Chapter 179: Attack On The Grove
The Treemen are all on high alert. A group of 20 Treemen bad been lose, telling the others of presence of powerful monsters, or a large tribes.
At the moment, no Treemen forage, all keeping an eyes on the surrounding. Some even look upward, in case the attackers come from above.
However, two days since the lose of the 20 Treemen cause the others to slowly lowered their guards. Their movement become less orderly, with some holes appearing in their patrols.
Considering they are tree-monsters, they are not fast, and they don't like moving, so they rarely do such an extensive patrols. When given the reason to not do so, they will just walk around, instead of doing the Treemen equivalent of running.
The monsters would have never suspected there is an intelligent mind behind the loss of the Treemen, which take them by surprise when the attack come without any warning.
-x-
Night had come, a time where the Treemen become even more passive, the lack of sunlight causing them to be somewhat lethargic, especially the larger Treants.
So, when the attack come, they could barely react. The attack start with a volley of arrow, black flame flickered at the tip of the arrows. When the arrows hit any Treeman, screech of pains unleashed by the tree-monsters, the flame burning them.
They tried to dive into the water to extinguish the fire, to no avail. Even when the flame is completely submerged, the fire remain burning, to the anguish of the living trees.
The one that was burned ran outside the grove, not wanting to spread the flame inside their home. However, they merely fall into another traps, as Demonic Goblins fire arrows at them, the end connected to chains.
Lizardmen, and Hobgoblins pulled the chains, bringing down the Treemen down, before the fallen Treemen were dragged elsewhere. As the Treemen's number began to die down, the other plant-based monsters began to move, assisting the main protectors of the grove.
The Treebeast charged at the monsters, they speed greater than Treemen make them the vanguard of the Treemen. Behind them are the Treewraith, their terrifying visage would have send regular Goblins fleeing in fright.
However, his Demonic Goblins were trained to fight stronger foes. They were able to hold their own against the larger monsters, their usage of large iron shields allowing them to block the Treewraith and Treebeast.
"Capture them," Alros ordered as he surveyed the battle from the sky, his eyes screening the movement of the defenders of the grove.
"Take this," the demon said, throwing a Demonic Fireball, burning a large area while leaving dark flames burning around the point of impact.
He raised his hands, before making a waving motion. Black flame erupted from the swamp water, before a barrier of black flame separated the Treemen forces. Unable to receive help from the other, the trapped Treemen were forced to fight with his monster without any support, the result being them being taken down and subdued.
However, Alros remain cautious. After all, there still three other monsters that did not make a move just yet. The Devouring Vine Monsters, Exploding Fruits Throwers, and of course, the Treants, the largest and most dangerous monsters in the entire grove.
Sure enough, he is correct. Alros could see some of the larger monsters slowly making their way to the battlefield. However, due to their larger size, they are slower, giving them a lot of time to defeat the monsters on the battlefield before they could come in time to reinforce.
In fact, they are slow enough that both battlefields can be won in time before the reinforcement arrive. And he will ensure it will happen just like that.
Alros flew towards the Treants and threw several Demonic Fireball. The attack was blocked, the monsters to slow to avoid the attack. However, the Treants is a lot more powerful than Treeman, which make it harder for him to injure them.
However, even if the attack did not do much, it still cause some damage. As the Treants tried to extinguish the black flame, Alros flew towards the Mother Tree and throw several Demonic Fireball to the large tree. As expected, the Treants cover the Mother Tree, blocking the attack at the cost of their barks.
As he continue to assault the Mother Tree, the rest of the grove's inhabitants seem to sense something as they turned, heading towards the Mother Tree.
However, such action is plain stupid, especially to a group of monsters, all no slouch in thinking abilities, at least compared to the other monsters. They also several with mind equal to capable tacticions and strategist.
With capable monsters, they took the chance to bring down the Treants. Large iron chains were thrown to the large monsters, which was pulled by the combined might of Alpha Lizardmen, some of the huge Bugs, and a lot of Hobgoblins.
One by one, Treants began to fall, as more chains wrapped around them, keeping them on the ground. However, even as the strongest fighters of the enemy side being taken down, the Treemen continue to head towards the Mother Tree.
Alros could sense them coming, which will put him great danger. However, he keep on attacking, knowing the reason for the monsters coming is because they were called by the Mother Tree.
Letting them came towards him will make it easier to make them fall into a trap, his monsters continue to trapped and chain the monsters, slowly bringing them down, one Treeman at a time.
"Let's get serious," Demonic Fireball appeared in his palm, this time a lot larger than he ever did.
Alros throw the Fireball at the still target, as they shield the Mother Tree. The flame came close to burn them to the core, thought the Treants manage to survive, even at the cost of their armor.
However, their sacrifice will be in vain as his attack did what he intended to, creating a large enough holes for him to enter.
Alros flew towards the gap, passing through the bodies of the Treants before arriving in front of the Mother Tree. His hand bathed in black flame as he move it closer to the tree, screech of terror causing the Treants to stop moving.
"I know you can think and send message to your subordinates, so tell them to stand down, or you will die," the Mother Tree send out a message, the other monsters stopped moving as they bow towards the Mother Tree.
Alros smiled as he was able to achieve victory swiftly.