third POV

Oak Treant was in internal turmoil. he knew how dangerous a challenger was since he had met the previous challenger before. the power of the challenger was not something that could be ignored.

Oak Treant once expected that if he could kill a challenger, at least he would get a high prestige and fame before he continued to the next level and joined the monsters in their war of power. with such fame on his back, not many will dare try to mess with him or make his life hard.

never in his wildest dreams did he know about a challenger that could rise back from death. It's not like Yohan did rise from death, but Oak Treant never knew about that. Oak Treant knew that Yohan was supposed to be dead, but then he jumped back up and even fought back.

now Oak Treant and Yohan are standing facing each other. their difference in size made Yohan appear as if he was fighting against a real titan, considering the Oak Treant size that reached twenty meters tall. Oak Treant was ready to attack at any time but somehow he looked hesitant, as if something was on his mind holding him back from striking first.

"I will give you mercy, Oak Treant.

leave, alone by yourself, and I will let you go in peace."

"What? leave?"

"Yes. leave as far as you want to go.

i won't give a chase and won't look for you unless you try anything against me."

Oak Treant can only look at Yohan in disbelief as Yohan shows him a mischievous smile and shoo-ing gesture as if he were just a naughty little boy. Oak Treant's face started to twist to anger and hate while his roots and branches started to sway menacingly.

"YOU DARE TREAT ME LIKE A YOUNG SAPPLING!!"

"Well, aren't you just old?

Old things were supposed to go away and hide somewhere in the corner.

collecting dust, hehe."

Oak Treant felt insulted at being called "things." he was a proud Great Beast, the oldest one alive and one of the most powerful. no one, not even a challenger, was allowed to mock him in any way and treat him like a souvenir.

Oak Treant didn't say any more words, as he found that speaking was no longer necessary. instead, sharp roots quickly shootout from the ground right under Yohan's feet. Yohan followed his instinct, telling him that danger was coming a split second before it arrived. Yohan jumped around quickly while trying his best to get closer to Oak Treant.

Luckily for Yohan, Oak Treant was in a state of complete rage and didn't care about strategy. Oak Treant didn't realize that Yohan was trying to get closer and just saw it when Yohan finally climbed his trunk from behind.

Yohan knows that killing a Treant like Oak Treant will never be easy. He had to find Oak Treant a weak spot and strike there to ensure his victory. Unfortunately, such a weak spot was nowhere to be seen so he can only guess based on his experience.

the last time he protected the Treant, Smilursa's little cousin always aimed for the roots. it seems like they were afraid that the roots would attack them from their blind spot. Luckily Yohan is no longer on the ground so the roots will not be his main concern for now. other than roots, Yohan didn't have a clue about the Treant's weakness, so he can only make assumptions.

Yohan climbed as fast as he could to reach the Oak Treant's branch. along the way, Yohan tried his best to remain stuck in Oak Treant's trunk as the old tree kept swaying and spinning wildly. it seems like Oak Treant is beginning to panic and Yohan plans to use that to his advantage.

Yohan finally arrived at the branch area. the first thing he had in mind was to cut off all the branches from the main trunk so Oak Treant would not be able to use his branch to attack anymore.

Yohan pulled his fist back and smashed a thick branch from Oak Treant's trunk.

HEAAA! BAAMM!

CRACKKKK!

the branch was strong. very strong beyond Yohan's expectations. but the branch was still broken under his powerful punch, despite Yohan now having to massage his own fist.

"One down, hundreds more to go!"

Yohan begins to break the branches one by one, each almost as thick as his own leg. Some were even thicker than his legs. Yohan used everything he could think of to break the branches. Punch, kick, pull, press, anything that he can think of.

In the process, Oak Treant started to turn crazy. His sway was getting even more crazy and more than once Yohan almost got thrown out from the branch area. At one point, Yohan was forced to hang on for dear life in fear of getting shot out into the ground like a meteor.

after such a grueling duel between Yohan and Oak Treant, Yohan finally came to the last branch. this one was the thickest out of them all, the same size as Yohan himself.

Yohan had already tried to pull and push the branch but it was too hard to even move. the branch doesn't even bend even just a little. Meanwhile, Oak Treant started to slam himself to the ground to remove Yohan from his head. If he loses the last branch, it will take a very long time just to recover the smallest wounds. as a plant lifeform, Oak Treant needs both his roots and leaves that reside on his branch to grow and heal himself.

"STOP CHALLENGER!

I GIVE UP!

I WILL LEAVE!

DON'T BREAK MY LAST BRANCH!"

"No no, big tree don't give up.

you already have your chance before, big tree be a good boy and stay silent, ya?"

"YOU....!!!"

Oak Treant finally unlocks all his fuse and begins to go crazy. he no longer cares about himself or his condition as sharp roots quickly shoot off the ground toward Yohan's position above Oak Treant's head. hundreds of sharp roots shoot out like a missile toward Yohan, who can only save himself by jumping off Oak Treant's head.

"CURSE YOU, CHALLENGER AND ALL YOUR KIND!

IF I EVER SURVIVE FROM HERE, YOU WILL NEVER HAVE A GOOD REST BECAUSE I WILL COME TO YOU EVERY SECOND OF YOUR LIFE!!!"

