The air felt heavy with tension.

Akhil never thought to find himself in such a situation.

But then again, he didn't have time to keep thinking.

With both Hale and Samxon trapped within the walls of roots, he was the only one left.

"Ahhh!" Samxon struggled to let loose from the strong roots, but all his efforts were futile.

As he opened his mouth again to vent on Akhil, a root quickly wrapped around his mouth, firmly holding him in place.

Hale had also lost her footing and was now tangled within the roots.

Her flames barely causing any harm to the roots anymore.

Akhil looked at the two. 'I should help them and find a way out of here.'

That was the next plan he had in mind. Leaving was the best option he could come up with at the moment.

'The beast doesn't know I'm still here yet, so it should calm down in a few minutes....'

Just then, all the roots started moving again.

Moving, flailing around like battle ropes.

'...Or not.'

The beast was using its reckless tantrums as a medium to check if anyone was still in the cavern.

The cavern walls trembled as the roots lashed out in all corners in a ferocious search.

Akhil gritted his teeth as he tried avoiding the attacks.

'Why does she have to make things difficult? Why does she want to make sure we're all dead?' Akhil thought as he braced himself.

Dodging was impossible since the roots moved in random motion.

'I can cut them to avoid being hit, but no matter how I do it... it'll still get to know where I am!'

He desperately tried to avoid all the roots, but it was terribly difficult, and before he knew it—

A large root came from the side, smashing into him with powerful force.

BOOM!

Akhil was blown off into the corner, the wind currents slapping against his skin as he waltzed through the air.

'I can't touch the wall,' he gritted his teeth as he quickly tried to maintain his balance midair. With much difficulty, he managed to pause midair, holding his weight, but the roots all turned in his direction.

Akhil held the blood dagger tightly in his hands, and it extended, taking the shape of a thin long blade.

{Warning: Host body is suffering from severe exhaustion}

{Blood essence reserves will now be used for sustenance}

{-10 blood essence!}

Akhil's face grew even paler as the blood left him.

But he kept his gaze fixed on the roots.

The tall large roots hovered in the air, waiting like tall ancient serpents.

In unison, they all darted straight at him.

He flew round the cavern, the roots ruthlessly smashing into the wall in a desperate chase.

While trying to avoid the flurry of attacks, Akhil's thoughts were in turmoil, his eyes still fixed on the core.

With all the roots chasing after him, it was wide open.

One powerful attack could possibly bring everything to an end.

But... the image of the young lady persisted in his mind.

'What to do... What to do!' he thought, beads of sweat rolling down his face.

Suddenly, the light from the core dulled a bit before regaining its brightness.

Just then, a notification appeared on his screen.

{The second horde has ended!}

Seeing the notification, Akhil momentarily thought back to the orc camp.

But he was too occupied to ponder on that for long. However, even with his caution, that slight moment of distraction was enough.

One of the roots along the walls of the cavern wrapped around his legs, momentarily slowing him down.

"Shit!" Akhil cursed as he tugged his legs with force to let it loose from the roots.

Just then, a larger root slammed straight into him.

BOOM!

Akhil was slammed straight to the ground, the sheer impact causing the earth around him to form a small crater.

The large root came smashing down again, ready to pound him into the earth.

Akhil quickly rolled out of the way, letting the root slam straight into the ground.

The earth trembled under the powerful force.

"This shouldn't get any worse than it already is, give me a break!" Akhil quickly found his balance and, with a loud roar, he slashed the root that was coming for him.

Splat!

The green viscous liquid leaked out, pouring to the ground.

Akhil quickly flew up again, keeping a safe distance close to the ceiling of the cavern.

His breath ragged as he stared down.

Pain rippling through every part of his body.

He stared at the core again and noticed the light had gone dimmer.

For a moment, he also caught the features of the young girl.

Her teeth were tightly clenched, her body had grown visibly paler.

And she was shaking slightly within the trunk.

Tears leaked from her eyes as she lay there trapped within her own mutated body.

It didn't take Akhil any time to notice what was wrong.

'The scenario has ended. The beast should come back with nutrients that she can feed from... but most of them are dead, and those two destroyed her plantation,' he thought, shifting his gaze to Hale and Samxon.

'She needs energy, or she'll die if she continues to fight.' While Akhil was in his thoughts,

The roots started moving, more violent than before.

Thrashing around, almost as though in response to her discomfort.

A root around the ceiling grazed his head, and immediately all the roots started moving in that direction.

"Mmm! Mmmm!"

Akhil's attention was caught by the muffled scream from the side.

He turned to Hale, who was trapped within the roots.

He could see a large root moving towards both Hale and Samxon.

These roots weren't like the others.

They seemed to have large openings within them, and looking closely, he could see some jelly-like substances within them.

'It's trying to use them as food!' Akhil frowned at the sight.

He stopped abruptly.

{200 blood essence used}

A swirling red mist gathered by Akhil's sides, facing the two roots that were heading for Samxon and Hale.

The swirling mist solidified, forming a bloody red bullet.

Without a second thought, Akhil let the bullet loose.

It rapidly slit through the air, driving straight through the roots.

Green liquid spilled out in all directions, and the roots thrashed around as though trying to express the pain.

"Mmm!" Hale's muffled scream reached him again, and Akhil turned to her. Their eyes locked.

He quickly sensed the danger, but it was too late.

Just then, Akhil felt a root wrap around both legs.

And two others gripped both of his arms tightly.

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