A battle was taking place in the middle of the forest, which appeared to be less of a battle and more of a slaughter. The Orcs had strength, but that strength was useless when they were inside a forest, surrounded by the Triads that should control the plantations.

Just a single Triad was proving to be overwhelming on a group of Orcs.

The Orcs couldn’t even reach the Triad, which was against them, without having to fight the Tree Soldiers that the Triad had conjured.

It was as if the Triad had given life to the trees in the surroundings and used them to fight his enemies.

“Such pathetic beings. It’s a disgrace that I even have to fight you!”

About ten meters away from the battle that was taking place, there stood a tall figure whose face was hidden behind a wooden mask. The rest of his body was also hidden in the cloak that the Triad wore.

In the cold tone of the man, his disgust for the Orcs could clearly be felt, as if he believed that the Orcs were too inferior Species. It was also true as well. If there were any species that was more dumb than the Orcs, it was the Goblins. Every other Species was considered to be smarter.

And even amongst the smartest Species, the Triads were at the top. Triads were considered to be the guardians of the Forest. There was only one species on this Floor that was considered to be smarter than the Triads… The Elves. However, when it came to battle strength, Triads were deemed to be superior.

They were also harder to defeat since no one could enter the Domain of the Triads. On the other hand, it was much easier to attack the Elves since everyone knew how to get to them.

Despite having such strength, the Triads were rarely seen coming out of their domain.

The Tree Soldiers were almost impossible to defeat. No matter what the Orcs did, they couldn’t destroy a Tree Soldier that could heal and grow up again.

Fighting a tree soldier was like fighting an immortal beast.

“Urgh!” A sharp wooden stake impaled the leader of the group of Orcs, making it cough out blood. Another Tree Soldier sliced the head of the Orc Leader before his body was tossed aside.

Seeing their leader be killed right before their eyes, the other Orcs weren’t scared. On the contrary, they were angrier and attacked even more fiercely. Unfortunately, even if they destroyed the Tree Soldiers, the Soldiers kept healing.

“Resistance is futile. Hand over Layin, and I’ll let you live. If you don’t, you’ll all die here. And after you, I’ll go to your Village and destroy everyone!”

The Triad appeared to be filled with hate and anger. He didn’t even find it worth his time to kill those Orcs. He gave them one last chance to survive. However, the Orcs didn’t even bother listening to him.

Unlike the Triads, the Orcs weren’t scared of dying. They were like family. If one was killed, no matter what, everyone else went for revenge, no matter how strong the enemy was or how little chance they had.

The Triad was the King of the forest in this situation. Nothing could escape his vision. He could even feel the lightest of footsteps on the grass. Unfortunately, that wasn’t known by Azekiel.

Even though Lia cast her illusion to make sure that Azekiel wasn’t seen, the Triad sensed the footsteps. He glanced in Azekiel’s direction.

A frown rested on his face as he failed to find anyone there. He couldn’t see a single person there. Despite that, he was sure that someone was there.

The Triad clapped his hand lightly. A tree that wasn’t far from where Azekiel was standing came to life. It swung its branch.

****

Azekiel was getting close to the Triad, slowly. However, he saw the Triad abruptly looking in his direction. He stopped where he was, wondering if the Triad could see him.

Immediately after, he saw the Tree around him come to life, swinging a branch at him.

Azekiel brought forth his Gauntlets, making a shield to protect him from the branch.

Despite him being prepared for the impact, the branch didn’t hit him. He lowered his hands, noticing the branch stopping just a few inches away from him. The tree struggled to free itself; however, it couldn’t. It was as if there were some mysterious shackles that were stopping the tree.

“Little one, you think I will let anyone hurt him as long as I’m here?” Lia appeared before the tree.

“Burn!” She let out one simple word. A formation circle appeared around the tree.

Raging fires came out of the formation that caught the tree. The tree kept burning, but it couldn’t break the shackles.

Lia glanced at Azekiel, flashing a beautiful smile. “Told you I was capable. Anyway, it seems there’s no benefit to the illusion. The Triad can sense you. Shall I stop the illusion?’

Azekiel scratched his temple, realizing that he really underestimated Lia. When he had first summoned Lia, she didn’t manage to show him any decent skills, which made him believe that she wasn’t as helpful. However, it was only now he realized that she really deserved a second opportunity.

“Cancel the illusion. Since he already knows I’m here, we might as well take him head on.”

“Sure. You focus on him. I’ll focus on his pawns and provide you support.” Lia canceled her illusion.

****

The Triad made his tree attack the spot where he sensed the movement; however, he noticed that the attack of the Tree Soldier didn’t go through. Some mysterious shackles appeared around it, restraining it. Not only that, but a fire also appeared around the Tree Soldier mysteriously, shocking the Triad!

He was sure that it was the work of the one he couldn’t see. Not only was that person stopping the Tree Soldier, but he was also destroying it!

If there was one time that Triads hated the most, it was to see nature being destroyed. It didn’t matter if they were using the same nature to kill someone, but when someone destroyed something of theirs, it was engaging.

“Who dares! Show yourself!” The Triad raised his voice. His voice was filled with some strange energy. Wherever that voice passed through, the trees kept coming to life, all attacking in the same direction.

However, this time he didn’t need to wait for long as a person became visible in the distance. It was a young man, donning Metallic Gauntlets in his hands.

“A human?” The Triad frowned. “Are you one of the so-called Climbers?”