When a behemoth fell, death did not mean the end of everything.
The remaining life force would often survive in the warmth of the corpse and survive in another form, or rather, continue on.
In the depths of the Ancient Kingdom of Gondor, a chaotic and dry wind blew across the plains. In the chaotic sky, dirty clouds swirled and twisted like an inverted funnel, gloomily covering the entire world. Glittering energy pulses leaped and shuttled between the swirling clouds, constantly releasing electric arcs and low rumbling thunder. And under this terrible weather, was the melted and torn wasteland of the Imperial Capital.
The former Imperial Capital had long been reduced to dust in the magic explosion. Now, only sparse and twisted wreckage was left to prove the existence of human civilization. In the center of the vast plains, a huge impact crater lay quietly on the ground. The inner walls of the impact crater had a crystalline texture that caved in toward the center. Some melted substances that were no longer in their original form were 'embedded' on the inner walls like ferocious branches pointing straight to the sky. It was a sad and terrifying sight.
But even in the depths of such a thoroughly destroyed ruin, there was still something 'alive' —
At the bottom of the crater, the scorched earth bulged. The crystalline melted substances solidified into a cone-like structure that looked like countless prisms pieced together. At the top of the cone-like structure, a beam of blue flame that was almost a thousand meters in size spewed out, illuminating the entire crater. This beam of magic flame erupted a few kilometers into the sky, resonating with the swirling clouds in the sky. And around the 'crystal cone' that spewed out the magic flame, a large number of wandering phantoms could be seen moving around.
This terrible eruption had been going on for seven hundred years, and there was no sign of it stopping until now.
At the bottom of the crystal cone, a pipe that extended from the bottom of the crystal prism extended forward along the crater's inner wall and gradually merged with the melted and solidified crystalline substances on the crater's wall. Streams of light constantly appeared in the pipe as if it was constantly transporting something. Several muddle-headed phantoms of magic wandered around the pipe, driven by instinct to approach the pure and clean energy. But because of the protective wall of the pipe, they could not absorb the energy inside and appeared restless.
All of a sudden, a beam of light flashed past these wandering phantoms. The tremendous power contained in the beam of light directly shattered one of the phantoms into pieces, exploding into a chaotic cloud of lightning arcs on the far side of the pit.
In the next moment, all the magic power illusions quickly left this place.
At the place where the light bullet flew from, a narrow entrance had appeared on the outer wall of the 'crystal cone'. A tall and straight female figure wearing an old imperial magus uniform quietly stood there. She expressionlessly looked at the cloud of electric arcs that slowly dissipated not far away, her hand still in a spellcasting posture.
The chaotic wind of the wasteland blew through the bottom of the crater, blowing the silver-gray hair in front of the tall woman's forehead. Her appearance was almost impeccable, and there was not the slightest flaw on her skin. But that pair of silver-gray eyes seemed to lack the necessary emotions, cold like a machine.
She looked in the direction of the energy conduit for a few seconds before slowly putting down her hand, a faint light flashing in the depths of her eyes.
"Cleaning complete. Harmful organisms have been expelled.
"Energy conduit scanning normal. Environment reading normal.
"Imperial Calendar Year 2488, Fiery Month 2, Sentinel 4 commencing patrol mission."
Accompanied by a slightly mechanical voice, the tall female imperial magus with long silver-gray hair raised her head and looked into the distance. A light blue halo formed by runes spread out from her waist. Then, she left the ground and flew to the edge of the crater.
"Situation in the alert area normal … Energy conduit scanning normal … Other sentinels observed … Vision normal … Crossing the outer ring of the wasteland …"
The female magus reported the situation mechanically as she quickly flew over the crater and finally landed on the rotten and torn wasteland outside the crater.
"Arrived at the patrol area outside the wasteland. Calibrating the monitors …" As she spoke, she raised her head and looked around at the desolate and ruined old land of the imperial capital. The desolate scenery that had remained unchanged for hundreds of years was reflected in her polymer eyeball, showing a clear image in the optical sensor crystal.
