Chapter 12: Heroes and a surprise attack

Year 72 Month 12

The heroes arrive. Accompanied by an army of adventurers of three hundred. It is normal for heroes to have a huge group of tag-alongs, these people seek the glory and glamour of being associated with the heroes, but will probably be the first to flee should shit get out of hand.

The heroes themselves, five of them, are three boys and two girls, and they look no older than twenty. Or maybe slightly over twenty. The gods chose young teens for their demon killing tasks this time, and in a way, thats better than choosing high schoolers.

They ride into the makeshift camp, and one of them stops and stares in my direction. Though I cannot meet his eye, I could sense his probing gaze...

 “Hmmm… I feel a familiar presence.” One of the heroes mutter, and rides his horse closer.

“You were here before, hero?” An adventurer accompanies him, and asks.

 “No.” The armored hero places his hand on my bark, and I feel my body shiver a little. “Just... someone familiar... Hmmm…”

[Hero's sense]

The hideout shakes a little, and everyone freaks out. It seems this hero has some kind of magical touch, and my body reacts to it defensively.

The shaking causes Hendry to sigh, and he decides to goes out to talk to the hero. 

 “Hey hero.”

The hero’s eye widen and stares at Hendry. “Hendry!”

The adventurer next to the hero raise his sword at Hendry. “Eh? Who goes there.”

 “It is fine. Lay down your arms. He is one of us.” The hero stares at Hendry. “Hendry. It’s been a while…”

 “Yes it has. Anyway, take your hands off the tree, and I.. I might need your help.”

 The hero takes his hand off. “Well, nice to see you, again.”

 Hendry pauses. And sighs. “Nice to see me? I take that means you stopped blaming us for her death?”

 The hero shakes his head. “I’d like to think we have come to terms with it.”

 “Really?” Hendry takes a step back.

 “We were all too eager. Too excited to be given this opportunity, this chance to make something of ourselves.” The hero walks closer to Hendry.

 Hendry pauses. “Really? Just like that?”

 The hero puts his hand on his shoulder. “Yes.”

 And the hero punches him in the gut. Thud.

 “Ugh! I knew it.” Hendry groans in pain, but he recovers, and throws a punch back at him. The hero dodges.

The adventurers stare, “Uh, hero, should we do something?”

The hero, yells. “No. This is between me and him.” They punch each other a few times, then it escalates, and they start throwing high speed punches into flashes, as both attack each other with their abilities. This cause the adventurers to stare at the high speed exchange of blows.

 A few more heroes come over. “Max! Stop this.”

 Two female heroines shout, and Max, the hero jumps a few steps back, and that ends the barrage of punches.

 “Hendry!” One of the heroines seems to cry a little.

 “Hey.” Hendry stops, and sits on one of my roots. The heroines runs over and gives Hendry a hug. “Been a while.”

 “We’ve been looking for you guys...” The heroine smacks Hendry on his shoulder. "Running off like that..."

At this point the adventurers ask, “Uh… who is he?”

Max laughs, “Ah yes, please ignore us. He is a friend. You guys go ahead, We’ll need to talk privately with our friend here and so, we’ll be fine.”

Max started by elaborating... "You guys should not have left like that. We're angry, and we’re still sad. It still is a lump in our hearts. But we are willing to let it go, for on hindsight, we had a part to play too. We failed as well. We all did. I think a part of the way we acted is because we were angry at ourselves.”

At this point, I'm confused at what their conversation is about, perhaps there is some historical bad blood.  

Hendry nods, his eyes a little teary. “Heh... Water under the bridge now. Well, Max, like I was saying, I need your help. Do you still have anti demonic powers?”

Max thinks for a while, “Huh? I still do, why?”

Alexis, right on cue, comes out with Meela, she’s asleep and supported by Alexis’s levitation. “It's actually for Meela. She’s received some kind of demonic rot or maybe demonic poison. She’s weak and battling that demonic rot internally, and currently supported by a whole lot of healing magic. It.. it seems to be some kind of magic meant for... us.”

The heroes gasp. “Meela...” Max runs over, looks at her, and holds her hand. He then proceeds to use some kind of magical ability on her, then their two bodies start to glow faintly.

The hero chants and mumbles a little, his palm glows like a monk trying to use some kind of mantra.

 [Divine Touch]

The ability causes Meela’s body to glow in a faint light.

 “Hmm.. I can’t remove it completely. It contains a strong taint of the demon king…. You are right. This is made to kill us, and this... this makes this demon king more dangerous than ever.” He sighs, and everyone else follows.

Alexis holds Meela’s hand, who’s gradually opening her eyes.

“But I can suppress and weaken the effect of the demon king's poison, such that it will stop hurting her.”

 “Thank you.” Meela opens her eyes, and speaks. 

 Max smiles. “Nice to see you too, Meela."

 

 

---

 

Reincarnators. These adventurers are reincarnators as well.  Now that they are right next to me, I feel strange. Are these people from earth too? The kids, those few when I came so many years ago they have all died. These people, a similar fate probably awaits them.

What should I do?

Should I reveal myself as a reincarnator? But what good does that do, other than unnecessarily involving myself in the demon war.

