The Moonwheel Capital, the capital of the Saint Heen Empire, was the birthplace of Elven Empress Afina the First.
The elves had chosen this place as a place of revival that gave them hope. Naturally, this place had many natural advantages. The Moonwheel Capital was located in the core area of the magical Fallen Star Forest. Plus, the Moonwheel Capital had been here for many years, and it already had a large number of mana pools and magic traps.
Since the elves were the children of nature, the forest had a special meaning to them.
The dense forest would forever be the elves' strongest ally. The elves' subordinates, the centaurs, forest dwarves, and other natural creatures all lived here. Also, the incredibly rare Moon Elves lived in the Fallen Star Forest.
The Moon Elves were elves, but they also weren't elves. Only the elves' strongest warriors and mages would be able to leave their souls behind in this forest when their lifespans were about to come to an end. The Fallen Star Forest was a special realm to begin with. Pure souls would be enveloped by starlight here, transforming into shining undying warriors.
Alright then, according to undead mages, this was a type of undead creature. However, the elves believed that this was another form of existence from their ancestor, the Valkyrie. If you asked me … wasn't the Valkyrie still an undead creature?!
They would often suddenly appear at night and patrol the forest's borders, punishing poachers and invaders. They would transform into starlight again under the moonlight, and would have astonishing power in the forest.
And, this was only the Fallen Star Forest's regular defense force …
In the past, the Sun and Moon Wheel Capital's defenses would be carried out in silence in the forest. But now, the silence here had long since been broken. Busy scenes could be seen everywhere.
The forest that used to only be able to taste the moonlight and the chirping of insects at night had awakened. White-robed priests and druids were everywhere under the protection of guards. Under the hostile gazes of the moon elves, they chose towering trees that had a long history.
Ancient oaths and poems were repeated. In a mystical white light, the earth shook, and countless pieces of mud and stone were transformed into dust. The treants stood up, their roots transforming into giant feet, and their treetops transforming into heads. Ancient war trees that could move and fight could be seen everywhere in the forest.
The entire forest seemed to come to life. The towering treants all stood up. They didn't need anyone to command them as they slowly advanced with heavy footsteps. However, their footsteps were heavy and ancient, and their sighs were filled with sorrow.
"… Even if they survive the calamity, the Fallen Star Forest will be finished."
The young white-robed Druil Saar looked at the powerful "giants". Their footsteps were enough to create an earthquake, but he himself was shedding tears.
A Treant that could transform into an Ancient War Tree meant that it had evolved from a plant to an intelligent being. Even with Druil's guidance, it was still an ancient tree that had endured for thousands of years.
Even though the Fallen Star Forest could be traced back to the Elven Empire's era, there was still a limit to the number of such ancient trees that had been lost in battle. And now, Druil and the Nature Priest had summoned an army of almost ten thousand treants. In that case, let alone hundred-year-old trees, even trees that were only a few decades old would be used.
Not only would the summoned treants have low intelligence, it would also be impossible for them to become complete treants. Without the support of the earth, the treants' lifespans would soon come to an end. Such a loss would be impossible to make up for.
Large swathes of the forest were withering and dying. Using the power of nature to forcefully raise Ancient War Trees was an obvious violation of all the teachings of nature. This was also forcing this ancient forest to enter an early Armageddon. Many Druil and Nature Priests were shedding tears. It was likely that even if they survived this calamity, they would never be able to rest easy in their next lives. It was inevitable that their power levels would decrease, and it was possible that they would commit suicide on a large scale.
Fortunately, this was the moon elves' forest. If this had been a forest created by the wood elves, it was likely that the wood elves would rather have their entire species perish than force the forest to perish … But looking at it from a different perspective, if this was truly the wood elves' forest, there would be far more ancient trees and nature creatures. The wood elves' fear of death would cause the forest to proactively fight for them, and there would be no need to forcefully raise Ancient War Trees.
