Chapter 253: Cleanup, Visit

(More chapters coming tomorrow!)

A colossal griffin led a squadron of eagle-kin monsters through the skies above the Primordial Forest, its armored elven riders surveying the woods that had suddenly succumbed to a grotesque mutation.

"There."

Standing atop the griffin's back, a knight clad in heavy plate that concealed both face and form pointed toward a specific direction below, speaking to the white-robed elven mage beside him.

"Understood. I shall gauge its condition; if the situation is beyond redemption, we have no choice but to purge it."

The elven mage cast an Eagle Eye spell, focusing on the target indicated by the knight. Below, a War-Tree, its entire form bathed in gore, was rampaging through the forest, snapping and crushing the trees in its path.

It repeatedly slammed its massive arms down, snatching up the monsters of the Primordial Forest that failed to escape, crushing them, and smearing their blood across its canopy. The gentle face carved into the ancient trunk was now completely soaked and saturated in crimson, a jarring, sinister contrast to its original visage.

Vines and tentacles lashed out from its crown with far greater agility than its arms, ensnaring monsters and strangling them to feast upon the life force within their blood.

"..."

The elven mage remained silent for several seconds, a flicker of gravity deep within his eyes. He had never witnessed such brutality within the Primordial Forest.

This forest, bound by a thousand threads to the roots of the World Tree, had always been prosperous and serene, nourished by an abundance of life force. Yet, this blood-drenched, slaughtering giant was a grotesque departure from the forest's true nature.

"It is beyond saving. Even if it has been our ally for ages, in this state, granting it release is the only correct choice."

The mage shook his head, signaling to the knight that the War-Tree was beyond recovery.

The elven knight did not hesitate, drawing the longsword at his waist. The blade was etched with intricate patterns of creeping ivy.

Raising the sword, he channeled both battle aura and the whispers of nature. A golden-green light erupted from the blade, spreading outward to envelop the griffin beneath him.

"Chirp!"

The griffin let out a shrill cry, beating its massive wings to whip up a gale as it accelerated toward the War-Tree. Between its talons, swirling currents of air began to converge at high speed.

"Flap!"

With another powerful stroke, the massive beast dove toward the War-Tree. The two swirling vortices of air between the griffin's talons had condensed into lethal, serrated blades of wind.

"Whoosh! Swish!"

As the griffin dove to within ten meters of the War-Tree's crown, it beat its powerful wings to halt its descent. Its talons snapped shut, launching the two high-speed wind-saws toward the War-Tree's wooden arms.

The mutated War-Tree was significantly faster than its normal state, but compared to a Storm Griffin—a king of the skies—it was still far too slow.

Distracted by the gale kicked up by the griffin's wings, the tree looked up just as the two wind-saws bit into its limbs.

"Skreeee!"

With a sound like a screeching chainsaw biting into timber, the two storm-saws embedded themselves into the War-Tree's arms, spinning violently and devouring its "flesh." Wood chips flew, and green "blood" was whipped into the air, falling as a drizzling, sickly rain.

The War-Tree shook violently, seemingly overcome by agony. A mass of agile vines erupted from its canopy, lashing out to entangle the griffin above; it sought to drag the "little bird" that caused it such pain down to be crushed.

"Boom! Boom!"

As the vines reached for the griffin, the wind-saws tore through the tree's arms, burying themselves deep into the earth and throwing up clouds of soil. The two massive wooden limbs crashed to the ground with a deafening thud.

"It is not enough."

A green orb of light hovered above the mage's staff, surrounded by dancing sparks of magic. The mage frowned, watching the War-Tree—which showed no reaction other than continuing its assault despite the loss of its arms—and shook his head helplessly.

"Understood."

The elven knight responded with characteristic brevity. He sheathed the delicate blade used to command the griffin and reached for the greatsword strapped to his back—a weapon identical to those carried by the silver-armored guards of the "Eden Plains." He gripped it with both hands, stoked his battle aura, and swung down at the incoming swarm of vines.

The runes etched into the greatsword flared with blinding light. Air currents swirled to form a focused storm-beam, which, combined with the materialized battle aura of a Grand Knight, slammed downward: Inner-Hidden: Storm-Binder.

The blade-wind tore free from the sword, wrapped in a perpetual tornado. The moment it touched the vines, the dense thicket was caught and sucked into the vortex, shredded into nothingness in an instant.

"Boom!"

The wind-blade flew at high speed, severing all the lashing vines before slamming into the front of the War-Tree. The air exploded, the terrifying impact venting fully into the massive trunk. Even the mountain-like stability of the tree could not withstand such force; it toppled backward, crashing into the earth.

The ground trembled, the weight of the giant tree shaking the surrounding forest. The white-robed mage dispersed his green orb and condensed an unstable, prismatic crystal of raw magic at the tip of his staff, hurling it at the fallen tree.

