Wizard Duel

"Let's go. We'll find Nicol and the others."

After a brief discussion, the blond youth Valentin made a decision and calmly led the group in one direction.

Dago followed behind them. The beautiful witch Jiniya was the only woman in this wizard party. Judging by her clothes and bearing, she seemed to come from an extraordinary background. She had an air of innocence untouched by the world, as though she had been sheltered too well.

Perhaps for that reason, she had invited Dago to join them twice and treated him quite warmly. Worried that he might fall behind, she would occasionally turn back and quietly point out places nearby where it would be easy to misstep.

As they traveled onward, Dago smelled an increasingly strong stench of decay in the air. The rotting woodland beneath their feet was littered with more and more animal carcasses. Some seemed to have died only recently, their bodies lying intact on the ground except for their missing heads.

"Bzzzz—"

At one point, Dago suddenly felt a faint tremor beneath his feet. Violent fluctuations of energy particles came from ahead, and all the accompanying wizards stopped. He heard Jiniya quietly remind him, "We've arrived."

Smack! Smack! Smack!!

Dago looked up, and the outline of a massive Rune Magic Array was reflected in his eyes.

Within the array's light barrier, as thick and solid as a fortress wall, countless dark-purple vines lashed frantically against the inner surface. They tore through the air with shrill, piercing sounds. When they whipped through the air, they left only blurred afterimages, followed by huge ripples spreading across the Rune Magic Array's luminous wall.

The vines were covered in tiny feelers, nimble and swift.

At the center of the countless entwined vines stood the comparatively "tiny" main body—a plant resembling a