Within the Temple's ashen courtyard, the priests, dressed in their red and orange attire, slowly clapped their palms while humming and walking around a bonfire.
At the top of the circular tower, the High priestess gazed at their act, and although the stars in her eyes seemed to shimmer when the moonlight struck, her expression was plain.
Behind her was another priest, wrinkly and old in appearance, with a long grey beard. He watched from the corner of the room, silent but curious to know what she was thinking.
Alas, he came with a question, "It is a time when the Sun is absent. Divine Envoy, why allow them to hum at this late hour?"
The Priestess turned her eyes away from the open window and looked at him.
"Lactar," She called.
"Having been a priest for many years. I am sure all the envoys you've asked this question have all answered you with the same thing." She said.
"Still, I will repeat what you've heard. Do you want to hear it?"
Lactar pondered for a while and gave his answer, "Yes. Envoy,"
A flame gradually manifested on Estella's palm as she recited the words, "The world never goes blank until the day of its scorching, the moon is simply an extension of the never-absent sun. Yet, the stars are powerful but lesser before the sacred fire."
"Oh." Lactar worded, his face was blank, but they held curious eyes.
What exactly did those star eyes see that the natural ones couldn't?
~~~~~
Inside the forest, the Rare Ape bellowed, eyes darting in two directions as two warriors dashed towards it from opposing sides.
"Now!" Ryan shouted as he imagined a flame exuding from his sword and unleashed it with a slash. Pierre also repeated the same act, gripping his blade as it sliced the air with burning flames.
Both of their flames zipped through the atmosphere, yet the Ape simply raised its towering spear, and in one single powerful strike, their attacks were consumed by a dark mist before disintegrated into nothing but thick, black smoke.
"A Dark Arts spell. Where's the nature in that thing?" Ryan grumbled internally before seeing the Ape's spider legs hook into the ground as the tip of its spear struck the sod.
Three miles of land became wrapped in shining green light, and with a simple twist, the plants and grasses began to uproot themselves.
"So he can summon the little plants to his aid?" Ryan held the urge to laugh, only for his smile to vanish as a bright light shrouded them.
The plants grew, reaching almost one and a half meters in height.
The light from the spear disappeared as the Monster pointed a finger in his direction, and multiple thin-legged weeds began juggling their feet as they ran towards him.
His eyes darkened when he saw the Ape turn to Pierre with a wicked smile.
"Shit!"
Now he had to face the minions in front and remain hopeful that Pierre would hold out long enough for him to be out.
A plant bounced towards him and swung its arm. He activated his only skill—Mighty Leap and dodged the attack, then his sword moved and split the plant in half.
He was surprised at how pathetic their defense was when a second weed launched at him, but was quickly gunned down with a blast from his finger.
[You have acquired a point] The system informed, but he ignored it.
He considered the number of plants to be overwhelming. His remaining 46 mana would be nearly exhausted if he fought them directly.
Another plant shoved itself to him, and he moved to the side only to witness a green light extend with its arm, curling around the air before capturing one of his hands.
Frustrated, he twisted a finger in the plant's direction and set its form on fire.
The enemy immediately released its grip and started toiling in the soil.
More plants appeared, encircling him with their rough formation.
"You," His breath grew heavier by the second.
He then breathed calmly and focused on his opponents.
A plant moved, and he thrust his blade into its midpoint and ripped it in half.
Then calmly, he locked in on the beast that was swinging its moving arm at Pierre, spear determined to pierce his innards.
'If I can turn the minions' attention towards their boss.'
An idea popped into his head, and he gleefully smiled, activating a leap before a blade of grass tried to pierce his behind.
With a successful evasion, he sprang forward, intending to escape the encirclement while ensuring that his blade blitzed through any weed that dared get in his path.
Upon cutting off about three of them, the plants were now waltzing after him with their short, sturdy legs.
His gaze was now on the front; he saw Pierre narrowly avoid a fatal strike to the stomach by rolling into the bushes while the enemy's spear rebounded from his arm.
"Hey, Spider Web!" He shouted, attracting the attention of its black eyes, staring as he ran towards it, luring the plants from behind.
"I can only hope my deductions are correct," He thought as the beast swept its spear from the side.
Barely reacting on time, Ryan slid gracefully against the soil floor and simultaneously swung his sword, unleashing another blazing arc.
At the same time, the Ape's weapon cut through a few of its minions as a black mist took root in their bodies, causing them to shrivel and wilt like dying plants.
The arc exploded near one of its legs, and smoke scalded its appearance.
However, Ryan's famished smile faltered upon watching the smoke recede, revealing a black substance protecting the creature's legs.
The aura swiftly vanished, replacing his view with the creature's creepy smile as its three pairs of eyes locked on him. It then began to hoot as plants rushed towards the King's location.
'I'm trapped!'
A small stone appeared in front of him and exploded, blowing debris that blinded both him and the enemy. "Your Majesty!" A familiar voice called through the blurriness, and he found himself being dragged away from enemy range.
By the time he could see the clear surroundings, he was now behind the bushes, with Pierre and a woman with red hair clad in armor with crimson coloured beads on her wrist,"Who-who are you?"
"Sire, shush!" She whispered with a finger in front of her lips, "The enemy can hear you."
'Rude.'
The trio then peered through the bushes, seeing the enemy's eyes darting about, constantly in search of the humans that had dared to battle it.
"I've been observing you and Mr Nameless." The lady with beads said after they turned away, "The forbidden magic the Abyssal Ape uses makes it an all rounded creature." She added.
Internally, he agreed. The beast had just brought life to plants and could extend its arm with its spear to cover a range of about six to seven meters. Coming close to it simply guaranteed its strength to crush one of its legs at you, and apparently, up close wouldn't work either due to that aura.
To Ryan, he wondered who and how, whether nature or humans could create such a thing, and yet, they had only seen a fraction of its abilities.
The Woman with coloured beads then clapped her wrist, revealing a four-pointed star.
'A Priest? No Priestess?' Ryan thought, confused as she tapped both his and Pierre's hands, and the same mark reflected on their skin.
Right as he was about to question, a feminine voice spoke in his head, "Testing, testing. Perfect"
"You can hear our thoughts?" Ryan replied in his head and got a responsive nod, "Only the surface level ones, but that will be enough for this battle."
Her hands were then raised as she spoke to their minds, "I'll also be supporting both of you from the shadows."
"It's all going to be a waste if we can't kill that darned thing," Pierre thought in response.
"You have to aim for its head," said the Priestess. "That's the place where the dark arts can't cover. Hit its head, the most delicate part of its body, and you'll win,"
"How do you know that?" Ryan asked inwardly.
"I can see it," She answered, right before throwing an orange rock in the distance. The object sparked as it struck the ground, creating a cloud of smoke.
'Good luck.'
As Ryan and Pierre returned to the battle, the smoke started to dissipate, showing their faces to the Ape and its little plant minions.
The creature let out a scream and stomped one of its crab legs with enthusiasm, pointing towards the duo.
Once again, the plants rushed at them while the Rare Beast struck its spear, and nature energy gushed into the floor, raising more plants to join the battle.
Ryan and Pierre looked at each other, then both nodded as they once again dashed towards opposing sides.
Round Two had begun.