Chapter 100:

The smoke was starting to clear, but it remained thick enough that no one could see. Nick could sense the oni just fine, but that didn’t tell him what it would do. The explosions seemed to have at least damaged it.It stayed still for a while, until all of a sudden, it moved.

A massive hand erupted from the dissipating cloud of dust and smoke, and gnarled fingers stretched toward one of the soldiers who had gotten too close. The man barely had time to scream.

Nick, however, was ready. He hadn’t dared to hope the barrage would be enough to take it down, and so had never let his guard down.

With a flick of his wand, he created a powerful suction, yanking the soldier backward just in time to avoid the Oni’s crushing grip.“Get back!” He barked.

The soldier tumbled onto the ground, eyes wide with terror, but had the presence of mind to scramble back. At least his preservation instincts were still working.

The Oni growled in irritation—but before it could try again, a streak of flame crossed the battlefield.

Eugene struck with a roar of fury, his sword blazing as it cleaved a third of the way through the Oni’s outstretched arm. A wave of fire followed the strike, licking up the bark-covered flesh and forcing the creature to recoil.

For a moment, Nick thought they had found a way to win. That was the most damage they had done yet. His hopes were dashed as the Oni regenerated the wound in mere seconds. The alchemical burns were still there for some reason, but the cut in its arm was sealed in a matter of seconds.

Once it was whole, it lunged through the last remnants of the smoke, barreling toward Eugene. Despite its size, it moved extremely quickly, and Nick barely managed to react. He threw out a cushion of air as the Oni’s massive form reached with his father.

BOOM.

The impact was sickening. Bones snapped, and Eugene was sent flying across the battlefield, slamming into the dirt hard enough to leave a crater.

Nick’s gust softened the landing, but Eugene still gritted his teeth in pain as he rolled back onto his feet, visibly in pain. He was tough, and his physical stats would probably allow him to continue fighting even if he lost a limb, but that didn’t mean he could do so at full power, and given that he was one of the only two things that had managed to hurt the oni, that was bad.

The Oni straightened, towering over them like a force of nature. With the smoke now fully cleared, Nick could see the damage they had done.

The alchemical attacks had left deep scars across its body. Chunks of bark were missing, exposing raw, pulsing muscle beneath. One of its milky white eyes had been cracked by an explosion, leaking a sickly green fluid down its cheek.

For the first time, it looked injured, and it couldn’t heal from those wounds as it could from cuts.

“We can hurt it!” someone shouted.

The men rushed, emboldened. This was the battle's first real glimmer of hope, and they didn’t hesitate to swarm forward.

But hope never lasted long in a fight like this. The Oni grinned, bending its knees and jumping with a mighty heave. Although it only left the ground by about four feet, its sheer size ensured it would cause significant damage. It landed right into the crowd.

“SCATTER!” Eugene roared. It was too late.

The Oni fell, and the forest buckled. It was as if a localized earthquake had just struck. Everyone lost their balance, shouting as they tried to keep a hold of their surroundings.

As soon as the earth stopped shaking, it swung its massive arm in a careless sweep that sent men flying like broken dolls. Those soldiers who dodged had no choice but to dive into the trampled grass.

And that’s when the real horror began. The moment their bodies touched the ground, the grass began to grow.

Vines coiled around their legs, tightening like snakes. Roots sprang up from the soil, wrapping around arms and throats, dragging men down.

“The grass is attacking us!” someone shouted in horror.

Nick immediately sent sharp gusts of wind, slicing through the twisting greenery before it could completely ensnare the fallen soldiers.

“GET UP! GET AWAY FROM THE GRASS!” He yelled.

The men scrambled to their feet, hacking at the vines with frantic blows. But the Oni wasn’t done. At its roar, the entire forest sprang to life.

The trees bent unnaturally, and massive branches slammed down like battering rams. Thick roots surged from the ground like wooden spears, trying to impale them from below.

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Desperate to prevent a massacre, Nick sent out dozens of , piercing through the branches before they could crush the soldiers, severing roots before they could strike.

But even with his help, they were losing ground. Such was the fury of the forest that for a moment, they lost sight of the true enemy, and the Oni took advantage of that by stepping into the shieldwall.

With one crushing step, it smashed into the line of defenders.

Crunch.

Two men died instantly, flattened beneath its foot.

Nick spared a thought for them, promising to himself he would avenge them, before refocusing his efforts to help the others. He had protected so many, but he couldn’t save everyone.

The Oni laughed—a deep, rumbling sound that rattled the earth. Its glee was too much for Eugene. “YOU BASTARD!”

Fire erupted. Eugene roared, glowing brighter than ever. He took one step forward, then grabbed his arm, and with a pop, pulled his shoulder back into place. His eyes were hooded and radiated fury. He thrust his sword forward, much like Nick did with his wand. A beam of concentrated fire shot ahead—hotter than anything Nick had ever seen him create.

The Oni’s grin vanished. For the first time, it rushed to defend itself.

Its enormous hand reached down, seizing a clump of dirt and moss. With a twist of magic, it transformed the earth into solid stone, molding it into a thick shield.

The beam struck true and began carving through it, forcing the ogre to bend down and place the construct’s bottom into the ground, where it could constantly absorb more material to replenish its defense.

