Chapter 40: Ambush!

Tyr had grown in size. He was twice his 8 feet original size.

The treant rammed his full body weight into the Molten Hornbull, sending it staggering and crashing sideways.

Isaac stared. He expected Tyr to burn, but that did not happen. Scorch marks appeared, yes, but there was no fire, not even a smoke.

“Fire-resistant bark…” he muttered. “As expected, Tyr is miles better when compared to normal Treants.”

Tyr turned his head slightly, as if asking to be praised.

“Good job.”

A smile broke into Tyr’s visage.

The Molten Hornbull recovered fast. It released a scream that sounded like a boiling kettle.

Then it rushed Isaac.

The charge hit.

Isaac flew back several meters, hitting a broken support beam. Pain shot through his chest, but there was no change in his expression.

“Nothing broke,” he said as he moved his body. “A high Constitution is really a cheat. I tanked a skill from a Elite rank monster with my bare body.”

It did hurt a lot though.

Heat burst outward from the Molten Hornbull’s body as it moved. The surrounding air shimmered, turning into a furnace.

Tyr leapt in again, lashing out with tree-limb arms and vines.

Isaac felt the land respond and raised thick roots to wrap the monster again. They weren’t meant to hold, just slow it. Distract it.

Let the poisons do their work.

Already, the Hornbull’s steps had slowed slightly. It moved with power, but not as cleanly. A misstep here. A stumble there. Its breath had become louder.

The Miragepetal’s dust began taking hold.

The Hornbull roared at something to its left—but nothing was there. It turned, wildly swinging its horns at illusions.

Then came the Dreadbloom’s touch.

It hesitated mid-charge, its shoulders twitching. Its hooves scraped backward.

Isaac recognized the look.

Fear.

The Hornbull screamed again. Its eyes were bloodshot. Foam leaked from its mouth.

Its body still moved with insane strength, but each step was slower, clumsier.

The flames covering it dimmed.

Isaac summoned more roots, and wrapped them around its neck, pulling it head-first into the ground.

The Hornbull roared. It had a lot of life left. Isaac could feel the monster trying to escape.

He burned Mana to keep it down until the poison finished it.

Another few minutes and it would collapse fully.

That’s when Isaac felt it. Two sharp pulses of mana slicing through the air.

He snapped his head up.

Two firebolts. One coming straight at him, the other heading toward the Molten Hornbull. They wanted to kill the monster.

He sprinted.

His boots cracked rubble and dry earth as he pushed forward, but he was too far.

The second firebolt closed in on the monster faster than he could reach.

Then something crashed into it mid-air.

Tyr.

The treant had leapt between the bolt and the Hornbull. He was flung backward, slammed into a wall far away, and buried under debris.

Isaac’s jaw tightened. But there was no time to check on Tyr.

From across the clearing, a voice echoed.

“The first attack failed! Switch to Plan B!”

A wind surged over the battlefield.

It howled past Isaac’s ears, and swept through the flowers. The lingering toxins were blown away.

The battlefield was clean again.

Three figures dashed through the broken street.

Isaac recognized them immediately as the members of Team B.

Vax. Heavy armor, tower shield. A pure tank built to take attacks.

Renji. Long coat, twin scabbards, posture upright and balanced like a swordsman from the old world.

Zeke. Lean and silent, already melting into the shadows. A ninja-type with a dangerous aura.

They moved fast and without hesitation.

Vax led the charge, shield up, eyes focused. Renji broke left, low to the ground. Zeke was already airborne.

Isaac narrowed his stance.

Roots stirred around him, but he couldn’t summon much.

Summoning roots needed mana control, and most of his focus was into holding the Molten Hornbull down.

That was the enemy’s plan. Force him into a fight while his ability to manipulate roots was tied up.

Zeke threw two kunai.

Isaac leaned back to dodge the first and knocked the second out of the air with a sharp backhand.

Vax closed the gap. His shield came forward like a wall.

Isaac sidestepped, twisted, and slammed his palm into the edge of the shield, redirecting the charge.

Vax stumbled a step, more from surprise than force.

Renji was already there.

His right hand was drawing the blade from the scabbard. Mana crackled along the hilt. One more inch and the katana would fly.

But Isaac didn’t move to dodge.

He stepped in and grabbed Renji’s elbow, twisted his own body under the attack, and flipped the swordsman with a clean shoulder throw.

It was a standard academy technique, to taken down swordsman.

But it was rarely used in real fights due to the difficulty of mastering it and using it an combat.

Renji crashed into the ground with a grunt, stunned.

Vax recovered quickly and slammed his shoulder into Isaac’s back, locking him in a crushing grip.

Isaac’s arms were pinned.

“Got him!” Vax barked.

Renji stood up, shook off the dust, and stepped forward again.

His hand went to the sword.

But as he pulled, the blade didn’t move.

Isaac had slammed his leg on the hilt.

Renji froze.

Vax was no different. “How did you even think of—”

Reacting fast, Renji released the hilt and raised his free hand.

A glowing blade of condensed energy formed in his palm, an Aura Blade. He slashed down at Isaac’s exposed leg.

The blade hit.

And bounced off.

“What the hell…?”

Renji’s eyes widened.

Isaac stabbed his elbow into Vax’s abdomen and broke free from his grip.

“Formlock,” Vax said, gasping. “The title keeps the body together. Skin won’t be cut, bones won’t be broken. Any damage that forces a physical change is resisted.”

“So your Constitution is 100 too?” Renji blinked. “Is this guy even a farmer?”

Isaac didn’t answer.

He moved.

In a blink, he was behind Renji. He shot a hook to the side. Renji raised his arms just in time to block but was forced back.

Isaac’s combat ability shocked them all. Not only were his stats high, he was well experienced in combat too.

They needed a trump card.

Vax tried another charge, shield-first. Isaac slid low, used his momentum to throw Vax off-course, and stood between both men again.

Then the air changed.

A crackling of lightning.

Zeke appeared. Steam poured off his body, and mana surged around his form.

Ice platforms formed in the sky, appearing at sharp angles.

Those were not Zeke’s doing. Isaac could feel it.

The mana flowing unnaturally in the air belonged to someone else, who was casting from afar. A mage. The fourth member hiding in the distance.

Isaac’s eyes traced the flow of magic through the sky. He couldn’t leave, and attack her.

If he moved now, these three would finish the Molten Hornbull while he was gone.

Zeke crouched, then launched upward.

Lightning wrapped his limbs as he activated the Sky Vein Acceleration skill.

He moved like a blur, hopping across the floating ice platforms.

To him, the world slowed to a crawl. Debris hovered in midair. The others were frozen like statues.

He twisted mid-jump to glance back at Isaac, already confident.

’Thanks to everyone, I had enough time to activate the skill. Now he can’t catch me. This fight’s ours—’

Zeke’s grin froze.

Isaac was watching him.

Not blurred. Not lagging.

His eyes were following Zeke at normal speed.

Zeke’s heart skipped a beat.

Isaac mouthed something.

’L O O K B E H I N D.’

Zeke turned instinctively. Nothing was there.

By the time he turned back, Isaac had closed the distance between them.

A solid punch met Zeke’s jaw mid-air. The ninja flipped, crashed into the ground, and didn’t get back up.

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