She suddenly stopped looking around. A tall, deformed, and swollen monster that looked like flowing red mud suddenly appeared in her sight.
"Threatening organism sighted. Unit with high arcane resistance. Beginning elimination."
Before the cold mechanical voice could finish, the female magus had already launched a fierce attack. A complex runic halo suddenly appeared behind her, and at the same time, she stomped hard on the ground. Her tall figure turned into a phantom under the acceleration of the double strength, and rushed towards the mutant in the distance with a speed that was close to Knight's Charge.
It let out a chaotic roar, its body surging with corrupting magic. It raised its arm high, and a cloud of black-red corrosive energy quickly formed. But before it could launch the destructive energy, the female magus in old uniform had already rushed over. She raised her arm, and an alloy blade shot out from her palm, quickly cutting off one of the arms that the aberrant used to cast a spell. Then, she flashed, and the blade spun, cutting off the other arm of the aberrant. Her blade flashed twice, and her strength and speed were comparable to that of an excellent swordsman! Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The mutant let out an inexplicable roar, and tried to turn around to catch the magus' movements. But it was only halfway through its attempt, the alloy blade had already cut off its weak point on the back.
The blood-red giant-like monster roared and fell, and the dirty blood and mud quickly disintegrated. The female magus raised her arm, and the alloy blade retracted into her body. A large amount of smoke and dust escaped after the mutant's death shrouded her.
Suddenly, the smoke that should have dissipated naturally stagnated, and another threatening energy reaction appeared in her perception. She raised her arm in an instant, trying to lock on to the position of the threat, but the smoke and dust in the air temporarily interfered with her judgment. In this moment of interference, a withered vine suddenly pierced out from the ground nearby and stabbed straight at her back!
Accompanied by the ear-piercing sound of metal breaking, the withered vine pierced through the alloy shell on the back of the "sorcerer". The latter's body trembled violently, followed by a series of crackling and strange mechanical noises. The tall female "sorcerer" finally came to a stop.
On the ground, there was a rustling sound from where the vine had drilled out. A large number of plant structures wriggled out of the fragile rotten soil, and a large area of the ground nearby was completely torn apart. The plant structures that had drilled out of the ground wriggled and regrouped in a chilling manner, and soon condensed into the shape of a hideous and strange giant tree.
One of the giant trees shook its branches, and the twisted and wrinkled facial features on the bark wriggled. "It feels good to be able to move freely … We have used 700 years to lay down the network of roots, and now it can finally come in handy."
Another giant tree slightly shook its extended vines, which were the vines that pierced the back of the 'magus'. "It's amazing that these ancient iron men are still working."
"Not all the core of the mind has failed. The most advanced iron men can protect their core by temporary hibernation," the third giant tree said in a hoarse voice. "Look over there, the Deep Blue Well … The iron men are using their own methods to protect it. It has now been transformed into a fortress, and the production and maintenance array deep in the ground together maintain the entire army of iron men …"
The other two giant trees shook their branches at the same time, making rustling sounds. "… It is indeed difficult for us to directly attack the Deep Blue Well."
"So we need to spread out bit by bit, take root bit by bit, and … find a way to destroy the line of defense formed by the iron men."
The vine that had pierced the back of the magus slowly retracted. There was a slight hum and mechanical friction sound from the magus who had fallen into a state of hibernation. She seemed to be trying to restart, but the damage of the magic hub made it impossible for her to restart.
"Take 'her' with us." The giant tree in the lead wriggled its roots. "The 'matrix' will soon notice that we have lost contact with a sentinel. Before more iron men come out, let's get out of here."
"Yes, Grand Hierarch."
One of the giant trees said respectfully. With a rustling sound, a large number of branches spread out and wrapped around the iron magus who was in a state of hibernation. The other giant trees communicated with the underground network of roots. As a large number of vines gushed out from the cracks on the ground, all the giant trees quickly merged with the vines and disappeared.
