"Who shot that earth spike!?" Zorbek roared in anger, but he had no time to look back. They had a bigger problem ahead of them now.
The palace guards were equally as shocked as they watched the treants nervously. Scott, who stood at the very back, had a dumbfounded expression. Having a clear view of everyone's actions, he should have seen who fired the earth spike, but he didn't.
He wasn't the one who fired it, but he couldn't tell who did either. Everyone was an earth-user, but someone who could skillfully sneak such a sizable earth spike with them unnoticed by the entire group had to be in a league of their own.
If no one couldn't find the culprit, then the blame could easily fall on him. Wait, there was no time to be worrying about that. Scott shook his head of distracting thoughts. In order to worry about it, they must first get out of their present situation alive first.
Leon had a very terrible look. He didn't doubt that that the one who struck just now had been the mole within their group. One would naturally assume the mole came for the secrets of the underground. From that, Leon could guess that removing a few watchful eyes would make it easier for them to maneuver secretly within the group.
However, he had gravely miscalculated by assuming that they wouldn't risk jeopardizing the entire team's safety at the most crucial point! Like, why would they? Not only was it difficult to explore the underground alone and return back to the surface after, but they themselves also weren't free from the danger when they put the entire team in danger.
Unless they didn't care about their own lives because there was something more important than their primary objective and it required killing everyone or more specifically, him? That does to be the case.
Leon didn't know when he had unwittingly become an element that must be eliminated at all cost in the spy's eyes, however, his eyes flashed with a chilling light at the thought. He sent out his divine sense and covered the entire group and scrutinized them for the slightest trace of suspicious behavior. At the same time, his back remained facing them. No one knew that they were all under Leon's concentrated observation.
However, no matter which person he observed, he couldn't find the culprit and had no further time to deliberate. Battle was imminent. Although it seemed like Leon had taken some time for his thoughts and observation, everything had flashed in an instance like time had been slowed.
Afterward, taking advantage of the remaining time before the treants reacted, Leon took the last chance to communicate to them in the ancient language. However, his last hope was dashed as the treants remained unmoved as if his words fell on deaf ears.
"Everyone, prepare for battle!"
Leon roared and took his stance, while the palace guards covered him and took a defensive stance. In the direst of situations, they still had to protect the prince! They couldn't allow the prince to bear the brunt of treant's charge!
Being in the perimeter, Lilith was also protected at the center with Leon by the palace guards.
The treants roared with great fury and charged at them from all directions. In a short instance, the two sides clashed, and the palace guards all grunted from the strong impact. Their steel armor was greatly dented in a single clash, while the treants didn't seem to suffer any damage at all as they retreated for a second charge.
The palace guards widened their eyes with grim surprise and drew in cold breaths. If not for the protection of their armor, their bones would have likely shattered! These bodies of trees weren't simple beings to be trifled with!
Despite possessing the body of trees, these treants weren't brittle and weak like ordinary wood. In fact, they were incredibly tough and resilient like they had been born from the elder tree.
Were these treants considered the elder tree's offspring!? Leon quickly glanced the tree spirit hovering in the air. He sighed with relief seeing that the tree spirit didn't express any sort of stance and continue to watch on curiously like the fight had nothing to do with it.
"Your Highness! These treants are incredibly tough! We won't be able to last long at this rate!" Zorbek made a hacking slash at one of the treants, but his sword failed to slice apart the treant before him and only left behind a shallow cut.
Dammit, if they were still on the ground level, they could at least borrow the strength of the earth to help them defend rather than using their own bodies.
Leon frowned. Their bodies were incredibly tough, but the first one fell so easily when it was struck on the head. Looking carefully, each treant had a green oval-shaped jewel embedded in its crown. These were most likely the crystallization of the treant's spirit and source of its sentient existence.
"Aim for green jewel on its head!" Leon quickly instructed.
The palace guards had already noticed the green jewels at first glance and even suspected it to be the treant's weakness when the first one was killed. The prince's instruction only served to strengthen this belief. Their swords were ready for the kill when the treants charged in for a second clash, but it was only easier said than done.
As the most important part of the treant's beings, it goes without saying that it would be protected. They wouldn't be caught off guard a second time now that they viewed all the humans as enemies.
