Chapter 189: Tree King

I was roughly shaken awake by Titania in an excited fervor, almost knocking Tescelle out of the bed. 

"Hyde! Come quick! Nina has the solution to our problem!" Titania said after confirming I was awake and letting me go to fall back into the bed with Tescelle.

"My love, I will be outside right away, but let me wake up. I can see that you haven't got any sleep yet, so I will get up fast!" I told her as I got up and put on clothes, giving Tesecelle a deep kiss with some tongue before I left.

I followed the eager giantess outside of my room and immediately noticed the Dragon Armor was different. It looked like a tree had grown over each arm and leg, the roots covering the old fingers making a giant tree trunk fist. This looked cool, but how was...then it started to walk over to me and the Tree King incarnate, and when it reached me, the massive tree mech bent down.

Titania was almost jumping with excitement, telling me to reach up and touch the hand, so I smiled and then stepped forward. When my hand connected with the root-covered metal finger, my point of view shifted to looking at the hand I just touched. I was shocked, I was the Dragon Armor, it was like a part of me. Like a second skin, I flexed my hands and stood up straight, feeling like a god again.

'What do you think of my new evolution ability? I can absorb you now and you can control my magic to a point. What is needed for you to control does not use that much power, so I can also spit myself, and leave a small part of my consciousness with the golem I created from the frame.' -Nina.

'This is truly amazing, you and Titania have made something most would never dream of, possible! Really cool! That means that the other you is with Graph?'

'Yes, this part of me is like a copy of the original, and I will be with you always. Think of me as a ghost in your pocket, I can help you with piloting other things as well. I will be slowly building a database on all the information that other I has compiled.' -Nina.

'If you are a copy, then you will end up being different from the other Nina. I am going to call you Eva from now if that's okay with you?'

'Yes, thank you. It's hard to have to deal with being a copy of someone, but giving me my own name, and telling me I am my own me really helps. Thank you for that.' -Eva.

'No problem, now, is this ready to test out?'

'Yes, we have to get Trem to fly up down again, but then we can test it out down there. I have different things that I will do to assist you while you fight, and can track the things around you. I will act as a warning system, and employ defensive tactics when necessary.' -Eva.

Perfect, I clenched my massive fist and stood up straight, slowly turning to make sure I didn't step on anyone or hurt them. That would not be a good start to my day. I was able to spot Trem and once I stopped, he and Titania Jogged over, but I put my hand up to Titania, and then spoke in an old and graveled tone.

"You need a bed! You have done beautifully, and I will tell you all about it, but you need some rest now. Don't make me call Alex and Kade!" 

Titania scowled up at me, but relented, coming over and giving my massive tree leg a hug, that I felt, and that worried me a bit. Just how much of the pain would transfer from the suit to me?

'All of it, but you can get stronger than this, right? You are this golem now, but wait to use your Gates.' -Eva.

I nodded to Trem, and in three quick movements, I was on the beach, but far from the resort. 

"Trem, you can go, I'll fly back up when I'm done, thanks," I said to Trem, and he gave me a nod back, then disappeared.

'Ready to go find some gods?'

'Are you sure that's such a good idea? You will be alone!' -Eva.

'Nah, I got you! You're gonna watch my back right?'

I did some stretches to check my mobility, and then ran through some combos, and then forms. It was true, it was me, moving around in a Jaeger size forest elemental mech. So fucking cool! 

I started to run, kicking up massive sprays of sand as I did. I was eating up the meters, doing four or five with each step, but I had to slow down. Up ahead were black panthers, seven of them, and they looked like they knew me, or of me with their intense glares.

I stopped at a boulder with a diameter of about a meter and picked it up with my right hand. If what Eva said was true, then this would work. I pushed wind into the massive boulder that I held out, and it began to hum. I put a two-second timer on this bad boy, and cracked the Gates open, launching the boulder at them and then turning my back.

2…

It was a fifty-meter throw, give or take, and I didn't expect to hit anything.

1…

No, I turned around because that was the biggest rock by one-hundred times that I had ever made into an air grenade.

*BOOM!*

I was knocked off my feet just after the sound rocked my head. Even with all three Gates open, it was like getting hit by a truck. I could barely pull myself off the ground, my body hurt all over, but I could feel things growing back.

'Fifteen percent of your exterior was damaged, repairs will be done in thirty seconds.' -Eva.

"Thanks, Eva.'

I turned around to find a blasted landscape. Trees the were level with the beach had been blasted back over fifty-plus meters in a ring. The beach was filling in with water, and the panthers were just gone, the force tore them apart. Well, that was interesting, could do away with this god problem pretty easily with this, but then there was the issue with the hostages.

I started walking, and thinking about that, I wondered if they were still alive or being controlled like puppets? At this point, wouldn't it just be better to end it for them all? Some hard questions were surrounding this problem, and no proper way to deal with things.

'Hyde, in the area you just blasted down, there are some primates with staves moving towards you in a hostile manner.' -Eva.

I turned to see what Eva was talking about and there were four giant monkeys with thick staves that had carvings on them. They did not look friendly, or nearly as stupid as the panther's, so my rock trick wouldn't work twice. I decided that I would just have to meet them head-on, and I started to run at them.

This made the monkey that was half my size hoot and holler as we crashed. I ducked as the four dove at me, letting the first two strike sticks and then pull back, but I caught the next pair. I landed a double uppercut that broke both necks with disgusting crunching noises. I grabbed a staff and rolled out of the way of a downwards stroke.

I got to my feet, and sidestepped another downward stroke, driving my staff into the monkey's throat. Then I spun and used the staff like a ball bat, cracking the skull and crushing the choking monkey's brain, killing him instantly. 

*Crack!*

A staff broke my head, and it felt like a hard slap. I turned my head and looked at the monkey that was looking back and forth from me to the broken staff. I was going to let this fucker live, but he tried to rush me, but I cut his head off using my hand and a wooden blade Eva's hand grew for me. 

"WHO WANTS SOME!" I yelled out in challenge.

The forest was silent. I was fired up, but I promised the others that I wouldn't go alone. Saying that Eva was with me was cheating, and I would also need Kyra to ride in the cabin to be our translator service with the other gods and demigods. I needed to rely on the girls, but bringing them into danger was always a constant worry for me, but I would have to get over that. 

Still, I flexed my tree trunk arms and smiled to myself. This would be a big help against Talon, and for cleaning up the rest of the world. It was really hard to think that it was really working. I turned back and started to jog back to the beach, but then a human-sounding female voice called out to me.

"Are you the one they call Hyde? The same one that has defiled my daughter? Come fight my champions! You will pay for what you have done, and then I will wipe anything that resembles humans off this island!"

I turn to see a solid purple queen floating in the air above five massive creatures. A tiger, snake, frog, ape, and praying mantis, all of the giant variety looked ready to do me serious harm. This was a pickle, stay and fight? Or run back and risk them following and destroying the island? 

It wasn't really a choice, no, it was just something that I had to do. I could always fly out if it got too bad, but for now, I would need to deal with these five.

"Alright you bunch of ugly over-growns, LET'S GO!" I shouted as I pounded my fist into my hand.