The branches of the massive trees twisted and elongated in mid-air, defying the laws of physics as they transformed into countless sharp, pitch-black thorny vines.
Like a swarm of vipers emerging from their den, they hissed through the air with supersonic cracks, lashing out from every direction.
At the critical moment, the warriors' phones erupted in blinding light.
"—ARMOR LINK!!!"
Metallic components gleaming with a cold luster spun out from the void, accompanied by the rhythmic clanging of mechanical interlocks.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Several alloy leg plates spun at high speed, precisely severing the first wave of vines aimed at Valerie.
Victor's gauntlets sprayed high-pressure water jets the moment they closed, dicing the wooden spikes into segments.
In less than two seconds, the previously joking group had completed their transformation.
The cold texture of metal stood in stark contrast to the primal forest, reflecting a murderous glint through the mist.
"Don't scatter! Group up!"
With Dodge's sharp command, the armored warriors converged like falling stars. Using Ester as the core, they instantly deployed a circular defensive formation.
Their thrusters emitted a low roar, fighting against the increasingly violent hurricane.
Ester, shielded in the center, crouched low and covered her head, her bossy demeanor replaced by that of a startled kitten as she shrieked:
"PROTECT ME!!!"
"These trees... they're moving?!" Phyllis's voice trembled.
Through the gaps in the defensive circle, the group witnessed a terrifying mutation. On the once-verdant trunks, the bark began to heave and tear like skin.
Accompanied by sickening, wet squelches, giant bloodshot eyeballs burst open from the centers of the trees.
The pupils were not human circles, but distorted, contracting rhombuses glowing with hunger.
Then, the wooden fibers beneath the eyes shattered, revealing bottomless, pitch-black maws.
There were no teeth—only churning shadows like black holes, emitting the overlapping, woven wails of those trapped in their "throats."
CRACK— SNAP!!
The sound of splintering wood echoed.
The trees forcibly wrenched their roots from the earth.
The thick roots, coated in viscous black slime, writhed and reorganized into deformed, arthropod-like bipeds.
They stepped onto the soft leaves with heavy thuds, each footfall making the ground tremble.
"Listen up, everyone!!"
In the comms channel, Dodge's voice no longer held a trace of his previous simple-mindedness. It was replaced by the cold, decisive edge of a commander.
This was Dodge in Commander Mode.
"This is a B-Rank Wood-element Shadow Shifters, the Wood-Walkers. Earth-elements are at a total disadvantage here. Everyone, switch to the corresponding tactical sequence!"
With Dodge's emergency deployment, the panicked circle began to operate with the precision of interlocking gears.
"{Blaze Punch} on main assault, {Saint Silver} on cover! {Furious Shark} for flank harassment, {Sniper Eye} to lock down the rear, and {Mage Heart}, prepare Fire-element spells for the sweep!"
A cold glint flashed in Dodge's eyes as a pair of steel claws extended from his arm guards, digging firmly into the ground.
"As for Emma, don't you dare use Armor Link! Stay right next to me! Your [Taunt] will only turn you into an appetizer for those logs! Leave this to me!"
"Roger, Captain!!!"
"System unlocked, {Saint Silver} thrusters—Overload Activation!"
Phyllis's soft gaze was replaced by a chilling battle intent.
She swung her left arm, deploying a translucent Hard-Light Particle Shield crackling with electricity, smashing the incoming vines into sawdust.
"Valerie, stay close!"
Phyllis's plasma projector emitted a high-frequency hum, solidifying into a cutting blade wreathed in violent lightning. {Saint Silver} and {Blaze Punch}.
One silver, one red—two blurs of light charged out like comets!
Phyllis acted as the ultimate lightning knight, her shield deflecting every lash while her blade cut through the deformed root-legs like a hot knife through butter.
Behind her, Valerie radiated visible heat waves, her strikes igniting with the fury of a volcano.
"You dead wood, burn to ash!"
Valerie followed the opening cleared by Phyllis, landing a heavy, flaming punch directly into the giant eye of the leading Wood-Walkers!
Meanwhile, {Furious Shark} moved like blue lightning through the forest gaps, his high-mobility armor leaving afterimages that the monsters' eyes couldn't track.
{Sniper Eye} rolled and fired in one fluid motion, each muffled gunshot precisely bursting a monster's head.
Beside him, {Mage Heart} stood surrounded by arcane ripples, red sparks gathering in his palm like the whisper of the Grim Reaper.
After a few minutes, the enemy's numerical advantage began to stall the small team.
"Hey! These guys... they just don't stop coming!"
Valerie's flaming kick pierced a monster's chest, but as it died, it used its remaining vines to tangle her ankle.
The smell of charred wood filled the air, yet the monster's wounds were instantly consumed and reorganized by the horde behind it.
"Warning! Shield energy dropped to 40%! Pressure Overload!"
Phyllis's system shrieked. Everywhere they looked, bloodshot eyes gleamed in the dark.
These Shadow Shifters displayed a terrifying collective consciousness, stacking themselves into a "biological tidal wave" of rotting wood and black slime, surging toward the center of the formation.
BOOM—!!
Phyllis let out a grunt as her shield shattered under the weight of dozens of tons. Acidic slime began to seep into the gaps of her armor.
"Phyllis!" Valerie cried out, but she was dragged down by four monsters into a swamp of roots.
"Tch, there are too many!" Victor's {Furious Shark} carved an anxious line through the air, but his efforts were a drop in the bucket. The gaps in the defense were filling up fast.
