Chapter 76: This Is My Throne, The Promised Land
"I was born amidst the myriad forests—"
A deep voice echoed across the land. The tender buds on the branches of the colossal tree had fully transformed into countless broad, emerald-green leaves. In the basin at the heart of the mountain range, the once-petrified giant tree trembled, the stone skin that served as evidence of its slumber peeling off in sheets. Pale green light of life flickered behind every wide leaf.
This voice, emanating from an unknown source, resounded throughout heaven and earth, carrying within it the great will of a deity. Even the army of stone demons halted in their advance, unable to continue forward.
Joshua, who had been wielding his sword-spear in battle, shook his head. He felt numerous illusions appear before his eyes. The warrior saw a colossal tree supporting the sky amidst mountains and a thousand lakes. Countless elves gathered at the base of this tree, building cities, establishing kingdoms, and uniting into a single race. The flame of civilization was born and nurtured under the gentle shade of the great tree.
He witnessed the rise and expansion of this civilization, its prosperity like a beautiful dream. The elves pushed their territory to the ends of the far seas and the center of the continent, standing in opposition to humanity. In the deep underground caverns, silver-haired, dark-skinned dark elves followed the roots of the great tree and, beside rivers of boiling lava, signed treaties with dwarves, dividing the underworld of this world between them.
The Paladin and Black also halted their battle. They looked up at the sky, suddenly overflowing with green radiance. This light was sacred and holy, as if containing all the mysteries of life.
They heard it, and they saw it. They heard hymns and praises, saw faith and sacrifices, and finally, the divine. But the voice did not cease; it continued, chanting in a heavy tone: "I—dominate nature!"
Countless green lights immediately surged from the crown of the great tree, forming a pillar of light that connected the earth to the sky. Nearly half of the originally dark firmament was purified into a clean, verdant green. Golden sunlight pierced through the gloomy clouds, mingling with the green light to create a brilliant, clear blue-green.
The true body of the Father of Nature, the Celestial Source Divine Tree, was itself a complete ecosystem. On the former body of this great tree lived tens of thousands of races and creatures. They took this tree as their world, freely reproducing and growing. Thus, the Father of Nature nurtured several large groups and gained its first faith.
When it came to understanding nature and ecology, no one could surpass the Father of Nature, for it was nature itself—the witness of cycles, life, and reproduction! Its power was even sufficient to create an ecosystem in a world unsuitable for life, and then, using that as a foundation, transform the entire world!
"—Zzzz!!!"
In the sky, the Apocalypse Array seemed to be disturbed by this power. Its ten rings of light rotated, emitting a harsh, grating noise. Hearing this noise, the Coordination Core, which had also been shaken by the great will, immediately reacted. The calculation array core in its mind operated at full speed, and then, in midair, it issued another command to all the stone demons.
"Highest authority deployed!"
Although its tone remained emotionless, it inexplicably seemed to convey fear: "Assault command—initiate critical overclocking!"
"Assault, begin!"
The moment this command was issued, the army of stone demons erupted.
In an instant, all the puppets simultaneously released the restraints on their cores. Not one or two, but hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands—hundreds of thousands of puppets trembled, releasing purple residual mana from their bodies. They squeezed every bit of energy from their forms, converting it into the most powerful thrust!
At that moment, the overflowing mana converged, forming purple lightning that surged upward from the ground, defying the sky. Like a spreading spiderweb, it wound through the black clouds toward the endless horizon. The air was filled with the acrid smell of scorched atmosphere. On the ground and in the sky, an endless tide of Chaos puppets crazily surged from the black dust and mist. Their bodies were covered in flickering, bright mana runes. These puppets, having completely abandoned their future, attacking with collapsing bodies, charged swiftly and decisively toward the awakening Father of Nature and the warriors standing before it.
"Zzlaaah!!!"
A chaotic, frenzied sound tore through the clouds.
The sky flickered with a dense patch of purple light—the flash from the stone demons' overloaded operation. Countless purple meteors traced lines, piercing through the clouds and plummeting toward the ground. Their target was the great tree, whose life force was growing ever more surging.
—They absolutely could not allow this ancient tree a chance to revive!
This was the most direct and stubborn command etched into their cores.
The Paladin, who had already expended considerable strength and was hastily dealing with these frenzied puppets, was caught off guard and swept into the tide of charging flying stone demons. If he could keep his distance, he might still be able to hold his own against these puppets that had released their core restraints. But now, facing tens of thousands of berserk flying puppets at close range, all he could do was raise his great shield with all his might, barely managing to defend himself.
Black's reaction was not as fast as the Paladin's, but its enemies were slower than the flying stone demons. So the half-dragon successfully dodged the charge of the stone demon army. It leaped with all its strength, using the bodies of stone demons as springboards, and after a few bounds, reached a cliff. Black continuously spewed dragon breath, destroying enemies in swathes, but it still had to regretfully admit that, faced with this stone demon force—whose speed and power had suddenly increased significantly and whose numbers were nearly endless—its resistance was utterly insignificant.
This was a true bitter struggle.
From a distance, it looked like a dazzling rain of light densely falling from the sky, as if countless fireflies were descending toward the horizon. Although white holy light and crimson dragon fire obstructed and reduced a large number of monsters, it was meaningless.
