Meanwhile, Sarah was using her elemental attacks while dodging the fourth-level creature. They didn't hurt it much, but she was slowly tiring it. The beast's main attributes were its strength and endurance, lacking agility, and that's why Sarah could kite it around the nest. Even then, Sarah would end up without energy first since she was competing against a creature a realm above her.
To overcome this, Sarah spent the System Points she gathered from Angel and Kali to buy stamina pills, attack talismans, and other objects. With their help, her battle was leaning in her favor. Moreover, she also used some of the talismans she got from completing the initial monoliths.
The battle was intense, but after bombarding it with so much "wealth," the creature eventually breathed its last. Therefore, Sarah managed to overcome the trial completing the flawless condition.
Meanwhile, Kali was about to engage with it. After not gaining much more reaction from Kali and most of its brethren being slaughtered by the plant army, it moved.
One of its frontal limbs grabbed the soil and pushed forward with all its strength. Kali's pupils shrank as she saw the floor cave in because of the creature's strength. Then, it shot forward like an unstoppable force, smashing through the plant army as if they were dry branches.
Kali instantly used [Nature's blessing] and [Overgrowth] one time after another on the treants, trying to create a front line durable enough to take its beating. It took some time, and by the time she managed to be somewhat successful, more than half of her army was annihilated.
To keep it at bay as she buffed her army, Kali asked Valeria to focus on skills like [Root Entanglement], [Root Wall], and [Thorn Field]. Together with the caster dryads, they managed to slow its speed by half, creating enough time for Kali to buff the treants. Regardless, even after strengthening them, they would end up dying after a short exchange with the fourth-level creature. Kali frowned with worry as she moved away from the beast. 'Its strength is too high, and its defense is too hard for the archer dryads to pierce through... What can I do? Right, I could try and kill it from the inside. The thorns had created some open wounds in its weak parts. I will take advantage of that.'
Kali used the [Parasite Root] enhancement on the thorns, which covered the whole battlefield. A bluish-green substance spread from Kali's feet and smeared the roots until they reached beside the creature. Then, a cacophony of bestial cries filled the cave.
*SCREEECH!*
All the creatures began shouting in pain as the thorns literally dug inside their bodies, consuming them inside out. The fourth creature's inner defense managed to somehow control it, but the pain was high enough to make its attention refocus on Kali.
Its body took a turn, and tried to approach Kali. However, many defensive measures barred its path as the remaining plant army came in its way. Kali's eyes flashed with cold light as she chanted again, "[Fatal Thorn Field]."
Unlike the last time, the thorns were created under her feet with a purplish color. The next instant, they exploded outward like a wave, spreading extremely fast and combining with the previous greenish-blue thorns.
The fourth-level creature felt danger from the combination of the two types of thorns, so as soon as they tried surrounding its body, it began thrashing around, sending the boosted treants flying as if they were weightless.
*BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!*
The treants hit the wall with force, cracking their sturdy bodies. Moreover, the thorn field was being destroyed by the second.
Kali got nervous. At this pace, she wouldn't be able to win! Suddenly she felt a gaze from the side. When she looked over, Valeria was looking at her with those green eyes with golden-slit pupils.
Kali's heart trembled as she received the gaze from the three-meter-tall seductive lady beside her. She could feel some kind of determination in her eyes and understood what she wanted. "Do you want to hold it until the poisons consume it?"
Although Valeria didn't speak, she spun her staff and looked toward the almost free fourth-level creature. Her intentions were more than clear.
Kali hesitated for an instant. She didn't like seeing the [Golden Crown] being too hurt. For Kali, Valeria was much more than a summon. She was an important family member.
However, when she saw its eyes locked onto the fourth-level creature, Kali steeled her heart. She pointed toward Valeria with her sword and chanted, "[Nature's Blessing], [Overgrowth], [Wood reinforcement]."
*BOOM!*
Valeria's aura exploded as her green hair became like branches and grew exponentially, filling the cave walls with it. The flowers in her dress bloomed with natural beauty, spreading a pleasant aura that boosted all plant creatures several-fold, making the struggling treants resist the Fourth level creature much more easily.
Her green eyes shone as her staff became more complex, adding patterns in the plain wood and increasing her own strength several times.
The skill [Overgrowth] forcefully unlocked the potential of a plant-based creature in exchange for its vitality, so casting this on Valeria against an enemy as strong as this one, was like sentencing her to death.
Even if Kali could resummon her in the future, a creature like Valeria, who had its own will, would remember its end.
