The strange screams echoed in the forest, like a call to death from the Nine Netherworlds. Field clenched the long sword in his hand, but there was an inexplicable excitement in his heart.
Damn, finally a decent opponent!
Although those masked killers were powerful just now, they were still ordinary people. Now you have to face real monsters, which is challenging!
"Everyone listen!" Field ordered loudly, "Circle and defend back to back!" Bagra, you lead the Werebear squad to guard the left flank! "
"Yes, master!" Bagra excitedly waved his newly acquired black armor, his bear eyes shining with fighting intent.
The team quickly adjusted its formation, and more than twenty people formed a defensive circle. Carriages and supplies were placed in the middle, and Connor's cavalry was responsible for guarding the perimeter.
But at this moment, something strange happened.
Another voice came from the depths of the forest, no longer the roar of a beast, but ... Human cry?
"Woowoo..."
"Help me..."
"It hurts..."
The sounds sounded like injured women and children crying for help, and the sounds were heartbreaking.
Damn, what the hell is this? Field cursed in his heart. This voice gave him goosebumps.
What's even weirder is that these cries seem to have some kind of magic. Several slaves with weak willpower in the team began to show confused expressions, and two even put down their weapons and walked in the direction where the sound came.
"Stop!" Field grabbed a fox man who was about to go out, "Don't listen to those voices!" "
"But... But someone is crying..." The fox man's eyes were scattered, and his voice was dull, "We should go save them..."
Damn, this is a mental attack! Field's heart was cold.
"Everyone covers their ears!" Field yelled, "Those cries are fake!" "
But it was too late. Just as they were busy dealing with mental attacks, a private soldier in charge of peripheral security suddenly let out a scream, and then there was no sound.
Everyone turned around suddenly, only to see that the private soldier had disappeared without a trace, leaving only a puddle of blood and a drag mark extending deep into the forest.
"Fake!" Connor burst out with a foul language, "What the hell is this?" "
Field's heart also began to grow. This is much more terrifying than imagined!
What level of monster must be to silently capture a living person, and with their vigilance?
At this moment, Lina suddenly let out a threatening low roar: "Ugh~~"
Her snow-white wolf ears kept turning, and her red pupils stared in a certain direction.
"Lina, what's wrong?" Field asked.
"There's something watching us over there." Lina lowered her voice, "It's big, it's dangerous." "
Field followed her line of sight and saw only the shadows of the dark trees, and found nothing. But he chose to trust Lina's intuition, after all, the wolf clan's perception ability far exceeded that of humans.
"Everyone is facing that direction!" Field pointed to Lena's locked position, "Get ready to fight!" "
Just as they were adjusting their formation, the miserable cries suddenly stopped.
The forest fell into a dead silence.
There was no even the sound of insects.
This eerie silence was more frightening than the cry just now. Everyone held their breath and stared nervously ahead.
And then...
"Click... click..."
The sound of branches breaking came from ahead, as if some behemoth was moving in the forest.
"Click... click..."
The sound is getting closer.
With the sound, the shadows of the trees in front of him began to writhe. No, it's not the shadows of the trees that are twisting, but the trees themselves!
"I'm Gan!" Field's eyes widened, "What kind of creature is this?" "
In their astonished gaze, a huge monster four meters tall came out of the woods.
It looked like a large, moving tree, made of twisted trunks and vines. The thick trunk forms the trunk, and countless vines dance in the air like tentacles.
The strangest thing is that this tree monster has a corrupted core embedded in its chest that emits a faint green light, just like its heart.
And this thing can actually imitate the human voice!
"Help me..." The tree monster opened its big mouth made of bark and let out a woman's cry, "It hurts..."
Hearing this sound coming out of the mouth of such a terrifying monster gave everyone a chill.
"Grief tree man!" Connor lost his voice, "The legendary forest spirit!" "
Grief tree man? Field's heart moved, it seemed that this was the specialty monster of the Whispering Forest.
