Two sharp ice spikes shot out from the Purple-robed Person's hand, one aimed at the Druid on the ground, and the other at the Paladin who stood frozen in place.
Unas has been trying to escape since the beginning, even asking the Dreadlord for help again, but the demon said there was no way, unless he could try again by sacrificing another ten years of his lifespan.
Unas no longer allowed himself to be manipulated by the demons. If he were to seek help from Bessarius every time he encountered a crisis, he would eventually fall into the abyss. He wanted to find his own way.
Now, watching helplessly as icy spikes, radiating chill, hurtle straight at my heart, there's only one way out: burn the bridges.
He controlled the Holy Power gathered between his eyebrows, dividing it into four parts. Four arrows, each carrying golden energy threads, rushed recklessly towards his arms and legs.
The limbs were now covered in Fel. Golden energy threads collided with scattered green spherical energy, causing an immediate explosion. A series of small explosions then spread from the neck to the fingertips, and from the chest to the toes.
Explosions cause destruction and pain, but they also bring power—explosive power.
Amidst extreme pain and internal injuries, Unas regained mobility in his upper body. He fell backward, simultaneously swinging his fists back and slamming them into the solid ice beneath his feet.
With a loud crash, the ice shattered, and the Purple-robed Person's ice spikes grazed his stomach. Unas dodged the fatal blow, and his feet were freed at the same time.
The explosions were still ongoing, with Fel and Holy Power tangled together uncontrollably, locked in a fierce battle until a victor emerged. At this point, there was no way to stop it.
The Reckoning had already been activated, and the stored power was extremely suffocating. He needed to vent, Unas let out a scream that was a mixture of screams and war cries, and pounced on the dumbfounded Purple-robed Person like a mad tiger.
"I underestimated you once again, human." The Purple-robed Person floated into the air, easily dodging the Paladin's attack.
Unas was already somewhat delirious, his body became numb and uncontrollable, and after missing his target, he fell face-first to the ground.
"A mere spirit and a tiny body..." The Purple-robed Person conjured an ice blade, preparing to end this troublesome little insect once and for all.
Unas suddenly roared, his limbs springing up like a cheetah, his fists raised, and he charged forward at the enemy in the air.
This strike contained all the power of Reckoning and energy explosion; it was his last gamble, and he deflected the incoming ice blade with just the pressure of his fist.
The Purple-robed Person panicked for the first time and used "Blink" to escape. He couldn't fly; he was just using Levitate to create the effect of flying.
Unas can fly briefly, and it has been almost an hour since he used "Wings of Vengeance," so the skill has finished cooling down.
He resolutely activated his skill, the Light Wings on his back lasting only a second—that was all the remaining Holy Power under control within his body, but it was enough to adjust his direction.
With a flash of golden light, Unas veered off course in mid-air like a missile, tracking the figure of the Purple-robed Person and arriving at his back in an instant.
Before the Purple-robed Person could react, Unas's fists pierced through his chest like spears, his heart and lungs were blasted out of his body as shattered pieces of flesh, blood splattered, and the entire space was like a red rain.
With two splashes, the Paladin and the Purple-robed Person's mangled corpses fell into the pool.
That's it? The mysterious Purple-robed Person was killed by himself?
Lying in the warm, green water, Unas could hardly believe it.
His body was still in complete disarray, with blood seeping from his capillaries, instantly turning him into a blood-soaked figure. His injuries were now fully exposed, but fortunately, he could no longer feel much pain and was drifting off to sleep.
"Now is not the time to sleep. You only killed a fake," Bessarius's voice suddenly appeared. "I bet the real one will be coming to settle the score with you soon."
"Fake?" Unas was instantly more alert and quickly checked his attribute panel. His experience hadn't increased much, which didn't match the status of a big boss.
"How could it be fake? He can clearly speak and cast spells..."