There is also the question about the [Fires of Baal] that I had before, and how I can recover from it yet Meela fails to. Why? Is it because the fires are just generic demonking fires, whereas Meela's demonrot is a customised superweapon for reincarnators?

I have no answer to that, unfortunately.

At this point, I decide to wait and see. I mentally ping Alexis.

 “So... may I ask what is happening? Are you going to leave with them?”

 “Ah.. er.. right now there’s still three of us that is out there looking for a cure. 3 of us out there. Or maybe, there is no cure, and only killing the demon king will wipe away all traces of it. Oh, anyway, I think Meela’s in no condition to fight yet. Her demonic rot is still present but now weakened by a counteracting holy power that Max has, but until we know what that means in combat, we do not want to risk it. Meela's body seems to be fine, with no observable negative effects so far, but I think there is a high chance that whatever demon king magic it is, it will probably interfere with our divine gifts. So, attempting to assault the demons without being at full strength is folly, so we plan to stay back and attempt to regroup with our other 3 friends first.”

 “Uh…” Alexis is a lot more technical when it comes to magic. "Sorry can you repeat that in simpler terms?"

 

 “So I think me and Meela will stay back. We will wait for the remaining 3, and then we will join up with Max and group. The fact that the demon king has a special weapon designed for us is... worrying."

 

The next week

Year 72 Month 12 Week 2

 

News and reports of the demon champions come in. The heroes, adventurers and the soldiers move out, towards the rift.

Meela and Alexis remain, Alexis is playing the role of Meela’a observer, and monitors her body’s condition.

Meela would try use her abilities and they discover that with the demonic rot still present, her abilities are weakened by about 20% to 30%. Alexis's hypothesis is right after all. 

The camp is now a lot quieter, about 1,000 soldiers remain. These are the communication mages, the logistics coordinators, and just some guards to keep the stray demonhounds at bay. 

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Year 72 Month 12 Week 4

IThe heroes defeat one of the champions.

And then the next day, the camp is attacked.

Six large demons, part golem, part demon, lesser versions of the golem demon champion, accompanied by tens of thousands of the new rock hybrid hellhounds. The six demons, their bodies made of a mix of rock, lava, stone and flesh, their synchronised steps shake the ground.

How did they appear so suddenly?

Three at the front, three at the back, they have the camp cornered on both sides, and their sudden appearance sends the camp into a panic. Mages quickly send out requests for help. But any request will be too late, reinforcements will take some time to get to us. 

Alexis and Meela look at each other. “How’d they get behind us?” In fact, that's on the mind of the thousand or so soldiers now trapped in the camp. But at this point, there are more urgent questions to be answered.

The two demon forces march on the camp. Their footsteps cause the earth to rumble. How did all the shaking go unnoticed?

I summon [Insect warriors].

My insect warriors appear, crawling out of my branches. Three of them, they will deal with the hellhound hybrids, and hopefully not die too easily. The humans scream when they see my giant insects, but did not attack it. 

I try to survey the field of demons. I need to save my [super antidemon root strike] for the lesser champions.

The guards try get ready, as the demons close in.

The mages in the camp blast, magic spells at the golems, and the camp soon descends into a chaotic battlefield. The six giant demons are exceptionally resilient, enduring volleys of spells and weapons from the mages, and escaping with minor wounds and damage. Alexis and Meela both join the battle, using their special abilities to wipe through the hellhounds with ease. Once it get messier, Jura too joins in.

But there are probably tens of thousands of them, even with Alexis’s numerous AoE spells killing hundreds per shot. And it is from this battle I see the sheer OP-ness of these reincarnators. 

Alexis could blast waves and waves of magical explosions, almost constantly. Meela, even with her weakened form, could swirl and twirl and her slashes somehow go through all the monsters like they had absolutely no armor and is made of chiffon.

It's rather ridiculous how they can sweep through hordes of demons like nothing.

One large golem is destroyed, a pointblank fireball from Alexis destroys its body.

One large golem passes me, and I take the chance to use my new [super antidemon rootstrike]. It shoots out of the earth and slices the golem in half. Whoah, I felt a little pleased with myself.

Alexis blows up another large golem. Throughout the camp, soldiers and mages battle with the hybrid hounds, and though they could beat them easily one on one, even one on two, the hounds have far larger numbers, easily ten times the number. So, mages and soldiers are dying. Even with Meela and Alexis providing tremendous support to the battlefield.

Meela cuts down one of the large demons with some kind of flashy slashing move.

My insect warriors seem to be perform as expected, they are able to take down about twenty or so hellhounds, before they get torn apart by the hounds. 

Alexis manage to blow up another golem. And another fireball from Alexis blows up the last golem, she really is the true MVP in this battle. 

 “We did it!” Now, Alexis turn her attention to the regular hybrid hounds, and joins Meela and the soldiers in exterminating them.

Then the earth shakes, and sparks of lightning shoot out from the rubble of the destroyed giant demons. The lightning connects to all the other remains, and the remains of the destroyed golems float into the air and join together. Alexis sends a few fireballs instinctively, and it knocks some of the rocks off. But something is still pulling it together.