But no matter what its name is, it has to be killed now!
"All attack!" Field gave an order, "Chop down this pretending to be a ghost!" "
Connor took the lead in charging, and his long sword slashed directly at the tree monster's trunk.
"Bell!"
The blade slashed at the bark, leaving only a shallow white mark.
Damn, this defense! Field gasped.
Before Connor could retreat, the tree monster's vines had already been drawn.
"Snap!"
Connor was thrown seven or eight meters away and fell heavily to the ground, blood overflowing from the corner of his mouth.
"Captain!" Several cavalrymen tried to come to the rescue, but were also stopped by vines.
Bagra roared and rushed up with his giant sword: "Look at me! "
The power of the bear man was indeed amazing, and he slashed half an inch into the tree monster with a sword.
But the tree monster's counterattack was even more fierce, three vines attacked at the same time, and Bagra only had time to block one, and the other two were drawn firmly on him.
"Ah!" Bagra screamed and flew out, the black armor on his chest was torn.
Damn, regular attacks are completely useless! Field was anxious.
The defense of this tree monster is too perverted, and ordinary swords cannot break through the defense at all. Moreover, its vine attack range is extremely large, and the speed is fast, so it can't get close at all.
Just as Field was thinking about countermeasures, a fox man private soldier was caught in a vine and was being dragged into the tree monster's mouth.
"Save me! Save me! The fox man struggled desperately.
But everyone else was suppressed by the vines, and they couldn't save him at all.
Seeing that his companions were about to be devoured by monsters, Field was furious.
Calm down! Must remain calm!
He forced himself not to see the fox man's tragic situation, but to carefully observe the tree monster's behavior patterns.
Soon, Field discovered several key pieces of information:
First, the tree monster will subconsciously protect the green core on its chest. Whenever an attack approaches the core, it will block with vines.
Second, this thing seems to have an instinctive fear of flames. When Connor's torch fell to the ground just now, the tree monster obviously flinched.
Third, although its vines are powerful, they are limited in number, and can only control seven or eight at the same time.
Got it! Field's eyes flashed.
"Everyone listen!" Field shouted, "Attack with fire!" Burn its vines! "
Everyone woke up like a dream and lit torches one after another.
Sure enough, in the face of the flames, the tree monster showed obvious fear, and the frequency of the vine's attacks decreased significantly.
"Connor! Harass from the left with someone! Bagra, you are from the right! "Field quickly deploys tactics," the goal is the core of the chest! "
The team reorganized the offensive. Although fire attacks cannot directly damage the tree monster, they can at least limit its movements.
At this moment, Field noticed that Lena was squatting on the ground, her red eyes staring at the tree monster, her body trembling slightly.
"Lina?" Field asked worriedly.
"I... I want to attack that core. Lina's voice trembled a little, "But it's too high for me to reach." "
Field looked at the four-meter-tall body of the tree monster, and then at Lena's petite figure. Indeed, with her height, it is almost impossible to attack the core of the chest.
But at that moment, Field thought of a possibility.
Werewolves' physical abilities far exceed those of ordinary people, especially their bouncing and explosive powers. If Lina can...
"Lina, how high can you jump?" Field asked.
"If you do your best..." Lina thought for a while, "About two meters? "
Two meters? Field's heart moved. If you add climbing...
"Listen to me." Field held Lena's shoulder, "We create an opportunity, you climb up along its arm and attack that core." "
"But..."
"Trust me." Field's eyes were firm, "You are the only one who can do it." "
Lena looked into Field's eyes, and a warm current surged in her heart. No one has ever trusted her so much and needed her so much.
"I see." Lina nodded, "I won't let you down." "
Field patted her on the shoulder, then turned around and shouted, "Attention everyone!" Prepare for the final wave of the offensive! "
"Connor, you lead people to attract attention from the front with torches!"
"Bagra, you are responsible for attacking the vines on the left!"
"Others shoot with bows and arrows, the target is the core!"
