Marshmallow hesitated for a moment. He knew Balor's power well, having faced him before. His immortality and control over hellfire made him a formidable opponent. On the other hand, Lynx was a maxed-out A Rank, and the determination in her eyes was undeniable. After a moment's thought, Marshmallow nodded.
"Alright," he said, motioning for her to proceed. "But be careful. He's immortal."
Lynx grinned, clearly unfazed by this detail. "No biggie," she replied, sounding almost amused. "I was just itching for a good fight anyway."
At that point, Marshmallow stepped between the two. "Balor, why don't you crawl back into whatever hole you came from? You know you don't stand a chance."
King Balor then raised his enormous flaming sword, pointing it at the duo. "Anyone who enters the Depths of Vesuvietna must face me. Those are the rules. Bring it on, worms!"
Without further warning, Balor launched his attack. His sword traced a downward arc through the air, aiming to slice the young warrior in two. However, Lynx showed no sign of fear. She darted backward, brilliantly avoiding the blow, and began moving her hands in a series of complex, precise gestures.
Lynx brought her hands in front of her chest with her palms facing each other. She interlaced her fingers, forming a shape that resembled a snake. Immediately after, she separated her hands and rotated them, creating a figure similar to a dragon. Her fingers moved at an impressive speed, almost impossible for the human eye to follow.
Marshmallow watched the scene with his mouth agape. What moves was Lynx making?
Lynx continued the sequence of signs. Her fingers danced in the air, intertwining in increasingly elaborate forms. Suddenly, she stretched her hands towards Balor. The fingers of her right hand interlaced with those of her left in such a way that the thumb and index finger of both hands formed a triangle. It was the final sign, the culmination of the entire sequence.
At that point, her voice resounded through the Depths of Vesuvietna, powerful and clear.
"OVERDRIVE! TREE OF LIFE!"
Balor remained impassive for a moment. "Huh? What nonsense are you babbling, human?" Then, the ground at Balor's feet began to tremble. The fire giant was about to charge again but stopped, confused by what was happening.
"What's going on?" Balor roared, but his question was soon drowned out by the deafening sound of rock breaking and roots emerging from the ground.
From the rocky, barren ground of the Depths of Vesuvietna, impossible for any form of plant life, a sprout emerged. But it wasn't just any sprout. It was a sprout that grew at an incredible speed, thickening and elongating upward with a rapidity that defied every law of nature.
In a matter of seconds, the sprout had transformed into a young tree. Its roots intertwined around Balor's feet, wrapping them in an increasingly tight grip. The trunk thickened visibly, quickly reaching the size of a centuries-old oak.
Marshmallow wouldn't easily forget such a spectacle. Balor, caught off guard, tried to free himself. With his sword, he tried to cleanly cut the branches and resin that were entangling him, but for every branch cut, seven more sprouted, ready to trap him even more. Then he emitted flames from every pore, engulfing the tree in an inferno of fire. But the fire seemed to have no effect. The tree's leaves remained green and lush, the wood showed no signs of burning.
"How the hell is this possible?" Balor yelled with all the might of his fiery lungs. The tree continued to grow, taller and wider. The branches kept extending in every direction, trapping Balor more and more in a wooden cage. At a certain point, Balor was so immobilized that he could no longer hold his sword and let it fall to the ground.
Soon, the tree reached the ceiling of the cave. But instead of stopping, it continued to grow, breaking the rock above it as if it were wallpaper. In a few minutes, the Tree of Life had reached titanic dimensions, similar to those of an entire building. Balor, the powerful and feared King Balor the Immortal, found himself completely trapped inside it, unable to move or free himself despite all his efforts.
Marshmallow watched the scene with wide eyes, unable to believe what he was seeing. Lynx, with a triumphant smile on her face, turned to him. Suddenly, a trickle of blood began to run from her nose.
"Lynx!" Marshmallow exclaimed, worried. "Are you okay?"
Lynx wiped the blood with the back of her hand, downplaying the situation. "Yeah, it's nothing," she replied. "It's just a bit of a tough ability to maintain."
Marshmallow believed her, then turned to the enormous tree that loomed before them. "I thought you couldn't fight in this place. I didn't expect you to have an ace up your sleeve like that."
