Chapter 577 - 523: Birdcage

"Where were you? I searched everywhere!"

Maxine's hair turned half-white but it was gradually regaining its original color. She looked a bit older and was holding her abdomen, clearly not as lively as before.

She went around looking for Lucy but the latter showed up out of nowhere, totally unharmed. Of course, she wore the mask and the pink hair and the bland face returned.

After a thorough talk with Arthur, she decided to remain hidden to not arouse Forne's suspicions. If he knows that Arthur had recognized Lucy, he'll try to force him out of the Red Tower just to make sure he doesn't interfere later on.

Arthur stated that he won't participate in the battle against Leiu, however, that doesn't mean he won't be present. As his brother, he must assure that nothing happens to the Nameless Knight because Forne and the rest may try to kill him to permanently get rid of Sol'khin. It's a plausible solution but very hard, if not impossible, to achieve. After all, they'll be facing the strongest person in the multiverse, even with flawless cooperation and a bunch of powerful experts, it's still difficult.

"The Bee escaped. Also, it's not our target."

Lucy pointed at the tattoo on the back of her hand, explaining to Max how their target has three pairs of wings while Arthur's has only two. 

"Whatever, let us find it."

The player's mood seemed a bit down after fighting the Grey Seat. Apparently, whatever happened in that swamp made Maxine a bit cautious and no-longer carefree and hungry for constant fights.

…

"My my."

Arthur chuckled while looking at his partner's miserable condition. She was puking blood, her hair messy and clothes ripped, revealing a lot of skin. 

The woman ignored his mocking, clenching her fists and mumbling inaudible words.

"We're still here so that means you lost it?"

"Yes, a golem blocked my way, though I'll catch it next time."

"What next time?! What if we don't find it!"

"Hey, woman, don't vent your frustration on me. At least I chased after it while you were getting your ass beaten."

Celes ground her teeth, incensed even more by Arthur's words.

"She's lucky we are not allowed to kill other participants on this floor."

The parasite shrugged his shoulders and patiently waited for her to recover, which didn't take long. Surprisingly, when she ate a few fresh fruits, her recovery accelerated and her body returned to its peak state.

Around ten minutes later, the two were on the road again, choosing the direction the Bee escaped to. Arthur knew that trying to use speed to catch the insect won't be easy so he came up with a better plan, one that is guaranteed to work. In fact, he doesn't even need Celes' help but had to keep her close.

The confusing thing is the rule he heard when he entered this floor. It clearly stated that a pair cannot be far from each other yet when he chased after the Bee, Celes was left behind and the distance was much greater than the one mentioned in by the tower. 

So why were they not disqualified?

'Maybe the rule only applies when they're in possession of the target?'

The pair walked at a moderate pace, soon arriving at the foot of a medium-sized mountain covered by large pine trees. The place was filled with monsters and non-dangerous animals such as deers, it was quite a strange area to exist in the Red Tower.

The monsters weren't dangerous to God Monarchs, much less Overgods, moreover, it seemed that they weren't alone in there. Arthur and Celes sensed two more pairs wandering around the mountain, searching for something.

The first pair didn't even notice the arrival of new enemies, however, the second pair was composed of two people Arthur had already met. One was a short and bearded dwarf wearing a thick dark red armor and the other was a tall woman with hair matching her partner's armor. She was the reincarnator, Losha, who remained nonchalant even after detecting Arthur and Celes.

"It looks like you have to be close when I catch the Bee."

"I can't keep up with your speed."

"You don't have to."

As he said that, Arthur's body melted into the ground and a small plant grew in his place. In the blink of an eye, it grew to a big tree, equal in size to the pine trees present all around them. One of the tree's branches, one thicker than the rest, descended from above, signaling for Celes to get on.

The woman did as told and managed to keep her balance despite the non-stop moving and growth of this tree. It towered over everything and its branches were stretching to all of the mountain corner's.

Actually, Arthur was imitating what the World Tree did in Astria. Using the countless branches he's able to grow, he'll be able to comfortably chase and trap the Bee in his domain. When it's finally cornered and has no room for escape, capturing it will be a piece of cake.

"It's that monster again! Damn his grandmother!"

The dwarf cursed as he saw a tree rising to the sky, its branches dominating the blinding canopy and blocking the sun rays. 

"Don't mind him. The white deer should be hiding in the peak."-Losha

Using Nature Magic and the Detection skill along with his Sixth Sense, Arthur located the Bee in just a minute but he didn't immediately act. He manipulated the root of the tree and was slowly taking over the whole mountain, changing it into his domain. The Quad-Spirit facilitated this job as it could use Earth Magic and get rid of anything that attempts to resist.

"Did you find it?"-Celes

Arthur telepathically replied to the woman, his voice resounding inside her head:

"Yes but I need more time so I can barricade the mountain."

The tree grew so big to the point that the mountain was like an ant, its branches enveloped the whole area like a birdcage, letting not even a worm escape either form the air, or the ground. The earth hardened and became jet black and very solid, rendering impossible for to dig through it.

Meanwhile, Losha and the dwarf swiftly climbed to the top and circled around the deer, which was snow-white and had a red horn protruding from the top of its head. The dwarf pulled his axe and leapt at the animal while his partner remained standing in the opposite direction.

…

"It's done, brace yourself."

Just as he said that, an ear-piercing and deafening thunderclap echoed, making Celes momentarily shudder. The ginormous tree was truck by a thick green thunderbolts, which enveloped it whole and affected the whole forest and mountain, pulverizing all the pine trees and revealing all that was hidden.

The Bee, which was quietly flying from one flower to another was alerted and started speeding up, heading directly outside of the area. Unfortunately, its path was blocked by thin branches with lightning on them, which forced it to hastily change direction. Alas, Arthur already finished his trap and all that was left was capture it.

Branches rose from the blackened ground, causing the Bee to bump into them and became unstable for a brief moment. The thick branch on which Celes was standing on was like a descending dragon, shooting at the Bee.

The insect buzzed and its four wings started flapping even faster once it sensed the incoming projectile. The branch wasn't as fast as the Bee, however, Arthur was able to manipulate thousands at once, easily controlling the target's movements.

As previously discussed with Celes, she'll be the one capturing the insect. Using branches that appeared out of nowhere, she jumped from one to another, shortening the distance between her and the Bee. Her body started releasing a dense fog which hindered the Bee, making it bump into more obstacles. So, like that, Celes was able to get very close to the Bee, which desperately turned around, attempting to flee only for electric vines to stop its mad flying, paralyzing it for a few seconds.

Celes' fingers unleashed two invisible blasts that made the target's wings decay, finally making the insect fall on the ground. At last, the Grey Seat picked the minuscule insect, causing a light to envelop her and the lightning tree.

Not long after, the birdcage made of branches along with the massive trees vanished, leaving behind a jet black mountain utterly void of any vegetation. The animals and monsters ran for their lives, getting as far away from the peak as possible.