Chapter Twenty-Five: Trees of Life

In a particularly large tree, Morino Masato was sitting down, catching his breath as he scanned around the area for any sign of his squad.

"Wow, they can't even keep up with an old man? I'll need to get them in shape."

As he chuckled, he heard a noise, which made him pick up his Chained Axes, which were hanging off a nearby tree branch, and looked around the area.

"Hmm."

As he dropped down from the tree, using an axe to slide down its side, he only had one thought: "I hope my grandkids are alright. Fujii better be taking care of them."

As he walked deeper into the forest, he heard a noise much louder than the one before.

BOOM.

"That sounds like…fighting!"

As he prepared to make his way to the noise, a bulky, overweight dwarf with a horn on his belt stepped out from the trees. He was chewing on an apple.

"You smell human! Why are you here?"

Morino put his axes in their sheath and lifted his hands up as if he were surrendering. "I just need to find my squad. And I heard a loud noise coming from the left, last time I left them they were around that area."

"You're with them! That can not be allowed!"

"May I please pass? I mean you no harm—-"

"No! Too risky! You'll be subdued here…"

The dwarf drew a giant mace off his back and tossed the apple away. "…by Gormund Gluttonous the Third!"

As Gormund swung his mace, Morino immediately drew his axes and blocked the strike before it could hit him, but the impact made him stagger a little bit.

"Hey, now! It's not polite to attack an old man so abruptly!"

"I'm hungry, so hurry up and let me pound you into dust!" He attempted to swing again and again, but this time Morino was ready to dodge his next attacks. As Gormund swung his mace round and round, preparing to crush Morino, Morino swung his weapon like a whip.

"Well then, it seems I gotta put these babies to use."

Morino wrapped the chain connecting the axes around Gormund, tying him up. As Gormund tried to break out, the chain began to glow, and he struggled even harder to break out. Morino swung the chain around, taking the dwarf with it, and flung him into a tree, making him groan and fall to the ground. "Owie…"

Morino sat down, taking a minute to whisper to himself. "Thank you, Astari."

"Sir Morino!"

Morino looked up and saw Vice-General Mashimo rushing out of the trees. He knelt down next to Morino, checking up on him. "Are you alright, sir?"

"Mashimo! Did you bring the rest—-?"

Before he could finish, the rest of his squad burst out of the trees as well, all breathing heavily. "Oh. There they are."

Atomu politely approached Morino. "Sir! We've arrived to help."

Morino patted him on the shoulder. "You've got some nice manners, Your Majesty. I respect that…"

He looked around the squad, but they were missing a member. "…Where's Tomoko?"

Atomu looked back, but no trace of him was found. Nishiyama was standing there, trying hard to keep still. Atomu looked her up and down.

"You got rid of him."

"Did not!"

"Then why are you sweating?"

Atomu bowed his head. "Apologies, sir. It seems I wasn't paying attention."

Morino sighed. "Come on. Let's go find him. I have a hunch he might be somehow involved with that loud noise that came from the far west."

"Their lack of care or respect for any human that isn't me is alarming. I hope he and the boys are okay," he thought to himself.

But before they could leave, Gormund got back up, stomping his feet as if he was throwing a tantrum. "I said you AREN'T allowed to LEAVE! And you hurt me!"

Morino tightened his grip on his axes and groaned. "Please, just let us go through—-!"

"Nope!"

As he stuck his tongue out at them, Morino noticed that his eyes began to glow. "No way…"

And just like that, wooden armor appeared on his body, and his mace turned from stone to tungsten. He looked at his new appearance with awe, and he picked up his mace to examine it. "Hahahaha, old man! The Prince has activated it! Now time to finish you!"

He grabbed the small horn he had on his belt and blew into it. Just that quick, many dwarves fell from the trees with wooden armor and tungsten weapons, just like Gormund. They all muttered the same thing:

"AH-MAH-KANAWA."

Nishiyama looked around at them, confused. "Sir! What's going on? They've changed!"

