Tias decided not to think any further. She had no way out now, so she would stake everything on this.
"What are you planning to do now?" Tias left the decision to Noel. This matter had already gone beyond what she could handle alone.
"How about we meet up at the rocky hill? You'll need some time to get there from the treehouse, so I'll head out now to lure the Nue."
After the two finalized their plan, the voice in Noel's mind disappeared.
The Nue's whereabouts were still uncertain, but the grass on the ground looked freshly trampled, pressed down as if something massive had just passed through. Judging from the giant footprints, it could only be the Nue—no other creature in this forest had feet that large.
As for the direction, it seemed to be heading toward the Lake of Life.
Noel understood now why Tias had been in such a hurry. She hadn't completely trusted him; she was hiding something.
"Tias, Tias, are you there?" Noel called out to Tias in his mind.
"What is it? Why do you keep calling my name? I'm on my way to the rocky hill, and your voice is echoing in my head," Tias complained, her mind filled with the repeated sound of her name.
"Are you hiding something from me? About why the Nue is here—you didn't tell me the whole truth, did you?" Noel confronted her directly. He had no interest in secrets, but he hated being kept in the dark.
"How could that be? I told you everything, and the Nue must be eliminated," Tias tried to change the subject, but Noel didn't give her the chance.
He pointed out bluntly, "That monster is only interested in the Lake of Life, not the forest itself."
"What did you mean when you said it was trying to destroy the forest?" Noel forced himself to stay calm, wanting Tias to explain and avoid misunderstandings.
"This actually involves a secret of the spirit race, something outsiders can never know. So please, help me with this, and I will tell you everything afterward. There's no time to explain now," Tias replied anxiously.
So it really was related to the Lake of Life. The Nue wasn't interested in Noel's scent, but in the scent of the life water on him.
Noel realized that the smell on his body hadn't faded yet, meaning he could still draw the Nue's attention for a while longer.
He had to use this window to lure the Nue to the designated location.
The vibrations in the ground grew stronger, making it difficult to stand still, indicating that the Nue was very close.
Sure enough, that familiar hulking figure appeared again, enormous as ever, its roar still painfully shrill.
The Nue sized up Noel for a moment, then suddenly lunged at him like a beast gone mad.
Compared to last time, its speed was noticeably faster, catching Noel off guard.
His instinct was to run—run without looking back—but judging by the Nue's speed, he knew he wouldn't get far.
Unless he used wind magic. "Wind Step!"
As the spell took effect, the long robe of Noel's alchemy apprentice uniform billowed as if filled with a raging wind. His body became feather-light, and a streak of green light shot forward, kicking up a cloud of dust as Noel sprinted at full speed along its path.
The Nue relentlessly pursued, still faster than Noel even now.
If he didn't accelerate further, he would be caught sooner or later. But what could he do to break this deadlock?
Suddenly, the Nue appeared in front of him, blocking his path in an instant. Faced with this towering monster, Noel hadn't expected it to have such tricks.
Worse, he was moving so quickly that it was impossible to stop in time.
What do I do? What do I do? He was about to crash into it, and using wind magic to fly upward was not an option now.
The Nue's massive eyes were locked onto him, and if he tried to take to the air, he'd only get bitten.
That route was blocked.
In desperation, Noel dropped into a sliding dive, slipping through the narrow gap between the Nue's legs and the ground, narrowly avoiding disaster.
But he ended up covered in mud, grass, and dirt.
The Nue was now even angrier. It had only meant to toy with this small creature, but it hadn't expected the creature to play tricks on it in return.
A mere insect daring to resist, daring to mock it?
Did this tiny thing not know the might of the great Nue?
As the Nue turned its massive body, the movement generated a gust of wind.
But to Noel, the wind was a welcome ally. With his affinity for wind magic, the gust changed direction, aiding him and pushing him forward, increasing his speed even more.
The Nue found itself curious about this small being that could turn its power against it and was still trying to escape, still trying to defy it.
"ROAR!" The Nue's furious cry echoed throughout the forest, sending flocks of birds scattering in fright.
Noel simply ran for his life toward the rocky hill, while the Nue chased him with lethal intent, closing in fast.
The rocky hill was just ahead—a dead end.
Seeing this, the Nue felt a cruel satisfaction. This insect that dared to mock it was now cornered, with nowhere left to run.
Noel cast a flight spell on his feet, propelling himself upward. The Nue, charging at full speed, would be unable to stop.
"Whirlwind Boost!"
The swirling winds at his feet gathered, the magic circle in his hands activated, and the compressed air launched Noel upward like a rocket.
Before the Nue could react, it slammed headfirst into the rocky hill.
The impact left the Nue dazed, shaking its head to clear the ringing in its ears.
It looked around, searching for its prey. Where had that insect gone?
Meanwhile, Noel cast a cushioning spell and gently landed on the ground nearby.
Tias was already waiting, controlling a vine holding a lit torch, which she used to ignite the buried powder barrel.
A thunderous BOOM echoed.
The entire rocky hill exploded, fragments of stone raining down like a storm.
Noel used every last ounce of his magic to erect a protective barrier, deflecting the debris, which ricocheted back and struck the Nue, causing secondary damage.
Amid the explosion, the Nue let out a piercing scream. Even though Noel had kept his distance, the scream nearly shattered his eardrums.
The terrifying thing was that the Nue survived the blast, though it was now a bloody mess, red flesh visible through shredded skin, blood dripping steadily, shards of stone embedded in its body.
The Nue was furious. This insect had mocked it, tricked it, and now left it in this pathetic state.
Even if it died, it would take that human down with it.
Tias was shocked by the Nue's resilience, but she knew this was their best chance to finish it.
The Nue was heavily injured; if she could just restrain it, it would eventually die.
Tias unleashed the vines of the forest. They spread like snakes, slithering swiftly toward the Nue, wrapping around it again and again until it was bound tightly like a cocoon.
This time, Tias didn't hold back.
She used vines tipped with venomous thorns, not just any poison, but one that now pierced the Nue's exposed flesh, where before it could not even scratch its thick hide.
Under the relentless assault of thorns and poison, the Nue's screams filled the forest. Despite the venom, it struggled for a long while, but in the end, the blood loss and poison overcame it.
Finally, it collapsed into a pool of its own blood.
Tias, having spent so much magic to bring down the weakened Nue, was barely able to remain standing, but she couldn't afford to collapse just yet.
She had seen Noel, exhausted, push himself to the limit, casting wide-area spells. She feared something might have happened to him.
"This idiot, why does he push himself so hard? All this, just for me…"
"If something happens to him, even if the forest is safe, I would never be able to forgive myself," Tias murmured, trembling.
Using her connection to the forest, she sensed for Noel's presence. A familiar image entered her mind.
There he was, lying beneath a tree, fast asleep.
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