Nox felt a sharp pain as he watched blood spread through his clothes, the offending branch wiggling around like a worm as it attempted to widen the shoulder wound.
Feeling the familiar draining sensation, Nox quickly chopped off the branch from its main body and pulled it out with a grimace. Just because his current body could withhold more injuries, didn't mean that it hurt any less.
The pain was tolerable, at the very least. He winced as he rolled out of the way for another incoming attack, the movement jolting his new injury.
Every time the attacks managed to hit him, he could sense his magic levels dropping. Bak Soomin didn't seem affected by it much, which made him suspect that her ability may rely on her strength more.
The sharp eyed woman fought in a straightforward manner, similar to her character. Despite the number of scratches on her person, she didn't falter even as she continued to send out her needles.
The monster shot out another charged attack, the blinding light scorching the earth below it.
The Red Queen let out an angry bellow as the corner of her large skirt was blasted.
The condensed energy came dangerously close to Nox as he slid underneath the attack to pick up little solid particles of light coming from the charged beam, immediately using them to replenish his magic. He watched as his magic rose to level 14 before slicing through his barely healed wounds to release more blood.
Despite being able to drain him of magic, the monster itself also could replenish his magic in one go. It was a risk he had to take to drag out his own survival.
Even now, the strength of the colossal tree monster still easily swept him off his feet.
A wave of roots surged up to meet him as he darted underneath the monster. Nox countered by cutting away the roots long enough to move further away, meeting Bak Soomin in the middle.
The long haired woman exchanged a quick glance with him and threw out her needles, this time hitting the center of the monster's chest where its branches coiled together in the center.
Awweuk!
The monster let out an ear-piercing screech- Nox never heard this pained sound coming from it before.
The White Queen inhaled sharply. "There!"
The card soldiers were mostly stuck to the body of the monster at this point, woven into its trunk when they couldn't escape the whip-like assault. Branches that weaved them into the unknown depths of the monster's body now loosened, allowing some of the cards to slip down lifelessly like sheets of paper.
Nox didn't waste any time in following up, sending a more refined blood blade into the same spot.
To his surprise, the coil of branches opened slightly to let his blade sink through and closed itself tightly again to ward off the White Queen's white spell.
The monster paused and tilted, letting out a series of harsh creaks and rumbles before straightening itself again.
Nox felt the connection to his blade break.
No, not break.
It was... absorbed?
Shwiek!
A wave of roots from the monster's feet shot towards Bak Soomin while the monster let out another roar.
Her collected exterior seemed to be hanging by its last threads as she avoided them, stumbling slightly as Nox braced her up from the sudden movement. "Perhaps I have underestimated my own strength," she panted, wiping away the sweat and traces of blood from her face.
She sounded rather begrudging at her own shortcomings.
Nox could relate to the feeling.
As he stared up at the towering monster with dark eyes, he could only focus on the immense power standing in front of him. Its aura was like an endless chasm, with no end in sight.
'Maybe there will be nothing to see at the end.' A small voice whispered inside him.
In response, Nox made another cut on his arm.
Bak Soomin's pristine white doctor's coat was stained with blood and grime, her face growing increasingly pinched as the battle dragged on.
Nox could feel his own reactions occurring a split second later, his movements slowing down even as the amount of blood under his control increased from his magic levels.
Coughing harshly as he inhaled a large cloud of dust from the Red Queen landing right next to him, Nox squinted at the disarrayed queen while blinking the wetness out of his eyes. "Can I help you?"
The Red Queen hadn't fought near him during the entire battle- he had a feeling she still felt resentful over her hart.
"Don't be preposterous. I don't need help from the Outlander that killed my crystal heart."
He knew it. "Which part of the hart is your crystal heart?"
She looked at him critically. "The crystal heart are the crystals residing on top of that four legged creature." The Red Queen raised an arched brow, exhaustion dragging her lips down in a frown. Or maybe that was just her natural expression. "Back to work, or I'll cut off your head," she said coldly.
"..." Nox focused on the battle again.
At some point when he was fighting back to back with Bak Soomin against a new wave of branches, she raised a question. "Why is it bigger than before?"
As the battle continued, the monster seemed to tower over them even more until they realized that it was, in fact, growing.
"How should I know?" Nox grumbled. He hissed in pain as another branch stabbed through his thigh brutally, forcing him onto a knee.
A dangerous wave of exhaustion swept through him as he raised a trembling arm to cut away the branch again. Shit. He glanced at his open status screen, struggling to keep his eyes open.
"Nox? Nox!"
Someone was shouting at him, but he couldn't get rid of this fuzzy feeling in his head. Distantly, he felt himself falling over onto the side.
Sleep, it coaxed. 'Aren't you so tired?'
