The towering treant wrenched its rooted trunk-like legs from the ground and swung a clawed branch toward David. A loud crack rang through the air as the boss’s arm collided with his emboldened shield. David’s arm buckled and he let out a cry of pain as his arm broke underneath the force of the strike.

Relentless, the oaken monster struck out again. A spear of wood shot from its arm toward the warrior. Purple lattice enveloped the treant for an instant, glowing brighter than ever before as Avery snarled. The spear only slowed for an instant, but it was enough for David to side step it and bring his glowing white blade down, shearing it in two.

Elijah stepped into a shadow and appeared beneath the behemoth. He yelled, releasing a flurry of violent strikes, smoke licking up from each singed gash. Eerie green light seeped from the treant's toothy maw as it turned its attention toward Elijah. It let out another shriek and wood erupted from the monster's leg, colliding with Elijah. He lost his grip on his blade and was knocked backwards.

Landing on his feet, Elijah advanced towards the boss. A wooden spike jutted out of the ground and Elijah leapt away, narrowly avoiding it. Another spike struck just as he landed. He danced around a barrage of wooden strikes as they continuously rocketed from the ground, giving him no reprieve.

He swept around, searching for a shadow to disappear into. As if the boss could read his mind, glowing moss oozed out of the spears, eating away at the meager shadows around. Elijah stumbled backwards as a barb managed to score a strike against the back of his leg. He moved as quickly as he could, weaving between strikes, but more and more of them started to find their mark.

Winding arms as thick as a man's torso swung at David. The warrior fought desperately, swinging his blade back and forth, batting the crashing limbs away to the best of his ability. He was holding his own, but losing ground quickly; his broken shield arm was hanging limply against his side.

Avery turned her attention from David to Elijah. The Hex dissipated from David’s opponent as she recast it on the rupturing spines around Elijah.

A bolt shot through the air, ramming into one of the monster's green eyes. A thin branch grew from its face and tore the arrow out of its eye.

Thin, vine-like branches grew out of the ground and grasped at Avery’s feet. One tangled up her leg, constricting around it like a tourniquet. Avery hissed in pain. She hacked the vine away with her dagger and ran back towards the entrance.

Elijah dove away from the sedated spikes and dove toward a nearby shadow. A yelp caught his attention and he turned to see David’s sword fall from his hand, the white sheen around it shattering. Unburdened by the Hex, the monster had proven too much for David. Blood dripped from a wiry spine of wood protruding out of his abdomen. Elijah slipped into the shadow, appearing a few feet behind Avery.

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David’s body collapsed in a heap as the bloody spear retreated back into the ground, like a snake to its den. The colossal treant shifted its attention toward Elijah and Avery, splinters of wood bared angrily within its jaws.

“Should we retreat?” Elijah asked, not leaving his current shadow.

“I don’t think we can,” Avery replied. “I tried at the veiled archway earlier and couldn’t pass through. We’re trapped. And I’m practically out of mananite.”

“Shit.”

The boss stepped off of the pedestal and began lumbering its way over. Explosions of wood, rupturing from the ground around it with each step. Getting close to it would be as good as a death sentence.

“I’m gonna try something,” Elijah said. He knit his brow in focus and extended a flexed hand.

“Whatever you’re doing, do it quickly,” Avery said.

Beads of sweat formed on Elijah’s forehead and he clenched his jaw. The monster continued walking lethargically at the pair, confident in its victory. It raised a clawed arm above its head and multiple thick serpents of wood rose from the ground, twisting to point at them.

Smoldering orange mamanite flared around his palm, wreathing his hand in translucent flames before vanishing. Elijah stared expectantly at the boss’s leg, where his dagger was still embedded.

Languid flames began to lick from beneath the coiled knots of the monster's leg. It stopped in its tracks, looking in astonishment down at the budding fire, then screeched. The boss slashed at the flames coming from within its leg. Wood splintered against wood as it beat against itself.

The forked flames lapped up the sides of the monster. Pillars of wood shot from the ground and into the fire in an attempt to douse the menacing blaze. They only served to fuel the growing inferno.

Acrid smoke billowed from within the recesses of the twisted leg. The monster haphazardly ripped at its leg in a frenzied panic. Terror painted its face as screams echoed off the sides of the arena.

Avery stretched her arm out and the same ghostly fire as before surged within the center of the flames. The burnt orange flames mixed with the translucent white ones, erupting into a crescendo of consuming fire.

The once mighty treant began to crumple beneath the inescapable hunger of the fire as it spread along its claws and body. Twigs, branches, and trunks disintegrated into ash as the furious roar of the flames caressed its writhing body like a violent lover.

Green eyes slowly dimmed beneath the sadistic flame as it ate away at the boss. Its powerful screams were reduced to pitiful cries. Clouds of black fumes filled the air within the top of the arena.

Elijah gasped and fell to his knees, completely drained of mananite.

“Holy shit,” he said.

“That was considerably harder than the last thing we fought,” Avery replied wearily, scanning the room for any more threats. “I fear we might have gotten a little lucky.”

“Looks like David lived too,” Elijah said, pressing his hand to one of the wounds in his side as he glanced over at David, who was laid out across the ground, groaning.

The spears and trunks of wood scattered throughout the chamber began to wither away, flakes of black wood dissolving off of them. The monster lay before them, now nothing more than a crackling bonfire.