"Let this flower bloom and be painted red with your blood."
Bang-
Bang-
Bang-
On the interior walls of the large spherical barrier around its body, the Monster banged and banged.
Constricting.
Cramped.
Instinct made the Monster open its mouth wide.
But before it could dig its fangs into the bundle of roots, a dozen green pods appeared on its interior surface.
Puff- Puff- Puff-
"Let's put you to sleep, Monster."
Minutes passed by.
The banging on the interior slowly grew less and less intense.
With time, it also grew less and less frequent.
"Sweet dreams."
It took a couple more minutes, but a breach through the sphere was eventually made.
And a Monster crawled out before falling to the ground.
"Mmm... You're really stubborn. There's really no need to-"
The Monster, whose eyes were slowly opening and closing, was whispering something.
Yarnha took a step closer.
"Kill... Kill... Kill... Kill them..."
"Alala. This is really-"
Yarnha froze, as the Monster's eyes found her.
It lay on the ground and, with its back bent, stared at her.
The strange posture reminded her of a spider.
The Monster's limbs twitched.
They moved rapidly, but also robotically.
While remaining with its pointed at the sky, the Monster extended a hand towards the Spirit.
Yarnha's eyebrow twitched.
On the Monster's left palm, a mouth appeared.
Disgust filled the Spirit.
But the next second, a different emotion emerged, as a black sphere was formed in front of that mouth.
"You-"
A thin, silent, and quiet stream of dark energy was shot.
The stream itself was silent, but its effects weren't.
Immediately, a dozen trees fell to the ground.
At the same time, the ground's shaking stopped and the moving trees turned still as their roots reentered the ground.
The Monster remained unmoving, its body making a bridge, and its left arm extended.
The Forest had turned quiet all of a sudden.
And most importantly, the Spirit had disappeared.
Had it been killed, or...?
"You can't do anything." The Spirit uttered before disappearing once more.
"You won't be able to touch me."
"Why don't you just go to sleep?"
"I get it now."
"You're not even awake, are you?"
"You're not conscious at all."
"This is simply you reacting by instinct."
"I'm surprised the mention of the Elf was enough to distract you."
Unlike what Yarnha had expected, no stream of dark energy was shot this time.
Instead, the Monster stood up.
From the bridge posture, it rose to its feet without using its arms.
It was truly as if its upper body had gone limp, or was made of a slimy substance.
The Monster turned around and stared at the Spirit, who was seated on an unmoving tree's branch.
"You thought you could take them from me?"
A malicious smile appeared on Yarnha's face as she crossed her legs.
"I can take anything I want."
"You're dead."
"Yeah, yeah. You'll be passing out soon anyways. Can you even see straight?"
The Monster remained silent for a couple of seconds.
"You're dead."
"Mmm." Yarnha raised a finger. "Guess you don't want to sleep so early, huh? You don't have to worry about that."
Her finger drew a circle, and so did the root that exited the ground by the Monster's side.
"The night is still young after all."
The root approached the Monster's back.
Crunch-
"Huh. Didn't even notice you turning around." The Spirit admitted.
"Trapped... A slow death..."
"Mm?"
"Forest... The Forest can only survive if it traps individuals inside. That's why you need all these trees."
Yarnha looked away for a bit.
"Perhaps."
The Monster extended a palm quietly while the Spirit was looking away.
Great Fire Ball-
Boom-
"You've tried this already, haven't you?"
The voice came from behind the Monster.
It slowly turned around and stared at the Spirit, who stood on a branch.
"Mm. I saw it now."
"Saw it?"
"Mm." The Monster nodded.
"What do you think you saw?"
"Disappearing... But not really. Temporarily becoming one with the Forest, using it to hide and move away..."
"Temporarily? There's nothing temporary about it."
The Monster raised its left arm up high.
Dark Corrupting-
Before the Skill could be used, an incredibly sharp branch pierced the air.
"That one..." The Spirit said. "Is dangerous."
Blood flowed out of both the cut-off arm that spun in the air and the Monster's shoulder.
Thump-
The cut-off arm fell to the ground.
"What...?"
It didn't take long for the Spirit to realize.
The Monster moved its shoulder.
It was still connected to the cut-off arm by something that Yarnha thought was blood at first.
The viscous and thick dark liquid that connected the shoulder to the cut-off arm stretched, before drawing a half circle and quickly retracting.
"I understand now..." The arm reconnected with the rest of the body. "How your stuff works now."
"Oh is that so-"
"It's all connected, isn't it?"
Yarnha immediately felt a chill run down her spine.
***
"You can stop here."
"Y... Yes, Commander." Borus said before coming to a halt.
"I couldn't get a good nap in because of your rocking. That's really annoying."
"Ap... Apologies." The large Boar-like Monster lowered its body and gaze.
"Ahh..." Lin stretched his arms after dismounting. "Really don't want to go into the Forest when it's dark."
"Is it that dangerous, Commander?"
With cold eyes, Lin turned towards the Subordinate.
He took a step towards the Boar-like Monster's head and stared.
"Think you have the right to ask questions?"
"I... I-"
"Relax, you ignorant dolt." Lin said before yawning. "It's not a full moon, but entering the Forest Of Yarnha at night is still nothing to sneeze at."
"I... I'm sure it would be no trouble for you, Commander."
"Probably. Though that would largely depend on how motivated Yarnha is. Or on her mood."
"What if-"
"Doesn't matter anyways. Either the target makes it out and we track him down for a bit longer, or we find him dead in the Forest."
"I see-"
"Shut up and get some sleep now."
Borus did as he was told.
'Let's just hope I don't go in there to find a couple of bones.'
Yawn-
'Oh, well. The Lord doesn't care much anyways.'
