Forbidden Orchard

Once the mist in the forest had dispersed, the battle was nearly over. The sudden attack launched by the young people of the human Guard Detachment had indeed produced some unexpected results for Madara's vanguard at first, but once Cabes had gathered more advanced undead, the outcome quickly became clear.

The forest fell silent—

"Lord Cabes." The pale-faced undead Wizard Apprentice placed a hand over his chest and respectfully bowed to the tall skeleton before him.

"I thought you maggots wouldn't come to see me, Rosko."

The flames in the eye sockets of the skeleton general clad in brass armor burned fiercely. It sat with its legs spread atop a pile of corpses, one hand gripping its double-bladed battle-axe and the other resting on its knee. Looking down at the frail apprentice, it was filled with contempt.

Dark Lords and necromancers had always loathed each other. This time, they had united at the call of the Mercury Staff, but they were united only in appearance. As for the blood descendants, they had always maintained their own circles and rarely involved themselves in Madara's affairs. That kingdom had endured for centuries in such a divided state—until recently, when darkness like smoke and clouds had broken out from beneath its sturdy shell.

That was the exact wording of the banshees' prophecy, and it coincided with Goddess Elaine's revelation about "darkness spreading from the east." Whether Dark Lords, necromancers, or blood descendants, everyone believed that this era was coming to an end, and that the new era would be ushered in by Madara.

Rosko smiled. Cabes was one of Tagus's principal commanders, while he was merely a lowly company captain; the difference between them was impossible to measure. The only reason this Bone Frame was lecturing him was that his vanguard had stolen the limelight from the entire army on the flank. With three hundred skeletons and more than twenty Liches, he had routed Buchi's Guard Detachment in one stroke, then wiped out Green Village's self-defense force through a carefully laid plan, allowing Cabes to advance unhindered. Finally, he had joined forces with them to annihilate Buchi's Guard Detachment. Such achievements could only be described as glorious.

By Madara's traditions, the vanguard of a great army was generally used as cannon fodder to wear down the enemy's living forces. At worst, it merely bought time as a buffer. Such vanguard units consisted of Skeleton Soldiers and lower-level Liches, and Eluin could easily rout them with a Guard Detachment only one-third their size.

In Tagus's plan, Rosko was merely a pawn used to disrupt Buchi. The true spearheads of the attack were Cabes on the flank and "Ghoul" Vesa—but the one-eyed vampire commander had not expected this necromancer apprentice named Rosko to give him such a tremendous surprise. Nor had he expected "Ghoul" Vesa to make a serious blunder on the right wing. The battlefield was always full of variables. Even the finest commander could not always stay one step ahead, let alone Tagus, who was known for his caution.

However, this lowborn undead Wizard Apprentice did not yet know what road lay ahead of him, so he naturally did not answer back. On the contrary, Cabes's words seemed more like an honor to him. After all, the other party had been insulting all necromancers, but had inadvertently elevated his status.

He glanced at the row of cold Black Knights behind Cabes and felt somewhat envious. He had looted quite a few good things during the invasion, but most had to be handed over, and what remained was not enough to awaken even one Black Knight. He had heard that Green Village contained the tomb of a Templar Knight. That would have been the best vessel, but unfortunately, the place now belonged to Cabes.

What a pity. But never mind. There would be plenty of opportunities in the future. Madara had come this time to plunder benefits, and every commander had set his sights on this opportunity.

After thinking for a moment, he replied, "Lord Cabes, several rats that escaped the net fled north. We also didn't see those refugees we spotted yesterday afternoon. I suspect they're using a diversionary tactic, and that their main force has already gone north into Dagger Riverbank."

That was enough. The north was "Ghoul" Vesa's territory. If he wanted to retrieve those "living materials," or at least get a share of them, he still needed the "God of Death's" approval. A mere company captain like him could not bear that responsibility.

But Cabes was no fool. It glanced at the lowly necromancer apprentice and suddenly realized that the fellow's motives were impure. Its jaw shifted, producing a clacking sound. "You want me to clash with that bald Vesa. What benefit do I get from it, you little maggot?"

"Expanding your forces further. Isn't that benefit enough, my lord?"

"Hmph. They're nothing but a disorganized rabble. I have no interest in those feeble Bone Frames."

"I heard that Buchi's Guard Detachment has a veteran of the November War among them—their human captain."

The flames in Cabes's eyes flickered. "The gains wouldn't be worth the losses. That boy Vesa would get the advantage."

Rosko sighed, knowing that his attempt at persuasion had failed. He raised his head and was about to take his leave. After all, he and Cabes were not part of the same system. If not for this matter, he truly would not have come here. Although God of Death Cabes was a principal commander in the army, as a member of the necromancers, his vanguard could simply ignore its orders.

But at that very moment, his heart gave a faint jolt, and he could not help looking south.

The tall skeleton looked in the same direction at the same time. Their gazes passed through the forest and landed among the shadows of the mountains in the distance.

