Mythical Creatures Hunter-Chapter 73 - 71: A strange little village (7)

Oliver raised his hand, and the ground beneath him cracked, splitting in all directions around him.

Then massive, long vines surged from the fissures in every direction.

They twisted and rose with tremendous force, and soon all of them aimed toward the old man at high speed.

The old man, as soon as the vines touched the edge of his robe, raised his staff into the air and shook it violently.

Immediately, a circle of dark energy appeared from it, expanding and rising around him until it formed a massive barrier.

The vines collided with the barrier and shattered with a dry snap like broken branches, falling to the ground instantly.

The mythical creature gave him no chance to catch his breath; it lunged with its massive head and single red eye straight toward Oliver.

Oliver quickly raised his hand, and a small wall of vines emerged in front of him.

The creature’s head struck it, causing the wall to shake and partially crumble,

but the impact gave him just enough time to run to the other side while panting heavily and cursing himself without pause.

He muttered to himself as he leaped sideways to avoid another strike,

"What am I supposed to do? Could he really have thrown me like this and left me to face that thing alone? He has to come back, he can’t leave me here, right?"

Yet after several minutes of continuous fighting, he began to genuinely doubt whether the masked man had been serious about what he said.

Oliver leaped, twisted, and crouched, then extended his hand,

causing the vines to sprout from the ground and form a barrier between him and their attacks.

With every attempt, the vines rose slowly and unstably from the soil because this was not a real attack, but a desperate reflex.

Meanwhile, the old man moved with terrifying speed.

A mere blink of an eye was enough for him to appear behind Oliver, and every strike of his staff nearly hit him.

His speed was unnatural for a normal human, let alone an old man of his age.

Oliver panted, raising his hand continuously, forcing his body to endure and summoning more vines from all sides.

He did not do this because the vines were effective or strong, but because it was the only thing he knew how to use.

This magic had not been taught to him nor had he trained in it; it simply awakened after facing the monster, and he discovered he could wield it.

He ran while thinking,

"How am I jumping like this? How am I moving this fast? I couldn’t do this before. What exactly is happening to me?"

The old man watched every move Oliver made from within the waves of darkness swirling around him. He could not understand this boy, nor how he had survived until now.

He turned to the mythical creature hovering beside him.

"What are we facing? Is it allied with a mythical being? Or an agent? Or something like that masked man?"

The creature responded in a low, hoarse voice as it dodged one of the vines attacking it from the side,

"It is a hybrid."

The old man froze in place, his eyes widening in shock.

"Impossible... hybrid creatures are real? This is absurd!"

Oliver gave him no time to process what he said.

He raised his hand again, and a wave of vines surged toward them with even greater force, forcing the creature to fall silent and recoil.

Oliver stomped forcefully on the soil, which split once more, and additional vines rose to encircle the area. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

His body trembled as his chest rose and fell violently, yet he did not retreat, and this was not out of sheer willpower.

He was certain that fleeing was useless, for the old man would pursue and strike him from behind immediately.

His eyes carried a mix of desperation, defiance, and intense annoyance at the masked man who had left him here alone.

Oliver took a deep breath as he leapt to avoid a series of violent attacks from the old man,

while his mind raced, searching for any weakness to exploit to escape the dire situation he found himself in.

He noticed something strange but highly significant: the battle was balanced.

Although he had only begun practicing his magic a few hours earlier, his ability to counter the attacks made him wonder,

"Am I stronger than I think? Or is my opponent weaker than he seems?"

He decided to combine both hypotheses and began devising a plan to defeat both the old man and the mythical creature accompanying him.

As he moved, he noticed another thing: the dark energy emanating from the old man’s staff was gradually weakening,

and the creature flying around him and attacking began to fade slowly.

Oliver did not waste the opportunity; he raised his hand once more, and massive vines erupted from the ground,

beginning to encircle the entire area and forming a protective barrier around him.

Every vine attack grew stronger with each use of Oliver’s magic, despite his increasing exhaustion.

At the same time, the old man realized his own strength was waning, forcing him to reassess his position quickly.

He could no longer continue with reckless attacks and began considering retreat, searching for a gap among the vines to avoid imminent defeat.

Oliver noticed this movement and shouted toward the mythical creature.

"Are you running because you’re afraid I’ll finish you off like my father said I could?"

His words were full of provocation, attempting to lure the creature into making a mistake.

Although he did not expect much, but by luck, the creature turned toward him, anger flashing in its eyes,

while the old man yelled, "We must flee immediately! This battle is already lost!"

The creature hesitated for a moment, but all that hesitation vanished instantly when Oliver shouted.

"You are far too weak, just as my father told me, he even said I could handle you alone, even though I’ve only been using magic for a few days."

Hearing this, the creature gathered all the remaining dark magical energy at its disposal,

preparing to launch a massive assault using the magical force surrounding the village,

which it was supposed to use to drain the villagers’ life and gradually regain its strength.

But it did not care about that now; all its focus was on eliminating Oliver.

All the dark energy surged at Oliver at once after gathering in front of its eyes.

Oliver could not dodge the attack due to its speed.

The air around him trembled, the vines moved around him trying to repel the onslaught, while the magical waves struck the area violently, causing explosive sounds and vibrations that shook the surrounding walls.