Chapter 870: Help
Translator: Sean888888 Editor: TheAlliance
Among the methods that Sheyan could think of, the simplest was to burrow into the ground and cover himself up with soil like a mouse; quick and convenient. Although these poisonous insects were huge and ferocious, there was no way they could dig.
However, unless Sheyan had the ability to make tunnels and travel underground, he would only be digging his own grave, because once Treebeard arrived, all it would take was one stomp to kill Sheyan.
Sheyan's only AoE attack was to throw a curse-mix. It would produce a shockwave that would damage and stun the surrounding enemies. The damage would be pretty significant too.
The problem is, the cooldown of this ability was thirty seconds. Not to mention that if he wanted to make a curse-mix now, Sheyan would have to exchange for materials from the nightmare realm. The price would be astronomical; each bottle of curse-mix would cost over 7000 utility points.
Sheyan also had the 'Grow' ability, but he did not dare to use the skill before he obtained the Golden Fruits because he did not have enough natural magic to cover the aura of the Grown Creatures. Now, he didn't have the time to use the skill because he's constantly on the run....
Sheyan still tried his luck with a curse-mix throw, but the poisonous insects seemed to be able to sense the danger. They took the initiative to fly upwards to avoid the shockwave. Although the shockwave formed by the curse-mix was an area of effect attack, it couldn't reach a height of more than 2-3 meters. The result was that Sheyan used over 7000 utility points to strike down only less than 400 insects that couldn't fly away in time.
"What bad luck....." thought Sheyan while he gritted his teeth and ran. "Treebeard is so powerful. Even the summoned creatures from a divine art of his are already so formidable. If I meet him, won't I die for sure?"
The swarm of poisonous insects quickly caught up with him. Although Sheyan ran as hard as he could, the humid and complex jungle terrain severely limited his speed. On the other hand, the insects could move unhindered through the air. The distance between them naturally shortened.
Hearing the buzzing noise behind him, Sheyan chopped down a small tree next to him and picked up the tree to use as a fly swatter. His swatting temporarily dispersed the group of insects following closely behind him, so he took the chance to immediately turn and flee.
The insects regrouped and altered their approach. They continued to give chase at a height of about 20 meters. It was apparent that they would until they reach right on top of Sheyan before swarming down on him.
Seeing this, Sheyan couldn't help but think that the Ents in the forest of Fangorn were truly powerful, and they each had their own specialties. This kind of bombardment tactic using poisonous insects was a great example of that. Perhaps only contestants who had large 3D area of effect attacks could deal with this problem.
But these contestants normally have low survivability or low movement speed. They wouldn't get past the javelin Ent from before. Therefore, this should be a place meant for large groups to explore. Someone who came here by themselves would die 99% of the time.
While Sheyan was having such thoughts, he could already hear the the insects above him diving down like fighter jets. A wave of sharp pains assaulted the back of his head and his body. The frenzy attack of the insects had begun.
Senyan grunted as his face turned pale. A black aura lingered on his left hand. The terrifying 'Beast of Corrosion' appeared again and quickly exploded in the air. The poisonous liquid possessed its own consciousness and intelligence. It could make its own choice based on the situation it faced. It turned into a black giant jellyfish and wrapped all the horrible insects inside itself, then proceeded to completely decay them.
Sheyan didn't even stop to scratch the itches on his back after his attack succeeded. He instantly continued running away with heavy breaths.
Although the 'Beast of Corrosion' was extremely powerful, it was also a double-edged sword. Sheyan didn't dare to use the ability anymore after the last strike because his remaining HP had already dropped below 500 points. If he activated the ability again, he might be the one to die first.
Moreover, Sheyan knew all too well that killing these insects was nothing to be happy about because he knew these insects did not attack him out of their own initiative. The source of the problem had not been not solved. The next wave of attack was probably already on its way.
