Chaos Order Outpost

04:31 a.m. 18th Banem 1092.

Whoosh!

Kashi winced and clutched his chest as he fell through the darkness. His body ached from the raging battle between the poisonous miasma and Yggdrassil's healing aura. The Tree of Life's potent healing aura rapidly broke down the toxins in the daeben's bloodstream, but for every poison it destroyed, several more poured in.

It took a few seconds, but Kashi eventually got used to the pain and pushed it to the back of his mind. The daeben turned his attention to the seemingly endless abyss, wondering just how deep it went. To answer this question, he shot an arrow and listened for the impact.

Several seconds passed without a sound. Kashi's brows furrowed as he realized he had severely underestimated the pit's depth. Finally, Kashi heard a low thud, which allowed him to gauge his distance from the landing. Kashi waited for a few seconds then stabbed his hand into the wall. Rock and dust scattered around the daeben as he forcefully slowed his descent.

Thud!

Eventually, Kashi's feet struck the solid ground, prompting a sigh of relief. The daeben's eyes pierced through the darkness as he left the wall and walked to the center.

However, Kashi had barely taken his first step when he was beset by a thunderous pressure. The hair on Kashi's skin shot upright. His heartbeat rapidly drummed so loud it could be heard several feet away. Kashi eyes widened in shock as he struggled against his body's instincts to flee for its life.

Kashi was stunned by his body's severe reaction. He had always put great stock in his instincts, and it seemed whatever was within this pit was scary enough for his body to want to flee. Ever since arriving in this world, this was the most severe reaction the daeben had experienced. Neither Rider nor Fladnag had induced such a response in him, leading the daeben to believe that this opponent was either on the same level or maybe even stronger than both men.

However, curiously, although Kashi's instincts were firing non-stop warnings, he never got the sense that the being in there was unbeatable. It was a contradictory feeling. Something he could not rationally explain. But somehow, he felt like the enemy was certainly beatable. It was just that the enemy was much more dangerous than anything he had faced so far.

A wide grin spread on Kashi's face as he clenched and unclenched his right hand. Finally, it seemed a true fight was coming his way. The marilith had been tough, but he had to give himself several handicaps to make the battle interesting. The battle against the army was also fierce, but it had mostly been a case of 'one punch to end an enemy.'

Kashi had not had a good, satisfying mano-o-mano punch up in a long time. It appeared that this being would finally squeeze out all his latent potential. This was precisely the kind of challenge he needed to prepare for the big, upcoming battle.

Kashi forcefully calmed his nerves then walked into the darkness. Moments later, he arrived at a structure that left the daeben wide-eyed in shock. "What the hell?"

Lymar Village

"Hold! Hold!" Balasius roared at the soldiers as they struggled against the monster's advances. Desperation and rage colored the centaurs' eyes as they glared at the monsters. Several centaurs had fallen to the relentless army, and even with the cover fire from the cliffs, their numbers seemed to have no end.

However, despite this, Balasius could not allow the soldiers to lose hope. Their line was all that stood between the centaur army and their families within Lymar. This was the reason he had taken to the frontlines himself despite being a general. His loud voice and powerful will galvanized the centaur army. As long as he stood, the army would not crumble.

Unlike Balasius, Verlito sat on her direwolf at the back of the monster army. She looked up at the centaurs on the cliff, then at the staunch line in the ravine. "It's about time." The daeben muttered then blew on a flute she pulled out from a satchel.

The notes carried over the battle and sent an order that was swiftly carried out. A group of Vine Blights that had been accumulating mana since the battle began suddenly exploded outward.

Balasius paled as he watched hundreds of vines suddenly shoot up the mountainside. Hundreds of ape-like creatures swiftly climbed up the vines with an aim to destroy the centaurs at the top. The Glashtyn tribe shot down as many as they could, but it appeared their arrows were no match for the tougher hide of these creatures.

"Watch out!"

The General did not have any time to process the consequences of that event when a shout drew his attention to three giant vines barreling toward the army. The vines were at least five meters tall and as thick as seven centaurs clustered next to each other.

