Whispering Poems

Chapter 3898 Tree Sword and Kiss

The giant Shad appeared under the tree, then opened his arms and hugged the tree, which was unable to move any further due to the four black chains.

The "Red Dragon Power" and the "Burning Oath" were activated simultaneously. With immense force, Shad slammed the tree directly into the forest floor, causing the vine-formed "feet" to sink back into the soil beneath the snow.
"Danist! Hurry!"

The giant under the tree canopy shouted, and seeing that Shad could fight the enemy on his own, the sorceress flew directly to the tree to prepare for the ritual.

Although immobile, the gray tree, imbued with a powerful curse, continued to tremble violently. The vines hanging from its canopy clanged against the ends of the four chains, yet they could not touch Shad's body no matter what they did.

The powerful curse passed through the point where Shad was in contact with the tree trunk and was transmitted to his body. Shad originally thought that the curse would not have any effect, but unexpectedly, his skin turned blue after three seconds, and at the same time, the life force in his entire body began to drain away.

However, the power of the First Flame was immediately activated. When Daniste, who was preparing the ritual under the tree, looked up, the scars of the First Flame were already visible on Shad's body.

"How can the curse on this tree be so powerful?"

The tree from the "Past" apocalyptic era was suppressed within the Saint-Delan Square area, making comparison difficult. However, even combined, the cursed power of all the cursed trees in the Vista Grove doesn't match that of this tree.

"Where on earth did it absorb so many curses?"

The four chains that had shattered the vines had now penetrated deep into the tree's canopy, but even these chains could not completely suppress the tree from launching further attacks. Daniste, tensely preparing for the ritual, could clearly feel the terrifying cursed power above her intertwining with Shad's own power, even without looking up.

Even with everything prepared in advance, the ritual would not begin for at least five minutes, during which time Shad would have to resist the full power of the tree.

"Mind Blast!"

Now, Shad rarely uses his magical technique, but he struck the tree trunk with it, causing the giant tree to shake violently. However, this also allowed Shad to clearly sense that there was only one soul in the tree, and that soul was currently controlling the tree in a dazed state.

"If there's a soul, things will be easier. Forgive me, Ms. Carter—Soul Whip!"

The moment the crimson whip formed from blood was lashed out, even Danist felt a stinging pain in her soul, after all, the enhancement when casting spells in giant form was quite significant.

When the crimson whip struck the tree canopy, the tree nearly broke free from Shad's embrace amidst the violent shaking, and the piercing screams of souls emanating from within the tree made Danist extremely uncomfortable.

Fortunately, this attack was particularly effective, and the intensity of Tree's counterattack against Shad subsequently weakened significantly.

The excruciating pain in his soul even brought another benefit: a dozen seconds after the tree's counterattack weakened, Shad's powerful soul actually "heard" the unconscious whispers coming from the tree.

"Ms. Carter's soul has briefly awakened!"

Xia De was startled, then looked down at his feet:

“Dannister, the final step of the ritual will be performed ahead of schedule. I will now resonate with her soul and guide her to break free from the tree.”

"No, I'm not ready yet. Her soul is still trapped by the curse; you can't take her away!"

"Now is the best opportunity. The power of this tree's curse is far stronger than we thought! Once the soul falls asleep again, the overflow of the curse may contaminate the soul that is born."

"Alright, be careful, Shad, I'll be waiting for you to come back!"

The giant Shad immediately pressed his forehead against the tree canopy, then resonated with the source of the murmur in his mind.

Even though he was dreaming, Xia De had the feeling that he had been dreaming.

After a moment of disorientation, consciousness returned, and what I saw was a gray world. I was still at the summit of Mount Karas, but everything—the starry sky, the moon, the mountain, and the forest behind me—was gray.

Shad's body still possessed color, but it was visibly fading. Gray was a symbol of the cursed power, and Shad knew he couldn't allow his consciousness to linger here for long.

Stepping forward, where the "Moon Tower" should have been, there was no towering thirteen-story building, but rather a slightly sunken sacrificial site.

In the center of the sacrificial site stood a towering, verdant tree, with a solitary Lady Helena Carter suspended beneath it by vines, as if she were being sacrificed to this gray world.

Ms. Carter's body was also gray, and Shad knew this was her soul, so he immediately entered the sacrificial site. He had been on guard against attacks from this spirit world, but nothing happened until he reached the tree.

Then, a flash of silver moonlight severed the vines, and the "corpse" fell, only to be caught by Shad. The sheer power of the curse within that "corpse" astonished even Shad himself.
"There's no other way; it seems that ordinary purification won't work on this soul."

He carefully placed the "corpse" on the gray ground beneath the large tree, then grasped the silver moonsword from thin air with his right hand. With utmost care, he knelt on one knee beside the "corpse," holding the hilt high with both hands, sword tip down, and while bowing his head in prayer, slowly plunged the sword into the "corpse's" chest.

