Giant Undead Ent

Giant Undead Ent is a raid boss monster created by the 4 star

Much like its smaller predecessors, an Undead Ent possesses wide AOE attacks, excellent range, and a very tricky defensive mechanism.

Though it retains its weakness to fire, Giant Undead Ent has gained the ability to utilize Life Force in order to protect its self.

Giant Undead Ent has been seeping the life from the earth, swallowing up both Ents and the surrounding wildlife. It lays immobile in the earth and has grown an intricate root system below it.

HP: 12,023/15,000

Boss Rank: D

15k total was a funny number, and for that to be only rank D? “Yeah, there is no way that’s the actual boss.”

There is always a way to win, that is how the Games are made.

People tried, that was for certain. There were two types of crowd. Ones that wisely kept their distance, and the foolhardy who attempted to scale the monstrosity. The majority of those were Warriors, Rangers, and other nimble archetypes. It wasn't as impossible as Nilbog thought it to be, but a good portion still fell to their untimely deaths.

The Giant Undead Ent had two different attack methods. It was either able to thrust forward one of the leafless trees attached to its body like a spear, or it used the thin, numerous, and long-reaching thorns attached to those very trees. The logs were near unstoppable with their size, and the thorns could not be blocked by either sword or shield as they would simply bend around their target like a flail. They had to be completely cut or dodged.

As crazy as escalating it seemed, Nilbog at least he had a lifeline--two, in fact. Nilbog was sure Kara would take over when things got messy.

Chop chop. We’re on a time-limit. I can only help you for 20-minutes every two hours. If I take direct control the leftover duration is cut, and we’re already down to 17 minutes. Also, as long as it’s not life-threatening, I won’t be intervening.

“Why not? Didn't you say you can provide limited help?” Nilbog said nervously. She couldn't read his mind, could she? Speaking and thinking felt different, but he could never know with this one.

You need fighting experience. Our end-game potential is much higher if we work in tandem rather than in separate.

“Argh.” As much as Nilbog wanted to complain, it was sound logic. His plan was simple: After the Giant Ent smashed one of its trees onto the ground, or a group of unfortunate people, a slight pause would occur before it lifted back up, much like how the Sloth Ents themselves attacked. Nilbog would jump on then and climb the Ent.

Some people were targeted by dozens of different thorns, however, and that Nilbog did not understand why.

Far to the right, a large thorn was coming with a low attack. Everyone jumped up when it neared, dodging easily, though a few unlucky ones were struck by their guts when the thorn twisted up to their surprise.

Nilbog studied the pattern intently, and when it came to his turn, he lunged as high into the air as he could, making his body parallel to the ground as he flew.

The thorn twisted up, its pikes missing his chest by a few inches, and fell away.

Nilbog landed awkwardly but kept moving forward.

Wasteful but adequate. You couldn’t figure it out, so you just jumped higher than its range in both situations, Kara commented.

It was tiring to do constantly, but it did guarantee his safety. The thorns attacked in other directions, as well. A few whips came down from above him but those were easily dodged.

He sidestepped most of the attacks, and when the whips came in a horizontal, sweeping pattern once again, Nilbog was confident enough to wait until the last moment to jump or duck. The added Agility from his Dodge skill gave him the extra boost he needed, though if he had Accumulation Dodge it would have helped more in this case.

The closer he got, however, the less time he had. From one sidestep to a dock to a lung and a roll, a certain pattern became familiar to his body. It flew naturally from one movement to the other, his body pushing through at higher speeds than he had ever reached. The wind pushing against his face felt glorious.

Decrease your speed.

A tree began its swing. It aimed for the group Nilbog had been chasing. It was nearly perfect. Nilbog just had to speed up a bit to hop on before it would lift off.

I wouldn’t do that if I were you, Kara say again, this time with a lot less enthusiasm.

Yeah, but he could make it. He felt it. Nilbog sprinted with full power. Everything began to become a slight blur as his brain struggled to keep up with his body. Each step was a leap as he began to cut the distance towards the-

A thorn came from the top right corner. Nilbog angled towards the left, and then to the right as another came down from the other side. He jumped, dodging a sweep, and instead of landing on his toes, Nilbog rolled forward, dodging a thorn as it swiped above his head. He crawled up, breathing tightly.

