Wolf had stalled his spellcasting as long as humanly possible. What was supposed to be a ten second chant he stretched into just as many minutes, and yet the end result was… nothing. The demonic apple tree sent a surge of Soul Force, interrupting Wolf’s casting and landing him in a difficult situation.

Wolf mouthed a silent ‘fuck’. Fortunately, several tons of gorilla barreling towards him were there to snap the youth out of his daze. Wolf immediately realized the danger he was in. He yanked the flaming sword out of the ground, then fled from the Crowned Silverback.

Luckily, the ape was after the apples under Wolf’s feet, not the hated manling. However, fleeing from one Demonic Beast meant running into others.

Can this tree really cast spells? I sensed a Soul Force pressure from it for a moment, as if it’s a Thirteenth Order Mage fully releasing his presence, Wolf thought as he ran towards a flock of Axebeaks.

The Demonic Beasts, which resembled a cross between terror-birds and spoonbills shrieked, warning Wolf to stay away. Unfortunately, he had little choice. The youth had already chosen the path of least resistance. It wasn’t the shortest path leading to safety, but a brawl of powerful Demonic Beasts blocked the shortest path.

I can’t jump on them, they are too tall and their bodies aren’t as stable as Razortusks. Weaving between them and focusing on dodging also seems riskier than fighting them straight on. If I knew they’d ignore me, I could focus on dodging and evading, but there’s no way they’ll stay calm if I run through their flock, Wolf analyzed the situation and came up with a plan in the blink of an eye.

Why are the branches and the leaves still shaking? He noticed that after interrupting his spell, the Demonic Converter froze. Then it moved once more. Is it preparing for another Counterspell?

A moment later he smashed into the mass of Axebeaks. These Demonic Beasts were only of Fifth Order at most, but they compensated for their lack of individual power with large numbers. When attacking prey this was an advantage. When scaring off enemies this was also an advantage. But when defending from a single attacker, this was a weakness.

The nearest Axebeak swung its head at Wolf, and the flaming sword flashed in response. The burning blade severed the Demonic Beast’s long neck, cauterizing the wound. Wolf hacked at long necks and even longer legs while leisurely avoiding the poleaxe-like attacks.

Demonic Converter’s branches abruptly stopped shaking, and Wolf’s body staggered.

It dispelled Greater Fleet of Foot? The thought flashed through his mind, then an Axebeak’s bill, which Wolf was certain he’d already dodged, smashed into his back with all the force of a battleaxe.

Already out of balance, the youth shot through the air as blood soaked the back of his ruined shirt.

What the hells am I doing? I gave Anna and Barbara so much garbage about losing focus and yet— Wolf cursed himself before assessing his state. His spine was whole, Bones Like Bedrock proved their worth and the impervious skin reduced the damage, despite being pierced. Wolf’s flesh fared the worst. Wolf’s back muscles felt like one giant bruise, and there was a lot of internal hemorrhaging.

It’s salvageable, Wolf realized his situation wasn’t all that bad. This sudden burst of speed caught several Axebeaks by surprise, allowing Wolf to bypass them without getting attacked.

Ignoring the stinging sensation in his back, the youth twisted his body through the air and made half a somersault before smashing foot-first into an Axebeak. The giant bird screeched, and swung its head at Wolf, but the youth severed its neck, catching a whiff of burned feathers and barbecued meat.

Wolf resumed his headlong dash the moment his feet struck ground. He was dizzy. Analyzing the plethora of inputs from his awakened senses overwhelmed his mind.

Focus! There’s too many of them, and I can’t be careless, let alone risk casting Subtle Call of the Netherworld. Wolf ducked under yet another wild swing, slashing at the attacking bird's leg. If that damn tree can catch Soul Force fluctuations of Tenth Order spells, then it will know I’m casting a Subtle spell.

How sensitive is it? I could test it out, Wolf suddenly realized and started casting a Subtle Fireball. Losing it wouldn’t be much of a waste, and if it succeeds, he could injure and scare off these Demonic Beasts, maybe even kill a few unlucky ones.

As Wolf finally punched through the flock of ratites, he finished the Subtle Fireball. The shaking of branches above his head suddenly ended, and the seed of flame forming in Wolf’s hand got snuffed out.

It’s not Counterspell, the young Mage confirmed, no longer as vigilant against spells the tree might cast. Its sensitivity towards Soul Force must be higher than mine. I don’t think I could tell if someone cast a Subtle spell of a middle Order. Maybe if it was of the Ninth or Tenth Order…

Wolf momentarily considered how the demonic tree influenced his spell, before focusing on enemies before him. Two dozen meters separated him from the cover of the forest, but even there, it wasn’t safe. Things turned hectic in the distant shrubbery. Demonic Beasts struggled to reach the clearing with the black fruit, raising a racket and destroying everything around them, even shaking some ancient trees while knocking down the younger ones.

Wolf ran forward. He swung his sword left and right, waving his way around various brawls. The flaming blade flashed five times in rapid succession, deflecting stray blows as Wolf ran without losing momentum. Then he found himself at a dead end.

Wolf watched two claws come at him in slow motion. One blow would land from the left and the other from the right. Jumping back and dodging is the most sensible thing to do. But then I’d lose my momentum, and who knows whether I’d get entangled with another fight.

