Wizard starting from shoeing donkeys

This creature, neither plantlike nor animal-like in appearance, made one's scalp tingle unpleasantly.

With the surge of air, Rein instantly smelled the pungent odor of blood and rot. He couldn't tell whether the stench came from the red flesh or the roots themselves.

"Flesh Tree Spirit!" headmaster Rudolph suddenly exclaimed as something dawned on him.

Having learned from the murals that they were in the ruins of a temple related to the Mother Tree cult, Rudolph's first sight of this monster triggered a connection and soon he recalled its origin!

"This is the Flesh Tree Spirit mentioned in the books, a guardian used by the Mother Tree cult to protect their highest deity!"

"It is said to be dormant most of the time, requiring the sacrifice of a large number of Transcendent beings to awaken it. I didn't expect to see a Flesh Tree Spirit guarding this place!" Rudolph spoke quickly.

"If there's a Flesh Tree Spirit here, could it be that this place has something to do with the Mother Tree..."

"Boom!"

An unexpected attack interrupted Rudolph's explanation.

Dozens of intertwined roots, forming a massive collective, suddenly smashed towards them, prompting the group to quickly roll away to avoid it.

Nobody, including Rein, intended to attempt a frontal confrontation to test the opponent's strength.

Given the enormous size of the creature, weighing tens of tons, it was just not on the same level as a human.

It would be as foolish for a strongman among humans to attempt to wrestle an elephant.

And the Flesh Tree Spirit before them was ten times the size of an elephant. Read latest chapters at empire

Moreover, its gigantic size did not hinder its agility; its movements were as brisk as a monkey's.

Faced with this behemoth, meters long and too large for several people to wrap their arms around, Rein, although wielding immense power, was momentarily unsure of how to proceed.

After a moment's thought, Rein quickly switched weapons, replacing his war hammer with the Glimmering Greatsword!

Clearly, against a monster with so many roots, it was essential to do some pruning before even thinking about reaching its main body.

At that moment, the Flesh Tree Spirit, having missed with its strike, began to transform.

Two of the thickest roots lifted its massive upper body erect like arms, and hundreds of roots at its tail entwined to form a snake-like appendage.

The top of the tree stump suddenly split open into a gaping maw, meters wide, resembling a giant creature with a split jaw.

In the next second, like a crocodile, the creature made an incredibly swift rush and death roll towards the injured Knight who was slightly slower to react!

"Boom!!"

The Knight, unable to dodge in time, was shockingly swallowed whole by the gaping maw into the body of the Flesh Tree Spirit.

The entire process was so fast, the young Knight didn't even have time to scream before he vanished from the world.

This filled Rudolph with a mix of shock and rage!

He did not hesitate to pull out a high-level Divine Arts scroll from his bosom and tore it open!

"Divine Arts: Sword of Judgment!"

As Rudolph's angry shout echoed,

a pale blue Longsword, five meters long and emanating violent energy waves, suddenly appeared before him, pointing straight ahead.

The appearance of the energy blade was abrupt, manifesting out of nowhere, and in less than a blink, the pale blue greatsword struck at the Flesh Tree Spirit like lightning!

The Flesh Tree Spirit, still seemingly savoring its 'feast', had no time to react or to dodge due to its huge size.

"Puchi!"

The main body of the Flesh Tree Spirit, the tree stump, was instantly pierced through by the pale blue energy Longsword, leaving a hole the size of a washbasin, clean through!

Seeing the immense power of the Divine Arts cast by Headmaster Rudolph, the other two Knights who had just been immersed in the shock and sorrow of losing a comrade couldn't help but feel an unexpected surge of joy!

The very next second, a fierce roar echoed through the temple hall.

"Roar!!!"

The bloodthirsty tree spirit, which had just devoured a Knight, was now howling in agony, its massive body writhing and tumbling in excruciating pain.

Rein looked on with astonishment at the Divine Art that had just been unleashed.

Indeed, the church's foundation was strong, and the attack of the pale blue Glimmering Greatsword was incredibly fast and powerful.

Even he wasn't sure if he could have avoided that strike.

If he couldn't have dodged it...

The current plight of the bloodthirsty tree spirit was the best testament to the power of the Divine Arts.

However...

Rein's keen perception noticed that although the bloodthirsty tree spirit couldn't withstand the attack of the Sword of Judgment, it miraculously survived the hit, severely injured but not dead!

No, it was not just surviving; its wounds were gradually healing!

Many of its smaller roots withered and snapped off, falling to the ground and quickly turning to deadwood, while the flesh that had been entwined around the roots instantly turned to rot.

This process seemed to draw life and energy from its roots, rapidly mending the tree spirit's bodily injuries.

Although the wound still contained a lot of the pale blue Longsword's energy, as more and more roots perished, a strange energy was being produced in large quantities, causing the pale blue energy on the wound to be rapidly neutralized by this strange energy.

One could see that on the tree spirit's body, the wound the size of a basin was visibly closing at a remarkable speed.

With Dark Vision enhanced, Rein, even in the dim hall, could clearly see numerous root-like tendrils, as thick as fingers, growing from the inner walls of the tree spirit's wound, quickly repairing it.

But this scene went unnoticed by the others because the magic similar to Light Technique had faded.

The two Knights who were closest to the bloodthirsty tree spirit, seeing its roots falling to the ground and turning into deadwood, believed that the powerful Divine Art just cast must have vanquished the tree spirit.

All that was left was to wait for the bloodthirsty tree spirit to slowly perish amidst its howls of pain!

Rein immediately cried out a warning, "Be careful! The bloodthirsty tree spirit isn't dead!"

"It's regenerating quickly, attack now! Continue the attack!"

"Huh?" The two Knights turned to Rein with puzzled looks.

Wasn't the creature continuously howling in agony, and hadn't a large number of its roots already broken off and fallen? How could it not be dead?

-----------------

One minute earlier.

As Rudolph tore open the high-level Divine Arts scroll 'Sword of Judgment'.

"Eh! Such strong energy fluctuations!" Similarly in the Nightingale Forest, the black-haired Elf girl stopped in her tracks.

The direction she looked up to was exactly where Rein's team was located in the ruined temple.

"This kind of energy fluctuation, eh! There's another energy, this seems to be...." After pondering for a moment, the Elf's eyes widened in surprise.

After a brief deliberation, she immediately adjusted her direction and quickly advanced towards the direction of the ruined temple.

Seemingly feeling that this still wasn't fast enough.

The next second, her tall figure suddenly disappeared from the spot, transforming into an eagle that swiftly took to the skies, flapping wings and flying at a great speed.