Boom!
"Crystal Shotgun!"
Numerous fist-sized, sharp crystals rained down from the sky, piercing the air and slamming into the newly awakened Treants below.
One of the Treants had barely stepped out from the ground when it was shattered into pieces by the barrage of Crystal Shotgun.
Thump—crack!
Fragments of dark brown wood scattered in the air, crashing to the ground with a dull thud.
"Not very strong." Iville Ai looked down at the Treant destroyed by her magic with a single blow, making her assessment:
"Everyone!"
"These Treants are multiplying. The two Greenleaf Treants in the center must be the ones controlling them. I'll go take care of them!"
Her resonant voice echoed from the sky, reaching the ears of the adventurers below!
Suspended in mid-air, Iville Ai could clearly see the numerous withered trees gradually transforming into these strange Treants.
Based on past adventurer experiences and analysis of the current situation, Iville Ai determined that these strange Treants were likely there to protect the two Greenleaf Treants deep within.
Gaguran raised her long hammer in a defensive stance, shouting to Iville Ai above, "Be careful, little one."
"Then, we'll leave that to you!"
Lakyus, knowing Iville Ai's strength, nodded in response.
This wasn't a reckless move!
This subjugation of the "Unknown Plant-type Demon Creature" naturally had a backup plan in case of failure. With Iville Ai's strength, taking the lead in probing the situation was part of the plan.
Whoosh!
Iville Ai nodded lightly, adjusted her posture, and flew towards the location of the two Greenleaf Treants.
The wind howled past her ears!
Through the gaps in her mask, her crimson eyes focused, gradually making out the appearance of the two Greenleaf Treants as she drew closer.
One large and one small!
They didn't share similar characteristics of the same species.
The smaller Treant resembled a normal tree, while the larger one had an extremely thick trunk and looked like a ferocious demon creature.
Iville Ai searched her memory but found no information about similar plant-type demon creatures.
But that wasn't unusual.
Plant-type demon creatures were rare. The only ones normal adventurers might encounter were "Fungoids."
These demon creatures were a spore-type within the plant category, not very strong but extremely skilled at hiding.
In fact, Most plant-type demon creatures were good at hiding.
"Why turn this area's forest into a withered land?" As Iville Ai rapidly approached, the thought flashed through her mind.
Given these plant-type demon creatures' hiding abilities in the forest, finding them would be difficult. Her adventurer subjugation team had prepared to spend a lot of time searching.
Who would have thought, They would find their target so easily? After all, in this withered land, two normal-sized trees were the biggest anomaly.
It wasn't hard to guess!
The land and dense forest had all withered, a sign that all the energy and life force had been drained!
Iville Ai's red figure streaked across the sky, appearing above the two Greenleaf Treants, her gaze narrowing.
"Drawing such a massive amount of energy isn't something ordinary-level demon creatures can do!"
"Just in case... I'll use my aerial advantage to launch a probing attack."
A surge of mana emanated from Iville Ai as she raised her palm, aiming at the two Greenleaf Treants below, and began to chant:
"Magic Resistance Penetration - Dragon Lightning!"
Against plant-type demon creatures, fire-type magic attacks were usually the most effective, but Iville Ai's fire magic was limited and low-tier.
So she chose "Dragon Lightning."
A lightning-type magic that could also deal more damage to plant-type demon creatures!
Crack!
Surging blue lightning bloomed on Iville Ai's arm, transforming into a twisting electric serpent, and hurtled towards the two Treants below.
Sensing the danger from above!
The Tree Spirit, Pinesis, trembled in fear.
She was just an ordinary Tree Spirit, only skilled in enchantment-type techniques.
"If we get hit, we're done for." The Tree Spirit Pinesis could only hope that the Terror Treant beside her had a way to defend against it.
"Root Defense!"
"ROAR!"
The Terror Treant had long since noticed the enemy hovering above. It opened the maw at the center of its trunk, letting out a roar like that of a magical beast.
Thump! Thump!
Several thick roots burst from the muddy ground beneath its feet, rapidly growing and spreading, crisscrossing into a grid-like defense.
