Chapter 662: March to the East!!!
Instantly, Evan teleported straight in front of the man, his sudden movement drawing curious glances that he ignored.
Evan studied the young man silently, appraising him before breaking the silence.
"Hey, you. What’s your name?"
The young man stared back, unblinking, as if deciding whether to answer. After a moment, Evan added words to make him drop his guard.
"I couldn’t help but notice your ice power is... formidable. That’s why I’m asking."
Finally, the man responded.
"My name is Gard."
"Gard, huh?"
Evan nodded thoughtfully, glancing at his status again before speaking.
"I see. You’ve got quite a bit of ice power. You’ve got a unique skill, don’t you? What’s the name?
For the record, mine’s called Harbinger of Ice."
Gard’s face gave nothing away as he replied.
"I do possess one. It’s called Verglas Lord."
Hearing the name of his skill, Evan went silent. The silence lasted a few moments and Arthur who was watching with curiosity, suddenly widened his eyes in shock.
The boy nearly stood up as well, but Evan spoke before he did.
"Verglas Lord? I see."
Evan then turned to Charisse with an unreadable look in his eyes and spoke.
"Hey Charisse, assign this guy to the western side. His ice power is strong enough to handle at least two or three volcanoes on his own."
The young man was an Inferior Sovereign Realm, so he could do even more than that, but since they had a battle to fight, it was wiser not to use up all one’s power.
Without waiting for a response, Evan stepped forward, leaving the man who was confused at the sudden endorsement from Evan who was clearly close with the Spirits.
"As for me, I’ll take care of the northern section. I could use something to vent on."
And with that, he strode out of the area, leaving a tense silence in his wake.
Arthur, Artemisia, and Beatrix exchanged looks, each sensing something off. Arthur told Charisse to carry on with the proceedings, before turning and chasing after Evan.
"What was that about, bro?"
The teen godslayer had sensed a threatening vibe from Evan. He had felt that vibe from Evan before, and that was why he reacted with shock.
Hearing Arthur’s question. Evan stopped, exhaling loudly as he spoke.
"What was that about? First, there was Eon Sunder Regressio, Arthur.
You and Jamie held me back then. Stopped me from taking action that would’ve caused too much fallout."
He ran a hand through his hair, icy mist escaping his fingers as he physically cooled his head.
"This time, I was the one who held myself back. Turns out I’ve got more self-control than I thought. Otherwise, I’d have killed that guy right there."
Arthur’s gaze sharpened as a thought crossed his mind. If there was one thing about ’Gard’ that Arthur took note of, then it was the fact that the young man was a Celestial.
"Gard’s race... Could it be?"
He didn’t need to say more—Evan’s brows furrowed as he responded.
"Yeah. That guy—he’s one of the bastards who caused me to be sent back in time."
With those words, Evan stepped forward and with a flash of light, he polymorphed into his full dragon form and launched into the sky, leaving Arthur staring after him in silence.
◇ ◇ ◇
The task of freezing the volcanoes was completed rather quickly. The cultivators skilled in manipulating ice and water, worked tirelessly to subdue the molten threats.
The promise of immediate rewards had lit a fire in them, driving them to act with urgency.
Within less than an hour, the majority of the volcanoes were subdued, their fiery eruptions halted as the molten rock transformed into solid ice under the force of their combined elemental powers.
As Arthur and Evan had anticipated, not all of the volcanoes were as they seemed.
Some had been rigged with explosive traps, triggered when the number of people near them exceeded a certain number.
Tension filled the air as the first explosion echoed across the landscape—a loud, deafening burst that sent waves of molten rock and ash into the air. Fortunately, the Full Dragon form Evan was nearby, so the eruption was quickly frozen over with a frost breath.
The first blast triggered a series of other blasts which were all neutralized within seconds of occurrence.
Evan’s ice turned the seas of molten lava into frozen wastelands.
Yet, his ice didn’t carry the usual low temperature of the element and was instead warm while maintaining its integrity.
While he was busy freezing one mountain, he was attacked by creatures that emerged from the depths of the cooled volcanoes—Vanguards of Triffid.
These souls who had been captured by the Tree of Creation bore the shape of their original races, yet their bodies had transformed into rough wood, with leaves sprouting on them and patches of flesh mixed in, fused with thick roots and vines that wrapped around their limbs.
Their hollow eyes glowed a faint light green, and they attacked the Cultivators with ferocity.
Alongside them were Devils with small flowers blooming on their skulls—Vonun’s thralls.
The cultivators, caught off guard but ready for action, instantly switched into battle mode, resulting in a fierce but short-lived clash.
Injuries were sustained but thanks to Arthur lying back and using time to rewind most wounds, there were no casualties.
With the threats eliminated, the cultivators regrouped with the main army and after some hours of rest, the march resumed.
The closer they got to the east, the more enemies they began to encounter.
Infernal Beasts, Rogue Cultivators, Vonun’s thralls and tens of thousands of Triffid’s Vanguards.
The cultivators fighting alongside the spirits wore magic identifiers, marking them as allies, but anyone they encountered without one was immediately assumed to be an enemy. Battles broke out sporadically, forcing the army to slow its pace as they dealt with these constant threats.
On the evening of the 14th of November, the army reached a vantage point that allowed them to see Triffid’s ever-expanding forest on the horizon.
