Chương 413: Nexus Progress. Hidden Quest.

Hidden Quest.

While the battle between the Golden Sap Country and the Terragore Empire raged on, the other side of the Wall Forest was similarly engulfed in the flames of war. The Nexus armies had already started their siege, attacking the Celestial Lotus Empire from its north and east sides, while a large concentration of troops moved a few hundred kilometers down into Confederation territory.

The forces on both sides were not much different, and knowing that they were coming, blocking their advance was not something too complicated. The problem was the way the Nexus attacked places. On one of the bordering fortress cities, a few people stood with ugly faces as concentrated essences gathered in the distance. One of the leaders, a middle-aged man with a brown beard, spoke with a conflicted expression.

"They are preparing a curse ritual. Will we let them do as they please?" A Sylvan answered with a sigh.

"What else can we do? The roots that Lady World Tree can extend toward them have been destroyed. Moreover, our numbers are too few in comparison. The wall defenses and Lady World Tree's personal strength are the last two ways of defending ourselves." The man looked at the weapons on the walls and asked.

"Can't we use the long-range defenses?" The Sylvan glanced over and frowned.

"What can those antiquated methods of attack do? We could throw a few large boulders, but at most, they will be destroyed, and the debris might create a small cut on a few of them. It's a waste of time and energy." The man agreed with her words, but staying still without moving was not something he wanted to do. After all, when the curse was completed, they would have quite a lot of trouble dealing with the approaching army. The man looked back at the gargantuan being at the center of their city.

"Lady World Tree, do you have any idea? If they breach the walls, Lady World Tree will be in danger!" The World Tree's voice reached them, somewhat apathetic and smooth.

"You deal with it. I will protect myself, but nothing more." The man frowned, retorting to the World Tree.

"If you leave us to deal with it, how are you any different from them!? Lady World Tree, this is a threat not only to us, but to you as well! If they enter the city, they will attack you and try to corrupt you!" The World Tree answered peacefully.

"If that's my fate, I'll fight it when it arrives. However, until then, I won't interfere. If today is the day I die, so be it. If today is the day I'll be corrupted, so be it. That means that I had no stronger fate, and my life ends today." Like the vast majority of World Trees, the ones in these cities were passive, present physically but not mentally. The cities around them had traces of nature, but they were predominantly made of cement and similar building materials.

Most World Trees in Liu Shu's domain were as such, as shown by their lack of active participation during the Terragore Empire war. This was a big fault in the World Tree's innate psyche. They did fight for survival. However, they didn't do everything they could to survive. It was an evolutionary trait created so that a single World Tree wouldn't destroy the world. After all, if a World Tree was latched all around a continent and decided that it didn't want to accept death, the results could be catastrophic.

The World Tree could use its deeply latched roots to activate a volcano. They could shift the tectonic plates with enough pulling strength ever so slightly that catastrophic earthquake chain events would set off all around the globe without limits. Perhaps, they could split the land and destroy the cities around them in a final act of desperation.

Or, in a worst-case scenario, they could start tempting other World Trees to take over the entire world with their influence actively and enslave all beings on the planet. A human who wants to struggle with all their might to avoid death and survive is already dangerous and scary. If a being like a World Tree did the same… Even just thinking about it made it scary. Therefore, their nature of acceptance was present. Therefore, a World Tree's apathetic look at life and death was innate.

Therefore, mortal creatures misunderstood their lack of resistance as weakness. Few knew and deeply understood that if the World Trees one day stopped being passive and wanted to actively take over the entire world, society would change in ways hard to imagine. On the other side, Evangeline spread her arms wide and smiled at the World Tree.

"Sorry, being of nature. Your very existence was a mistake in the first place. Therefore, now it's time to go back and become one with the land once more. <Cursed Dream Demise>." The accumulated ternary essences didn't explode violently. Instead, they all gently fell and sank into the ground. Once that mysterious fog touched one of the World Tree's roots, it would silently seep into it. The feeling was not pleasant at all, and the World Tree started twitching.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. Evangeline then pointed forward.

"Attack. The World Tree won't be able to react for a while." The armies advanced, and as Evangeline predicted, the World Tree failed to react even when they stood on top of healthy vines. The <Cursed Dream Demise> made it so the World Tree's consciousness would be trapped in a realistic, illusion-like dream.