What an intense magical reaction—

"Xavier Mountain Pass." Cabes sniffed the air, as if it could smell the magic drifting over from the direction of Yusong River.

Rosko did not reply, because he immediately sensed an even stronger magical fluctuation coming from that direction.

What was that Golden Demon Tree up to? A reaction this powerful could probably be sensed by any wizard dozens of miles away. He suddenly grew worried, wondering whether the White Mane Legion sorcerers in the direction of Ridenburg would notice something.

"We'd better send some people ahead, Lord Cabes."

"Hmph, you don't need to tell me. Naturally, I know. We undead creatures are far more sensitive to magic than you are. Wait until you become a Lich before lecturing me."

Rosko smiled.

*********

Brando emerged with Freya and Roman from a jagged crevice in the cliff. He immediately gestured for the two women to stop. From here, they could see the entire sunken valley outside. Between the barren mountains surrounding it, a stretch of gray rock sank downward, with sharp stone spires jutting from the ground. A huge golden oak tree with spreading branches stood quietly rooted in the center of the split valley.

This was the Forbidden Orchard.

The Golden Demon Tree had absorbed the nutrients in the earth and the free-floating magical factors, causing the land to wither. The Earth Element, having lost its anchor, rose into the air and formed this scene. Brando raised his head. The entire sky above the valley was gloomy, as if dark clouds were pressing down. This, too, was caused by the imbalance of elemental forces.

Because the Earth Element had collapsed, large amounts of other elements had been attracted here, causing the elemental order in this place to become abnormally chaotic. Elemental order was a rule established when Martha created the world, controlled by the Elemental Kings of the four directions. But order was not necessarily stable and unchanging, just like everything the Golden Demon Tree had done—human factors often disturbed the environment.

Back then, because of the abnormal elements in this valley, an Elemental Envoy's power would be suppressed by 30%. For that reason, almost no party would take an Elemental Envoy along when this dungeon first appeared. The Elemental Envoys called that period their three-year history of blood and tears. Of course, that class later rose to prominence, but that was a story for another time.

Roman and Freya stared blankly at the sinister Golden Demon Tree. They had only heard of such a creature in bedtime stories before. They had never expected to see one with their own eyes someday, and for a moment, they felt as though they were dreaming.

Moreover, the Golden Demon Tree's beauty and the desolation around it created a powerful visual contrast. It was like looking at an illusion made real, filled with fantastical colors.

"Th-that... what is that?" Freya asked in a daze.

"So beautiful, Brando. Is that the Golden Apple Tree from the myths? Those monsters are the tree's guards, right? I never imagined such a beautiful creature could exist in an environment like this!"

"That's an oak, Roman." The future Valkyrie sighed.

"I-I know that, of course. At worst, it's just a golden oak!" the Merchant's Daughter hurriedly defended herself, her brows raised.

"Don't let its beauty deceive you. This should be the most dangerous creature you've ever seen. No—it should be called a monster." Brando carefully searched the entire valley with his eyes. He soon found a Treant patrol. The vine-covered monsters were slowly advancing between the rugged rock formations—

This matched his memories from the game.

"A monster?"

"Yes. The monsters we encountered earlier were all born because of it."

"How could that be?" Freya widened her eyes in astonishment.

But Roman and Freya had actually seen the Treant patrol as well. They were no longer very nervous when facing these monsters. Along the way, the three of them had fought the Golden Demon Tree's minions too many times. Brando alone had gained 65 experience points and had even obtained a Tree Crystal from an adult Treant.

This was a crafting material in the game. He simply did not know how production skills worked in this world. In any case, following the principle of being prepared, he decided to keep it on hand for now.

However, he had noticed that Freya and Roman had also grown noticeably through battle, especially the future Valkyrie. Her Strength and Agility had risen quickly, and after several battles, she was already close to the level of a Guard Detachment cadet. Brando still did not know how they gained experience, though. Judging by appearances, they seemed to be progressing much more slowly than he was.

After all, against a high-level monster like a Treant, Freya, who was merely a Militia, should theoretically have risen several levels after killing a few of them. In reality, however, he felt that she had not even advanced as quickly as his second class, Mercenary.

That was rather puzzling.

Of course, they had to put all their questions aside for now, because they had more important matters to handle. If the Golden Demon Tree discovered them first and recalled the Withered Beasts outside, they would have very little time left. Back when Brando had been playing the game, he had calculated that they would have at most fifteen minutes from the start of the battle until the first batch of Withered Beasts arrived. That was precisely one duration of the Holy Sword's existence. If they could not take down the Golden Demon Tree before then, they would have to consider fleeing.

However, Brando did not plan to charge into battle immediately. Leaving aside how they would deal with the Treant patrol, he still had another question to answer.

Thinking of this, he could not help glancing toward a higher cliff on the other side.

"Wait here for me. And whatever you do, don't let yourselves be discovered." He turned back and said.

"Brando?"