"A clone technique can do that," Bessarius kindly reminded him. "You'd better use the Life Drain technique to restore your body quickly, otherwise we're doomed if the real body comes."
Unas's relaxed mood tightened again. He mustered some strength from somewhere and struggled to climb toward the Emerald Tree.
Masa lay motionless beneath the tree, an ice spike piercing his chest. His body was already ice-cold. Unas had no energy left to cast "Redemption," so he could only let him go.
"You actually killed the Lich! That's great! I can regain control of my body!" The Giant Fir's excited voice dispelled the slight sadness caused by the Druid's death.
"Don't be too happy yet, it was just a clone that died."
"Just a clone? No wonder I felt that evil consciousness suppressing me still existed, just not here. I still have a chance..."
Unas urged, "Stop thinking about that, quickly heal my wounds, the real Purple-robed Person is coming soon."
"He just strengthened the Magic Circle binding me, and now I can't do anything. I need you to take me to the Brain Pool and help me regain control of my body."
"Brother, I'm a cripple now, I can't even walk, how can I help you?"
"The sap of the Heart Tree contains a rich life force... although it is a tainted life force, it should be very helpful for your injuries. Use a sharp tool to cut open the Heart Tree and drink it."
"A filthy life force? What do you mean?" Unas had no desire to drink anything filthy.
"Using evil and cruel methods to forcibly extract Life Essence from the embryos of other beings, the Lich used this method to cultivate the Heart Tree. But unnatural things cannot exist stably. The Heart Tree not only failed to sprout leaves, but also required a powerful external life force to survive. Can such vitality be called pure? If I weren't imprisoned, I would destroy it immediately!"
"A powerful influx of alien life?" Unas pointed to several dragon eggs around him and guessed, "Do you mean these eggs?"
"Yes, without these poor source life forms, this twisted Heart Tree will slowly collapse."
"I want to take them, is that alright?" Before the dragon eggs were completely drained, Unas wanted to try and save them so he could explain things to the Little Red Dragon.
"No problem, I'm ready to abandon the Heart Tree."
Unas nodded, climbed around to collect all the dragon eggs into his Spatial Bag, then took out a dagger and drilled a small hole in the Emerald Tree, beginning to suck up the highly nourishing sap.
It tastes refreshing, like green tea. He can't care about the embryo or anything like that; saving his life is the priority right now.
Unas gulped down the tree sap, gradually regaining some strength. He immediately stood up, drew his sword, and once again severed the straws and tree stems to prevent them from competing with him for "nutrients."
But a person's stomach has its limits. When his belly was full and he couldn't drink another drop, he had to stop, let out a burp, and carefully assess his body's condition: he was still seriously injured, his combat strength had only recovered to one or two tenths, and he didn't know when he would be fully recovered.
"This Emerald Tree can provide you with such abnormal regenerative abilities, so why am I recovering so slowly?"
"I am a plant, and you are a human. It takes time for the life energies of different species to transform into each other."
How long will it take me to recover?
"I have no idea."
The true form of the Purple-robed Person could appear at any moment, like a thorn hanging over his head. Unas was getting impatient; he wanted to use "Life Drain."
There was no such conversion problem when I tested it with a few vines before. The vitality of the vines was quickly absorbed by the body. Using magic to directly absorb it is definitely more efficient than digesting tree sap with the stomach.
"I'm going to use a spell to directly absorb the life force of the Emerald Tree. Will it harm you?"
"No, that's exactly what I need you to do. The Lich originally intended to destroy my consciousness directly, but fearing it would negatively impact the already unstable Heart Tree, he imprisoned me here, locking me firmly to the Heart Tree. The stronger and more stable the Heart Tree, the deeper its confinement of me. But if it's destroyed, I will also die. So you must weaken it as much as possible so I have a chance to break the Lich's spell."
Unas didn't really listen to the long-winded explanation; he only remembered the first sentence: the other party needed him to do this, so he could just let loose and absorb it.