The peculiarly-shaped Leaping Ent was always following Sheyan at a constant distance of two hundred meters. This was a very dangerous distance on the plains, but in the jungle, one can't even see something fifty meters away, so the Ent could be said to be quite cautious.
When the flock of horrible insects were exterminated, the Leaping Ent laughed out loud. His voice was husky, as if there were stones rubbing against each other, and it contained an unusual harshness. As he chased after Sheyan, the gels in the two giant nests above his shoulders boiled up. Their scent grew stronger as they keep attracting more poisonous bugs. He shook his shoulders and from the tree nest on his left shoulder, a large group of black and gold striped giant bees flew out to head towards Sheyan's direction.
Each of the giant bees was as big as a fist. Not only do they have a dark purple poisonous sting on their buttocks, but also sharp mouthpieces. When they fly, instead of making buzzing noises, they sounded as if they were bullets whistling through the air. Wherever they passed, the leaves were all blown in a chaotic manner; broken pieces if leaves scattered everywhere! They were like a dark, evil wind that weaved between the leaves of the forest, bringing destruction.
They soon saw their target - a human running away in panic. They could detect a weak but pure trace of the 'Enemy of the Forest' on him. They might not be able to sense it from far away, but from this distance, he shined as bright as a light in darkness.
They learned their lesson this time. They first hovered in the air above the enemy's head before diving down. Actually, the best tactic for them should be to attack in batches of one hundred at a time, but the Ent who controlled them did not care about such details. The insects living in his tree nests were endless. As long as they were still in the forest, he did not lack attacking methods!
However, right at the moment when the ferocious giant bees swooped down, the soil scattered and a stout figure rushed out to stand in front of Sheyan. He roared at the sky and an invisible shockwave spread out in all directions. The shield held by the figure also glowed brightly, ready to be unleashed anytime. That's right, Reef had arrived with his 'Cardiac Shattering Roar'!
The blistering wind caused the vicious giant bees to fall down. Some even exploded in the air, filling the sky with a yellow slurry.
It wasn't their fault that their bodies were weak; it was just the way it was with this type of attack. Their numbers were staggering to begin with, and their attacks even carried a certain amount of poison. If the insects also had high defence and HP, then would anyone have a chance against them? This type of Ents would be enough to scare away the Elves and humans anywhere they went, and they may even dominate Middle Earth.
The Leaping Ent could sense that the assassination squad he sent out had been wiped out once again. He grinned and shook his shoulders again. This time, palm-sized moths flew out from the tree nests. The pattern on their wings look like ghost eyes that would blink when the wings flapped. It was a horrifying sight.
The moth do not carry any sharp or poisonous weapons, but their fat bellies contained a terrible destructive power. They're like a combination of the Zerg's scourges and banelings. When they were hunted by birds, they would spray a poisonous gas to scare the enemies away. If they got desperate, they would self-destruct to hurt the enemies.
It could be seen that the Ent had a very sharp tactical mind. After the first two batches of insects that he dispatched were annihilated, he immediately determined that the enemy's MO was to wait for the insects to gather before launching a devastating attack. Therefore, this time he dispatched the ghost-eye moths. As long as they got close, they would pose a dangerous threat regardless of whether they were killed!
However, right when the ghost-eye moths were released, a violent fluctuation of magic could be felt to the west of the Leaping Ent. The Ent turned around to find a human vigorously waving his staff while chanting a spell. The Ent was prepared to dodge but a large black cobweb at least 20 square meters in size appeared out of nowhere and fell on him.
Rank 2 Arcane art - 'Web' !
As soon as the cobweb appeared, it directly trapped and stuck onto the ghost-eye moths that had not yet flown away. Although the moths blew themselves up, it was in vain. It was akin to using fists to fight mud. One would only splash oneself with mud but wouldn't make a hole in the mud.
A strong flame magic began to gather on the human's staff. Ents were weak against fire so they were extremely sensitive to this kind of spells. The Ent immediately tried to use his quantum leap ability to escape. With this ability, he could easily free himself from the constraints of the cobweb.