A Wood-Walker broke through the perimeter, its black-hole maw snapping down toward the defenseless Ester and Emma!
"Protect... me... WAAAH! DODGE!!" Ester collapsed in terror.
"GET BACK, YOU ROTTEN ROOTS!!"
A hulking figure moved like a teleportation, blocking them.
{Tiger Soul} crossed its steel claws, physically holding back the monster's maw.
His armor groaned under the pressure; because Earth was countered by Wood, every second of resistance drained his stamina massively.
"GEORGE!! IS IT READY YET?!" Dodge grit his teeth, veins bulging on his neck.
"We're about to be buried alive!!"
At the heart of the circle, George's eyes were completely covered by crimson runes.
The halberd-staff in his hand trembled, the air around him warping with heat.
"— [FLAME SUMMON: THE INCINERATORS]!!"
With George as the center, a crimson magic circle rippled outward, scorching the soil into glass. Then, the ground turned into a pool of lava, and pillars of violent flame erupted.
Within these rising pillars, shadows constructed of pure fire solidified.
They had no flesh, only flowing flame and the will to destroy. These "Incinerators" began to multiply geometrically. One, ten, a hundred... in the blink of an eye, a fire army capable of burning the entire forest stood before them.
"CHARGE—!"
At the direction of George's staff, the Incinerators let out silent roars, turning into fire meteors that launched a suicidal assault against the wall of wood!
BOOM—!!!
The battlefield was swallowed by towering flames. The Wood-Walkers tried to douse the fire with slime, but the Incinerators were pure magical flame—once they touched wood, they spread like a parasite.
The monsters became the largest living torches in the forest.
"So... amazing..." Ester stared blankly at the scene.
"That's our God of Magic, {Mage Heart}!" Dodge retracted his claws, wiping sweat from his face.
"Guys, time to loot while the fire is hot!"
With the Incinerators fading, the battlefield was left a charred wasteland.
[Mission Type: Area Liberation Pre-mission]
[Rank: B]
[Objective: Slain the Wood-Walkers occupied the area (20/20)]
Rewards Granted:
10,000 LP Enhancement Core B x10
Power Core A x10
Wood-Walkers's Root x5
Wood-Walkers's Sharp Vine x5
Wood-Walkers's Crimson Eye x2
Wood-Walkers's Pure Dew x1
{Wood-Bane Sniper Rifle} Weapon Blueprint x1
{Wood-Bane Snare Ammo} Weapon Blueprint x1
{Dawn Break} Armor Blueprint x1
{Silent Mist} Armor Blueprint x1
Dodge called Luther over.
"My disciple! You've got new toys! This rifle and snare ammo look useful for pinning enemies!"
Luther pushed up his glasses.
"Now I can headshot and control them. I'll need to craft these immediately."
The pair performed their signature "Hand Pistol" pose.
As the smoke cleared, George—now out of his armor—was crouching on the ground, searching through the ash for loot like an eagle looking for jewels.
Suddenly, a weird "warmth" rose behind him. It was the laser-like gazes of the others.
"MR. GEORGE—!!"
"Whoa?!" George jumped, startled. Victor and Valerie rushed forward, holding overflowing bags of rare ingredients like sacred offerings.
"Please, accept these!" Victor said solemnly.
"If not for you, my dear Valerie would have physically become 'forest fertilizer'!"
"I really thought I was dead," Valerie nodded, eyes sparkling with adoration.
"This... you guys are too kind," George turned away, his ears slightly red.
"I was just doing my duty..."
"Look at him!" Phyllis teased.
"The 'love' is overflowing the screen! Just be honest and accept it, don't be a tsundere."
"I am not being a—" George started, but the words caught in his throat.
Suddenly, the world spun. Phyllis became a double image. The charred earth warped.
As his vision sank into darkness, George swayed and collapsed heavily into the dirt.
"GEORGE!" "BROTHER—!!"
While the warriors panicked, Ester showed surprising calmness.
She charged in like a nimble leopard, dispersing the crowd.
"Don't crowd him! He needs oxygen! Everyone back five steps!"
Checking pulse, observing pupils, confirming breathing—Ester's textbook-perfect first aid was so professional it made one wonder if she moonlighted as a hospital director.
"It's fine, just total stamina depletion after the overload," she sighed, wiping George's forehead with a wet wipe.
"He's just in a deep sleep. I'll take him back to base."
As a spatial rift opened, Ester and Phyllis helped George disappear into the blue light.
"Since our savior is down," Valerie and Victor looked at each other, "let's finish the cleanup for him! Scrape everything valuable and take it back to him!"
Peace returned briefly—until a piercing, distorted shriek tore through the air! It wasn't a roar of a creature, but the sound of space itself being forcibly ripped apart.
Wha—?!"
Before anyone could react, countless vines—black as ink—burst from the void without warning.
These were no longer wooden; they were constructed from a bizarre shadow energy, reeking of the viscous aura of the Abyss.
"Kyaaa—!"
Valerie let out a sharp cry as she was instantly and heavily entwined.
Then came Victor, Dodge, Luther...
"What the hell is this?! My body... I can't find any strength..."
Accompanied by a series of heart-wrenching screams, the void shadow opened like the maw of the abyss.
In the blink of an eye, the busy warriors were forcibly dragged into the jagged cracks of a fractured dimension.
On the charred ruins of the woodland, only a few dropped items remained, spinning lonely in the wind...