He immediately cast the Life Drain spell on the Emerald Tree. Unlike the gentle flow of water from the vines, a surging, turbulent life force suddenly surged forth and flowed continuously into his body.
The Giant Fir was quite disgusted by this obviously evil spell, but given the urgency of the situation, he did not speak out to stop it.
Unas felt unusually good; his whole body was hot and itchy, and his broken skin, blood vessels, and internal organs were rapidly healing. His spirits were also getting better and better.
The surrounding environment gradually became soft and fluffy, and his body became lighter and lighter. His thoughts seemed to fly to the clouds, and he felt as warm as if he were wrapped in his mother's embrace. He was in a daze, leisurely and carefree, and time seemed to stand still at this moment.
Unas was completely immersed in the pleasure of absorbing life, like an addict who had just taken a shot, feeling blissful and forgetting all about life and death, comrades and enemies.
The Emerald Tree dimmed and withered at a visible rate. After losing the supply of the Sourcewood Spirit and the Dragon Egg, its already limited Life Essence was rapidly being taken away.
The Giant Fir's consciousness gained more freedom, and it was trying to dismantle the seals and binding Magic Circle, but it slowly realized something was wrong. The Heart Tree was almost completely drained, and the human Paladin's body had almost recovered, but it did not stop. Instead, it began to absorb the life force from the tree core.
That core, which was left behind to rely on, will have nowhere to go if it is destroyed.
"Humans, stop!"
The Giant Fir called out several times, but could not awaken the Paladin who was in a daze. Just as it was helplessly waiting for death, a scream that seemed to come from a very distant place came to its rescue.
The sound shook the entire pool, jolting Unas awake from his hazy dream. It was the Little Red Dragon's painful roar; he couldn't be mistaken.
The battle outside must have encountered a great crisis. He shook his head, not understanding how he had fallen asleep, but he couldn't worry about that now. He asked urgently, "Giant Fir, how are you?!"
"You almost drained me to death, but you've also weakened the Heart Tree to near its limit. I can leave now. Quickly peel away the trunk and take me away."
The once crystal-clear Emerald Tree has now become a wrinkled, withered, and dead tree, which is quite shocking to Unas, as if a person has been sucked dry.
He used his sword to cut a narrow slit in the tree from top to bottom, and a light green light shone through the middle section. He pried open the slit and pulled out a cylindrical piece of tree core about the thickness of an arm.
The tree core was like a piece of pure, flawless jade, radiating a warm glow, and the Giant Fir's consciousness resided within it.
"Go up, I'll give you directions."
Unas tucked the tree core into his robes, glanced at Masa's corpse, and asked, "Is there any danger up there?"
"I haven't been back since I was expelled from the Brain Pool. I don't know what kind of transformation that Lich did to me."
In other words, if there is a risk, the Druid's corpse cannot be taken away; it can be retrieved later.
Although the Holy Power within his body had not been restored, Unas's injuries were completely healed, and he was incredibly energetic, as if he had become ten years younger and returned to his youthful days of boundless energy.
The five years of life have definitely been made up for, and it's even possible that more than ten years have been added to one's life.
He put on his somewhat deformed Judgement Armor, donned a pair of steel claw gloves, and quickly climbed to the top of the cave, then crawled into the upward passage.
The passage leading to the Brain Pool cisterns was not very flexible, so he had to clear a path with his sword as he advanced.
As he climbed higher, the vibrations and sounds coming from the outside suddenly became louder, and he suspected that he had climbed into the tree trunk on the ground.
If he could break through the surrounding tree walls, would he be able to get out? Unas had thought this more than once, but he hadn't taken any action. Dealing with the Giant Fir was the most important thing right now.
"The Brain Pool is just ahead," the Giant Fir reminded them, as the pipe finally came to an end.
Unas prepared his defenses, rushed out of the pipe at full speed, made a few dodging maneuvers, and then leaned against the wall with his shield up. Looking around, he saw no enemy approaching; all this charade was a waste of effort.
