The Mountain.
SHLUCK!
A vine pierced the man's chest.
"Ughh…"
His eyes darted down in disbelief, blood flowing from the corners of his mouth.
A massive root went through his chest, wiggling like a snake.
"He…lp…me…"
His begging eyes returned to the group.
They were frozen.
Frozen in shock and disbelief.
"Cough!"
He coughed out a mouthful of blood.
His vision blurred, and he passed out, with no chance to even utilize his superstrength.
"Retreat!"
The roar of a man broke everyone out of their daze.
Swoosh! Swoosh!
They retreated instantly.
They were all trained elites, and one command was drilled into their mind.
Obey commands from the leader unconditionally.
Don't think; don't assess the situation. If you are told to retreat, retreat immediately.
For that one second of hesitation can sometimes spill your doom,
"Samuel!"
The man roared again.
His face was wrinkled, covered in scars, unbefitting of a man in his forties.
A man jumped out of the group and rushed towards the vines.
Thud!
He slammed his palms on the ground.
Hundreds of small, worm-like roots erupted from the ground, wiggling forward like waves towards the wall of vines.
Until…
They connected.
'Let go. Retreat!'
He commanded in his mind.
"HUMANSSSSSSSSSSS…"
"AGHHHH!"
The man's eyes snapped open.
He stumbled back, clutching his head in pain.
The inhuman shriek still rang in his mind.
Shluck!
Several more vines pierced the corpse.
Then…
Splat!
They tore the corpse apart.
Blood rained. Intestines, organs, body parts, everything flew in the air, splattering to the ground.
The head rolled in the air.
Swoosh!
Dozens of vines erupted from the wall, heading for Samuel.
A vine pierced the head rolling mid-air and carried it forward.
"Sighh…"
The leader let out a breath.
Two katanas hung at the side of his waist. One short and one long.
He held the hilt of the longer katana.
Swoosh!
For a second, his body blurred.
He moved forward like a blade cutting through the air.
Sling! Sling! Sling!
The sound of a blade cutting through the air rang, and the next second, the advancing vines froze.
The leader sheathed his blade, letting out another breath.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Lines appeared on the vines, and they crumbled to the ground, cut into even cubes.
And the pierced head of the deceased man rolled to their feet, with white brain matter and blood leaving through the hole.
"Did you see everything?"
"No, I only saw seven sword slashes."
"I saw twelve,"
Whispers of admiration erupted among the group, completely unaffected by the death of their comrade.
Death had become too common. And at the end, this world had one more new rule. Every man for himself.
"Sir Argon is as fierce as ever,"
"Worthy of being third, only behind the Commander and Sir Lucian,"
"What happened?" Argon immediately questioned Samuel.
He didn't hear the remarks, and he wouldn't care.
Samuel quickly regained his composure and suppressed the pain.
He retreated.
"It's alive," He managed to utter. "And conscious. It has intelligence."
"Hmm…" Argon thought for a few seconds. "That's good," He nodded.
"It doesn't look friendly. So you can communicate with it and negotiate. Ask it to let us through."
Samuel's face turned ugly.
His head still buzzed, and Argon wanted him to do it again?
"Sir Argon, it forcibly broke my connection. I can't control it, and it doesn't want to communicate,"
He didn't want to experience the pain again.
"Hmm?"
Argon cast a chilling gaze.
Samuel's blood froze.
'Damn!' He cursed internally but still obeyed.
He slowly approached the vine wall with Argon accompanying him.
Swoosh!
Vines erupted, rapidly approaching.
"I'll cut you down!"
A wave of energy erupted from Argon.
His eyes flashed with a chilling white light.
The vines froze.
'He can communicate with plants?'
Samuel looked at him in astonishment, but quickly abandoned the idea.
All the vines retreated. Only one approached Samuel.
He connected with it.
"Humans!! Leave!!"
"Aghhh!!"
He groaned in pain.
"WAIT!"
He roared, stopping Argon in the nick of time. His blade rested an inch from the vine.
"I'm fine."
The connection wasn't broken. The voices were just too loud.
"Please let us pass."
"Humans. You poisoned the land. Killed the life. Burned the forest!"
The voice in his head roared.
"You shall not set foot here again! LEAVE!"
Snap!
The connection broke.
"It's refusing to let us through."
Samuel glared at the vine hatefully, suppressing his headache.
"I see," Argon sheathed his blade. "Negotiations failed. We'll break through."
He backed away, and Samuel followed.
"Elemental Units,"
"YES, SIR?"
The men roared.
"Break through."
"YES SIR!"
Many of the group backed away, but about forty stepped forth.
"Form battle formation 6. Bipolar Breakthrough,"
The men moved fast.
Fifteen stood at the front, forming a row.
Ten in the middle and fifteen more at the back.
"Frost, come here!"
Argon roared.
From one of the vehicles, a man walked out.
He wore a hoodie, covering his head.
He slowly approached, his back hunched.
The man walked to the front, standing before everyone.
"Attack!"
Swoosh!
As Argon ordered, vines erupted, as if sensing the danger.
"Water geyser!"
The fifteen men at the front extended their arms.
Splash!
Water spheres formed, floating before their palms before erupting forward.
"Wind Push!"
The second row uttered.
Strong winds blew, accelerating and cooling the water.
"Hahahaha…"
Frost's body trembled.
He laughed.
The wind blew off his hoodie, revealing a pale face with white spiky hair.
But despite the white hair, he was only in his early twenties.
His unnatural purple lips wouldn't go down.
Splash!
The water slammed into the incoming vines and then onto a part of the vine wall.
"Sighh…"
Frost breathed out.
White mist left his mouth, and he extended his arm.
For a second, everything went quiet.
The temperature around plummeted.
"Freeze."
Shhriiick!
The vines froze.
The water froze.
With just one command, the water turned into solid ice.
Swoosh!
Immediately, the first and second row dispersed, including Frost.
"Fireball!"
The third row moved.
Fireballs erupted from their palms, from everyone except Jim.
The fireballs flew through the air and fused into a single massive force.
BOOOM!
It struck the frozen part of the vine wall.
Debris flew around.
Shattered ice and frozen vines.
The attack succeeded.
A hole was blown into the wall, enough for them to pass.
The surviving vines twitched in pain.
"You still can't use your ability?"
Argon looked at Jim.
Jim clenched his fists.
"I can't." He muttered.
He opened his palm.
Sparks flew out, but no fire came out.
Argon studied his face.
He could see the sadness and grief.
The death of his brother still affected him.
"Don't push yourself." Argon patted his shoulder and turned to the group.
"Let's move!"
But as he ordered, the vine wall started repairing slowly.
"No, you don't!"
Swoosh!
He dashed.
'Fast,' Jim's eyes widened. 'He's too fast.'
Swish!
He swung his katana.
A crescent-shaped blade of energy erupted, slashing at the wall.
Thud!
Another huge portion fell.
"Move! QUICKLY!"
The group took their items, backpacks and weapons and entered the forest,
'I may have underestimated him,' Jim analyzed as he walked slowly, near the back of the group.
He finally understood.
It's not that Argon could communicate with plants.
The plants simply feared him.
'He is no weaker than the Commander and Lucian. At least, he is their equal, or even stronger in some aspects,'
Jim clenched his fists.
He hated to admit it, but he was not Argon's match at the moment.
Thud!
He bumped into a man.
"Wha…"
His eyes widened, and no words left his throat.
Everyone around had frozen with eyes wide in disbelief.
They had entered the forest.