Boom! Crash! Rumble!
The ground shook, and the air reverberated due to multiple explosions. Amidst the chaos is some sort of tree standing at around 10 meters in height, and despite the explosions, the tree-like monster remains unaffected. The fires died down before it could leave a mark on the glistening bark of the monster's trunk. Swords and dagger can't even leave a shallow mark on the trunk seemingly capable of fitting both its attacker inside and have a room to spare. The monster grinned sarcastically to its attacker as it fought back using its branches and roots thicker than an adult male's torso as a whip.
"Arcine! Let's finish this, everyone else are probably done by now," a man equipped with a shortsword, shouted upon witnessing the monster's reaction. Despite the situation, there is no panic in the man's face as he dodges the branch aimed at his body and parrying the root which seemed capable of ripping him in half.
Upon hearing her partner, a dagger wielding girl calmly retreats while slipping through a storm of roots and branches all capable of giving her a fatal injury. Upon building distance between her and the monster, the girl, Arcine's dagger suddenly emits light and began to change.
This sudden development attracted the attention of the monster, and perhaps noticing her intention; the monster focused its attack to Arcine. Countless roots and branches simultaneously shoot towards her at a breakneck speed, yet none of those manages to touch even one strand of her hair.
"I'm your opponent, you damned tree," the man taunted after successfully deflecting all of the monster's attack aimed at Arcine, his partner. The man's whole body now emitted a pale blue haze; at the same time, Arcine's dagger now transformed into a longbow as high as Arcine.
"Astrion, this is going to take a little while, so…."
"I know, leave the front to me and just focus on that," the man, Astrion stated, cutting Arcine's words. While he sounded confident, Astrion gripped his sword a little more tightly, his eyes strained to the monster.
Upon hearing this, Arcine smiled and then focuses all her intent to the monster. The world around her faded and only her target remained, as she began channeling her energy to her bow. The bow emitted bluish-white light, and several arrowheads seemingly made of light float around Arcine.
As if to take cue, the monster restarts its attacks to Arcine only to fail again. Astrion skillfully used his sword to chop off the branches and roots of the monster. Realizing what happened, the monster intensified its attacks.
Seeing this, a bead of sweat formed on Astrions forehead and his hands trembled slightly, yet his grin is plastered to his face. He continuously defended against the relentless attacks, but he is nearing his limit. Fatigue from using his skill, and the limits to his stamina causes him to lag behind the monster's attack causing it to slip past his sword. He grabbed the root that manages to slip past him and yanked it to the other roots and branches. Some were kicked, or be blocked by his own body, damaging him little by little. Blood trickled down his hands and face, and it is only a matter of time before he falls yet he has no plans to give up.
"You can't be serious," Astrion muttered, and his voice breaking as he is witnessing the monster's next course of action.
After a long back and forth, the monster's attack suddenly stopped. Yet for Astrion, this is not a cause for celebration rather it is the sign of the next ordeal. The monster gathered all of branches overhead and formed it to what resembles a meat hammer intending to crush both its attacker through brute force. Astrion's mind is racing for the best action when he suddenly heard Arcine's voice.
"Cosmic Breaker," Arcine released her technique towards the monster. A streak of light pierced trough the monster's trunk, and countless light arrows follows up easily piercing through the monster's tough bark. Unable to defend against the Cosmic Breaker, the monster's core broke into countless pieces which should end the fight. However, unable to support the weight of its branches, the meat hammer it formed overhead crashes down threatening to crush Arcine and Astrion.
Seeing this, Astrion calls up every last bit of the strength he had left and barely manages to slice the meat hammer in half, just enough for them to survive the ordeal. They had managed to defeat the tree monster which is supposed to be the guardian of the dungeon, but the fight has left them drained, barely managing to stand.
As Arcine and Astrion are about to relax, they suddenly felt a chill up their spine. As far as they knew, the tree monster was the guardian of the dungeon and there shouldn't be any monsters left therefore none of them has any idea regarding on what they felt. As they were exchanging looks, they heard a voice so cold and dreadful that they instantly went limp.
"Pathetic."
That one word felt like it came from the very depths of the abyss. Arcine and Astrion trembled, every nerve on their body is telling them to run away yet none of them can muster any strength to stand and run. They looked at one another, despair painted on their faces as they lost their consciousness due to the sheer terror they felt.