Hey everyone, first things first I edited the previous chapter, correcting a few grammatical errors here and there. Feel free to go back and read it again If you're up for it.
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Back at the inn, Maple had just finished her meal when she got a message from Chrome.
~Maple? Can you hear me?~
"Oh, it's Chrome. What's going on? Are you finished?"
~Not quite, I'm trying not to blow up the forest. But this thing is almost as hard to kill as I am.~
"Is it that strong?"
~No, Mai and Yui could easily take it out in one hit. But I'm a standard shielder... sort of, but I'm not like you and the others.~
"Hehehehe, thanks."
~Sigh. Not a compliment, just cover move to my location.~
"Okey dokey, on my way," Maple concludes in a half-salute, startling Mai, who was already dozing off on her shoulder.
"Wha- what's going on, Maple? Are you going somewhere?" With her eyes half-closed, Mai questions Maple, who's already quick-changed into her unique black armor.
Staring at the drooling faces of Yui and Rosa, Maple chuckles.
"Look after them, Mai. I'll be right back." With that said...
|| Cover Move ||
Maple disappears in a flash of light.
////
"Alright then, now we wait," Chrome retreats to the Stormbringers' side ending the connection.
Ahead of them, the crater continues to radiate miasmic energy, with the occasional black lightning. The sky churns with the same dark energy.
The Stormbringers stare at him, each of them dumbfounded.
"Who's Maple?" Elara asks with a slight tremble in her voice, something Kai notices.
"Hmm? Maple? She's the leader of my party," Chrome answers casually, watching the smoking crater.
Jarred, taking a moment to catch his breath, rests on his claymore then turns to Shin.
"How's she doing?"
"She's barely holding on. I can keep her stable for only a few more minutes, but after that... I don't know what else to do," Shin looks up, his hands bloody from trying to cover Holga's wounds.
The mood immediately drops, Chrome finally getting a better look at the wounded party member. He sucks in a breath of air at the sight.
"Damn, that's bad," he mutters, his expression grim. "We need to do something quickly, or we're going to lose Holga."
As they worry for the dying mage, the miasmic energy surges, the black lightning crackling with increased intensity.
A roar fueled by miasmic energy shakes the entire undead forest. Miasmic shadows billow out of the crater causing a miniature explosion.
Amidst the chaos, a golden light flashes and a figure appears before Chrome and the Stormbringers.
"I'm here!!" The figure cheers in a high-pitched voice, only to be covered by the miasmic shadows the next instant.
"Glad to have you, Maple." Chrome chuckles at his leader's antics.
The Stormbringers watch with bated breath as the smoke slowly dispels, bringing into view... a little girl?
Standing with a bright smile plastered on her face was a tiny girl in black armor waving at them.
A piercing roar freezes the members of the Stormbringers before they can comment on the weird arrival.
The sky is completely darkened as the Ursagorath reveals itself once more. Increasing to a height of eleven meters, it completely towers over the tiny girl across from it.
"Whoa!! It's so big. When did this happen?" Maple is wide-eyed as she raises her head just to see its full height. Then, she jumps while waving her arms. "Hey!! Over here."
The massive Ursagorath, hearing the tiny human scream at it, is immediately enraged. Raising one of its six-meter-long arms, it slashes at the human.
The Stormbringers barely had time to blink. The Ursagorath had moved with such blinding speed that all they saw was its arm turning into a blur for a moment.
KABOOM
The ensuing explosion threatened to rip the forest itself in half. Thanks to Chrome, however, the Stormbringers managed to escape certain death, of course, 'they' never realized it.
The center of the explosion had already turned into a sinkhole that threatened to swallow the forest whole.
"No, that little girl!" Elara is the first to yell. "She... She's gone…"
"The hell?!" Jarred exclaims and struggles to stay standing, his eyes wide with shock. "What... what just happened?" The Stormbringers stare in horror, their faces pale with disbelief. Shin's eyes are wide with fear.
The sinkhole continues to expand, its edges creeping closer and closer. The Ursagorath's roar echoes through the forest, its dark energy fueling the destruction. Then, silence descends. For a moment, the forest is eerily quiet, only the echoes of the sinkhole breaking the stillness. Suddenly, faint yells pierce the silence – Maple's voice carries through the air.
"Hey... Chrome? He's bigger than Syrup, so cool..."
|| Devour ||
Shock is etched into the faces of the Stormbringers as they hear the Ursagorath's pained roar echo through the forest, but Chrome just grins.
"It is... pretty cool," he agrees.
A sudden flash of light, and the Stormbringers shield their eyes. When they open again, the girl is standing in front of them, her black armor somehow gleaming in the darkness.
