But Roman's condition was not as optimistic as Brando had imagined. As time passed, the atmosphere gradually grew tense. Only then did Brando realize that this future Merchant's Daughter must have some secret hidden in her heart that he knew nothing about—perhaps something buried in her subconscious. The deeper it was hidden, the greater the damage would be at this moment.
For a while, the only sounds in the air were the two people's tense breaths. Merchant's Daughter herself was sleeping peacefully, but Brando was truly afraid that she might fall asleep like this and never wake up again.
He could not help glancing at the Golden Demon Tree. The connection between the dream and reality had already grown extremely fragile, and the Golden Demon Tree could awaken at any moment.
"Freya?"
Freya clenched her fists, too nervous to say a word. Brando had said they only had five minutes, and by his estimate, not much time remained. Yet Roman still seemed immersed in her own nightmare. But she knew the young man could not be blamed, because only she knew this secret in Buchi.
She only hated herself for not telling Brando beforehand. But how could she have known that this dream would be so complicated? Hadn't Brando also kept silent because he was afraid of affecting their state of mind? He had never expected that this would instead make things worse.
But the young man did not fall into blind panic. His thoughts raced, and he suddenly threw the Gleaming Thorn in his hand over.
"Make her hold it."
"What?"
"This sword has the power to drive away evil. Make her hold it." Brando said this aloud, but he knew clearly that the only thing he could rely on was the Elven Treasure Sword. Raising her Willpower by one Energy Level might allow Merchant's Daughter to turn danger into safety.
Martha above! He could not help praying in his heart to the omnipresent Supreme One of 'Vonder,' hoping she would be lenient toward Roman. But perhaps the sword had taken effect, or perhaps Brando's prayer had been sensed by Martha. Before long, Merchant's Daughter actually let out a soft "Mm," blinked, and woke up.
She rubbed her eyes and looked at the two of them. After a moment of confusion, she happily said, "Freya, you're here too. Let me tell you, I just had a nightmare!"
"Ah—!" Freya froze, then seemed to let out an excited cry from deep in her chest. She did not hear a word Merchant's Daughter said. Instead, she threw her arms around Roman and burst into tears of joy. She had thought there was no hope, but she never expected Brando's method to actually work.
"Roman, you idiot!"
"F-Freya, what are you talking about? I'm not an idiot!" Roman seemed to have been dealt a fatal blow. Flustered, she hurriedly defended herself with complete seriousness.
Brando, on the other hand, remained calmer than Merchant's Daughter, who had been thrown into confusion by Freya's sudden tears. With the help of the faith he had infused into the Gleaming Thorn, the chances of Roman awakening from even the deepest nightmare were extremely high. What concerned him more was whether she would suffer any consequences from it.
But looking at her dazed expression, Brando knew he had been worrying unnecessarily.
"All right, stop crying," he said. "The Golden Demon Tree is about to wake up. Whatever you have to say, save it until after the battle."
Ponytail Girl finally wiped away her tears and nodded. "What should we do, Brando?" she asked.
"We aren't the protagonists of this battle. There's a Stone Cone Worm in this valley—"
"What's that?"
"Roman, don't interrupt! The Stone Cone Worm is an Elemental Creature from the Earth Core—the Earth Elemental Plane. They are born to be the Golden Demon Tree's natural enemy. However, before this Stone Cone Worm reaches adulthood, the Golden Demon Tree can still rely on its enormous root system to keep it outside the valley. Of course, a Stone Cone Worm needs eighty to one hundred and twenty years to mature. We can't wait that long, so we have to help it."
"Help it?" Freya asked.
Brando took the Elven Treasure Sword from Roman and replied, "The Golden Demon Tree's main body is very weak. Its only means of attack is extending its roots aboveground to pierce invaders. So we have to force it to do that. The more roots it draws out, the fewer it has to defend against the Stone Cone Worm. In time, the Stone Cone Worm will be able to enter the valley—"
"But we only have ten minutes. At most ten minutes from now, the first Withered Beasts will flood into the valley. If we haven't succeeded within ten minutes, you must run west without hesitation. The secret passage is in a valley over there, and it's very conspicuous."
"What about you?" Roman raised her head.
"Leave the rear guard to the men. That's the grace you ladies should show." Brando saw her smooth forehead and could not resist lightly tapping it with his finger. Then he looked toward Freya. She was tying up her ponytail with both hands to make fighting easier. Noticing his gaze, she looked at him and nodded.
Brando was startled. He had thought Freya would stubbornly insist on staying again. But she showed no reluctance. Instead, she seemed more composed. It appeared that she had gained quite a bit from the dream as well.
Freya's capable bearing now carried a hint of the future Valkyrie. Brando could not help smiling with satisfaction before turning back and saying, "Roman, put on your ring."
