Act 2: World Beyond - Chapter 361: A Mighty Throw

Act 2: World Beyond - Chapter 361: A Mighty Throw

A tendril smashed onto the floor. Oscar dodged in time and punched again, this time with his shield. Once more, the smaller tendrils created an opening, a void for Oscar's attack to hit nothing so they could enact a counter. Oscar's shield went inside the gap, and the tendrils contracted to close.

"Not this time," Oscar grunted and swung his arm up. Their mouths cried and screeched as his copper shield sliced out of their enclosure. Its edges gleamed with spheres of Eirin, allowing it to reach a sharpness unlike any other. However, it wasn't perfect.

Again, Oscar was plagued by the lower quality of a grade-two armament. To compensate, Erden rushed in, and its front hooves expanded and grew large from metal plates stacked on each other. It stomped on the large tendril and crushed as much of it as possible.

Oscar ran ahead and dashed across the stuck tendril, slicing through it with the sharpened shield. The part he cut off started to writhe and screech, breaking apart into smaller tendrils before plopping lifelessly on the floor. Oscar stared at this copper shield, noticing a small crack had formed on its surface.

"Grade-two armaments have their limitations." Oscar sighed. However, with this, he had the means to cut apart the red root piece by piece before his time ran out. The red root tried to catch Oscar, but his speed in the mantle form was beyond its means. Several slashes later, more tendrils dropped to the floor.

The red root stopped trying to fight directly and held back its large tendrils. The four mouths on its main body spat out large amounts of acid to level the battlefield. Seeing the sudden shift in its tactics, Oscar breathed a sigh of relief. His goal at the start was to force it to play defensively.

Thanks to the opening brought upon by the threat of his copper shield, Oscar rushed to the crater's edge.

'I still have this move!' Oscar stomped his right foot; his left hand was stretched back. With the form of a spear thrower, Oscar swung his left arm with all his might, throwing his copper shield. The spheres of Eirin burned along its edges, giving it a unique look as it spun in the air of a copper disk with rotating blue lights.

He had thrown it with all his power, so the speed was beyond what the red root could handle. Aiming for its main body wasn't feasible due to how close some tendrils kept to it, but Oscar knew the other perfect place to aim for. He had aimed straight down the crater toward the base of the large root connecting the body to the floor.

A grating noise filled the crater as the shield ground against the thick root. Rather than being sturdy like a vine, it seemed tougher than metal. Oscar expected this and observed while dodging the red root's lashing.

'20 Percent Eirin Shattering Wave.'

His shield was infused with the power of his Shattering Wave. Unlike the Silver Stars, which blew apart in an explosion, the shield was created with Reis-forging and directed the power naturally and seamlessly. It exploded from the edges, not as a wave but as a powerful, all-encompassing slash.

Erden's antlers slammed onto it from above as Oscar's Shattering Wave formed a large crater in its body. Blood burst out from the center as cuts and wounds spread all over its body. Erden forced his antlers down further in a final burst and dealt the finishing blow.

In a rain of blood and root, the red root fell apart. Its thousands of mouths groaned and chattered weakly until they fell into silence. The tendrils withered away, turning from red to brown to black before flaking away like dust, leaving behind something sparkling. A bright red core appeared within the fading mess where the red root once stood.

Oscar flew above the crater and retrieved the red core. Suddenly, he felt a pang of hunger. For an unknown reason, he saw the red core as a tasty meal and couldn't help but drool, almost losing himself from the sweet, irresistible scent wafting into his nose from the core.

"Oscar!" Gol-4 cried out from his shoulder, putting him back to reality. "We still have one more job to do."

Oscar shook his head and noticed the Eirin fading fast from his body. After using this Shattering Wave, he had around tens of seconds to make his next move. He called out to Erden, who wobbled in the air toward him. Riding on top of Erden, Oscar descended where the large root came from, an opening at the bottom of the crater.

Going through the hole, Oscar heard the sound of a heart beating and the thick smell of the forest, a calming smell to most, but Oscar had grown sick of it after so long. In a deep cavern surrounded by glowing grass and trees, which somehow grew without sunlight, Oscar found the Forest Heart in the center.

Disregarding the withered red root next to it, Oscar and Erden focused the last of their power and fell on the Forest Heart like a meteor, burning with blue Ein. The two exerted everything, and their shouts of exertion echoed in the cavern.

Finally, the Forest Heart burst apart. Oscar landed and tumbled onto the soft glowing grass, surrounded by floating gold pollen that glimmered like stars in this underground world. What an amazing sight. Oscar chuckled as he marveled at his surroundings.

"Erden, can you keep watch? I can't move a muscle." Oscar couldn't move. After training and becoming a Knight Exalt, Oscar no longer lost consciousness after using the Demon Deer Eirin Mantle, but his body remained immobile. Well, there was nothing else to do but enjoy this spectacle before him.

The golden pollen seemed to dance around him, celebrating his victory as the trees and grass swayed from the breeze coming from above. Erden lay beside him and lifted Oscar's head to rest it on his soft body. Feeling tired and gratified, Oscar slowly fell asleep in the comfort of his triumph, nestling on Erden's fur.

He dreamed of returning home. With the red root gone and the Forest Hearts destroyed. Nothing else stood in his way.