A swamp where vitality and deathly stillness coexisted.
The light streaming through the sky was blocked by the towering canopy.
This had caused the plants on the ground to evolve toward an inky dark green in order to receive enough light.
This place was surely a necromancer's favorite kind of environment.
Dark, damp, yet full of life because of its lush vegetation.
At the center of this swamp.
Stood an inconspicuous towering tree.
Like the other trees, it had a thick trunk dozens of meters across.
Its roots were extraordinarily developed. Even the roots exposed aboveground were as large as doorways.
But for some reason.
The roots on the surface had deliberately avoided a circular area.
Only a few.
At the center of the area was a spherical mass of vegetation woven and entwined from climbing vines.
This nearly tranquil scene was, at a certain moment.
Suddenly shattered...
Buzz—
The faint sound of machinery operating echoed through the area.
It was quiet, but the plants absorbed sound so well that it was difficult to determine where it came from.
Only after listening carefully did he realize it was coming from the dark green sphere in the clearing.
Along with the sound.
The plant vines around the spherical object began to twist and swell irregularly.
Strands of white light vaguely seeped out through the gaps.
Just as more and more beams appeared, as if the vines were about to burst.
All movement abruptly stopped.
If not for the once tightly packed sphere becoming loose.
It would have seemed as though nothing had happened.
Not long afterward.
Without warning.
The entire sphere woven from vines exploded.
At the same time, what burst forth.
Were shattered machine parts etched with magical patterns and glowing, intricate components.
At the very center was a ball