Similar to the first charge, the treants had covered its crown with both arms in a cross and causing the palace guards to fail and bear the brunt of the second charge. Unlike the first charge, the group didn't just suffer a mere grunt this time as their faces paled and forced back several steps.
The second charge caused them much more substantial damage as their armor became even more dented out of shape and they all felt a tightness on their chests like it was being pressed down by a mountain. Some of the weaker palace guards even coughed up blood as their organs churned.
The group began to despair. They already feel weak after the two clashes. Even if they come up with a solution soon, they may not have the strength to carry it out as they pushed back and forced to cluster together with limited space to fight freely.
"Your Highness, we are going to get crushed at this rate. Please use your fire ability!" Damir requested.
Leon frowned and glanced at the tree spirit. The fire would most likely alarm the tree spirit. If it took it the wrong way, then using fire would be the nail in their coffin. However, if he didn't then they would still get wiped out eventually. There was no other choice.
Leon communicated his intention to the tree spirit and hoped for its understanding. He also didn't hesitate to toss a tier-2 pill to it, before he raised his hand and conjured a fiery blaze above. Afterward, he clenched his fist and the fiery blaze exploded into scattered fiery arrows that shot at all the treants in their immediate surrounding.
The treants tried to defend themselves, but the moment the fire arrows contacted their dry bodies, their bodies immediately lit on fire like being fueled oil into the flame, very flammable.
The palace guards stared on in amazement at how effective fire was against these creatures as they broke their formation as they ran chaotically without a fixed direction while trying to put out the fire. The ones that didn't get hit by fire arrows still ended up catching on fire when they tried to put out the fire on their brethren.
Dammit, if the prince had done this at the start, would they have been forced to suffer?
"Take this chance to finish them! Don't let the fire spread to the elder tree!"
Leon's stern command was like a splash of cold water as the palace guards became shocked and they no longer blamed the prince. That's right! If the elder tree catches on fire then even if the treants don't kill them, the elder tree definitely will!
The palace guards all roared and charged into the fray of chaotic burning treants with their swords. The treants couldn't keep lucid thoughts while they were burning and became easy pickings for the palace guards.
Leon had quickly returned his attention to the tree spirit after voicing his command and although the tree spirit had a slight crease in its brows, it didn't take any attention. Leon was relieved, but then he soon frowned at the chaotic mess the palace guards became.
It was like they had been fed stimulants and chased after the treants until it was dead. If they keep pushing treants into a corner, things could go south very quickly considering everyone was all spread and alone. The spy could also take advantage of this chaos to slip away.
As if confirming Leon's thought, the emerald eyes of the treants began to shine with a tinge of redness as they saw their fallen brethren. A lone palace guard found himself surrounded by burning treants as they pounced him and burnt him alive.
"Ah! Help me! It burns!"
The palace guard cried in pain as he failed to shake off the treants that stuck to him like glue. The two closest palace guards rushed over to help but they could do nothing but watch as the person gets burnt underneath.
Leon had also rushed over to put out the fire with a block of water, but it was too late. When the two palace guards removed the blackened treant bodies away, the palace guard had already drawn his last breath, marking the first death within their group since the start of their journey.
"Shit!"
A palace guard punched the ground in anger at his own uselessness. At the same time, the tree spirit glanced over with a raised eyebrow. "Rao?"
Leon exchanged look with it before saying to the palace guard, "Even if you are angry, don't take it out on the elder tree. Look, it's staring at you."
…
Leon returned his attention to the rest of the situation, before using [Lion's Roar] to get his message across. "Everyone, stop fighting and regroup!"
A large body of water was also summoned and sent it over to the burning treants, which they dived into without hesitation. Leon didn't intend to wipe out the treants. They were the aggressors and were at fault for bringing a spy to cause this tragedy. But more than that, Leon had noticed a group of smaller treants back at the village looking over nervously. He didn't want to deprive them of their parents.
After the fire was put out, these little treants had run out of their homes towards the larger treants. The larger treants shielded them nervously while looking in his direction. Leon wanted to force a smile, but he couldn't. He didn't wish for this either and both sides have suffered.. Hopefully, with this, the treants would listen to him so they can put an end to the battle.