BOOM!
The Dragon Lightning struck the root defense.
The point of impact instantly turned charred black, but the blue arc quickly traveled along the roots and into the ground, dissipating the energy!
"It blocked it."
Iville Ai frowned almost imperceptibly, realizing she might have chosen the wrong magical attack.
"Speedy Tree Seed!"
The next moment!
The red flowers blooming on the Terror Treant's head all contracted together, then, like compressed springs, spat out bullet-like seeds from their cores, shooting them skyward.
"Crystal Barrier!"
Iville Ai chanted quickly, forming a semi-transparent crystal shield in front of her body.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
A barrage of impacts rang against the crystal shield, leaving trails of white damage.
"About the strength of a Fourth Tier Magic."
Through the brief exchange, Iville Ai gained a relatively clear understanding of the Terror Treant's capabilities.
However!
If that's all it had, how could it drain the energy of this entire area? Even with those other Treants of its kind, it probably couldn't do it, right?
Could it be that the strongest one is that seemingly ordinary Tree Spirit?
Out of the corner of her eye, Iville Ai glanced at the Tree Spirit Pinesis, a hint of wariness and vigilance entering her gaze.
"Fireball!"
Whoosh!
Iville Ai chanted again, launching a Fireball at the Terror Treant below.
This time, she chose a low-tier fire spell!
After the initial attack, it was clear that lightning magic wasn't very effective, and her specialty, earth magic, wasn't a good offensive option either.
Plant-type demon creatures all have some resistance to earth magic.
The crimson Fireball streaked down!
"Root Defense!"
The Terror Treant used the same defensive tactic as before, but this time, it was clear that it was less effective against fire magic.
Boom!
The Fireball exploded on the roots, quickly burning a large hole through them. The scattered flames drifted up to the Terror Treant's head, setting a few leaves ablaze.
"Roar!"
"Wah-ROAR!"
The Terror Treant let out a jumbled cry, its roots bursting from the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust to extinguish the flames on its head.
"Speedy Tree Seed!"
Another barrage of seed attacks flew toward her!
Iville Ai easily dodged them using her aerial advantage, continuing her "Fireball" assault.
Fireballs streaked across the sky, falling and exploding!
Although the Terror Treant wasn't like ordinary plant-type demon creatures, able to move freely on the ground using its roots, it had no way to fly or any real anti-air capabilities.
What followed was a one-sided bombardment.
After taking dozens of Fireball attacks in a row, the Terror Treant's leaves were completely burned away. Its entire body charred black, it collapsed on the ground, completely dead.
"Easier than I thought."
"Just one more, and it'll be over." Iville Ai still had some doubts, but as she was thinking, she began to chant:
"Fire..." Huh?"
Suddenly.
Iville Ai noticed a naked green Tree Spirit emerge from the treant's trunk.
It knelt on the ground, as if begging for mercy.
"A Tree Spirit?"
Iville Ai murmured uncertainly. The creature looked very similar to the Tree Spirits she had heard about.
This isn't a demon!
It was a relatively rare heteromorphic race, and one of the few races that didn't harbor malice toward most creatures.
Iville Ai paused her chanting. Many questions resurfaced. Why was the Tree Spirit entangled with that plant-type demon creature?
Why was the Terror Treant called a demon creature?
Because during the battle, she had discovered that the Terror Treant lacked the intelligence and language of a normal race. It was more like a pure demon!
Maybe there's a possibility of disguise...
The thought crossed Iville Ai's mind. She had been able to easily defeat the Terror Treant by taking advantage of her aerial superiority.
Huh?
The next moment.
Iville Ai noticed that the Tree Spirit's condition seemed abnormal. After a moment's thought, she moved and flew downward.
The red figure landed.
The Tree Spirit, Pinesis, was slumped on the ground, twitching involuntarily, its body gradually becoming illusory.
"What's going on?"
Iville Ai watched the Tree Spirit, Pinesis, in its abnormal state, a neutral voice that didn't reveal gender coming from behind her white mask.
"Magic... Tree..."
The Tree Spirit, Pinesis's consciousness was fading. It used the last of its strength to utter two words.
