Layla's hands were severely injured, and blood was gushing out of her injured hand. Not only that, but the hand also looked as if the bone in it had been destroyed as well. Eric Vodeen and Michael turned towards the direction from which the stone had come, and they could see Anos's group with twenty vampire guards armed with spears and swords. The group was expecting Anos and his guards to arrive due to the earthquake after taking the staff, but they did not expect that the vampires would be fast enough to reach them in time. Anos, after being threatened by his father that if he could not retrieve the witch and the staff, he should not return to the palace, was taking it completely seriously. He was even willing to risk his life to ensure the witch and the staff reached the palace, so his father wouldn't teach him a lesson. As the first son of his father, he couldn't afford to disappoint him. Anos walked forward and told the group, "You people have guts to interfere with vampire business." Eric turned towards Anos and said, "The day you imprisoned Layla, that was the day it became our business." Anos looked at Eric and laughed, "You creatures are extremely slow, and you're not even good at fighting. We vampires are completely superior beings to you useless humans." After hearing what Anos said, Eric looked around and saw that it was only one of his tree minions remaining, and the seeds he usually kept with him were already finished. Eric wondered how he could fight, as he usually depended on his tree to fight. Michael and Vodeen, seeing the vampires, were extremely worried because they knew their speed was no match for the vampires when they fought them in the castle. They put their hope in Eric, but they could see in Eric's face that he had no more seeds with him, having used them up against the beast horde that was coming towards them in the cave. Layla was still on the ground. Due to the pain of her injured arm, she was screaming and shouting. Eric, seeing the pain Layla was in, tore off his shirt and used it to bandage her hand. Due to her staff being weak, she couldn't heal her hand. Though the grand witch staff that was with them was filled with energy, it wasn't hers, and she couldn't completely access the power of the grand witch staff. Witch staffs are like souls; each staff has its own owner. Even if she was holding a very powerful staff, it didn't mean she could use the entire power in it. She could use the staff, but only to a degree. Vodeen and Michael got ready and took a stance with their swords and spears, ready to attack the vampires. Eric, after tearing his clothes and using them to cover Layla's wound, thought to himself about what he could do. Then, he remembered that he could create trees without seeds, but that would drain his energy. He thought about it; it had been a long time since he had used his power to grow trees from nothing, but he decided to use it anyway because he knew that if they got caught, they might get killed by the vampires. After using his clothes to cover Layla's injured arm, he put his hand in the ground and concentrated. Suddenly, three trees grew from the ground. The trees were different; their wooden bodies were as if made of iron, and the leaves on them were like sharp blades. The tips of the leaves were as if they could cut anything they touched. Eric, seeing the three trees that had grown in front of him, concentrated his power and turned them into his minions. He was surprised that the trees didn't turn into the usual minions he created, but instead, they transformed into something different. The trees suddenly grew four arms, and their roots turned into octopus-like legs. The trees also had green eyes and sharp wooden teeth, making them look completely menacing. Eric looked at the trees and saw that they were powerful and faster than the ones he usually made.
