots, was observing Ophion's hunt with interest. 'Impressive. He guides her toward an increasingly lush area so Elowen can't see him coming. Until now, he has been straightforward and methodical with his attacks. Even if he has only landed a few tail lashes on her, this is enough to slowly slice away Elowen's <Phoer > reserves.'

Ophion didn't suddenly perform the typical dive attack. Instead, he overcame Elowen's position and gently lowered his body into the canopies, landing on the ground less than two seconds later. 

Liu Shu's amazement increased because Ophion's quick landing was cushioned entirely with his own leafy wings, creating absolutely no loud sound or tremor, regardless of his massive body.

Then, Ophion moved and placed his wings in front of him, becoming perfectly still and melding with the surroundings. 

'Wow~! Ophion is awesome!'

Elowen looked around, her eyes scanning the area quickly. Her attention was on the sky for the most part since that's how Ophion has attacked until now. As she ran forward, Elowen looked in front of her and spotted two paths that were separated by a large bush. 'Can I hide in that bush? I can't. That thing can detect me regardless of what I do. Let's take the right path and see if I can escape this haunted forest as fast as possible.'

However, when she approached the forked path and took the right, the large bush that she had ignored suddenly opened wide, revealing a massive mouth with serrated teeth that could shred her to pieces. 'Huh?'

Her last moment and her last thought were one of pure confusion. She couldn't even react before the jaws closed, trapping her head between teeth that then chomped down in a burst of gore.

Ophion flicked his head upward, throwing the headless corpse into the air, and then opened his mouth, glomping the corpse and swallowing her, armor and all.

Liu Shu scolded him. "Ophion! Spit out the armor and sword! They might be useful since they belong to a powerful person!"

Ophion blinked and regurgitated the corpse. Then, using his teeth and tongue, he slowly stripped Elowen's corpse of everything, leaving her naked. Once done, he swallowed the corpse with a smile and a wagging tail as if asking if he did well. 

Liu Shu giggled. "You did very well! I am impressed~. Now, come back and help clean up the battlefield. Then, you need to fly toward Sirol City with the <Second Energy Cycle> people!"

Ophion nodded twice with a big smile. The big serpent then took to the skies and flew through the forest, arriving at the battlefield in less than four minutes.

By then, only the <Second Energy cycles> were persistently resisting, so Ophion descended and helped defeat the most weakened ones.

The logic behind that thought was that, as the enemy <Second Energy Cycles> died, the allied ones would be free to help, snowballing their advantage.

Once Ophion returned, though, the enemies' faces completely paled. 

One of them shouted, despairing. "L-Lady Elowen died! We are doomed!"

"W-What!? She must've escaped; don't let the enemy deceive you! If we resist, reinforcements will arrive!"

"Right! Sirol City must be about to fall! Once they are done there, they will come here and kill the World Tree!"

"I can't do this! I can't do this! I surrender! Please, let me live!"

The morale of the enemies plummeted, freefalling until most of the remaining people were basically being slaughtered due to having resigned to their fate. Like a dam that had been broken, the momentum was unstoppable. 

Moreover, with Ophion's arrival, there was nothing else they could do but surrender to their fate. Ophion was just too strong when fighting in tandem with other <Second Energy Cycles>. What Elowen did when fighting the ants, Ophion returned when fighting them.

Ten minutes later, no one remained alive from the enemy camp.

Ophion's figure stood there, imposing like a giant tower, overlooking everyone with his sharp gaze. His presence was such that even the allied soldiers were scared of the brutally murderous serpent. 

While fighting with others was not new for most of them, seeing Ophion devouring people left and right made some of them feel as if their humanity was slipping away between their fingers. 

Wert approached Ophion and patted his body with a big smile. Unlike others, he knew how tame and gentle the Arboreal Winged Serpents truly were as long as you didn't offend Liu Shu. "Ophion! You saved my ass back there. Thanks a lot, big boy!"

Ophion blinked and lowered his head, nodding in answer with a soft hiss. Wert laughed and rubbed the giant Serpent's nose. 

Verdantia, Cinderielle, and Tempestria approached with smiles. There was no way that they would fear something that came from Liu Shu's summoning skill. "Ophion, would you carry us to the other battlefield now?"

Ophion shook his head and gently pushed them away with his nose. Verdantia asked with a frown. "What's wrong? Did we do something wrong?"

Liu Shu answered softly. "You three, Flor, and Amapola, are too weak to go there. Consider that there are two more Elowen-level people on that side together with one stronger one, Eila Neoflora. Moreover, I am nowhere near, so I can't save you when things go awry." Liu Shu remarked. "He knows how important you all are to me, so while he might be able to blast through everything and snatch you away, it would place me in an awkward situation. Let the other Second Energy cycles go."

Wert nodded in agreement. "You four have done enough! Help Liu Shu take care of everything! I mean, look around. The poor big girl is probably hurting."

Liu Shu said softly. "Thank you, Wert. I can bear with it, though."

Wert clicked his tongue, shaking his head. "That's not good!" Then, he looked at Flor and smiled. "You also have a certain someone to cheer up. Without a shred of doubt, her sacrifice is the biggest of all of us."

Wert looked toward the forest and made a big bow in respect. "Thank you for your sacrifice, Ant Queen."

Everyone around couldn't help but turn toward the forest, and many bowed in respect. The side that had the most deaths wasn't the enemy side, but the ants. Several thousand ant corpses were around the area, making for quite a harrowing image.