Chapter 437 The Cry Of The Dryad

Keng and Philip stood in the middle of the black and purple thorn field. Keng looked at Philip while he pointed off in the distance. Philip looked between Keng and at the thorns. He couldn't really tell the difference, even with his Energy Sight.

"I don't see it." Philip told him. The discordant noises sounded like a horror movie mixed with the sobs for Keng. It sounded like she was just faking her cries, enticing the two to come over and check on her. The creepy image appeared in his head and Keng quickly shook it away. He didn't want to see a hunched over girl in a ragged white dress and long black hair waiting for him.

"I hear it over there. It's playing a creepy version of that song Lily's playing." Keng told Philip. "Come on, let's go." Keng was the first to move towards the thorn field in front of them. The thorns slowly turned, pointing at him as he studied them.

"It's like they're waiting for us to step into them." Philip stood next to Keng. "What do we do? Do we try to walk through it? Should I shoot a bolt to see what will happen?" Philip lifted his crossbow up and looked at Keng for an answer.

"Go ahead." Keng motioned. The bolt fired and the two watched the thorns fire at the bolt turning it into nothingness. "Well, I guess that doesn't work…"

"What do we do now? Walk?" Philip asked.

"I don't think anyone would just walk into their deaths. It's a curse. Who knows what would happen." Keng brushed his chin as he continued to think of other options. "I've only dealt with one curse, so my knowledge on curses isn't good… What do we do here?" Sometime passed before Philip snapped his fingers.

"Curses are ill-intent in nature, right?" Philip asked Keng.

"Yeah. Someone or something has to create the curse. Negative emotions and ill-intent fit into that category." Keng nodded.

"Your healing abilities. What do they come from?"

"It's technically off of manipulating light. Why?"

"Well, shoot your light out there and see what happens. Maybe the thorns will react to it and allow us to pass. We can follow the noise you hear and find the source of this curse."

"Alright." Keng nodded. Philip had a good idea and it was better than standing here. He lifted his hand and shot out a beam of light. The beam of light hit a spot about forty feet away and the two watched as path of thorns underneath the light began to turn to flowers. "Come on, let's go."

Keng and Philip jogged side by side as they made their way down the path. The flowers behind them quickly turned to thorns and the sea of black and purple began to follow them. Purple light began to glow all around them as thorns began to fire at Keng and Philip.

"Gravity bubble." Keng muttered. Thorns came to a complete stop around Keng and Philip, falling to the ground as they continued. The flowers underneath their feet started to turn to thorns. "Run!"

Philip and Keng picked up their speed into a run. The light beam was slowly becoming useful with the thorns as Keng adjusted the light. Silver light wrapped around the gravity bubble as Keng focused the beam of light in front of them. The sea of black and purple thorns grew larger around them, crashing into the gravity bubble.

"It's trying to snuff out my light!" Keng shouted. With one flick, a blast of gravity and light flew out in every direction. Flowers bloomed all around them quickly washing back into a sea of thorn as Keng's eyes detected the source of this madness. "There!" Keng pointed with his other hand. "We're almost there!"

Thorns sprung from beneath Philip and Keng's feet, nicking and piercing themselves into their feet.

"ARgh!" Philip shouted, tumbling onto the ground. Thorns pierced themselves into Philip, wiggling as they dug deeper into him.

"Philip!" Keng shouted, stopping. He flicked his two fingers at Philip and ripped him out of the thorns. Philip yelped in pain as blood and glowing puprle liquid spilled from all over his body. Keng flicked his fingers towards him and watched Philip fly at him. "Hold on tight!" Keng grabbed Philip and sprinted straight for the darkest part of the curse. The sea of thorns crashed down at them as Keng slid onto the ground.

"W-WATCH IT!" Philip shouted. The thorns crashed as complete darkness swallowed them.

"Where are we?" Philip asked. Keng could feel the corrupted energy around them, still, but he didn't feel like they were in immediate danger. Keng's entire body lit up as he tapped on Philip. Thorns fired out of the young man, releasing another yelp of pain. "You should warn me when you do something like that! That hurts!"

