Real Mount and Blade Game

The past revelry, the adoration of the crowd, Zhang Song's calm and efficient reporting, the Wood Elf's respectful demeanor... all have turned into a burning phantom in this moment.

Zhang Bo's lifeless, silent eyes, which had been questioning him, were now so clear and piercing, as if mocking his treachery.

The blood-stained dagger that pierced Zhang Song's thigh now felt incredibly hot to the touch, but even hotter were the words "repaying your kindness"—he was repaying the greatest kindness with betrayal.

Shen Mu sat aloof on horseback.

Burning villages and crumbling foundations.

“Hahahaha… wuwuwu…”

Laughter and tears intertwined, creating a chillingly frenzied sound.

Yang Di held his head in his hands, his fingers digging deep into his messy hair, his body curling up even tighter, as if trying to shrink into a non-existent corner.

The world is collapsing, his beliefs are shattering, and the ambition, pride, and last vestige of support that had sustained him for decades—his connection with the Wood Elf plane—has been completely severed.

He became someone completely abandoned by the entire world.

The sounds of explosions, collapses, and the dull thuds of crossbow bolts striking tree trunks echoed from outside, each sound like a death knell tolling on his despairing soul.

The treehouse shook violently, the massive beams began to crack ominously, and flames spread wildly upwards along the internal wooden structure, the scorching heat almost suffocating.

A world on the verge of death, and a soul driven to utter madness.

Yang Di suddenly stopped her hysterical wailing and abruptly raised her head.

In his bloodshot eyes, all despair, guilt, and scheming vanished, leaving only a pure, twisted, and madly burning flame that danced wildly amidst the smoke and fire. He gripped the cold runestone tightly, his knuckles turning white from the force.

"No...it won't end..."

He let out a low, hoarse sound, a sinister grin spreading across his face, as if he had instantly grasped some absurd truth: "Power...can't be obtained? Then...destroy! Destroy everything...destroy it all! Shen Mu...Deherrim...and...this damned world!!"

He struggled to stand up, wanting to use his last bit of strength to do something, whatever it was, as long as it brought about utter destruction.

He Yangdi.

There's one last resort!

"Consume all mental power, including the fragments of natural consciousness, to summon the Ancient Tree of War!"

Yang Di looked down at the rune stone in his hand, the token that the Wood Elf plane had given him. Suddenly, amidst the hysteria, Yang Di's eyes showed a touch of rationality that arose from his decision to face death.

He still possesses a great deal of spiritual power; if he were to channel all the spiritual power gathered by the people of Blue Star into this ancient tree…

It can then be transformed into an ancient war tree!

"Yes, that's right. Back then, the Grand Elder of the Wood Elf Plane also told me that this is a do-or-die trump card! Once it's used, the Wood Elf village can no longer be developed, so it must be used with extreme caution!"

The madness in Yang Di's eyes intensified at this moment.

He clenched his fists, a ruthless look creeping onto his face: "But now I'm at my wit's end. What does it matter to me whether the Wood Elf Village will still exist after the Great Ancient Tree becomes a War Tree?!"

As he spoke, he closed his eyes and gripped the token given to him by the Wood Elf plane tightly in his hand.

Finally, a hand was placed on the treehouse of this ancient tree.

And yet, in the unseen realm...

In the middle of the treehouse in this ancient tree, a Lord's Core shimmering with green light appeared.

And as it rotated, countless tiny cracks appeared on it.

Just like this crystal...

It looks like it's about to shatter!
In fact, this is also true.

As countless cracks appeared on the crystal, wisps of faint green light quickly seeped out and began to spread throughout the treehouse.

Or rather, within this enormous ancient tree!

'Om! '

A sudden change occurred!

The crystals shattered rapidly, producing cracking sounds that grew increasingly frequent, so faint yet deafening inside the burning treehouse.

Fine cracks, like a spider web, instantly covered the crystal core, and the next second—

click!
It wasn't a deafening explosion, but a chilling cracking sound, as if some boundary that maintained balance had been completely shattered.

The green energy that was originally meant to represent gentle growth and connection with life, now seemed to have its essence drained from its lifeline, suddenly becoming turbid and viscous, presenting a dark brown color that was almost rotten.

