174 [Bonus chapter] Controlled Void
CLAP! CLAP! Arad could hear Lydia fighting beside him. ^Hurry, control your magic further. Copy that spell.^
BAM! BAM! Aella fired two shots, "I'm running out of arrows!" She shouted. Her spare arrows are in Arad's stomach. She can't access them.
Jack glared toward Lydia, "Take those!" He threw her two potions as he rushed forward, throwing explosives at the roots.
"I'm here! You flaccid fungus!" Jack shouted to get the fungus attention. "What are you? Veins or vines? Both are long and wiggly and spit fluid out when I cut them."
The fungus seemed to ignore Jack, it couldn't see him as a threat. The only thing the fungus saw was the mass of mana, Arad.
"You dare ignore me?" Jack smiled, "Lydia! Ignore the roots and heal, I will take care of them."
Lydia started drinking the potions as the roots rushed toward her.
"Where do you think you're going?" Jack pulled his fist, dragging a thin silver wire. All the roots rushing toward Lydia got tied, falling to the ground with a wiggle.
"I wasn't running around blindly." Jack smiled, pulling a small bottle from his back. "I brought this for if a fight with a treant took a turn for the worse, but you can have it."
He dripped the bottle on the roots. They started steaming and bubbling without breaking down.
"I counted your roots. The number stayed constant at around 140. Give or take a few." Jack smiled, "I only need to tie and immobilize you with a plant spray. Those are around forty."
BAM! BAM! More roots rushed forward, but Jack jumped to the side. "Aella! Fire as I told you, and make it count!"
Aella pulled her bow, firing an arrow with one of Jack's threads linked to it. [Wind Arrow] She then used magic to diver the arrow a bit, tying more roots.
"And here is your medicine." Jack jumped at the tied roots with a smile, pouring the plant poison at them.
The remaining roots are collected in one spot, forming a large spear. "Oh! This is bad!" Jack gasped, it was too big for him to blow off.
Thud! Lydia stepped forward, gripping her sword. "Leave it to me!"
"You will hurt yourself! Don't use a full power smite again!" Jack shouted at her. "We dodge at the last moment."
Lydia closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. Her arms shook, and her knees barely lifted her. She could feel her heart beating erratically, and her vision blurring. If she fired this, her body will give up.
Lydia clenched her teeth [Divine...] Ba-dump! She could feel the holy magic in her veins shift. This might be her last smite so her god is putting an extra kick to it. A paladin always dies in glory, his last glimmer blinding the battlefield.
CREEK! The fungus's roots shifted, glaring at Lydia instead of Arad. At this moment, she was far more dangerous than Arad.
CRACK! Lydia stomped to the ground, pulling her blade back. Golden flames erupted from the edge, the last glimmer of her life.
Thud! Lydia felt a hand on her hair. "Thanks for protecting me, you can rest." BAM! Her golden flames faded as she fulfilled her oath. She protected Arad with her life until he woke up.
Thud! Arad walked past her, black lightning-like flashing came from his shoulders and arms. In his right hand laid an old rusted sword that he took from one of the countless corpses in his stomach.
The fungus's attention shifted back to Arad as Lydia fell unconscious. This time it was different. Lydia, and even Arad before were like a raging flame of heat and magic. But now, Arad seemed cold and silent. Like a black hole in the ground sucking rivers of mana without sign of stopping.
Arad lifted his left hand as the large collection of roots charged at him. ZROON! The moment the roots touched him, his void ripped them apart.
CLING! He then swung the sword up, causing a crescent black slash to follow the edge. "Void erases, it consumes and devours. I was thinking, what if I tried to control what it could erase." Arad smiled.
Thud! He stepped forward, void gushing from his blade and body. "I can't control it on the fly like the adults of my kin, but with a short meditation, I managed to achieve it."
Thud! Arad stomped the ground and swung his sword down, throwing it at the roots.
The roots cut themselves from Jack's trap. and formed an emergency barrier to protect the heart. SWOSH! BAM! They managed to deflect the sword as it had a physical form. But as the dust cleared, Arad's plan became obvious.
He stood in place, his body bent backward as he inhaled fumes of void magic. His chest expanded as he overcharged his breath.
The adults of Arad's kind can control their void. They can specify to erase only dirt, wood, or magic as a dispelling breath. But for someone as young as Arad, he can't perform that action as fast.
From what Mom knew, that is an ability attained when a void dragon becomes an adult. But since there weren't many of them in the first place, there could be an exception.
Arad might not be able to change the affinity instantaneously. But he could still achieve mild control. ROAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRR! Arad twisted his body forward as he unleashed his devastating breath.
No one saw anything, Arad's void didn't erase air as it usually does. It didn't erase dirt or stone, not even light. They only saw the fungus disappear in a wave. The heart in the ceiling got cleansed from tumor-like overgrowth. And it started to beat calmly for the first time.
Arad giggled, "Hehe! See what I can do?" He started to feel light-headed, "Don't you dare touch Aella and Mira, those two are..." He fell forward but Mira rushed in and caught him.
"He's heavy!" She gasped feeling a sharp pain in her lower back, she can't hold him alone. "Wait for me!" Aella rushed in to give her a hand. "Wait, he's heavy!"
Aella gasped. Arad is unconscious, he's falling with his draconic weight. ^We're dead if he fell on us!^ Aella gasped.
CREEP! A large root wrapped around Arad's body, lifting him up.
Everyone gasped, staring at the root. "No way! It isn't dead yet?" Jack pulled an explosive pouch.