Despite being stuck in place, the forest was still alive with the Oni’s influence. Even as Eugene pressed the attack, intensifying his beam and forcing the Oni to grunt as the heat began to scorch its bark, the trees bent to strike, the roots thrashed and coiled, and the grass attempted to drag men down to their doom.

Nick’s mind worked at lightning speed, analyzing every possibility.

Eugene was the only one truly dealing damage to the Oni, but even with his father’s incredible might, he wasn’t winning—just stalling.

The soldiers were honestly more of a hindrance than a help at this point. They kept the bulk of Nick’s attention occupied with saving them, though admittedly, they seemed to have pulled together and were now forming groups, hacking through the vegetation whenever it tried to strike.

Nick needed a solution, and he needed it fast.

Unfortunately, nothing in his arsenal could kill something like the Oni. His magic was designed for control and disruption rather than brute-force destruction. He was well aware of that problem but could only solve it with years of effort.

And while ritual magic could bridge that gap, the problem was that he couldn’t set up. He didn’t have time to.

Nick exhaled. Even with a ritual, he doubted he could invoke enough power to kill the Oni, at least not without calling upon powers that could prove even more ruinous, but he could reduce its power.

Within his pouch were some of Dewdrop’s remains. Those would be his secret weapon.

The fae had served as a dungeon guardian, and had been deeply connected to the forest’s web of power. Nick couldn’t be certain that the Oni was drawing from the same source, but he didn’t understand why it would come here and share its territory with the Court if it wasn’t at least getting some benefit.

Nick had already performed one Norse ritual in this dungeon.

The Oni was linked to the land—but if Nick could sever that bond, it would weaken it.

Of course, the Oni remained a formidable foe even without the dungeon’s influence. However, if Nick could cut it off from the ambient mana, it would be just a strong monster.

He could find a way to kill it after that.

Without further hesitation, Nick started preparing the ritual. It needed to be the antithesis of the , which had pulled them back to the material world from Dewdrop’s domain.

That meant using Raidho as it was supposed to, symbolizing a voyage, or leaving something behind. He needed exactly that.

Nick didn’t bother bending down, instead carving the first rune into the earth with a sharp gust of wind. The shape had to be perfect—any deviation, and the magic would fail.

Once more, he opted for five points and five Raidho runes. Not because they were specifically related to this ritual, but since he planned to use Dewdrop’s remains as catalysts, it was wise to do everything he could to replicate what he’d done for her ritual. Little things like that made magic perform so much better.

As he worked, he pulled small pieces of Dewdrop’s remains from his pouch, bringing them to the ends of the clearing with gusts of wind and settling them on the circle’s edges. Fae essence would play a crucial role here—it was the medium, the connection, the thing that would let him force the Oni’s spirit away from the dungeon.

Now, he just needed to finish carving the lines throughout the clearing. Only after the pentagram was complete could he activate them. This meant he needed even more time. Nick didn’t even look up as he whispered a command to Morris. “Get the archers ready for another round.”

The old ranger grunted in acknowledgment.

Nick heard him barking orders, rallying the archers into position once more. He felt them moving, creating faint ripples in the air. The forest fought back, sensing the threat—branches twisted, trying to knock the archers from their perches, roots curled to trip them, and the grass became a net of grasping fingers.

Nick responded in kind.

Every time a branch moved, he sliced it off with a razor-sharp gust. Every time a root coiled, he tore it from the earth. Every time the forest tried to fight back, he fought harder.

, he thought grimly.

Meanwhile, on the frontlines, Eugene was struggling.

His father had let up his beam, and its strain was evident in his labored breathing. The Oni, however, was barely fazed. Its laughter shook the earth as it loomed over Eugene.

Luckily, Morris and the archers were ready. Nick felt them raise their bows, the quivering tension of their arms vibrating through the air.

“Shoot.” He ordered, and they fired.

Nick caught every single arrow mid-flight. The Oni turned at the last second, raising and expanding its earthen shield into a half dome, but Nick had anticipated it. With a flick of his wrist, he curved the arrows, guiding them past the shield.

The first two exploded early, damaging the edge of the dome, while the others struck. Explosions ripped across the Oni’s back, showering the battlefield in fire and smoke.

And Nick wasn’t even done yet.

He reached out, grabbing hold of the heat the alchemical reactions had released, feeling it lift the air, trying to reach the sky and push cooler winds below it. Then, he pushed down. “!”

A whirlwind of compressed air slammed down from the sky at his wand’s motion, striking the Oni. The smoke cleared instantly, revealing the beast's snarling face just before the force drove it into the ground. It landed hard, shaking the forest with its impact.

That was when Eugene struck. Nick barely heard the shout of “!” that fire consumed the battlefield. A towering explosion of flame erupted, obscuring the Oni once more.

The shockwave sent Nick stumbling, but he gritted his teeth and held firm.

The entire battlefield was silent, waiting for a notification that Nick knew wouldn’t come. Still, his eyes darted around, seeking the System window.

Nothing came.

The ritual circle was finished. All that was left was activating it. Nick took a deep breath, raised his hand, and let his blood drip onto the first rune.

The lines flared.