He thought about the reason why the trees had such power and remembered that creating trees from nothing was actually a manifestation of his own inner power. The three trees in front of him were a testament to the level of his current power. Eric was shocked and happy at the same time, realizing that absorbing Layla's staff had given him a boost in power in his wood ability. Vodeen and Michael, seeing the three trees Eric had created, were completely surprised and thought to themselves that Eric had more tricks up his sleeve. Even Layla, seeing the trees, could feel the power emanating from them, and she began to have hope that they could still escape the vampire world. Anos, seeing the three trees, was afraid. He could sense the power emanating from them, but the fact that his father had told him that if he couldn't capture the witch and retrieve her staff, he shouldn't bother coming back to the palace, made him throw away any fear he had for the trees. He told his vampires to charge forward and capture the group. Eric, seeing the vampires coming towards them, told his trees to attack. The trees had eight octopus-like legs that didn't make them slow; instead, they were extremely fast, with sharp claws that could easily rip the vampires' skin in half. Eric, seeing that his trees were coping well against the vampires, even killing half of them already, ran towards Layla. Due to Layla's staff not having enough energy, she couldn't heal herself, so she told Eric to get the ground witch staff and her staff, as she wanted to transfer some energy from the ground witch staff to her own staff so she could have enough energy to heal herself. Eric heard what she said and ran to retrieve the witch's staff that had fallen on the floor due to the stone attack from Anos. As he got close to the staff, he wanted to pick it up, but then he remembered that touching the staff could make it lose its energy. He turned towards Vodeen and asked for his help. Vodeen and Michael were still shocked, seeing the monster-like trees Eric had created that easily took down many vampires. Vodeen, stepping out of his gaze, regained his senses, ran towards Eric, picked the staff from the ground, and gave it to Layla. Layla began to transfer energy from the ground witch staff to her own staff. After some time, her staff began to glow with energy, completely full of power. It looked as if the staff was even better than it was before. Eric asked Layla, "Has your staff regained its energy?" Layla said, "My staff has regained its complete energy. This ground witch staff is now useless to us; though it still has an incredible amount of energy in it, I cannot use it due to it not being mine." After Layla said those words, Eric turned towards his trees, which were still battling the vampires, and thought to himself that draining Layla's staff had given him a boost in power. So, what if he drained the remaining energy from the grand witch staff? Michael and Vodeen looked at Eric, guessing what was on his mind. As soon as Layla said that the staff was no longer useful to her, Eric touched the hub of the grand witch staff. Suddenly, his eyes lit up green, and green energy could be seen entering Eric's body through the staff. The vampires, seeing Eric, didn't know what he was doing, but Anos had a bad feeling about it, knowing the staff was crucial for transporting the vampire residents to the human world. He charged forward, determined not to let anything happen to the staff, because if something did, he knew he would be a dead vampire. Anos ran forward, looking for a way to escape the trees Eric had created. The trees, seeing Anos coming towards them, used their clawed fingers to slash at him. However, Anos turned his body in a way that the slash only cut off his right hand. His hand began to bleed, but he didn't mind; his priority was to retrieve the staff. He had a bad feeling about what Eric was doing with it.
As he was running forward, Michael and Vodeen noticed him desperately trying to retrieve the staff. Michael quickly took his sword, knowing that if Eric absorbed the energy of the grand witch staff, it would increase his power, as Eric's trees were already very strong and formidable against powerful vampires.
Anos was running toward the group at full speed when suddenly he fell down. It looked as if his injured arm was starting to affect his entire body. Blood was gushing out of his hand incredibly fast. Anos looked at his injured right arm and forced himself to stand up, thinking he had to retrieve the staff at all costs. Just as he thought of that, he turned toward the group and saw that Eric had thrown the grand witch staff on the floor. The pink hub looked dull, as the energy in the staff was completely drained. Everyone could see that the tattoos on Eric's right arm were glowing brightly, spreading toward his body and covering half of his back and one side of his chest. Anos knelt down in frustration; even without being a witch, he didn't need anyone to tell him that the staff had become completely useless. He turned back, looking in the direction where the three trees were fighting against his vampires, and saw that his vampires were completely killed by the three minions Eric had summoned. Anos knelt down in frustration and didn't know what to do. Suddenly, he felt something pierce him from behind. Turning his head, he saw that it was one of the trees that had used its strong, sharp wooden claws to choke him from behind, ending him instantly. The group was completely happy, seeing that the threat of the vampires was gone, and the hope of the vampires returning to the human world was completely shattered due to Eric absorbing the grand witch staff's power, which the vampires had wanted to use to return to the human world. Layla had already used her staff's power to heal her injured arm. She got up and clicked her staff on the floor; suddenly, a portal opened in front of them, and the four of them walked into the portal, smiling.