Creating A Succubus Army In A Fantasy World!-Chapter 115: Trial Phase 1! (10)

The Stage 5 treeman stood frozen for a few seconds, its giant bark-covered body trembling with so much rage that the branches above its head actually started crackling.

Its eyes—bright molten gold—burned with pure fury, and the roots beneath its feet squirmed like living snakes, reacting to the overwhelming emotion flooding through it.

It let out another deafening roar, one so loud that even the trees surrounding the settlement seemed to flinch.

It stomped once, twice, then grabbed a chunk of the ground and flung it so far it disappeared into the sky like a meteor.

The creature then began pacing in circles, huffing and grunting, pausing every few seconds to snarl at the corpses of its fallen kin as if it couldn’t believe what had happened.

It looked around again, still hoping that maybe the little red-aura devil was just hiding behind a bush or under a mushroom or something.

But nope. Nothing. Just broken houses, burning tree bridges, and the smoldering remains of its tribe.

It roared again, this time with more frustration than rage, as if it had just lost an online game by lagging out at 99%!

Finally, unable to contain its burning wrath, it pounded its fists on the ground, sending tremors through the forest floor, and then bolted out of the settlement in a random direction, shaking the earth with every thunderous step.

It didn’t matter where it went. It just had to find him. That tiny, infuriating animal who had turned its whole world upside down in a single night.

It would rip him apart, feed him to the roots, burn his bones, plant him in the soil, and then scream at the flower that would grow from his corpse.

But high above, nestled comfortably on a thick branch of a half-destroyed tree, Creed sat like a smug little gremlin, twirling his spear lazily in one hand and munching on a dried meat stick with the other.

His form shimmered faintly, almost translucent, thanks to the powerful invisibility ring artifact he had activated earlier.

"Dumb tree bastard," Creed muttered under his breath, watching the raging giant stomp off into the forest.

’You really think I’d fight you and not have a backup plan? C’mon. I’m not a shonen protagonist. I don’t do suicidal bravery. I do suicidal science!’

He let out a low chuckle, watching the treeman vanish through the foliage.

He waited another minute, just to be safe, then dropped down from the branch and landed quietly on the soft forest floor.

The ring’s invisibility was still active, but he deactivated it now that he was sure he was alone. With a satisfied sigh, he looked around the empty treeman settlement.

"Alright. Show’s over. Time for the real mission."

Creed had always believed there was something off about the treemen.

From the start of the trial, they had been everywhere—guarding random areas, lurking in shadowed groves, showing up at random with far more intelligence than regular monsters.

It was like they were... integrated. Not just monsters placed here for fighting, but something older. Native. Important.

His instincts had been tingling the entire time, whispering that this race had a deeper role to play in the ecosystem of the trial.

So, when he found this large settlement, filled with high-level treemen including a genius-stage 4 with unique purple vines, he knew he had to check it out.

And now, with the place empty and the genius dead, it was time to go full mad detective mode.

He walked up to the corpse of the purple-vined treeman.

The thing was massive up close, easily ten feet tall, and its skin looked like a combination of living wood and bark, with the purple vines wrapped tightly around its arms, legs, and skull like organic armor.

Creed crouched beside it and immediately got to work, poking, prodding, slicing and dissecting with expert speed.

"C’mon, you’ve got to have something," he muttered, digging through the body.

’Hidden artifact, a core, a vine with some ancient DNA... I’ll even take a weird organ shaped like a chicken nugget, just give me something!’

But after several minutes of tearing through the bark flesh and flipping through internal systems that smelled like moss and bad compost, he found... nothing.

No core. No storage ring. No mystical engraving. Nothing that couldn’t be found in a normal, albeit powerful, treeman.

Creed sighed and stood up, a bit annoyed but not defeated.

He zipped off to the other corpses scattered around the battlefield and began checking them just as quickly, slicing them open like oddly-shaped fruit.

Stage 3, stage 4, big ones, small ones, he tore through them all like he was prepping for the world’s weirdest anatomy class.

