Chapter 861: A tossed stone raises a thousand ripples
Translator: Sean888888 Editor: TheAlliance
Ferrell laughed so hard that his branches shook.
"Nothing is impossible for the noble Sacred Oak family! The path I've embarked on is the sacred path that the great World Tree Teldrassil once walked upon! Races aren't important for friends, only strength is eternal!"
Mudbeard immediately understood. He gnashed his teeth and said.
"I understand now. You cursed wild Ent, you damn foreigner! You and the tree slaughterers all deserve death!"
As Mudbeard spoke, he acted as if he was going to pounce at Ferrell, but it was just a feint. When he leaned forward, his left arm suddenly split into three thick vines that stretched rapidly. The vines hurtled towards the bow-carrying Melody and staff-wielding Franklin!
The Ent was an extremely experienced fighter. He immediately identified the two as the weakest in the group. His purpose in doing this was to try to test their strength and, if he could, eliminate the archer and mage to make the ensuing fight easier. He was confident that he could turn these people into fertilizers!
Facing Mudbeard's attacks, Franklin immediately chanted a spell while Melody readied her bow with a cold look. They didn't seem to view Mudbeard's attack as too much of a danger. As the thick vines slithered over like agile snakes, Sheyan and Reef stepped in from the side to shield the other two.
Senyan slammed his blade on a vine but found that most of impact was absorbed. His strike only left a trail of white mark on the vine.
Meanwhile, Reef was bound by the vine together with his shield. The vine tried to throw Reef aside with a twist, but Reef roared angrily and anchored his claw to the ground. He became as immovable as an ancient rock; even Mudbeard couldn't remove him!
Melody's longbow displayed a sudden flash of light!
Mudbeard didn't even have the time to turn his head before a long arrow was nailed to his right chest. The long arrow looked dark and heavy, but if one were to look closely, one would find the surface of the arrow shaft covered in strange runes. It shined with a touch of breathtaking red-hot glow!
The next moment, the long arrow exploded!
In the sunny forests, a sudden large flame burst forth accompanied by the scattering of burning wooden chunks!
There was a basin-sized deep hole where Mudbeard had been shot. The hole penetrated almost all the way to the back of the Ent. Blazing flames ravaged near the pit and rapidly spread onto the whole body. Mudbeard issued a sorrowful cry.
At the same time, Franklin shot a perfectly accurate 'Cold Ray'. The calculative mage was certainly not kind enough to try to put out the fire on the Ent, but aimed the most vulnerable part of Mudbeard's foot instead. Mudbeard's foot immediately froze into ice. The 'Cold Ray' refracted to the trees at the side and disappeared.
Mudbeard's vines released Sheyan and Reef. He realised that the team in front of him was definitely not something he could handle alone. As he was about to activate the unique ability of the Leaping Ents, Mr. Ferrell, who had not lifted his hands so far, pounced.
In the raging fire, Mudbeard the Leaping Ent only had half of his body remaining, so his response was naturally somewhat slower. Mr. Ferrell pounced precisely during the moment when Mudbeard was just about to make a quantum leap. Mr. Ferrell's strong and tough branches clung onto Mudbeard's body and forcefully interrupted his ability.
Two huge bodies collided with each other. Their momentum carried them to the ground amidst scattering pieces of broken wood. The flaming bodies then crashed into a tree beside them, breaking it in half.
Mudbeard the Leaping Ent roared and resisted with no care for the burning flames on his body while Mr. Ferrell focused on defending and keeping Mudbeard tied down. Sheyan and Reef rushed forward and unleashed a mad flurry of strikes on Mudbeard's leg. After the leg was frozen by Franklin, it became hard and brittle, and had lost its strong elasticity.
At the same time, Franklin waved his staff and aimed his 'Cold Ray' towards the joints of Mudbeard that were not in flames. When they were launching their attacks, the ferocious howls of the Uruk-hais could be heard from time to time. The sound signified the frequent triggering of the effect of Sheyan's gene-mix.