Several centaurs faltered as they faced the incoming attack. The vines traveled so quickly, they were confident it would crush whoever dared to stand in their way. Worse yet, many centaurs had used up their ki and did not have enough to reinforce their defenses.

At this point, a single word boomed over the din of despair with unquenching vitality and defiant courage. "HOLD!"

The centaurs looked in shock at Balasius who staunchly held his shield and glared at the vines. For the first time since the battle began, Balasius took a step forward as if to challenge the vines.

Boom!

The sound of Balasius' hoof striking the earth was like a gavel struck against the centaurs' hearts. The centaurs' blood rose to a fever pitch as they gazed upon their general's strong back. As they looked upon that strong figure, they recalled the doctrines taught to centaurs.

The reason the centaur villages were arranged in the form of a spear was to remind them that they were a race that never retreated. The purpose of a spear was to charge forward always and cut down the enemy. No matter how scary the enemy, no matter how powerful, the spear never retreated. It would continue to advance until either the enemy died or it was destroyed. There was no other option.

The Tulpar tribe, in particular, was located at the 'socket' part of the spear which represented the link between the spearhead and the shaft. They had to be strong, yet flexible to ensure that the link was never broken. If they ever gave up, the entire spear would be destroyed beyond repair.

The Tulpar tribe would never allow that to a reality. No matter what, they would remain standing until either the enemy or they themselves perished.

"Hold!" Boom!

A soldier roared as she struck her tower shield against the earth and pushed forward.

"Hold!" Boom!

The soldier's actions lit up the flames in the centaurs' heart. The soldiers, accompanied by desperate war cries slammed their shields into the ground and pushed against the monsters.

A smile curled up Verlito's lips as she observed the centaurs' desperate stand. "Too late."

"HAA!" Balasius roared as a gigantic wall formed from the army's reserve ki appeared between the centaurs and the monsters.

Boom!

The vines shattered the wall with the velocity of a freight train and blasted through the centaur line. Balasius gritted his teeth to stifle a groan as the impact broke the bones in his shield arm and sent him flying. Despite the intense pain, Balasius retained the presence of mind to shout, "Dora!"

Verlito's brows furrowed as she watched the Tulpar tribe suddenly part ways to reveal a massive gap in their formation. Why would the centaurs suddenly reveal such large gaps in their formation? Especially after the vines just smashed massive holes in them?

"DIE!"

The daeben did not have to wait long to get her answer. Massive roars suddenly shook the entire ravine as massive ki-spears suddenly appeared and charged down the hill. The Dora tribesmen within the spear galloped down the mountain and burst through the gaps left by the Tulpar tribe.

Casetes personally led a faction which stabbed through and instantly shredded a charging vine to shreds. This, of course, was only possible because the Tulpar tribe had significantly reduced the vines' speed with their ki wall and bodies.

Casetes led the Tulpar tribe to cut a bloody path through the foremost fringes of the monster army then quickly retreated behind the reformed line before the monster army could react.

Meanwhile, over on the cliff, members of the Lymar tribe suddenly appeared on the cliff's edge and threw down spears at the climbing monsters. Boom! The Lymar displayed their superior arm strength as their spears cut through most of the monsters. More shocking yet, the spears returned to the centaur's arms after each strike.

Verlito who was monitoring the situation on the battlefield frowned and blew a tune into her flute.

The smaller monsters followed her command and clustered behind the more massive, tougher godrillas. The godrillas, in turn, increased their pace and charged up the mountain. They snorted as they easily slapped the Lymar tribes' spears out of their path.

Verlito smiled as she watched the Lymar and Glashtyn tribesmen retreat from the cliffside when the primates successfully clambered onto the mountain top. Boom! Her smile instantly stiffened when dozens of godrillas suddenly flew off the cliff and plummeted to their deaths.

The primates atop the cliff glared at the massive, demon-like centaurs who had launched the sneak attack.

The Longma tribe had finally joined the battlefield!

The primates roared as even more of their kind successfully infiltrated the cliffsides. With a loud roar, the Longma, Glashtyn and half of the Lymar tribe clashed against the raging primates.