Therefore, even if Kali knew that Valeria was a summon and dying wouldn't really affect it, she really didn't like using her this way. This was the first time truly using [Overgorwth] on Valeria. The other times she made sure to control the skill so that Valeria wouldn't be too hurt.
But this time, she had no other option than use it to its full strength.
Suddenly, something happened that made Kali's eyes widen.
"W-Wor..ry not.. M-Mistress safe… Important." An extremely beautiful, mature, and gentle nature-like voice left Valeria's smiling mouth. Her voice could make even the most restless relax its nerves.
Kali didn't expect that unlocking her potential would also make her gain intelligence for this period of time! She looked at the gently smiling summon and took a deep breath. Then, she said with a commanding voice as she pointed her sword toward the fourth-level creature, "Kill it, Valeria!"
Valeria leaned forward and shot toward the Fourth level creature. Her speed was so high that Kali only saw a blur.
Valeria's branch-like green hair extended behind her as blooming flowers appeared on it. She was leaving a trail full of beautiful vegetation.
The fourth-level creature turned toward Valeria only to be greeted by Valeria's staff to its chin.
*BOOM!*
The fourth-level creature was literally sent flying without control against the wall of the cave.
Kali was so surprised that her mouth opened. 'What is this strength!?'
Since Kali had never used [Overgrowth] to its full extent on Valeria, this was the first time Kali saw the plant lady's true potential.
Only now did Kali realize that the [Overgrowth] enhanced Valeria would be able to even fight against Yasenia with [Celestial Dress] on her. She might not win, but she would definitely be an extremely tough match for the dragoness.
What happened next was a beating that Kali didn't expect.
Valeria commanded all plant lifeforms around in combination attacks that didn't even let the Fourth-level creature breathe.
A treant punched it, followed by a vine coiling on the leg and smashing it against the floor. Five dryads shot an arrow to the head, distracting it, as the caster Dryads entangled its claws to immobilize it. All of this allowed Valeria to appear before it and attack it with blurring speed.
*BANGBANGBANGBANGBANG!*
The creature was hit so hard and often that its hardened skin split with countless cracks, oozing blood from the wounds. Then, through these wounds, Valeria penetrated poisonous and parasitic roots to weaken it even more.
Kali didn't even need to move as the fourth-level creature was completely overwhelmed with a beautiful yet deadly combination of all her summons, all of them guided by Valeria's masterful innate abilities.
The battle went on, and Kali realized that Valeria's burst from Overgrowth was coming to an end. Kali didn't worry too much since she was sure that her win was guaranteed with the amount of beating it received.
But Valeria didn't think so.
The [Golden Crown] appeared below its head and pierced upward with the staff.
Then, Valeria's voice echoed in the caves. It resounded clear like Nature, yet with an undertone of strength that Nature had when wrathful.
"[Life Blooming Tree]."
The staff broke through the fourth-level creature's jaw and pierced all the way to the other side, growing into a beautiful green tree crown instantly and killing it.
The result of the battle was unlike the others.
It left the whole cave filled with flourishing vegetation, flowers, and plant creatures, all surrounding the beautiful [Golden crown] that seemed to be holding a tree crown above her.
Kali was about to cheer for Valeria when Valeria's body expanded and transformed into a tree trunk, connecting with the tree crown above it and becoming an enormous tree whose canopy encompassed most of the cave's ceiling.
Kali's voice got stuck in her throat as she looked at Valeria's beautiful death.
Not a single creature remained in the surroundings besides her summons.
All summons but Valeria.
Kali choked up a little and approached the tree, hugging it. "Thank you, Valeria. My beautiful and strong Valeria."
The tree rustled even if there wasn't any wind, as if showing its happiness for accomplishing her master's wish, and finally, it stopped, becoming a soulless tree.
Kali didn't move and continued to hug the tree, waiting for the monolith to transport her back. However, until then, she will certainly continue hugging it and showing her gratefulness to her.
The four of them were transported to the armory more or less ten minutes after Valeria died.
Yasenia looked at the three of them and saw that Angel was practically intact, Sarah was tired, and Kali was slightly depressed. "What happened, honey? Any problems?"
Kali looked at Yasenia and dove inside her embrace, her voice slightly choked up. "Valeria died!"
Yasenia wanted to hug and kiss her, but kisses were forbidden in this area, so she just hugged her and tangled their tails. Yasenia consoled her depressed fox. "She must have done it to protect you, honey. Don't cry, my love. When you summon her again, she will be happy to know you managed to get here."
Kali nodded and hugged Yasenia a little more, pouring her feelings on her.