Rather than pushing forward, the coalition halted to rest for the night, sleeping with one eye open in case of any Infernal Devil attacks.
Fortunately, there were none of such, and the soldiers could take what rest they could.
As dawn broke on the 15th, the coalition army marched upon Triffid’s Forest.
◇ ◇ ◇
Triffid’s Forest
Iohodis Continent
Apex World Taemia
November 15th
Year 1054
The air was thick with tension as the coalition army marched toward the forest, the uneasy silence broken only by the rustling of feet on the ground and the creaking of armour.
Those at the frontlines could see it clearly—massive roots shifting, the ground being consumed as the forest advanced, its heart inching closer.
A collective, audible gulp rippled through the ranks.
Above them, the Spirit Elders hovered, their eyes fixed on the heart of the forest—on Triffid itself.
No eye could miss the immense tree rising from the ground, towering over the landscape with its thick trunk.
Its canopy stretched wide and high, peeking through the clouds and covering over a kilometre of land, casting a long shadow over the forest around it.
Seeing the Tree in the distance, Evan had three words to say.
"Lios is bigger."
"What the hell is Lios?"
Arthur couldn’t help but ask and Evan pondered whether it was okay to mention it for a moment, before shrugging and speaking.
"An Ouroboros. Back home, he’s the literal ’World Tree’."
Hearing Evan mention Ouroboros, Artemisia and Beatrix snapped their heads in his direction, their eyes narrowing.
"This Ouroboros...is he an Iremith?"
Evan silently nodded, confirming that the ’Lios’ he spoke of was part of the Iremith Ouroboros family of Aidos.
Arthur had no idea what they were talking about at this point, so he just turned his gaze towards Charisse.
Walking over, he held out his phone and showed her the calendar.
"It’s Monday. A new week."
For a moment, Charisse was unsure of why he’d brought this up, but the confusion quickly faded when Arthur asked the same question he had every week for the past nine weeks.
"So? What’s the update on the thing I’m seeking?"
Hearing him, Charisse gave a light bow and spoke in an impassive voice like always.
"Apologies, Sir Arthur, but I cannot inform you about it right before it happens."
Arthur let out an exaggerated sigh, shrugging as he muttered.
"Same old ans-!"
The boy froze mid-sentence, his head snapping back to Charisse, who silently met his gaze with her dark eyes.
The two stood in silence for some seconds, until Arthur broke the stillness with a chuckle.
"You’re a sneaky one, you know that?"
"I would accept that as a compliment, Sir Arthur."
Charisse responded with a light bow and Arthur laughed once more. He brushed a strand of hair behind her ear before turning to leave.
"Right before, huh?"
A slight change in her usual response that he almost missed.
"Apologies, Sir Arthur, but I cannot inform you about it before it happens."—was her usual response.
"Apologies, Sir Arthur, but I cannot inform you about it right before it happens."—was her response just now.
Whatever it is Charisse divined that Arthur was seeking, it was surely happening in this coming battle.
As Arthur walked away, Charisse’s eyes drifted toward Evan, who, sensing her gaze, turned to face her.
"Please, do not forget, Sir Evan."
"Don’t worry, I won’t. You just focus on keeping causality off me."
Evan responded to her before following Arthur to join the other Elders who were at the forefront of the coalition army.
Then, as if in response to the presence of the two strong practitioners of destruction, everyone felt it—a pulse of magic power rising through Triffid’s trunk.
Suddenly, a massive flower bloomed on the trunk of the tree, its petals unfurling to reveal the immense power within.
No one needed to speak. The warning was clear. Without hesitation, all airborne forces descended to the ground.
A moment later, the earth trembled violently as an enormous beam of magic energy erupted from the centre of the flower, a column of searing power aimed directly at the advancing armies.
The sound of the energy ripping through the air was deafening as it parted the clouds above it.
But the coalition was ready.
The Spirits summoned one of their restricted artifacts, a relic of a fallen Spirit Deity from thousands of years ago.
A colossal shield of fortification law energy manifested, expanding rapidly to cover the targeted area of the army.
The beam slammed into the shield with a thunderous crash, and for a moment, space itself cracked with the strain of holding it back.
The shield held—but just barely.
Just as the beam dissipated, the trees at the forefront of the forest withered before their eyes, turning to ash with the soil they grew from blackening.
Evidently, Triffid had consumed a lot of energy for that attack.
"Assemble, for war is upon us! Our goal is to bring down the Tree of Creation and halt its corruption of our lands!
All troops, begin your advance!!"
The voice of the Elders speaking in unison boomed, echoing across the battlefield like a war drum.
At that command, the coalition army plunged forward into the forest. Army magic washed over them, this time, enhancing their vitality and attack power.
In response, the ground trembled once more, and from the depths of the forest, the Infernal Devils emerged in force, charging alongside the Vanguards of Triffid.
Screams and war cries filled the air as the two sides collided in a brutal clash of forces.
In seconds, chaos erupted.
The skies were filled with winged Infernal Beasts, wyverns, and lesser dragons, their riders—Sovereign Infernal Devils—screeching orders as they swept into the fray.
The clash of steel, the roar of beasts, and the crackling of magic merged into an unholy symphony of destruction.
The battlefield became a storm of blood and power as the two armies collided, and war—true, unforgiving war—had begun.
