Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

Chapter 1200: Betrayal from the Off

When Garroun heard Minas Mar talk about the Guardian Tree, he pictured the World Tree in his mind. A holy plant and an incarnation of the pure life force of nature. It had incredible healing and purification properties. Often it had the ability to create a protective barrier or enchantment around the forest it grew to protect itself and its followers.

What he thought was that the Guardian Tree would have a similar defensive power. A shield, and illusion barrier maybe. Maybe a buff and improvement to the people in the area it protects, but not this...

From the crown of leaves, that had thrust Delta into twilight just moments ago, descended a curtain of vines delimiting the edge of the crown far past the city boundaries. As if to tell Garroun that offense was the best defense, as if to mock all those inert, unmoving symbols of protection, they began to move.

There was no shield, no buffs, no holy magic, only carnage. Moving at terrifying speeds, even though he couldnʼt really follow most of the time, the vines attacked the undead horde. Where they passed, beasts were split apart, but it wasnʼt the speed or force that struck fear in the commanderʼs heart.

Whether it was a giant undead beast, or a small humanoid, once caught by tendrils of doom, there was no escape. Whether zombie or skeleton, the undead visibly dried up, their maws opened in silent screams as the very essence of their being was sucked out of them, turning them into piles of dust that littered the battlefield.

The process took maybe a fraction of a second, disregarding the size of the undead, but the hopeless plea for mercy, as the creatures were mercilessly robbed of their existence and erased from the world, was burned into his mind. For not one second, he doubted that this was also his fate if he ever stood on the opposite side of this plant.

This was no guardian, this was a meat grinder! It just so happened that it was on their side. After the initial shock of the vines, came the secondary shock. Looking down the slopes of the mountain, whole patches of the purple army vanished in the blink of an eye, dragged to the depths of hell by the roots of the tree.

...

---Outside of Delta---

In a battle between legends, it was often a question of how their power matched.
Natural advantages such as size and elemental affinities and specialization played a big role, as much as the defense against them. Legends usually had a few specialties, that were outside of the bounds of causality.

Ceres, the Tormentor, could cause pain even to the undead or inanimate objects. The lightning eagle could also call the monsoon and the lightning storm for almost no cost. The Hydra on the other hand had its perceived immortality, extreme regeneration, and poison.

The hydra was a nightmare for an opponent that specialized in strength and physical combat, like the one in its most famous legend. Ceres, however, had no need to sever any heads, or burn stumps. Bolts Lightning, thick like skyscrapers, striking in a rhythmic staccato of terror pinned the Hydra down.

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Winding in pain, paralyzed by the charge of the attack, it could do nothing but regenerate and endure. The lightning eagle was the worst match-up for the many-headed snake, in many ways, mythical and attribute-wise.

Ceres had already expected the tree to make a show entrance, so he wasnʼt surprised when the light of the morning sun was blocked by the rapidly expanding foliage. What he had not expected was the visitor who tried to take away his punching back.

“Ceres! Please, leave it to me!” Evee pleaded with the bird. “ You should go up there! There are three legends in the sky, Puffles, and Tatzel have no chance to stop them.”

The Parrot of Doom didnʼt really see the need to interfere in the situation above. The tree was more than enough to handle it. Since the guardian tree was out, even his punching the hydra until it regretted its immortality, was not really necessary anymore. He just did it to relieve some frustration.

After a moment of consideration, the lightning staccato of thunder stopped.

~Do whatever you want with it. I will go look for blotches.~ If Rayki and the riffraff fucked up, they were in for a shock. Ceres left, after telling Evee telepathically.

...

---Delta---

“This tree is a lot more frightening than expected...” he mumbled. looking up at the emerald sky above Delta, which caught itself a growth of floating islands. The estimates predicted something bigger than the offshoots at the other cities, but this kind of growth was beyond good and evil.

“Do you really think this is a good idea? The Durnhams-” his colleague asked concerned. Her worried eyes kept staring at the tree. He understood what she meant, with the kind of legend they were dealing with here, they may invite their own ruin, however-

“The Durnhams are just a bunch of Upstarts. She was simply lucky. You took Lord Byronʼs money, we all did. Itʼs too late to pull out now. Minas Mar will be stopped here, today. One way or the other.” he insisted as vehemently as he could while whispering.

During the earlier push, using the distraction of the undead, they and four other elite teams of high-level players, decked out in legendary equipment had infiltrated Delta to fell the enemy from within.

Each team held several siege items they were supposed to install in the city. Originally, the item would have been an artifact that would form a formation to enhance Natinaʼs Powers, to allow her to kill the Tree with the powers of Kali.

This wasnʼt going to happen anymore. Even if it wasnʼt Lord Byronʼs ample benefits, nobody in the elite teams had any confidence in Natina as the Leader of this expedition. The journey here had convinced them further and the giant tree had squashed any guilt they may have had left. In Spatia, it should be the strong and competent to get to the top, Natina was only strong.

His colleague nodded after listening to his “inspirational” speech.

“Alright then, letʼs hurry and install the gate stones before the stealth magic wears off,” he urged them to continue.

Lord Byron, the current emperorʼs cousin, hat offered them a lot of money to tweak with Natinaʼs haphazard plans. Their task was simple, they simply had to place two sets of gate stones in the city of Delta. The royal would do the rest from his side.

None of the special ops were privy to the full plan, but it was about opening gates to Delta and taking the necromancerʼs achievement. Whatever little that was since they entered this world. Natina was lucky, that she couldnʼt be demoted as long as she controlled a legend, but even if she managed to defeat Minas Mar, her social life would be dead, once the imperial family finished punishing her and the Durnham Family.

“Gah!” they heard the scream, just before someone crashed into the pavement of the street opposite if them. His body tore a large groove into the street cover before he came to a halt. For just a moment, they thought they were caught!

The leader observed the man from a distance and recognized the face. This was a person of interest from Minas Mar. His name was Jace, or something and he was a tank. He just asked himself what the many were fighting, when the Rhino of Destruction entered the crossing, coming from the same direction as Jim. That answered his curiosity.

~We shouldnʼt get involved. Take will take a detour and pass their fight with as much distance as-~

His telepathic message fell silent when his thoughts went blank at the sight before them. The Rhino of Destruction, a beast that used to be a legend when it was alive, had suddenly been bound by roots that shot up from the ground below.

The beast already looked quite dilapidated, covered in burns and wounds. But seeing the creature turning into a lifeless husk in a matter of seconds awakened a primal fear in them. It also showed that its danger was not restricted to the outer perimeter.

Wherever they stood and walked in this city, they were in life-threatening danger!

~Maybe you are right with your worries...but itʼs not like we have a way back. Let go ~

Nervously, they continued their mission, in the knowledge that imminent death was waiting for them the moment their stealth wore off.