Chapter 168: Fall, Part 1

The Marrow would focus their efforts back in trying to gain control of the situation, with the Spider being used to fight in the front lines, while it itself would focus on flanking, striking them when they least expect it. Harvard would already set up a spell in the form of Rosetta Stone, letting them invade the ground and keep watch, digging into the Marrow the moment it steps in one of the hieroglyphs. Solomon and Stolas, meanwhile, would utilize their magic, The former through his plagues and the latter with his nebulae, blasting down the beast in full force, pushing it back with the amount of damage and heat being obtained. Harvard kept a close eye on the wooden monstrosity, ready to cast Flames once more to burn the spriggan-like creature away. "Oi, By the way, while we got some time, any idea what that's supposed to be?" Solomon would ask, gesturing his head towards the wounded arachnid, the fire consuming through the limbs like mad.

Harvard would sigh, recognizing it well. "Yeah...That's Uru. Gonna assume that thing managed to take advantage of my cards to summon it?" he would ask.

Stolas would nod as an answer. "He did something on your body and possessed you to summon it. Had it not been for Solomon over here, we probably would've NEVER seen yah again."

Harvard simply laughed at such an answer. "Please, I'm sure I would've find a way. Though, I'm gonna probably have to absorb it back and summon a different monster to help us out here. You guys think you can handle the walking tree?" His question would be met once more with a nod, already setting up the plan for the group. The three would split off, with Harvard casting all sorts of spells to take care of his friend, now turned enemy. Chains, Fire, Ice, Lightning. All sorts of attacks all swung violently around to ensnare and weaken Uru, with the attacks barely scraping at it, merely burning off the forest growing from the lines embedded in its body. Moreover, the Monster was faster than Harvard, sending out webs upon webs, all of which would take the hit of his more serious attacks, while also trying to lunge forward, using its ginormous body to strike and cripple the child, yet the boy would somehow react accordingly with his spells, warping the distance away from Uru and right back in front of its face whenever necessary. Despite such rejuvenation, the child knew well that his own monsters would do a serious number, so he would be quick in setting up a sigil to try and intercept the beast, yet the Spider merely flanked around and tried to attack at a distance with its webbing, forcing the boy to have the sigil take its hit.

Meanwhile, Solomon and Stolas both ran straight towards the Marrow, allowing the Hieroglyphs to invade and surround the monster, whilst Stolas activated Zodiac Man, even sparing some to surround Solomon, giving them an active shield to protect against Primavera. The Marrow, in response, would grow more trees from the earth, letting the roots try to stab into the makeshift armor, trying to fuel its heat in order to cook them from within, while also growing itself in order to avoid any further confrontation made between the children, shaking the trees themselves to fuel more of the cluster, letting the fire be made more and more, spreading in every acre, the smoke quickly piling on. Despite such a disastrous outcome, the children kept pushing on, letting the stars expand and burn it all to the ground, scaling up on the trees in order to reach the Marrow and try to go for a clean strike in its chest. What they didn't knew, however, was that the Marrow positioned itself in a way where, once the Spider unleashed another web, it would use it as a platform to walk across, reaching at the top of the forest and using the silk to grow a new forest. A Loop was being made, with the Marrow growing plant-life within seconds once he had Uru shoot out another web, slowly coating the first forest within a layer, then climbing up the trees to make a second layer, rinse and repeat. Everyone was getting confused to its plan, as they would climb their way up, having to fight through branch after branch, bark after bark, watching the leaves be condensed enough to block out the sun from their vision.

That was when it would slip itself into the trees, fusing its body with the newly made forest, reaching high enough to act as a skyscraper, and activate its magic once more. "Pri.....Ma...Ve.....Ra..." The pollen quickly secreted itself after it mumbled such words, each tree, flower, and branch blew it out as if it was a speck of dust in the air. It was almost suffocating. Thankfully, Stolas' stars were a perfect shield against this, as the pollen would simply burn away on contact, but then the realized that Harvard himself wasn't protected. They could see, through the myriad of bushes and shrubbery, that the boy is practically coated in them, the magic already taking place and growing deep in his body. Not even covering his mouth or nose would stop it, as they were small enough to enter through the pores in his skin. If he wanted to escape such a situation, he'd need to risk his body being damaged just as well. Uru would already prepare one of its legs to crush the child as he was occupied, acting as a flank for the giant spider, ensuring that, even if he would get out from the pollen, he would be met with physical force, being crushed under its weight. The boys would try to rush for the child, burning down anything and everything in their path to get closer, yet it was no use, he was already infected. 

Yet in such moments, the boys can see from under his hands, he was smiling. His mouth open wide, a card being placed in his own mouth.

FWOOSH!!

A light. A Light that quickly engulfed the area, a fire that burns through the thicket. The boy somehow still stands, his body ablaze, his very skin being peeled and cooked due to such intensity.

He casted Flames on himself, igniting himself alive. A walking torch to spite the Marrow's tricks.