"Miraculous Technique - [Moon Prayer - Sanctuary Aura]!"

hum!
The sword tip pierced the heart, and then, centered on the sword tip, ripples of silver light swept across the gray world. However, due to the overwhelming power of the curse, it only created a small colored area around the kneeling Shad and the "corpse".

The "corpse" trembled slightly but did not awaken. Shad released the greatsword in his hand, causing it to dissipate into a cluster of silver light spots.

So, what should we do next?

"She" asked gently at that moment, and Shad knew exactly what to do; he had done it more than once in his dreams. He went from kneeling on one knee to sitting on the ground under the tree, and after embracing the dark-haired woman, he gently kissed her:

"The Enchanted Lock: The Sleeping Princess!"

The next second, the entire gray world trembled, and then all the grayness converged towards the two of them. Finally, the enormous curse flowed through the "corpse" and entered Shad's soul.

The woman's fingers trembled again as she was embraced by Shad, but Shad was unaware of it. While passively enduring the immense power of the curse in their embrace, he also glimpsed fragments of the woman's memories.

The fragments were even more fragmented than the memories he gained during his "fall," but in summary, after Ms. Helena Carter died here and transformed into a tree, her roots absorbed a massive amount of time-cursed power from the earth of this dream world, which ultimately led to the Cursed Tree becoming what it is today.

"But where did the curse in this world come from? This curse is stronger than all the curses from the War of Time combined. If my time resistance hadn't been greatly enhanced after the War of Time, this time..."

The curse within the "corpse" was absorbed, and the chaotic soul began to awaken. When she realized the situation, her first instinct was to push Shad away, but her current soul power was far from being a match for Shad.

The two souls, once fused by the Lock of Faith, were so familiar with each other. Now, they clung tightly together. As Shad gained some of Helena Carter's memories, she also learned the reason for his presence here.

Since she couldn't push him away at that moment, she hugged him tightly. Most of the curse of the gray world was absorbed by Shad, with a small portion remaining within the cursed soul.

But the moon's radiance was already blooming within their souls, and in the gray night sky, the enormous silver moon was gradually regaining its pure color.

Three drops of divinity shone brightly within that great soul, resonating with the silver moon, with time, and with everything in this moment.
Shad then fell into a deep sleep amidst the cold curse. Just a moment ago, he could still feel the slight chill and tenderness of the black-haired sorceress's lips, and the next moment he heard a cat's meow beside him.

"Meow~"

"Mia, stop messing around, I'm breaking the spell."

Xia De was suddenly startled:
"Wait a minute, Xiaomia wasn't taken into the dream!"

He opened his eyes abruptly, then squinted as the sunlight streaming in through the half-open tent entrance stung them.

Daylight had broken, and the rain and snow of the previous night had stopped. The light of dawn shone into the thirteenth floor from the direction of the tower's terrace, illuminating the tent located at the intersection of light and shadow.

The campfire in the camp had gone out. Shad slowly got out of bed, listening to Mia's impatient shouts, and then heard Daniste's sobs.

"what happened?"

He hadn't quite grasped the situation yet, only remembering hugging a large tree in his dream and kissing Ms. Helena Carter within that dream. The voice of "her" in his ear reminded him that it was Saturday morning in the real world, the dream was over, and the cat was waking him up because Shad had overslept.

"Teacher, egg!"

Daniste, who was sitting to the side covered by a blanket, sobbed as she spoke. Then, with the help of the light of dawn after the rain, Shad could see clearly that the red-haired sorceress, with her hair down and wearing a nightgown, was holding a giant egg that was thirty centimeters tall.

The gray giant egg has abstract patterns of the moon and trees, and those silver-green patterns are now shimmering in the light of dawn.

"Success?"

Shad blinked, then immediately reached out towards the egg. The immense life force and familiar soul fluctuations emanating from it made him smile.
"It did succeed. It seems I found the right method. The Sleeping Princess is still the most professional at breaking the curse."

"Shad, I found my teacher! I found my teacher!"

Daniste wept with joy, and Shad embraced her. Because of their positions, the cat standing on Shad's pillow clearly saw the two of them holding the strange egg on either side.

"Meow~"

The cat then sniffed the egg and determined it was inedible. It continued meowing, urging them to stop doing this strange thing and hurry up and prepare breakfast. After all, in the cat's view, an egg couldn't hatch like that, but skipping breakfast meant missing out on a meal.

It was indeed the real world after the dream ended. Daniste had only woken up a few minutes earlier than Shad. Before she could even check on Shad, she found the egg and a small piece of withered tree root in the blanket.

The two of them had this dream for a whole night.

(End of this chapter)