The screams lasted only a few seconds. But those few seconds seemed too long for such agonizing screams.
Erend, who saw and heard it, felt that the sound of Steve's screams coming from his crushed throat was disturbing.
Even he who had seen lots and lots of blood and organs splattered could not bear the sight and sound.
So he channeled more of his Magic energy into the layer of water that covered Steve's body to strengthen it.
The dark red flames kept trying to shoot out like a tongue sticking out of his body.
However, the evil Magic's efforts were canceled by the layer of water that Erend released.
'This is taking too long,' Erend thought.
At this rate, he would only run out of MP before he could kill Steve.
Steve's body condition was horrible. All of his skin was gone and his charred flesh fell like hard charcoal.
Erend walked closer to Steve who was still screaming. He also still maintained his concentration on the layer of water on Steve's body.
A few moments later Erend was in front of Steve. He felt his concentration was enough for him to maintain the water layer while planning to activate [Dragon Scale].
Erend intended to crush Steve's head with [Dragon Scale] when he was in pain and couldn't fight back because of the layer of water around his body.
However, before Erend could activate [Dragon Scale], Steve's black eyes glared at him and his screams stopped instantly.
It shocked Erend because the change happened so suddenly. Erend also had no idea what happened.
Steve stretched his charred hand towards Erend's leg. At that distance, Steve could easily reach Erend which was previously too far for him to reach with his hands.
Erend expected a big attack to be given by Steve. Yet what he encountered was not an attack. But a sight that he did not expect he would see.
It was the sight of a vast expanse of barren land that seemed boundless.
The reddish sand was under his feet. The sky in this place is also reddish and has a sinister impression.
But what became the center of attention in Erend's gaze was a skinny tree that rose high into the sky.
Erend immediately turned his head in all directions. "Why am I in this place? Was I moved here forcibly by Steve?"
Erend's chest was filled with worry so his heart raced faster.
'If I am here, this is a dire situation.'
Erend thought, could he be transported with Magic from that cursed tree to be in this dimension and leave all his friends?
Or, there was also the possibility that this was just an illusion created by that cursed tree to make him panic.
So, Erend calmed his mind and hoped that the second possibility was the truth.
He then glanced at the tree in front of him. Whatever happened to him now, it must be the doing of that tree.
So Erend ran quickly towards the tree and watched it.
The tree has cracked dry bark and there is something red behind the cracks in the bark.
Erend then turned around to see another part of this tall tree.
When he reached the opposite side of the tree, Erend could see that something was sticking out from the tree trunk.
Erend frowned. "What is this?"
When he decided to walk closer, Erend could see a unique feature that he recognized.
"Its looks like the hilt of a sword."
Yes, it was definitely a sword hilt that had somehow protruded from the trunk of that tree.
Saeldir and Aurdis had said that all the records about that tree had disappeared. So it's obvious that Erend never heard them mention about the sword in the tree.
Even they might not know that there is a sword stuck in here. They only knew that the tree emitted cursed Magic.
But all of that comes back to the very first question. Is this real or just an illusion? Was the sword he saw stuck in the tree trunk real?
'Tut, you there?'
Erend contacted Tut because for now, he was the only thing that could be relied on in a situation like this.
However, Tut did not answer. Erend started to feel more and more anxious.
If he couldn't contact Tut then maybe all of this was real and that meant he had been transported to this dimension.
But Erend's worries disappeared after he heard Tut's voice.
[ "Erend, you are now in that cursed tree dimension. I don't have much time so listen to me carefully." ]
Tut said very hurriedly. Erend finally found out that he had indeed moved to this tree dimension.
Tut also probably tried very hard to get in touch with him. The long pause earlier was most likely because Tut couldn't answer his calls from this dimension.
Erend chose to remain silent and just waited until Tut finished speaking.
[ "You must escape from this dimension as quickly as possible because the tree absorbs your power every second.
Maybe, the way to get out of here is you have to attack the tree until you do enough damage.
