The monstrous pine cone glowed with scarlet light, after which it sent energy impulses through the vine-roots into the bodies of subordinate creatures. It was akin to a liquid fire rushing through my veins; a feeling of overflowing energy enveloped me from head to toe. The web of sprouts from the vine in my chest became more extensive; they branched along the arms and legs, the insides, and some of the small roots seemed to even penetrate my brain. In a couple of breaths, it got rid of all the wounds I received in the fight with the octopus and other monsters. The sorcery didn't stop at healing - my skin became rough and covered with small wooden scales.
After the transfer of magical powers, the "umbilical cord" connecting me to the Divine fell off on its own, leaving a shiny red stone the size of an eyeball in the center of my chest.
«I must destroy Deity's foes!» Infinitely looping intention were persisting in my head.
“Ha, sure, maybe later!” I mentally answered the creature's intentions, but I had to play along. It was too early to stand out, because the fate of the creatures that were cut off from the Divine by the lightning was concluded that same second - the octopuses instantly tore them apart. I counted around seven sub-elites, but how many of them are still hiding in the darkness is unknown.
With peripheral vision, I spied other captured people and tried to instantly repeat their actions. Finally, after long seconds, the horde controlled by the Divine was ready for battle, and I had the opportunity to examine our enemies - the blue faction.
The Divine's fog parted under the pressure of a gale-force wind and hordes of ugly long-armed creatures rushed from the thinned gray haze. They attacked from a small hill and, gaining great speed, crashed into the scattered ranks of the Divine's guards. Undersized pot-bellied creatures, remotely reminiscent of gremlins had levels ranging from zero to six. In battle, they actively used magic, mostly fire-based. The subordinates of the Mother, compared to the attackers, fought slower, apparently because of the hypnotic state affecting them, but the octopuses crushed the enemies in dozens, but their much smaller enemies kept pushing further, despite numerous losses.
Among the numerous gremlins, incredibly obese and slow individuals stood out: wide mouths, a huge swollen belly. It seemed that a little more and these creatures would turn into balloons. They moved on four short, thick legs and had levels up to seventh. The creature closest to the front line froze, and its belly lit up with a bright orange light. For a while, it stood still and sucked air in, and then a jet of liquid fire burst from its mouth into the sky. The level 5 octopus, fighting in the front rows, fell under it. A fountain of clots and drops of lava rained down on his slimy skin, leaving huge blackened holes.
Two other toad-like creatures acted from afar: their bodies were covered with an electrical network, and then wide branching dazzling lightning broke out of the bone horn located on their foreheads. They almost simultaneously hit the scales of our wooden Deity. And again, in my mind, I felt like I was being cut with a knife. The magic-wielding creatures completely dominated the battlefield.
“If it goes on like this, then undoubtedly victory will be theirs. Now is the time to act."
Me, sweeping away the weaker, and dodging stronger monsters, rushed towards the Ferris wheel. This is the only place where there were no octopuses and sub-elites. On the way, I ran into a young girl of the first level: I stunned her on the move and threw her limp body over my shoulder; with my physical parameters, it was pretty easy to do.
Having jumped over a ton of iron obstacles and barriers, I ended up next to the platform from where people could hop into a moving booth. Unfortunately, I've got pursuers - a dozen low-level gremlins stubbornly broke through the turnstiles towards us. I put the light-weight girl in a passing booth and, slamming the door, turned to the incoming pot-bellied creatures.
“I don’t even need to use a weapon to deal with these ridiculous five-foot creatures.”
Sturdy wooden scales reliably protected my fists, elbows and knees, and the strength added by the Deity endowed each of my blows with destructive power.
You eliminated level 2 Altered, received 4 experience.
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The will of the world #3 acknowledges your redemption and returns Aqen's blessing.
Yes, just «on time»! In this wooden suit, I no longer felt cold, and even more, now I suffer from overheating!
«Let the strength and might of the Divine Mother be glorified, and make enemies of Her fall under Divine power.»
The strength raging inside intoxicated me. I jumped out onto the battlefield and rushed right into the middle of the fight.
«Oh, how I miss my beautiful spear. With it, my attacks would be truly deadly.»
