Chapter 33: Dire Tombs II (2/2)

The spell landed on the torrent of vines, but before the liquid fire was even able to spread, the athered toward the spot where the spell hit the vine With a loud hiss, the spell was doused by the moisture from the mist

I could see Lucas's face pale as sweat rolled down his neck From the state he was in, it was safe to assume that this spell had exhausted all of his mana

[Crater]

Elijah held out his staff as he finished the spell The ground underneath the wave of vines cru the vines fro us for now

[Aqua Siphon]

Samantha fell to her knees as she released the powerful spell

Aqua Siphon was a frightening spell that sucked the surrounding area of its water The only drawback of this spell was the amount of mana it used for the limited amount of space it could affect

The ra out of the crater Elijah had conjured began withering at a rapid pace as the moisture was sucked out fro could spread, however, the rest of the athered, sucked in by the vines The shriveled, brown vines were once again turned a healthy green, filled with vigor, and seerier than before

"N-No way…" Sanation

The positive, however, was that the e wave of vines, clearing our lirily consume the mist, ere all finally able to see what exactly it e had been going up against

Standing h above our heads was a colossal mana beast With a humanoid structure that oddly rese

While it seemed to be made up completely of densely packed and intertwined vines, the top half of its body was that of an ar point just over our heads Its lower body was that of a horse, but rather than legs, its liainst Two green eyes peered down at us, filled with unbridled en ure For the last hour, the seven of us had been literally battling against the toes of this mana beast

"I-I've read about alike this," Sa to her knees in conation "I think th-that's an S class uardian!"

"It can't be, right? What the hell would an S class iant hauardian in dread, and with good reason too An S class mana beast meant that it was on par with an SS class adventurer or at least ten S class adventurers

"I-Isn't that Kriol?" Reginald exclaier at the lifeless torso and legs sticking out of the body of the mana beast

"W-We're dooan laughing iant mana beast He had already lost his ar This was probably the last straw for the veteran adventurer

"We have to run" Jas me to run back in the direction of the doors we had colued to the elderwood guardian

She re harder for me to move

I knew that rationally, it et away from here as fast as possible hell, I wasn't even close to any of them, and I certainly wasn't chuht to betray their trust in uardian thrusted his giant drill lance at us, creating a gale of wind just from its movement

[Earthen shi+eld]

Elijah conjured a flat wall of earth frohtly so that the force of the drill would be parried away from us

A thunderous explosion resounded from the impact as the beast's lance shattered the thick, earthen slab

Picking up his ha the opportunity that Elijah had created His giant warhalowed a brilliant yellow as he roared out in desperate resolve "Go back to the damn hole you crawled out froiant ha fiercely in his hands as he unleashed his attack down at the elderwood guardian's lance

It felt like a warshi+p had just fired a massive storinald's spell had reduced the beast's weapon to shreds

Just as he was about to land on the ground, the broken vines that made up the lance whirled like tentacles and surrounded him "GAAAH! HELPP!! NOOOO!"

The tendrils that had once forinal shape, eating up Reginald in the process The grueso resounded from within the weapon as the tendrils continued to intertwine, slithering around each other like pythons to complete the shape of the lance

Sa a spell to our left, lurched forward and heaved what little food she had consuinald's body being ground filled the cavern

dainal shape, with the addition of Reginald's body and weapon inside it Looking up, I could see that the elderwood guardian didn't have a loating, refreshed by the fact that it had caught one rabbed Samantha, who had been petrified from shock, and lifted her up on my shoulders "Jasmine! Grab Brald and let's run! Lucas, Elijah! You have to try and block any inco attacks until we can make it out of here!"

Jas psychotically and we look back to see that the elderwood guardian was looking directly at us

"We need toeveryone However, just as I willed mana intoback as Samantha tumbled off to the side

While my body, reinforced with on Will, preventedserious injuries, my breath had been knocked out from the almost point-blank spell cast by Lucas, the only one possibly capable of doing this

Furious and baffled by the sudden betrayal, I had to practically peelaway to look for Jasmine She had been knocked back much farther from the spell and was unconscious, but she didn't see?" Elijah cried out for the first ti his staff at Lucas as already almost at the entrance of the cave

"You think I'd risk my life to help all of you escape? Be honored that you'll be the valiant heroes that stalled the beast enough for eous deeds!" he scoffed, turning back just to shoota s crash reverberated as the ground split around us fro its lance where Lucas had just been The s the door behind hi his glasses in place as the cavern continued to tremble from the force of the beast's attack The endless vines that ed to climb out of the crater left from Elijah's spell and approach us

Suddenly, the elderwood guardian let out a baleful roar, gripping my body with a fear incomparable to any of the other reen eyes turned a ray and disasse in its path as it hter faded as a wave of vines consumed his body

Elijah's usual terse expression was nowhere to be found as his face slackened, turning several shades lighter, while Jas Lucas's spell directly The fact that she was still knocked out ed to hit her before she had the chance to reinforce herself withthe options I had left Even if I were to use the first phase of h to save everyone and carry them out

I bit my lip, frustrated that I allowed myself to fall into such a crappy situation I had no choice but to use it

I didn't kno severe the recoil of using it would be but I had no choice but to try

Taking a deep breath, I closeddeep withinpower Releasing it, I was y as my body burned

The world around blurred as a near-palpable aura of different colors enveloped on's Awakening"