Although the bow and arrow may not break the defense, it can at least distract the tree monster.
The crowd reorganized the offensive under Field's command.
Connor rushed to the front with a torch, and the tree monster was indeed attracted, and most of the vines attacked him.
Bagra wielded his greatsword from the side and cut off two thinner vines.
The archers also began to shoot, and although most of the arrows were blocked by vines, they did interfere.
Just when the tree monster was attacked from all sides and his attention was distracted, Field winked at Lena.
Lena took a deep breath and suddenly pounced from the side!
She was surprisingly fast, like a white bolt of lightning.
The tree monster sensed the threat and hurriedly mobilized the vines to stop it. But at this time, most of its vines were dealing with others, and only two were left to come back.
Lena rolled on the ground, dodging the volley of the first vine, then jumped up and grabbed the tree monster's right arm with both hands!
Her claws were deeply embedded in the bark and began to climb up quickly.
The second vine pulled over, but Lena was agile and dodged with a rollover on the tree monster's arm.
Seeing that Lena was getting closer and closer to the core of her chest, the tree monster was completely panicked.
It roared angrily and wanted to grab Lena with its hands.
But at that moment, Field rushed up and stabbed the tree monster's feet with a sword.
Although he failed to break the defense, the pain distracted the tree monster.
It's now!
Lina seized the opportunity and jumped up suddenly, her claws stabbing directly at the corrupted core that emitted green light!
"Wow!"
The claws were deep into the core, and green juices splashed everywhere.
"Hey————!"
The tree monster let out a shrill scream, and its whole body began to tremble violently.
Lena doesn't stop, her claws stirring in her core until she completely destroys it.
"Boom!"
Losing the support of the core, the huge tree monster fell to the ground with a bang, raising dust all over the sky.
Win!
Everyone cheered. This difficult battle is finally over.
Field walked up to the fallen tree monster and found a fist-sized emerald green spar from the shattered core.
[System Prompt: Obtain a special item - Heart of the Woodland]
[Heart of the Woodland: A precious magical material containing pure life energy, which can be used to craft high-grade potions or enchanted equipment]
Heart of the woodland? Field played with the spar in his hand, feeling the warm energy pulsating in it.
It seems that the harvest of this forest trip is greater than expected.
"Master!" Lena jumped off the tree monster corpse and ran to Field excitedly, "I did it!" "
Her face was stained with green juice, and her silver-white hair was a little messy, but her red eyes shone with pride.
"Well done." Field reached out to help her wipe the stains off her face, "You are today's hero." "
Lina's face was slightly red, and a burst of sweetness surged in her heart.
This is the first time in her life that she has been so praised and valued.
"Clean up the battlefield!" Field ordered, "See what else is useful." "
In addition to the Heart of the Woodland, there are some valuable materials on the corpse of the Dryad. Bark can be used to make armor, vines can be used to weave ropes, and sap is a precious alchemical material.
More importantly, after this battle, the morale and cohesion of the entire team have been greatly improved.
They are no longer a group of slaves forced to follow, but real comrades-in-arms.
"Master." Connor came over, his tone full of admiration, "Your tactical command is really wonderful!" "
Others also nodded in praise. If it weren't for Field's calm analysis and correct command, they would have been wiped out long ago.
"This is just the beginning." Field looked deep into the forest, "According to the map, there are more interesting things waiting for us ahead." "
[System Tips: Mission Progress Update - Conquer the Whispering Forest (1/5)]
1/5? Field raised his eyebrows. It seems that the forest is bigger than imagined and has more challenges.
But that's how interesting it is!
After a short break, the team hit the road again.
With the experience of dealing with tree monsters, everyone felt a little more confident when facing the unknown threat deep in the forest.
And Field is full of expectations.
The system map shows that there are still a few green spots flashing ahead.
I don't know what kind of monsters I will encounter and what kind of treasures I will harvest?
This night-leading journey has become more and more interesting.