Still, nothing. Just plant flesh, hardened bark bones, and pure energy. No answers. No treasure.

"Well, either this is all a massive red herring," Creed muttered, wiping sap off his hands, "or... the good stuff’s hidden deeper."

And so, he turned toward the main treehouse building; the largest structure in the center of the treeman village.

He walked toward it with a growing sense of curiosity. The moment he stepped inside, his eyes widened.

The room was huge, easily the size of a classroom, and in the center sat a wide, five-meter-long bed made entirely from weaved vines and giant mossy leaves.

Just beside it, under a soft glowing light, was a large wooden table with dozens of small chests lined up neatly in rows.

Creed blinked, froze, then blinked again. "Wait a minute. They had furniture?" he whispered.

’Indeed. They actually lived here. Like, ate breakfast and brushed their... leaves? Okay, weird, but that makes it even more suspicious.’

He practically sprinted to the table, flipping open the first chest—and his jaw dropped. Inside were dozens of golden, radiant crystals, each one pulsing gently with energy.

The aura that radiated from them was pure, dense, and practically alive. It didn’t feel like regular energy—it felt like something deeper, something closer to nature itself.

He picked one up and gasped as the power surged into his fingers.

"These... these things are like pure life essence!" he said, grinning like a lunatic.

"No wonder they were so strong! Is this how they cultivated? Crystals like these could boost their stages easily, or even awaken hidden bloodlines!"

He opened the next chest. More golden crystals. And the next. And the next. All of them filled.

The treasure trove was ridiculous. It was like finding a whole dragon’s hoard inside a treehouse.

He tried to toss a handful into his space ring, but the moment he did, the crystals bounced off the ring like they were made of rubber.

He frowned and tried again. Still no response. Not even a ripple. It was like the ring just... rejected them.

"What the hell?" he muttered, inspecting the golden crystal again.

’Space ring doesn’t work? What kind of broken nonsense is this? Does it have anti-spatial properties? Is it a dimensional anchor? Some kind of reality-bound energy form?’

He looked around, still trying to shove the crystal in from every angle like a kid trying to fit the wrong puzzle piece.

’Come on, get in there! What are you, allergic to bags?!’

The more he thought about it, the more intrigued he became. For something to refuse entry into a space ring, it had to have some unique property that made it incompatible with dimensional storage.

And that only made it way more valuable. His eyes sparkled with greed and curiosity. He didn’t know what these crystals were yet, but one thing was certain.

He was going to find out.

’Hey, Tierra,’ Creed spoke casually through their mind link as he leaned back against the moss-covered wall of the treemen hut, golden crystal in hand.

’You and the girls on the raft already?’

Her voice came into his mind, calm and gentle as always. ’Yeah. We’re a good distance away now. Everything’s fine on our end.’

Creed let out a breath of relief and nodded. ’Good. Now... get back here.’

The moment he said that, the tattoo on his chest lit up with a soft grey glow, and the air shimmered as Tierra emerged from it in a swirl of sparkles.

Her long grey hair flowed as she stepped gracefully into the wooden room, her eyes cool and curious as she scanned the treemen’s living quarters.

The room was still dimly lit, with soft sunlight peeking through the holes in the bark walls.

The large bed made of woven vines loomed behind him like a king’s throne, and the chests of golden crystals sparkled faintly like treasures from a forgotten age.

Tierra took it all in without saying a word, though her eyes did narrow slightly when she noticed the dissected corpses and bloodied tools near the door.

Still, she didn’t comment. She knew Creed was searching for clues.

"Here," Creed said, picking up one of the boxes filled with the mysterious golden crystals and handing it to her. "Try storing this in your personal dimension."

Tierra took the box, her fingers brushing against his briefly, and then, with a casual wave of her hand, the box shimmered and vanished into thin air.

Creed raised a brow and smirked. "Nice. Still can’t get over how handy that skill is."

Tierra nodded, her voice serene. "I recently unlocked the ability to open a small personal dimension. It’s still pretty tiny... but it’s enough for these."

