Wolf took nine days to reach the ring of Twelfth Order Demonic Converters, then wasted another week locating the towering tree.

Unlike the careless attitude Wolf displayed with their offshoots, he approached his enemy seriously. Silver City’s Mage Academy had no record of its abilities, meaning nobody fought it before.

However, this didn’t stop Wolf from making educated guesses.

Its mind influencing ability should be greater. It’s likely to have a bunch of corpse puppets, and since its Order is higher, its roots ought to be stronger. This Demonic Converter can probably use them as weapons, even without corpses. Given how its black apples work, it might be able to enhance its allies; so I should wipe out the surrounding Demonic Beasts just in case.

Silver remained quiet. This was a serious situation, and she wanted to hear Wolf’s thought process and see how her master reached his decisions. She nodded her head inside her impregnable shell. His time in Demon Forest had helped mature Wolf’s thinking.

After deciding on a course of action, the young True-Namer spent ten days clearing up a fifteen kilometer radius around the Demonic Converter. He assassinated apex predators of the Eleventh Order by combining spells, Internal Energy and physical might. As for the packs of Sixth or Seventh Order Demonic Beasts, Wolf mercilessly slaughtered them while unleashing his aura enough to make them unable to think or retreat.

Time passed in a flash.

Wolf walked out of the forest, stepping onto the emerald glade shaded by the Twelfth Order Demonic Converter. He circulated Ghost Shroud and veiled himself with Undetectable, a Ninth Order spell, which granted him immunity from the senses of others.

However, after taking three careful steps, the giant canopy shook high above.

It noticed me. Wolf realized that no matter how advanced the magic, it wasn’t perfect and reality would betray his existence. The Ninth Order spell took care of the diminutive shockwaves he created with each step, but it couldn’t do anything about his tracks, or the plants he crushed. Even if Wolf flew, the air currents would change. Wolf believed Demonic Converters had greater sensitivity towards the flow of air than trampled grass, and yet, it found him within moments by relying on its monstrous perception.

Since he revealed himself, Wolf exploded with speed. The clearing was four hundred meters wide, with a ten meter thick tree trunk at the center. Even running with everything he had, Wolf still needed six seconds to cover this distance.

When Wolf reached halfway, the ground before him burst and a barbed tentacle whipped towards him.

In Wolf’s stretched flow of time, the lightning quick tendril was easy to make out. Its wicked barbs came from teeth of various Demonic Beasts lodged into the root, which grew around them, much like a tree swallowed a rock or a metal fence.

Wolf remained calm. He watched without shifting his direction and allowed the muddy whip to whizz half a meter above his head. Sometimes, being short is really handy.

That thought irked Wolf. He would’ve preferred to be a two meter giant, forced to dodge, roll or block the blow, instead of being a shrimp who dashed under the attack.

But the reality was what it was. Tiny, invisible Wolf bounded forward. The small craters he left in the ground were more appropriate for a two-ton bipedal Monster Beast, rather than a stick-figure boy a meter and two thumbs tall.

Based on what it knew, the Demonic Converter expected Wolf to be huge, his weight calculated in hundreds of kilograms.

While the intelligent tree wondered where it had erred, Wolf observed monstrosities rise from the soil. Unlike decaying corpses Eleventh Order Demonic Converters used, what appeared reminded Wolf of an octopus in heavy armor.

The monstrous plant fused a plethora of defensive organs belonging to different Demonic Beasts, combining them into a tentacled abomination. The grotesque carapace made up the central part, while dozens of barbed tendrils crazily whipped around the main bulk.

Wolf decided to avoid the maelstrom of deadly brambles. He circled around the armored root hub, but the abominable formation moved to intercept him. Worse still, there were nine similar formations, all of which heading to stop Wolf from approaching the Demonic Converter’s trunk.

The leaves are shaking like it’s trying to dispel my magic. But it shouldn’t be able to target me? Wolf had no time to entertain this thought. He knew the Demonic Converter plotted something, and that he should remain vigilant. However, the immediate threat was the convergence of root soldiers, as Wolf dubbed the bizarre puppets made from fusing roots and corpses.

