The crimson cloud was going directly at Emily. She wasn’t fast enough to escape; the only thing to do was raise a wall to save herself. She put her hand in the ground and the roots came out.

The orb was amplifying her power, but the cloud turned them into dust and kept advancing. "Not yet!" She used all her power to keep sending vines, but it was getting closer.

She felt a hand grab her shoulder; it was Nora. "Don’t stop Emily. Use all my power, you must." The roots were enveloped in a yellow aura and started to grow faster.

It went from a simple wall to a ten. The cloud was merciless, but it was getting smaller as it consumed roots and vines. After destroying nine of the walls, it dissipated. She had survived the attack.

"Uf, uf, thank you Nora; without you I wouldn’t be able to stop it."

"It is fine, but I don’t think I can’t do it again. You need to run." She used almost all her power. Her legs were tired, and her head hurt, but she couldn’t stop now.

Gloom Scent was fuming with anger. "Still, still defying me and trying to corrupt the world. I was merciful and offered you a quick death, but you have committed so many blasphemies against Azasie. [Wall of Trees]." A massive wall of roots came from below, high into the sky.

The roots joined together in the center and formed a giant dome. They were trapped.

As soon as the wall was raised, Silas moved to the edge and tried to cut it with his sword. It only scratched the surface. To make an opening, he would have to cut so many hard roots, and they were also healing.

Shit, this is bad. He used another spell to block our escape. We can’t run now. Our only option is to force him to undo the spell or make him spend mana or whatever resource he uses to keep up. We have to fight.

"[Crimson Bloom]", the monster released several clouds in all directions. They were smaller but faster than the previous ones. He wasn’t going to waste more time hunting them one by one. Instead, he was going to turn this whole section under the dome into dust.

How do we deal with this? We could try to hide in the cave, but the clouds are going that way too. There is no safe place; we need to kill him now! He could see Gloom Scent was still recovering from the wound Emily inflicted on him. They had to keep attacking, but with [Debilitating scent] and the cloud that disintegrated anything it touched, it was impossible to get close.

The only thing I can think of is a long-distance attack, but he’s already expecting that, unless... He got an idea, but he had no way to communicate the plan. If he yelled it, it would be obvious and Gloom Scent would notice the trap. It was a bold plan and required luck to pull it off, but it was the best option.

"Looks like you've got an idea, Silas."

"Nora, you're talking inside my head?"

"Yes, I can't do anything else with the little energy I have, but I thought you may have come up with something. If you need us to coordinate, I can go and talk with everyone."

"I see. You can use your power as a secret channel to talk. Good idea. I need you to do the following." He explained it and immediately felt the insecurity in her mind.

"It’s quite risky, but it must be the best chance we have, right?"

"Yes, we lost our opportunity to escape when he used the wall spell. It's all or nothing."

"Understood, I’ll tell the others." They had to end the conversation as a cloud was advancing on Nora and Jacob.

"At least he is targeting everywhere. If he knew our positions, I don’t know how we could run from so many attacks, partner. Did Silas have a plan?"

"Yes, pay attention."

***

Nathan was carrying Franco and Rebecca while jumping across the trees to escape the deadly spell. He found a spot to rest for a moment. He let Rebecca heal Franco’s face and broken arm.

"R-Rebecca, heal my legs and arm, forget a-about my face."

"It won’t take too long. I just need a moment."

"No, focus only on the parts of my b-body that I need to fight. Because I’m g-going to punch a hole in that monster." He was thirsty for revenge, but he wasn’t going to charge forward carelessly. He wanted to be at his best to throw his strongest attack.

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"Give it up, man, none of us can do anything. The clouds and the weird ability to make us slow down are too much."

"A-Are you giving up already, kid?"

"I don’t want to, but there is nothing I can do. I felt it when I was looking at the cloud. It would destroy me like nothing." He bit his lip to accept the truth: he was a useless tank.

"Then you’re going to die sitting on this branch?" Rebecca finished healing his arm, and he grabbed Nathan by the neck. "Or are you going to stand your ground like a person? I’m not making it easy for that bastard. If I die, I die on my own terms!"

"But I…"

"You don’t know if you can block it! I don’t want to die by thinking that my fists could have won. Put everything you have, so you don’t take another regret to the afterlife."

"W-Wait, Nora is telling me something. Silas as a plan." Rebecca interrupted them and explained.