Meanwhile, Sara was looking around, trying to find something interesting. She had become somewhat numb to their constant shows of affection, so she didn't bother about it anymore.
Unexpectedly, the system told her to go to the waste room. It said that something interesting and powerful was over there.
Sarah complied and went that way.
Yasenia saw her and asked, "Where are you going, Sarah? The Heaven Gate is over there."
Sarah stopped and said, "I-I'm curious about the Waste gate's objects, so I wanted to look at them."
Yasenia raised her eyebrow, 'How does she know that is the Waste Gate room? There aren't any signals. Hmm… She is hiding something. What could it be? Since we are here to get a reward… Is a powerful item there?'
Yasenia frowned and expanded her treasure sense in that direction. However, the feeling she got made her want to stay away from that place. 'Only garbage is over there. Is she really going there just out of curiosity? I don't believe it...'
Yasenia smiled and said, "I will accompany you. It is true that the previous time we only looked around the Heaven Gate, so how about we make a tour through the Treasury?"
Sarah stiffened slightly but nodded. "O-Okay."
Angel suddenly asked curiously, "How did you know which door was for the Waste gate, Sarah?"
Sarah looked at the gate and was about to point at something, but she didn't see anything. 'Fuck.'
Sarah laughed nervously and said, "Intuition? The energy from there is the lowest…."
Yasenia patted Angel and said, "Let's go. Didn't we also guess like that the first time?"
Sarah relaxed, and all of them entered the Waste Door.
The room was dull, and all the items were scattered without any semblance of order. They were honestly speechless.
More like a treasure room; it seemed like the garbage room. More rooms were at the side of this room, so they decided to look separately. Sarah found this quite convenient, so she eagerly accepted. The perceptive dragoness didn't miss this little detail.
Sarah walked across three rooms and reached one of the worst, if not the worst, rooms inside the Waste gate. Only broken items could be seen scattered on the ground. However, Sarah entered and followed the system's instructions. She arrived before a dilapidated scroll, 'This one? It is impossible to read, though.'
[Host, I can sense high energy values coming from this item. I think the outward appearance is just a facade. If you use the appraisal item, you should be able to know about its true value.]
She was about to pick it up when she heard Yasenia's charming voice behind her. "Is that scroll interesting?"
Meanwhile, Sarah was using her elemental attacks while dodging the fourth-level creature. They didn't hurt it much, but she was slowly tiring it. The beast's main attributes were its strength and endurance, lacking agility, and that's why Sarah could kite it around the nest. Even then, Sarah would end up without energy first since she was competing against a creature a realm above her.
To overcome this, Sarah spent the System Points she gathered from Angel and Kali to buy stamina pills, attack talismans, and other objects. With their help, her battle was leaning in her favor. Moreover, she also used some of the talismans she got from completing the initial monoliths.
The battle was intense, but after bombarding it with so much "wealth," the creature eventually breathed its last. Therefore, Sarah managed to overcome the trial completing the flawless condition.
Meanwhile, Kali was about to engage with it. After not gaining much more reaction from Kali and most of its brethren being slaughtered by the plant army, it moved.
One of its frontal limbs grabbed the soil and pushed forward with all its strength. Kali's pupils shrank as she saw the floor cave in because of the creature's strength. Then, it shot forward like an unstoppable force, smashing through the plant army as if they were dry branches.
Kali instantly used [Nature's blessing] and [Overgrowth] one time after another on the treants, trying to create a front line durable enough to take its beating. It took some time, and by the time she managed to be somewhat successful, more than half of her army was annihilated.
To keep it at bay as she buffed her army, Kali asked Valeria to focus on skills like [Root Entanglement], [Root Wall], and [Thorn Field]. Together with the caster dryads, they managed to slow its speed by half, creating enough time for Kali to buff the treants. Regardless, even after strengthening them, they would end up dying after a short exchange with the fourth-level creature. Kali frowned with worry as she moved away from the beast. 'Its strength is too high, and its defense is too hard for the archer dryads to pierce through... What can I do? Right, I could try and kill it from the inside. The thorns had created some open wounds in its weak parts. I will take advantage of that.'
Kali used the [Parasite Root] enhancement on the thorns, which covered the whole battlefield. A bluish-green substance spread from Kali's feet and smeared the roots until they reached beside the creature. Then, a cacophony of bestial cries filled the cave.
*SCREEECH!*
All the creatures began shouting in pain as the thorns literally dug inside their bodies, consuming them inside out. The fourth creature's inner defense managed to somehow control it, but the pain was high enough to make its attention refocus on Kali.
