Chapter 268: Full Alert

Those activated roots, squirming and burrowing through the earth to cause tremors barely perceptible on the surface, had gone unnoticed by Sif in her haste to deliver the message, but Wang Yu and Elvia, ever vigilant, had detected them long ago.

“...The things Holo created to transmit information have had their effects completely twisted. Those irritable, crazed tree spirits that were hunting creatures earlier were born from these roots. And now, I can sense that the soil beneath this forest, as far as the eye can see, is filled with these activated roots.”

Elvia used her Perfect Fractal spell to scan the surroundings. The chaotic, tangled mess of “tentacles” outlined in red beneath the ground told the girl that the situation in the Primordial Forest was already dire; if they were to walk straight back to Liaheim, they would undoubtedly be attacked by the berserk tree spirits and those roots.

At the same time, the fact that such a vast mutation had gone unnoticed by the elves suggested that more of their kin were under the influence of the devil’s power than they had dared to imagine.

“I don’t know where that devil is. Damn it, the bastard hasn’t even shown his face yet, but his influence has already permeated the entire elven race.”

Wang Yu frowned as he spoke, his movements never faltering. With the power of his Chariot, he opened the box of reagents Moira had given him before their departure, blending compatible liquids and powders into a single concoction.

The Chariot’s power divided the mixture into microscopic droplets, suspending them around Wang Yu to form a hazy, iridescent mist that shimmered with mottled colors under the sunlight.

“Let’s get the message to the elves of Liaheim first. Regardless, as one of the Five Races and the gathering place for a third of the elven population, they cannot possibly be defenseless against that monster.”

“That massive creature is powerful, but compared to the God of Fear or the remains of a god, it’s hard to say who holds the upper hand.”

As Wang Yu spoke, his Chariot’s power expanded, guiding the mist of reagents through the cracks in the earth to seep underground. It covered the surfaces of the twisting, squirming roots gently yet lethally, drilling into their bodies and spreading rapidly within.

“Mandragora’s Eternal Slumber” and “Hydra’s Tooth”—two terrifyingly potent poisons that did not conflict—were mixed by Wang Yu and injected into the roots below.

When facing “plants” that possessed no intelligence and would not flee at the sight of a reagent, there was no need for subtlety.

A pungent odor permeated the air. The colorful zone around Wang Yu looked unsettling, though unfortunately, the roots could not see it.

The mixture, which could kill an apprentice knight in trace amounts and paralyze a formal knight with a slightly larger dose, was clearly a lethal toxin to these root-like organisms.

The ground around Wang Yu began to churn. The roots injected with the toxin reacted, writhing like dying men as they lost their vitality in a final struggle.

The earth cracked open, revealing the thick, squirming activated roots beneath. Then, within a dozen seconds, their frantic thrashing ceased abruptly.

They fell into a deathly silence. They were dead.

“Move! These roots are still confined to the outskirts of the Primordial Forest, but if they spread any further, it will be trouble. Hurry and notify your elders.”

Wang Yu signaled to Sif, and the three of them quickly traversed the forest area he had cleared of activated roots, heading toward Liaheim.

...

“Knock, knock...”

Moira’s door was tapped. The old woman opened it with a hint of irritation, only to see Wang Yu and Elvia standing there. Her initial expression of annoyance instantly shifted to one of surprise and inquiry.

“Why have you returned so soon? Did you not reach the Sorenson Mountains?”

Moira could not fathom how they had returned so quickly; the round trip and investigation should have taken at least a month and a half.

“Teacher, we can discuss that later. We have dire news to report, and we beg you to use your connections with the elves of Liaheim to inform their elders.”

Elvia spoke earnestly, her grave tone cutting off whatever Moira had intended to ask next.

Concise and swift, Elvia described the great work created by the druids in the Sorenson Mountains, the sacrifice made by Holo—the druid who had become a vessel—and the World Eater, nurtured over many years by the life force continuously supplied by the World Tree.

“This... I will notify the elven elders immediately. You have done well. If the situation is as you say, all of Liaheim owes you a great debt.”

Moira’s face turned slightly pale. The chain of events, logically interlocking and mutually corroborating, convinced her that Wang Yu and Elvia could not be lying. The devil and the World Eater were almost certainly real.

Without hesitation, Moira went into her room, retrieved the token Holo had left her years ago, and stepped out of her treehouse. She had to convey this news to the elders of Liaheim as quickly as possible.

“There is no need to be overly nervous. With the foundation of the elven capital, Liaheim, it should not be too difficult to deal with that existence once they are prepared.”

“As long as the World Tree remains intact, the combat power of the elven race can never be underestimated. With so many years of accumulated heritage, they will not collapse simply because they face a powerful foe.”

At Moira’s request, Wang Yu and Elvia accompanied her to deliver the news to the elven elders.