They no longer flow, but spray!

Thick, viscous energy bundles, carrying the gray-black fragments left after the Wood Elf Lord's core disintegrated, gushed out from the cracked crystal core like wildly growing vines or a gushing oil well!

This is no longer a gift from nature, but a poisonous juice that has been thoroughly polluted and forcibly extracted!

Woo——! ! !
At that moment, the thick trunk of the ancient tree emitted a dull and painful groan.

The sound was not transmitted through the air, but rather through the massive wooden structure as a resonating chamber, carrying terrifying secondary frequencies that instantly swept through the entire burning space, causing the remaining wooden beams and walls to tremble violently!

"It's done... Hehe... Hahahaha!"

Yang Di, who was curled up on the ground, suddenly raised his head, and his face, which was covered with smoke and tears, burst into extreme joy!

The murky, dark brown torrent of energy surged before him, making his crazed eyes look like those of a demon crawling out of hell.

He could clearly "feel" it—not a gentle connection, but an invasion, an assimilation!
This giant tree that accompanied the Green Leaf Group through its doomsday is being forcibly twisted and transformed by his own sacrificial, violent power and the polluted natural fragments!
It cannot resist!
The complete silence of the plane's will opened the final floodgate for this forbidden fusion!
Sizzle... Pfft...

A nauseating sound came from all directions.

The wooden walls inside the treehouse, which were originally vibrant and intricately carved, began to writhe and swell violently, as if countless giant earthworms were rapidly slithering under the bark.

The wood fibers were forcibly torn, recombined, and proliferated by a terrifying force!
The sturdy, massive branches and supporting beams, requiring several people to encircle them, emitted a sickeningly twisted groan, their surfaces softening and deforming rapidly like asphalt under high temperatures.

The bark was forcibly burst open by the newly formed, dark brown fleshy structure covered with slippery mucus, revealing the rapidly expanding and writhing sarcoma tissue covered with a slippery gelatinous film.

The tumor throbbed like a heart, expanding with each beat and secreting more thick, foul-smelling, dark brown liquid that flowed onto the floor, corroding the charred wood and hissing white smoke.

The ground undulated violently, and the massive, intertwined tree roots, like slumbering earth dragons being forcibly awakened, frantically dug through the soil and burning building debris with immense pain and rage!
These roots are no longer roots—

They were like enormous tentacles, covered with woody nodules and slippery flesh, violently pulled up and lifted from the ground, swirling wildly with dirt and sparks, whipping the air with a wailing, explosive sound!
The broken wall struck by them shattered instantly, and burning wood chips flew like rain.

Among them, several of the thickest and most twisted mutated roots wriggled and deformed violently at their tips, and the woody bark and muscle fibers tore and reassembled, forming an outline resembling a giant claw amidst the ear-piercing sound of flesh and bone rubbing together!
Although crude and deformed, it exudes a chilling aura of destruction!
Outside the treehouse, to the horrified gaze of Bandak and the soldiers, the enormous treehouse, which had been teetering on the brink of collapse under the fire and the heavy crossbow bolts, was undergoing a terrifying transformation!

It is no longer just burning, but growing in the process of burning!

A mutation occurs amidst the flames!

The towering trunk, like a living pillar of flesh and blood, twisted and expanded wildly in the firelight! Countless thick "tentacles" made of a mixture of wood and flesh burst forth from various parts of the trunk, wildly whipping the air and tearing apart the building structure!
The colossal creature swayed violently amidst the excruciating pain of flames and flesh reforming, like a giant abyss beast awakened from its slumber, breaking free from the earth's restraints!

Boom!

The huge, tightly closed doorway at the front of the treehouse was burst open from the inside by the frantically growing tumor tissue!
Chunks mixed with burnt sawdust and slippery slime sprayed outwards!

A gigantic, indescribably terrifying silhouette loomed in and out of view amidst the flames and thick smoke—

It appeared to be the outline of a massive skull taking shape, composed of countless twisted woods and spasming muscles!

At this moment, the ancient tree, which had seemed peaceful, suddenly became ferocious.

Along with countless plumes of black smoke and the rapidly twisting tree trunk.

The entire ancient tree seemed to have detached from its roots and stood upright.