"Everyone get behind me, now!"

The dwarves all gathered next to Gormund, who laughed and stated:

"Let's kill them, so we can eat!"

Meanwhile, in a dwarf town…

"Hahaha! Die, you weaklings!"

Shinjii was busy charging through armies of dwarves like it was nothing. He and his squad kept the pressure on them, and Rufius slowly crawled out of the building he was thrown in.

"What a brute! You people are exactly like they say! Leave our home!"

"Make me leave, then! Come on, swing!"

"Okay then, I WILL!" Rufius pulled out his glaive, and he attempted to stab Shinjii with it.

"Good!"

He lifted up his axe and blocked the strike, kicking Rufius back so hard he crashed into a pair of dwarves who were running toward them. "Who's next?"

Arata unleashed a shockwave that sent many dwarves flying into houses. "This is so easy! It's almost boring me!"

Shinjii kicked another dwarf away, before striking another with his axe. "Good! Take 'em all down!"

But soon after, they all began to grow wooden armor from their bodies and their weapons changed to tungsten. They all stood in a line, eyes glowing. Shinjii lifted an eyebrow. "Eh?"

"AH-MAH-KANAWA."

Rufius stepped forward, smiling. "Let's try this again, you idiot brute." He pointed his glaive at Shinjii, who held up his axe.

"A challenge? GOOD."

Both generals rushed at each other at the same time, blades clashing. As they both moved faster and faster, Shinjii, despite his size, was easily able to keep up with the dwarf.

"Hahahaha! Show me more, peasant!"

"Shut…up…and…die…!" Rufius's eyes glowed even brighter and his speed increased, but was easily matched by Shinjii, who was able to dodge and block all of his blows.

Arata began to try and jump in the fight. "Hey, I wanna get some hits in!"

As he prepared to make a move, however, a hand stopped him. "You shouldn't interrupt the General when he is fighting. It's for your own safety."

Arata looked up and saw an older, stern-looking Voltian staring at him. "Also. I am Vice-General Ken Kojima. A pleasure."

"Well, Ken! I want to hit something!"

Ken pointed over at a dwarf attempting to jump onto Arata. Without missing a beat, he charged up his fist and punched her away.

"I meant something TOUGH!" he scoffed.

Soon after, Arata saw Rufius fly over his head. "AHHHH!"

"Weak! Next!" Shinjii held his axe up, motioning for the other dwarves to come at him. They trembled but stood their ground.

And soon after, Shinjii sent them all flying. "Alright! Let's go find some more!"

And yet again, he took off with a speed that seemed impossible due to his stature. Arata, Ken, and the rest of Squad S-5 ran after him.

Ken called out to him. "Where shall we head, sir?"

"To the loud noise! I bet it's a strong opponent fighting there!" Shinjii laughed, thinking to himself: "And I want the honors of crushing it."

They continued, towards the center of the forest.

Meanwhile, at the Dwarf Kingdom…

Naito used her magic to shoot more arrows back at the golems, bringing them down. As more and more got close to her, she used their own arrows to put them down.

Once all the archers were taken care of, she used her fans to again carve the rest up. "Now. Exterminate."

As she effortlessly handled them, Dachii and Tomoko watched in awe, and Dachii accidentally blurted out:

"Gosh, she might actually be the perfect girlfriend—-"

"ENOUGH!!!"

A roar so loud it startled everyone present, even Naito, came out of Alarax. He had eyes of rage, burning with anger. Dachii could tell that something really had upset him.

He gently took off his necklace, and almost as if he was talking to a person, he whispered:

"Mistress, please forgive me, but I need…your strength…"

Then before anyone could react, he CRUSHED THE NECKLACE IN HIS HAND. A wave of brown energy flowed through his body, and he began to transform even further.

The armor around his body grew thicker, his hammer grew larger, and the wooden armor stretched out even further to form a mask around his face, with glowing brown eyes. His crown became more sharp and thorny.

