"What was sound?" Fólórunsó asked.
The winds in the forest began to pick up. Trees were shocked with such ferocity that it gave off the sense a threatening presence was approaching them; because one was. Before anyone could comprehend what was happening, a tree ruptured behind Francine and the wooden figure emerged covered in sap, his fist raised to strike. In almost a blink of an eye, Sola dashed at the being and intercepted his strike with a punch of his own. He quickly grappled its hand and flung it as far from them as he could.
"Damn it, it's already here!" He cursed. "Fólórunsó, take the kid and get out of the forest as quickly as you can!"
"What? That's ludicrous! A creature just showed up for you to fight!" Jonathan cried in protest.
Unfortunately, he was denied his chance to continue his complaints as Fólórunsó grabbed him by the waist and took off as quickly as possible.
"I'll be back as soon as he's safe!" He yelled from far off. "Leave some for me!"
"That's going to be a tall order and I make no promises!" Sola yelled back.
The wooden creature stood up and stared at Francine, then Sola. It appeared it realised that if it wanted to get to her it would have to go through him first. Without so much as a prompt, the being disappeared and erupted from a tree beside Sola, lunging for his throat. The grey-haired man managed to intercept the attack before slamming it into the ground and flinging it away again.
"What is that thing?" Francine asked, her austere demeanour slipping off her.
"It's an Ancient," Sola replied. "It's basically an avatar born from Revel and the will of the forest, emerging when the forest gets damaged to an insane degree in order to protect it,"
"If you knew about something like that existing, why did you talk about ripping up a tree?!"
"But I didn't, did I?! You fucking dumbass! Now we have to beat this thing and try not to die!" He yelled.
"How can a forest even do something like this?!"
"Let anything live for long enough and eventually, it'll learn how to fig-"
A wooden fist connected with Sola's jaw, cutting his sentence short. He was knocked down to one knee. Before he could react, the Ancient followed up with a kick to his chest which sent him rolling several feet and into a tree. Francine aimed her gun at the Ancient ready to fire. Just as she tried to take the shot the Ancient disappeared and emerged from behind her. It swiftly wrapped its arm around her throat and began strangling her.
Struggling for air, Francine managed to raise the gun and pointed it at the Ancient. She let out a blast with burned it on impact. The Ancient immediately retreated into the tree and erupted somewhere else. Its body came out covered in which appeared to rejuvenate its damaged face. Francine fired another shot at the Ancient, but it disappeared once again.
"That's not going to work. It'll just keep dodging," Sola said as he stood up.
"What would have me do then?" She asked rhetorically. Sola eyed the Blue Mercury weapon she held.
"How powerful of a hit can you let off with that thing?" He asked.
"Depends on how long I charge the attack, but the strongest it can go will leave it on cool down for a while,"
"Start charging it up and let it off when I tell you to. I'll try to make sure you get a clean shot,"
Veins bulged all over Sola's body, making him appear larger and threatening. He kept his body lowered and his senses keen, waiting for the moment the Ancient would emerge from wherever it was hiding. As if on cue, the Ancient erupted from a tree and shot itself high in the air. It attempted to kick Sola as it made its descent, but its attack was blocked. Sola grabbed it and slammed it on the ground, prompting it to vanish and reemerge and knock him sideways.
Another tree ruptured with the Ancient pouring out as Sola approached. The wooden being launched a kick at the downed man but the attack was quickly blocked. Sola grabbed the Ancient's and pulled it down to the ground, mounting it. He began to wail at the Ancient but was only able to land a few hits before it teleported again and grabbed the back of his head. The man was then slammed into the ground and dragged, pulling up dirt until he hit the root of a tree.
The Ancient came forth from that tree and kicked Sola's face so hard he was flipped into the air. It grabbed him by the ankles and slammed him down to the ground and followed up the attack by throwing him into a ruptured tree. Sola's veins bulged more as he filled himself with adrenaline. With his energy somewhat regained, he launched himself at the Ancient, landing a punch. The wooden being was knocked back a few feet before coming back to hit the grey-haired man in the gut. Sola was unfazed by this attack. He glared at the Ancient, his sliver eyes peering into the creature's amber orbs. The two began to trade blows once more.
The two continued their exchange, with Sola surprisingly withstanding the hits he sustained from the Ancient while the Ancient recovered with sap every time it ruptured through a tree. Their exchange of blows slowly sped up; each hit more grievous than the last. Sola's skin darkened with bruises but surprisingly, he left no blood. With one final hurrah, he punched the Ancient's chest and pierced right through its wooden body.
"Do it now!" He yelled.
The wooden being turned to face Francine who had her gun pointed at the two of them. The end of the barrel was brimming with energy. It soon realised what was about to happen and immediately tried to teleport but to no avail. All the surrounding trees its power could have been ruptured through already. It was stranded. Francine pulled the trigger, and the blast went flying.