A few minutes later, several tall sentinels wearing the uniform of the Gondorian Magisters landed nearby, but the giant trees were nowhere to be seen. All that was left was a pile of ashes that were slowly melting away.
…
In a valley dozens of kilometers away from the ruins of the Deep Blue Well, countless twisted but lush trees took root at the bottom of the valley. Their branches were intertwined, and their crowns were connected. Layers of leaves rustled in the wind of the wasteland, bringing a strange vitality to this land where everything had been destroyed.
A large number of gigantic aberrations with strange spikes on their bodies paced around the entrance of the valley as if they were sentinels guarding this strange area. In the depths of the valley, countless vines were wriggling out of the ground, and in a short period of time, they formed the shape of several giant trees.
One of the giant trees moved its roots to the side of a platform. As the canopy and branches rustled, it placed a female magus wrapped in plant tissue in the middle of the platform.
"What a surprise …" As the 'goods' were placed on the platform, two voices rang out like a duet from the nearby 'woods'. A pair of elven sisters strolled out of the woods and looked at the 'ents' in the middle of the open space with a look of admiration. "You seem to be having a good time?"
"A lone Ironman is not difficult to deal with. Their minds are very rigid." The leader of the Ents turned around and stared at the elven twins with its withered and weird face. "Now, it's time for you two to show your worth."
"Watch your words, Grand Hierarch. We are only cooperating with you, not your subordinates." The elven twins said coldly. "Without our help, I'm afraid you won't be able to break through the ironmen's defense even in a hundred years."
"We are indeed taking what we need. But if it weren't for the fact that we have been defeated in the outside world, the prideful twins would not have come to this wasteland to seek allies." The new Grand Hierarch of the All Will Die Order, the leader of the ents said with a hoarse voice. "Now, let us both give up this meaningless pride. Only results are what we need."
The elven twins did not say anything. They just walked past the Grand Hierarch and came to the side of the stone platform and looked down at the ironman sentinel in a locked state.
The crystallization of ancient Gondor technology lay quietly on the platform. There was no breath and no heartbeat. Only a very subtle clicking and buzzing sound came from her body, indicating that she was still in the process of self-repair. It was just a temporary shutdown.
"Very good. At least you did not destroy the mind core. Most of the structures including the mana hub can self-repair, but once the mind core is damaged, we can't do anything … After all, this is Gondor technology. "
The elven twins commented casually. Leona stepped forward and pressed her hand on the abdomen of the 'female magus'. In the magical radiance, a hole was melted in the old imperial magus uniform, revealing the bionic skin that had a hole melted in it, as well as the protective shell that shone with a metallic luster under the skin.
Phelna's fingertips brushed past the edge of the protective shell as if she was using an invisible blade to cut through the layer of metal. In a situation where all kinds of protective spells were ineffective, the protective shell was easily opened. After it was opened, what was revealed was an exquisite pure copper mechanical core and all kinds of ancient magic devices that flickered with a faint light.
"What an intricate design." Rayna sighed softly.
"And it's just at the critical moment of self-healing." Pherna smiled.
"At this time, we just need to do a little interference to the mind core that has lost its protection …"
The elven twins pressed their fingers on one of the components of the ancient magical devices at the same time. With a slight flash of electric arc, a strange mechanical friction sound came from the body of the female enchanter. Her eyes blinked gently as if she had just woken up from a dream.
Rayna and Firna straightened up and came to the sight of the sentinel. They looked down and said, "Hello, soldier."
"Reset complete. Loading identification database …" The female enchanter's eyes focused on Rayna and Firna. After a moment of delay, she blinked again. "Nice to see you, rebels."
In the open space not far away, the roots and branches of the grand hierarch swayed gently.
The Druil leader, who was already beyond recognition, said with a hoarse voice, "Now, we have taken care of the first one."
In the entire valley, countless strange twisted giant trees swayed their branches at the same time and made a rustling sound.
When a behemoth fell, death did not mean the end of everything.
The remaining vitality would often survive in the warmth of the corpse and survive in another form, or rather, continue on.
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