Clash

“What the hell, these guys are strong— Guaaahhh!!”

The golems had appeared out of nowhere.

Their bodies were huge both vertically and horizontally, far too large to hide behind trees.

When Ashid looked around, he saw Wood Golems absorbing energy and rapidly growing larger.

‘They’re enlarging small Wood Golems using the trees!’

Ashid’s subordinates who were caught off guard by the Wood Golems were blown backward.

But there was no time to go help them.

“Relax! These things aren’t that strong!”

With that, one of his subordinates sliced a Wood Golem clean in half from the torso.

He had already dismounted from his horse and possessed the aptitude of Swordsmanship.

It seemed the hardness of each individual Wood Golem was not particularly high.

Seeing this, other men tried to bring their spears down from horseback— but—

“AOOOOOOOOON!!”

“BUUUUUUUUU!!”

The swordsman from earlier was struck by a blast of fire and engulfed in flames.

Spears of flame pierced soldiers, spheres of water suffocated them, invisible wind blades cut them apart, and pits of earth caused riders to fall from their horses.

Looking closely, animals could be seen between the trees and bushes.

Dogs, cats, pigs, and moles… despite their cute appearances, their attacks were remarkably powerful.

Ashid’s subordinates had already been forced to dismount, and quite a few were already unable to continue fighting.

Seeing this, Ashid clicked his tongue.

“Useless… guess I’ll do it myself.”

Ashid raised his hand toward the golems.

“Tempest Typhoon.”

The advanced magic Tempest Typhoon that he released turned into a violent storm engulfing both the golems and the animals.

His precise control over mana ensured that only enemies were targeted by the raging wind, leaving his allies untouched.

The wind clearly distinguished friend from foe, and Ashid’s subordinates cheered as they watched the Wood Golems being swallowed by the magical storm.

“So the ones who can’t fight anymore are… about half. Losing this badly to trash like that… pathetic.”

“M-My apologies!”

“Enough excuses… tch, can’t be helped. I’m not that great at this, but…”

Ashid closed his eyes to concentrate.

After calmly preparing for about three seconds, he suddenly opened them.

When he snapped his fingers, light poured down from above the wounded soldiers.

“All Over.”

All Over was a light-attribute area healing spell.

The holy light carried waves of healing energy, mending wounds and burns.

Even those who had been unable to fight were at least able to move again.

“Get to work. This is only the beginning.”

Standing before them, Ashid once again took the lead, showing his back to his followers.

“Follow Lord Ashid!”

Everyone rushed toward the village.

Under attacks from Wood Golems and mysterious beasts firing magical attacks, their numbers steadily decreased one by one.

Because he was casting magic on the front lines, Ashid had no spare capacity to heal them again.

After suffering many losses, Ashid and his men finally managed to enter the village.

By the time they arrived in the village, their numbers had already fallen to less than half.

Entering Tree Village at last, they looked around— and realized something.

“There’s… no one here?”

There was not a single villager anywhere in Tree Village.

No lights were lit, and no smoke rose from the chimneys.

In the desert, where visibility was limited, it should have been difficult to spot them approaching.

Even if someone had noticed them, evacuating instantly would have been impossible.

So why was there not a single person here…?

“Yeah, that’s because I evacuated them.”

At the sudden voice, a vein bulged on Ashid’s forehead.

That slightly high voice belonged to the man he hated most.

He turned toward the direction of the voice.

And when he saw who stood there, Ashid’s face twisted with rage.

“WOODY!”

“Don’t worry, I didn’t kill any of your men.”

“You bastard hypocrite!”

Ashid raised his hand toward Woody.

At the same moment, Woody tossed something into the air above his head.

A fireball shot toward Woody.

He blocked it by summoning a Wood Golem directly in front of him.

Then… a series of explosions erupted behind Ashid.

“GAAAAAAAH!!”

When Ashid turned around, his subordinates were being blown away.

They seemed to be powerful projectiles.

Some burst into small explosions, while larger spherical ones caused massive blasts.

Whatever they were, they were quickly rendering his subordinates unable to fight.

When he looked closely… they were fruits.

“Don’t worry. I’m holding back so they won’t die either.”

“You bastard… how long do you plan to keep mocking me?!”

Even as Ashid glared at him, Woody maintained his calm demeanor.

Before he realized it, Nadja was standing beside Woody.

And on the opposite side stood Aira.

“Hiding behind women and beating people with underhanded tricks… that’s exactly what I hate about you!”

“Then you can relax.”

With that, Woody stepped forward, leaving the two women behind who tried to stop him.

For the first time, Ashid saw a determined expression on Woody’s face.

“I’ll handle things from here. Let’s settle this one-on-one, Ashid.”

“You bastard… don’t talk down to me!”

And thus the battle between Woody and Ashid began—.