Chapter 204 Sword and Shield

To the surprise of both Emilio and Everett, the landscape of the mystical forest shifted as they reached a new sector: the green-leaves trees were now holding bright-red leaves like a fiery autumn, creating an atmosphere of a scarlet hue.

“Woah...” Everett remarked.

“This place just gets weirder and weirder...” Emilio mumbled.

There was a sweet smell that filled the air, crossing between a natural nectar and a strong aroma resembling syrup.

“Are you sure this is the right way?” Everett asked, momentarily taking his helmet off to scratch his shaggy hair.

“Pretty sure,” Emilio responded.

It wasn’t just the overwhelming existence of the red leaves that clung to each tree, acting as a ceiling above them and the matching grass, but the perplexing geological structure of the land; it continuously caved in to provide steep, shallow ravines and provided steep hills.

All in all, the crimson biome was simply a strange place. Nonetheless, the two moved into it in search of Melisande.

“Melisande!” Emilio called out, cupping his hands around his mouth.

“Melisande–!” Everett helped.

Though the young mage didn’t know how helpful it’d be to have an unfamiliar voice chip in to call out, even if Everett had more ‘boom’ to his voice.

As the two descended a steep hill that went down into a section of tall, bright-red grass that stood as high as Emilio, the young mage stopped as a sudden yelp escaped from his newfound companion’s lips:

“Aaaagh-!”

Emilio instantly spun around, turning to witness the armorclad shielder be hoisted straight into the air by the grip of crimson vines that wrapped around his shin.

“It seems...I require a bit of assistance!” Everett shouted, being hung upside down by the sentient plant life.

“What the–hold on!” Emilio assured him.

Raising his wooden staff, he closed one eye as he aimed it upward, trying to focus as the thick bundle of violent vines swayed around far too much.

“Aaagh–! Please hurry, friend!” Everett called out.

The youthful shielder was being swung around in the air in a disorientating fashion before the vine whipped around, aiming to slam the figure into one of the sturdy trees.

“–Give me a second, and...gotcha!” Emilio called.

Finally finding his opportunity, he unleashed a precise cut of wind that traveled upward swiftly, bisecting the vines and freeing Everett from their hold, but coming with its own price as the armorclad young man began falling downward.

“Ahhhhhh–! Oh...”

Before Everett could face-plant into the ground, he was stopped gently by a bed of wind that caught up.

“Nice catch–”

Just as the cheery shielder complimented the young mage, the wind was relinquished, causing Everett to gently face-plant the grass.

As the shielder glanced around, he figured out what the young mage was pointing to: despite the existence of flames, none of the trees nor foliage were burned in the slightest.

“Woah...” Everett let out.

“I think this crimson forest operates how it looks: fire is sustenance for the plants here,” Emilio explained, “–and that means...!”

Pointing that out, the young mage came to a realization as he watched chaotic heat building up within the violent plantlife with smoke billowing from the gaps in its humanoid shape.

“Behind me!” Everett called seriously.

Without wasting a moment, Emilio rolled behind his companion, ducking behind the large shield that protected them both just as a massive release of condensed flames shot out from the plant’s body.

The impact of the retaliated flames against the sturdy shield resulted in a roar of heat, propelling outward and brushing through the treeline.

“Magic is great and all, but sometimes, good ol’ steel beats all!” Everett said with a smile, planting the shield down as the flames roared against it.

“Yeah, well, this isn’t really the time!” Emilio shouted in response.

Heat built up quickly as it flowed against the thick shield planted against the soil by Everett, who buckled down in order to keep himself from sliding back.

“How much fire does it have stored in there?!” Everett yelled.

“My bad! I might have overfed it!” Emilio replied.

Feeling as though this was a battle of attrition that would only wear the shielder down, Emilio took things into his own hands while the plant-menace was focused on channeling the fiery wrath against the shield.

Alright...I’ve got an idea! He thought.

Using wind beneath his boots to launch upward, he soared past the trees, using bands of water like vines to swing from tree-to-tree, taking a page out of the plant’s notebook as he felt like a certain arachnid comic book hero he recalled from Earth.

He used the ropes of water, latching onto each tree as he wrapped around to the fire-absorbing vegetation’s flank.

If it gains sustenance from fire, I’m willing to bet going by the dryness of this red forest...Water is the bane of these plants, he thought.

As he arrived at the flame-shooting plant’s flank, he stood on air before pointing his staff forward, just then gaining the figure’s attention as it began to bubble-up another channel of fire towards the young mage.

“Try feeding on this!” He shouted.

A massive coalescence of water condensed to the end of his catalyst, rippling as the azure aqua shot forward with extreme pressure, slamming against the plant in a beam of highly-pressurized water.

As the crimson plant-humanoid was slammed to the ground, completely drowned in water, the immediate area of the bright-red, dense forest of a mystical autumn was drenched as well.

“...Woah, look at that...” Everett said, looking past his shield.

The crimson plants began wilting in the presence of water, losing their glow as the red grass itself decayed.

As the beam of water fizzled out, Emilio landed on the ground, looking towards the sentient plant life that was now shriveled up, shrinking down as it decayed from being engulfed in high doses of water.

“Looks like I was right,” Emilio mumbled.

Everett slung his arm around the young man’s shoulder, “Nice one, again! You’re amazing! Seriously–I’ve never met a smart guy like you before! Not many mages in my hometown.”

Taken aback by the close camaraderie, Emilio bashfully scratched his cheek, “...It’s nothing. I just got lucky. Anyway, we’re not done yet.”

“Oh, right...Your friend is still out here. Hmm...” Everett got serious, looking around.