Before me was a large, milky-white hole, with a large, milky-white fleshy Meatball in the center. "Is that your brain?"
"Yes, take me there quickly!"
Unas cautiously approached the Meatball, and after confirming there was no threat, he took out the tree core from his arms. "What do we do now?"
"My brain seems to have been modified by the Lich as well. I need to check it first. Let's put the tree core on it."
Following the Giant Fir's instructions, Unas pressed the tree core onto the Meatball, but the fleshy Meatball, with its rather tough outer skin, suddenly caved in and swallowed the tree core whole.
The incident happened so suddenly that Unas felt his hand go empty. Before he could react, the Meatball had returned to its original state, as if nothing had happened. The tree core had vanished without a trace.
"Giant Fir, the Chuyun Fir! How are you?"
His calls went unanswered, like stones sinking into the sea. Unas slapped the Meatball a few times, but dared not dig it up. It was the Giant Fir 'Giant Fir brain, and any damage might kill it.
He then thought: Why should I worry about the Giant Fir's life or death? Destroying this brain and killing the Giant Fir would just end everything, wouldn't it? He doesn't necessarily have to help the Giant Fir get its body back.
Although the Giant Fir seemed like a kind and benevolent elder, it was, after all, a stranger whom I had only known for less than an hour. One strike, and it was all over.
Once Unas's killing intent arose, it was uncontrollable. A single sword strike might not kill the Giant Fir, but it might retrieve the core. He raised his sword, hesitating whether to strike.
A familiar, chilling voice suddenly emanated from within the Meatball: "Human, don't forget your subordinates are still in my hands!"
The voice of the Purple-robed Person!
The clone has already been killed by Unas, so could this be the voice of the real body? And how did he end up inside the tree's brain?
Oh no, he stole the tree core!
Unas felt something was amiss. He didn't want to be threatened anymore, and he knew that enemies would only beg for mercy or even threaten when they were helpless against you. The Purple-robed Person's threat only strengthened his resolve to strike.
The sword fell without hesitation. It was a gamble: would Unas kill the Giant Fir faster, or would the Purple-robed Person Giant Fir kill the hostage faster?
The tree brain did not have sturdy armor. Firekiss, like cutting tofu, split the Meatball in two, and the light green tree core and a black square box fell out of the brain.
A point of light merged into Unas's body, and the upgrade music began to play. He had actually leveled up!
The abnormal Giant Fir gave me more than two levels of experience, going from 34% at level 43 to 65% at level 45. That's incredibly generous.
Strength +8, Agility +2, Constitution +10, Stamina +4, a total of 24 attribute points and two skill points. Unas upgraded Sacred Shield to Lv3 and then learned a new skill.
Cleanse: Purify a friendly target, removing one disease effect, one poison effect, and one magic effect.
During this battle, Unas deeply realized the importance of antidote spells. Cleanse is an enhanced version of Cleanse, not only more effective but also able to dispel negative magical effects on enemies, making it one of the essential skills for Paladins.
The upgrade restored his full stats and restored his Holy Power, but his internal condition had changed and was difficult to return to normal for the time being.
He picked up the two items from the ground, stuffed the tree core into his pocket, and before he could examine the black box closely, his entire Brain Pool began to shake violently. Loud cracking sounds came from all directions, as if the entire space was about to collapse and he had to escape.
He switched to his horse-slaying sword and charged towards the tree wall, slashing wildly more than a dozen times, but he only managed to break through a thick layer of fibers. Trying to break through the tree wall and escape was simply a pipe dream.
"There's a small tree hole up there," a faint reminder came from the tree core in my arms.
Unas exclaimed in surprise, "You're still alive?"
That's about enough.
There was no time for nonsense. Unas put away his weapon, followed the tree core's instructions, climbed up the tree wall, found the small tree hole, and crawled inside.