 The remains of all the fallen golems and hounds merge into a giant six story tall centipede made of earth, rock and stone, covered in sharp jagged rocks and stone throughout its body. In a way, its part centipede, part porcupine. It then charges into the battlefield, crushing both allies and enemies alike in its charge.

Once it loses momentum, it tunnels underground.

 “Shit.” Alexis and Meela run, waiting. “It can appear anywhere!” They look around, but mostly at the ground, waiting.

The earth shakes, and it shoots out of the ground, killing more soldiers and also hounds. But the death of the hounds is beneficial to the giant rock centipede, as the debris and corpse of the fallen hounds would then merge into it.

 It’s a scene reminiscent of giant spice producing sandworms.

 Yet, it does not approach me. In fact, the moment it heads underground, I know exactly where it is, and it seems that my roots create a kind of hard rock that it is unable to tunnel into.

 I could sense it, tunnelling from one side to another, trying to get through the ‘wall’. My roots is able to detect its motion, and predict it.

And I think I can beat it, I instinctively seem to realise that my root strike is more powerful underground. But it moves really quickly underground, shaking up the dirt above ground as well. Its speed is something I cannot deal with, but if I could just get it to slow down I think I can take it.

 “Gather around the tree! The monster is unable to tunnel close to it.” Alexis yells, seemingly coming to similar conclusion as me. She activates a weird console like magic, and calls all the surviving mages to her.

 The demonic centipede surges out of the ground again, and Alexis yells.

 “Now.” The mages all coordinate a magical blast on the demonic centipede, and a few large chunks gets blasted off.

The demonic giant centipede tunnels again, and I try to follow its movement. Its really fast, but it slows down for a moment before it surge upwards. Thats the best time for me to hit it.

And it shoots out of the ground again, killing more soldiers and also hounds. I strike it with two [Root strike]s, and manage to knock a few chunks off.

The centipede regenerates from our attacks, rocks that we knock off would get pulled back, but I could feel that its magical energy balance dwindles each time. Defeating it means getting its magical power down to zero by blasting its chunks off.

It attacks a few more times, as I try to figure out the timing. 

At this point, almost 70% of the humans are dead, and almost all the demon hounds are destroyed or absorbed by the demonic giant centipede.

 Its between us and the centipede, now. The centipede splits itself in two along its length, and then both tunnel underground. Underground, the split centipede reconnects itself, become one very long and lean centipede.

And this time, it pops up out of the ground, and uses its now longer body length like a whip. Slamming into the soldiers, mages, and also into my trunk. It can't tunnel near me, but it can whip its body to attack the humans around me.

I feel my trunk shake when the body of the centipede slams into me, and some of the mages quickly let out a blast. Once again knocking some of the rocks off this demonic rock centipede. It pulls back, curling itself like a snake, and using its longer body as a spring to attack the mages and soldiers.

[Grand fireball]. Alexis activates her signature superpower, a blue fireball, and it blasts right into the demonic centipede.

 It breaks and burns from the fire, but the momentum of the centipede’s attack still pushes through, and stabs Alexis right in the chest, and pushes her back, slamming into my trunk.

 “Arghhhhhhhhhhhh---” Alexis screams in pain as her body is stabbed by multiple sharp rocks. Those same rocks are burning from her Grand Fireball, and it spreads throughout the Centipede’s body.

 It flails, but still pins Alexis to the trunk.

Alexis, somehow still manages to cast another [grand fireball], creating a huge explosion right in front of it. It blasts almost all of the rocks at the head of the centipede away, but a skeleton of super hard rock remains, and it pierces Alexis's chests.

It flails, but does not want to let go of Alexis, so it pushes, and pins her body into the ground.

I use [constrict], holding onto the centipede so that my root strike can catch it, and then all my remaining [super anti demonic rootstrike]. They pierce through the centipede, and this time, together with a 3rd grand fireball, it successfully depletes its magical energy, and it crumbles, turning into ordinary rock.

Alexis explodes into a huge fireball, and then suddenly, a vacuum like effect appears, as all the fires swirls back and merge into a human shape, revealing Alexis whole and unharmed.

"Ugh." She groans, unharmed but very visibly drained. "I always hate using [Body of Fire]."

Meela smacks her on the back. "Thats why you're always the bait! Everyone aims for the mage!"

Reincarnators...

 

 

---

[You gained 8 levels. You are now level 100]

[You have evolved into an Ancient Soul Tree. The next evolution rank up is at Leve 130, if conditions and materials are met. You can still gain levels without ranking up.]

[Your following skills have been upgraded : Life support chamber]

[Healing powers upgraded]

[Secret hideout upgraded. Extra rooms, special purpose rooms and hideouts unlocked. Customisable branches option now has "External room"]

[Soul absorption upgraded. Soul realm unlocked]

[Symbiotic extension unlocked]

[Essence collection upgraded. Essence mastery and generation obtained. Customisable branch options now include "Essence generator"]

[Materials Obtained]

[Essence of giants x 1, Essence of starlight x 1, Essence of sword x 4, Essence of knights x 1, Essence of fire magic x 1]

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