Stolen novel; please report.
"My Tree of Life is completely immune to flames," she explained. "It can't be damaged in any way. But clearly, it's the only ability I can use in a place like this. Balor can struggle all he wants, but he's trapped there and can't do anything about it."
Marshmallow remained silent for a few moments, trying to process what had just happened. Lynx, the girl who until recently seemed to be in trouble, had just defeated King Balor the Immortal in a way he could never have even imagined.
"Why didn't you tell me you had such a powerful Overdrive?" Marshmallow asked.
"Well, you never asked," Lynx replied simply, shrugging with an amused smile.
Marshmallow scratched an exposed area of his helmet. He had indeed never really investigated Lynx's capabilities. "By the way, why did you make all those hand gestures?"
Lynx looked at him thoughtfully for a moment before answering. "Probably, everyone has their own way of summoning their Overdrive. These gestures are my way. If I don't do them, it simply doesn't work. It's as if the hand movements were a key to unlock the power inside me."
Marshmallow nodded, fascinated by this new information. "Interesting. Every day you learn something new in this world."
However, the victory brought with it a new problem. The Tree of Life, in its explosive growth, had completely covered the entrance to the Depths of Vesuvietna. Like Balor, they were trapped too.
"If that's the issue, no problem," Lynx said noticing the concern on Marshmallow's face. Once again, she began to move her hands in that series of complex gestures that Marshmallow had observed before.
Under Marshmallow's astonished eyes, a section of the enormous trunk began to move. The wood bent and twisted, creating a perfectly circular opening, large enough for them to pass through.
"I have full control over the Tree of Life," Lynx explained. "I can manipulate it as I please."
Before heading towards the exit, Marshmallow noticed something shining among the roots of the Tree of Life. It was King Balor the Immortal's sword, which the giant had dropped while struggling against the tree. Marshmallow approached and picked it up.
Immediately, a screen appeared before his eyes:
TITANIC SWORD OF FLAMES
Rarity: Legendary
Effect: Contains the hellfire of King Balor the Immortal. It inflicts massive fire damage and can ignite enemies.
Requirement: Strength 800+
DO YOU WANT TO TAKE IT? Yes/No
Marshmallow hesitated for a moment. 800 Strength? Was this a joke? It was clearly a value imposed to prevent anyone from being able to use that sword. Marshmallow's base Strength stat was 130, multiplied by two it was 260, and when wielding the Supernova Titan Hammer it rose to 780. It wasn't enough. But Marshmallow still had 50 Assignable Points to assign. He just needed to place 4 in the Strength stat to make that weapon usable. If there was only one person within the Survivor Game capable of using that weapon, it was Marshmallow. So he smiled. "Yes," he said aloud, making the screen disappear. The sword shrank to manageable dimensions, perfectly adapting to his grip.
"A nice souvenir of our adventure," he commented, showing it to Lynx before storing it inside the Key of Light, where the Supernova Titan Hammer also resided.
The two hurried towards the exit, while Balor's furious screams continued to echo in the cave. The fire giant was writhing and contorting, throwing flames against the tree that held him prisoner, but to no effect.
As they climbed onto the Geoundead Dragon, Lynx turned to Marshmallow with an uncertain expression. "Should we free him?" she asked, nodding towards Balor.
Marshmallow considered the question for a moment, then shook his head with an amused smile. "Nah, let's leave him there for a while. It's fun seeing him like this."
The dragon spread its wings and took flight, carrying them out of the Depths of Vesuvietna. As they moved away, they could still hear Balor's curses echoing behind them.
The return journey was peaceful, giving Marshmallow time to reflect on what had just happened. Lynx had proven to be a formidable warrior, with abilities that went far beyond what he had imagined. He mentally promised himself never to underestimate his companions again.
Finally, on the horizon appeared the familiar shape of the Ashenwood. Marshmallow felt a twinge of excitement at the thought of what awaited them. He had left Raven and Parabellum to prepare the army, and he couldn't wait to see the results.
As the dragon glided towards the ground, Marshmallow scanned the terrain below. What he saw made him hold his breath.
His army was ready. The Final Onslaught could begin.