The mage slayers were temporarily blinded as they were keeping their mana vision active, the mana glow and the barrier's own light hit them doubly. All mage slayers retreated at the same time and used skills to improve recovery speed while also improving hearing, fearing an attack while vulnerable.
Fortunately for them, the enemy had someone closer to deal with, so he paid them no heed. Unfortunately for #3, he was the closest target. #3 had closed his eyes tightly and dropped his short swords just as the barrier began to glow, throwing himself back with all his might.
Still with his eyes closed, he heard something approaching quickly from the front, so he pulled out a reserve weapon, a simple dagger with a slash-enhancing enchantment, and activated the fluidity skill. The skill would allow him to redirect the force of the enemy's attack and perform a counterattack without losing momentum.
A root hit him hard, but #3 blocked it with the dagger and took a half step to the left, letting the root slide through the dagger and trying to cut it with its own momentum. To his surprise, the dagger did not leave a single scratch on the root, on the contrary, his enchanted dagger had lost its edge by when trying to cut the root, becoming blind.
'What-' #3 thought in shock, but didn't have time to be surprised. Runes lit up at the root, revealing it to be an enchanted item, causing spikes of light to shoot out of the root, attempting to impale #3.
The light spikes were fast and point blank, so all #3 could do was activate the suit's magic dispersion enchantment and hope for the best. The thorns pierced his right arm holding the dagger and the side of his body, but the enchantment's power was reduced, so the thorns didn't go deep.
The root suddenly tensed like a whip and was pulled with tremendous force, dragging #3 with it. Upon being pulled, #3 activated a magic ring, generating a small barrier of darkness around him, trying to surprise whatever was trying to pull him out. He also pressed the button on the collar of his cloak, revealing his presence to his companions. The darkness was ethereal, so the barrier wouldn't physically block the enemy, but it should be enough to at least make them hesitate.
To his surprise, a wooden fist the size of his torso and covered in a gauntlet of light burst through the barrier like it was nothing, hitting his chest with precision and crushing him to the ground. #3 spat a mouthful of blood, almost losing consciousness, but the enemy didn't give him time to breathe, burying a second fist in his face, crushing his head like a watermelon.
This all happened in about 7 seconds since the light barrier exploded, showing just how powerful the enemy was.
On the other side of the underground cavern, the magekillers gathered despite being blind, using the locator on the collar of their suits to know each other's position. In this way, they noticed the presence of #3 moving at an absurd speed, before falling to the ground and disappearing.
The magekillers hardened their expressions behind the mask knowing what that meant, but no one stepped forward to try to save him, knowing they would be an easy target if they let their anger get to their heads. They cast their best spells and held them in place, tension building as his eyesight recovered.
"I intended to leave this forest alone, you know? I even let you guys go the first time you invaded me, sending the spore cloud as a warning and to make sure you wouldn't come back, but you came back just a day later, destroying my forest, invading my home and trying to kill me. Before we start fighting, I would like you to tell me what you came here to do. So that I can write on your tombstones the cause of your death." A deep voice spoke to them, its tone making clear the anger he felt.
Emilia was the first to regain her sight, but what she saw made her think she was hallucinating. In the middle of the cave, a 4 meter tall humanoid creature made of wood was standing with the headless body of #3 at its feet. The wood that made up its body resembled full-body armor, if some parts were ignored.
Its arms were a cluster of tightly connected branches, with sharp spikes protruding from its elbows and amber-colored claws protruding from all ten fingers. On his left shoulder was a white flower bud, while on his right shoulder was a huge thorn.
There was an amber gem in the center of the chest, with vein-like lines being visible through the few gaps in the plant armor, connecting the amber gem to all parts of the body, spreading the amber energy and illuminating the armor from within.
From its back, tree branches and thorns came out at random and moved like snakes. Its legs were like tree trunks up to the knee, where they branched into intertwined roots down to the feet, ending in four sharp claws, three in front and one in the heel.
His helmet covered only the right side, the left side revealing a face with delicate, almost feminine features, but Emilia recognized the pointed ear, the most characteristic feature of an elf. The right side of the helmet was detailed as if it were a work of art. His eyes were different colors, with the side covered by the helmet glowing an amber color, the same color as the gem on his chest, while the left side was an emerald green color.
The mage slayers took a few seconds to stare stupidly at the enemy's body, unable to look away. They couldn't identify what the thing in front of them was, no matter how hard they tried, but one thing they were sure of. Whatever it was, it wasn't a spirit.
"We are the white fangs, the mage slayers of the order. We came here after a corpse of a young man and a team of mages we thought got lost around here. If you give us the corpse, we can leave in peace and avoid the conflict." Emilia spoke quickly, lowering her daggers to show that she wasn't hostile, but not letting go of them.
"After attacking me, you say you don't want to be hostile? If I let you out of here you will alert the other humans and they will swarm this forest like a plague of locusts until they kill me. I asked your motives just out of curiosity." The false spirit has spoken.
'Are they after the corpse that turned into undead? I don't know what they want with an undead, but it can't be good. I already intended to kill them to ensure that my presence would not be discovered, but if they plan something unholy with an undead, it is my duty to ensure that they never leave here.' The false spirit thought, its bloodlust starting to build.
Emilia felt the bloodlust increase and raised the daggers, but did not give up the negotiations.
"Wait! We came here on an official mission! Our disappearance will not go unnoticed and the order will send an extermination force into this forest and they will hunt you down. But if you let us go, I swear on my family's name that we won't reveal your presence, and let's just say we didn't find anything." Emilia spoke the truth.
She could swear anything in the name of her family as she cared for them as much as a kidney stone and she could also say whatever she wanted, her mind would be read anyway and the false spirit's presence would be revealed anyway.
Unaware of Emilia's trick, the false spirit used his mystical senses and saw the truth in her words, but that didn't change his mind. Even if she was an honorable person, he couldn't say the same of others with her. The most he could do was offer a prayer for their souls and pray that they would find peace after they died.
"You seem like a good person, it's a pity you met your end here. At least know the name of the person who killed you. I'm Treevor, descendant of the spirit king!" Treevor screamed, branches crawling over his face and covering the left half of his head, before leaping at the mage slayers.