SWIFTESCAPE growled, "Very well then."
He tried to evade the annihilator but its targeter made it trail him in the air so he gave up on escaping the missile and dove straight for his prey. The white missile closed in on him only to suddenly go off course when it entered the range of SWIFTESCAPE's domain. He used his solidified divine sense to slap the missile aside as one would swat at a fly.
The zealots of Order were not discouraged by the outcome. They didn't expect an annihilator to work against a transcendent anyway. It was originally planned for the mana entity. Setting off an annihilator within the tunnels at the bore worm while the plant spirit is preoccupied with two Behemoths will surely eliminate the bore worm. They just have to play their real cards.
SWIFTESCAPE didn't wait for them to do whatever they plan to do. He gave them a dragon welcome. His eyes lit up with green flames and he opened his mouth wide. His prey could see the green flame within his gullet despite the glare of light that the annihilator produced after being detonated.
The annihilator exploded into a giant white dome. It created a lot of shockwaves, light, heat, wind, and sounds. The effect of that explosion hadn't ended when SWIFTESCAPE finished his present for them. The white mushroom formed by the rising air formed the background as a green lance of fire shot toward the zealots of order.
The female Behemoth's eyes turned white and black as she pulled into the power of the Celestial Supreme. She is also a vessel and the trump card of this expedition. If the plant dragon can use the power of a god, then only someone that can use such a similar power can withstand it.
"Shield of order."
She urged the divine power flowing within her to create a giant shield in front of their group. The Celestial Supreme has learned his lesson already and he knows that the hidden god is a Celestial. So this shield can block everything as long as they do not use a Celestial Authority.
The green lance of flame made its way straight to them. The zealots expected a flash of an explosion due to the collision but there was no clash. The lance passed straight through the shield as if it isn't there and continued on to the zealots. It did not break the shield or penetrate it. It seems to have phased through it like water slips through the earth and then it struck the zealots.
None of their defensive divine spells or Stigmata worked to protect them. The green fire phased through it all and sunk into their flesh. They all caught on fire burning with green flames. It was then that they received their second surprise. They were first surprised by the failure of the divine shield but now they are shocked that they do not feel any pain despite being on fire.
Their surroundings did not catch fire as they did. The flame lance did not even disturb the soil. It passed through it as it passed through the shield. There was no explosion or destruction. If fleet like they were showered with a cool liquid, and not dragon flames.
It is strange and perplexing. They are giant bonfires of green flame and yet, they as fuel, do not feel any pain or discomfort. Their skin and hair are unharmed and seemed no different. It didn't long before they noticed what the flame is doing to them. It started quickly and escalated into something else.
They began to reduce in body mass and their skin began to wrinkle. Their muscles shrunk to the bone. Their skin dried up, lost its elasticity, and began to crack. They became lean and their hair began to fall off.
It was a painless if horrific sight. They fell to the ground unable to stand anymore. Their legs became too thin and weak to support them so they fell. Even then they kept burning. They kept burning until all the life force in their body was fully burned all the while they felt no pain.
They died when their system finally gave up. By then, they have become dry mummies that crack with a touch. And they did crack when the only survivor tried to help them. The female Behemoth was the only one that survived and the only one that cried in pain as she watched the rest die with bewildered looks on their face.
She turned to the dragon and roared a promise of vengeance.
"I will kill you."
Her loud voice, though impressive, did not faze SWIFTESCAPE. He stood above her and laughed in derision. His grating voice bore through her like the worst sound ever. She leaped up with conjured weapons and the two of them clashed. The two vessels of two Celestials traded blow after blow in a Deathmatch. Only one of them will walk away from this fight.
These kinds of fights occurred throughout the plane. Priests have special Stigmata that make them stronger when there are a lot of them together. The force domain of the strike team is one of them. There are special stigmata that improve attack power, defensive power or simply heal better the more a type of priest there are in proximity.
Zealots of order have a particularly nasty one that makes them almost invulnerable to damage if they are in large enough numbers but they couldn't take advantage of numbers because they have been separated. They easily fell prey to the plant spirits. Only the vessels could resist the plant spirits but their fates have been sealed.
The tree father sent out a lot of orders which lead to a lot of events with heavy consequences for the Zargoth plane. Another order he sent out is to his cult. He instructed them to come out into the open and officially transform from a cult into a church. The cult of life with its hidden sanctuaries and priestess came forward boldly to announce the faith of the church of life.