The girl needed to provide magical projections to prove the truth of their seemingly outrageous claims. On the way, Moira analyzed the current situation facing the elves.

Moira’s views aligned with theirs; Wang Yu and Elvia knew the elves were strong and unlikely to crumble before the World Eater.

Moira, however, knew the true extent of the elven strength: atop the World Tree were powerhouses beyond the Legendary rank, and if one counted the Legendary-level War Treants, their numbers exceeded ten.

Furthermore, the massive “living” magic array cluster—the Mythic Barrier—which covered the entire capital and used the World Tree as its core, supplemented by the elves’ own physical magic circuits, was no joke.

It could detect intruders and automatically unleash spells to strike them down. When the Mythic Barrier was fully activated, any space within Liaheim could suddenly erupt with powerful magical attacks.

The three moved quickly, arriving at a platform beneath the World Tree where large avian magical beasts, used by the elves as transport, were docked.

At the same time, a group of silver-armored elves with the strength of Great Knights stood guard; this was the mandatory checkpoint for any elf heading to the upper levels of the World Tree.

Without the approval of these guards, anyone attempting to ascend would be warned twice before the elves used thunderous force to utterly erase the rule-breaker.

“I, Moira Misowen, need to see the elders of Liaheim. I have very important information to report.”

Moira produced the token and showed it to the guards. One of them confirmed its authenticity, and since they recognized Moira, they decisively allowed her to take Wang Yu and Elvia onto a giant eagle to fly toward the upper reaches of the World Tree.

The massive beast climbed, soon reaching the platform at the crown of the World Tree. After setting them down, it folded its wings and waited, ready to serve as their mount for the return trip.

“No matter how many times I come here, the life force always feels so abundant...”

Moira remarked with a sigh. Although she had the token Holo had given her, she had been reluctant to return after the events of the past. She had only sent a message last time, but this matter was so grave that she had personally brought Wang Yu and Elvia here.

“Indeed.”

Elvia and Wang Yu nodded. They could feel the life force diffusing through the air; it was exceptionally rich. Living in such an environment would surely enhance a creature’s lifespan and various physiological functions.

It was no wonder that the elves’ talents were among the best of the Five Races; this World Tree, which had birthed their kind, had given them much.

Passing through the entrance guarded by Legendary War Treants and elven sentinels, the three entered the “Eden Plains,” where the elders resided.

Entering a small wooden house, they found an elven elder already waiting, having received word of their arrival. Judging by the streaks of gray in their hair, this elf was likely over a thousand years old.

As for the elder’s strength, Wang Yu probed slightly with his invisible Chariot power: at least a high-level Great Knight. At the same time, the faint magical fluctuations indicated that the elder was also a spellcaster of significant rank.

No wonder the process of meeting the elders was so simple and smooth; there was no fear of assassination.

It was the same principle as why the founding emperors of human kingdoms could meet with people from other realms without being assassinated—their strength was already at the pinnacle. Attempting an assassination would be less effective than simply breaking the kingdom by force, and even if the kingdom were shattered, the emperor might still be alive.

The elven elder’s strength was already at the peak of their race, and in this environment saturated with the World Tree’s power, their potential output was unimaginable.

“Moira Misowen, what news do you bring me by bringing two humans here?”

The elder seemed to know Moira, their tone peaceful and conversational.

“The matter is of great importance, so I shall not be the one to tell it. Let my two disciples explain.”

Moira waved her hand, her expression solemn, signaling for Wang Yu and Elvia to recount what had happened.

“Speak.”

Seeing Moira’s extreme gravity, the elder grew serious, looking at Wang Yu and Elvia sitting together.

The elder knew of Moira’s history; for her to return to the World Tree after so many years, it could not be a trivial matter.

The girl waved her hand, gathering magic to display scenes from their journey to the Sorenson Mountains. These images had been automatically recorded by the Perfect Fractal Lens and could be reproduced at will.

The “mushroom people” parasitized by fungi, the forest floor covered in fungal mats, the giant mushroom mistaken for an ancestral grove, the dark elf druid Holo fused with vines in the cave, the horrifying “World Eater” beneath the earth, and the distortion that had befallen Holo and Sif.

As the girl narrated logically alongside each image, the elder’s expression shifted from initial calm to somber solemnity.

“That is the situation. I hope Liaheim can prepare quickly. That massive creature will soon awaken, and when it does, its target will very likely be the life-rich Liaheim.”

The girl finished her account, looking earnestly at the elder of the Elven race across from her.

"I believe your testimony; there are no logical contradictions in what you have told me. I am deeply grateful for the intelligence you have provided, and I shall immediately notify Liaheim to prepare its defenses."

A decision-maker possesses the decisiveness of his station; the dawdling hesitation common to lesser men is nowhere to be found in these elders, who have weathered the accumulation of long, long ages.

