"That's early, way too early"

Ways away from the new forest YuJu and Mia were peering into the distance where black mist joining the sky and earth bellowed forward with dreaded momentum, swallowing up land like no tomorrow

​​

"It has only been two months, why are they so quick to come"

"It's a sign that the other fronts have given up and retreated, they struggled far less than I expected"

"The forest is barely ready and we have yet to find enough fire beasts, what should we do, evacuate and build camp closer to the center?"

"No, their actions only mean they are underestimating us, we must take advantage of this"

His gaze remained on the mist for a long time, thought churning inside his head

"By their speed the mist would reach the settlement in about two hours….I think we can make it"

Turning back he led her toward the settlement with the greatest speed they could muster

"All the secret tunnels have been checked to withstand tremors?"

"Yes Master, from the ones under the forest, into the nine new underground buildings and out toward the watchtowers, all have been tested"

"Meet me inside the new building's secret chambers, bring as many sacrificial thralls as you could"

She nodded, they were supposed to get some of the fire beasts for this matter but seeing as they were suddenly short on time the thralls would seemingly suffice, so she split from him and headed back with even quicker steps, attributed to her higher agility

Twenty minutes later YuJu arrived at the big circular chambers built right under the huge underground structures, it was empty for the most part but everything from the ground to the rood was carved with weird interconnected symbols, not only that but the symbols even extended toward three outer tunnels, one receiving from under the forest and two feeding into the watchtowers

Not a minute after his arrival Mia came along with Nee and a ragtag bunch of dull eyes thralls bambeling behind them

"Quickly slit their neck by these eight center symbols, two thralls for each would do"

He ordered and went about slicing their necks open and letting them bleed into the symbols, watching as the blood followed its correct root seeping into every carving in the room

"This feels much like an evil ritual"

Mia commented, knowing that it might not be well received but somewhat needing an explanation

"The blood is actually a cleansing tool, opposite to what it might seem, basically we're using the overfilling vitality it contains to counter the undead energy of the mist"

"So this will stop them from coming close?"

"No, it is a means to store that energy, you'll get it once you see what the towers do"

With quick steps he led them out of the chamber and into the center area under the forest which connected to all nine buildings, from there they started visiting every chamber and repeating the process, filling every one of them and sacrificing a hundred forty four thralls in the process

Once done they went back to the connecting room under the forest, this one filled with much more intricate carvings, one's almost as complicated as the runes inside the golem dragon, all flowing into the middle of the room where an empty hole sat, awaiting something to finish the puzzle

This last piece was none other than a gem, a burial gem

"Inform Sa to start the process"

"Yes my Lord"

Using her Whisper skill Nee sent intense thought of wanting to begin to Sa who was waiting above, the agreed upon sign which had her order roots to enter the burrows they were meant to go through

This had the three underground witness roots push through the small opening in the ceiling, quickly descending into the now filled hole in the middle of the ground, fixing themselves over the gem without touching any of the cavings

"Master, I sense something off with Sa"

Nee suddenly reported, promoting them to hurry back above ground

They came to ask her what was wrong but figured it out on their own, the blackened sky was far too noticeable after all

"Prepare the first line of defense! Call for Sofia and ready everyone to evacuate in case the first clash proves to be our loss"

He ordered, receiving quick responses as they went about preparing for the forest, he on the other hand jumped on top of a tall tree where Sa sat, managing her control over the forest from this high up

He didn't say a word and quietly sat next to her, careful not to break her concentration

The mist grew closer and closer, he could already make out the horrid faces of wraiths smiling inside, expectant of the great meal that was this seemingly weak race

Finally, the moment of truth arrived with the mist touching upon the forest domain, wraiths springing from within impatiently to remove the pests daring to block their advancement with a puny little greenery

Roots came to meet their horrid selves with piercing thrusts, only to pass right through them without any effect

The wraiths smiled widely at the laughable attempt at harming them, only for a moment however as the roots took on a green glow, dispersing parts of the wraiths they punctured with ease

It was a joyful result, at least to the normal humans now watching the scene as well, but it was yet another laughable thing to these wraiths who retaliate by uprooting the defending vegetation with one pull, meanwhile their 'wounds' recovered within moments with the help of the mist

"This isn't working, evacuate at once!"

Sofia ordered loudly almost causing panic, only to be stopped by Mia before the order took effect

"Just wait, it isn't certain that we lost yet"

She spoke with certainty, giving up on the inside as she believed they also failed, expecting her master's sign to evacuate anytime soon

Seconds passed quickly turning to minutes, all eyes watched the clash of nature and its nemesis without blinking, expecting a reversal, a grand show of strength, yet hope dwindled as no such thing happened, only a one sided massacre of the poor plants

Trees fell over, roots pulled apart and flowers withered into dust, the quickly flourishing forest was dying even faster than it came to be

When this clash went through a quarter of the forest and remain so for a prolonged period of time Sofia couldn't take it anymore, raising her hand to give the evacuation signal

"No"

Mia quickly held her hand in place, angering the woman into heaving

"What?! It's over, I'm sorry Mia but your friend cannot stop the enemies from breaking through"

"They already did"

"Can't wait anymore, I have lives...huh?"

"Look at the mist"

She pointed her toward the bellows of mist housing angry wraiths ceaselessly attacking the forest which barely fought back

"What is it, the mist is still there"

"Exactly, it hasn't moved for a long time, it stopped!"

There was a ting of excitement in Mia's voice, for once not faked

True enough when Sofia focused on the battle she noticed the wraiths attacking with rage, no longer smiling like reapers but acting more so like caged beasts

"We stopped them?"

"Yes"

"We stopped them! We stopped the wraiths! We won't have to run!!"

Sofia hugged the vampire friend in her excitement, suffocating her with the heavy bosom for quite a few seconds before Mia could struggle free

God knew how many sleepless nights she suffered from the horror of another invasion, ever since news of the wraiths were confirmed there was never a peaceful day in the settlement anymore

"I will go inform the others of this matter, you thank that friend of yours for me, we are forever in their debt"

"Will do"

She waved the overly excited leader away, her own dying down after a soft reminder of how close death could be

'Death by suffocation, no joke'

She mused, heading to meet her master and servant atop the tree

"How is it Master, everything going well?"

She asked only to be shushed, YuJu did not want anyone interrupting Sa yet

A full hour later, when the wraiths realized they couldn't push through this point, promoting them to lessen their aggressive attacks, Sa could finally spare some mental capacity to speak

"Two days"

That was her estimation of how much she could last like this, instantly putting a frown on Mia's face

"Does this mean we fail Master?"

YuJu shook his head gently

"No, just means we must find those fire beasts as quickly as possible, once we do Sa should be capable of holding off the beasts indefinitely"

His words caused both women to give a relieved sigh, especially Sa, she sort of felt like she failed her kind by not being able to stop the mist, even though it was an impossible matter to accomplish on her own