Chapter 42

"What a being" As I spoke, everyone turned around and saw its enormous size. Everyone froze, but Andrew and I remained calm. The spirit's aura was strong, but it wasn't comparable to Lucia, so it didn't manage to freeze us. Suddenly, it roared in a low, guttural growl that reverberated through the air like a deep rumble. The sound was both menacing and powerful, demanding attention and respect. It echoed off the surrounding trees and water, vibrating through the air like a wave.

'I can't fight that,' I thought to myself. It was significantly stronger than me, and I could tell with just a glance. "Andrew, can you take him?!" I screamed, hoping for a solution. But, before we could do anything, vines began attacking us from the ground. They attempted to penetrate me and Lady Cecily and her maid, but I managed to freeze the vines. I froze the ground around us, preventing vines from growing out. Looking around, I noticed that some others weren't so lucky; some knights were penetrated.

'It's sucking their mana!' The mana was going towards the nature spirit, while the bodies shriveled up. Luckily, Andrew seemed unaffected as every time a vine got close, it would instantly combust into flames.

"I can hurt it, but killing it is a different matter. We would need to cut off its connection to the forest!" Andrew shouted back. Hearing his response I turned towards Lady Cecily "Lady Cecily, how many of your group have earth magic?" I asked her.

"Umm... 4 or 5, including my maid," she responded quickly, her eyes darting between me and the giant spirit beast.

'Shit, is that enough?' I thought to myself. Whatever the number, we had to work with it. "Lady Cecily, I will go forward and attack the nature spirit. You command your knights with earth powers to wrestle control of the forest while the rest protect you," I instructed her.

"I have healing magic. Maybe I can help you?" she offered.

"Sure, you can heal your knights and me if I need it. For now, stay here with your maid," I told her before leaving towards the nature spirit. Andrew also began attacking, sending fire strikes to the being's legs, causing them to burn. But as quickly as it began to burn, succulents covered the area, preventing the fire from spreading and stopping it completely.

The trees around me quickly grew branches that aimed toward me. I barely managed to dodge before a huge hole opened below me. I quickly made an ice platform, preventing me from falling. I sent multiple ice spears toward the being with little effect. The branches in its head started moving radically.

"Shit," I muttered under my breath as the branches came down towards me at high speed. I quickly made a huge ice shield above me, concentrating hard to make it as tough as steel. As it hit the shield, cracks began to appear, but it held up. Meanwhile, Andrew managed to make his way to one of the spirit's legs, completely cutting it off and preventing it from regenerating with constant fire magic. The spirit roared in pain, the sound nearly making my ears bleed.

Suddenly, a bunch of vines came around me. I managed to freeze a few, but one managed to scratch me. Suddenly, everywhere around me had red eyes the trees, on the beast, and on the ground, watching me without doing anything. Suddenly, fog spread through the forest, making me feel lost. Was this the doing of the Chancellor? No, I must be hallucinating.

"Lady Cecily, heal me!" I screamed, but I started to get dizzy. I wasn't in the right state of mind, but I kept getting attacked. The branches didn't stop, but in my eyes, they were swords. I kept blocking, but they kept coming. Suddenly, my vision cleared, and I felt a tingle of mana enter me. I felt rejuvenated, and the swords returned to being branches.

I looked back at Lady Cecily, and her knights were doing a decent job. They were slowly gaining control of the forest, as fewer and fewer trees were growing branches and randomly attacking me. Suddenly, an intense feeling washed over the forest, and a giant light appeared in the mouth of the spirit.

"Pure Mana?!" I exclaimed, not many beings in this world could use pure mana. But this one could, and it had formed a big blue ball, as it shifted focus from Andrew to Lady Cecily and her group.

'Shit, it's going for them!' I quickly ran towards the being, dodging its attacks. 'It's still charging up!' I made an ice tower below my feet, making me reach right below its wooden jaw. Putting my palm in its direction, I poured my mana into it, breaking through its jaw. I created a giant wall all around its mouth just before it could shoot the mana. The ice tower broke, as I didn't have enough mana to maintain it. But right before I began to fall, I teleported away using a slice of grass.

As the ice and pure mana collided, I could see a blindingly bright light emanating from the point of impact. The shockwave hit me, and I felt my body being pushed back with incredible force. The ground beneath me shook violently, and the air was forced out of my lungs. The sound was overwhelming, like a thousand thunderbolts crashing together in one explosive moment.

I watched in horror as the trees and the surrounding area were torn apart by the force of the explosion. The ice that I had created earlier shattered into tiny pieces, and the pure mana dissipated into the air, leaving behind a trail of energy that pulsed through the forest. I felt a sharp pain in my ears, and I knew that they were probably bleeding from the intensity of the sound.

As the light from the explosion started to dim, the forest was left in complete silence. I could feel my body slowly recovering from the impact of the shockwave, and I looked around to assess the damage. The trees had been uprooted, and the ground was covered in debris. Yet the being was still standing with no head and slowly regrowing.

I looked up at the massive nature spirit and felt a sense of defeat wash over me. 'Shit, I don't have enough mana left in me, and my body is too tired to keep going,' I thought to myself. But then, something unexpected happened. Andrew appeared on top of the spirit and started attacking the spirit with his sword, channeling his mana into its body. I watched as his fire magic caused a quick explosion, splitting the spirit in two.

As Andrew fell to the ground, he didn't even look tired. Instead, he continued to shoot huge fireballs toward the spirit's body, causing it to burn even more intensely.

And then, finally, the body of the nature spirit fell to the ground, defeated. The knights gained control of the forest, and the spirit was too weakened to take command. It slowly stopped moving, and I felt a sense of relief wash over me.