Asuren, Thea, and Henry met with Ayhan and Riz at the heart of Emerald Wind Forest. Most part of it had already withered but, not far from Riz and Ayhan, was a small area brimming with vibrant vegetations.
"The trace ends here," Riz was sitting on the barren ground and leaning on a dead tree. She looked upset.
Ayhan seemed exhausted but kept on searching for anything that could lead them forward. Henry also looked around, not to find peculiar traces but to examine the area with vibrant vegetations.
"It is cursed by the boar seal, isn't it?" Riz asked with a frown.
"It is the same curse," Henry answered while carefully inspecting the leaves and grasses with his silver eyes. "They came here. You will eventually find their traces. Just keep looking. You can leave me here. I'll examine this area. Maybe I find a way to cleanse places like this faster than what I did to that cave."
"You used dark magic when you cleansed that cave," Asuren reminded him and then glared at him with suspicion. "Did you use dark magic when you lifted the curse in Indigo Ville?"
"I didn't," Henry seriously replied. "I already promised. I will not use dark magic ever again. The counter curse I used in Indigo Ville requires plenty of energy but it was not dark magic."
"I thought you would find me sooner," the voice of the tall blonde fairy echoed around them.
Henry quickly moved away from the cursed area and concealed behind Thea.
"You are good at hiding your traces," Riz summoned a flaming spear. "Will you keep on hiding? Are you scared of us?" she tightened the grip on her fiery weapon. "Are you frightened that Asuren might cut your neck again?"
The tall blonde fairy moved out of the shadows and the trees around them started moving. The vibrant trees protected him while the withered ones attacked Riz and Ayhan.
"We have a deal," Camus was angry. He summoned a wooden broadsword. Vines sprouted from the branches of the trees around them and the grasses had hardened like metallic spikes.
Thea carried Henry while Riz and Ayhan battled against the dead trees that were moving as fluidly as the fairy that had given them life.
"How can you go after my master and stab him with a cursed weapon?!" Camus was furious. His attacks were relentless and vicious. The vines were faster, the trees sturdier, and the grasses sharper. Even the leaves were now attacking. He was using everything to take them all down.
Thea placed Henry on her back. She had to continuously summon wind gusts and keep everything away from her vulnerable charge.
Riz burned the dark vines blocking her way but they were quickly regenerating. She waved her flaming spear once more to smolder the vines but, before burning into ashes, they still managed to graze her skin.
Ayhan sliced at the moving trees with his water scythe. He wanted to shred them into pieces, but it was his weapon that kept getting shattered. Cutting those withered trees felt like slicing metal and not wood.
Asuren evaded the vines, dodged the moving trees, and shredded the leaves that tried to stop him from reaching the tall blonde fairy.
"I did not hurt your master," he pointed a blade at the neck of the furious fairy. "How can I kill him when I know I will die with him?"
"You will do anything just to serve the Evil Witch!" Camus dodged the wind blades and attacked with waved his poisonous broadsword.
Asuren relentlessly used his whirlwind slashes until the poisonous weapon had shattered. Before the tall blonde fairy could summon a new weapon, Asuren slashed his hands and stabbed his chest. "Deals require trust. If you cannot trust me, then let's forget about our deal. I will just kill you and your master," he pushed the tall blonde fairy down on the ground. He thought the spiky grass would prick its back but as soon as Camus hit them, they returned to normal grasses. "Where is your master?" Asuren pierced the wind blade deeper into the chest of his opponent.
Camus did not answer but the vines, trees, and leaves around them had changed their targets. They all aimed for Asuren. Thea, Ayhan, and Riz gathered around Asuren and prevented those vicious vegetations from harming him.
"One last time," Asuren tightened the grip on the hilt of his wind blade. "Where is your master?"
Camus kept his mouth shut. He was ready to die.
Asuren stabbed the heart of his opponent, but his blade had been surrounded by crimson vines and prevented it from going any deeper.
"I told you not to engage in a fight!" The boar seal furiously bellowed at his disciple. He summoned a crimson blade but before he could swing it, Thea had trapped her with powerful wind gusts. Riz and Ayhan had strengthened it by covering them with fire and water.
Henry quickly jumped from the back of Thea to the back of Asuren who hurriedly soared towards their trapped opponent and granted him an opportunity to examine its curse.
The boar seal roared and tried to bite the hands of the mortal that were only inches away from his forehead. Asuren pulled him back in time and saved him from getting bitten.
Thea widened the range of her wind gusts and covered the mouth of the boar seal. Riz and Ayhan did the same.
Asuren cautiously closed in on the boar seal and Henry quickly touched the forehead of their struggling opponent.
"You…" even though his mouth was covered, the boar seal still managed to speak. He stared at Henry with shock. "How…"
Henry ignored the reaction of the boar seal and focused on gathering information.
"Nightgloom Puppet!!!" The boar seal struggled more violently against the powerful elements binding him.
Henry lost his balance and slipped. Asuren immediately caught him and prevented him from falling.
"I didn't get enough information. I need more time," Henry requested and everyone nodded.
Thea, Riz, and Ayhan added more power to the wind gust. The boar seal had been squeezed and, for a moment, it stopped moving.
Asuren swayed. He could feel the boar seal suffocating and his skin was starting to bleed.
"Asuren…"
"I can hold out," he quickly told Thea when he felt that their grip on the boar seal had loosen. "Maintain your energy."
The boar seal was quick to notice and immediately realized what it meant. With all his strength, he resisted the elemental constriction. He did not stop struggling despite the lacerations it caused his skin.
Asuren bled with the boar seal, but he endured. Pain was nothing to him. He grew up with it, but still, minutes passed by like an eternity. It was not only for him but for Thea, Ayhan, and Riz. Restraining the boar seal was starting to drain their strength.
"A little more…" Henry whispered but as soon as he said those words, the boar seal had finally shattered the wind gusts trapping him. It drained most of his strength and he dropped on his knees, catching his breath.
Thea, Riz and Ayhan had been hit by a powerful shockwave that hurled them a few meters away.
Asuren, despite his weariness, had managed to resist the shockwave and saved Henry from losing balance.
"Do you need to touch him again?" Asuren asked while trying to stay conscious.
"I gathered enough knowledge," Henry tapped him on the shoulder. "Let's leave."
Asuren nodded but when he flapped his wings, his remaining strength had quickly dissipated and he blacked out. He and Henry were plummeting rapidly towards the ground. Thea and Riz caught Henry while Ayhan grabbed Asuren before they hit the spiky grasses.
"Let's go!" Thea bellowed because the boar seal was slowly standing up.
Riz carried Henry on her back and zoomed towards the nearest village. Ayhan followed with unconscious Asuren in his arms.
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