This tree hollow resembled a vent in the Brain Pool's cistern. Ignoring the terrifying shaking and tremors, Unas climbed upwards until he touched the bright moonlight at the very top of the Giant Fir's canopy. He had finally escaped from the Giant Fir's body!
Breathing in the fresh air, Unas felt reborn, but the Giant Fir was now like a dilapidated building in an earthquake, and he had to hold on tightly to the branches to avoid being thrown off.
The surrounding area was completely blocked by dense foliage; the sky was the only window. "What do I do now? How do I get down?"
Before the tree core could answer, a large shadow carrying a chill swept across the sky. Looking up, one could see enormous blue fleshy wings and a slender, streamlined body gliding above and to the left of the moon.
Unas shouted at the top of his lungs, "Mati'gosa! Lady Blue Dragon!"
The Blue Dragon ignored them completely; the sound of the wind during its high-speed flight completely drowned out the human shouts.
Just as the Blue Dragon was about to swoop down, Unas immediately unleashed his most visually stunning skill— Divine Storm.
The golden energy tornado atop the treetops indeed caught the Blue Dragon's attention. She twisted her neck and flew over, her voice filled with surprise. "It's you? Human!"
Unas had no time for pleasantries; he threw out a lasso, caught the dragon's claws, and quickly climbed onto its back.
"How's the battle going? Where are the hostages?" Unas asked immediately as soon as he had settled down.
"The hostages are all safe; they were rescued by your men. But Alice was ambushed, and I haven't found the attacker yet."
Upon hearing that the hostages were safe, Unas breathed a sigh of relief. "Where's Miss Red Dragon?"
"Down below."
It turned out that after Unas and Masa were dragged underground, the battle outside became a stalemate again. The members of the Argent Dawn couldn't get into Blade Legs's attack range at all and could only watch anxiously from the outside.
Although the Blue Dragon's ultimate move, Rain of Ice Spikes, destroyed a small Blade Legs the Giant Fir, it soon recovered. The two dragons were forced to engage in a war of attrition with the Giant Fir, seeing which side would give out first.
Soon after, the Giant Fir's attack suddenly became chaotic, and its regeneration ability seemed to malfunction. The two dragons intensified their attack, and just as they were about to completely defeat their opponent, two crossbow bolts the size of spears suddenly shot out from the dense forest. The Red Dragon was caught off guard and was hit, while the Blue Dragon narrowly dodged the bullet.
These are no ordinary crossbow bolts, but special Armor-Piercing Dragonbane Arrows designed for dragon hunting. They can pierce through the tough back scales of a dragon, and the arrowheads are coated with the finest poison, enough to paralyze the dragon.
The Little Red Dragon was already injured, and its body had accumulated a lot of poison from the Blade Legs. After being hit by the arrow, it immediately became weak and listless, unable to attack or even fly.
Fortunately, the Giant Fir was already in a state of chaos and did not take the opportunity to attack the Red Dragon, allowing her to climb to a safe distance. The attackers also did not launch another attack.
After checking on the Red Dragon's condition, the Blue Dragon did not attack the Giant Fir again. Instead, it carefully searched the dense forest for traces of the attackers, but only found two abandoned giant crossbows.
Before long, the Giant Fir began to shake and crack on its own, its Blade Legs drooped down, and some even began to fall off.
The Blade Legs on the necks of several hostages slipped off, but the horizontal branch they were on was also unstable and swayed. The people who were tied up could not move and might lose their lives if they fell.
Given the strange changes that had occurred to the Giant Fir, it was clear to anyone with eyes that it was likely doomed. The members of the Argent Dawn approached with great courage, and after finding no danger, Huoye used "Mage's Hand" to catch the six hostages and bring them to the ground before quickly escaping. At this point, the Giant Fir had begun to collapse on a large scale, with broken wood and shattered leaves raining down like a storm.
