The group was separated into 6 sides, all of them circling the dead-looking tree 100 meters away.
None were allowed to cross that line under Commander Reynor's orders, with the exception of his two assistants and Zach Talon.
As they were separated into 6 groups, Emery split his companions in two. He would be with Annara and Arcana, while the other group would be Atlas, Sigurd and Lyndell. Each group was accompanied by a total of six saint fighters.
All the 36 saint fighters and 20 privileged acolytes were on their position and ready to guard against any incoming threat, which most likely would emerge from the dozens of caves around the crater.
While the groups were getting ready for their task, Emery's attention was focused on something else. The grey tree that solely stood at the center attracted him so much that he was unable to pull his gaze away from it.
Emery stared at the dried ash gray tree. The more he kept looking at it, the more he felt conflicted.
He could sense a certain emotion coming from it.
Despair… Hopelessness… All of it came directly into his mind.
He swore he could hear a whisper in his ear as if echoing from it.
"Go… away…."
The sound of the whisper caught him off guard. To be sure, Emery turned to Annara and asked if she heard something just now, yet the young lady replied she hadn't heard anything at all.
After hearing the answer and finding the whispers were indeed very real, he felt compelled to go ahead and approach the tree even more.
However, he would not do it, or rather, could not. Not only was he strictly forbidden from doing it, he also wouldn't know what would happen if he did. Worse, he might ruin the whole mission by doing it.
Now that everyone was already in place, Commander Raynor, followed by his assistants and Zach, walked towards the tree. As soon as he got close to the tree's vicinity, the four stage 5 Abyss creature Chrysalis woke up from their slumber.
"Let quickly be done with it," Commander Raynor said, giving a sign to Zach and his two assistants. Immediately after, the three of them dashed towards the cocoon creatures with each facing one.
Shrriieeekkk!
The two magus quickly casted their respective elemental spells and attacked the cocoon Abyss creatures, progressing quickly to the point where they eventually cast powerful tier 6 spells in succession.
Magus Bellaine with her [Wind Blade] was able to inflict a wound even deeper than Emery's most powerful slash, while Magus Kenneth took out two short metal poles that enhanced his lighting attack and electrocuted the other Chrysalis.
The cocoon Abyss creatures, on the other hand, started to shoot sharp thin threads toward their opponents. However, the two magus showed how experienced they were, as they were able to cut off the sharp threads with their weapons and evade those they couldn't block.
On one side of the battle, Zach was already in his Dragon Transformation, as a result of this he appeared to have an easier time and better form compared to the two magus.
He delivered a triple strike with his large sword, causing the Chrysalis to shriek in pain. Then, he put his palm on the creature's body, which resulted in the creature being engulfed in flame.
In a span of time that was less than 10 seconds, the poor creature had been given a beating of its lifetime. Its body then started to glow as it cast its healing ability in an effort to regenerate from the powerful attacks that Zach had just delivered.
Commander Raynor, on the opposite side, just walked casually toward the last creature. He approached the Abyss creature in a nonchalant manner. When the Chrysalis let out a loud cry and shot its thread, he didn't even try to dodge out of the way to avoid being hit by them.
Emery knew first hand how strong those threads were, especially considering the fact that hundreds of them wrapped the magus into a human-size cocoon. So it was normal for him to be puzzled as to why Commander Raynor didn't dodge. The man didn't even try.
The cocoon Commander Raynor was wrapped in was gradually pulled into the creature's mouth.
However, as it opened its maw and showed its dozen fangs, everyone was startled by the appearance of a slight glow that emanated from the Commander. The next instant, under the shocked eyes of Emery, the latter clenched his muscles and broke apart the strong threads like tearing up papers.
Unexpectedly, Commander Raynor had undergone a transformation, physically turning into a golden figure with its two arms grew to be twice as large. Before the Chrysalis could do anything, he grabbed the creature's mouth and splitted it apart in two.
Spllaaaattttt!
Because of the severity of the wound, the creature couldn't regenerate properly, and Emery saw a familiar tiny butterfly come out and fly away from the creature's body. However, it seemed Commander Raynor had expected it as he pulled out a crystal ball and managed to pull the flying creature inside with just a slight gesture.
It was trapped inside and was unable to phase out from it.
What the Commander did next was throwing the crystal away and immediately after, it was caught by his assistant, Magus Bellaine.
Afterward, the Magus Commander continued to make his way to the tree, evidently undisturbed by anything.
Shrriiiieeeekkkk!!!
Another loud shrieking sound could be heard as Commander Raynor's hand touched the tree. The next instant, a strong tremor once again shook the ground beneath, as if the earth itself responded to the action. ᴀll ɴ ᴏᴠᴇʟ Fuʟʟ.cᴏm
It was twice stronger than before, as it became significantly more intense, it also quickly followed by rumbling and chirping sound that came from the dozens of the caves surrounding the craters.
"Finally time to get more points!" Annara said as she pulled out her two ebony whips and was ready for battle.
The girl's prediction was spot on, as an enormous horde of creatures immediately rushed out from the caves. There were approximately tens of thousands of creatures which surrounded the group from all sides in the area.
Everyone was ready for their position, and right before these hordes were about to draw near, Emery saw the Commander stabbed his arm into the tree. In a matter of seconds, Emery was abruptly able to sense a more powerful aura emanating from the tree. The previous despair-filled whispers had turned into rage.
It was at this same instant he heard the whisper recur in his head for the second time.
"You will… regret this…"