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"or I can kill you and you will never come into my life ever again!"

as soon as Yohan landed on the ground, jumped out of the way several times to avoid the hidden sharp roots that were waiting for him. Yohan was forced to jump away until he was outside the village walls where he could finally take a breath. unfortunately, outside the walls was where the big and old Treants were located. they started to rain on Yohan with sharp branches and roots that made Yohan have to escape as fast as he could into the village where Oak Treant's sharp roots were waiting.

'I can't have a moment of breathing!'

Yohan could barely take a single breath before a storm of sharp roots came to him. his instinct was blaring with a warning every time his feet ever touched the ground. the only moment Yohan could take a breath was when he was floating between jumps that could not be used because Yohan's mind was busy looking around.

'I have to end this fast!'

Yohan looks at Oak Treant, whose face is no longer that of a human. Oak Treant's face was now a lot closer to a demon, with sharp pointy eyes and sharp fangs made of pointy branches. Then two pairs of hands suddenly emerge from the roots below Oak Treant's trunk. These hands were made of roots which means Yohan can relax a little.

"After all this time, did you finally make some hands?

What's next? legs?"

Oak Treant's four hands then quickly moved down toward the ground. All four hands made a pushing gesture that forced Oak Treant's trunk to pull out from the ground. below the trunk, two pairs of legs made of intertwined roots quickly started to climb out of the hole where Oak Treant used to plant himself.

"YOU ARE DEAD, CHALLENGER!"

"You know that I was joking about legs, right?"

Oak Treant started to move. every step he takes shakes the ground while his hands swing menacingly, blasting air as it moves around wildly. each finger on the root-made hands was sharpened dangerously while sharp spikes started to decorate the hands.

Yohan can only look at the spikes with widened eyes and jaws dropped. Walking trees were already bad enough, and now the trees have four weaponized hands that could kill with one swing.

Oak Treant then dashed toward Yohan with a clear intention to kill. He swings his hands wildly as if trying to catch Yohan in between his random swings. Yohan responded with consecutive dodges, running around here and there to avoid getting smashed by one of the random swings.

Yohan was forced to escape with difficulty as the number of spikes on Oak Treant's four arms increased. Soon all four arms will be completely filled with spikes, leaving no empty gap.

"Are you a tree or a porcupine!! Make up your mind!! "

Oak Treant roared angrily as he chased after Yohan, who ran around the village, trying to avoid getting impaled while looking for a gap to attack. Unfortunately, after a few more random swings, Yohan could not find a gap to attack and started to run out of place to escape.

'When there's no gap to attack, make one!'

Once again Yohan dodged random swings of spikey fists before pulling his right fist. Another fist soon came toward him and Yohan released his skill.

"Blasting Punch! "

Yohan was forced to face a spiked fist from Oak Treant, or else he would never have had a chance to attack. Yohan's skills manage to shatter Oak Treant's root arm that is coming toward him, in exchange for his own hand getting impaled by spikes.

The crumbled hand will take some time to heal, while the wild swings will have a wide gap with the loss of one hand. Yohan used this chance to make his way in between the wild swings, getting a few cuts from the spikes that pass by his body.

After a few hard dodges, Yohan finally manages to go past the hands and reach Oak Treant's trunk. He quickly stabbed his claws in Oak Treant's trunk and pushed himself up real fast. Climbing as fast as he can to reach Oak Treant's face.

Oak Treant didn't stay idle, and with his three hands, he tried to swat Yohan away from his trunk. Yohan had to jump side to side, avoiding the spiked hand while also climbing up as fast as he could.

Finally, Yohan managed to get close enough to Oak Treant's face that a powerful single push of his hand managed to shoot him up toward Oak Treant's face.

As soon as Yohan reached the height of Oak Treant's face, he quickly released his most potent skills.

"World Breaker Roar! "

ROOOAAARRRR!!!

Yohan roared as loudly as he could, using his entire body as support to produce the loudest roar possible. What Yohan didn't expect was that the results of his skill would turn out to be different from the ones he saw in the Training Space.

Once his roar was released, a shock wave blasted out from Yohan towards his surroundings. The shock wave destroyed the ground below and blasted everything around Yohan away into the distance.

In the Oak Treant section, Yohan manages to obliterate all of his hands and legs without any trace but splinters. Meanwhile, Oak Treant's trunk was split in two with the crack point located above Oak Treant's face.

Other than that, Oak Treant also got his trunk cracked so bad that it turned brittle. Another good punch might shatter Oak Treant for good.

But Oak Treant was not the only one who got his body broken beyond limits, Yohan himself got himself injured from the usage of his own skills. The shockwave started from him so Yohan himself had to bear the damage first before it spread outward.

Yohan's body and mind have been shaken heavily and it has put a toll on his body. His bones felt brittle while his flesh felt like it was sliding off from his bones. Yohan's brain suffered from a low-level shock that put him in a dazed state for a bit of time.

The worst of his injuries were his throat currently hurting as if it was burned. Even in a dazed state, Yohan can still question his own condition and whether he can ever recover from such wounds.