Amidst their endless attacks, the resistance of Mudbeard gradually grew weaker, and he finally became completely rigid. The flame on his body was like a roaring beast, pouncing on him with full power and spitting out long flaming tongues to greedily devour its wooden food.
The power of the flame arrow was beyond everyone's imagination. Obviously, the five flame arrows they brought were definitely no ordinary items. The fire that the arrow created was frighteningly persistent and fierce. They might actually have been personally made by Saruman himself.
When the dead Ent burned, the yellow-brown smoke that escaped grew thicker. Both Sheyan and Reef coughed while they retreated. The body of Mudbeard issued some exploding sounds amidst the flames. A large number of light spots flew out from the smoke and gathered together as if they were planning to move into the forest.
At that moment, the necklace on Sheyan's neck heated up and he immediately received notifications from the nightmare imprint.
[A soul power that can be devoured is detected. Would you like to proceed with the plundering?]
To unlock the last attribute of Sheyan's dark gold necklace, he must plunder three powerful souls as offerings under the effect of the necklace's active ability. Sheyan had been wondering how he could plunder souls. He had no clue at all before this. It turned out that the necklace would choose the right time itself. Of course Sheyan wouldn't pass up the chance.
Once the ability was activated, he immediately saw a dark golden ray shooting out from the necklace to cover the spots of light that scattered out from Mudbeard's body. However, those light spots quickly gathered to form a strange symbol and struggled with all their might while trying their best to fly deep into the forest.
Sheyan yelled and suddenly threw a bottle curse-mix on the ground. The shockwave produced by his curse-mix nowadays was not the same as before; it even looked a bit like nuclear explosion. First, a mushroom cloud of smoke would burst forth. When the smoke appeared, it would exert a strong attraction force on the surrounding creatures. Then, the terrifying shockwave would rapidly spread in all directions!
The shockwave could actually cause damage when it hit the symbols formed by the light spots. Even Saruman's phantom appeared (from triggering 'Saruman's Gaze'). It lifted its staff to summon a ray of lightning to strike at Mudbeard's soul spots!
"A stunning effect with authoritative precedence is indeed not the same!" Sheyan couldn't help but think proudly.
After it was attacked, the mysterious symbol finally dispersed back into spots of soul lights. They were completely absorbed by Sheyan's dark gold necklace.
However, Mudbeard did not drop a key when he died. The flames burning Mudbeard's body kept raging higher. Mr. Ferrell sensed that several Ents were quickly approaching, so after they made an effort to hide their traces and smell, the group disappeared into the forest again.
Less than five minutes after they left, the tall and burly Grubb strode into the location of the fight. He immediately saw the remains of Mudbeard burning in flame, which stunned him.
The fire assaulted him. Green smoke began to appear on the Grubb's bark. Although intense heat kept being transmitted over through the air and the earth, Grubb did not have the slightest intention of avoiding it. Ping pong-sized tears rushed out from his brown eyes and his low muffled voice reverberated in his chest, making him look especially sad!
"This is my fault, Mudbeard! I shouldn't have asked you to trail that group of people. I shouldn't have stopped to heal myself!"
The Ent's cry was solid, but it contained strong sadness, questioning, and guilt!
At that moment, a long-branched Ent jumped out from the trees and yanked Grubb away from the fire. He stepped on the sporadic fire on Grubb's body to put it out.
"Grubb, this isn't your fault. It's all the fault of the tree slaughterers! We have always live peacefully in Fangorn Forest. Why do they have to come kill our friends take away our children?"
A thorny Ent who had just arrived also chimed in seriously.
"That's right. Mudbeard wasn't the first to fall in our battle against these damn tree slaughterers, nor will he be the last. The only thing we can do is to use more brutal means to treat those despicable tree slaughterers! Grubb, you should hurry to where the old ancestor is to soothe Mudbeard's soul, then find a good sapling for him to hibernate in. After a few hundred years, we can see him again."
Grubb's tears rushed down his face with unprecedented grief.
"I can't sense Mudbeard's soul!!!! And I know that his soul has disappeared from within Fangorn Forest! The enemies he faced were so powerful that they could even plunder his soul. It was my fault! I was the one who asked him to fight with these enemies!"