Merchant's Daughter immediately raised her little hand proudly and waved the black-and-white ring.
"Your task is to listen for movement underground. Tell us immediately if you notice anything."
"All right, Brando."
"Then let's go. We'll approach the Golden Demon Tree by passing beneath that rocky promontory. Judging from the terrain, there should be a fault below that will let the Golden Demon Tree notice our intentions as late as possible." As he spoke, Brando took the lead and slipped forward. He first ran to a jutting rock, then turned and gestured for Freya and Roman to follow.
Freya grabbed Roman's hand and followed. Her meaning was obvious: behave and don't run around; I'll protect you. She did this so Brando could focus without distractions and attack the Golden Demon Tree with everything he had as soon as an opportunity arose.
The three of them quickly passed beneath the rocky promontory Brando had mentioned. His memory had not been wrong in the slightest; they encountered no harassment before then. But just after they crossed the boundary, Merchant's Daughter immediately heard a rumbling sound rising from beneath their feet.
"Brando, there's something underneath."
Our protagonist's heart jolted. He immediately shouted, "Separate! Quickly, separate!"
Freya instantly shoved Roman to one side. The three of them scattered, and the ground immediately exploded with a rumble as two thick vines tore through it. However, the Golden Demon Tree clearly had not expected its attack to be seen through by several mere insects. When its roots emerged from the ground, all they met was Brando's prepared sword strike.
The young man climbed to his feet, raised the Elven Treasure Sword high with both hands, and hacked into the middle of the barrel-thick vine. The blade sank halfway in, and silver flames suddenly burst from its edge. The Purifying Fire burned the vine with a hissing sound. In the center of the valley, the Golden Demon Tree nearly trembled from the pain, making the entire valley echo with a buzzing resonance.
It was summoning reinforcements again. Brando's heart sank. Just as he had expected, time was already running short. He could not help looking back. Freya performed a beautiful side roll to evade the Golden Demon Tree's sweeping roots, then used the momentum to slash at the vine. Although her sword only sank one-third of the way in, the graceful strike made him look at her with new respect.
That was at least the standard of Level 2 Eluin Military Swordsmanship. It seemed Freya had gained quite a lot from the dream.
"Brando, there's another sound!" Roman had climbed to the edge of the battlefield alone and shouted back.
"How far away?" Brando called instinctively, but he immediately realized he had misspoken. He had subconsciously treated Roman as the Nightingale in his party, but Merchant's Daughter was merely more perceptive than ordinary people, not a professional scout from a game.
"One hundred meters... maybe seventy," Roman said after thinking.
"That far?" Brando was startled. He swept his sword backward and knocked away the vine attacking him. The remaining half of the root had lost its vitality and collapsed limply, its severed end charred black.
"It's sixty meters now."
Brando hesitated. Though it seemed somewhat unbelievable, he decided to trust Roman. "Freya, forget it! See that path? Run out through there."
Freya only paused briefly before bringing her sword up before her chest and letting the vine lash her away. The Feathers of Wind surrounding her lit up leaf by leaf, forming a web of light that protected her and reduced the impact. Ponytail Girl merely rolled across the ground a few times before getting back up, already landing beside Roman.
"Roman, come with me!" She grabbed Merchant's Daughter's hand and dashed in that direction.
"Eh? What about Brando?"
"He'll catch up!"
She had finally learned to trust her companions instead of showing off alone. Brando could not help feeling relieved. He had truly feared that Freya would get tangled up with him at a time like this. But when he saw the vine that had attacked Freya trying to pursue them, he did not hesitate. He slashed along the previous cut and split it in two.
After clearing away the enemy, he did not dare linger. Even he could clearly hear the sounds underground, proving that Roman's judgment was correct. Yet he could not help feeling astonished. How had that somewhat reckless girl heard a sound seventy meters underground?
He estimated that one needed at least five Energy Levels of Perception to possess such ability.
The thought flashed through Brando's mind. He immediately turned and ran. With his Agility, catching up with Freya and Roman was not difficult. However, the three of them were blocked again on the way by the Golden Demon Tree's interconnected roots. The third time it happened, all three heard a tremendous crash from the southeast of the valley. Then every root attacking them suddenly withdrew.
At that point, even without Brando's reminder, Freya and Roman knew that the Stone Cone Worm had entered the battle.
"Did we win?" Roman asked in delight.
Brando shook his head. They still had to enter the core area around the Golden Demon Tree. During the time that followed, the Golden Demon Tree would continuously weigh which side posed the greater threat and dispatch its enormous root system to intercept one side or the other. But this act of robbing Peter to pay Paul could not last forever. Eventually, they would win.
The only problem was whether they could accomplish all this within the allotted time.
Less than five minutes remained.
(PS: After making it onto the Sanjiang recommendation list, all kinds of trouble suddenly started appearing.
Please collect and recommend!)
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