…… Milord has given us an impossible task.
When Milord took his eyes off us, I untied two of my branches that got tangled up and began scratching my bark.

I made myself look confident so as to not fall behind Milord’s personal favorite, Lady Alo, and the cheeky newcomer spider, but as I see it, that one-eyed monster is clearly too much for us to handle.
It’s no wonder Lady Alo is in a hurry.
Truth be told, it would be difficult for us to keep track of its quick movements by ourselves.
What must be done?
For the time being, perhaps it best that I show Milord how much I’m giving my all by emitting gravitational waves at a timing that is easy for him to notice.

Neither Lady Alo or the masked spider can match its speed.
With the exception of me, who is a tree.

I twist my trunk and extend my roots to attempt to chase after its figure, but then, Lady Alo touches me with her hand.

“No need…… it will come after us soon. Just wait”

Hm, what did you mean by that?
When I asked her using〖Telepathy〗, Lady Alo merely looked at Milord.

Milord receives a direct hit by the humanoid monster to the shoulder.
Why? Surely Milord is fast enough to have evaded such an attack.

“Ryujin-sama took the hit on purpose”

As if to prove Lady Alo’s words, Milord seizes the chance to bite at the humanoid monster, lifts it up, and slams it on the floor.
The humanoid monster then attempts to forcibly open Milord’s mouth with its bare hands and frees itself. But its lower half was already drenched in blood.
The humanoid monster looks at us, and as if in response, the one-eyed monster darts this way.

So this must be what Lady Alo meant when she said that it’ll be coming here.
Milord must be planning to fight the two humanoid monsters by himself, and by taking advantage of his large size and the narrow hallways, he is also preventing them from regrouping with each other.

If the humanoid monster were to get injured and seek recovery, it would have to come to us.
And, Milord will never allow that, so they have to get past him first.
The one-eyed monster cannot afford to get too close to Milord either, so it can’t offer assistance even if it wanted to.

When the one-eyed monster looked at our direction.
I heard its sinister thoughts say “Retreat there”.

I have attained the ability to hear and share thoughts.
The ability that Milord seeks,〖Telepathy〗. When I obtained this ability, Milord showed visible regret while looking at me with envious eyes. Lady Alo looked angry at me that time too, but to tell the truth, I felt slightly happy when my all-powerful master felt envious of me from the new power I gained.
However, I tend not to use it often because I do not want Milord to dislike me any further. If I were to master it, then Milord would feel too much regret to deal with me any more. That is why I hide my〖Telepathy〗.

The one-eyed monster’s hair waves as it heads towards us.
Bloodlust.
That’s what I felt.
It intends to kill all of us instantly.
That blinding speed shows the big difference in our status.

…… I can’t be the first to flee.
I have a character to uphold. The masked spider, on the other hand, has already hid before I noticed.
The masked spider knows an overwhelming opponent when it sees one. It is surely stalking our enemy at this very moment.
Milord’s favorite, Lady Alo, will most likely remain until the very end, but if I simply tell her “Milord will be sad if you’re gone”, I am sure I can get her to move.
The one-eyed monster does not see us as a threat. If we run now, it will not chase after us, so it’s not too late.

Lady Alo leans forward and touches the soil under a broken part of the floor.
I thought she was about to use〖Clay〗, a skill that I also know, but that's not what's she's doing.

The soil rises and splits into two figures.
The two figures then take the form of a person and imitate Lady Alo’s form.

Both copies have one arm enlarged.
They’re in combat posture.

Magic surrounds both copies and the once brown and darkened soil gradually gains pigments of color.
Now they look exactly like Lady Alo.

“……〖Earth Doll〗”

The level of craftsmanship and precision put into it is vastly different compared to when she made earth rabbits.
This must be the result of her increased power upon evolution.
Even the one-eyed monster will not be able to come out unscathed when it receives an attack from that.
So, is our plan to simultaneously attack it from a safe distance while the earth dolls fight it at close range?

“Treant-san……”

Hm? What is it, Lady Alo?

“At least use a power-debuff skill on that thing……”

…… Oh, you mean〖Anti-Power〗.
But, I am confident that I will not be able to hit it and recommend using〖Gravity〗first to slow it down, but…… I will try my best.

Lady Alo gives me a smile.
Lady Alo. Giving me a smile will not increase my chances of hitting the target.

Lady Alo’s expression tightens as she raises her arm up.
Then, the area around us becomes shrouded with thick fog.
Lady Alo uses this chance to hide among her copies.

I do not know what Lady Alo is thinking…… but, she must have a plan or something.
Fortunately, the one-eyed monster can be detected by its loud footsteps.
It will not be too difficult to guess its position even in this thick fog.

I wander around for a while, until I heard something that made me startled so I turned to look at it.

There are four silhouettes.
Two are facing each other off, while the other two are just standing by.
Those four must be Lady Alo, her two copies, and the one-eyed monster.

The one-eyed monster targets two Lady Alo with tremendous speed.
At that speed, it’ll reach them in no less than five seconds…… but, when a copy of Lady Alo leaned her body, the one-eyed monster slowed down its pursuit.

It would seem that there is a thin line of web that is protecting the two copies of Lady Alo from being haphazardly getting targeted by the one-eyed monster, lest it triggers the trap.
I see, then. So even in this narrow hallway, we can still make up tactics that can lead the opponent astray.
I quietly prepare to cast〖Anti-Power〗behind the one-eyed monster…… specifically, behind its head.

