Dame Tyaethe's flying kick smashed into the great wooden serpent's flank, making its entire body rock. Sir Renar's handiwork was splitting it completely open along its back, revealing fresh  green wood deeper inside forming hands attempting to pull its body together and an ethereal glow from even deeper within. For the moment, offensive had ceased, as it became clear whatever constructed intelligence the creature had possessed some sort of understanding of what the knights were doing to it.

Of course, Fanilly couldn't simply stand by. She wouldn't. If her knights were putting in the effort to tear the creature's body apart, than so would she.

"Lord Arken! You heard Sir Fionn, I'll help open it up!" she called, taking a deep breath as she leaned forward. Whatever constructed abomination may face her---

She couldn't allow herself to falter. No matter how her heart beat, she would keep stepping forward. She had to.

Fanilly lunged forward, winding up with her blade and thrusting it deep into the serpent's flank. Already, she could almost see the wood around its entry point starting to bubble, almost rolling and stretching outwards.

Pouring as much strength into her limbs as she could, practically setting the muscles in her arm aflame, the knight-captain dragged the blade sideways. Sir Renar was using such a tactic to great affect, and so she'd split it from the other side.

Together, they'd open up the wooden serpent and create a direct path to its heart!

Arken raised his staff, chanting under his breath for a moment.

"Astral Lance!"

The bolt of magical energy exploded from a magic circle at the head of his staff, searing its way through the air as it hurtled towards the monster's upper body and took out a thin chunk of wood. It wasn't the most damaging spell against such a creature, but at the same time the impact sent it rocking sideways towards Sir Fionn. By now, much of its upper body had come apart, showing green light much like its eyes from within.

And then it ceased to move.

Fanilly paused, yanking her blade from the wood. It had just stopped---?

But why?

With a loud grinding, the noise created by bark grating against bark, the wooden serpent's damaged upper body suddenly raised, the light in its eyes building.

Lady Gertrude and Dame Tyaethe in particular might be able to tell that the heart had suddenly plummeted into its lower body, despite mostly moving around the upper prior.

Lord Arken narrowed his eyes.

There was a build up mana, surging up from the wooden serpent's insides.

And then its entire upper body split apart, tearing open not only along the seams that had been rent through its frame but splitting elsewhere, almost like the blossom of an immense flower, the green light from within building up more and more brightly---

And then spewing into the air as several dozen spheres of emerald light, arcing before they began to descend.

The knight-captain did not need some kind of expertise in magic to understand what this was, immediately springing back and away from the enormous wooden construct the moment the orbs began to hurtle downwards. She could almost feel the air thrumming around her, on her skin, even through her armor.

They'd done so much damage, but it wasn't quite enough to stop its attack. Still, they had to press on---!

Fanilly's shouted order for those in the radius of the ranged attack to move was hardly necessary, for it was clear being struck directly would spell disaster.

While the creature's tactics had changed, there was still plenty of damage done all across its wooden form. The heart had moved downwards, but perhaps it would still be possible to strike it.

[@Raineh Daze][@Psyker Landshark][@Crimson Paladin][@Octo][@The Otter]