The vine golem jolted from where it stood. It raised its arms and formed a large sword in replace of its hand.
"This is a spawn of Elizabeth," Midnight gasped. "So, that's why she didn't participate."
"She's guildless," Aquarius said. "Her previous guild Aurora Knights disbanded and she's now in service for the Kingdom itself."
Midnight looked at Aquarius, "And her contract?"
"Directly from the king," Aquarius sighed. "But it shouldn't matter. It's just her spawn. It can't inflict large amounts of damage"
The golem slammed its sword hand on the side of the island. The ground cracked and the piece of the island fell from the impact. The golem growled that shook the island as if it was a boat in the middle of the sea.
"Can't inflict large amounts of damage?" Midnight snickered.
"Wait," Ed yelled to stop them. "This Elizabeth we're talking about. Who is she?"
"The Top 1 Adventurer from the previous Top 1 guild," Elliot said. "Elizabeth of the Aurora Knights."
[[ Vine Golem ]]
Summon Level: 100
Summoner: [[ Elizabeth ]]
Elliot read the file in front of him and focused himself on the spawn's level. A spawn's level depends on how strong the summoner is. Usually, the spawn would take half the level of its summoner. But since Elizabeth has maxed out, her skills are also maxed out.
"This is" Ethan trailed off. "Whatever. George, let's go!"
"Selfish Taunt!" George casted and let his body glow with a dark blue color. The light from his body attracted the spawn and the skill effects took its attention.
"What are you doing?!" Minos yelled.
Ethan rushed to the side and hid under the monster's sight as it approached George. A kindling lit up their inner resolve.
"No one expected a lot from us," Ethan whispered to himself. "They all think we're just here for the headcount."
He took a deep breathe and conjured his spear from the ground. It was a long lance with two sharp ends. One end had a curved blade while the other had a straight one.
"Let us show you how we're not just freeloaders!" Ethan yelled and rushed to the beast's direction. When he was around two meters away from the beast, he stomped his foot and conjured a thorn that pierced through the beast's belly.
The vines creating the beast swallowed the thorn made of stone, breaking it into two and swallowing the one that pierced it. Ethan seethed after how easily the beast deflected his attack. He took a step back and leaped above the beast, lowering his hooked spear and slashed through the golem's head.
The beast was still under George's taunt and Ethan was passing through him with his spear. It didn't know what it'll do, confused as to which among the two men it should attack first.
When he got further away, Ethan rolled on the ground and took a defensive stance. He felt the aura on the beast fluctuate, meaning it was preparing for an attack.
"That was good," Aquarius yelled proudly. "Good technique but such attack wouldn't work on this beast."
"What?" George turned to him and tilted his head. "Why not?"
"Hyperregeneration," Aquarius said. "Flora affinity magic has such regeneration ability that it would be hard dealing with them."
"What do we then"
George felt a swift whiff of air pass through him. He turned to see what it was but failed to spot anything.
"Elliot!" Midnight yelled. "Don't get too close!"
"Hasty Aspire," Elliot whispered.
The beast roared and spewed out vines from its mouth. The vines were directed towards Elliot, but the others couldn't support him on time.
Elliot was closing his eyes as he kept on running.
'Feel the flow of magic.'
"Okay."
'Feel everything.'
"Okay."
Closing his eyes made his body sensitive to the magic around him. He could feel the movements in the flow of magic in his surroundings. Every fluctuation of George's taunt, every movement under the ground from Ethan's affinity, and every vine that was incoming.
"Elliot, dodge!"
It was as if his hands had minds of their own. With a swift grip and brandishing of his sword, Elliot managed to cut throught the vine. He opened his eyes, taking a shallow breathe to not lose his focus.
There were about thirty vines that were all darting towards him. Each vine had a sharp tip that formed a blade.
"This is it?" Elliot smirked and swerved his way through the vines. Everything felt like they were in slow motion. The movements of the green trailing plants were predictable in his eyes. "I'm liking your power, Irus."
Irv and Zia watched Elliot through their mobile island. They had to stop their jaws from falling down the floor after seeing how rapid Elliot's movements were. Even a top Stealth Knight, one who had upgraded to Assassin or Rogue would have a hard time dealing with the spawn.
Yet, Elliot looked like he wasn't even breaking a sweat.
"We were wrong," Irv said without his voice amplifier. "Even Jester couldn't move that fast."
Elliot's friends wanted to help him but they didn't know when to go. Elliot and the spawn's vines were too fast, everything felt so quick. With the vines piercing through the air and into Elliot, some springing to the ground, and some were trying to make Elliot lose his balance, they couldn't find an opening to help.
"This is just the opening round?"
"What guild is that?"
"That's Elizabeth's spawn. He could keep up with that?"
The other Adventurers stopped from taking over the islands, the fray among them was halted temporarily. They all watched Elliot through the screen that was placed inside the arena. The fight between Elliot and the Level 100 golem piqued their interest.
"This is amazing!" Kingsley cheered. "I was worried that our guild won't be able to fight Elizabeth this year. But now we have Azure Scorch, this should be interesting."
Janine didn't mind him. She knew the man was actually scared of Elliot, his pride just didn't allow him to say it.
"What kind of monster are they?" Susan asked herself. "I saw Galaxia fought with Elizabeth's golem before. And it didn't go this smoothly."
The golem roared and sharp tree trunks arose from the ground. The trunks were like the vines in malleability, their speed was fast but unlike the vines, they were hard.
Elliot hacked his sword on one of the branches and it stuck for a moment before he got it out.
"With my current strength, I can't cut the trunks," Elliot said. "I need to use more force."
Elliot kept dodging the vines and the trunk. He was adjusting his power output so he could actually cut the trunk and pierce through its hard bark.
"Hasty Aspire," Elliot retreated his sword to his side, slashing the wind as he did. "Wind Slash."
The sound of a broken tree echoed the silent arena. They all watched the victorious smirk etch itself on Elliot's lips as he successfully cut one of the branches.
"This is essentially Elliot versus Elizabeth," Irv said. "He's almost equal to her."