Chapter 171: Tree Realm

Crack!

The 【Petrification Spell】 along with the freezing of the Ice-Bound Fa Ball was successfully broken by the opponent.

The bone blades on the demon Atou's arms danced, instantly slicing through the 【Stone Wall Spell】 before him.

But the next layer, the 【Mana Prison】 and the 【Ice Claw Prison】, appeared before his eyes.

He laughed in extreme anger.

"You think these can trap me?!"

Then he froze, suddenly feeling the sky darken a few shades.

He raised his hand to look.

Hanging in mid-air was a vast Tree Realm area, like a projection, blocking out the sun and moon.

Within it, the tree spirit Vivian, whose branches moved without wind, raised her hand and pointed lightly.

Countless vines in the Tree Realm solidified from nothingness, manifesting in the real world, and bound the demon Atou on the ground tightly and securely.

He immediately ignited burning flames all over his body, attempting to burn through the vines.

But the binding effect on the vines was extremely strong; even the hellfire of the Netherworld could not undo it.

He could only watch helplessly as he was wrapped tighter and tighter, the force growing greater and greater.

Crack, crack—the sound of bones constantly being crushed and broken.

Only half of Atou's face remained exposed to the air.

He spat blood, suddenly twisted his head to look at Rod, and couldn't help but laugh loudly:

"A seventh-rank tree spirit? Hahahaha—Forester Rod, indeed I did not misjudge you. I can feel her lust for you; even a race devoid of such emotions can willingly be enslaved by you! You are truly a natural dominator! I, the demon Atou, prophesy here! One day... one day! You will fall into the embrace of the Netherworld!!!"

The words had just been spoken.

The vines wrapped him completely into a bundle, then, under immense pulling force, dragged him into the shadowy Tree Realm in mid-air.

Fwoosh—

The entire Tree Realm, along with Vivian, vanished like a television screen turning off.

The white moonlight shone upon everyone's faces once more.

They stared at the sky, unable to return to their senses for a long time.

Ghoul Pan Ni: "It's gone."

Elf Karist: "Vivian has taken the demon into the Tree Realm dimension."

Witch Dimia's expression changed slightly: "Technology for traversing dimensions? Miss Vivian is seventh-rank; how could she accomplish this alone?"

Seeing that half of her body was covered in blood, Karist gently cast a healing spell.

"Within the Tree Realm dimension stands a colossal sky-piercing tree. Any mage who traverses dimensions is amazed by the sheer size of this tree, thus they call it the World Tree. It is rumored that the branches of the World Tree reach across boundless expanses, even piercing through the void composed of ether and spiritual energy in other spaces, connecting various different dimensions."

The witch suddenly understood: "So Miss Vivian's identity as a tree spirit race granted her this convenience."

"That is correct."

Karist signaled Rod to gather the injured together.

She continued: "The reason the Magic Control Union can achieve teleportation spells on such a massive scale is also because the treasures they hold can establish a connection with the World Tree within the Tree Realm."

While listening to her explain the teleportation treasures mastered by the Magic Control Union, Rod hoisted the slumped female orc Amy onto his shoulder.

Carried on his shoulder, Amy said: "Master, is this a new exercise posture? But I can't breathe."

"Shut up."

He saw Tally jump out from the shadows; a blood-filled hole pierced by a bone blade marred her abdomen, along with various cuts and scrapes of different sizes, and a large patch of burnt, rotting skin covered her back.

He patted the succubus's somewhat messy hair.

Tally leaned softly into his arms, pulled open her collar, and took a deep, fierce breath against his chest.

"Haa—I'm alive again. Tally has now reached the point where she would go mad if she couldn't smell Master's scent."

"You worked hard."

"It was so hard I almost thought I was going to die."

Rod supported her buttocks and thighs with one hand and lifted her up.

Succubi are naturally very light in weight to better utilize various postures, so she felt soft in his arms and required no effort to carry.

Completely unlike that dead-weight lump of an orc on his shoulder.

Given that the ghoul Pan Ni could not use healing spells.

Karist called the half-centaur Miss Xiao Ke over to help.

Witch Dimia asked: "Speaking of which, where is that seventh-rank feathered race member?"

Mr. Rod had already explained the situation when he came to help.

But she still needed to ask for clarity.

Rod shrugged: "She fled. I couldn't keep her, but she is severely injured and doesn't seem to be someone skilled in regeneration, so she should pose no threat for a short time."

Karist: "You actually defeated a seventh-ranker?"

"It had some element of surprise."

【Blessing of the Ancient Sky Tree】 directly amplified the power of 【Dragon Breath】 by nearly twenty times, yet even so, it still failed to kill the opponent.

In reality, the blow was more impactful than the excitement.

Amy shouted from the side: "Help Amy, Amy is in so much pain."

Witch Dimia: "Miss Karist, please go help that orc lady first. She used the 【Berserk】 spiritual technique three times; her body is under tremendous strain."

"Since she is an orc, just carry her; she won't die that easily," the elf said without looking up.

Dimia gave a bitter smile.

Her impression of the orc Amy was far better than that of the ghoul Pan Ni.

Although both of them had been enemies of the Ruin Brotherhood back then, on one hand Amy hadn't laid a hand on Shi Ying Town's guards, and on the other hand she was simple-minded, far too easy to be used and controlled, making it hard to blame her.

At that moment she spotted the half-deer Miss Xiao Ke hurrying over from afar, looking anxious.

"Miss Beastkin, look, another doctor sister is here."

Amy's face lit up with joy, and she reached out to welcome the bouncing Miss Xiao Ke.

But then Miss Xiao Ke swept right past her and came straight to Rod, her face full of worry.

"You're hurt? Where?"

As she spoke, her small hands were still fumbling all over his chest.

Seeing that in her panic she was searching lower and lower, Rod quickly held her back.

"It's not me, it's Amy."

Miss Xiao Ke froze for a moment, then turned her head to look at the beastkin, whose whole body was covered in wounds, blood almost drenching her from head to toe.

Then she looked again at Rod, who was completely unscathed.

Her little face instantly flushed crimson.

"I-I wasn't worried about you. I was just worried that Little Little Bangde would be heartbroken."

The little interlude didn't affect the group's treatment.

But these people's injuries really were somewhat serious—either magical exhaustion or total depletion of stamina—and handling them all at once truly wasn't so easy.

So, taking advantage of the sky about to brighten, they brought them back into the forest.

Rod: "Huh? I keep feeling like I've forgotten something."

Finally.

When the group was passing through Shi Ying Town, Rod accidentally kicked a 'corpse'.

Only then did he discover the unconscious zombie Selina.

Later that same day.

Town Hall.

Inside the witch Dimia's office.

Rod, astonished: "The Ruin Brotherhood rescued the people from the prison?"

The witch, her face still pale, sat in her office chair behind a desk piled high with documents, her expression grave.

The side effects of magical exhaustion had not yet fully faded from her, but she had already had to step back into work.

Fortunately her physical injuries weren't serious, and combined with the constitution issues innate to witches, her recovery was still fairly decent.

In last night's attack, among the five councilors of Shi Ying Town, one lady and one elderly man were so frightened by the demons' sulfurous stench that they fell seriously ill.

She had no choice but to step in and help handle all kinds of affairs.

"Half a year ago, after the Ruin Brotherhood's attack, we captured a batch of people and threw them into the great prison. We didn't expect them to take advantage of the chaos to sneak into Shi Ying Town and rescue them—we only discovered it during the daytime headcount."

She took out a square crystal box, inside which a sponge held up a white ceramic dish.

(End of this chapter)