Sam ran ahead. He swung his sword rapidly and knocked away branch after branch, root after root. Tendrils erupted from the ground and he deftly stepped aside. He severed the limbs that reached out for him. Lusamine’s screams rang out and chilled him to the bone.

Sam reached Lusamine’s body and swung his sword. It broke against the sturdy bark. He summoned another and smashed it against the tree. And another. Bit by bit he hacked away at her.

“LET ME… HOLD MY SON!”

Sam didn’t say a word. He chopped and chopped. Branches lunged at him. He hardened his skin with nanomachines. But even they had their limits. In time, the branches dug into Sam, reached his shoulder, and slowly siphoned away blood. He had to end this. Quickly.

He hacked away at her heart. Bit by bit the bark fell. There wasn’t much, but there was an opening. The faintest glimmer of an opening. Sam sent his locusts into it. They burrowed into the tree and pried it open.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Sam summoned one final sword. He pulled back and finally plunged it into her heart. The screaming ceased. The branches faded to ash.

- Ragnarust Round 5