Chapter 163: Summertime

Meanwhile, at the same time Pria fought her own battle against the Wendigo, Stolas and Solomon would be met face-to-face with Harvard summoning his own monster, taking in the trees and grass as its cost. He did not spoke a word, yet it was telling that, despite him being possessed, he still would've wanted to introduce the creature in his own dramatic way. The sigil began to glow as it embedded itself on the ground, with the Marrow taking advantage of their loss of focus by growing branches from the earth to try and stab into the children. The two would push themselves back, getting their senses in order, with Stolas focusing on Harvard's summoning, creating Sagittarius to fire at the seal, trying to disrupt it. Solomon, meanwhile, would push forward on the Marrow itself, sending plague after plague upon the monster, even compelled to prepare his Horsemen to try and disrupt it further, yet the Marrow effortlessly dodged it, digging itself into the ground and burrowing across the earth to get closer. Solomon would prepare a barrier in response, making it so that if it does pop out, it would be like trapping a rat in a cage, ensuring they wouldn't leave in the slightest.

The sigil began to glow proudly, unleashing a solid beam upwards, piercing through the self-made forest. The sigil opened itself wide as everyone would bare witness to the monster he's willing to summon: A Spider-like creature, with lines across its body. The Spider seemed to also possess an extra four pair of legs, most of such legs residing in its thorax. An Arachnid of pure white and red, its eyes staring down at the group. Without hesitation, the Possessed Harvard would grapple onto such a leg, letting the roots invade and take over the monster's body. It realized that its summoner was in danger, yet its guard was down, leaving it wide open to be taken over. Stolas could only watch in horror at seeing it being taken advantage of, with the Marrow speeding up the process through Primavera, vines and flowers growing across the lines and slowly creating a forest out of its body, ready to use it as a weapon. The Stellar Magician gripped its talon-like claws tightly, balling it like a fist, having a grip so intense that it accidentally cuts into his skin and made him bleed a bit. His beak made a disgusting grimace as he stared at the Spriggan-like menace. "Using someone to fight for you...Manipulating one's trust to give you an advantage...and acting like you're superior....It's sickening..." His eyes were like that of a predators, giving a silent, yet effective vow that the Marrow understood at a first glance.

The moment they get their friend back, there will be no mercy left for the freak of nature.

The Spider-like monster would go on an all-out assault, charging forward and using its legs to try and crush Stolas like a bug. It was fast, and it was huge, with a single leg almost enough to wipe out a mountain. The Stellar Magician would speed around to get close to Harvard, hoping he could deal enough damage to weaken and stun him, reminding himself to go easy in order to preserve his life as much as he could. He'd use Sagittarius once again, firing his shots directly at the branches and vines, hoping to burn off the connection made from the legendary Arachnid so it can be on their side. the Possessed Harvard, however, would throw himself in the trajectories way, letting himself take shot after shot, star after star, damaging himself more and more so that the roots would grow deeper and deeper in his skin.

Stolas recognized what was going on, getting more and more pissed by the minute. "SOLOMON! YOU GOT A SECOND!?" He would yell. Solomon would make his response in the form of a Plague of Darkness coating the entire barrier, concealing both combatants, allowing the Biblical Sorcerer to escape and weave his way around the Spider's attacks to catch up.

"Yeah, no good, the guy's not letting up. Every time I get a chance to hit him, he just comes back like nothing happened." Solomon would state, to which Stolas would grunt underneath his breath.

"Tch, Great. Not only that, but he's clearly adamant about wanting Harvard for himself. The freak's using him as a personal meat shield so he could continue growing his weed all over him! At this rate, Harvard's gonna die any second now!! We should probably get Pria and have her deal with this-" Stolas' rant would be halted as Solomon grabbed his shoulder.

"Bad idea. If we go over there, that THING is just gonna leave and focus on everyone else. We need to kill it HERE and NOW. Problem is, I don't know what to do here to actually do some serious damage..." Solomon would state, with both of them being deep in thought, preparing to dodge against the boys attacks, whether it was chains, knives, or elemental spells, while also evading the Monster towering over them, trying to slam itself and even lunge forward to bite into the children, desperately attempting to consume them whole.

That was when Solomon had an idea, remembering on the incident regarding the Bakunawa. "Oi, Stolas! Let's swap! You deal with the talking bush, I deal with Harvard and the roots!" Without a moment's notice, both of the boys would spin back, going to their designated target, with Solomon setting up two spells and hurling it towards Harvard, where the latter reacted by casting Flames to burn it down. This would be his ultimate counter, as one of the spells casted would be of Red Sea Ark, flooding it down and drenching the boy's body, forcing him to pull his cards back in fear of it being damaged. When Solomon got close, he'd use his second spell on the branches and roots, the barrier that enveloped a part of it, before extending it down further and further. Despite not having any experience, he was aware that whatever is stuck in him is the one controlling his body. Even if it means ripping off his muscles, nerves, and possibly actual organs, thus resulting in a quick death, removing those roots and leaves would guarantee him being freed.

However, by utilizing the barrier itself and combining it with the actual body that is infected, it could block out any further damage aside from the one that is ingrained, thus limiting blood loss and render in shock rather than an absolute end. All he needs is to get the potion he uses to heal those wounds and have him wake up on his own. 

He knows it will work, it absolutely will...