More thorns reached forward. Dozens of them swung into the air, suddenly aimed towards Nilbog.

Ah, he thought nervously. The thing targets those that move the fastest, doesn’t it?

I told you so, Kara said, though from her tone Nilbog could have sworn she knew he was going to ignore her.

She's trying to teach me a lesson, just like the guards back then, Nilbog thought to himself. The only difference was that he really did deserve it this time. As much as she could have simply just that, Nilbog could have also just as simply listened. It was just for a moment, but becoming slightly more powerful got to his head.

The thorns fell from the sky like a hail of arrows, piercing through the rough dirt with ease. A line of them marked each step and turn Nilbog took. Some even sprung up from the earth, the spikes aiming for his kneecaps.

They grazed his skin and dealt little damage, but with a dozen light cuts the bleed damage began to add up. He crawled and rolled, jumped in between the thrusts and sweeps, and ran on the thorns in attempts to escape the increasing onslaught.

He could not slow down. He needed to keep moving. He heard a humming.

Your Siren has begun a Song

Steadfast Runner

Each successive Dodge increases your Agility proportional to the difficulty and execution of the Dodge. Abrupt or sharp changes to momentum will reduce the bonuses. Attacking or reaching 0 Agility will end the Song.

Current increase to Agility: 5%

MAX bonus to Agility: 50%

Duration: 3 minutes

Nilbog could not think; he didn’t have the time to. The pain did not register. All he could hear was the beating of his feet, the amused, nearly humorous, humming of Kara’s song, and the thorns cutting the air beside his ears.

Soon it became impossible to dodge. His hands knocked aside the thorns aimed for his vitals, letting them dig into his hands instead of his heart. He wasn’t even sure he was the one moving his body.

181, 162, 151, his HP rapidly dwindled as the bleeding damage accumulated. Lesser Bleed Resistance could barely do a thing to stanch the bleeding at this point. Shapeshifting while sprinting, much less dodging, rolling, and crawling, was just impossible. He barely knew a thing about it.

Wrong-way, Kara said.

Nilbog snapped his head to the side mid-flight. Through the barrier of thorns, a few long leaps away, was the fallen tree. It held no leaves ir color, just long springy lines of dead, gray wood, with thorns attached to them. At the junctions, where the tree attached to the trunk a long distance off, a dark brown ooze seeped out of the cracks.

Only when it began to rise did Nilbog remember what he was here for.

Without thinking, his right hand reached to the side. He grasped one of the thorns and did his best to ignore the fire growing within his palms.

He swung mid-flight, dodging the hail of thorns lined up ahead of him, and throwing himself in the direction of the rising Giant Ent tree. He landed on his left foot, pushed forward with it, and leaped up to with his right foot in one movement.

It was the highest leap of his life, but even that was only good enough to get one hand over a skimpy branch. He pulled on it as the tree rose, not truly expecting to be able to pull himself up.

Somehow, however, he did. With only the strength of his left arm, he propped himself up to the branches and onto the tree.

Kara did not say anything. He could only hear her humming increasing in rhythm, increasing in volume with each step.

He ran ahead with only the slightest pause, his muscles screaming. He had to keep his Song Bar up and to staunch the bleeding at some point.

The thorns did not relent. Through the branches they snuck their way, attempting to spear through him as best as they could.

They attacked him from tricky positions and difficult rhythm. His Seventh Sense did him a blessing by helping him sense those. Sprinting would have helped him escape easier, but his STM was vanishing excruciatingly quickly. Slowing down meant being skewered by at least half a dozen different thorns, but at the very least his job was simplified: find a footing through the branches and the incline, dodge the thorns that sneak around the branches and thrust at him from the front, and watch for the STM that was running out faster than his HP was.

He smiled. Everything hurt and there was nothing to smile about, but he smiled nevertheless. He would have chuckled too, but he did not have the breath for it. Knowing he could resurrect gave him an unhealthy amount of confidence.

