Meanwhile, in the bigger room, Nysira and Jaune were alone, fighting against Liztawul.
Nysira had just charged up another attack, with Liztawul ready to take it.
Suddenly, Nysira saw a small wire following her, Jaune's work.
Right now Jaune was hidden; not even she nor Liztawul knew where he was. Nysira grabbed the wire in her hand and sprinted.
Liztawul rushed forward too, trying to grab her, but Nysira was far too fast now, running in circles around him.
"Stoppp!!" shouted Liztawul, slamming his hand into the ground. Small cracks spread across the floor.
Nysira was going too fast to notice them, and she stumbled.
'Got you!' thought Liztawul, leaping forward to catch her...
"Plasma slash!" shouted Nysira.
In a sudden burst, she slipped beneath him, narrowly escaping his grasp. He lashed his strong tail toward her, but it passed right through her.
Nysira reappeared on the far side of the cave, her path glowing with trails of electric plasma.
The plasma struck Liztawul directly, stunning him. For just a moment, Nysira's vision blurred.
"Arghhh!!" Liztawul roared, rushing toward her. But his path was already littered with wires.
Jaune had created multiple threads to slow him down. Liztawul smashed through most of them with his claws, but then suddenly his speed dropped sharply.
Jaune had used one of his spells: Inertia Node.
It created a small area woven with invisible wires, undestroyable, bound to the kinetic energy of the battlefield itself.
"Lightning track," Nysira whispered, rushing forward.
But before she could unleash it, Liztawul's arm slammed her into the ground.
This spell created lightning along the path Nysira just ran. If she could complete it, Liztawul would have been struck.
Now, however, as Liztawul tried to pin her down, she suddenly stopped mid-air, he could no longer push her.
"What?" Liztawul growled, confused. Then he saw the wires beneath Nysira.
Jaune had used her own kinetic energy to hold her in place, saving her.
Nysira smirked. At the perfect moment, Jaune removed the wires, and she slipped free. Liztawul staggered, almost losing his balance.
'Tch… guess I'll call them', Liztawul thought, stepping back toward the portal.
"I won't let you go away!" Nysira shouted, sprinting again. She caught another wire from Jaune, circling Liztawul.
The wires began to close in around him, so Liztawul leapt into the air. Mid-flight, he launched himself toward Nysira, landing perfectly in front of her.
Nysira stopped short, about to collide with him. His tail lashed out.
The strike caught her squarely, slamming her into the wall. Nysira was physically strong, but she was thrown like a ragdoll.
'Where is the one making these wires?' Liztawul thought. But then, his foot snagged one, he stumbled.
Nysira, bruised and hurting, rushed again. She hit one of Jaune's wires too, but for allies, they worked differently.
Instead of tripping, she was propelled forward.
Her speed multiplied, Liztawul couldn't grab her in time. She leapt above him, while more wires closed in, binding his movements.
"Now, Jaune!!" she shouted.
Liztawul sensed something was wrong. "Plasma slash!" Nysira cried.
Her body ionized, turning intangible, passing through Liztawul. When she emerged, his body was seared by a burst of electric plasma.
"Final impulse…" Jaune whispered. Liztawul hadn't heard, but Nysira had. Their final combo had begun.
Nysira's slash struck first, then Jaune's force blasted Liztawul backward.
He clawed at the ground, just barely stopping himself. Snarling, he released a powerful sound.
From the portal, the cavern dimmed as if the shadows themselves recoiled. Nysira froze in place, her breath hitching as a massive figure stepped through. At first, it looked like the silhouette of a tree uprooted from a cursed forest, but when it moved, the air quivered with a suffocating pressure.
Its body was not flesh, nor wood, but a grotesque fusion of both: blackened bark twisted into the shape of a man-beast, moving with slow, deliberate cracks like ancient timber splitting under strain. Branch-like appendages writhed from its back, twitching unnaturally, as though they hungered for something unseen.
At the center of its chest yawned a hollow void rimmed with jagged, root-like teeth, pulsing faintly as if it breathed through that abyss. Each step it took cracked the stone beneath its uneven legs, and its clawed arms dragged grooves into the ground, talons splintered yet sharper than steel.
Its legs were thick and uneven, beastlike. Its arms ended in splintered claws.
And above all, balanced casually on its massive shoulder, was Garwhole, grinning wide, as though seated on a throne of horror. He leaned forward, tapping Hollowroot's head like one would pat a hunting hound.
"This one is called hollowroot..." Garwhole's voice carried in a chilling echo, his smirk growing as the creature's void pulsed in response. "This one wants to have fun."
The monster released a guttural roar, a sound not of rage but of hunger, it echoed like the groaning of an endless forest being torn apart. Nysira instinctively darted back, her body trembling despite herself, while Jaune's wires snapped taut to speed her retreat.
'What is that?! I have never seen anything like that! Jaune!' Thought Nysira, as she started to run, hollowroot behind her started to run. Garwhole jumped out of it's shoulder.
Liztawul chuckled, limping toward them with satisfaction. "You took your time" he said, voice heavy with mockery.
"You were the one who boasted you didn't need us," Garwhole snapped back, though his grin never faltered. Then, turning toward Nysira with sharp, predatory amusement, he added:
"Let's see how long you can run before the roots catch you."
While Nysira was being followed, the Krukins spoke in their guttural language. Garwhole closed his eyes briefly, then turned, staring directly at Jaune's hidden position.
An Earth mage had made him a small hiding spot. Usually, Nysira drew all the attention while Jaune supported unseen.
"But now this is too much…" Jaune muttered, fear creeping in. Two powerful Krukins, and a monster like Hollowroot, far beyond what two of them could handle.
Nysira kept running, but she saw the enemies had spotted Jaune's hiding place. She rushed toward it.
"Let's go, Jaune!" Nysira called, extending her hand.
He hesitated, fear in his eyes. She had bought them some distance, but it wouldn't last.
"We've never tried it…" he stammered.
"Don't care! It's our only hope... come on, Jauneee!!" Nysira shouted as the enemies closed in.
Jaune grabbed her hand at last. Together, they stood ready to unleash the technique they had trained for, but never dared to use in battle.