A seed from the previous Terror Treant was parasitizing her body.
She had thought that she would be free after the Terror Treant was killed, but to her surprise, with the death of the Terror Treant, the seed began to frantically absorb her life force.
"Magic Tree?" Iville Ai heard the two words clearly, and she was shocked. She wanted to ask more:
"What is that!"
The Tree Spirit, Pinesis's consciousness began to fade. She couldn't hold on any longer. Her body turned into a green light and re-integrated into the trunk of the tree.
Under Iville Ai's gaze.
The lush green leaves on the seemingly normal tree were gradually withering.
It wasn't hard to deduce what was happening!
Iville Ai realized that the culprit behind all of this must be the "Magic Tree" that the Tree Spirit had mentioned.
And if she wanted to get more information!
She could only find a way through this Tree Spirit.
"Healing magic should work..."
"「Flight」!"
Iville Ai chanted quickly, preparing to return to the subjugation team and bring back the adventurers who could use healing magic.
Actually, there was a better way.
To bring the Tree Spirit to the adventurers, but...
Iville Ai knew that the Tree Spirit, as a heteromorphic race, couldn't move its main body normally. It required special faith-based magic to transplant it, otherwise it would harm the Tree Spirit.
Whoosh!
Iville Ai soared into the sky, accelerating. She had a faint, uneasy feeling in her heart.
--Unexpectedly!
Before she had flown very far, Iville Ai saw the adventurer subjugation team approaching from a distance, which surprised her.
She paused her flight and descended quickly!
The two sides quickly met.
Iville Ai learned why the adventurers had been able to arrive so quickly.
It turned out that all the numerous treants that had been blocking the way had suddenly died for some reason!
The group exchanged information, and the adventurers were astonished that Iville Ai had been able to single-handedly take care of the "Unknown Plant-type Demon Creature."
They also realized that the sudden death of the numerous treants was related to Iville Ai's elimination of the Terror Treant.
The adventurers analyzed the information while quickly heading to the location of the Tree Spirit, Pinesis.
On the desolate, ashen earth.
The single green tree was quite conspicuous, but even more so was its visibly withering state.
"Shorty, is this the aberrant species you were talking about?"
Gaguran's square, rough-hewn face was full of curiosity as she and the other adventurers around her scrutinized the tree.
"Looks pretty ordinary to me," Hina and Tia commented after a quick glance.
"This is just its main body," Iville Ai explained simply, facing her companions' puzzled looks.
While the adventurers were discussing, Lakyus, who was skilled in healing magic, and several other priest adventurers approached the Tree Spirit's main body.
"Lesser Heal!"
"Greater Heal!"
"...!"
Soft, holy white light enveloped it.
The withering state of the Tree Spirit Pinesis's main body began to slow down.
"It's working!" a cry of surprise came from the crowd.
"Um, what about the Magic Tree?"
"We'll have to ask this Tree Spirit later."
Anri and Gaguran stood together, speaking softly.
"Hmph, it seems our previous analysis was wrong." Hina twirled a dagger in her hand, reminding them:
"I found quite a few demon corpses at the original rooting locations of those interceptor treants."
"Yeah, that's right."
Tia nodded, "No wonder we didn't find any powerful demons in the entire forest; they must have all become nutrients for those treants."
Gaguran's sharp gaze turned serious: "Adding Shorty's information, we can basically conclude that…"
"Those treants are individuals split off from the treant that Shorty destroyed…"
Here, Gaguran lowered her voice: "We previously speculated that the Unknown Plant-type Demon Creature was controlling magic beasts with seeds, combined with mental abilities, to cause chaos!"
"But now we've discovered that's not the case at all; the plant demon's real purpose is to cultivate treants."
"Ordinary magic beasts and beasts cannot be cultivated into treants; only powerful magic beasts can give birth to treants."
Tia added, "So, once the main body dies, those treants will also die."
"But now, according to Shorty's information, perhaps that plant demon isn't the true main body?"
Anri quietly listened to their analysis, thinking to herself, "Amazing, as expected of the Blue Rose."
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