Its body took a turn, and tried to approach Kali. However, many defensive measures barred its path as the remaining plant army came in its way. Kali's eyes flashed with cold light as she chanted again, "[Fatal Thorn Field]."
Unlike the last time, the thorns were created under her feet with a purplish color. The next instant, they exploded outward like a wave, spreading extremely fast and combining with the previous greenish-blue thorns.
The fourth-level creature felt danger from the combination of the two types of thorns, so as soon as they tried surrounding its body, it began thrashing around, sending the boosted treants flying as if they were weightless.
*BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!*
The treants hit the wall with force, cracking their sturdy bodies. Moreover, the thorn field was being destroyed by the second.
Kali got nervous. At this pace, she wouldn't be able to win! Suddenly she felt a gaze from the side. When she looked over, Valeria was looking at her with those green eyes with golden-slit pupils.
Kali's heart trembled as she received the gaze from the three-meter-tall seductive lady beside her. She could feel some kind of determination in her eyes and understood what she wanted. "Do you want to hold it until the poisons consume it?"
Although Valeria didn't speak, she spun her staff and looked toward the almost free fourth-level creature. Her intentions were more than clear.
Kali hesitated for an instant. She didn't like seeing the [Golden Crown] being too hurt. For Kali, Valeria was much more than a summon. She was an important family member.
However, when she saw its eyes locked onto the fourth-level creature, Kali steeled her heart. She pointed toward Valeria with her sword and chanted, "[Nature's Blessing], [Overgrowth], [Wood reinforcement]."
*BOOM!*
Valeria's aura exploded as her green hair became like branches and grew exponentially, filling the cave walls with it. The flowers in her dress bloomed with natural beauty, spreading a pleasant aura that boosted all plant creatures several-fold, making the struggling treants resist the Fourth level creature much more easily.
Her green eyes shone as her staff became more complex, adding patterns in the plain wood and increasing her own strength several times.
The skill [Overgrowth] forcefully unlocked the potential of a plant-based creature in exchange for its vitality, so casting this on Valeria against an enemy as strong as this one, was like sentencing her to death.
Even if Kali could resummon her in the future, a creature like Valeria, who had its own will, would remember its end.
Therefore, even if Kali knew that Valeria was a summon and dying wouldn't really affect it, she really didn't like using her this way. This was the first time truly using [Overgorwth] on Valeria. The other times she made sure to control the skill so that Valeria wouldn't be too hurt.
But this time, she had no other option than use it to its full strength.
Suddenly, something happened that made Kali's eyes widen.
"W-Wor..ry not.. M-Mistress safe… Important." An extremely beautiful, mature, and gentle nature-like voice left Valeria's smiling mouth. Her voice could make even the most restless relax its nerves.
Kali didn't expect that unlocking her potential would also make her gain intelligence for this period of time! She looked at the gently smiling summon and took a deep breath. Then, she said with a commanding voice as she pointed her sword toward the fourth-level creature, "Kill it, Valeria!"
Valeria leaned forward and shot toward the Fourth level creature. Her speed was so high that Kali only saw a blur.
Valeria's branch-like green hair extended behind her as blooming flowers appeared on it. She was leaving a trail full of beautiful vegetation.
The fourth-level creature turned toward Valeria only to be greeted by Valeria's staff to its chin.
*BOOM!*
The fourth-level creature was literally sent flying without control against the wall of the cave.
Kali was so surprised that her mouth opened. 'What is this strength!?'
Since Kali had never used [Overgrowth] to its full extent on Valeria, this was the first time Kali saw the plant lady's true potential.
Only now did Kali realize that the [Overgrowth] enhanced Valeria would be able to even fight against Yasenia with [Celestial Dress] on her. She might not win, but she would definitely be an extremely tough match for the dragoness.
What happened next was a beating that Kali didn't expect.
Valeria commanded all plant lifeforms around in combination attacks that didn't even let the Fourth-level creature breathe.
A treant punched it, followed by a vine coiling on the leg and smashing it against the floor. Five dryads shot an arrow to the head, distracting it, as the caster Dryads entangled its claws to immobilize it. All of this allowed Valeria to appear before it and attack it with blurring speed.
*BANGBANGBANGBANGBANG!*
The creature was hit so hard and often that its hardened skin split with countless cracks, oozing blood from the wounds. Then, through these wounds, Valeria penetrated poisonous and parasitic roots to weaken it even more.
