BOOM
There was a loud sound followed by a cloud of dust as Tom's opponent finally came to a stop by crashing into a tree trunk.
"..."
Hearing the explosion sound and then seeing the cloud of dust, Tom almost felt bad for the wisemonkey, sure he was in a sorry state due to this same wisemonkey, but Tom didn't forget that his goal in battling this wisemonkey was to make him and all the other following him his subordinates.
"I hope he survives" said Tom just before he felt his astralum deactivate due to him currently not having a once of etherium in his core.
"I also hope the others are safe-" before he could even finish his sentence, Tom collapsed on the ground and directly lost consciousness, his injuries were so severe that it's a wonder he made it this far without crumbling.
A few dozen meters away from Tom, his opponent's body slowly slid down the tree trunk, blood trickling from his mouth, and his face bore the unmistakable mark of Tom's fist. Yet, externally, he appeared far less injured than Tom. However, the same couldn't be said for the condition inside his body, where several of his bones were shattered.
As his body slumped to the ground, his shadow seemed to flutter, before his shadow extended outward and from it emerged another wisemonkey.
The wisemonkey that emerged from the shadows seemed older than Moogli and all the other wisemonkies. His face bore the unmistakable signs of age, etched with weariness, yet he stood as erect as a sturdy pole, his back showing no signs of yielding to the weight of time.
The elderly wisemonkey cast his gaze upon the one lying on the ground and simply shook his head, disappointment evident in his eyes.
The elderly wisemonkey transformed back into a shadow and silently moved toward the location the battle between Tom and his opponent took place.
In a matter of seconds, the shadow arrived at the spot to find Tom's body on the ground, severely injured but still alive.
The wisemonkey materialized himself just a few inches from Tom's unconscious form. He observed Tom for a moment before extending his arm. The shadows at his feet swirled and transformed into a dark sword that resembled a katana.
The old wisemonkey positioned the sword at Tom's neck, prepared to sever his head. However, a flicker of doubt creased his wrinkled face. He hesitated, standing there for several moments with the sword still poised at Tom's throat.
Eventually, he shook his head and withdrew the sword, stepping back. He transformed into a shadow once more, merging with Tom's shadow and waiting patiently for the moment when he would reappear.
***
On the other side of the battlefield, several minutes after the end of Tom Battle.
"TIE THEM UP!" Shouted mooglie in the wisemonkey language.
It took more time for the battle to end on this side of the battlefield due to the sheer number of people fighting, but finally, after a battle no less harrowing than Tom's, his subordinates emerged victorious.
As the battle finished and the healer of the group approached to heal those that were injured, mooglie shouted to him, "You can attend to their injuries later. For now, join me; we're going to check on the boss to see if he's okay"
The injured wisemonkies glanced at him, as if on the verge of complaining. However, upon recalling who Tom's opponent had been, they fell silent, fully aware that he might indeed require more assistance than they did.
Before they departed mooglie also took with him some of the wisemonkies that were still able to fight.
They ran at their fastest toward the location of the fight, and just after a few minutes found Tom's body sprawling on the ground.
"Oh no" exclaimed mooglie seeing Tom's unmoving body on the ground.
"MODOU" shouted matour, addressing to the healer.
"On it!"
They made their way toward Tom's body, and Modou immediately started examining him.
After a few seconds he sighed in relief and then said to the others "He is alive, just severely injured, but nothing I can't heal".
Hearing him, the others also sighed in relief, before mooglie raised an issue" If he is here, then where is Minvar because I doubt that he would leave the boss alive".
"I suppose we should find him at the end of this path," Matour replied, using his spear to indicate the trail of destruction left behind by Minvar when Tom sent him flying.
"I guess you are right, some of you should stay here to guard in case something happens, the rest with me" ordered mooglie.
With Matour and two other wisemonkies, Moogli followed the trail until they eventually found Minvar lying on the ground, unconscious, much like Tom.
"The least we can say is that the boss didn't hold back while punching him" remarked one of the wisemonkies, seeing Tom's fist mark on Minvar face.
"I'd almost feel sorry for him if the bastard didn't knock me out in less than a second during our last spar" remarked the other wisemonkey named Murx.
"Who will carry him ?" Suddenly asked matour.
"Well, that's pretty obvious, the youngest will carry him" replied Murx while chuckling.
"Hey! Do I need to remind you that I'm second in command!" snapped mooglie knowing that he was the youngest.
"Yeah yeah we know, You've gone on and on about this enough, however since you are the youngest, you will have to carry him back" replied Murx as he turned around and started walking towards the group that stayed with Tom.
Soon enough, matour and the other wisemonkey- mechron- took off, leaving mooglie.
"Why is it that they don't respect my authority's, I'm second in command!" Mumbled mooglie as he carried Minvar on his back.
Some minutes later, they returned just in time to see Tom being carried by a wisemonkey, secured to the latter by some sort of vines.
"Ah, you are finally here, let's return to the settlement, I will continue the boss treatment there" said Modou to the returning mooglie group.
"Okay, let's go"
They sent someone to inform the others to return to the settlement, while they proceeded directly to the settlement themselves.
Upon their return to the settlement, they laid Tom in his tent, where Modou attended to his injuries before leaving to tend to the injuries of the others.
During all this time, none of them noticed the old man in the shadows who was observing them.