As for the rest of the Lymar tribe? The Lymar javelin-throwers took up positions behind the reformed Tulpar line and sniped essential targets. The earlier bout had finally exposed the location of most of the vine blights, and they took advantage of the brief opportunity to take down as many as they could before they recovered.

Balasius' expression was grimly set as he took stock of the battlefield. Somehow, the centaurs had managed to swiftly recover from what seemed like a definite dead-end situation. However, this short exchange had forced them to reveal all their trump cards. From here on, the centaurs would be in a reactionary position to the enemy's attacks.

Balasius glared at the woman seated at the rear of the monster army as he painfully lifted his shield. "This is far from over," the General promised, then pensively looked to the north. "Kashi-dono..."

Chaos Order Outpost

04:51 a.m. 18th Banem 1092.

"Watch out!" Shadow pensively shouted as he ducked beneath a tree branch. By his side, Larsial swiftly kicked against the ground and launched herself over the tree branch. The assassin duo glared at the dozens of meter thick tree branches slithering around the old man, Rayatha with pensive eyes.

Shadow and Larsial had been forced over, the past couple of minutes, to come to terms with the fact that Rayatha was anything but a pushover. The druid's extensive research into plant life profoundly influenced the direction of his magic research, until he almost became a personification of tree life himself.

"The Canjun Sneezer," Rayatha smiled and said as he pulled out a pack of seeds from his satchel and scattered them on the ground. "A near extinct species indigenous to Loer in Ederwood." The druid stomped his staff against the earth, sending a stream of mana into the seeds.

Shadow's eyes twitched as an 8ft tall green, man-eating plant with a giant blue bulb at the back of its head grew out of the ground. The assassin barely had time to process his shock when the plant drew its head back, causing the bulb to suddenly expand and glow like air had been pumped air into it.

'Achoo!'

Shadow could have sworn he heard the plant sneeze as it bent forward and rapidly expelled the mana gathered in the bulb in the form of a blue ball of concentrated mana. Boom! The assassin quickly dodged the shot and paled as he observed the massive explosion behind him.

"Did you see that?" Rayatha said with a pleased expression. "An explosion without fire as a byproduct. The Canjun Sneezer learned to concentrate mana and cause explosions that only release energy and mana to the surrounding. For a plant that fears flames, this is Evolution at its finest." Rayatha revealed a complacent smile. "Do you not find nature amazing? Its mysteries; The way it finds a way to solve, and adapt to anything life throws at it?"

"Don't care," Shadow coldly refuted as he got to his feet and brandished his dagger. The assassins resolve was not shaken in the least despite failing to land a single hit on the druid for several minutes.

The assassin profession had always been a patient one. Where warriors would stab countless times with the hope of eventually landing a clean times, each assassin's strike should be all it took to take down an enemy. Hence, Shadow was willing to bide his time for that one strike no matter how long it took. "You can explain all of that to Kashi."

Rayatha smiled as the massive vines around him twirled around each other and formed two 8ft tall, enormous snakes. "Well, you can take your time appreciating the wonders of nature."

Shadow and Larsial readied themselves as the snakes charged toward them.

While Shadow and Larsial battled at the top, Kashi scratched his chin in thought as he examined the massive altar/prison at the pit's center. A strange-looking centaur with a furry, goat-like head and long, ram-like horns was chained down atop a raised platform. The dark aura pouring out of the pit billowed out of a fist-sized crystal embedded in its chest.

The chains locking the beast down were connected to six altars with football-sized mana orbs hovering over them. Kashi could not be sure, but it seemed like the chains siphoned the beast's mana into the mana orbs which powered a forcefield around the monster, preventing anyone from entering.

Kashi found out through shattering one of the orbs that when the spheres were gone, the chains also disappeared. However, the shield remained intact, even though it grew a bit weaker. Hence, if Kashi wanted to walk up to the beast, he could only do so after destroying the shield, and thus the chains binding it.

"Okay then, let's do this," Kashi muttered as he notched an arrow onto his bow and trained it at the orbs.

A/N:  A glimpse into the different fighting styles on the continent. For those who are interested in fanfics or independent stories in this VR world, this chapter is further proof that any abilities you can think of, can and do exist. Just be careful to establish rules for their use so they do not break your entire story.