The End of the Eastern Front

The collapse of the North Tower in the castle's eastern wing came far more swiftly than anyone had anticipated.

Videmir's "Rampant Tree" was far more powerful than the one Morozov had cast at the Magic Garden in France. Moreover, the ancient trees buried deep within the Forbidden Forest were taller, thicker, and denser than those in the French Magic Garden.

Driven by "Rampant Tree," this sea of towering trees was no longer a forest, but row after row of battering rams clad in bark.

When the first row of demonic trees charged one after another into the tower's foundation, the tower let out a dull, drawn-out wail, like the final breath forced from the throat of a dying beast. The tremors spread through the stone walls as bricks and mortar fell from above, smashing down along the edge of the grounds and kicking up clouds of dust and showers of rubble.

Before everyone's horrified eyes, the tower began tilting inward at a visible rate.

A vicious gash first split open across the outer wall, and the cracks swiftly spread. Then, the entire interior spiral staircase collapsed, tier upon tier of stone steps caving in downward. The iron railings were crushed and twisted into knots, screeching as they bent. The window frames and stained glass shattered together, fragments scattering through the moonlight.

The next moment, the tower broke apart at its middle.

With a thunderous crash, floor after floor collapsed. Stones and beams tumbled down, smashing heavily into the ground. A gray-white wave of dust exploded outward, sweeping through the surroundings and soaring into the sky, blotting out half the night. Only the shadowy outline of the ruins remained, appearing and disappearing within the smoke.

The demonic trees did not stop. They trampled over the fallen wreckage and continued forward, the