474 Lynchwood

Lynchwoods lurked near towns and other small settlements that lacked a sufficient militia or powerful adventurers to hunt down and destroy the trees.

This was the first sign that the Elven villages and towns were near. The Elven settlement was found on the edge of the Maze Forest, the reason why Ren still hadn't found an Elven village yet.

The Lynchwood prey at night, hunting those who flee into the woods after committing a crime. Many communities were content to coexist with a Lynchwood, using the creature as an extreme solution to the criminal element in its society.

Or in this case, the Lynchwoods were used to guard some secret lair and secrets.

Those who were guilty of evil found no mercy from a Lynchwood. It couldn't be bribed, persuaded, or tricked into sparing the guilty, no matter how repentant they may be. Death by hanging was always a Lynchwoods sentence.

A Lynchwood was resistant to fire, lightning, and physical harm. Using other forms of damage over a large area could destroy many of the twisting noose-like vines it relied on to snare victims and deal severe harm to the entire creature.

Dozens of Lynchwoods were guarding the tomb. It was its second line of defense after the Mycelial Grove, and if Ren wanted to punch through those creatures, he had to bombard it with area spells. And since they were weak to light and divine damage, he just had the right spell to blast them away into smithereens.

With his INT, it was possible.

Ren stepped into the Lynchwoods-infested area. As a titanic creature, a Lynchwood was more complex than most since creatures. It was best to think of it as three separate creatures than share the same body.

The branches attacked Ren first, and they tried to [Ensnare] him. A skill that dealt bludgeoning damage, and the target would be pulled ten meters above in the air and grappled. While grappled in this way, players wouldn't be able to speak and breathe.

Ren drank multiple [MP Potions] and cast a series of [Sunrays] he copied from the High God Inti. The area was illuminated with a bright light. In all directions, the horizon parted and lasers of rays shot from above and blasted the Lynchwoods into nothingness.

Their shrieks were so loud that if Ren didn't equip [Monarch Sovereignty], he would be stunned.

Ren also acquired some items when he killed the monstrous trees like the [Heartwood].

At the core of a Lynchwood was its [Heartwood], a dense and durable wood shaped by the befouled energies of the Lynchwoods red-hot soul. The Heartwood was dark, appearing almost ashen and charred, with a faint line of green running through it.

It could be used to create a Spellcasting focus called a [Solstice Needle]. This Needles required attuning and had five charges of magical damages before re-charging again. It was packed with elemental magic, and the best part of this, it could be used by a non-magical practitioner as throwing needles that dealt additional magical damage to their enemies.

Ren kept the [Heartwood] and proceeded onwards when a large path was created around him. He quickly dashed forward and pushed through the Lynchwoods numbers.

The monster trees that the [Sunrays] couldn't reach were quick to uproot themselves and chase after him. Some used [Paralyzing Doubt], a loud shriek like a mandrake that could stun a large crowd. And when that didn't work, they used [Stomp] and shook the ground just to stop Ren from advancing.

Ren didn't stop running and blasted a group of Lynchwood that tried to block his way. He had expended a great deal of gil to buy numerous [Divine Duds] from Hubert's Trinket shop in preparation for this area.

Making sure that he wasn't cornered, Ren kept casting [Sunrays] whenever the cooldown of the spell was over while throwing [Divine Dud] whenever his divine spells were in cooldown.

He didn't want to be surrounded by the Lynchwoods and their vines, roots, and branches. Because once they did, that was the end of the line for him.

He could use Pii since he couldn't kill Anansi at the moment. And the game would log him out a few hours from now.

But he decided to reserve Pii for the upcoming final Boss.

Doing the same strategy over and over again, Ren finally saw the end of the lair, and he doubled in speed to get there. Once he pushed through, he found himself in a wide meadow with a small hill in the center. And in that small hill laid a very large tree, the Elder Strangler. The final Boss that he needed to defeat to get to the Tomb.

It was a Lynchwood of great age who was watered by the blood of innumerable victims and eventually became the venerable and terrible Elder Strangle.

The exact conditions under which the metamorphosis occurred were unknown, but it caused a tangible change in the creature. It became infused with undead, and those who fell prey to its strangling branches were reanimated as zombies that lashed out with their hands and teeth at anything they could reach while still strangled from the noose-like vines.

More massive than an ordinary Lynchwood and far deadlier, Elder Strangle dominates the landscape with its twisted, unnatural forms.

It possessed all the abilities of a typical Lynchwood, in addition to the animated corpses flailing in its branches. These zombies, once slain, could be launched as living bombs, detonating on impact.

Spells and other abilities that affect a large area were Ren's best hope of defeating an Elder Strangler. While the creature itself was resistant to fire and lightning, the zombified corpses had no such protections and were easily scorched away by well-placed magic.

Ren kept his distance for an Elder Strangler's strength greatly surpasses its lesser kin. However, he didn't have to worry because he had decided to use Pii to make things a lot easier, and he wouldn't have to waste time in defeating it.

Having a cheat pet gave him that advantage, and what was the use of going to the trouble of acquiring one if he wouldn't use Pii often?

Unleashing Pii towards the Elder Strangler, the creature didn't even lift a branch. The zombies wrapped in its vines were the ones who attacked Pii with their claws when the little creature zoomed close into their reach.