The Necromancer's Servant

For the first time, he heard the groaning of his own bones. His bent limbs and joints could no longer support his muscles to generate strength, leaving him helpless as the branches around him kept squeezing.

Every gap between the parts of his body was gone, yet the pressure from all sides continued to increase. His blood, unable to endure the torture, found an escape route through the fragile blood vessels in his nose, rushing out as if celebrating its freedom. His eyes seemed to join in, straining to break free from their sockets. His lungs, having expelled the last bit of air, were now trying to force themselves out as well.

He could feel that his body was being deformed beyond its natural limits. In this situation, there was no room for resolve or determination—no matter how much he wanted to fight or struggle, his arms and legs remained completely motionless.

The pressure kept increasing, not just crushing inward but grinding from all directions. His muscles and bones were starting to feel an excruciating, tearing pain. Images of the soldiers' mangled, shattered bodies from a few days ago flashed through his mind. He knew that he was about to meet the same fate. Panic surged through him like wildfire, blending with the pain, filling every corner of his mind. Desperately, he gathered all his remaining energy, driven by the primal instinct of an animal's final struggle, and unleashed a fireball.

It was too late. Elder Cranford saw the tree sentinels' hands forming a massive ball of branches, the creaking and grinding of wood echoing painfully through the silent forest. He stopped in disappointment. Even the strongest bull would be reduced to splintered bones and strips of meat under the grinding branches.

Suddenly, a deafening explosion shook the entire forest. The sentinels' entwined hands burst apart, flaming branches flying in all directions. Two of the tree sentinels caught fire, the bright flames illuminating the woods.

Asa fell from the center of the explosion, landing heavily on the ground. But he quickly staggered to his feet and continued running, albeit unsteadily.

"Impossible," Elder Cranford muttered in disbelief, watching as the burnt tree sentinels flailed their now-handless arms, trying to pursue the fleeing Asa. The entire forest was enveloped in the divine power of the Sunwell. No one, except the elves who were born of the Sunwell, could use magic here.

As he watched Asa stumble away, his movements became smoother. After a few steps, Asa's body began to glow with a blue-white healing magic. His pace quickened, and soon he was sprinting effortlessly.

Elder Cranford knew, though he didn't want to accept it, this human had merged with the remnants of the Sunwell's power within him. Not only could he use magic in the forest, but the divine energy surrounding the forest amplified his magical abilities several times over.

He couldn't allow Asa to escape with the leaf of the World Tree. It was the last hope to resist the darkness, and it was the sacred duty of his noble race to protect it. Whatever the cost is , he had to stop Asa—even if it meant using violence.

Elder Cranford drew his bow, pulling an arrow from the quiver on his back. He nocked the arrow, pulled back the string, and the flint arrowhead began to glow with a fiery yellow light.

The bow was fully drawn, the arrowhead now a dazzling yellow orb. Almost as soon as he released the arrow, the glowing orb streaked through the air, striking Asa squarely in the back. The magic within the arrow detonated instantly.

The explosion was so intense that even the unicorns chasing Asa had to veer away, and the shockwave knocked down one of the approaching tree sentinels. Asa, like a leaf in a storm, was blasted into the air. But after landing, he only knelt to catch his breath for a moment before springing to his feet and continuing to run.

Seeing his full-power attack failed to stop Asa, Elder Cranford was both shocked and furious, shouting in a rare break from his usual elven dignity, "Kill him!"

The wind roared past Asa's ears as the landscape blurred around him. He felt an almost uncontrollable urge to laugh and shout as he ran. Ahead, more tree sentinels appeared. Without slowing down, Asa extended his hands and continued to charge forward.

A massive ball of radiant light, larger than his own body, formed in front of his palms. Blazing with intense heat, it roared through the air, ripping apart the atmosphere as it hurtled toward the tree sentinels in his path.

The resulting explosion shook the entire forest, and even Asa was thrown to the ground by the blast. The sentinels were reduced to burning stumps, standing like giant torches, while flaming splinters filled the sky, lighting the area as brightly as day. Asa got up, exhilarated by the destruction he had caused, and let out a triumphant shout before continuing his escape.