***

Emily was moving between the clouds with vines. She was in a spot where Gloom Scent was attacking more. I didn’t think he would get that mad, but I don’t care. The stupid plant thought I did it on purpose. Who the hell would want to look like this? You’re the one that made me this way. You forced us to use the orb. You were the one who threatened us. You were the one who killed that guy in the forest who was running for his life. Everything has been your fault!

She began to feel rage towards Gloom Scent, determined to make him pay for everything he had done to her and everyone else. Another cloud came her way. She grabbed a vine and moved to another tree. She was getting cornered. The forest around her had been split into its own section, with two long roads of destruction at the side.

He’s trying to box me into a section. What a joke. He said he was going to kill us all, but he’s still focusing his attacks on me. I don’t have too much in me left. I need to make the last attack count.

"You look pretty serious."

"Nadine!"

"I have been running around with some ground barriers, but they are not working at all. No matter how thick or wide I make them, they all crumble the same. How did you manage to block it with the roots?"

"I don’t know, I’m just using my power with the orb and Noa helped a lot."

"Is such a waste. I made these swords, but we can’t get close enough to use them. I know a good strike could bring him down. Any plans?"

"No, I was just going to attack with all I had left when he found me. It's probably not going to do much, but maybe the others will use the chance to escape or attack."

"If someone can break this dome, it's you. I tried to move the ground a little, but he covered everything. There’s no way out."

"I know, if I focus my attack against the wall, I could maybe break for a moment. The others could escape, but I would be spent. I want to hurt him again, to make him feel pain and cause him more anger for everything he has done."

"Is that your choice?"

"Yes!" It was a selfish choice, but it was finally hers.

"Then how can I help?" Nadine was ready to support her when Nora’s voice came from her head.

"Nadine, where are you? Silas has a plan. I need you to go as close as you can to Emily."

"That won’t be a problem. Tell me the plan."

***

Gloom Scent kept unleashing clouds of magic and destroying the forest. It was about to finish; only a few patches were left. Maybe the vermin were hiding in some of them, or maybe they had already been killed. He didn’t care, he was going to purge this whole place anyway.

The wound in his chest was almost healed, but it was still hurting. Not physically, but mentally. Low vermin who defied the path of Azasie and tried to emulate their magic with the foul power of the System. He had seen many experiments and the terrible powers of those who worshipped the System, but this was the first time vermin had committed a sin like this, turning into one of his kind. It was the biggest insult he had seen.

Our goddess Azasie, who watches over us. Let me purify this land of the corruption of the System in your name. He prepared another cloud, but something came out.

It was standing in the middle of the dust. The object of disgust and hate, Emily. "What are you planning, vermin?" He was furious, but he wasn’t going to underestimate them anymore.

Emily didn’t respond and started to gather her energy with the orb. "[Crimson Bloom]!" he spewed another cloud at great speed. It wasn’t the biggest, but he wasn’t going to let her get away or focus her power. Not only that, but he sent two others to the side to cut off her escape route.

I’m done playing games. You still think you’re so clever. This is a distraction. Having her show up without any spell prepared is foolish. Have you grown desperate enough to do reckless things like this to distract me? I’m the one who has the advantage. I destroyed all the terrain around me first to clear any blind spots. You can try any attack, but it won’t reach me.

Several walls of earth were raised from the ground to stop the attacks, but they disintegrated. A puny effort. The one holding the shield jumped in front and took a stance.

"Aaaahhhh!" He took the cloud and his hands began to turn to dust, but he still tried to absorb as much as he could. The pain was too much for him, and he ended up throwing his shield in the air as he moved to the side.

He managed to stop my spell for a moment. That shield is not normal. Another unnatural power given by the System. Despite the effort and losing his hands, the cloud was moving forward. It was right on top of Emily. She opened her eyes and did the same attack. She threw her spell at the cloud, and they canceled each other out.

It was much weaker than before. She didn’t have more strength to fight. Before Gloom Scent could shoot another spell, Franco came from the forest and charged at him.

"Did you think I didn’t notice vermin?" He summoned a wall of vines to block it, and... everything went white.

"Who’s vermin now!" Franco used every ounce of power he could muster and blew the wall of vines along with half of Gloom Scent's body into a white light.

What? Impossible. So much destructive power! He started to regenerate, but Silas came up behind him.

"[Crimson Bloom]!"

"What?" He tried to squish Silas, but he dodged by a hair. He managed to cut one leg and his eye, but didn’t kill him.

Wait, he didn’t cast the spell. This should have been his best chance.

The wood creaked as the bullet exploded from the inside of his body. His core was hit, and his torso exploded into thousands of pieces.