"This is Maple, leader of the Maple Tree party," Chrome smiles as he introduces her. "Maple, this is..." Scratching his head with a wry smile, "uhm, who're you guys, by the way?"
The Stormbringers stare at Maple with disbelief, their faces still pale with shock. Elara's eyes widen as she takes in Maple's tiny form, her voice barely above a whisper.
"You're... Maple? But... you were just... You're so small."
"Yeah, I get that a lot. No one ever believes I'm sixteen." Maple grins, her eyes sparkling with excitement.
The Stormbringers look at each other, still trying to process what just happened.
"What about the monster?" Jarred asks, as his eyes narrow.
As if on cue, the Ursagorath's roar shakes the forest all the way from the monster-made sinkhole. An intense shockwave clears the smoke, giving the Stormbringers full view of the creature.
The eleven-meter-tall behemoth is now missing an arm. Roaring towards the sky, it seems incredibly pissed off. Raising its three arms high in the air, black lightning strikes a broken boulder a few distances away, reducing it to fine sand.
Multiple black lightning begins striking the forest, with no direct pattern of attack. The Stormbringers can only think it's throwing a tantrum.
"Oh no you don't!!" Maple raises her shield as she activates one of her most iconic skills.
|| Martyr's Devotion ||
A blinding light erupts from Maple as a glowing golden circle forms on the ground and begins to grow outwards. Just like the last time she had activated this skill, the golden circle continuously expanded till she couldn't see the edges anymore.
And then the screaming starts.
A ghastly shriek escapes the Ursagorath as it is instantly set ablaze, covered in pale golden flames. Almost immediately, the two parties hear screams coming from all around them as one after another, the trees are set ablaze as well. A few moments later, the entire undead forest is shrieking in pain.
Startled at first, Maple, Chrome, and the Stormbringers watch as the entire forest burns to ash alongside the massive Ursagorath.
The silence that ensues next is deafening as Maple deactivates her skill, a dazed look on her face.
The Stormbringers stare at the burning forest, their faces a mix of confusion, awe, and shock. Elara's voice cuts through the silence.
"What... What just happened?" She asked, but the silence was her only answer as even Maple was shocked.
The group watches in silence as the forest burns to ash, the Ursagorath's screams echoing through the air. When the flames finally die down, the group surveys the destruction. The forest is gone, replaced by a vast expanse of ash and charred tree trunks.
Chrome's grin slowly returns. "Well... That was anticlimactic." This seems to snap everyone from their daze. "And the forest is gone, exactly what I wanted to avoid. Why am I surprised? It's Maple."
"How is this possible?!" Shin's sudden scream draws everyone's attention. Held in Shin's arms is a perfectly healthy Holga. The three holes that were previously there, are now absent.
" " "Holga!!!" " " Elara, Jarred, and Kai all scream in tears as they see their friend suddenly whole again.
Maple watches with a smile as the Stormbringers surround their friend. Suddenly thinking of Sally, her smile fades. Chrome walks up to her, placing his hand on her head.
*Bonk*
"Ow!" Maple yelps at the bump on her head from where Chrome had hit.
"You overdid it, Maple. Now the whole forest's gone." Chrome grits his teeth, a tick mark on his forehead.
"What? I didn't know this would happen. You didn't either," she shakes her hands in panic.
Their bicker is short-lived, however, as Jarred walks up to them.
"My name is Jarred, I'm the leader of the Stormbringers and these are my party members, Elara, Kai, Shin, and Holga." He bows his head, "I want to thank you for your assistance, and for healing our friend."
"But this is more than just healing, this is—" Shin immediately shoots up, but…
"Not now, Shin," Jarred immediately cuts him off with a glare. He turns back to Chrome and a pouting Maple. "Thank you again, we'll take our leave now. But you can find us at the Blue Beri Guild. Anything we can do to express our thanks."
"It's alright, don't worry about it," Maple replies, sending a glance to Chrome who shies away.
Jarred walks back to his group and retrieves a scroll. Activating the scroll, they're covered in a silver glow. Elara shyly waves at Chrome before they all vanish. Likely a teleportation spell.
Chrome and Maple are the only ones left in the smoking expanse.
"I'm hungry," Maple declares.
"You just ate though," Chrome's eyes twitch.
Maple blows a raspberry at him and vanishes.
|| Cover Move ||
Chrome sighs and shakes his head before vanishing as well.
|| Cover Move ||
A few seconds after Chrome disappears, a silver light glows in the sky above the expanse. Namarie steps out of the bright light, covered in multiple magic artifacts. Her entire presence brimming with power. She's prepared for an intense battle.
Stepping out of the portal, Namarie takes notice of the burning expanse before her with a dumb look on her face.
"Where did the forest go?"