Unas learned roughly what had happened while Mati'gosa was away from him, and couldn't help but wonder: Could the attacker be the real person in Purple-robed Person?
The Blue Dragon finally landed on the ground, and the Argent Dawn members were all pleasantly surprised to see the Warden on its back.
"My lord, how did you... end up in the sky?" Huoye asked in surprise.
Unas jumped to the ground. "It's a long story. Is everyone alright? We'd better get out of here quickly."
Where is Masa?
He's dead.
Upon hearing the devastating news, everyone's expressions turned serious. The two young Druids who had just been rescued immediately rushed forward and asked, "What happened? How did Masa die?"
"Killed by the Purple-robed Person," Unas instructed, not wanting to ramble on any longer. "There are still unknown enemies in the dense forest. It's not safe here. Let's retreat from this forest first and meet up with Nightmoon and Master Oakleaf."
"Why retreat? Where is the Purple-robed Person? We've already sacrificed two Druids; we won't retreat!" the young Elf persisted.
"I don't know where he is. Maybe he's watching us from the woods around us. If you want revenge, go find him yourself. I'm not going to keep you company!"
"You! You treacherous human who promised to help us..."
"Stop making noise!" Nightmoon's voice suddenly rang out, and a tall, slender black figure darted out of the forest, his words almost coinciding with the landing of his feet.
"Nightmoon, what brings you here? Is Master Oakleaf alright after being poisoned?"
"Master Oakleaf is still unconscious. I've come to tell you—a large swarm of Mutant Spiders is marching here!"
"What? Which direction?"
"To the north, I saw it with my own eyes." The north is precisely the stronghold of the Mutant Spiders.
After the Oakleaf poisoning, Nightmoon and Ashina stayed behind to guard the old Druid. The two carried him out of the Evil Woodland and found a secluded spot to hide.
Seeing that Oakleaf's condition had not improved, Nightmoon ordered Ashina to stay by Oakleaf's side to watch over him, while she went into the Forest to find herbs. She knew several first-aid remedies, which might not be able to cure the poison, but could alleviate the symptoms of the poisoned person.
Unexpectedly, they encountered a swarm of Mutant Spiders that were secretly marching, so they immediately turned back to report the news.
I estimate they'll arrive here in about fifteen minutes.
"Did you see how many heads there were?"
"No, but it won't be less than a hundred."
There are dragons here. A hundred of them may not seem like much, but they are likely just the vanguard. The real army is still behind. If they get entangled, things will get complicated. Their small force is no match for them.
Unas shouted, "This is clearly reinforcements sent by the Purple-robed Person. We cannot fight them head-on. Retreat!"
The young Druid was speechless, but a Watcher said, "Captain Silver Shadow is missing, this..."
Nightmoon said, "We both know Silver Shadow's abilities. If she's still alive, she'll definitely be able to avoid the spider swarm. If she's already perished, there's no need to risk searching for her."
The Watcher nodded and withdrew.
Unas took out a net and walked to the Blue Dragon's side. "Miss Mati, please take us back again."
"I also need to take Alice with me; I'm not sure I can carry so many people."
The Little Red Dragon was poisoned and couldn't fly on her own, so the people who were clinging to her had to be transferred to the Blue Dragon to take on the burden. Moreover, the Blue Dragon also had to carry the Red Dragon, making it even more strenuous for her. This was indeed a difficult problem.
Please give it your best.
Fortunately, Huoye has the Levitate, so at least the takeoff phase is fine. The only problem is that the Levitate might fail mid-flight, causing the Blue Dragon to be unable to handle it and "crash," which would be disastrous.
At this moment, Ashina also arrived carrying Oakleaf, as Nightmoon had already informed them in advance.
Huoye cast Levitate on everyone, including the two dragons. The people either crawled into the net or climbed onto the Blue Dragon's back, and flew into the sky with the flapping of the dragon's fleshy wings.