The golden power inside him resonated with the entire forest, and he could clearly feel the distant Sunwell pulsing, its energy flooding through the forest air. Every time he used magic, this powerful resonance amplified its effect tenfold. The blast to his back had severely injured him, but with a quick healing spell, he was once again full of vitality.

An arrow whistled past his ear as the elves began firing at him. Asa quickly pulled his robe over his head for protection. Arrows rained down on him like a storm, and in just a few steps, his body was hit by two or three dozen of them. But not a single arrow could pierce the robe.

The sound of hooves came from behind, and Asa turned to throw a fireball. Amid the explosion, the cries of unicorns filled the air as several were thrown into the air, while others were knocked off balance by the shockwave.

With a graceful wave of his hand, a fireball shot out and turned one of the nearby wooden guardians into a massive burst of flames. As he moved through the explosive noise and the brilliant fire, he paid no heed to the rain of arrows pouring in from behind; he felt as if he had become the master of the entire forest. Asa was even looking forward to the appearance of new wooden guardians ahead at this moment. Those wooden lumps that once terrified him now seemed as fragile as paper. He felt exhilarated like never before.

Of course, he still needed to escape. He dared not turn around to expose himself to the elves' arrows, nor could he afford to wait for all the wooden guardians in the forest to converge on him. He remembered the scene with the red-robed man from a few days ago.

Calculating the distance, he realized he was not far from the edge of the forest. Suddenly, a wall of dozens of wooden guardians appeared before him. Although these wooden lumps seemed devoid of thought, they shared a clear, collective awareness, gathering in a circle around him as he fled. Behind them, he could already see the patch of grass he had entered. Asa felt as though he was about to shout in joy.

If he could just blow up the wooden guardians in front of him, he would be able to escape. He waved his hand to launch another fireball, but this time it was only half the size of the previous one, merely blowing off the head of one guardian while leaving the others unharmed.

Asa stood still, astonished, and realized that the magic power that had surged within him was now showing signs of depletion. The resonance of the sun well in the air had weakened considerably; as he distanced himself from the well, its power had been diminishing all along, but he had been so caught up in his own might that he hadn't noticed.

With that pause, several unicorns from behind immediately closed in on him, spreading out on his left and right. Perhaps fearing friendly fire, the elves ceased their arrow volleys.

Standing within the encirclement, Asa scanned his surroundings as the unicorns waved their sharp horns threateningly. These intelligent animals were in no rush to attack him, carefully keeping a distance of about ten meters while surrounding him. They were waiting for the elven coalition behind them. Meanwhile, the wooden guardians began to close in.

He couldn't wait for the wooden guardians to crush him into a pulp, nor could he stay put for the elves to catch up. No matter how rigid and entrenched their disdain for violence was, the elves would never give him another chance to escape. Asa suddenly recalled various cruel methods used against fugitives he had heard about—cutting tendons in the hands and feet, chaining iron through the collarbone… then he would spend the rest of his life writhing like a maggot in a dark, damp dungeon waiting to die…

He suddenly fell from the peak of his arrogance into a situation where he was surrounded, unable to advance or retreat. The stark contrast left him panic-stricken. And the freedom so close ahead made him feel like hundred fingernails scratching his mind.

That patch of grass was just ahead, only a few dozen meters away, reflecting the moonlight of freedom. From what he heard from Ruya, the wooden guardians could only move through the power of the sun well; they couldn't leave the forest. As long as he could get out of the forest's range, his chances of escape would greatly increase.

How could he charge those few dozen meters? Asa carefully surveyed his surroundings, vigilantly watching the unicorns. He understood that the trick he used to pass the unicorns the first time would not work again. In this situation, being blinded by that blinding light would mean certain death. But he couldn't just close his eyes and charge into the dangerous horns of the unicorns either. Not to mention dozens of wooden guardians behind the unicorns which finished gathering again.

