Chapter 129:

Hope?

_________

 A few minutes before when the elves just left Vincent's group.

 Within the forest.

 *Swoosh*

 Around 20 elves ran through the forest.

 As they crossed around 300 meters, a girl's voice rang out.

 “Grandpa, are those little black ants really so dangerous?” asked Alaya. She was carried by her father, Luis, as her long silver hair flew in the cold wind while they ran. 

 “Yes, my dear granddaughter, and we better never meet them since they never travel alone. Moreover, they might have- *Rumble!*” grandpa Austin didn't manage to answer as he was interrupted by a sudden event.

 The ground right where they had arrived began to heavily tremble, forcing the group to lose their footing as some of them fell on the ground.

 Nicholas, Austin, and a few other older elves didn't panic as they quickly cast their Earth, Water, or Wood-oriented protective spells on themselves and nearby weaker elves.

 From the large holes that appeared on the ground, began to emerge huge 3rd rank beetle-like ants, one by one.

 After Nicholas was sure that the others were somewhat protected, he immediately attacked the first half-appeared beetle ant.

 He hastily pointed at the hole where that ant came from.

 'Die,' Nicholas calmly said in his mind.

 [Forest's Fury]*

 As he cast his offensive spell, the ground where he pointed began to move.

 *Sounds of moving ground*

 Dozens of half-meter-thick thorns began to form from that hole where the ant still was.

 They quickly formed and started to non-stop move toward the beetle-like ant that has yet to fully emerge.

 *Pierce*

 *Screech~!!*

 The first thorns firstly pierced through that ant's limbs, before other thorns, shortly after, reached its head and penetrated the ant's eyes and then brain.

 Nicholas quickly managed to kill one of them, bringing hope for survival into the elves' hearts.

 As Nicholas saw how that ant was pierced from every side of him and was held in the air right in the center of the hole, he heard a familiar, painful voice near him.

 “Arghh!” shouted Austin as he quickly cut off his left hand that began to melt from the sudden attacks that were directed at him and Talia who was carried by him.

 He can't get rid of such powerful acid in this situation, and if he didn't treat his hand in time that he doesn't have, it will bring him only more pain and will distract him, so he decided to get rid of the problem by simply cutting off his left hand.

 If he survives, he could regrow it again with time. 

 It was the same acid attack that Vincent will soon witness.

 His thick wooden wall managed to block most of the attacks, but the left side of the protective wall was a bit weaker than the rest, and the amount of acid that landed there was too much to handle, allowing it to destroy it, but instead of reaching to shocked Talia, the acid landed on Austin's left hand that carried her.

 “Grandpa, your hand!” screamed scared Talia. She was only a 1st rank mage and was only a burden right now for him, and she knew it too.

 “It's just one hand, stop panicking. Focus on the enemy, or we will all die,” quickly exclaimed Austin as he had stopped the bleeding.

 “The Offensive team, Defensive team, and Support team take your responsible positions! I will clear the way for you, and you will use this chance to get others out of here to a safer place near the lake. We will stay there. I sent the call for assistance to the clan leader, so they should appear in a few hours. We just need to survive until their arriv-! *Tremble~!!*” ordered Nicholas to his men, but before he finished talking, he was interrupted by another large tremor in the distance behind them.

 It was the same group of dozen 3rd ranked beetle-like ants that would separate Vincent's group from theirs. 

 *Screech~*

 'Fuck, we can't go back now. I guess there is only one way for us now. The lake. Is this really controlled by someone?' Nicholas cursed their luck. The more he sees how the black corrosive ants are accurately ambushing them on their way, the more he believes that there is someone or something behind this attack. 

 He has a terrible feeling about all of this.

 "Stay behind me and do not move even a step away, understand?” ordered Luis without turning his head to his daughter, Alaya, who was behind him. 

 “I-I understand,” answered Alaya as she hid behind her father.

 …

 Like this, the elves slowly moved to the nearby lake at half-kilometer away from them, while defending themselves from ranged acid attacks and suicidal attacks by 2nd rank kamikaze ants. 

 They combined the work of 3 teams under Nicholas's orders and support, allowing them to go without casualties so far.

 *Boom!*

 *Screech~*

 They fight the ant swarm and defend themselves quite successfully as they move further toward the lake.

 …

 After a minute of constant fighting, defending, and treatment, the elves could finally see the giant lake in the distance, at around 250 or so meters.

 Even though they knew that there might be another ambush, they had no choice but to go there. If they stay where they were, they will all die for sure after some time, but near the lake, their chances to survive until the assistance arrival from their Lerin clan are higher.

 Nicholas, one of the functions of his spatial ring that was created specifically for high elders and could send a brief message to their headquarters in the time of need.

 As they saw the lake, Alaya and Talia managed to calm down just a bit.

 The environment with water will naturally have more water elements within that location that could support their water and wood-oriented spells for a longer time, not to mention that ants don't like being near water or in water.

 *Rumble~*

 *Screech*

 They continued to advance further. 

 Nicholas was engaged in taking care of 3rd ranked beetle-like ants.

 Their group was like a circle within a circle formation.

 The defense team was an outer circle, the offensive team was an inner circle, while the healers and the rest of the elves were in the center of the group as they stood back to back, supporting the first two circles.

 Each team had 5 members of elite and experienced magi.

 The offense team's work was to eliminate the common, 1st ranked, and 2nd ranked ants. The defense team makes sure that ranged attacks will not reach them, or at least they would be weakened as much as possible. The treatment team's only focus was on healing the damage the offense and defense teams received.

 …

 230 meters… 

 200 meters…. 

 150 meters…. 

 100 meters…

 They come very close to the lake and were overjoyed, even Nicholas, after all, he almost reached his limit of spell usage. If he continued to use wood elements, the consequences of it will not make him wait.

 He already felt how the “woodenification” of his body began, even if it was very slow currently.

 In his long life, he often saw how wood-type mages in the fight for their lives had no choice but to continue to fight by using wood magic without restraint, and after they reached the turning point ere their bodies will slowly turn into the wood from spell overuse until they completely became a wooden-like humanoid sculpture without a possibility to reverse it. This was a death that some wood-oriented mages could face.

 This is the fate that Nicholas will encounter if he continues.

 He needs to restrain himself from using his magic, so he could last longer until help from the clan arrives.

 He was very pleased that they managed to reach this location without any losses. 

 But he failed to notice something.

 Near the lake was a big boulder, and behind that boulder, in its shadow, was calmly waiting a weird one-meter-sized ant with red eyes and beautiful wings on its back.

 It did not look as dangerous as the 3rd ranked beetle-like ants, but…

 If Vincent or Nicholas were here, they would feel shivers running through their spines from sensing the aura that this ant is releasing.

  ****

Spell Name:

[Forest's Fury]

Fundamental elements used:

[3rd rank Wind]

Advanced elements used:

[4th rank Normal-tier "Wood"]

Grand elements used:

[None]

Spell Power Level:

[4.1]

Spell Type:

[Offense]

Spell Duration:

[10 seconds]

Spell Range:

[Middle-Range]

Spell Info:

The advanced "Wood" element is one of the results of merging Earth and Water of 3rd ranks.

Creating dozens of half-meter thick thorns that have a high piercing ability and could fly in the air for short distances by Wind element assistance.

Often usage will lead to the caster body's "woodenification".

Author's note: "Yes, I know that "woodenification" is not an actual word, but I don't care."