Chapter 172: Cocoon of Chaos, Whispers of the Moon Goddess

The cave was thick with the acrid smell of burnt energy from the collision, the bitter fragrance left behind by the brief purification of corrupting air, and a heavy stench of blood. Xiang Lingna lay on the cold stone floor like a shattered doll. The dark-purple energy tendrils, bursting out of control from the stump of her right arm, were being dissolved by Priestess Liyana's pure moonlit shield — like red-hot iron doused in cold water, they let out a sizzling wail, their violent momentum visibly wilting and shrinking. Yet this was not the end. The tendrils, like living vines, writhed in defiance; they did not fully dissipate, but instead, as if in self-protection, coiled back around Xiang Lingna's scorched body. Mingled with the lingering emerald light of the Thornwood Order on her skin and the faint stardust halo, they formed a strange "cocoon" flowing with a tri-colored radiance of dark purple, emerald green, and milky white.

This cocoon cut off most outside detection and temporarily suppressed the tendrils' frenzy, but Priestess Liyana could clearly sense the extremely faint and disordered life-pulse coming from within the cocoon, and that heart-stopping chaotic energy had not quieted — it had merely fallen into a kind of dormant state.

"Priestess Liyana, my lord! The guards outside the cave have been cleared! But a violent energy surge is coming from the direction of the root-tumour! Something even more powerful has awakened!" An elven warrior burst into the cave, speaking at top speed, his face Heavy and Solemn. Outside, the battle cries and the death-rattles of corrupted creatures were gradually fading, but a deeper, icier pressure was spreading from the massive root-tumour at the bottom of the abyss.

Priestess Liyana drew a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the shock and countless questions in her heart. She glanced at the image on the stone wall — already extremely blurred, on the verge of vanishing. The speck of stardust light on Lin Mo's chest seemed to flicker faintly due to outside interference (Priestess Liyana's attack and Xiang Lingna's final eruption), then was swallowed by an even more surging tide of dark-purple shackles, and the image vanished completely.

"Take her! And Avira! Withdraw immediately! Return to the grove!" Priestess Liyana decided on the spot, her staff pointing at the unconscious Xiang Lingna and the rescued elf, Avira. Her voice was cool and carried an unquestionable authority. The power on Xiang Lingna's body was too strange, too dangerous — but it might equally hold the key clue to saving Lin Mo. She had to be brought back to the grove for strict protection and observation.

Two sturdy elven warriors stepped forward at once. One carefully lifted Xiang Lingna, who was wrapped in the chaotic light-cocoon; the tendrils of the cocoon were icy and carried a faint corrosive feel, making the warrior's arm go slightly numb. The other supported the utterly feeble Avira, whose eyes had nonetheless reignited with hope.

"Seal the cave mouth! Release the 'Thornwood Barrier'! Delay any pursuit!" Priestess Liyana swept her staff, and emerald natural energy gushed forth, transforming into countless tough, thorned vines that grew wildly, instantly sealing the crumbling cave mouth completely. Silver-white moonlit runes flowed along the vines, emanating a powerful aura of purification and obstruction.

The party swiftly withdrew along the way they had come. Priestess Liyana walked at the rear, the light of her moonlit staff dispersing the dense withering mist around them and illuminating the elven warriors as they darted ahead. Her gaze never left Xiang Lingna, who was being carried by the warrior. Under the moonlight, that flowing tri-colored cocoon took on a strange beauty, yet radiated a disturbing air of chaos.

"The Thornwood Corridor's resonance... Zero's plea for help... the stardust on the identity tag... and this chaos that even the power of moonlight cannot fully purify..." Priestess Liyana's thoughts raced. "Just what has Lord Lin Mo encountered? This human girl called Xiang Lingna... this power inside her... is it the key? Or... a new disaster?" She recalled the final thought transmitted by the World Tree's sapling before it withered deep within the Thornwood Corridor — a vague prophecy concerning "variables" and "fusion."

"Priestess Liyana, my lord! Movement ahead! The energy signature is… strange!" The elven warrior serving as scout suddenly stopped, warning in a low voice, and pointed toward a relatively sparse patch of woods in the mist.

Priestess Liyana focused her gaze. She saw a tall, heavy metal figure stumbling and lurching through the woods in an utterly uncoordinated gait. Half its body was sheathed in cold, angular metal armor, with scorching blue air venting from the joints; its exposed mechanical right arm dragged along the ground, emitting a shrill scraping sound. The other half — the remaining biological body — was withered and shrunken, draped in filthy rags; atop the goblin's skull, a pair of electronic eyes flickered with chaotic red light, and meaningless, metallic grinding roars issued from its mouth.

"Threat... eliminate... directive... error..." The figure was none other than Wrench, after his mechanized transformation! The escort directive implanted by Zero within him clashed violently with the kill-protocol activated by the Doctor, and combined with the damage to his frame from the spatial storm, it had plunged him into utter frenzy and chaos. He sensed the energy radiating from the elven party (natural power was tagged as "threat" in his scrambled recognition system), and instinctively raised his intact, armor-sheathed left hand. The energy cannon in its palm began to charge, its ghostly-blue light locking onto the party!

"It's that goblin! Xiang Lingna's companion! But he—" Avira cried out weakly, recognizing the remaining biological features of Wrench.

"Prepare for combat! Non-lethal suppression!" Priestess Liyana ordered at once. She recognized the Prism Hub's technological style on the opponent, and also saw his attempt to attack. He could not be killed, but he had to be controlled!

The elven warriors instantly fanned out, bows drawn, arrowheads wrapped in the soft glow of binding vines. Priestess Liyana lightly tapped the ground with her staff, and several thick vines silently burst from the rotting leaves beneath Wrench's feet, attempting to coil around his legs.

"Threat! Eliminate!!!" Wrench's electronic voice suddenly spiked, and the charged energy cannon blazed with blue light! Yet, at the very instant he was about to fire, the chaotic light-cocoon on Xiang Lingna — held in the elven warrior's arms — seemed to sense a familiar presence (the residual chaotic energy and Prism Hub signature still lingering within Wrench), and pulsed ever so faintly.

Hum!

This faint pulse was like a pebble dropped into the core of Wrench's scrambled consciousness. The frantic red flicker in his electronic eyes suddenly stalled, and the glow of his charging cannon dimmed for an instant. An extremely blurred image fragment flashed through — the girl Xiang Lingna handing him half a compressed biscuit in the tunnel…

"G… girl…?" The remnant biological consciousness within Wrench let out a vague, pain-filled murmur. This brief hesitation gave the elven warriors their chance!

Thwack-thwack-thwack!

Several arrows wrapped in emerald vines struck Wrench's mechanical joints and intact left arm with precision! The vines instantly surged, binding him fast like tough ropes! At the same time, the ground-vines Priestess Liyana had summoned successfully coiled around his legs!

"Raaagh!!!" Wrench let out an enraged metallic roar, struggling wildly! His mechanical strength made the vines creak and groan, and the energy cannon lit up once more! But more binding-vine arrows came flying, and Priestess Liyana's moonlight power transformed into supple bands of light that coiled around him, layer upon layer, reinforcing the bonds!

"Hold him down! Bring him back to the grove!" Priestess Liyana watched the metal goblin thrashing wildly within the vines, her brows tightly knit. Xiang Lingna and her companion had both become enormous mysteries and potential sources of danger. Was the New Moon Grove truly ready to face all of this? She looked up toward the depths of the forest, where the oppressive pressure from the direction of the massive root-tumour was growing heavier and heavier, like the dead silence before a storm.