That way, the tree won't be able to hold you in this dimension anymore." ]
"How can I do a lot of damage if I don't have much time?" Erend asked.
[ "I don't have much information about that tree either so I don't know.
But, maybe if you turn into a Dragon and attack that tree with all your might." ]
Erend nodded in agreement. "Alright."
He thought that changing into a Dragon would indeed make the damage he inflicted greater.
Here nobody saw him so there was no problem using his Dragon form.
Unlike before when Erend restrained himself, now there was no reason to hold back.
Instead, he had to bring out his true strength.
"If that's the only way then..."
[ Skill activated: Thunder Dragon Transformation (Lv.1) ]
*JCHUCHUUUCHUUT!!!*
A bright blue light appeared and illuminated the entire place with dazzling light.
The dimension that was previously covered in a dark reddish color was now filled with the brightest blue color.
The light from Erend's transformation seemed to change that place into another place.
Lightning flashed around like a whip. Flying flakes of reddish sand.
The shockwave from the transformation also blew away the red cloud above him.
A moment later the dazzling blue light disappeared. Now standing there was a Dragon with bright blue scales and lightning enveloping his body.
Dragon-Erend's eyes turned to the tree. If one looked from the perspective of a normal person, one would see that Dragon-Erend would easily destroy that emaciated tree.
However, the reality is not that simple. Dragon-Erend knew that he had to provide a considerable amount of attack power to the tree.
Although he wasn't sure it would work because Tut didn't even give a confirmation.
Tut just said that the way to get out of this dimension was 'maybe' to attack it and deal enough damage.
So Dragon-Erend immediately did that. He swung his two claws covered in bluish lightning towards the scrawny tree.
*CRAAAKKK!!!*
*CRAAAKKK!!!*
*CRAAAKKK!!!*
*CRAAAKKK!!!*
Dragon-Erend swung his claws many times yet the tree didn't seem to be breaking.
There are indeed Dragon-Erend's clawed wounds which are imprinted and are still being flashed with lightning. But still, the tree stands firmly.
'Damnit! This tree is tough!'
Dragon-Erend cursed in his heart while continuing to attack with all his might.
He kicked, clawed, and also spat out Thunder breath from within his mouth.
After many times, the attacks show its result. The bark of that cursed tree fell onto the red sandy ground below.
Seeing that, Dragon-Erend intensified his attacks.
'It would be great if I could destroy that tree right now!' Dragon-Erend thought as he continued to attack.
Its tree bark drops more. Making the cursed tree's appearance even more wretched.
Dragon-Erend then saw the hilt of the sword stuck on the other side of the tree, so he proceeded to kick it too.
The sword was stabbed at the height of an adult human. So it's possible that whoever stuck that sword there was a humanoid creature.
However, when he kicked the hilt of the sword there was a kind of protective field surrounding it.
So Dragon-Erend's leg bounced when he kicked it.
'Fuck! What the fuck is that?!'
Dragon-Erend cursed. The curse came out as a terrifying growl from him.
Dragon-Erend stared at the hilt which was now giving off a reddish glow.
The change that occurred after he kicked it meant that the sword might have reacted to his power.
Dragon-Erend's attention was diverted from the sword when he felt something from the side.
There was a tear of space-time appearing in this dimension.
'That's it!'
The tear wasn't wide enough for him to get through, so he attacked the tree again.
After a while, the tear of space-time burst wide enough for him to pass through.
Dragon-Erend stared at the blade and wondered. 'What should I do with that sword?'
But he realized that now he did not have time to deal with the sword.
So Dragon-Erend shot towards that rip of space-time and immediately deactivated his [Thunder Dragon Transformation].
Erend's body returned to his human form before finally entering the tear of space-time.
Erend was too busy looking for a way out of there that he didn't realize that someone was watching him since earlier.
That someone is Laston. He hid behind a red rock big enough to hide his entire body.
"As expected of a Dragon."
Laston who once again saw the power of Dragon-Erend swallowed his saliva.
~~~
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