Third-tier spell: Soul-Siphon Crystal. Its raw power was modest, but it possessed a tracking effect against energy sources. The mage intended to destroy the War-Tree's core.

The glowing crystal traced an arc through the air, piercing the War-Tree's crown. With a sharp detonation, a shower of crystalline shards flew into the sky, glittering, and the fallen giant's struggles ceased forever.

"Nature's whisper has no effect on this War-Tree. Has its connection to the World Tree been severed? Or is there another reason..."

The elven mage watched the blood-stained leaves wither and fall from the dead War-Tree, frowning to himself. He had attempted to use nature's whisper to influence the tree, but it had failed.

Logically, a mage of his caliber should have been able to forcibly control even a rampaging War-Tree, but against this mutated specimen, his magic was useless.

This left the elven mage feeling both puzzled and increasingly wary.

"Something is approaching. Have the Eagle Knights close in. Once we clear them out, we shall investigate the source of this corruption."

The knight's words interrupted the mage's thoughts. With the death of the mutated War-Tree, invisible life force, accompanied by overflowing green "blood," was released from its body. These emanations rippled through the forest, drawing the attention of other entities.

Humanoid creatures with floral heads poked their faces from between the trees, spying on the griffin and the elves perched upon the withered corpse.

"Very well."

The mage followed the knight's suggestion, waving his staff. An invisible ripple spread out, reaching the giant eagles hovering in the sky, relaying the order to purge the area.

The elves drew their longbows, nocking arrows. Whether through the power of nature's whisper, raw mana, battle aura, or void energy, the elves of various disciplines infused their arrows with their distinct powers, and then, they fired.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!"

The next moment, arrows shimmering with emerald light and a kaleidoscope of other colors rained down from the sky, a torrential downpour that blanketed the forest, consuming the mutated monsters within...

...

"Teacher Moira, we encountered a forest riot while gathering herbs. We saved an elf and intended to take her to the hospital in Liahim, but the elven rangers who returned with us recognized you as our teacher and said you were the best healer. Could you please take a look at her condition?"

Back in Moira's treehouse, Avia and Wang Yu gave a rough account of their ordeal to Moira and brought Sif inside.

"Based on my assessment, her physical body has recovered, but she still shows no reaction to the outside world."

Following Moira's instructions, Wang Yu placed Sif on a bed on the first floor of the treehouse and explained her condition.

Since being rescued, the elf had remained in a daze. Whether it was the trauma of seeing her sister crushed into pulp or some other cause, she remained unresponsive, her eyes hollow, no matter how Wang Yu or Avia tried to interact with her.

"Ah, isn't this little Sif? Shouldn't her sister be with..."

Moira seemed to recognize the elven ranger and looked puzzled as to why her sister wasn't with her. In her memory, the two were inseparable. But she immediately realized something, her expression tightening as she cut herself off.

"Hmm... let me see. Her physical state is indeed fine; any previous injuries should have been healed by your potions. So why is there no reaction? Is her soul traumatized? That doesn't seem right... Hmm? Here."

Moira gently tapped and sensed various parts of Sif's body, her mana acting as a diagnostic spell to feed back the state of Sif's physiology.

She analyzed the cause of Sif's condition aloud. As she passed her hand over the bridge of Sif's nose, Moira paused.

"Wang Yu, help me get the 'Smoldering Ember'."

Moira instructed Wang Yu to hand her a small vial containing green powder, inside which a tiny flame flickered.

Using a test tube, she measured some of the "Smoldering Ember" powder and tapped it gently near Sif's nostrils, allowing the elf to naturally inhale the dust.

"Cough, cough, cough—retch!"

Sif, who had remained unresponsive until now, suddenly reacted after inhaling the smoldering powder, erupting into a violent fit of coughing before expelling something from her throat, flecked with droplets of blood.

Wang Yu’s reflexes were sharp; he lunged forward and snatched the object from the air before it could hit the ground.

"What is this?"

Wang Yu scrutinized the blood-smeared item in his palm. It felt indistinguishable from flesh, its surface charred with faint, blackened marks from the smoldering embers—the very reason it had been forced from Sif’s throat.

In its entirety, it resembled a miniature tongue. Had it been adhered to the lining of a windpipe, no one would have ever suspected its true nature. Wang Yu noted the way its surface was covered in hyperplastic granulation, appearing much like a sprouting seed, or a budding root.

"Tap, tap, tap!"

Just as Wang Yu examined the object and Moira checked on Sif’s condition, a knock echoed at the door of the treehouse. A familiar voice drifted in from outside, and beyond the sound, Wang Yu sensed the presence of someone he knew well.

"Moira, are you there? I have a favor to ask of you. The state of the Primeval Forest is deeply unsettling, and if anyone has the ability to uncover the truth behind it, it would be you."

It was the voice of Elder Gawain, the elf, and the familiar presence Wang Yu had sensed was Sieg.