She moved fluidly, sweeping her arms across the remaining boxes. One by one, the golden crystal chests disappeared into her personal dimension like cookies disappearing at a fat camp.

Creed watched her work with a pleased grin on his face. "Beautiful, deadly, and now a walking storage unit. I’m so proud."

Tierra gave him a look. Not quite a glare... but definitely a look.

"Alright, alright," he chuckled, raising his hands defensively. "Let’s go before Mr. Raging Bark Monster gets bored and comes back."

With all the golden loot safely stashed away, Creed and Tierra slipped out of the treemen house and began trekking through the forest in the direction of the raft.

On the way, he sent a mental message to Lilith.

’Slow the raft a bit, will you? We’re on our way.’

’Understood. We’ll reduce speed,’ Lilith replied promptly, her tone surprisingly cool. ’Be safe.’

As they moved through the forest, it became increasingly clear that the place had woken up.

The number of treemen lurking around had drastically increased.

Almost every few minutes, a squad of 20 or 30 low-stage treemen would burst out of the underbrush like crazed fans trying to get an autograph—and Creed and Tierra had to respond with the autographs of violence.

Creed moved like a crimson blur, his spear slicing through bark and vines with brutal efficiency.

With each swipe empowered by his Path of Killing, trees were cleaved, roots were torn, and enemies fell like dominoes.

Tierra fought by his side, her varying daggers slashing arcs through the air, glowing grey with the essence of space.

Together, they were like an elegant blender of death; unstoppable and a little over-the-top.

"Seriously," Creed muttered as he tore through another wave, "why do these guys just keep coming? Is this like one of those endless tower defense games or something?"

Tierra calmly cut through another treeman, her voice flat. "Perhaps they have a hive mind."

"Well, their hive is dumb."

Finally, after what felt like a full mini-boss gauntlet, the forest began to thin out, and the glimmer of sunlight reflecting off water appeared ahead.

The raft!

"Amara, Lilith!" Creed called out as they emerged into the clearing.

Lilith turned around first, relief flashing across her face. "You’re safe."

Amara looked over and gave him a cool nod. "How did it go?"

Creed wiped sap off his face and gave a lopsided grin. "Pretty good. Found a few things. Nothing I can confirm yet... but my instincts are screaming that we hit the jackpot."

Lilith nodded, already steering the raft back into the main river path. "Let’s leave this area immediately. There are too many treemen appearing. Something’s wrong."

"Exactly my thoughts," Creed said, already climbing aboard and motioning Tierra to do the same. "This whole forest is acting up like it drank too much energy espresso. Get us out of here, full speed."

The raft picked up pace, moving smoothly along the shimmering river as the sounds of rustling leaves faded behind them.

For a moment, there was calm. A peaceful silence filled the space, broken only by the rhythmic splash of water and the occasional creak of wood.

And then—

ROOOOOOAAAARRRRRRR!!!

The sheer volume of the roar sent leaves flying and waves crashing against the shore. The four of them instantly turned their heads toward the sound.

Their eyes widened in shock and disbelief.

"Uh... is that—?" Creed started.

On the riverbank, barely fifty meters away and charging parallel to them like a freight train with legs, was the Stage 5 treeman.

Its eyes were burning with fury, its body glowing with golden and purple energy, and its fists were clenched so tightly the bark on its fingers cracked.

It had found them!

They all stared at it. It stared back at them. Everyone was frozen in awkward eye contact, like two people catching each other staring in a public restroom mirror.

"...It’s not gonna jump into the water, right?" Creed asked, already reaching for his spear.

Lilith squinted. "It can’t swim. Can it?"

Tierra narrowed her eyes. "Treemen are heavy. Water would be dangerous."

Amara, ever the calm one, shrugged. "It shouldn’t be able to—"

SPLAAAASHHH!!

The treeman launched itself into the air like a missile, arms spread wide, and cannonballed into the river with enough force to create a tidal wave.

Water sprayed into the sky. The raft rocked dangerously, almost capsizing.

"...It jumped," Creed said flatly, soaked from head to toe. "Of course it jumped."