" Valhalla? Sorry, I've never heard of it."
A questioning voice came from inside the door:
"And aren't there only towns to the north?"
[ Howling Pothos ] said:
"That was before. From now on, the entire Aduolin Province will revolve around that new city. Enzo will have a bright future as a priest there."
"That's good. Please come in, let us tidy up..."
A woman's relieved voice came from inside the door, accompanied by the turning of the bolt, as if she would open the door any second.
Just then, [ Howling Pothos ] suddenly felt something tugging at his trouser leg.
He looked down and saw a withered, yellow branch trying to get his attention.
It was Enzo.
Is he about to leave because it's almost dawn?
No, although the sky is somewhat bright now, it's still some time before dawn.
He suddenly turned his head to look to one side, and saw a crazy, Living Wood not far away on the path along the river, looking at him through two dark tree holes.
[ Howling Pothos ] slammed her knee forward against the front door, speaking in a kind but undeniable tone:
"I've thought about it again. Breaking the curfew is indeed wrong. Pack your bags carefully during the day. I'll come pick you up later today. Don't open the door now."
When he heard the door lock click shut again from inside, [ Howling Pothos ] let out a sigh of relief and relaxed his knees that were bracing against the door.
Just then, he suddenly heard a whooshing sound in his right ear. He tilted his head, and a sharp wooden splinter, as thick as a finger but over ten meters long, stuck into the stone wall next to Enzo's gate with a muffled thud.
Missing its target, the long, sharp wooden branch quickly retracted, once again becoming an ordinary branch of that mad, Living Wood.
A puzzled voice came from inside the door:
"Priest?"
[ Howling Pothos ] instantly entered battle stance and instructed:
"No matter what you hear, don't open the door. Do as I said before, pack your luggage, and we'll see you later."
Having said that, he immediately began operating his custom-made weapon.
"It is impolite not to reciprocate." As his health bar decreased, two crossbow bolts quickly appeared and were fired at the oncoming Living Wood.
With a "thud," two wooden arrows pierced the trunk of the Living Wood, one of them even penetrating the dark hole.
However, the movement of the Living Wood remained unaffected, and at the same time Enzo's sawing sound reached his ears:
"That's no longer our eye; it's just a manifestation of incomplete Aberration."
"Then how should we fight?"
"... fight it head-on."
Enzo also joined the battle at this moment, pulling its roots out of the ground and wielding its thick branches to lash the fleeing Living Wood.
The way the two Living Wood attack each other is eye-opening. They use their roots to pierce the broken bark of each other to Drain nutrients, and they also use their thick branches to stab each other. They can even swing their own trunks to a certain extent, making a thick log swing in an extremely absurd way.
Enzo and the mad Living Wood were clearly evenly matched. As test subjects from the same batch, Enzo, perhaps because his willpower was slightly higher than that of normal people, did not completely enter a state of madness.
But this did not mean that his fighting ability would be stronger. Everyone was fighting on instinct, and for a time it was difficult to determine who was better. Only the dull sounds of wood colliding, branches breaking, and leaves being swept by the wind echoed in the winter night sky.
[ Howling Pothos ] realized that it might have become the ultimate variable.
When both sides are deadlocked, whoever he sides with will win!
Thinking of this, he immediately covered his hands and forearms with gauntlets, which would at least ensure that he wouldn't be killed instantly by his opponent.
But the question is, how do you join the battle?
Based on [ Howling Pothos's ] observation of the battle between the two Living Wood, he felt that both monsters belonged to the category of elite monsters, and their level should be around 15.
The vast majority (it seems like all) of the players haven't even reached level 10, so naturally they'll be chased all over the place by their opponents.
However, there is always a foolproof method for dealing with plants, because in any game, these monsters are always weak to fire.
And in his pocket was a " Oil Vine Incendiary Bomb " that could be ignited and spread out immediately.
This conclusion came from his observation of some players' behavior after his first entry into the city: when dealing with a faction that primarily uses plant-based power, it's always good to have an incendiary bomb on hand.
But if he launches an attack now, Enzo will undoubtedly be caught in the flames as well.
I've only known my friend, Living Wood, for a few hours. Am I really going to cremate him myself?
Moreover, it was a live cremation.
But apart from this one move, he really had no other way to change the course of the battle.
Thinking of this, [ Howling Pothos ] gritted her teeth, threw the incendiary bomb in her hand, and shouted to Enzo at the same time:
"Go to the river!"
The incendiary bomb, filled with flammable grease, exploded immediately upon impact with the ground, spreading the grease evenly over a large surrounding area.
Immediately afterwards, a spark landed on it, a result of player [ Haide ]'s secondary exploitation of the dragon scales shed by the Dragonborn.
With a whoosh, the entire ground was instantly ignited, and the sprawling, menacing Living Wood was right in the center of the burning area.
Enzo's trunk and roots were, of course, coated with grease, but upon hearing [ Howling Pothos's ] instructions, it immediately chose to jump back.
This delayed its ignition by a second or two, but the flames still managed to climb up its body.
Enzo turned around and inserted his trunk and roots, that is, his lower body, into the ice hole that had been broken when [ Howling Pothos ] came ashore.
Although the opening was narrow, it led directly to the icy river below, and the flames on Enzo's body were quickly suppressed.
But that madman, Living Wood, was completely different.
The mindless monster danced wildly in the flames, as if it had summoned the flames that threatened to consume everything.
Its bark gradually turned charred black, and its branches hardened rapidly due to the lack of water caused by the fire, almost turning it into a tree carbonized by the wildfire.
Seeing this, Enzo suddenly asked [ Howling Pothos ]:
"Is your boss, whom you mentioned, really capable of saving us?"
[ Howling Pothos ] nodded, recalling Gungnir's increasingly bizarre growth and development, and said:
"Yes, he will help every experimental subject like you. Those with homes can go home, and those without can follow him."
"Um."
Enzo pondered for two seconds, then swung out two thick branches to wrap around the unburnt part of the crazed tree-man. With his roots digging into the frozen riverbed, he used all his strength to pull the Living Wood over and stuff it directly into the ice cave.