Especially since the enemy's ranks included numerous massive aerial fortresses, and on the ground, new Titan Colossi were appearing again. They marched across the land with heavy steps, shaking the mountains. These colossal war machines had also fully berserked, their strength and attack speed far surpassing before. Upon detecting the enemies before them, the Thunder Giants immediately targeted Loranda and Black. Then, these monsters began firing countless beams of thunderous light capable of annihilating most matter, forcing the two to constantly dodge.
With Loranda and Black's obstruction lost, the situation turned perilous in an instant. Ordinary puppets were manageable, but if these immensely strong Colossi and devastatingly powerful aerial fortresses reached the side of the Father of Nature, then this ancient tree—temporarily defenseless but larger than a mountain range—would suffer severe damage.
However, a flash of red light appeared. A terrifying explosion occurred amidst the rain of light. Layer upon layer of ring-shaped shockwaves swept everything, extinguishing countless fireflies.
This light traced an arc across the sky, like a smooth line. First, it pierced through an aerial fortress, then blasted a large hole in the forehead of a Titan Colossus. It cleanly and decisively destroyed these two extremely dangerous war machines, then turned toward other powerful large puppets.
That red light was the glow of battle qi, and in this world, only one person possessed battle qi of such a color.
In midair, the warrior, who had just destroyed another aerial fortress, slowly withdrew his sword-spear. Flames-like light flickered in his eyes. The power of three deities was bestowed upon him, transforming Joshua into an unstoppable monster. The armor formed by crimson battle qi was covered with ferocious faces—the souls of monsters that had fallen to his hand.
"This path."
The crimson battle qi, like fire and thunder, coiled around the heavy blade of the spear. Joshua looked at the countless stone demon puppets before him, raised his Dragon-Hunting Sword Lance, and spoke slowly and firmly.
"Is blocked!"
With that, he transformed into a streak of light, flashing through the center of the battlefield filled with stone demons. Wherever he passed, continuous explosions occurred. Stone demons and large flying puppets fell like raindrops. The aerial stone demons' offensive even stalled for a moment, unable to advance further. The Titan Colossi on the ground also received special attention, as they were periodically targeted by an indestructible thrown spear. Those hit were sure to have their cores destroyed. The thunderous beams fired back by the stone demons were, as if rehearsed, easily dodged by the warrior.
But even Joshua could not stop all the enemies, even with the addition of Loranda and the others, who had finally broken free from the encirclement of stone demons. They could only focus on attacking the powerful monsters, while the rest were left to the natural divine power permeating the protected area.
And indeed, it was so. The weaker stone demons, upon contact with the green radiance emitted by the great tree, were immediately and cleanly dismantled of their internal techniques, turning into true stones. They stood in place like stone statues, motionless.
Perhaps only monsters like Rock Giants and large flying stone demons could withstand the influence of this divine power and charge to the side of the divine tree.
But such powerful monsters were now all blocked by Joshua. The warrior kept his promise; he did not let any threatening Chaos monster approach the ancient tree's body. With a roar, another Titan Colossus slowly knelt on one knee, then fell to the ground, turning into a pile of minerals and rock.
Corpses like this covered the entire land. The fields instantly became a quarry strewn with broken rock, filled with a cold aura of destruction.
This process was too arduous even for the blessed warrior. Fighting these colossal beings consumed far more stamina than anyone could imagine. For the first time feeling fatigue, the warrior, panting heavily, stood on the corpse of this Titan, intending to rest for a while before attacking again to hunt. But a gentle force stopped him.
"It is enough."
A voice whispered softly in his ear: "It is enough."
The last piece of stone skin fell off. The tiniest root was activated. An existence from ancient times had fully awakened. With these words, a soft green light, like the rising sun, surged from behind him like a tide. With a gentle yet unstoppable momentum, it spread in all directions.
The world seemed purified. All gloom was swept away.
Under this light, the land, which had been thrown into chaos by the battle, was reborn. Countless seeds buried deep in the ground sprouted. Countless weeds, shrubs, and even trees began to grow rapidly under the nurturing of the natural divine power. Countless plants and vines climbed up, quickly forming small forests and grasslands.
And the voice of the Father of Nature appeared with the revival of all things.
"I am the shelter of the elves, the dominator of the myriad forests! I am the guardian of life, the maintainer of order!"
This voice echoed between heaven and earth. It was faint at first, but in the end, it was like thunder, causing rumbling echoes in the sky.
"I am the Father of Nature, the soul of the myriad forests, the incarnation of the ten thousand kings!"
With this declaration, the green pillar of light connecting heaven and earth seemed to activate some switch. Instantly, a green network appeared above the sky. This network was layered, covering the entire world.
"This place is my throne, the promised land for the prosperity of the elves."
The Apocalypse Array seemed stimulated. The ten rings of light immediately reacted to this radiance. They rotated back and forth, emitting streaks of silver light, containing within them the despair of destruction, ruin, and the end of the world. It seemed as if, in the next moment, it would once again unleash the heavenly fire attack capable of erasing and destroying everything.
But this did not affect the great tree on the ground.
The once somewhat stiff great tree now seemed truly alive. It swayed its branches and leaves with the wind. Accompanied by the sound of leaves like ocean waves, having shed all its stone skin and been reborn, the ancient existence spoke slowly in a serious and solemn tone:
"This is my world."
It will never allow you to destroy it.