A static noise buzzed in his head, making him barely able to register Bak Soomin's frantic calls and another worried voice. Or were there two more? He couldn't tell anymore.
Someone slapped him across the face, but his eyes felt so heavy he couldn't lift them.
He had to- what did he have to do again?
He was so tired.
Tired...
'That's right.' It spoke again. 'So, so tired. Why don't you just be a good boy and- awerk!"
His hand shot up to stop another slap before his eyes snapped open.
Li Zemin's relived face was in front of him. "Oh man, I thought we lost you for a seco-"
Without his brain having enough time to reboot, Nox punched his friend across the face.
His punch sent Li Zemin flying a few meters away, revealing a frozen Liam and Roscoe who were right behind Li Zemin.
"Ow! Dammit, you didn't hold back at all!"
His loud exclamation snapped Nox back. "Shit. Sorry," he said lamely, seeing the large red imprint on his friend's cheek.
"Sorry my ass, that was the worst apology I've ever heard from you." Li Zemin pressed a hand to his throbbing face, letting out a sharp inhale at the stinging pain.
"Mister," Liam said in a hushed voice. Nox patted his fluffy hair in reassurance.
Bak Soomin let out a light sigh of relief and immediately switched back into her business mode. "Let's deal with this later." She gave a pointed look to Nox.
Nox nodded back grimly. The voice had been disrupted while it had been in the middle of its... hypnotizing persuasion and he couldn't hear it anymore.
An involuntary shudder went up Nox's spine.
"Outlanders!" The White Queen called to them from the side, still floating in the air with her long staff clutched tightly.
Belatedly, Nox noticed a thin white barrier around them.
"Thou-!"
A thin condensed beam shot through the White Queen's chest as she opened her mouth. The White Queen froze, looking down in disbelief at the spot of red slowly bleeding out on her white dress.
"Sister!" The Red Queen yelled, notes of panic seeping through her voice as she rushed to catch the falling girl.
The group glanced at each other, running over as well.
Nox grunted as he put weight onto his injured leg but waved off Liam's concerned question. Nonetheless, the young boy stuck closer to Nox as Bak Soomin and Li Zemin reached the queens first.
"Thou must not-" A harsh cough rattled the White Queen's voice unpleasantly. "Thy-"
The Red Queen frowned, "You must not speak."
"Hrek-" The White Queen spat out blood, staining her pure white appearance even more.
Nox twisted around as the ground shook with the monster's footsteps. It walked towards them with an almost knowing gleam in its eyes as its woven jaw opened again.
Schrek.
Images flashed in his mind.
People often said that their life would flash before them when facing death. But what Nox saw was... utter destruction.
A heavy scent of smoke seemed to drift towards him as he witnessed entire cities being crushed into nothing, flames raising high towards the sky.
People ran below him, screaming and running away from... from what?
He moved closer to get a clearer picture.
Endless piles of corpses were scattered on the blackened earth, the sky an ominous scarlet that reflected the blood and fires from below.
The scene shifted, and suddenly he was standing on a tall pile of corpses, overseeing the charred remains of what once existed.
His entire body froze as he witnessed the next scene, his face drained of blood as he stared at Roxanne in horror.
Her dull eyes stared back at him with hostility, flickering as her slender hands branded his arm with unknown strength.
It burned, but his body didn't move.
With effort, he looked down, seeing a hand stabbed through her abdomen. He clenched his fist, confirming that it was his hand that went through her body.
He wanted- he wanted to scream, but no sound escaped his throat.
Frantically, he willed himself to move, but he could only watch motionlessly as Roxanne slumped over, unresponsive.
He was whisked away into another scene before her still-warm corpse collapsed against his body.
Nothing prevented him from falling onto his hands and knees this time, retching at- whatever that had been. An image, a vision? He refused to believe that it was a prophecy.
'I wouldn't do that.'
He stared at the edge of the lake in front of him, seeing his wavering image.
'I wouldn't. I won't. She's all I had. All I have now.'
He squeezed his eyes shut, feeling the grass beneath his hands.
His entire body felt like it had been submerged in the coldest depths of the ocean.
He heaved, unable to throw anything up due to his empty stomach. He didn't know if it was a blessing or a curse.
His throat burned harshly, just like the phantom grip of Roxanne's hands as she stared at him with hatred burning in her eyes.
Slowly, he willed himself to take in deep breaths before he could calm down, heart still thumping painfully in his chest.
The frigidness in his fingers and his feet didn't go away, but Nox staggered back onto his feet.
'This better not be a similar scene.'
He still felt sick.
Thankfully, the lake seemed to be void of other people.
For a few seconds, at least.
His eyes widened as he spotted a familiar figure emerge from the other side.
Was that Zera?