Kali didn't even need to move as the fourth-level creature was completely overwhelmed with a beautiful yet deadly combination of all her summons, all of them guided by Valeria's masterful innate abilities.
The battle went on, and Kali realized that Valeria's burst from Overgrowth was coming to an end. Kali didn't worry too much since she was sure that her win was guaranteed with the amount of beating it received.
But Valeria didn't think so.
The [Golden Crown] appeared below its head and pierced upward with the staff.
Then, Valeria's voice echoed in the caves. It resounded clear like Nature, yet with an undertone of strength that Nature had when wrathful.
"[Life Blooming Tree]."
The staff broke through the fourth-level creature's jaw and pierced all the way to the other side, growing into a beautiful green tree crown instantly and killing it.
The result of the battle was unlike the others.
It left the whole cave filled with flourishing vegetation, flowers, and plant creatures, all surrounding the beautiful [Golden crown] that seemed to be holding a tree crown above her.
Kali was about to cheer for Valeria when Valeria's body expanded and transformed into a tree trunk, connecting with the tree crown above it and becoming an enormous tree whose canopy encompassed most of the cave's ceiling.
Kali's voice got stuck in her throat as she looked at Valeria's beautiful death.
Not a single creature remained in the surroundings besides her summons.
All summons but Valeria.
Kali choked up a little and approached the tree, hugging it. "Thank you, Valeria. My beautiful and strong Valeria."
The tree rustled even if there wasn't any wind, as if showing its happiness for accomplishing her master's wish, and finally, it stopped, becoming a soulless tree.
Kali didn't move and continued to hug the tree, waiting for the monolith to transport her back. However, until then, she will certainly continue hugging it and showing her gratefulness to her.
The four of them were transported to the armory more or less ten minutes after Valeria died.
Yasenia looked at the three of them and saw that Angel was practically intact, Sarah was tired, and Kali was slightly depressed. "What happened, honey? Any problems?"
Kali looked at Yasenia and dove inside her embrace, her voice slightly choked up. "Valeria died!"
Yasenia wanted to hug and kiss her, but kisses were forbidden in this area, so she just hugged her and tangled their tails. Yasenia consoled her depressed fox. "She must have done it to protect you, honey. Don't cry, my love. When you summon her again, she will be happy to know you managed to get here."
Kali nodded and hugged Yasenia a little more, pouring her feelings on her.
Meanwhile, Sara was looking around, trying to find something interesting. She had become somewhat numb to their constant shows of affection, so she didn't bother about it anymore.
Unexpectedly, the system told her to go to the waste room. It said that something interesting and powerful was over there.
Sarah complied and went that way.
Yasenia saw her and asked, "Where are you going, Sarah? The Heaven Gate is over there."
Sarah stopped and said, "I-I'm curious about the Waste gate's objects, so I wanted to look at them."
Yasenia raised her eyebrow, 'How does she know that is the Waste Gate room? There aren't any signals. Hmm… She is hiding something. What could it be? Since we are here to get a reward… Is a powerful item there?'
Yasenia frowned and expanded her treasure sense in that direction. However, the feeling she got made her want to stay away from that place. 'Only garbage is over there. Is she really going there just out of curiosity? I don't believe it...'
Yasenia smiled and said, "I will accompany you. It is true that the previous time we only looked around the Heaven Gate, so how about we make a tour through the Treasury?"
Sarah stiffened slightly but nodded. "O-Okay."
Angel suddenly asked curiously, "How did you know which door was for the Waste gate, Sarah?"
Sarah looked at the gate and was about to point at something, but she didn't see anything. 'Fuck.'
Sarah laughed nervously and said, "Intuition? The energy from there is the lowest…."
Yasenia patted Angel and said, "Let's go. Didn't we also guess like that the first time?"
Sarah relaxed, and all of them entered the Waste Door.
The room was dull, and all the items were scattered without any semblance of order. They were honestly speechless.
More like a treasure room; it seemed like the garbage room. More rooms were at the side of this room, so they decided to look separately. Sarah found this quite convenient, so she eagerly accepted. The perceptive dragoness didn't miss this little detail.
Sarah walked across three rooms and reached one of the worst, if not the worst, rooms inside the Waste gate. Only broken items could be seen scattered on the ground. However, Sarah entered and followed the system's instructions. She arrived before a dilapidated scroll, 'This one? It is impossible to read, though.'
[Host, I can sense high energy values coming from this item. I think the outward appearance is just a facade. If you use the appraisal item, you should be able to know about its true value.]
She was about to pick it up when she heard Yasenia's charming voice behind her. "Is that scroll interesting?"