My black sphere of light drifts forward and hits the back of its head.
With this, its attack power should decrease…… at least, I think so.

Is my magic really enough to work against such a monster?
Will we ever find a moment of rest……
Then, shortly after, the one-eyed monster began to move. It turns around and sees me.
I immediately move away from its line of sight as fast as I could.

I-I nearly died……

Looking back, the one-eyed monster did not give chase to me and lost interest.
After it disabled the webs protecting the two copies of Lady Alo, it jumps high up overhead at one of the copies.

Lady Alo’s copy hurriedly uses her enlarged arm as a shield, but was too late.
The one-eyed monster slips through the enlarged arm, and its dropkick deeply penetrates the copy's shoulder to her heart.
The force of that kick hurls the copy away.

Lady Alo’s copy, accompanied with a torn body, had her neck broken.
A mere kick produces this much immense power. Is this really a fight that we should be involved in……?

I am, however, grateful that I am not being targeted.
Is it possible for me to hit it with other magic as I keep my distance? The thought tempts me.
And so, I retreat further back, accumulate magic power, and prepare a〖Clay Sphere〗.

But, just as I was about to unleash my attack, the one-eyed monster had already pierced its leg through the belly of the other earth doll.

I-It already defeated both of them……
The earth dolls seem to be much more fragile than the real Lady Alo.
So even with my〖Anti-Power〗, the difference in our strength is still this wide…… was what I thought, until the earth doll that is being pierced began to move and reached out her hand to touch the enemy’s eye.

Hm? It can still move?
This one appears to be much sturdier than the other earth dolls.
Did Lady Alo give this one more magic power compared to her usual ones……? Although there is something different about this one.

“...... G-, 〖Gale〗”

A powerful wind magic strikes the one-eyed monster at point-blank range, directly at its weak point.

“A~a~a~a~a~a~aa~a~a~a~a!”

A deafening cry echoes throughout the hallway as the one-eyed monster gets blown away, helplessly rolling on the floor.
At the same time, the gust of wind cleared away the fog.

Did the earth doll just cast a spell?
No, that’s not it. The one that got pierced by the stomach is the real Lady Alo.
The other one who is standing at the back is a copy.

Enlarging her arm was only to trick the enemy into believing that only the copies have enlarged their arms, which the real Lady Alo then switched places with a copy in the fog.
And then, the real Lady Alo enlarged her own arm, reverted the copy’s arm to normal, and ordered it on standby.
Perhaps because she planned to get hit from the start is the reason why she wanted me to reduce the enemy’s attack power beforehand.

Against an opponent with incredible speed, the only way to catch it off-guard is to create a situation that closes the distance, then strike them when they least expect it.
Truly a risky but effective plan.

The power of Lady Alo’s magic is enormous.
A direct hit from a weak spot at point-blank range should inflict a heavy amount of damage…… at least I thought it would, until the one-eyed monster bent its knee and slowly stood up.

The one-eyed monster glares at Lady Alo with its bleeding red eye.
It is completely furious.
Then, its body started glowing and its injuries healing.
It’s using recovery magic on itself.
D-Doesn’t that make Lady Alo’s precarious plan all in vain?

Lady Alo is currently crouched on the floor, holding the large hole in her abdomen.
That brief exchange and reckless plan has already pushed her to her limits.
The one-eyed monster slowly hops towards Lady Alo.

Urgently, I once again add more magic into my〖Clay Sphere〗and fire it at the one-eyed monster.
The ball of earth shattered on its side.
I blink once.
The one-eyed monster must’ve shook its head before I realized it, but that can’t be. That would mean a mere head shake is faster than the blink of an eye.

A line of web from the masked spider extends down from the ceiling to the back of the one-eyed monster’s head.
But, the line gets cut in the middle and simply falls down the floor.
That was too fast.
Without the fog or a distraction, this is not an enemy we can approach that easily.

With Lady Alo’s large-scale diversion now defeated, we have no means of resistance.
…… Ah, Milord, we appear to be at our wit’s end.

“Gru~uooooo~oooo~oo!”

While I was about to give up, an extremely loud roar shakes the ruins.
Upon hearing that, the one-eyed monster turns to look at the other side of the battle, and its eye widens at what she saw.

Milord is seen walking towards us, covered in grave injuries.
His chest is almost ripped open, the scales on his back are falling off, and he’s bleeding all over the place.

However, the one-eyed monster was looking at something else that horrified her.

The two humanoid monsters are being eaten by Milord’s other head.
Their bodies show no movement or reaction to being eaten alive.
Then, the other head lifts the humanoid monsters up.
After a series of crunching, munching and bones cracking, the other head swallows them whole.
A large amount of red blood drips under their mouth.

“A…… a~a~a~a~a~a~a~a!”

The one-eyed monster screams in horror and runs for its life.
The instant its foot left the ground, it disappeared from my sight.

When I tried to look where it went, I saw Lady Alo looking at Milord’s line of sight, so I do the same and look to where Milord is looking.
Milord then raises his claw and slams it on the floor at incredible speed.
A crushing sound is heard. When Milord lifts his claw up, a misshapen one-eyed monster is seen in the rubble.
Its eye is smooshed and its leg is bent in the wrong direction.
Seeing it like that, I dropped in place and sat down in relief.
Milord is fast in his own right too.