Wolf clenched his teeth and pressed forward. With a sizzling sound of seared flesh, he hacked off one scaled limb, but left without a choice, Wolf took the blow from the furry paw.

He bent with the blow, reducing the damage as much as possible. Even then, sharp claws tore into his side, ripping the impregnable skin like paper.

Thanks to Wolf’s solid physique, the Demon Forest Lion several times his size failed to knock him back. Wolf stumbled for a split moment, then regained his balance with the very next step. As soon as his foot touched the ground, Wolf sent a surge of Internal Energy into it and bounded away, letting the savage lion finish off the crippled reptile.

Wolf started casting the Subtle Swiftness he’d prepared, and the tree’s branches shook violently once again. However, as soon as he’d entered the forest, the ominous sound of the Demonic Converter shaking disappeared.

Wolf felt tempted to stay there and cast Call of the Netherworld, but then clenched his teeth.

He came here in high spirits, ready to bring down the demonic apple tree. And yet, all this tree needed was two moves to beat him into the ground.

I’m wounded. I have to get away from here as soon as possible and heal up. Wolf felt his clothes getting soaked with blood. Otherwise I might die to this stinking tree and its Demonic Beast horde.

Instead of pointlessly running away and running into more Demonic Beasts, Wolf hid behind a sturdy tree and finished casting Swiftness.

It didn’t counter Subtle Swiftness. Is it because it couldn’t see me casting it, because I’m out of its range, or does it want to make me feel safe? Wolf wondered while drinking a Moderate grade Healing potion. His bleeding stopped, and the leftover energy somewhat patched up his bashed back.

Wolf then climbed up the tree which he used for cover. He figured that the crown above wasn’t nearly as dangerous as the forest floor. He only sensed one hostile aura on top of him, and it wasn’t even moving, so Wolf figured it was a wounded or dying Demonic Beast.

The young Mage enjoyed the warm, comfortable feeling coursing through his back as he climbed higher, before coming face to face with a perfectly healthy Manticore.

The Demonic Beast had a comical appearance. It had stuffed its giant maw so full of apples it looked like a hamster.

The creature stared at Wolf with surprised hostility, seemingly asking ‘What are you doing here?’

Then, before Wolf got to reply to the unasked question, the scorpio tail whipped forward. With a whoosh, the terrifying stinger stabbed at the surprised manling.

Wolf subconsciously slashed with his flaming sword, hacking off the stinger and destroying the venom gland.

The manticore opened its mouth to scream, revealing a bunch of black apples. Then it forcefully shut its maw again, the manticore’s eyes bulged from pain and the clash of various instincts which overloaded the poor thing’s brain.

A moment later it made up its mind. The Demonic Beast fled. In panic, it jumped up and flew out of the tree’s cover. The Manticore tried to stay low, but before it covered ten meters, dozens of giant bats and eagles swooped down and tore it to shreds, then fought each other over the tumbling apples.

I guess they can’t land to pick the apples? Wolf wondered, not knowing why flying creatures wouldn’t pick the apples directly from the tree. However, Wolf had more important matters to ponder.

Opening a folded space so close to that demonic tree would be dangerous. I still don’t know whether it has any other ways of influencing magic. If it can collapse the folded space at the right time, it would be even more dangerous than the current situation, Wolf thought, trying to figure out how to get out of this mess.

I should have prepared another Greater Fleet of Foot, the youth regretted not having a redundancy in place.

After covering two hundred meters by moving on treetops Wolf realized it wasn’t viable. While there were no enemies right now, he was too slow, and if he didn’t move away far enough, he’d get encircled. The branches creaked under his weight, and he couldn’t use Internal Energy either, otherwise he’d break his already unstable footing and topple down to the ground.

Merge With Wind would be useful now. I’d only have to watch out not to hurt myself on the branches, Wolf thought, but still didn’t regret ignoring the spell. It was great for quick and peaceful long-distance travel, but under combat circumstances it was too dangerous to gamble on it.

He waited until a bunch of Bipedal Drakes ran below him, then jumped off the branch intending to hurry back towards the cave with the teleportation Spell Formation.

As soon as he landed on the forest floor, Wolf found himself once more surrounded by Demonic Beasts. As expected, those behind him and to the side completely ignored him. They rushed to fight for apples.

Wolf hid behind trees to make way for the stronger Demonic Beasts while slaying the weaker ones, but there were too many of them and getting out of their way wasted time.

That damn tree should be too far to pick up on my casting. Wolf bit his lip, then focused on casting Subtle Call of the Netherworld while running and dodging enemies.

A shrill shriek echoed through the forest. A sound-wave of death spread, crashing onward and attempting to extinguish all life within two hundred meters of Wolf. Countless Demonic Beasts in the distance shuddered in fear, while those affected by the spell staggered, then fell to the ground lifelessly, littering the forest with corpses.

As expected, Wolf sensed that some Demonic Beasts survived. But that wasn’t the only notable thing. These survivors gave up on the apples and immediately changed direction, focusing all their rage and fury on a new target. Wolf never expected to kill every Demonic Beast within the effect of Call of the Netherworld. Those with tenacious wills or powerful vitality could resist the death effect.

Wolf didn’t care about the survivors. The situation improved, and he continued his escape, knowing that this window of opportunity would be short-lived.