"Scep-tile!"
Sceptile's cross-shaped pupils narrowed, and natural energy surged from its body in a powerful wave.
It slammed both hands against the ground.
RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE!
The entire mountaintop shook as if an earthquake had struck.
Across the forest floor, the tangled roots suddenly pulled apart, clearing a path and exposing the hard stone beneath. It almost looked as though the forest itself were making way for something greater.
Then the ground split open.
A massive wooden arm burst from the crack and seized the earth, fingers digging deep into the stone. A moment later, an enormous figure rose from below, towering more than ten meters above the battlefield.
It was not just a construct of wood.
It looked like a guardian.
A colossal wooden guardian, carved with a stern, ancient face, standing over the summit like a protector awakened from the heart of the forest.
"GROOOOAAH!"
The Wooden Guardian opened its mouth and roared toward the sky.
The sound rolled across the mountaintop like thunder. A shockwave swept outward, making the air ripple and the trees bend beneath its force.
Across the field, the faceless man finally lost his composure.
"What... is that?"
He had guarded the eighth floor for more than ten thousand years and had seen countless geniuses, monsters, and prodigies try to climb past him.
But he had never seen anything like this.
A Sceptile had summoned a giant wooden guardian.
Had the outside world really changed that much?
Aaron did not give him time to think.
"Sceptile, control the guardian. Attack."
"Scep!"
The Wooden Guardian roared again and clenched one enormous hand into a fist. Then it brought that fist down toward Armaldo with crushing force.
"Armaldo, dodge!"
"Krrsh!"
Armaldo leaped aside just in time.
KRAAABOOM!
The fist smashed into the ground, blasting open a huge crater and sending broken stone flying through the forest.
Aaron's eyes stayed locked on Armaldo.
"Sceptile, bind it with the roots. Guardian, keep the pressure on."
The forest moved at once.
Roots surged across the ground like wooden serpents, coiling toward Armaldo from every direction.
The faceless man's voice turned cold.
"Armaldo, Fury Cutter. Clear them out."
"KSSSH-RA!"
Yellow-green light formed along Armaldo's claws, sharpening into blade-like edges. It slashed through the incoming roots again and again, cutting them apart with ruthless precision.
SHRAK! SHRAK! SHRAK!
But the roots would not stop.
Every time Armaldo cut through one wave, another rose from the ground to replace it. The forest itself had become Sceptile's weapon, and it was trying to bury Armaldo under endless pressure.
Then the Wooden Guardian's fist swept in from the side, carrying a fierce gale.
The faceless man's expression sharpened.
There was no room left to dodge.
"Armaldo, X-Scissor!"
"ARRMAL!"
Red light flashed in Armaldo's eyes. Dazzling yellow-green energy erupted from both arms, and a terrifying pressure gathered around its claws.
In the next instant, two enormous X-shaped blades slashed upward toward the guardian's arm.
KRAAASH!
The collision shook the summit.
CRACK!
The Wooden Guardian's wrist was severed cleanly.
Its massive fist crashed to the ground, throwing dust and splinters into the air.
Aaron's eyes narrowed.
So this was Apotheosis-tier X-Scissor.
The Wooden Guardian's body was harder than steel, yet Armaldo had cut through it in a single strike.
That kind of power was dangerous.
Very dangerous.
"GRRHHH—!"
The guardian let out a deep, pained roar.
Aaron immediately spoke.
"Sceptile, repair the arm."
"Scep-tile!"
Natural energy flowed out of Sceptile and into the giant construct. Fresh wood grew from the severed wrist, twisting and layering over itself until the broken arm was restored.
But Sceptile's breathing had changed.
It was slight, almost easy to miss, but Aaron noticed.
Sceptile had already used several large-scale techniques in a row. It had created the forest, maintained the field, controlled the roots, summoned the Wooden Guardian, and now it was repairing damage on top of everything else.
Worse, this mountaintop had been bare before the battle.
There were no natural plants here for it to draw from.
Everything in this forest had come from Sceptile's own energy.
The faceless man noticed too.
A faint smile touched his face.
He had found the pressure point.
"Armaldo," he said calmly, "keep cutting the guardian apart. X-Scissor."
"Krrrsh!"
Armaldo lowered its body and rushed forward. A huge cross-shaped blade of energy lit around its claws again, dense and sharp enough to split steel.
Apotheosis-tier X-Scissor was coming.
Again.
Aaron took a slow breath.
He could not let this become a battle of attrition. If Armaldo kept carving pieces off the guardian and forcing Sceptile to repair them, Sceptile would burn itself out before the fight was over.
This had to end now.
"Sceptile."
His voice lowered.
"Hold on a little longer."
Sceptile did not look back.
"Scep."
Its answer was steady.
Aaron's eyes sharpened.
"One move decides it."
He raised his voice.
"Sage Art: Wood Release—Leaf Blade!"
Emerald light erupted from Sceptile's body.
The entire forest answered.
Leaves, roots, branches, and streams of natural energy surged upward, gathering between the Wooden Guardian's hands. The giant raised both arms to the sky as if drawing power from the forest it stood within.
"RRRROOOAAH!"
The guardian roared.
A massive green blade formed between its hands, bright and terrifying, its edge humming with compressed Grass energy.
The air around it trembled.
Armaldo charged from below, X-Scissor blazing across its claws.
The Wooden Guardian brought the enormous blade down with both hands.
KRAKOOOOM!
The cross-shaped slash and the colossal Leaf Blade collided head-on.
For one instant, the entire summit vanished beneath green light, yellow-green blades, and a deafening explosion.
...