I smashed right into the crowd of small creatures at full speed, sweeping away the puny bodies of careless enemies. My target was a fire toad, bogged down in a fight with my slimy older brother. Jumping onto the huge forehead of an octopus entangled in tentacles, I straightened the palm of my right hand and plunged it into a huge bulging eye socket with dark pupils. The frog monster roared; a disgusting corrosive liquid splashed in all directions. The wooden scales on my arm tingled; pain served as a powerful fuel for my courage.
With an insane scream, I began to push my hand deeper and deeper. The monster roared in agony and shacked furiously its head, trying to throw me off; so, in order not to fall off the creature's head, I had to use my all strength to grab onto his horn. Assistance arrived in time, just in time - a pair of thick tentacles slipped into the open mouth of the toad, filling the entire cavity with writhing limbs. I don’t know what the older brother did, but a minute later a strong enemy no longer showed any signs of life.
«What a mighty brother!»
With undisguised and fiery emotion, I looked at the huge octopus in front of me: powerful, invincible, and... suddenly, a bright white flash pierced its swollen head. His slimy skin immediately covered with a network of thick veins, in some places the skin could no longer hold, and blue blood leaked out. The octopus, now devoid of life, like a spineless jellyfish, sprawled on the ground.
A mixture of hatred, resentment and grief brought my fury to an entirely new level. The cowardly toad, hiding in the rearguard of the enemies, was moving in the other direction. And, if not for the call of the Mother, I would immediately rush into a suicidal attack.
“MY CHILDREN! TO ME!”
The voice of the Divine could not be resisted, and, forgetting about retribution, I ran obediently to the most dear and closest being in the whole world.
«The older brothers remained in position, covering us, how noble it is!»
On the way to the Mother, I came across a once smooth-skinned, now familiar dog covered with woody scales and numerous wounds.
«It's him?! He is alive! Now we can finally escape here...»
At this thought, I stopped and froze in place.
«That's right! We need to get out of here!»
Mother's call suddenly sounded very quiet; it seems that my mental resistance has improved once again. Taking a sober look at what was happening around, I caught up with my four-legged friend.
“Hey, stop! It's me!” He wandered forward, not reacting in any way to my words. Hell, there must be a way to bring him back to his senses? Maybe it's all about the red stone? If I can take it out...
As soon as I touched the stone, the dog jumped away from me and growled.
“Sure, fine, I will not touch it!” I raised my hands up. “Take it easy!”
The dog looked at me for some time from under his brows, and then, as if nothing had happened, turned around and jogged to the Mother. Not wanting to leave my friend, I followed him.
«The main thing is not to give in to emotions; keep yourself in control»
I repeated it over and over again, like a mantra.
«Our» greatly depleted troops gathered ten meters away from the monstrous tree seed.
The last remaining octopuses fell under the onslaught of a multitude of magical attacks.
«Deity gathered us to give the last desperate fight, right?»
Then the current plan is to wait for the destruction of the so-called Deity Mother; protect the Dog, and, as soon as the mind control falls off him, run as fast and as far as possible from this damned place. Small monsters will not bother us, and the sub-elite simply will not keep up with us.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
A series of magical projectiles hit the wooden scales of tree Deity.
«Fuck, this is from the other side. Did magic-wielding monsters surround us?»
I looked dazingly in the direction from which the magic attack was cast.
Another army was advancing on us in a pincer movement; the new enemy was the black faction. Their levels were similar to the blue faction ones. As cannon fodder they used the common altered ones, but their sub-elites were of two types: the first something akin to a meat golem, but unlike toads, it moved on two legs. Symbols and magical designs were carved all over their bodies, and dozens of monsters and human heads were sewn onto their backs. Two skinny silhouettes were assigned to each golem - they turned out to be people. I focused on one of them:
Apprentice Necromancer (**).
Level 2
Black faction
«Not a single creature above two stars, neither from the blue nor from the black faction.» Most likely, they attacked to prevent the wooden Deity from germinating and becoming a full-fledged elite.
«On the one hand, hordes of magical creatures, on the other, necromancers. Damned dumb wooden cone, it drove itself into a corner.» I thought with impotent anger.
“CHILDREN OF MINE, THE HARVEST BEGINS!”
The temples and the back of the head were overcome with pain. The ground rumbled underfoot. Earthquake? There have never been earthquakes in our area.