Friendly forces?
Duolin frowned, carefully looking at the warriors who had just gained a chance to catch their breath. He wanted to ask something, but was pushed away by the suddenly powerful monster in the wooden house.
He immediately reflected on his earlier lapse in composure. As a seasoned Holy See Guardian, one should not be thinking about such trivial matters during combat.
Moreover, the fleeting excitement on the faces of the other two after that man shouted the word "friendly forces" was not fake. These people must be priests from the White Wax Town Parish who are on a mission outside. I just don't know why that Yiden didn't tell me.
Just as he was thinking this, the guy who had shouted "friendly forces!" spoke again, this time targeting the five people who had just joined the battle:
"Swords and spears are useless, switch to axes!"
An axe? That makes sense!
Despite being a member of the Tree Worship Church, Duolin was not so pedantic as to be outrageous. Even ordinary believers under the Tree Worship Church's protection would choose to cut down trees to collect timber when needed, only they would be more devout before doing so.
Duolin took two steps back, and his right hand, which was originally in the form of a longsword, began to rapidly Alienation.
As a guard of the Holy See, he had never personally chopped down trees, nor did he have any particular knowledge of which shape of axe was most comfortable to use.
He quickly looked at a companion from an ordinary family in the Holy City, who, sure enough, Alienation a wooden axe that looked quite intimidating in a very short time.
Although it was a bit strange to make an axe out of wood and then use it to chop wood, Duolin didn't care about that now. He imitated the cat and completed the Alienation, and then threw himself back into the battlefield.
In just a few seconds, the wooden cabin monster's enemies increased from three to eight, but this did not affect its killing intent. After that brief moment of vulnerability, the wooden cabin standing on the ground began to tremble violently.
"Retreat first!"
[ The Great Wei Boxing Champion ] didn't know what the wooden house wanted to do, but it was always good to create some distance first.
The next moment, the monster seemed to have completed some kind of charging up, and its originally tightly closed maw (the door) suddenly opened outwards as if it had been kicked by someone inside the room.
A gust of air, carrying the smells of mildew and blood, swept past them, and along with it emerged from the giant maw a round, plump object.
"Clatter."
The thing fell to the ground, rolled twice, and came to Duolin's feet.
The young Holy See guard glanced down and met the unseeing eyes of the man who had died.
He suddenly remembered the headless corpse in the distance, and the man's fairly well-proportioned and normal build. So... there had already been casualties among these people, yet they showed no sign of retreating. They truly were elite members of the Tree Worship Church, just like the rest of them.
After a loud shout, the wooden house monster fully entered its second phase. Countless red lights seemed to flash through the wide-open doorway, like eyes lurking in the shadows, spying on the prey outside.
The entire house began to slowly twist and contort, and the terrifying square maw gradually became sharper. The wooden spikes that had been lurking underground transformed into sharp teeth, ready to crush these humans at any moment.
[ Howling Pothos ] frowned. This monster had clearly switched states, and according to typical game mechanics, it might even be in a berserk state. But what exactly would its attack methods be?
He stared intently at the red dot of light within the giant maw, trying to discern the enemy's next move.
But his plan did not come to fruition. Before he could warn of the attack, a sharp wooden splinter as thick as a wrist shot out, as if in retaliation for the crossbow bolt that had been fired through the window just seconds earlier.
"Get out of the way!"
[ Howling Pothos ] slammed his foot on the ground, instinctively leaning his body backward to the left, but the splinter was clearly faster; the splinter that was about to pierce his heart ended up passing through his right chest.
The wooden splinter that pierced through the body still carried enormous kinetic energy, eventually penetrating tens of centimeters into the ground, pinning the [ Howling Pothos ] directly to the earth.
The two players inevitably glanced at their wounded companion, worried about the commander's condition, but Duolin and the others clearly had more experience.
They knew that in such a battle, if they chose to ignore the enemy and instead observe their seriously wounded or even dead comrades, they would soon join their ranks.
Just like those two unfamiliar soldiers, they were so focused on the life or death of their comrade that they didn't notice that the light around them had dimmed slightly.
Why is this happening?
The wooden cabin monster had already risen from the ground, leaping to a height equivalent to three people, preparing to end the life of the enemy impaled in the ground with a powerful slam.
Duolin's feet made the decision faster than his brain.
The monster, which was tracing an almost perfect parabola in the air, had already passed its highest point and began to accelerate its descent, while Duolin was also accelerating, as if it wanted to crush the ground.
"Bang!"
The monster's four limbs landed first, drawing a strike area like four positioning pins.
The enormous body followed closely behind, completely crushing the square area drawn by the four legs, and any protruding objects within that area became targets of its attack.
"I checked, and there's even a stamping machine?!"
Having realized his mistake, [ Zhongde ] couldn't help but start complaining, feeling that it wouldn't be surprising if this wooden house monster vomited out a planer in a moment.
Amidst the smoke and dust, Duolin dragged the one-legged [ Howling Pothos ] as they rolled on the ground. To his surprise, even after suffering such a heavy blow in such a short time, the man was still alive.
Even though all he could see now were his eyes blinking, he could still sense the remaining life force in the other person.
Watching the other's moving lips, Duolin's eyes were fixed on the monster in the distance, still recovering from its skill's cooldown. He pressed his ear to the wounded soldier's mouth, and the warrior, barely breathing, whispered in his ear with all his might:
"Cut off the legs first."
Duolin lowered the Howling Pothos, still with wooden stakes stuck in its body, and saw faint green on the cut surfaces of the wounds on its chest and legs.
This reassured him somewhat. Having achieved this level of symbiosis with plants, these people were definitely members of their Tree Worship Church. However, they hadn't used Alienation weapons yet, instead wielding iron axes, which puzzled Duolin.
But now was not the time to think about such things. Duolin twisted his body slightly, dodging another wooden stake launched by the monster with ease.
Looking at the six people besides himself and the wounded, Duolin loudly repeated the instructions he had just heard:
"Cut off the legs first!!"