Rise of the Eromancer

Chapter 274 Small But Terrible

"...I think you should evacuate your city."

"...What?"

Both Miquella and Malenia looked at Rhys as he said that, they did not look for long, however, as Malenia quickly chose to obey Rhys's order.

"Shivellans, evacuate all the people! You do not need to worry about me, the Hero will protect me!"

"Well…" Rhys could really only hold his words as the shivellans all just quickly disappeared, "...I'm glad that you listened to me, but this is putting too much faith in a stranger."

"You are not a stranger — you have already proven yourself to be the Hero in the prophecy," Malenia shook her head before focusing on the Nymph of the 4th Night Forest.

They had been talking for a bit now, and yet she still had not moved a single bit — but still, even though she did not have Rhys's extreme senses, she still had enough to know that something dangerous was accompanying the nymph's silence.

And it wasn't only her, Miquella's eyes were also squinted as she stared at the nymph's back.

"...I think we all should just go," Miquella then whispered as she quietly slithered next to her sister.

"No," Malenia shook her head again, "I am the High Priestess, I am obligated to stay inside the Shrine of Medusa — abandoning it is abandoning my faith in Her."

"There are other shrines," Miquella grabbed her sister's arm, "And you can always rebuild this place. This is—"

"You brought the Hero here, Miquella," Malenia, however, just quickly pulled her arm away, "Your task is done and you are free to leave. My task, however, has officially and finally begun. It is—"

Unfortunately, the nymph had also begun to move again; its arms, just lowering to her sides as her tiny body began to wobble and wave side by side. Rhys was about to talk to her again and ask her if she was okay, but she suddenly turned around and looked at him and the gorgon sisters.

"Tch…!" Rhys quickly crouched down before quickly leaping toward the two; making sure his arm could get the both of them as he practically slammed his arm and shoulder at them — it did not matter if they were hurt, it was better than the alternative.

Because right where the two were previously standing, was a torrent of roots that violently ravaged through the stone ground like it was just tofu; it spun and moved violently like a loose grinder.

"It hurts… it hurts…" And even though she was the one that suddenly attacked, the nymph just started clasping her head again; her eyes, bleeding without reason as she once again stared at the three, "Why — why would the life we protect hurt us!? Why would you hurt—"

"I am sorry about this." And as the nymph was becoming even more hysterical than she already was, Rhys suddenly emerged from the shadow behind it and grabbed her by the torso, "We're not trying to hurt you, okay? But we need you to calm down, Ma'am. It's—!!!"

Rhys quickly jumped straight up as the ground beneath his feet suddenly disappeared, replaced by a jaw, a literal jaw of rocks and sand that threatened to swallow him. And before he could even relax, this jaw turned into a large worm that followed him in the air.

He quickly shot out threads from his fingers, attaching them to the wall to quickly maneuver in the air; using his wind control to gain even more momentum and control — a mistake. As soon as he used his ability to control wind, it did almost the opposite as it completely stopped him in the air momentarily.

"!!!"

Unfortunately for Rhys, a moment was all it took as another jaw emerged from the ceiling and just completely slammed him back down to the ground — and as if that wasn't enough, the initial worm golem that was following him completely rained down upon him; the sharp grains of sand almost digging through his skin by the millions.

None of them really penetrated his skin, but the pain it caused almost caused Rhys to scream. Rhys then dug his fingers through the ground before forcefully pulling himself away, lunging himself forward and spinning in the air before ultimately landing on the wall… and like a spring, he flew back toward the nymph.

The nymph, however, just stared at him. And without even moving a single finger, a violent wall of water suddenly blocked Rhys's path. He quickly used his ability to control water to split it, but once again, it completely backfired and the wall of water just started to compress before violently spraying toward him.

He was able to avoid it by shooting his threads to the floor and pulling himself down, and he was right to do so… as the jet of water was enough to completely slice through the stone walls without even any resistance.

He had initially thought that Ayesha was just being extremely careful by not bringing Lina and Agatha, but now he knew just how different a nymph's control over the elements is — they would probably need someone like Esme to completely overpower a nymph in terms of control and raw power.

Rhys wasn't really given much time to think as the ground beneath him suddenly turned into a quagmire, almost instantly pulling his entire arm and half his body.

"Rhys!"

This soft ground, however, quickly solidified as Miquella's eyes lit up, giving Rhys the chance to just pull himself up.

"Thank—"

But before Rhys could even say anything, a violent stream of trees just completely drowned him; their barks, sharp enough to just completely obliterate everything.

"R… Rhys!? Nymph of the 4th Night Forest, please stop this!" Malenia's eyes also started to light up as she looked at the rampaging nymph. Malenia, however, quickly covered her eyes, "Rhys Wilder is the Hero of Prophecy! If you kill him, then you are going against your duty to protect the children of Medusa!"

"It hurts, it hurts!" The nymph was no longer listening to anyone or anything, almost as if just acting in instinct as she destroyed everything.

"We need to help Rhys Wilder — I am ending this," the light in Miquella's eyes started to grow brighter.

The roots that danced around Rhys were starting to compress and wrap around him; tighter and tighter by the second, and if they do not do anything, no matter how hard Rhys's skin has proven to be, he would still be shredded, but before Miquella could actually look at the nymph, Malenia quickly blocked her path with her back, "You—"

"Nymph of the 4th Night Forest!" Malenia screamed as her hands that were covering her eyes started to tremble, "Please, do not force us to turn you into stone! You have served and protected our kind for thousands and thousands of sheddings, but if you kill the Hero, then you forsake us all!"

"There's no use talking to it, Sister," Miquella shook her head and sighed as she placed her hand on Malenia's shoulder, "Step aside, I will do it so you do not have to."

"...No," Malenia also let out a sigh as her hands started to lower, "I am the High Priestess of the Shrine of Medusa — I will be the one to—"

"Hrn…?"

And as Malenia and Miquella were both glaring at the nymph, the nymph suddenly let out a small and confused hum as she looked at the raging torrent of trees he had summoned — nymphs, unlike the humans, are one with the elements; they could actually see, feel, and hear whatever the element touches.

And before the the gorgon sisters could wonder what was happening now, the dancing trees just suddenly exploded from the inside—no. The gorgon sisters watched as Rhys stepped out of the trees, literally mowing his way out; tearing the roots with his teeth and hand like a feral animal.

And from the way his eyes were glaring at the nymph while showing his teeth, he truly probably was feral. Rhys then pushed himself out and once again leaped toward the nymph; his body spiraling in the air like a drill as he did so.

But of course, once again, the nymph summoned a violent torrent of water to block him; this time, however, Rhys did not seem to care as he just rushed through the wall with his body.

"!!!"

The violent gush of water was enough to tear off his skin and flesh, but Rhys did not care at all as he just started healing whatever wounds crawled on him — he was going about this all wrong. There was another reason why Commander Olga of Russea approached Amerka aside from Rhys's ability to talk to the nymphs, it was also because of Ayesha and her brute strength.

And that is how he should have approached this in the first place, using brute strength.

"It—"

"I know it hurts." And before the nymph could open its mouth again, Rhys was finally able to grab it again. And of course, like earlier, it summoned another violent storm of trees to attack Rhys… but Rhys did not care at all and just lifted her up in the air…

…before just slamming her on the ground head first.

"...I really hope I only just knocked you out."