The appearance of Koru made all the monsters and even the plants retreat more as it was clear that they feared this Seru.

“What creature is that?” Gala was stunned.

“Lord Dyne, that is a powerful Seru!” Meta warned.

“I know. What is that exactly, Meta? That Seru looks very different from the Serus. Tieg warned me of a Seru called Berserker, which seemed to have the ability even to withstand the Genesis Tree! I get the feeling that that is like them.”

Dyne knew that there were Serus that are not acquirable in the game. Caruban was clearly a Seru who could resist the power of the Genesis Tree. Another boss, Berserker, was even seen devouring and attacking the Genesis Tree directly!

Koru would be the third Seru that could be fought and could not be acquired.

And so, Dyne used Berserker as an excuse to make him ask his question yet not inform Meta that they are game characters.

“Serus like them are called Maverick Serus. The Berserker you mentioned is a Maverick Seru that Rogue had created! There are two that were powerful back in the era of the Great Rebellion. The Berserker and the Caruban!”

“Tieg told me about them. But what about this Koru? Tieg didn’t tell me much when he sent me in this ga- I mean, world.”

“There were peaceful Maverick Serus that were created by the other gods. Tieg already told you of Sol and the Flying Trains. The Flying Trains was another gift given by the Wind God to Biron. And this must have been used by the Sol Kingdom when they began to rise. Ferti, the God of Water, created this Seru. But Maverick Serus is so strong that they would even be able to contend with a Ra-Seru. Much so for weak Ra-Seru’s like me.” Meta explained.

“So this explains the three diverse groups…” Dyne now had a deeper understanding of the forest.

“First things first, we need to get to the Genesis Tree ahead of these monsters,” Dyne explained.

“I will be using my grenades once more, and this…” Dyne revealed more of his Molotov cocktails and a handful of Incense.

“First, Incense. Here.” Dyne handed the group the items.

“Next is we distract them by throwing these objects and create chaos. The Incense should help us escape the senses of the enemies, and with the Golden Compass, we should be able to move without being seen. Of course, there is a chance that the Chicken King would be activated as I plan to attack the three marching groups.” Dyne explained the plan as the group began to apply Incense.

“This object is very rare!” Gala was impressed that Dyne had several pinches of Incense.

“I still have a lot more. But enough of that. Grab one bottle and throw it at the enemy. Gala, you aim for the Seru group. Vahn, you do the monsters. I’ll aim for the plants. Aim for those at the front of the march.” Dyne handed them the bottle. Grim then gave a small spark of flame, which caused the rag at the end to burn.

“Ready… Now!” Dyne gave the commands, and the three of them threw the Molotov cocktails towards the corresponding locations.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The consecutive explosions erupted, and the loud screech and shouts of the monsters, plants, and Serus could be heard.

Dyne and his trio were running away, and the effects of the Chicken King came to effect. They zipped through the rampaging monsters with extreme speed and remained unnoticed.

The chaos of the sudden attacks made the group assume that some fight had broken out, and some of the monsters began to kill each other with the Seru group, and even the Plant groud began to fight.

Dyne, Gala, and Vahn were running, and with their camouflage attire, the group managed to slip past the monsters and move ahead.

Some of the monsters at the front were rushing towards the battle's epicenter between the three groups. And whenever Dyne found a lone monster, they would attack it and escape to make the Chicken King function.

Soon, Dyne reached an empty clearing where no monsters were present. In fact, even the petrification of the forest didn’t seem to affect the area.

At the clearing stood the majestic Tree that had no leaves. There was also a cliff right behind it.

“The Genesis Tree!” Vahn saw the familiar Tree that he had been praying to in Rim Elm.

Dyne immediately approached it and began to reach out and use his soul to feel the Tree. Being in constant exposure to Meta, Dyne had a rough idea of what a Ra-Seru would look like.

“Jedo!” Dyne called out towards the Tree, but even when Dyne’s soul peaked deeper into the Genesis Tree, there was nothing there.