Even the thickest branches began to twist and entwine, forming two enormous arms and claws.

The entire tree trunk began to transform into what appeared to be a humanoid creature tens of meters tall!
Including the faces that appeared on the tree trunks, which were not yet fully clear but had already emerged.

From its hollow eye sockets, two dark brown, viscous, malevolent beams of light pierced through the smoke, coldly surveying the human army that was hunting it outside!

"Roar... Roar—!!!"

A shrill roar, a mixture of tearing wood, crushing flesh, and extreme pain, erupted from the top of the distorted giant tree!

This sound wave contained terrifying power and a twisted will, instantly overwhelming all the sounds of fighting and burning flames on the battlefield!

The sound waves were so real that they stung the eardrums of the nearby Deherim soldiers, and their warhorses reared up in alarm!
“Shoot…shoot! Aim at it!” A veteran Khergit horse archer’s voice trembled uncontrollably.

However, when the Kujit rockets fired in response to the order struck the waving mutated roots, the arrows were deflected by the tough, elephant-skin-like, slippery, greasy dark brown gelatinous tissue, or they were pushed out by the proliferating granulation tissue after only penetrating an inch!
Even when used by Rhodok sniper crossbowmen, the steel bolts they fired only caused a burst of mucus and debris when they struck the swollen, throbbing tumor on the main trunk, before being instantly covered by even more proliferating flesh and blood!
The deep brown light locked onto the arrayed infantry formation!
Boom!

A mutated root, as thick as a towering pillar and topped with a huge, bone-claw-like structure, carrying immense power, crushed all obstructing debris and crashed down on Bandak's formation!

"Raise your shield—!!" Bandak's roar was hoarse and cracked.

A massive shadow descended like the wings of death!
Boom! ! !
Snap, snap——!
The earth resounded as if it were being pounded like a cowhide drum!
Smoke and dust mixed with sparks shot into the sky!

The wooden bone claws slammed down in front of them, and the Swadian light infantry had already lined up in a dense array of shields!

The sound of those meticulously crafted fan-shaped shields instantly deforming and shattering, the muffled thuds of human bones breaking, and the dying screams all intertwined into a tragic dirge of destruction!

The soldiers in the front row were like ants being crushed, their flesh and blood bursting open under the giant claws!

The shockwave violently blew the soldiers in the back rows away, sending them crashing into the burning ruins!

The impact slammed into the hard wooden floor, creating a huge, shallow crater covered in a viscous brown liquid!
The cracks spread out like a spider web!
"……impossible……"

Bandak was jolted back several steps by the powerful impact, his helmet askew. Staring with bloodshot eyes at this unimaginable scene, his face lost its violent confidence for the first time, replaced only by horror.

On the distant command high ground, even the sacred tree horse was startled by this unnatural roar, stamping its feet and snorting loudly.

The flames reflected off Shen Mu's face, creating flickering light and shadow. His eyes, which had always been as calm as an abyss, finally contracted slightly the instant the giant claw shattered the defenses.

Fatis, who had been standing silently by his side like a rock, slowly tightened his grip on the knight's lance. The lance shaft, made of hard steel, emitted a slight, teeth-grinding metallic scraping sound under his immense force.

His gaze, hidden beneath his full-face helmet, was like an ice pick piercing through flames, firmly locking onto the distorted giant shadow roaring and rising in the fire. For the first time, a chilling fighting spirit surged and churned in his eyes like a tidal wave.

"Finally something interesting."

Shen Mu's voice was like the cold wind of the Arctic sweeping across the ice, deep and unwavering, yet containing a hint of extreme anger that had been unexpectedly ignited and... a cruel interest in scrutinizing his prey.

He slowly raised his hand.

The Deherime Legion no longer faces a hopeless enemy, but a monster born from flames and twisted pain, hating everything.

It seemed as if the war horns had only just truly sounded at this moment.

As for Shen Mu...

This.

It's not a difficult problem at all.

"Does a tree-type monster trapped in one place really think I'd be stupid enough to stay here and fight you in close combat?"

Shen Mu wore a mocking smile.

Slowly raise your left hand.

He said calmly, "The entire army shall retreat and leave the Wood Elf village." (End of Chapter)