"Bam, bam, bam."
Rosalyn swang her hammer relentlessly against the opponent.
Branches extended themselves from the dryad blocking the gnome's strikes but also breaking in the process.
"Come on. Hahahaha. Keep going. I am not nearly satisfied yet."
"Monster."
Sylvan was at a loss. He had faced powerful warriors in the past, but not even the mightiest of them all was this terrifying.
What scared him weren't her skills. In fact, even though Rosalyn's strength and resilience were great, her technique was actually a little sloppy.
But the pleasure, this great happiness, which was transparent in her face deeply disturbed him. This was much more than just adrenaline intoxication.
With a sunken face he asked.
"How?! How can you enjoy fighting this much? Are you mad? People are dying here. Is this a joke to you?!"
Rosalyn smiled and simply said.
"You fear too much, little man. If you just stopped worrying, this would become a much more pleasant experience."
She spoke this without any anger. In fact, her voice seemed to be filled with a certain degree of empathy and delight.
Evil sweetness filled the air, making Sylvan want to puke from pure nausea.
Green Thunder took this opportunity and slashed with its claws against the enemy's exposed legs.
"Ahh."
With a grunt of pain, the treant hastily retreated.
"Evil creature. To think you almost defeated me."
Sylvan smiled at her with confidence.
He was wounded and exhausted but at last his grand scheme was ready.
"Activate."
With a simple hand gesture, his great formation was filled with mana.
....
Adan was overwhelmed.
Those "fire walls" had racked havoc through the woods, producing new flames much more rapidly than expected.
Forget the laughable notion of helping directly with the fight. Just the task of keeping the group safe from the blazing inferno was proving to be herculean.
Just a little more pressure and he just might crack.
Then...
There wasn't even time to scream. The flames expanded quickly and the whole area became a massive pillar of fire reaching for the skies.
Both Adan and Rosalyn got swallowed immediately with no chance of fighting back.
....
Sylvan was happy.
His strategy of turning the enemies' magic against them had succeeded.
First, he hid in plain sight, pretending to be a monstrous sized treant only to make the druid's spell fail at the most vital moment.
But the most important point was his idea on how to deal with the fire walls Adan had created.
He noticed how the gnomes blinded themselves, believing the spell to be an absolute barrier.
After all, wouldn't the treants and animals just be committing suicide if they tried to brave through those defenses?
But this also meant that they had no idea of what was happening on the other side.
Sylvan took this opportunity and commanded his servants to sculpt a spell formation around it.
Meanwhile, his minions and even himself acted as distractions to gain time.
It was a plan meant to catch all of the enemies at once, not allowing any to escape.
"Restauration."
The dryads lost arm began to regenerate and in less than thirty seconds it had fully grown.
As Sylvan looked at the devastation he had wrought, his reaction was bittersweet.
On one hand, some of Willowtown's most important assets had been eliminated, but, on the other, the price paid by his group was also very steep.
Dozens of treants, thousands of animals and a large portion of vegetation died today.
Even worst, Sylvan had willingly sacrificed them to achieve victory.
Was there something wrong with him?
The fey were supposed to protect the forest and not destroy it.
Thinking about this guilt blossomed in his heart.
"No. I had to do this. It was for the sake of vanquishing our hated enemy. For the sake of the Feywild, Azov's corruption must be treated. No gnome must be allowed to live."
After strengthening his resolve, Sylvan was about to put the flames down with whatever portion, which remained of his mighty host.
But than...
"That was kind of nice. I want to see if you can do it again. Hahaha. Cough! Cough!"
A burned and deformed figure emerged from the blazing hell and walked towards Sylvan.
Rosalyn had breathed a lot of smoke and as such was coughing non-stop.
Sylvan was shocked.
"How... How can you still be alive?"
With a smile, Rosalyn lifted her hammer with both hands.
From the weapon came out a sea of blood, which started to cover the earth like a flood.
"How can I die... When we're having so much fun?"
Now Rosalyn's face changed to match her darken soul, a truly demonic spawn of the night.