A mix of both created a situation where the World Tree's mind would be trapped in a lucid dream for a while, giving armies a chance to cross the distance and destroy everything with their incredible numerical advantage. Of course, maintaining such a curse was far from easy. A World Tree's mind was powerful beyond belief. Trying to keep it trapped in a "dream" was impossible for long amounts of time. Therefore, once three hours of siege had occurred, Evangeline ordered the retreat and interrupted the curse.

The people on the walls, drenched in sweat, blood, and other fluids, looked at their retreating army with tired faces. The middle-aged man frowned while holding his side.

"That white-haired Sylvan… She is really strong." Slight dampness was transmitted through his fingers where he touched, and when looking at his hand, he saw a patch of blood. Looking down, his eyes were full of shock.

'How? She only grazed me here…" Nevertheless, the wound seemed to be opening, and soon he fainted. Healers and potion makers quickly rushed over and started giving him treatment. Evangeline hummed happily as they retreated, her body not tired at all.

"Fighting with numerical advantage makes it much easier to win~. Now that their leader will also be out of touch, we can attack the next morning. We'll use <Cursed Dream Demise> four more times. After that, it will become much less effective. Orders will be given on the day before it. For now, continue the siege with the same tactic."

"Yes, Lady Evangeline." Jolie chuckled on the side.

"Mom, your tactics are so good! I really want to learn them all!" Evangeline smiled widely.

"You'll surpass me in the future. You are so young and so close to my real strength, which is quite an accomplishment." Three weeks later, the city fell to them, and the World Tree was burned down because she resisted the corruption too much. The moment before her death, she sighed softly as she looked at the surroundings one last time.

'It was…'

"Take her down!"

"... a peaceful life…"

"Hahaha! Burn the World Tree!"

'…Now, it is time…'

"Cut her down! Make her fall!" Crack…

"... I shall become one with nature once more…'

"There she goes! There she goes! Hahaha!" Cracacacack…

'... I wonder what type of being will take over my land? Will they be able to defend it, unlike me?...'

"Timber~!"

'... So sleepy. I think that… I should rest now.' BOOOM! The World Tree's massive body fell and struck the ground, creating a massively loud and explosive sound. Before that, her consciousness disappeared. The shockwave created by the millions of tons striking the ground blew their clothes and hair back. Her size was so massive that the strength behind it managed to injure some people! Then, a notification appeared in everyone's sight.

The notification was black, very different from the usual transparent one with white letters. [You've killed <Level 69 World Tree Darla>. The murder has been committed by a group. Dividing Experience Points according to contributions.] Evangeline smiled.

'Tsk, tsk. The System is quite biased~. Look at how aggressively it is worded~.' [Your contribution: 8%] [Experience Points earned: 73, 855.]"For having taken part in the main curse's activation and nothing else, that's not bad at all~." She then shouted.

"We'll rest here and scour the area for useful materials from the World Tree that might not be damaged! We'll move out a week later!"

"Yes, Lady Evangeline!"

Meanwhile, Liu Shu was dealing with the Wall Forest. It had been a few months since she started, and her tiredness was starting to show. After all, unlike the other times when she just needed to steamroll everything, she needed to constantly take precise and careful actions. Liu Shu looked at her progress with satisfaction.

'I've taken over thirty percent of the entire forest. At this rate, I'll finish after one and a half years…' While it was difficult, and her roots ached from the constant self-damage and regeneration, thinking of the advantage her people would have if she controlled the entirety of the Wall Forest made her determination to get it soar.

'Now that I have over thirty percent under my control, even if the Wall Forest reacts, I'll be able to use that thirty percent to fight back. Since those trees are now buffed by my auras, they won't be any weaker compared to the remaining seventy percent.' Her roots continued advancing as one creature for another month, reaching thirty-five percent completion, and it was then that Liu Shu felt the dreaded flinch in the entire forest.

'Ah… Here it comes. It seems that I can't cheat more land from it. Still, over a third of the total land is mine, and since I will be receiving an attack from the forest, the <Defender> title will activate.' Knowing that the first attack would be the most brutal, Liu Shu's mind completely focused on the task ahead of her.

'Okay, advance!' It was then that the <Wall Forest> awakened. An ominous whistling and rustling sound spread throughout the Wall Forest from north to south. The voice of the forest that wanted to protect itself was not violent or wrathful. Instead, it carried a ghostly feeling to it, as if the spirits of billions of creatures were crying in protest over Liu Shu's actions. This sent a strange chill through Liu Shu's roots. However, she was not intimidated.

"Come on! I won't stop!" [You've triggered <Hidden Quest>: <Sylvan Quest: Spirit Of The Forest>.] [Main Objective: Survive for 3 months.]