Dodging will only get me so far. As Wolf evaded instead of severing the menacing tentacles, the danger they posed to him escalated. However, he was unwilling. If he attacked, the ensuing shockwave would disrupt Undetectable.

Luckily, a barbed root as thick as a man’s thigh smashed straight towards Wolf’s face, forcing his decision. Wolf sent a surge of Internal Energy into the sword. The blade glowed and all its mass converged at the tip.

With a slash, the jagged root flew into the trees outside the clearing. Wolf’s form rippled from the blow, becoming part visible before melting away and fading once more.

However, that brief blurry image was enough for the Demonic Converter to get a general outline of its enemy. Knowing Wolf’s shape, the tree’s net of attacks tightened, focusing more towards the ground.

It hasn’t dropped the apples. Wolf frowned while glancing up. The Demonic Converter’s leaves and branches shook, but the glistening black fruit remained in place. Does it think it doesn’t need reinforcements? Or does it know its minions are gone?

Wolf wasn’t sure why the tree didn’t call for help. He acknowledged that these root soldiers formed a formidable defense, and they were far more effective than corpse puppets. Whether it was speed or agility, this Demonic Converter exercised superior tendril mastery than its offshoot.

I should destroy the root soldier. Wolf stopped his futile attempt at skirting the defender and instead went for the throat.

The enemy before him had sturdy defenses, fully armored, and unlike corpse puppets, it didn’t have a clump of soft tendrils sticking out of its base. It didn’t expose its weakness. Should I sever the tentacles and leave the rest? No. That seems like I’m underestimating it way too much. This is a probing attack anyway… Should I attack that lump of roots with Sunder the Mountains? Once I cut it, I can store it into my Ring of Holding. That way, it can’t regenerate without expending effort. Besides, the new root soldier will lack armor, unless it has an underground stash of corpses and ingredients.

Wolf devised a crude plan while watching a pair of roots smash towards him. He jumped over the one sweeping for his knees, but had to slash the one aiming at his collarbone.

Undetectable still fuzzed Wolf’s form, but the second attack proved too much for it. Reflective mist dissolved, and Wolf’s form appeared.

As soon as Wolf became visible, Scapegoat triggered. The spell absorbed a dispelling effect, and Wolf immediately replaced it with the Subtle one he was casting.

In the explosions of earth and whizzing of whiplike roots, Wolf heard a soft sound. A hundred apples simultaneously snapped off their branches. Without fully awakened senses, even Wolf wouldn’t have caught those faint cracks.

Why are there only a hundred? It seems like they will land atop the root soldier I’m after. Is that good or bad? Can they heal the two severed roots? Questions swarmed Wolf’s mind as he considered various scenarios. Simultaneously, he sought opportunities, scanned the battlefield and the randomly whipping tendrils, while also casting the next Subtle Scapegoat.

With the storm of sensory input and dozens of good and bad possible outcomes, Wolf acted conservatively. He backed off.

Three seconds later, a hundred black apples, as hard as rocks, clattered on the corpse armor. Wolf waited and observed. Nothing happened. The fruit rolled and fell on the grass, producing light, rustling noise drowned by the battle.

It bluffed? What happened was Wolf wasted several moments while the Demonic Converter aligned its root soldiers into a formation where they supported each other.

Well fucking played. Wolf seethed. Before, he would’ve ignored the apples and kept pressing his attack. However, after learning to be cautious, it bit him in the ass and he allowed his foe to get into a defensive position.

It was a sound call, Master. Silver reassured him. Even if it really was nothing, you lose nothing. You hold an absolute advantage. You can move freely and come and leave whenever you feel like it. While your enemy has to wait for you. Each resource it spends is gone, while you can easily recover yours.

You’re right, Silver. Wolf calmed down, then felt yet another Scapegoat trigger.