HEX: Aspect Of The Void

Nathan and the rest of his party members watched as the vine monster they faced continuously flung its whips around, preventing them from advancing further. Its current position was stationary, but if provoked, there was the likelihood that it would move.

"Are you ready, Lydia?" Nathan yelled, tilting his head a little in her direction.

"Just a little more..." She said, shutting her eyes to concentrate on her Relic. It glowed brighter, and icy mist began to form all around her.

Nathan patiently waited for her to be done with her preparations, while also calculating other things at that moment. He resumed looking at the monster, injured and ragged after a continuous effort to kill it... This was its last stance.

The Tree Golem, noticing the cold surge that was emanating from Lydia's bracelet, immediately reacted. It sensed danger to itself and just as Nathan predicted, it began to move forward, making its tentacles draw closer to the group, whipping and slashing the areas close to them.

The party withdrew as the monster advanced, however... There was only so far they could go.

"Lydia...!" Nathan urged.

Her eyes tightened as she focused more, pouring all her concentration into the Relic.

The whips snapped the brick walls and smashed the soily ground beneath them, drawing closer.

Nathan drew his blade and decided to risk throwing his plan into disarray and just finishing off the monster himself. There was no more time.

"I'm ready!" Lydia suddenly said.

Nathan smiled with relief and moved out of the way. Everyone stood behind Lydia as she prepared to launch her attack.

"Do it now!" Nathan commanded.

Closing her eyes and stretching her hands toward the Golem, she brought forth her freezing mist which enveloped it and the area all around. The monster's ravaging vines slowed and began to freeze.

However, unlike with the Rock Golems, the monster before them continued to move. Its advance was slow, and it creaked as it stepped forward. Nonetheless, it continued to approach them. Its vines became stiff due to the coagulation of the frost, causing it to lose its flexible nature.

"I knew it... Her Ice Burst isn't enough to completely halt its movement... What a seriously insane monster!" Nathan muttered to himself.

Unlike the Rock Golem, Tree Golems had their bodies made up of plants, which were mostly filled with water. Practically, they should even be more susceptible to Lydia's ice attacks. However, despite its clear weakness in the realm of cold, it still had enough resistance to keep moving even while under such unfavorable conditions.

"Its level is just that much higher..." Nathan concluded.

It didn't matter though, he had predicted this would happen. All he needed was time anyway... And now he had it.

While the Golem's movements were still sluggish, Nathan picked up his pace and dashed toward it. The monster detected his presence and sent its vines to attack.

But, due to their slow and rigid state, they stood no chance against Nathan's superior speed. He easily evaded them, using his blade to cut them off simultaneously.

"Guarghhhh" The Golem yelled slowly, still affected by the ice, which was beginning to become undone.

"There's no time left!" 

While the sliced tentacles of the monster scattered about, Nathan dashed to the front of the monster and used his heightened senses given to him by his Relic.

"In the far right, eh?" He muttered, confirming the location of the monster's core.

Suddenly, the ice broke off from the Golem as it screeched in rage, quickly regenerating its lost tentacles.

"Too late!" Nathan declared.

He hurriedly thrust his blade forward, pushing his legs as he kicked the ground, launching himself at the desperate creature.

"Bleughhh" The Golem grunted as it felt something pierce its body.

With his hands tightly stuck to the blade's handle, Nathan successfully drove his weapon into the monster's heart, killing it at that moment.

The monster's tentacles wiggled, losing their command center. They became flaccid and fell to the ground immediately.

Nathan withdrew his blade from the monster's body and after spattering away the remnant of the Golem's fluid on his blade, he sheathed it.

The Tree Golem immediately shriveled up, its green color turning dull yellow, and then a dead brown hue filled its entire body.

It fell in a slight thud, hardly making a sound due to its very insignificant weight.

"W-We did it!" Lydia gasped in surprise.

The group cheered, nearly in tears due to how close the situation was. They would have been dead many times over if not for Nathan.

"Well done everyone... You all-" 

As Nathan was still speaking to them, suddenly a bright light shone in the direction of the monster's corpse.

"S-Shit! Don't tell me it's not dead yet!" Jack let out in panic.

Nathan also stared apprehensively at the monster's dead body which glowed. 

"I'm sure I struck its core... Is this another effect of the 'Annihilation Mode'? How absurd is this?!" 

A bead of sweat trickled down his face as he watched the light glow brighter.

Suddenly, the monster's body dissipated, turning into several particles of light, an occurrence that had never been seen before.

"What the hell?" Jack muttered.

The comments were made too soon, as they saw another glorious sight that would change their perception of the new system Dungeon had taken up.

The dissipations converged and began to take shape. Within a moment, the singular convergence transformed into a pile of vegetables and water, a couple of wrapped vines, a pile of wood, and a whip also by the side.

Everyone's eyes bulged as they saw this, their mouth dropping in shock. Before their eyes, the dead monster vanished and became objects.

A system notification immediately popped up, directly above the suspicious goods.

[System Information]

*Monster Drops*

<<Mixed Variety Of Plant-Based Foods>>

<<3 Litres Of Drinkable Water>>

<<Pile Of Vines>>

<<Firewood>>

<<Tree Golem's Whip>>

"T-This is..." Nathan muttered.

He observed the vegetables, and from their appearance, they looked edible. The water that appeared was placed in jars made with wooden materials, and it appeared to be exactly three liters in quantity.. Then there were the other items as well, all equally useful in their own rights.