Chapter 519: Desperate
Chapter 519: Desperate
All the souls that had been stored in this space had a certain attribute that distinguished them from the other souls.
Mainly, this characteristic divided them based on the race or species they belonged to prior to their deaths.
When the live humanoid-shaped tree was destroyed by the group of mercenaries, its soul was naturally devoured by the white lotus.
Furthermore, when Adam noticed the faint characteristic emanating from this soul, he could confirm beyond a shadow of a doubt that it belonged to a human!
The reason for his confidence stemmed from the fact that of the souls that he had absorbed in the past, the vast majority of them belonged to powerful humans from the greater universe. Thus, he could easily tell how similar this new soul was to the ones that he had devoured in the past. Moreover, he could also tell that this soul belonged to a mortal-someone who couldn\'t practice magic.
"It can\'t be!" Adam blurted out in shock.
He had heard about the legends circulating in the town that these trees once used to be people who were part of Morven\'s army, and that Magus Stratford had turned them into trees with a mighty spell.
So the legends were true! He thought in disbelief.
But what kind of spell can turn so many people into trees?! There have to be at least thousands of these trees in the Weeping Woods!
He weaved a simple hand gesture and raised his palm, shooting a Magic Missile toward the trees.
The spell effortlessly mowed through a dozen trees before Adam canceled it. His expression turned dark as the trees were destroyed and their souls absorbed.
All of them are human souls... all mortals!
"P-Professor..." Eleiney called out to him. "What is it?"
Adam snapped out of his daze and shook his head. "It\'s nothing."
"My Lord, how... how do we get out of here?" Kenley asked in a panic.
All the wolves in the vicinity had been impeded by the earthen spikes that Adam had erected around the group. However, the spell wouldn\'t last for long as the beasts were slowly closing in.
Moreover, the trees were also gradually coming closer and closer. Their escape routes had been completely cut off.
Adam tried to analyze his current situation. If he were to be honest with himself, he knew he wouldn\'t be able to take everyone to safety.
It would take approximately twenty-five to thirty minutes for them to reach Stratford if they utilized mobility spells and ran at their fastest speeds.
However, herein lies the problem. In order to reach the town, they would have had to traverse through the Weeping Woods.
But now, all the trees in the forest had come alive!
Therefore, if they wanted to reach Stratford, they would have to get past thousands of these ominous trees that wanted nothing but to kill them.
Even though these trees barely possessed strength slightly greater than a mortal, their sheer numbers posed an immense threat to Adam and his squad.
I could separate the piece of ground we\'re standing on and have it float toward the town, but I\'ll run out of mana before I even reach my destination, he thought to himself.
At that time, we will be in even greater danger if I\'m unable to use spells!
He tried to think of several ways to get out of this predicament, but no matter what, he just couldn\'t see a way out.
Adam even thought of going back to the Howlett Manor, but soon discarded the idea because he felt that the evil entity posed a greater threat to them than the wolves, werewolves, or trees ever could.
Damn it! If only I could kill that entity beyond the red door, all of this would be solved, he thought to himself as he gritted his teeth.
However, he knew that that wasn\'t possible.
Just when he thought that he had run out of all options, his eyes lit up. He heaved a sigh of relief and his shoulders loosened.
He looked at his students and smirked, "Don\'t worry, we\'ll make it out of here just fine."
"B-But how?!" Aiden asked aloud.
"Just trust me," Adam comforted the youth.
He then looked around at the bloody battlefield. It had become a place of carnage and chaos.
All the mercenaries had already died under the combined onslaught of the wolves and the trees. The Magi were barely holding onto their lives, their casualty numbers slowly increasing.
Adam scanned the crowd and could see the expressions of horror, desperation, and regret on their faces. Despite everything, they continued to fight with everything on the line.
The wolves bared their sharp jaws at them, while the trees attacked with their thick branches and sturdy roots. Gradually, the clearing became littered with more and more corpses. "He\'s gone?" Adam muttered under his breath.
He couldn\'t find Gore and his familiar anywhere in the clearing, indicating that he had most likely taken the dangerous path of slaughtering through the Weeping Woods and making it to
Stratford.
"M-My Lord, the trees... they\'re here!" Wagner screamed in panic.
The menacing trees had already arrived near them, their long branches and roots were now within reach.
Adam remained calm as he swung his arm and released two Magic Missiles, instantly killing all the wolves and trees in the vicinity.
However, this wasn\'t enough as the enemies were soon replaced by even more wolves and
trees.
"I-It\'s over..." Art muttered softly, tears flowing down his face.
He knew, as did the rest of the squad members, that no matter how many spells they used, they would never be able to take out all the enemies.
They would not be able to make it out alive.
But just when all hope seemed lost, a deep and resounding roar shook the skies.
ROAR!!
Everyone simultaneously looked up and could see a dark silhouette flapping its enormous
wings and flying toward them at great speed.
Gradually, this figure became visible under the soft glow of the twin moons.
The group was filled with utter disbelief, but soon erupted in cheers.
"Lord Valerian!!"