Monsters Uprising

Sief advanced with lingering doubts, but seeing two of those giant willows coming towards him, he quickly raised his dagger, which was enveloped in a greenish aura.

"I hope this works..."

One of the approaching monsters raised its hand, displaying sharp fingers, and quickly slashed at Sief, who leapt backward.

However, before the slash, the fingers elongated, and the branches around its arms became pointed, making Sief widen his eyes and block with his arms, which suffered cuts as if hit by blades, tearing the leather of his bracers.

Sief grunted and stood his ground, but the other willow emerged, charging, stabbing with its claws, which also extended, leaving sharp branches along its arm.

Seeing the branches, Sief threw his body to the side, dodging, but branches came towards him, and with a half-moon cut, he destroyed them, though some tore the sides of his clothes, forcing Sief to jump back with a furrowed brow.

"Is this an ability? As basic as it is, it still is." Sief put his hand to the cuts, seeing a bit of blood trickling, but before he could complain, the first giant willow advanced again. "It's still a light green, why the sudden difference? And an alpha right at the entrance?"

A stab aimed to pierce Sief, but once again, he dodged, heading towards the monster's body, which used its other hand to grab him. However, Sief advanced and raised his dagger, piercing the willow's chin, making it tremble and stop moving.

The other willow advanced, and Sief observed, seeing the monster charge with a raised fist.

"Another stab."

When the other willow reached Sief, he advanced, surprising the monster that tried to stab, but Sief dodged during his advance, passing under the monster's legs, cutting one of its heels, making the monster fall as he stood up, again advancing and jumping on the monster's neck, driving the dagger into its head. One after another, the felled monsters fell.

Sief took a deep breath, still slightly panting, turning to the other monsters within the triangle, but this time, four came towards him, making him frown.

"The poison didn't work... so they're that type of opponent."

Recalling the conversation with Milo, Sief remembered the warning about monsters on which poison wouldn't work. Looking at his wounds, he saw no greenish aura on the cuts.

"I had a strange feeling, so I thought it might be that." He quickly dissipated the aura from his dagger and cracked his neck, thinking. "Just dodging to the side isn't enough, their arms are too long and have those thorns... so..."

He propelled his legs and jumped, dodging a blow that passed under his body while still seriously concluding.

"I'll go all out to kill them before they hit me."

Sief landed, and two willows advanced from his sides with stabs, the boy quickly reached for his belt and charged at one of them.

With the dagger, he quickly slashed, destroying the branches that would cut him, but soon jumped, and with one of the silver lycanthrope claws, he pierced the willow's face, which trembled as the light in its eyes faded.

The one behind continued to advance, and Sief held onto the claw, propelling his body backward and turning to stab the remaining willow's head with his dagger, which stopped moving and collided with the other felled one, pressing Sief between them.

When he heard the bodies fall, four more willows emerged from the circle, and from within the two monsters, the two closest ones surrounded him, but Sief took advantage of the nearest one, quickly slashing and cutting the willow's foot, making the monster fall.

Sief used the monsters for support and propelled himself, going for the head of the willow, which had no reaction and soon had its head pierced, falling with Sief breathing heavily atop it, concluding.

"Five, for each one I kill, two more appear? I'm killing quickly, but they're still forming a large group."

He heard a wind approaching and quickly turned, blocking with his dagger and both arms against the monster's fist.

"And these hits are landing more often."

The boy grunted as he felt his feet lift off the ground, being thrown back several meters and landing on his feet, seeing two more approaching.

There were still more willows within the triangle, while a huge rock slowly emerged below that small sprout, which was becoming smaller.

The monsters advanced together, and again Sief wielded one of the claws, quickly gripping it between his fingers and spinning his torso, with a quick motion, throwing it, and the claw pierced the monster's eye.

"It can't pierce just by throwing, it's too light, so..."

He threw his body to the side of the monster's pierced eye and advanced, the monster turned, but Sief was already on its shoulder, driving the dagger in once more and ripping out the claw.

But something blocked his vision, and Sief widened his eyes, seeing a blow coming his way, forcing him to block, but the impact still happened, and Sief was thrown back.

Quickly, his back hit something, making his spine crack, and when he realized, he fell to the ground, seeing the willow he had collided with raise its growing, sharp roots, making something like a serrated blade that soon descended towards the boy's body.

In an instant, he used the dagger as support to pull his body, dodging the blow that would split him, and he quickly jumped up, but a blow from below hit him again, throwing him back, making the boy widen his eyes, seeing two more willows advancing.

Sief landed on a rock and fell to his knees, feeling blood dripping from his arm due to the monsters' attacks, which didn't cease, while Sief concluded.

"I'm faster, I know I am, but this number difference doesn't go away... They've amassed, they're big and fast, much more dangerous than the army from Forgotten Village." He raised his dagger, seeing the horde of monsters turn towards him with eyes glowing greenish. "It's not like they're absurdly strong or fast... but these numbers are more than I can—"

As he was about to conclude, Sief heard something break below the ground, making him look forward, seeing a huge rock rise and sending one of the willows flying.

Something had emerged, but before Sief could see beyond the willows, something advanced against the monster, extending quickly like a huge snake that grabbed the willow in its beak, quickly retracting its neck, where Sief could only hear the sound of wood shattering.

In an instant, the snake-like creature advanced again, and Sief threw himself to the side, but it was faster than he could dodge, and he could see the face of a monster, it was huge, much larger than the giant in the cave.

Its head was the size of Sief's body, and its greenish eyes showed ferocity, as it came close to his face, staring with numerous willows in its mouth, which were crushed with a single bite, making pieces of wood fly everywhere, causing Sief to widen his eyes at the monster's form.

The serpent was nothing but the head of a monster with natural armor that seemed to be made of rocks, protecting its entire body, the points of its armor were sharp, and it slowly retracted its neck while still shattering the willows in its mouth, making the lifeless monsters fall to the ground while Sief was completely paralyzed.

Even the willows retreated, but Sief gritted his teeth and quickly ran behind the willow, seeing the monster retract its head again.

As if his instinct alerted him, Sief leaned his body, accelerating as much as he could while hearing behind him again the sound of the monster's advance, shattering the willows with its bite.

The boy looked back and saw the monster staring at him with numerous willows in its mouth, eliminating in an instant all those enemies Sief had faced, making him grit his teeth and continue running, hearing heavy footsteps behind him, making him look back again and realizing the monster had retracted its neck again, causing the boy to widen his eyes and throw himself to the ground.

In an instant, the monster's head advanced, passing over him, Sief wielded his dagger to stab, but he saw the monster's head above his body, still staring with empty, deep eyes that seemed to look directly into his soul.

The monster retracted its head again, and without hesitation, Sief ran desperately, seeing a forest in the distance, throwing himself towards it and again seeing the monster's head advance against a tree, which was torn from the ground and soon taken to the monster's mouth, stopping at the forest's entrance while Sief continued running, sweating cold and with wide eyes.

"What the heck... was that?"