He didn't wait and started running. They followed after him. " Why are we running?" Viona asked.
" This forest, it's alive." They suddenly heard something moving towards them. Everybody grew vigilant.
They expected some form of animal but what came out was a vine filled with thorns. It attacked him.
He swung his flaming sword and cut it in half, the vines thrashed in the air while burning.
They didn't stop to watch. " Shouldn't we be going back?" The female mage asked him. He didn't respond.
They all looked back and saw the trees moving and closing up behind them. The path back was gone.
Vines came from above like hungry snakes, they swung their swords cutting them off. One of the warriors,
The most muscular of them tried to cut down one of the trees but his stone sword bounced off like he hit metal.
Before he could react a vibe grabbed his legs and pulled his down. He fell on his stomach and it dragged him back.
Viona reacted really fast. " Flame slash." She cut the air sending a crescent slash flying towards the man.
The fiery sword slash travelled for 5 metres cutting all the vines and burning them freeing the man. The warrior stood up and ran after them.
More vines came from the front, accompanying them were thick roots. ( By the sacred flow rise from below and smite my foe, Aqua Spheera.)
A ball of water appeared Infront of Lucy and shot forward like a cannon. However when it hit the root it barely made a dent.
" What why?" She asked almost crying. Khali shook his head. " Water is not as effective against wood."
" Rise O gales of rage be the blade that cut all in my way. Wind blade." The wind mage chanted.
A crescent wind blade flew forward and cut the roots and vines alike. A gap opened allowing them to push forward.
The warriors had much stronger bodies so they surrounded the mages to protect them. The mages had better long range attacks but chanting took time.
So while they were chanting it was up to the warriors to protect them. " Ifrit I call forth thy name, bless my hands and incinerate my foes. Fireball."
A ball of fire the size of a head shot forward from the fire mage. It exploded sending a wave of fire that incinerated everything in a four metres radius.
Fire mages were known for having the most destructive abilities of all mages.
They ran through the flames but the forest was relentless. He could see more trees converging towards them
Fortunately their movements were slow, to be more specific the trees weren't actually moving.
They were bending towards them in a strange way. He couldn't understand how they didn't break after bending so much.
Vines shot towards them from above. The warriors covered their stone swords with mana to strengthen them.
They didn't have much practice but he had taught them how to do that. They easily cut off the vines and roots.
Suddenly he heard Viona chant, she had been using her warrior abilities so far, this was the first time she was going to use a spell.
" Flames of old, rise from depth and obey my words. Hell Inferno." She shot a tiny red flame with a hint of black.
It heat was so high the roots burnt just by being close to it. When it reached the 30 metres mark it exploded.
A cyclone of fire two metres wide and 4 meters tall appeared in the middle of the trees.
Those closest were dragged inside, Khali and his party were forced to stop lest they get dragged into the fiery tornado as well.
Every tree in a 8 metres radius burnt rapidly, since the other trees had bent inward and connected to others.
The flames spread through their branches and vines. In mere seconds the forest Infront of them for a hundred metres across was in flames.
Even they couldn't go through here now. ' Hell fire.' he frowned. ' A humans shouldn't be able to use hell fire at this stage.
Only those old monsters with incredibly powerful souls could handle hell fire.' He looked at Viona.
' You're getting more and more curious little girl, can't wait to see what surprise you show me next.'
" What do we do?" They asked panicking. Behind them the forest was still closing up like walls trying to crush them.
" Take a detour, we move at the edge of the flames." They followed him. He ran close to the edge of the flames.
Here the closest trees were in flames and couldn't stop them and only a few dared come close to them.
These trees weren't just alive they had a form of rudimentary consciousness, he bet they had survival instinct.
As he had expected, while there were still trees trying to stop them, their numbers had dropped and dealing with them was not very hard.
Eventually he saw the edge of the forest. They ran faster but just as they were about to go through something landed Infront of them with a heavy thud.
He stopped, Lucy reacted a bit too late and crashed on his back. " Ouch, my nose. Eh, what is that?"
What stood Infront of them was a huge five metres tall brown creature. It entire body was covered in hard bark and on top of it head was a bush.
It was humanoid in shape. This was a treant, known as defenders of the forest. He took a breath and looked back.
" Lead the others forward, Viona and I will keep this guy busy." He ordered Lucy. Viona grinned.
" Are you sure?" Lucy asked with worry. He nodded. They couldn't stay here for long as the forest was still closing behind them.
If it's just him and Viona, even if they couldn't win they can still escape. This treant was at the peak of rank 1.
Meaning it had the same power as somebody who had opened five nodes. The two of them were warlocks who were stronger than their peers.
Even though they couldn't match a being with five mana nodes level of power, they were capable of keeping them busy and escaping if they worked together.
Not to mention, if he used divine energy he could handle this creature by himself but it took time to regenate divine energy, he would rather not use it unless necessary.
" Roooaar." The treant roared shaking the air. Viona didn't wait and immediately attacked while smiling like a maniac.