Once the girl had spoken, he immediately signaled the elven guards who had been standing by outside the wooden hut, issuing the command for all of Liaheim to enter a state of defensive readiness.

He understood well the weight of the trade-off: the losses incurred by halting daily activities to prepare for defense versus the catastrophic damage of failing to confront the World Eater unprepared.

Without a doubt, whether or not that World Eater truly existed, ensuring Liaheim was prepared for defense was a bargain that could never be regretted.

"Once again, I thank you for the aid you have rendered to Liaheim. We shall provide a reward worthy of our respect, but before that, I have captured a critical point from your narrative that I wish to verify here: whether I, too, have been influenced by the devil's power."

The elder rose, solemnly performing a common human gesture of respect toward Avia and Wang Yu, and proposed his intent.

"No problem."

Wang Yu and Avia naturally had no reason to refuse.

"First, those animated roots. Given your cautious natures, you must have collected some. I wish to see them, to determine if what I perceive is, as you say, not what is truly there."

"This is the initial state of those animated roots. What is it that you see?"

Wang Yu had indeed collected some of the living roots created by Holo—those originally meant to convey information but later twisted—and immediately used the power of his chariot to pinch a segment, holding it aloft for the elder to inspect.

"I see a vine sprouting tiny, delicate limbs..."

The elder’s words were heavy with gravity. When he realized that what he perceived differed from their description, he knew with near certainty that he, too, had been tainted by the devil’s power of distortion.

"Observe the true state of this object; the distortion should then be undone."

Avia fashioned a Perfect Fractal Lens and placed it over the elder’s eyes, allowing him to behold the true form of the living root suspended in the air.

"I see it now. To think that even I have been influenced by this power. As expected of the legendary devils—what is it these beings truly seek? And how does such uncanny, inscrutable power influence us without our awareness?"

The elder nodded. As he gazed through the Perfect Fractal spell at the gray-yellow root, with its nerve-like filaments, his distorted cognition naturally corrected itself amidst the conflict. Yet, this brought forth even more shadows: to what extent had the devil’s influence truly permeated their understanding?

"Let me reflect on how I differ from my former self; these discrepancies must be the result of my partially distorted cognition."

The elder closed his eyes, beginning to recall the differences between his current self and the man he was a century ago. Setting aside changes in strength, he found his personality, his conduct, and his perspectives on matters had shifted in ways he could not ignore.

"The Dwarven race..."

A glimmer flashed in his mind. The elder chewed on the word; he had found a point of divergence from his past. His view of a certain entity had changed.

The Dwarves, long-time allies of the Elves, had always maintained a relationship that could be described as amicable.

Though the Dwarves were a boisterous, bearded lot who loved to mock the Elves with insults like "long-eared sissies," they had, in truth, always held the Elven alliance in high regard.

And the Elves, with their peaceful temperament, had never held any real prejudice against these foul-mouthed, short-statured folk.

But the elder realized his view of the Dwarves had shifted at some unknown point. He had begun to see them as stubborn, deaf to reason, short, ugly, and dim-witted.

Disdain and aversion had begun to take root in his mind—subtle, yet for that very reason, difficult to detect, imperceptibly influencing his judgment.

"Over these years, exchanges with the Dwarves, such as the trade of technology and raw materials, have dwindled. The alchemical artifacts we use are, in reality, relics from the previous generation of Dwarves. Is this what the devil’s distortion of our cognition has wrought?"

Once he realized what had been distorted, the elder’s perception began to mend. He carefully compared the timeline of his changing views on the Dwarves, tracing it back several decades.

The impact of this shift had already manifested in every facet of the interaction between Liaheim and the Dwarven Kingdom.

Yet, due to the long lifespan of the Elves, these few decades felt brief, and the changes had not been distinct enough for them to realize their choices and perceptions had been tampered with.

"Why do this? Regardless of whether we harbor prejudice against the Dwarves, the layout already set in motion when the corruption began would not change..."

The elder pondered. He could understand the distortion of the animated roots, but what was the purpose of this targeted distortion regarding the Dwarves? Whether or not there was friction, the World Eater would still be born.

"Gawain. He had previously expressed immense dissatisfaction with the Dwarven race and insisted they were the culprits behind the anomalies of the Tree of Life. It was he who led the delegation to the Dwarven Kingdom this time."

A particularly glaring example surfaced in the elder’s mind. Previously, because their cognition was warped, the elders had supported Gawain’s suspicions without a second thought. But now, it seemed, the problem was grave.

A ruse to lure the tiger from the mountain? But Gawain’s strength was insufficient to influence the entire Elven race. What, then, was the reason? Was there something special about him?

But now was not the time to dig for the root of the matter. Under the elder’s sudden command, Liaheim had begun an efficient, total defensive lockdown.

[Extra chapters, extra chapters, extra chapters every day during the May Day holiday, five thousand words guaranteed.]