F-ranker Sword Saint: My Soulbound Sword is Secretly SSS-tier!-Chapter 331: Forcing Through

The silent forest erupted into heavy thuds, snaps, and rustles as two human youngsters sprinted with everything they had.

Daru couldn’t say he liked the idea of blindly trusting someone.

However, he didn’t hate it either, especially since the person in question was someone he had worked with in the past.

Elara was not incompetent. Since she boldly requested his trust, he shall boldly give it.

They still checked the surroundings as much as they could.

Unfortunately, with how fast they were going, it was really difficult to remain so careful. The human duo mostly remained wary of traps and predatory trees.

Those they managed to avoid.

Behind them, however, there were now four Runebarks, one of them elite, and two of those eerie flower spawns Daru had told Elara about.

She inwardly agreed with what he said, finding the flowers rather creepy. She, too, did not want to engage them in combat.

At least not yet. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

Chest heaving, Elara asked: "So...how did you...escape the previous pursuit?"

"By...almost falling..." Daru responded, making his comrade wince.

That was not a reliable strategy, was it?

What else could they do except continue running until she can implement her plan?

The small forest rumbled as Runebarks, disturbed by two odd existences, uprooted themselves — some managing to block their path on time, forcing them to change directions.

Thankfully for Daru, Elara was there to guide him back to the proper path, though they would lose distance every time she had to call him back.

"Roots!" she warned, spotting a familiar tree root resting "harmlessly" on the ground.

It was the same species of predatory tree that got her.

Daru would’ve pathed dangerously close to it, had she not informed him. They were able to avoid that threat, too.

Another minute later, however, it was Daru who suddenly pulled her away from a shrub.

Elara was confused, but she concluded there was probably danger there.

There was.

A Sap Trap, as Daru noticed the subtly bulging ground, which meant that inside that vigorous shrub was a porous spot with a sticky white sap seeping out.

While the Sap Traps aren’t necessarily dangerous by themselves, Swordspawns usually position themselves close to them, just like in his first meeting with the Verdant Runebark.

Sure enough, another Runebark uprooted itself moments later.

But with how many there were chasing them, another didn’t really mean anything.

Only Elara’s plan, if it works, can save them. Actually, Daru didn’t really know, but he had stopped thinking about it.

They will proceed with the plan.

Soon, his eyes brightened. The other side of the forest was in view. While they won’t exit in the exact part he entered from, they would be close.

"We’re through!" Elara exclaimed, ecstatic as the thick, almost viscous winds hit her face. "Quick, you go first and show me where those trees are!"

But Daru was already scanning the surroundings, spotting the Golden Sap Tree Cluster at 2 o’clock.

His eyes widened slightly, and he gritted his teeth at what he saw.

Still, his mind worked quickly.

"Let’s split! Hide somewhere and wait, I’ll distract the aphids!"

Daru wasn’t sure how he would do it, but he somehow had to. A grim look formed on Elara’s face.

She felt a bit guilty, but unfortunately, they were already deep into this plan. She simply resolved herself not to fail her comrade.

With a decisive nod, she scanned the surroundings, overtaking Daru and heading over to a massive beech tree northwest.

Daru made sure to slow down a bit to ensure that all the pursuers would target him and ignore Elara.

His plan worked, but he was now uncomfortably close to the Verdant Runebark.

’No matter...’

He was close to the cluster of Golden Sap trees, too. He had never thought that he would be sprinting right back to the Sabre Aphid swarm.

Fortunately, it didn’t seem like they cared about his presence much. The black bugs simply continued sipping on the Golden Sap Daru extracted earlier.

The amount had greatly diminished, and they were merely finishing up what was left.

’That’s fine...’

After all, a decent plan — although he was uncertain if it would work — had formed in his mind.

Daru had realized while walking along the edges on the other side of this strange brown land that the Sabre Aphids were probably hanging around these trees, waiting for someone or something to wound the evergreens for them, as the insects’ strength was most probably not enough to obtain the Golden Sap on their own.

Then, they would either drive or kill that creature away to have the sweet, viscous liquid for themselves.

Soon, he arrived at the small Golden Sap Tree cluster, and he stood defensively in front of it, the Sabre Aphids lost in the ecstasy of their meal a little less than a dozen meters away from him.

The Verdant Runebark was in a significant lead compared to the other pursuers.

He planned to take advantage of this small window.

Soon, the elite humanoid tree arrived, green aura streaking mystically through the vigorous air as its sword arm — this one a thick crescent blade — hacked at him.

Daru realized this was a different Verdant Runebark.

Still, he focused on the battle, eyes fixed firmly as he waited.

Then, at the perfect moment, he used Swift Tumble, barely evading the wooden sword arm. A heavy thud sounded the next moment as the elite’s attack landed squarely on the Golden Sap Tree behind him, cutting significantly deeper than his Crescent Dicer.

Golden Sap flowed heavily.

But Daru wasn’t done yet, quickly dashing deeper into the small Golden Sap Tree cluster. The Verdant Runebark unhesitatingly pursued.

They danced along the treelines, each attack from the elite resulting in a wound on the trunk of another tree. Golden Sap streamed along the blades of its sword arm.

Daru breathed heavily, feeling that it was harder and harder to keep evading the deadly attacks of the elite humanoid...yet there was a smile on his face.

He chuckled:

"I wish you luck in dealing with the mess you made."

Then, he bolted away, the other Runebarks following him. The Verdant Runebark would’ve also pursued.

Unfortunately, an entire swarm of Sabre Aphids was now attacking it furiously.