As Fenrir sped through the forest, chased by dozens of Tree Demons, Damien made two commands quickly.
“Cancel Cerbe’s summon!” The first was the command the cancel the summons of his Three-Headed Hound.
«Cancelling Summon on Fenrir, the Three-Headed Hound…»
«Summon cancelled!»
Then in the next second, his second command followed.
“Summon Cerbe!” Damien yelled out, his command directed at his system.
«Summoning Cerbe, the Monstrous Wolf…»
«-100 units»
A blue portal opened in front of Damien and immediately, three balls of fire shot out.
«-300 units»
«-300 units»
«-300 units»
Swooooosh!
The three Fireballs sped past Damien and headed toward the Tree Demons chasing after him.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Upon contact with the demons, the fireballs exploded, sending flames everywhere and burning through the trees.
Kreeeeee!!
Their screeches filled the air again.
In the meantime, a creature leapt out of the portal in front of Damien, fireballs forming in front of its three heads.
«Cerbe summoned!»
The last panel that confirmed his summon appeared and disappeared almost immediately, replaced by three other panels that Damien completely ignored.
«-300 units»
«-300 units»
«-300 units»
Deductions on his overall essence reserves due to the destructive fireballs his summon was forging ahead of them.
Swooooosh…
The fireballs left Cerbe’s mouth once again, speeding past Damien who was riding a running Fenrir.
Boom!!
Another round of explosion rocked the area followed by the screeching of more Tree Demons.
Kreeeeee!!
Thud!
Thud!
Three of the dozens dropped to the ground, burnt to a crisp by Cerbe’s flame balls.
“Yes!” More!” This was exactly why Damien had summoned the Three-Headed Hound. Fire worked against anything relating to a tree or wood and it just so happens that these demons were trees.
The (Flames of Hell) was the perfect counter for them as it wasn’t just normal flames. It was literally flames from hell like the name suggested.
Fenrir finally caught up to Cerbe who was ahead and both of them began to run away. As they ran, Cerbe created fireballs and when they were ready to be shot out, the summoned beast would twist its body to the side just enough to have its head facing the Tree Demons that continued to chase after them.
The explosions that followed would always burn through the trunks of the demons provoking more screeches from them. The (Flames of Hell) brought them pain.
Then in the blink of an eye, Damien felt something threatening coming for him.
He turned to the back just in time to see a thick vine whipping toward him.
Bang!
The tree’s vine slammed into his side and he was sent flying, his body thrown off the back of his ride.
Bang!
Damien’s body ricocheted off the grassy floor as a result of the attack and his initial speed.
Bang!
He bounced once again before finally slamming into a nearby tree.
Thud!
The third time was muffled but it was hurtful without a doubt.
“Ugh!” Damien groaned in pain, struggling to sit up and examine his body status before observing his surroundings
His summons has dropped running away as he’d been thrown into the distance in anithee direction. They were now both speeding toward him, hoping to arrive before the Tree Demons most of which now targeted Damien rather than his summons.
Away from the familiar pressure his summons usually exude as Grade Five mana beasts, Damien could now feel the pressure of these Tree Demons as well.
He focused his senses on one of the Tree Demons even as they all charged toward him.
’That thing is a Grade Five Demon!’ Damien realised, his eyes widening in shock. Their auras were slightly weaker than Ceebes but there was no denying that they were Grade Five demons!
’And there are over thirty of them! No wonder the system provided me with a survival mission.’ Only now did he understand why the system has suddenly provided a survival mission to him.
These demons weren’t just plenty. They were powerful as well. He’d simply been unable to notice because he was very close to Fenrir and the summon exuded more pressure than them.
“I need to get away from here!” Damien murmured, placing one hand on the tree behind him to get support as he attempted standing up. An attack from a Grade Five demon was still a lot for him to handle.
Regardless, Damien rose to his feet just in time for him to see his summons arriving in front of him while the Tree Demons were still a few meters away.
«-300 units»
«-300 units»
«-300 units»
Once again, three large balls of flames formed in front of Cerbe’s opened mouths and three streaks of red light shot forward a second later.
Boom!
The thee fireballs landed on three random Tree Demons, igniting their very being.
Kreeee!
They screeched in agony but the flames refused to die down. It kept burning nonstop.
Another three balls of flames formed and a second later, it shot out. There was another explosion.
As Cerbe opened its mouth to form a third set of fireballs, three thick vines shot forward, wrapping around the hound’s three heads and choking the air out of them.
Rooooar!!
Fenrir’s roar shook the forest as it lunged forward, its sharp claws and fangs tearing through a the vines wrapped around Cerbe’s three heads.
Rrratch!!
Fenrir’s claws tore pieces of wood from the trunks of a nearby tree demon, its mouth biting into the lower part of the tree demon.
Scrrrunch!
The sound of biting and pulling as Fenrir pulled out a black ball from the tree demon’s lower part.
Almost immediately, the tree demon dried up, withering away. Its essence core had been taken out. Not only did it serve as the tree demon’s essence core, it was also its Life Force.
Tree demons didn’t possess hearts like other demons of creatures and only relied on the essence cores to exist. Without an essence core, they were just another tree.
Thud!
The dried up tree demon fell to the ground never to rise again. Meanwhile, Fenrir had already leaped after another demon.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
With its mouths released once again, Cerbe was more than happy to shoot forth Fireballs that continued to burn these demons.
Damien smiled as he watched his two summons support and attack and then he too joined.
“Raaah!” He roared, pulling out his sword and heading toward the bearing Tree Demon that Cerbe had attacked with its (Flames of Hell) and as he arrived, he aimed for the same spot Fenrir had bitten through to kill its initial target.
Thuck!
His bone sword went through, the whole of the weapon penetrating the tree demon and then…
“Huh?” Damien was shocked to see nothing happen.