Dachii stared in horror. "We're dead…"

Naito immediately turned her attention to him, calling her fans back to her. As she went for a strike, Alarax seemed to be deep in thought, his face hidden behind the wooden mask he wore.

Then as she prepared to hit him, he was nowhere to be found. "Oh."

But she sensed a presence behind her and turned around, and a massive hammer sent her flying far away.

Tomoko and Dachii watched, the latter losing his mind. He shook Tomoko, as Alarax began to make his way to them. "Uh, any ideas? I'm all ears! Uhh…?"

Tomoko had a giant smile on his face. "Let's attack him! Then will probably die!"

"Not the best plan!"

Tomoko attempted to shoot Alarax with his rifle, but he used his hammer to block the blast. As he jumped up, intending to smash them with his hammer, Dachii had to drag Tomoko out of the way before the strike could land, and Tomoko's gun fell to the ground.

"Okay, new plan! We run as fast as we can!"

His mind filled with one thought: escape. Seemingly in response, his body began to glow a soft gray, and he took Tomoko and attempted to leave. Alarax was right behind them, a hulking wooden warrior.

"Where to run? Haha!"

But as they kept running, Dachii's head began to swirl, as voices kept ringing through it.

"Stand….fight…monsters…horrors…"

"Ugh!"

He tripped and fell over. Tomoko stopped and looked down at him. "You fell! Hard! Are you okay? Ha!"

Dachii was grabbing his head, as more voices were heard. He began to see visions of fire, death, and agony. "Pain…wreckage…fight…enemy…"

"AHHHH!"

The pain was so unbearable, he blacked out. Tomoko smiled as he shook Dachii, stating:

"He's coming for us, ha!"

Alarax looked down at Dachii, who was out cold. "What the hell happened to him?"

"I don't know! He fell and went to sleep! Haha!"

"Nevermind! I'm taking you two with me! They all must suffer, the way we did!"

He picked up Tomoko and the unconscious Dachii and began to make his way back to the castle. As they walked, Tomoko looked at Alarax, remarking:

"Haha! You smell like tree sap!"

"Quiet, kid!"

As they made it to the front of the castle, Nukuri was waiting for them. "Prince! You did it!"

"Yeah! There's still one more left, though! She's a Voltian! I knocked her somewhere into the trees, see if you can find her!"

"On it, sir!"

As Alarax walked up the castle steps, a beautiful young female dwarf, with long black hair and in a dress of leaves, walked out of the front entrance, rushing down.

"Brother!"

"Throme? I told you to stay in the castle, it's not safe out here—-!"

"Who are those boys that you're carrying? Are they…some of them…?"

"No! They're human! I'm putting them into the dungeon for questioning! Nukuri should be hunting for the one Voltian General outside!"

"Oh…I see."

"And this time, stay inside the castle!"

"Don't order me around, damn it! I'm a grown-up too!"

"Yeah, yeah!"

Tomoko lifted his head, staring at Throme. "Nice dress! Haha!"

Alarax chucked him on the floor. "Don't speak to my sister, runt!"

"Haha! A relative!"

Some dwarven guards heard the commotion and rushed to the entrance. "Sir! Ma'am! Are you both alright?"

"Yeah, take these kids to the cells!"

He handed one of them Dachii, and the rest led Tomoko away as well. Throme looked at Dachii, whose body seemed to be growing paler.

"What's up with that boy? He seems different from the other one!"

"He has an Element, sis! He's dangerous, he'll be kept in that cell."

"A human with an…Element?" she thought to herself.

The guards took both boys down into the cells, tossing them both into separate cells. Tomoko laughed, asking:

"Haha! Do we get fed?"

They ignored him and shut the doors. After they left, Tomoko shifted his attention to Dachii, who was still on the ground, not moving a muscle.

"You're still asleep? Haha!"

But Dachii was more than asleep. As Tomoko took a closer look, he noticed Dachii's ENTIRE ARM HAD TURNED PITCH BLACK.

—-