Ch7 Intelligence.

The fire danced along the trail of gasoline, flickering in the twilight like a malevolent serpent. Its fiery tongue licked the edges of the village, a silent witness to the horrors that had transpired.

Asher watched from his hiding spot, his heart hammering in his chest. He had hoped the blaze would be a beacon of hope, but as it grew closer to the center, the tree's monstrous roots writhed and thickened, a clear sign of the creature's growing awareness.

He took a deep breath, his hand tight around the dagger's hilt. The heat grew intense as the flames reached the base of the twisted tree, and the villagers controlled by the tree let out an unearthly screech that seemed to resonate through the very ground. The rooted cocoons surrounding the trunk quivered in response. This was his chance. He dashed out of hiding, sprinting through the flaming chaos.

As he dashed forward, sparks emerging from the surroundings reached the house, finally catching fire. The villagers all sprinted towards the fire, trying to extinguish it. The fire leaped in it, using their own bodies as sacrifices.

"The plan is working; the road has been cleared." Ash couldn't help but smile finally at this development.

The tree, being restless, moved its branches as it expanded limitlessly as if it could grow on forever and pulsed in blue light, making a radiant yet demonic scene.

Ash was confident that he could reach William in under 20 seconds if he sprinted in full force after his awakening; at worst case scenario, Ash has decided to use 'static' on this damn tree.

To tell the truth, he was not confident he could stop this large tree for more than even 2 to 3 seconds. And this thing would drain his energy reserves by a large amount.

The tree, sensing danger on noticing Asher's presence, released the people hanging to its branches.

But this was also in calculation; even if they came to harm him, it would still not be as strong as the person he fought in Neil's house. Since the amount of work the tree needs to do at once has increased!!

Not only does this tree now need to keep itself connected to the villager to trap them; meanwhile, it needs to also control the spreading fire by using his puppets to save his own life!! If that was not enough, with the addition of Ash himself, it has been turned into a three-way struggle for the tree.

The puppets connected by roots to their spine were not more than 12 in number; their movements even more sluggish than before, giving Asher a chance to cut them. The distance between Tree and Asher was no more than 8 meters.

Looking at the incoming villagers, Asher tightened his grip on the dagger, "Static." The first villager stopped his movement; Ash quickly went behind it and cut the connection. Another one jumped at him from the left side.

Ash dodged and with precision sliced the root controlling it. It fell to the ground, lifeless. He heard the crackling sound of a dry leaf behind him and turned to find another one lunging towards him, but with a swift motion he dodged and used his dagger to cut its root, not before using "static" to stop them even for a moment to give him the desired time to strike.

Asher was maintaining 'Static' for no more than 2 seconds, quickly to stop the enemy and let it fall. The strain on his mind increases with each use, making his eyes bloodshot.

"Seven more to go," Ash whispered to himself, his voice hoarse and breathing ragged. The tree's pulsing blue light grew brighter with every second, and he could feel the heat of the flames closing in.

Six of them swiftly went back, leading to his confusion, only one remaining in front.

But this action did not make him happy even a bit.

"This damn tree is getting smarter. Instead of using every puppet, it is now focusing his whole attention on a single villager to fight me," Ash muttered, his breathing uneven.

The last remaining villager was moving much quicker than the previous ones, almost as if it had anticipated Ash's moves. Asher had to focus all his energy to keep the static going on this one.

He quickly stabbed the dagger upwards toward the villager's neck this time instead of roots, hoping to do a little damage and gain some time to plan his next course of action.

But he was wrong. The villager did not move back to defend himself or even dodge; instead, he let him get stabbed on the neckline. Asher's eyes widened at this sight of a dagger pierce the skin of a human being.

Losing the momentum of his initial strike, the villager punched Asher in the face, making him fall behind as the dagger slipped from his hands.

His mind was clouded, thoughts slipping through his fingers like sand; his focus wavered as the world blurred around him.

Ash felt the pain surging through his nose as he tasted the coppery tang of blood in his mouth.

He was not using 'static' in hopes of quickly ending this fight and not taking a heavy toll on his mind since he needed to also look out in case of another villager attacking.

The sudden punch to his face has also, in a way, helped to clear his mind, as it was the first time he has ever harmed a living being in such a way; thus, it was the catalyst that made him lose his momentum.

The pain served as a reminder of the gravity of the situation.

Ash looked at the dagger not far from him lying on the ground, the glint of the flaming light reflecting off its blade. He quickly stood, his eyes never leaving the weapon, and dashed towards it. But not before using 'static' for a split second to stop the villager in his tracks. The air around the villager shimmered with unseen energy, freezing him mid-step.

Ash quickly grabbed the weapon, ignoring thr heat that it radiated after lying beside the ever-growing flames.

'This guy is getting better and better at controlling its puppet.' Ash felt his self getting slower; he had already used 'static' for more than 7 times in a span of 4 minutes, leading to not only depletion of his energy reserves but also making his mind hazy.

"What!" Ash jumped back, holding the dagger more precisely this time, not wanting to lose it; a root had suddenly emerged from the ground as it tried to grab him.

Looking at the root that wiggled like a snake, Asher quickly raised the dagger to cut it down, but before he could, a puppet that was trying to put out the fire also sprinted toward him. Seeing this site, Asher abandoned the plan to cut the root and focused on the incoming threat instead of again using 'static.' Asher used the momentum of the puppet, who had partially caught fire, and threw him towards the roots that had emerged previously.

The impact was fierce as the root and the burning body of the puppet collided, creating a burst of flame that temporarily illuminated the darkening sky. The root retreated into the ground with a hiss, giving Ash the brief respite he needed. He took a moment to breathe, the smoke stinging his eyes.

Seeing this site of sudden combustion, a smile broke out on Ash's face; he had come to two undeniable conclusions. One bad and one good.

First was that the tree was learning fast, extremely fast. It has managed to set up a small trap that almost made Ash get captured.

The second conclusion was that it got burnt; just by getting grazed by a small spark of fire, a burst of flames emerged, almost stunning him.

'This tree is extremely weak to flames by how fast it caught fire. If I had known it beforehand, I would have set fire even more near it.'

Ash had not gone to close in fear of getting caught, and since normal trees don't catch fire in mere moments, it would have been a pointless effort, but now he can try it without fear of failure.

He did not wait for his previous enemy to attack again and sprinted toward it first 'static.'. As the villager stopped in eerie silence, Ash quickly cut the cord connected to his back and let the body fall.

Ash kicked the ground and ran toward a nearby shop. In the opposite direction of the tree, not giving it a moment to react. The shop had belonged to none other than Mr. Thomas and Frank, the tree's first victims. This shop was using wooden poles to create a roof made of some kind of thick fabric that has also caught fire, similar to its surrounding area.

With a kick to the base and cut of dagger Ash broke the wooden pole and wrapped it in fabric to instantly put one of its ends covered toward the surging flames.

Holding the wooden pole now caught in bright flames on his left hand, Ash faced the tree and gave a menacing smile.