>>5349757>>5349758>>5349756Planting the remaining seeds you had on your pouch, you saved a last one for emergencies, just to see if you could draw the plants to grow as mandragoras.
And sure enough, you focused onto their true nature, shifting their unknown nature as they grew and flipping their gimmick around, taking in the power of the earth elementals to define their identity as mandragoras.
"Grow and reveal your true form, much like I will in due time."
After your order, you see several of the mud puppets being accompanied by around double the number of Mandragoras, as they escaped out of their sprouts.
Refusing to scream or wail to their deaths, they instead line up into a formation. By order from nearest to farthest of the tree mansion stood you, the Kmengcide traps, The Mandragoras, The Mud Puppets, Violet, and lastly Casca with The Pegasus.
The formation even seemed to be changing, as some mandragora decided to ride on the puppets for added power. Given how the puppets can split, and the mandragoras can spread a zombie-like infection against the apostles on your command, you might just be able to hold off their troops without Guts needing to use the Berserker Armor, but what about the 3 main enemies?
You've given Casca your shortsword for her to act more comfortable on the battlefield, but that's no guarantee that she'll be performing well. The golden ages of the Doldrey fight are long past, and even if she maintained the force she had back then, the gnomes would have to work overtime to make up for her mistakes...
"If only my spiritual power hadn't weakened so much, perhaps I could help you hold the barrier to be near impenetrable..." Flora laments as she observes through her window, before The Skull Knight lunged to your side.
"Y-Your Majesty!?"
"You will fight for me?" Even Flora seemed surprised in his decision. "Either way, I am going to..."
<span class="mu-s">"All the more, for it to be at ease."</span>
"Thank you... I won't forget your devotion, dear friend..."
<span class="mu-s">"The struggler has been saved from Qlipoth, and his team will arrive shortly. But not before they begin to attack...</span> The Skull Knight sees the army of apostles banging and crashing at your barrier, throwing themselves into the barrier despite their corrosive nature to see if they could escape the fire.
"Sir Grunbeld! There weren't as nearly as many forests here when we started searching in this area! Why aren't they burning?!"
"Some powerful witchery is at work, out of my way!" The silhouette of a tall knight in dragon-like armor bashing a gigantic hammer around your dome, still clear of smoke as the enemies start to cough and suffocate in their own erosion of nature.
Even with your enduring soul, and the dying spirits of the forest flickering towards you as you were given their energy to keep the mansion intact, every swing of Grunbeld's hammer felt like he has smashing at your head.
As if that wasn't bad enough, a familiar conglomerate of voices approached the dome.