Treants and Ancient War Trees were incredibly important among the elves' large-scale combat units. The elves were rich in mages and archers. However, even the famous Silver Moon Rangers among the elves were more proficient in combat based on agility. They would be at a disadvantage if they tried to block the enemy's powerful units head-on.
The elves lacked meat shields … or perhaps powerful cannon fodder. This was a glaring weakness of the elves since ancient times. This weakness wouldn't be obvious in small-scale battles, but it was constantly exposed on a major battlefield. No matter if it was the humans' incredibly powerful cavalry charge or the beastman berserkers' bloody chaotic battles, the elves' battle formations would always be mysteriously broken through countless times. In the end, the elves would lose the battle and only be able to remain depressed.
The Warriors in the front row had all fallen. No matter how strong the archers and mages in the back row were, they were just waiting to be harvested.
The elves were used to using summoned creatures, vassal species, and treants as meat shields. However, these cannon fodder's combat strength and fighting spirit were truly worrisome. The only reliable treants and ancient war trees required a large amount of resources and time to nurture. Not only would any of them die, they also had the fatal weakness of incredibly slow movement speed.
In the past battles, many of the elves' enemies would either change the battlefield or go around the Treants' line of defense, easily ignoring the powerful defense of the Ancient War Treants. However, this time, the Ancient War Treants might be able to play a big role in a defensive and positional battle.
However, the moon elves' forceful activation of the ancient war trees was the equivalent of severing their combat potential for the next several hundred years. Of course, if the moon elves didn't go all out, it was likely that they would have no future.
It was also worth mentioning that due to the moon elves' usual way of doing things, they didn't value other species at all in their territory. Even the moon elves' traditional vassal species didn't have many forest dwarves living in the forest. There were even fewer centaurs capable of melee and ranged combat. In the end, the moon elves could only rely on themselves.
If it weren't for the fact that they were in dire straits, the moon elves wouldn't have committed such a "crime" that would definitely offend all Druil and the wood elves.
Suddenly, a mountain wall started trembling as gray dirt fell down like rain. The next instant, that pitch-black mountain wall actually transformed into a black treant covered in dirt.
This treant was several hundred meters tall. The moment it appeared and activated its domain, the entire sky was covered in dark clouds as a rainstorm began.
Countless raindrops nourished his withered tree trunk, washing away the mud on his body. Dark green sprouts grew at a speed visible to the naked eye. His closed eyes opened, but they were filled with a sorrowful silver light.
"… 'Wall of Despair'? Didn't he receive a fatal injury in the Yongye War more than one hundred years ago? 'Dragonsteel Guardian' and 'Aina's Anchor'? Why have they all awakened? Do they not intend to live anymore? "
As the Elder Treant let out a sorrowful cry, all the legendary treants woke up from their long slumber to welcome their fates and their end.
Druil Saar couldn't believe his eyes as he looked at this scene. These weren't treants that had been forcefully awakened. These were treants that had been severely injured in the previous battle. Not even the most outstanding nature priest would be able to heal their injuries. They could only extend their lives through long slumber and wait for a miracle to arrive. But now, all of them were awakened. It was likely that they realized that a miracle hadn't arrived yet, and that the final moment had arrived.
"The Starfall Forest is completely finished …"
Several hundred Druil Saar and priestesses surrounded the treants. Green and white light that represented healing kept flashing on the treants' bodies. However, this would only be able to temporarily extend the treants' lives.
"No! The elders won't be able to stay active for much longer. Could it be that the demon wave is about to arrive? "
Druil Saar looked up at the sky in disbelief. The darkness of midnight had been shattered, and the moonlight that guided the moon elves forward had been blocked by dark clouds. Countless cracks had appeared in space, and these cracks were constantly spreading. The aura of Chaos that brought destruction was already flowing out.
A wild wolf came into contact with this aura, and its body distorted as it transformed into a filthy and warty Berserk Wolf. This Berserk Wolf directly pounced at its brethren. Even more aura of Chaos descended as large numbers of wild beasts transformed into dangerous magical beasts of Hell.
"The information is true. The Holy War has begun …"
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