"Sorry. Stay still." Keng apologized. The silver light washed over Keng and Philip, healing them of their injuries as they slid to a stop. Keng's silver light barely lit up the area around them. His mind began to theorize if this was more than magical darkness.

"Alright, I'm fine. Can I get up now?" Philip asked.

"Go ahead." Keng told him. Keng felt Philip's weight lift. Philip stood up and slowly looked around as Keng stood up on his feet.

"Where are we?"

"Within the deepest part of a curse." Keng answered. He could see a stream of purple energy above them. It was coursing its way further away from them. "Come on," Keng patted Philip. "Follow me."

"Hold up. I can't see."

Keng's hand moved from Philip's back to his arm, sliding down it until he reached Philip's hand. He held it and pulled him forward. The two walked like this while Keng noticed the purple energy start to get bigger and more obvious. They walked for quite awhile until Philip finally perked up.

"Woah, what's that?" Philip pointed at the large purple roots. It's light lit the nearby area up. Keng continued to hold Philip's hand, taking a moment to study what these roots even meant.

"The source of the corruption is near?" Keng guessed. "What's the source then…?"

"There's a source for all of this? For a tree and their dryad?" Philip asked, pulling his hand away from Keng. Keng nodded, looking at Philip.

"All of this," Keng motioned. "Always has a source."

"Is this like the curse you and my sister fought?"

"No." Keng shook his head. "We fought an Ent. Lee Seng told me he fought some sort of golem. He entered the curse's energy and fought something in there."

"So… Does that mean you'll have to do the same?"

"We'll see when we get there. Let's continue forward."

The roots grew bigger until it was pure purple. The tunnel of roots opened up to a large room where roots spun around, what looked like, a glowing humanoid body. Keng's arm went up and blocked Philip from going further. Keng's eyes narrowed as he watched the glowing humanoid body.

"Vefe gea… Jeaer." A weak voice spoke out to them.

"My guests have arrived." Philip whispered.

"You can understand that?" Keng looked at Philip. The purple humanoid exploded, releasing energy. Philip and Keng slid backwards, the ground moving away from them. A bubble of gravity rippled out of Keng's abdomen area, stopping him and Philip from being blasted away.

"You will die!" The weak voice screamed. The energy pulled into the humanoid body, revealing the dryad. Her wild hair blowing in different directions as her veins pulsed purple against her white skin. She wore dead plants which were held together by thorns. A huge black flower on the right of her shoulder with purple energy swirling at the bulb.

Keng and Philip dropped as the Dryad rose.

"I'll cover you." Philip told Keng. Philip dug his left hand into a pouch and pulled out a white powder. He pulled the bow and lifted the crossbow up as a cold bolt fizzled into existence. Keng dashed forward, pulling his daggers out. The daggers grew large as the purple energy shot out from all around the Dryad.

"Mark." Keng whispered. He jumped to the right as Philip released his bolt.

"Icicle Shatter Rain!" The bolt exploded into a large cone of ice in front of Philip as he watched purple energy move past him. "Reloading!"

"God Weapon Art: Waves of Mercy!" Keng slashed the air, flinging gravity-charged water slashes out at the Dryad. The dryad lifted her hand as thorns and vines grew and turned into a shield. The attack shook the room as Keng continued forward. Philip darted left, lifting the crossbow as he took aim.

A whistle escaped his lips as he fired. The Dryad turned and lifted her other arm, creating another thorn shield. Philip's whistle disappeared as the bolt vanished with it. Philip continued on his path, reloading as he tilted his head and let out another loud whistle.

"Double shot." Philip released his next shot and watched as the Dryad moved her shield to protect herself from the shot. The vanished bolt re-appeared in its trajectory and burrowed itself in the dryad's leg.

"AHH!" The dryad cried as the other bolt bounced off the shield. The twang of the bolt pulled itself from falling and flew straight into the shield, cracking it. Keng, on the other hand, rounded the shield and jumped into the air, daggers pointed straight for the Dryad.

"Energy Siphon!"