Nilbog quickly caught up to the party that had boarded ahead of him, and then quickly raced past them. A few of them uttered a few confused statements before the thorns chasing Nilbog caught up to them.

They had been running, but not nearly as fast. While the thorns were busy with them, Nilbog was given a much-needed breather.

He had nearly 53 STM left. His lungs could barely keep up with his heart.

He tried to access his storage of Souls to close his wounds with a Shaper's heal, but his concentration broke each time a thorn reached for him. He had to keep dodging.

Let me take over, Kara said. You have two seconds. His body began to move without his direction, and now he could truly tell it was Kara’s doing.

Kara did not dodge as much as she just moved out of the way, if what he was seeing made any sense. She didn’t panic, nor did she move on reflex alone. Her movement seemed rehearsed, almost as if she planned her steps beforehand and was just playing to the script.

Nilbog returned his sights inward. He couldn’t use a Morph to close the wounds as the bleeding was all over his body. He was planning on using the rest of his Souls to counteract the damage, but the first one he used removed all the bleeding when it healed him. It left him at 124 HP.

Nilbog took back control just as Kara's time was up. He stumbled for a few steps, had a couple of close encounters with a few pesky thorns, and nearly fell over the side when he realized how far they climbed. He resolved to avoid glancing below him--he did not want to think about what would happen if he fell. Just because he can come back to life didn’t mean he wasn’t afraid of being turned into mush.

Just when his STM was just about to run out Nilbog found the opening. The entrance to the Giant Ent’s true body was concealed by the wood raising higher at the end. A couple more steps were all that required.

Finding his breath, Nilbog ran on, vaulting over the mound and throwing himself straight into the crevice.

The wood parted for a few feet into the trunk and then narrowed to a closing. Nilbog stuttered to a stop, nearly crashing against the rough wood.

It was blocked.

“Shit,” Nilbog whispered, spinning around. He had to quickly move before-

The thorns reached over the small mound. They rose into the air and then snapped down towards him. With his only escape route being caught off, Nilbog leaped over to the side.Nilbog caught one of the branches hanging under the tree and swung forward, catching one after another. The entire tree began to move once again, attempting to shake him off, but that was a lesser worry than the thorns hooking around.

Before they reached for him Nilbog threw himself towards one of the bigger, more reliable branches, and took a wider swing. Using his momentum, he tugged at the branch as he pulled himself up.

Except the branch snapped off, tossing him forward instead of up. He screamed, his hands reaching towards a different one but it was already too late. He plummeted towards the ground.

His mind went blank as he tossed his limbs about. He had missed every other tree that would have slowed down his fall, and touching any solid ground now would turn him into cheese. Squished cheese.

Damn it he was hungry.

1st Rank Life Clay. 1st Rank Life Clay. 1st Rank Life Clay.

Nilbog’s Life Force yanked itself from every inch of his body into the palm of his hands, causing it to glow. His body cried as if he had torn off his own skin. Kara spun his hands in circles. Just when he was about to fall past the lowest branch, she tossed the lump of Life Force over it. A solid rope of Life Force wrapped around it.

Third Movement: Deviation.

Instead of straight down Nilbog went to the side. He swung at an angle, passed the ground by a few feet, and flung himself back in the air at blindingly fast speed. Nilbog could barely keep his eyes open as the wind crashed into it. The ground wasn’t an issue anymore—the tree that Nilbog was going to crash into was.

1st Kinetic Burst, Kara whispered again. Mid-flight a burst of air blew from Nilbog's side. Branches came close to Nilbog as he zipped by, but none touched him. His way to the top was perfectly clear. In a few seconds he himself far above his previous position, nearly to the top of the very Ent itself. He floated momentarily in the air for a moment before dropping a few feet into an open crevice.

Kara walked in without as much as a pause. His sword, having floated beside him this entire time somehow, pierced the wood in front of him. Without breaking stride, she picked up the sword, swinging it around.

“Lesson number one: Always listen to me,” Kara said in his own voice, and then began to hum.

Red orb or not, hearing her say that made him wish he had just fallen to his grim death.