Like a starving beggar rummaging through his pockets outside a bakery, Asa scrutinized every corner of his body for a spark of magic, but no matter how hard he tried, he was left with only two or three fireballs of magical power. It was impossible to blow up those dozens of wooden guardians, and he doubted he could handle the unicorns in front of him either.

Where should he blow up? Where should he target? Asa's mind raced, imagining how to break through this encirclement. But no matter how he thought about it, the outcome was either blinding the unicorns and getting pierced or charging through and being stomped into a pulp by the wooden guardians.

What to do, what to do, what to do… The elves were almost upon him; where to blow up, who to blow up, how to blow up…

Suddenly, he thought of an almost absurd and very dangerous plan.

But at that moment, even the most absurd plan was better than nothing. A success rate of only one percent was better than having none at all.

He bent down, crouched low, aimed a fireball at the ground while jumping up forcefully.

With a huge bang, the explosive force of the fireball combined with his jump, propelling him directly over the unicorns' encirclement.

The muscles in his buttocks and thighs went numb from the impact. Asa looked down as he soared towards the face of a wooden guardian. He knew that if he collided with it, it would be the end—if he didn't die from the impact, he would definitely be crushed.

In mid-air, he calculated his angle, extended his hand toward his butt, and concentrated all his remaining magical power into a fireball.

He had no time to feel the shock of the deafening sound on his ears. The arm that launched the fireball was dislocated at nearly every joint from shoulder to elbow, to wrist, and fingertips; it nearly flew off entirely. He suspected that the muscles in his buttocks and thighs were all rendered useless, and he felt no pain at all.

Like a thrown ball, he rolled and spun through the air, trailing sparks as he soared over the heads of the wooden guardians. Asa finally achieved his wish, flying out of the forest and landing in that patch of free grass.

Upon landing, he felt as if his entire skeletal structure had shattered, and he rolled for quite a distance on the grass before coming to a stop, seeing stars and lying there like a corpse, with barely any strength left to breathe. Next to him lay half a corpse left over from that day when the zombies fed. It seemed no one had been here for a long time, as the foul smell of the zombies' leftover scraps filled the air around the grass.

Asa knew he had succeeded, but he had also failed.

He had indeed escaped, but he was completely incapable of running anymore, with only one hand able to move. If the elves came over, they could easily grab him like a dead pig.

Suddenly, he spotted his knife not far ahead. He used every part of his body that could still move to drag himself over. Even though he knew it was useless to get it now, he still wanted to hold it in his hand. He no longer hoped to escape; it was just a statement of despair. I can't wait to be at the mercy of others.

But for a long while, all he heard was the whinnying of unicorns and the chattering of elves, yet there was no sign of movement. Asa strained to look back and saw the elves and unicorns standing at the edge of the forest, pacing back and forth, but they didn't come out to grab him. A few unicorns took a few steps out of the forest, seemingly catching a whiff of the strong stench in the grass, and then turned back in haste.

Asa laughed out loud, coughing and laughing at the same time. He had heard from Ruya that the elves had not stepped out of this forest for thousands of years, and that it was their clan's rule, but he never expected them to be so rigid and dull.

After all, those unicorns were just beasts; once they left the comfort of the sun well, which they had known their entire lives, they would immediately feel strange and frightened. They had been so brave against the zombies in the forest, but now, seeing the elven coalition hesitating, they felt a wave of panic, and the stench was enough to scare them away.

A figure of an elf seemed to want to rush out; it looked like Ruya, but Elder Cranford grabbed her and scolded her.

Asa did his best to calm himself, slowly recovering a bit of magical power, and reluctantly used a healing spell on his legs. After leaving the influence of the sun well, the effectiveness of his spell had almost returned to its previously pathetic level. Fortunately, his leg injuries were not too severe, and after the spell, he could move again.

The elves watched in disbelief as Asa laughed loudly while crawling toward the forest on the opposite side. They began to debate fiercely whether they should violate their clan rules that had been upheld for thousands of years. After a long while, they finally reached a conclusion. Led by Ruya, several elves chased after him into the opposite forest, but Asa had long since disappeared.