“Lord Dyne… It must still be an Egg. The Genesis Tree not only houses the Ra-Seru, but it protects it. The Egg is a vital part of the Tree. I cannot communicate or even tell which Ra-Seru lies within.” Meta called out.

Dyne, however, was in a hurry. He kept glancing around the area as if looking for something.

“What’s wrong?” Vahn asked.

“This place! It's so strange! The Elements are acting weird!” Dyne explained.

“The Elements?” Gala wondered.

Vahn immediately closed his eyes and concentrated.

Gala followed, but they opened their eyes and had a peculiar expression.

“Now that Patriarch mentioned it… This place feels bizarre.”

“Two elements? No! Three. Dark is here. It's absorbing the Earth and the Ice at an astonishing rate!” Dyne frowned.

“Could this be why those three groups are gathering here?” Meta wondered.

“It could be. I think… Jedo is doing something to awaken himself. If what Meta said is true, and that he is trying to combine Yami with him, then this must be the cause of the strange occurrence in this forest!”

“Then what do we do?” Vahn asked.

“I won’t make this trip in vain. Follow me. We hide up there!” Dyne pointed at the mountain behind them.

“But Patriarch, the monsters will surround us!” Gala answered.

“Nothing ventured, nothing gained. We stay. Wait! That’s it!” Dyne then recalled something.

He dashed off towards the area near the cliff and began to search the ground.

“Master Dyne?” Vahn asked.

“This should help us!” Dyne was digging with his hands and carefully searched the ground.

“Help me!” Dyne called out.

Vahn and Gala bolted and began to dig on the ground.

“What are we doing?” Vahn asked.

“Look for a jewel! It should be similar to the treasured jewels in Biron! There could be an Earth Jewel here!” Dyne explained.

Gala was confused. Dyne had asked about the items they had and even for the jewels. Biron had a total of four Jewels. There was the Earth jewel, the Deep Sea Jewel, the Tempest Jewel, and the Burning Jewel.

In the game, these items were sold. But in this world, those items had higher value as they contained elemental power. Dyne knew that this was something related to Mind Cultivation and the use of Elements. Dyne found no need for these items in their trip as they would be using the Chicken King. But now, in these circumstances, Dyne could only pray that that jewel would be here.

“Those Jewels are rare objects! They are not like cabbages that can be found just anywhere! We can’t just pick a random spot here and begin digging! Even if there is an elemental anomaly going on this place, it's next to impossible to find one!”

“Found it!” Vahn held out the Earth Jewel.

Gala’s mouth was wide open.

“Great! Good job, Vahn!

Hurry! Cover the dirt the climb the mountain!” Dyne ordered.

Gala wanted to ask how but realized that the approaching enemies wouldn’t give them that luxury.

And so the group covered the dirt and began to climb up the mountain. Dyne reached towards a nearby tree and cut off the branch carrying the lush leaves of the branch.

Soon, Dyne found a small platform where they could stand.

“Gala, smash this part with your hammer! I’ll help with Grim!” Dyne explained.

Dyne began to use Grim like a pickaxe and began to attack the side of the cliff.

Gala realized what the plan was and brought out Mjolnir, who he still couldn’t spell properly.

The pair worked fast, and soon, the sounds of monster cries could be heard.

The pair managed to make out a small hole and snuck inside just in time to hide from the view of the monster.

Dyne then brought out the Earth Jewel and closed his eyes.

A light aura of earth energy began to move out.

“Lord Dyne…?” Meta asked.

But Dyne didn’t answer.

He then extended his arm and kept the branch with the Tree forward.

And then the ground in front of them suddenly rose and created a cover. The small cave they made now only had a small opening, and it was hidden in the leaves.

“Amazing…” Gala was amazed.

Dyne relaxed as it worked.

“I’m glad that worked. Now… Let’s see what’s happening in this forest…” Dyne had a serious expression.